Critically Acclaimed

Lately I feel as though there are times when my brain is not functioning altogether. This feeling could be attributed to a great many things, but I will narrow it down to two. The ingestion of contemporary media and the lack of training on proper thinking.

I tend to read fairly heavy literature. Lately, I've been on a classics binge. War & Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina, etc. All 19th century books, layered with philosophical issues. I read them sometimes with difficulty, other times with ease, but I always make it through (outside of James Joyce's Ulysses). The books spark emotions and harbor deep thoughts that are otherwise untouched in daily life. The words carry an uncanny relevance to today's soceity and those that will come after. And while I grasp some if not most of what the authors are trying to convey, I cannot help but feeling like there are parts I am missing. Connections that are not coming together. I don't know if its that I am searching too hard for deeper meaning or if the teachings I've had did not prepare me to tackle such issues. One thing I know for certain is the way in which we (my generation especially) digest media these days is not helping. It is far too easy to turn my mind off. To look at a screen and simply be entertained. Plot lines of shows are too straightforward, too predictable. There is no room for my own interpretation. Now, this is a general statement, and I realize and recognize when there is media that absolutely challenge their audiences. But for the most part I feel thought provoking media is declining and with little objection from the industry producing it.

My other concern is, regardless of whatever else I consume, what if its a lack of education in the area of thinking and thinking critically that is my constraint. I speak to those with bright minds and years of wisdom and experience and I feel I have gathered insight on my lack there of. When my father speaks of law school or a friend brings up a masters program part of that advanced education is teaching the student how to think. Hearing that in some ways upsets me. Why in undergraduate school was I not being taught how to think? Maybe I should've taken a class in philosophy. I don't know that a higher degree of education would necessarily solve my specific problem of interpreting complex ideas in classic literature, but I certainly think it would help. It bothers me that even though I really enjoy the work of Leo Tolstoy, I could be missing something, regardless of its significance. Although it's possible I'm being a bit too hard on myself. Even scholars who devote their lives to the study of such works probably have to go through it a couple of times before catching everything. And in the end its truly all open to interpretation.