Ha Min Ko
Professor Seitz
LVA2006
4, September, 2016
Dostoevsky Paper: How might you outsmart the Underground Man? (TENTATIVE TITLE)
According to the Underground Man from Dostoevsky’s “Notes from the Underground,”
[FIX INTRO] The Underground Man is elusive. It is dififcult to properly identify the characteristics of this individual. Indeed, that seems to be one of the goals of the Underground Man – to challenge any attempts to reason and rationalize the world. Perhaps the question is, how can one outsmart the Underground Man? As one contemplates on this thought, one realizes the futility of such a task – the Underground Man is elusive in his identity. While one may not be able to outsmart the Underground Man due to the nature of his beliefs, one may be able to avoid falling victim to the same ideologies by ensuring they don’t have the most fundamental flaw of the Underground Man – the lack of ability to form genuine human connections with other people.
One might be tempted to attack his arguments logically. When we look at any argument, assumptions are made, and conclusions are drawn from said assumptions. For example, in his argument explaining the nature of his inertia, he makes the claim that “For in order to begin to act, one must first be completely at ease, so that no …show more content…
In fact, certain studies suggest that evidence that is contrary to one’s belief may strengthen that original belief. For example, a group of Dartmouth researchers found that their “results indicate that corrections frequently fail to reduce misperceptions among the targeted ideological group” (INSERT CITATION HERE). It is possible to at least challenge the Underground Man’s beliefs, if not prove his claims as false, but this does not mean the he will change his thoughts. If anything, he has shown how unmalleable he is in his thoughts. When the Underground Man [EXAMPLE
Professor Seitz
LVA2006
4, September, 2016
Dostoevsky Paper: How might you outsmart the Underground Man? (TENTATIVE TITLE)
According to the Underground Man from Dostoevsky’s “Notes from the Underground,”
[FIX INTRO] The Underground Man is elusive. It is dififcult to properly identify the characteristics of this individual. Indeed, that seems to be one of the goals of the Underground Man – to challenge any attempts to reason and rationalize the world. Perhaps the question is, how can one outsmart the Underground Man? As one contemplates on this thought, one realizes the futility of such a task – the Underground Man is elusive in his identity. While one may not be able to outsmart the Underground Man due to the nature of his beliefs, one may be able to avoid falling victim to the same ideologies by ensuring they don’t have the most fundamental flaw of the Underground Man – the lack of ability to form genuine human connections with other people.
One might be tempted to attack his arguments logically. When we look at any argument, assumptions are made, and conclusions are drawn from said assumptions. For example, in his argument explaining the nature of his inertia, he makes the claim that “For in order to begin to act, one must first be completely at ease, so that no …show more content…
In fact, certain studies suggest that evidence that is contrary to one’s belief may strengthen that original belief. For example, a group of Dartmouth researchers found that their “results indicate that corrections frequently fail to reduce misperceptions among the targeted ideological group” (INSERT CITATION HERE). It is possible to at least challenge the Underground Man’s beliefs, if not prove his claims as false, but this does not mean the he will change his thoughts. If anything, he has shown how unmalleable he is in his thoughts. When the Underground Man [EXAMPLE