The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living and the Modern Gadfly

Yes, I think that an unexamined life is not worth living although that is not considered a popular opinion by many. I think the reason for people not liking this expression ties into the paradox that “Americans love change, but hate to be changed.” And when you examine your own life you will realize that you do want to change things about yourself which can scare people. I think that people should be open to change of all kind whether or not it is good because change is constant and can rarely be stopped. I have examined my life and found some things that I did not like and tried to change them, but I believe that I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn in life. However, I do think that everyone is capable to self-examination, but so much resistance and animosity exists in today’s society that we are unwilling to do that. Most of our curiosity and questions are shown as we are young, but then we are taught how to “behave” and we lose that. In grade school we are sort of shown that the teachers know everything and we should not question them. Therefore we believe what they tell us, especially as children, and our teachers are made to be forms of role models to us and we are supposed to learn, respect and listen to them. So if they tell us that 2+2=4 then we believe it and we do not question why because according to them it makes sense. When children ask their parents certain questions then are either brushed aside or lied to. Therefore we grow up with unanswered questions that eventually lead us to forgetting about them or never wanting to ask them again in the anticipation that we will not get an answer. As most people probably believe I do not think that there can be another person quite like Socrates as his uniqueness and knowledge is immeasurable. I do think that as of today any one seen as even attempting to challenge the ideals and the elites in the world will be seen as crazy and will be ostracized. The only example that I could think of as a modern day gadfly would be Ron Paul in a way. I think this because he challenged the republicans and did not conform to how they wanted him to be. He never lost his own thoughts and views in his attempt to run for presidency. While he did not try the method that Socrates did I think he did make some sort of impact on the nation and garnered some supporters for his way of thinking.