<p>this is my first draft, i haven't edited anything yet. i don't know if i should stick with this topic or write about something totally different, let me know what you think please!!! i would really appreciate it!!</p>
<p>On the second day of theoretical psychology the teacher really began the course, it wasnt an introductory day about what we would cover over the next semester, or what materials we needed for the class. But he also didnt go in depth, like he would on the days to come, instead, he told us a lot of concepts and ideas that he would eventually dissect further. He talked, first, about how were all wearing a lens, about how we have no other reference except our own experience, emotions are our own interpretation. He told us that by putting ourselves in the position of victim in our lives was a strategy of justification at why we were failing, and that we would end up struggling with it for our lives. He told us that our society was based on capitalism, and that how productive we were actually wasnt a basis of identity, society wants us to be productive and consume. I knew within five minutes that this would be my favorite class in all of my years at Berkeley High.
Learning about the western principles of psychology and hearing all of this from a man who has traveled the world and knows much more than I do has been an experience that arises awe within me. I am fascinated because once I learn the basis of things like relationships and happiness, I want to apply everything I learn to my own life. Its an exhausting process, to really sit and listen wholly for an hour and really understand all that he is saying, and then, to sit and think about my own life and see where its lacking something, or what is causing me to be unhappy, and try and fix it. Ive learned that its important to look at cause and effect, to look directly at the relationship between what is being done and what the result is, what the product is. Once you have mastered cause and effect, you can obtain the result you want, and the one that will make you happiest. He told us that when science cant explain cause and effect its because of change. We, as humans, have a constant drive towards pleasure and away from pain. We learned by reading plato that man loves the good, and that which creates happiness, and man loves the possession of the good, especially when its everlasting, for instance, eros.
The class has inspired me more than I had anticipated, has changed me, has caused me a lot of internal confusion, but more than anything, the class has taught me. It makes me want to know everything there is to know about theoretical psychology, and philosophy like the back of my hand. In fact, in that first week, we also learned about how Plato said that one should really master one subject, how they should become profound in something so that from this profundity we can understand what profundity is, and once you see the profundity in one thing, you can see it in everything. Then, you could see beauty in everything, all the time, every minute. This seems to be something worthwhile, at least for me. I want to reinvent my thinking, and read a book by a philosopher and apply it to my life and change who I am. I want to grow as a person and become the best that I can be and improve and change and thrive.</p>