Finding Ourselves Between Two Worlds: A Study of Duality - Essay Sample

Introduction

In chapter 9, Schulz states, " sometimes in life, we find ourselves between jobs, and sometimes we find ourselves between lovers, and sometimes we find ourselves between homes, but we almost never find ourselves between theories"(186). According to Schulz, she is trying to explain who, at times in life, we may find ourselves in two situations that seem familiar, and hence we face problems selecting which one of them is them is right. For instance, one may find themselves in a condition where they are unable to choose one particular job because both the two jobs may be looking similar. Furthermore, when an individual, for instance, wants to buy a house, they may have problems choosing a specific one because both of them may be almost similar. When one is in love with two people who are both nice, an individual may be a conflict with their mind on who they should select. Schulz, however, states, "we almost never find ourselves in theories" (186). She means that in life, we never come across two beliefs, which may be almost similar and hence have problems selecting the most appropriate one, but instead, we tend to stick to an existing one until a new one comes up. Schulz uses examples of different scientists to bring up this whole idea. For instance, according to Kuhn, a great scientist, "a scientific belief is declared invalid only if an alternative candidate is available to take its place" (186). Therefore the same situation applies what individuals believe in.

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In life, there was a point whereby I was found between beliefs. As I was growing up, I used to believe that ogres do exist; they can only come out at nights, and the cause of darkness. Although my childhood life, I used to be very afraid and never used to go out as soon as darkness fell because I had a fear of being eaten by the ogres. No one would have ever convinced me that my perception of the whole thing was not right. Furthermore, I used to believe that once the ogres can capture someone and torment them and hence the more reasons for not wanting to walk in darkness. With a time of growing up and mind shaping, education enabled me to understand the cause of night and that the ogres existed in the past but were not the cause of darkness. I now believe that the reason of darkness is as changes in the eclipse. Moreover, I had a belief that since everyone was created in God's image and likeness, and hence there are no bad people around. No one could convince me that people are of different characters, and therefore anything can happen in life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, according to Schulz, we are right about a particular thing or issue until the moment when we come to know that we are right about something else(187). Basically, in life, we are always trying to move from what we believed was right at first, and what is considered correct afterward. We never want to agree that what we believe may be wrong. This act is usually aimed to protect our egos from going down. However, this mentality tends to change once a whole new perception of the issue comes up.

Additionally, Schulz states that we get stuck in a belief holding that it is true when we are wrong about big things-beliefs so essential and far-reaching that we can neither replace them nor live without them (187). This whole discussion leaves me wondering if everything we usually believe is right is often the case. Furthermore, I am also left asking myself which criteria I can use to able to identify which belief is right or wrong.