<p>Prompt:</p>
<p>"A better understanding of other people contributes to the development of moral virtues. We shall be both kinder and fairer in our treatment of others if we understand them better. Understanding ourselves and understanding others are connected, since as human beinggs we all have things in common."</p>
<p>Assignment:</p>
<p>"Do we need other people in order to understand ourselves?"</p>
<p>Essay:</p>
<p>"Interaction with others is essential in order to fully understand ourselves. An experience need not be personal for us to learn from it. By being around others, observing the way they go about things, and vicariously learning from what they do, we can facilitate understanding ourselves. Several examples from literature and pop culture demonstrate this.</p>
<p>For example, in the novel Frankenstein, the main antagonist does not interact with people much, because they might be scared of him. He views the poor people whose house he shares through a crack in the wall; he tries to learn about people from books he's found in the woods; he does not understand others so much that he makes the foolish decision of revealing himself to some people, on which he is injured and driven away. He also does not really understand his own motives till the end, which is why he murders William (not understanding his anger at Frankenstein, and then gradually gets himself into worse and worse situations, culminating with Frankenstein's death. When this occurs, he suddenly realises that it's not what he wanted after all. If he had been around others more, he would likely have better understood himself.</p>
<p>John McEnroe, the famous tennis player known for his temper, discussed in his book Serious how being a celebrity effectively cut off all "normal" conversation he had with his family and friends. He likens being a popular celebrity to being alone at the top of a mountain. He also explains that he used to be paranoid that the linesmen were all "out to get him" and calling his shots out when they thought they were in. Clearly, even he now realises how being away from others dulled his understanding of them. So too did it dull his understanding of himself; he regularly kept asking himself why he was so miserable, but did not know why; he was often ashamed of his temper, but did not know how to make himself stop. Evidently, the loneliness that a rise to fame often brings affected McEnroe's understanding of himself.</p>
<p>Finally, in the novel Lord of The Rings, Gollum is a character who has long been outcast from his friends and family, for murdering his best friend Deagol. As a consequence, he does not understand his own motives very well, and he has two "split" personalities, one bad, one good. He does not understand himself well enough to realise the danger of his evil side when he sudeenly "turns nice" and starts helping Frodo and Sam. If Gollum hadn't been so isolated for so long, he would doubtless have understood his own reasons for doing things a little better.</p>
<p>In short, interaction with others is indeed necessary in order to better understand what makes us really tick: our motivations, feelings, desires, and so forth. If we do not learn to interpret others' behaviour, then it is unlikely we will be able to do so to ourselves, for both fall into the category of understanding people, and one is a prerequisite for the other, as demonstrated by my examples. 'No man is an island' without sacrificing the ability to fully understand himself as well as others."</p>
<p>What score do you think it would receive? </p>
<p>Thanks :).</p>