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Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
07 Aug 2014, 06:00
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THE TOPIC
"The luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals."
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
MY ANSWER
In today's world, there is every possible kind of luxury existing. Whether its a vehicle to travel, a mobile phone to interact with other people, the internet to access information etc. They were all invented to ease man's problems. But we have become dependent on these luxuries for everything that we forget what is around us. But this doesn't mean that we aren’t strong and independent. More than the luxuries it is the attitude that defines what kind of people we become and this is why I’m against the statement that luxuries prevent us from becoming strong and independent individuals.
What are the characteristics of a strong and independent individual? Awareness, courage and willingness to learn. How are luxuries related to these qualities? Let us look into this here. As stated above, the luxuries were created to ease man's problems. In the past, it was very difficult people to know about what is happening around the world. The newspapers were restricted to the country they were living in. Plane travel wasn't available to everyone and people couldn’t even think of going out of the country. This way, man's options were restricted. And to ease his problems, there was technology. The internet took the world by storm giving us the ability to access anything with a click of a button. We started knowing about the happenings and opportunities all around the world. We got a wider perspective into things as opposed to our existing parochial vision. Also travel costs became reasonable allowing us to explore options all around the world. This way these luxuries as we call them have solved every problem that existed in the past. And by making people aware and exposing them to various opportunities, we have made them strong and independent rather than the weak and dependent.
The above explained the benefits that developed countries have. In underdeveloped countries like India and Africa, most people don’t have these luxuries. There are people without food and shelter for that matter. So how can it prevent them from becoming strong and independent individuals? Also in the past people didn’t have these luxuries but still there are some people who meet all the criteria of strong and independent individuals. APJ Abdul Kalam came from a very poor family. When he was young he didn’t have books to study from. He struggled a lot to be where he is now, one of India's famed scientists. In his case hardship and the lack of luxuries taught him to survive the world today.
Luxuries of the contemporary world has a negative side too. We think that since it’s solving our problems, we don’t need to do any work at all. With phones, children forget the people around them. It’s been a long time since they have actually spoken to another person face to face. This causes them to drift away from reality and go into the virtual world. Another example is with pampered kids. They are never said no to. They get everything they want. This way they become dependent on others for everything and don't have minds of their own. In such cases, luxuries are a bane.
In conclusion, I would like to say that it all comes down to perception. Given anything, it becomes our choice to either appreciate it and be thankful for it or overuse it and become dependent on it. We must not get so lost in the luxuries that we become unaware of what is happening around us and become dependent on these luxuries for everything.
"The luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals."
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
MY ANSWER
In today's world, there is every possible kind of luxury existing. Whether its a vehicle to travel, a mobile phone to interact with other people, the internet to access information etc. They were all invented to ease man's problems. But we have become dependent on these luxuries for everything that we forget what is around us. But this doesn't mean that we aren’t strong and independent. More than the luxuries it is the attitude that defines what kind of people we become and this is why I’m against the statement that luxuries prevent us from becoming strong and independent individuals.
What are the characteristics of a strong and independent individual? Awareness, courage and willingness to learn. How are luxuries related to these qualities? Let us look into this here. As stated above, the luxuries were created to ease man's problems. In the past, it was very difficult people to know about what is happening around the world. The newspapers were restricted to the country they were living in. Plane travel wasn't available to everyone and people couldn’t even think of going out of the country. This way, man's options were restricted. And to ease his problems, there was technology. The internet took the world by storm giving us the ability to access anything with a click of a button. We started knowing about the happenings and opportunities all around the world. We got a wider perspective into things as opposed to our existing parochial vision. Also travel costs became reasonable allowing us to explore options all around the world. This way these luxuries as we call them have solved every problem that existed in the past. And by making people aware and exposing them to various opportunities, we have made them strong and independent rather than the weak and dependent.
The above explained the benefits that developed countries have. In underdeveloped countries like India and Africa, most people don’t have these luxuries. There are people without food and shelter for that matter. So how can it prevent them from becoming strong and independent individuals? Also in the past people didn’t have these luxuries but still there are some people who meet all the criteria of strong and independent individuals. APJ Abdul Kalam came from a very poor family. When he was young he didn’t have books to study from. He struggled a lot to be where he is now, one of India's famed scientists. In his case hardship and the lack of luxuries taught him to survive the world today.
Luxuries of the contemporary world has a negative side too. We think that since it’s solving our problems, we don’t need to do any work at all. With phones, children forget the people around them. It’s been a long time since they have actually spoken to another person face to face. This causes them to drift away from reality and go into the virtual world. Another example is with pampered kids. They are never said no to. They get everything they want. This way they become dependent on others for everything and don't have minds of their own. In such cases, luxuries are a bane.
In conclusion, I would like to say that it all comes down to perception. Given anything, it becomes our choice to either appreciate it and be thankful for it or overuse it and become dependent on it. We must not get so lost in the luxuries that we become unaware of what is happening around us and become dependent on these luxuries for everything.
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