Thursday, April 15, 2010

How the Meaning of Order and Chaos Changed My Perception on Life


Throughout this term of Order of Chaos, I have explored the vast beliefs of many philosophers and how they perceived the ideas of Order and Chaos. While studying these beliefs, I noticed some Order and Chaos in my own life that I had never thought would be considered to be an example.

One of the first topics that we had discussed together as a whole class, featured an article that was written by Benjamin Franklin titled, "Autobiography". All throughout this article, Franklin discussed his virtues and beliefs about staying organized and order on a daily basis. In the article, Franklin decided to make himself a chart that would help him to stay organized on a daily basis. "The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time, one page in my little book contain'd the following scheme of employment for the twenty- four hours of a natural day," Following this quote in the article, a time chart showed the hours in which he used throughout the day. The chart began from the time in which he woke up in the morning until the time that he went to bed. In between these times, he wrote specifically how long he would spend working, relaxing, eating, and organizing his house. I, like Franklin, use an organizational system like this on a daily basis. I will use a daily planner which has the page broken down by the hour and half hour. On these spaces, I will put when I have my classes, along with any type of meeting or if I plan on going to the gym, I will allot myself the proper amount of time so that it will not get in the way of me completing my schoolwork. Also when it comes down to deciding how long to spend on studying for a particular subject while I have other obligations to balance along with it. I will block out a few hours where I will mainly focus on studying for just that one subject.

In the novel "Night", by Elie Wiesel has a lot to with Commanding a large group of people. During the Holocaust, the Germans had used a system that allowed them to keep track of all of those people who were residing in the concentration camps all over Europe. "The three "veteran" prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. I had no other name. (Wiesel 42) The reason why the German Army "branded" the prisoners is so that they would be able to keep them Assembled throughout their time being at the concentration camps. The only bad thing about these "markings" is that they would forever loose the name that had been given to them when they were born. Structure has also made a large impact throughout the entire commanding of the Holocaust. "...A Jewish Council was appointed, as well as a Jewish police force, a welfare agency, a labor committee, a health agency- a whole governmental apparatus." (Wiesel 12)

Chaos also brings up an interesting topic. Especially when you are talking about a war of some sorts because just thinking about the word "WAR" Chaos automatically comes up in my mind because the only part of a war that seems to be somewhat structured throughout the whole part would be those positions in which the members of the army are assigned to follow out through the battle. In Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto", Insanity would often occur between the different social classes. "Altogether, collisions between the classes of the old society further in many ways the course of development of the proletariat. The bourgeoisie finds itself involved in a constant battle."

Order and Chaos is something that I sometimes, cannot even control on my behalf. For example, living in New York City, I often have to deal with the terrible traffic that occurs on a daily basis due to the growing population in the city. I can sometimes take alternative routes but that may nor always work in my favor. Although I can try to plan my day in an orderly fashion, other activities may often come up and put a block in my schedule and often cause myself panicking and trying to get all that I wish to get accomplished for that day.

Photo Taken From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/3054612638/

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