The oppression of definition

created by datagirl

(idea) by datagirl (3.7 wk) (print) ? 1 C! I like it! Wed Mar 01 2000 at 22:52:00

I hereby declare a war against the oppression of definition.

Defining oneself is oppressive.

i.e. I am stupid, I am no good at math, I am not artistic, I am blah blah blah

Tell yourself something long enough and you'll believe it, you'll live it, you'll become it.

My 7th grade teacher once told us that to become something, you first have to lie to yourself about it sort of... tell yourself you are what you are desiring to become... pretend to be it... act like you are that.. and someday.. you will be whatever it is you were aiming for. (That woman was a mean but wise old lady who i gave much hell as a 12 year old)

You can trick yourself into becoming something you aren't at the moment.

I never knew I was good at math until college. Throughout grade school and high school I was average, even when I tried. I didn't know our teachers just really sucked! I get to college and discover that calculus is fun and that I loved statistics. Strange how things work. And for most of my life I proclaimed, I am no good at math! But I was after all..

I mathematically disadvantaged myself (kind of) because I viewed myself as mathematically stupid. But then I got pissed at the world and wanted to make people angry by succeeding at something.. and by golly it worked. And I can do math. (even if that's all I can do)

I don't know if this makes any sense.. but defining yourself by a few events, is a bad idea. People change. Things change.

The above was hatched in an EFTSOE to a friend in Minneapolis.

(idea) by cfc (3.1 y) (print) ? I like it! Mon May 22 2000 at 0:37:23

Definition, like all that is powerful, is something of a double-edged sword.

You can use it to oppress... I am stupid, I can't do math, I am weak.

But they can also be used to empower... I am smart, I can do math, I am strong.

printable version
chaos

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed	precompiled opinion	If we define things as real, they are real in their consequences	Pictures of Everythingians
Determinism	March 1, 2000	Iceland	The Filthy Critic
Oppressive	liminoid	sociology of knowledge	to be
Judgment	pigeonhole	math	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Calculus	statistics

Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.

Login
Password

remember me
password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

cooled by knifegirl

Just another sprinkling of indeterminacy
Equity court
The art of urban scavenging
E2 Gatherings
Funeral Detail
eros
Everything Quests - Classical Music
PayPal
Node for the Ages
Diseases
True neutral
Irish Free State
The Feeling Begins
Uberman's Sleep Schedule

lismaraxt
fellatrix	(person)
calgon
Bottomless	(poetry)
lismaraxt
Ice Theory of The Origin of Life	(idea)
allthetime
Apple Cinnamon Suicide	(idea)
Lucy-S
shovelglove	(idea)
Adaptive Child
Mexican secret sauce	(recipe)
Adaptive Child
nacho libre	(recipe)
TheLady
Iron Man	(review)
Scaevola
Risk in the Roman law of sale	(idea)
semicolon
overheard at IHOP	(event)
choirotey
Violent pickup lines	(idea)
Ouzo
Blue Ovaries, Grrrrrrwl	(log)
uncljoedoc
explanation	(person)
Noung
One no longer loves one's insight when one communicates it	(idea)
AspieDad
Pornology	(essay)

Everything 2 is brought to you by the letter C and The Everything Development Company