Response to post #3

Fallon Walsh
December 19th, 2016
Blog Post #3 : Ways Of Looking At The World



 Classical and Romantic understanding are two distinctive ways of interpreting the world and our personal views of daily life.  A classical understanding is a more analytical and scientific means of interpretation and discovery. The classical understanding is more interested the underlying and hidden parts of something's form whereas a romantic understanding is only interested in the immediate appereance of something, as it appears is what a romantic individual sees something as. There are other ways that differentiate the two dichotomies besides the specific way an individual inteprets their surrounding world and those other distinct characteristics I believe differ from person to person.

 I personally find myself aligning with a romantic understanding more so than a classical understanding, mainly because I don't have the time or patience to ponder over the hidden meanings of everything I come across. I see things for what they are and I am not extremely analytical or curious. Common characteristics of romantics are a "shallow" viewing of the world, a spontaneous approach to life, an auroa of honesty and the value of one's instinct. I see parallels with my own worldy interpretations and that of the romantic understanding. I often find myself relying on my "gut feelings" to make immediate decisions when I feel uncomfortable and I often find myself making the right choice. I don't see my view as "shallow", or uninterested, because I see more of the world and produce a deeper understanding of the entirey of our world, not just a few immediate parts that I agonize over. I'm known to have no filter and I prefer to live and express my opinon rather than supressing my feelings and being resentful. I would prefer to have enemies than have people walk all over me, and pretend that I'm okay with being mistreated.

These aren't not the only ways of viewing the world and I am sure there are various sub categories as well as individuals that display qualities of both understandings. The narrator in, "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert M. Pirsig, mentions that romantic and classical understandings both are "valid ways of looking at the world although irreconcilable with each other”,  I disgaree with the narrators view, I don't think the two understandings are incompatible with each other. Although the two understanding are night and day, I think the two views can function together harmoniously.  The views can operate like Yin and Yang by balancing and centering one another, which is why we still see the narrator and John taking adventures with each other across the country despite their differing views and interpretations.