The Century Of The Self Analysis

I began the school year with fairly simplistic views. Humans were neither good nor evil, they simply wanted happiness. I thought that religion was useless and altogether more boring than the apparent enthusiasm some people seem to have. Nationalism was ridiculous. However throughout the school year, I found those beliefs to change and gain refinement.
I was fairly neutral over human nature’s inherent goodness or evil before this school year. This course has made me lose much of my faith within humanity. I have found that we lack the ability to empathize with other people, and demonize whole groups we label as an “other”. The witch trials and religious wars make it clear that people eliminate what they do not like, or even understand. An old …show more content…
The Century of the Self is, itself, an example of manipulating information to prove its own point. In Bernays’ deal with Betty Crocker’s cake mix, the reason that housewives did not bake with their cake mix was not primarily because the housewives felt guilt. Powdered eggs simply did not make the cake mix taste good-even now, nothing can replace a real egg. It’s a bit ironic that the film designed to inform the masses and show them the gentle propaganda in the world around them was, in fact, a biased piece itself. People would rather believe in a piece of Freudian psychology than a simple fact-that powdered eggs didn’t taste as good as real eggs. Nietzche’s quote-that “God is dead”-only has become more prominent now. People worship their brand, their clothing, their cheap plastic purchases. We have become worshippers of material, not of gods. It’s just interesting how easily people can be manipulated into believing that consuming one product somehow will make them happier, a freer and better person, than using a lesser …show more content…
I have lost much of my faith in mankind, but I believe that despite our flaws, we will attain enough safety in our needs to focus on learning and luxury. Before a confused agnostic, I am not firmly an atheist after reading about religious corruption and warfare. While I was complacent in my dissatisfaction with nationalism, I now believe that belief in one’s country is not as brainwashing as I believed it once was. Euro has made me take a deeper look into my stronger held beliefs. Because of our debates in class, like our arguments over what caused World War I, I have begun to understand other perspectives. Some things are right, and some are more right than others, but that doesn’t invalidate the less right