Tuesday, August 19, 2008

What did you believe?

What is something that you thought to be true but later learned was not? (go beyond Santa Claus... link it to an AOK or personal experience)

75 comments:

Kate said...

I used to believe nearly everything anyone told me, if they looked serious. Most pathetic admission, but true. I used to trust everyone. And then I found out and stopped trusting people (even those close to me) for about three years.

annelise gilsdorf said...

I used to believe that the people who looked like they had perfect lives really did have them. In the past few years I've discovered differently. I've found that in talking with people, when you yourself are transparent and share your own weaknesses you find that others are often in the same state you are. They are under the false impression that everyone else's life is perfect because as human beings we tend to present the best side of ourselves to the public.
Figuring out that, for the most part, this belief was false was very freeing for me. It was amazing to realize that I could be transparent and tell someone my life was screwed up and to find the chances were good that they were in the same situation.

Hannah said...

When I was younger, I used to believe that my parents were always right. I used to think that everything they said and valued and believed in I had to agree with, but as I got older I realized that I don't agree with them a lot of the time, and that's okay. I do share some of the same values they have, but there are also a lot of things that they do or say that I totally disagree with, and I'm not afraid to let them know that.

Sophia said...

When I was younger, I always, kind of like Hannah, believed what my parents told me. But it was different. They always would warn me and tell me not to do certain things, like do drugs, have sex, hang out with the wrong people, etc. But I took it too much to heart, and I found that by believing this and not viewing things with an open mind, I was hindering myself and pushing people away who didn't want to be judged...obviously...who does? I've definitely decided that my parents are NOT always right...in fact they did almost everything they told me not to...and so I'm trying to start fresh, without bias.

andihayes said...

I used to believe, when I was much younger, that all relationships were perfect. That everyone enters into a relationship with care and honest intentions. I did not think that people played games, or told lies in a relationship. I thought that every realationship was honest and perfect. Oh, to be young again . . .

Sophia said...

Oh yes, to be young again...but it's not completely terrible to know this...now you can not make the same mistakes, if you're smart

Jake said...

Something that I used to believe in was not broadening my mind to opinions or beliefs that i found very different from my own, but now i have learned that to both justify and broaden my look on the world around me I have to consider different opinions, even if I strongly disagree with them.

Shiven said...

I used to think money was the first thing in life, like last year. Now that im more mature and more refined, i realize that other things could be more important. Dont get me wrong though, cash is still up there. Im just saying maybe theres a chance other things could be up there with it also.

Word out

justina said...

Something i used to believe in...well that would probably be that you shouldn't depend to much on others. Which, thorough several bad years of junior high and a few good ones here at poudre, i have learned is dead wrong. You can, and its better that way. You hold people up, they hold you up, and it makes having friends all the sweeter. You feel like a worthwhile person, in the end.

andihayes said...

Also, along with was Jake said, to truly defend your opinion you have to understand the other side of the argument. Otherwise you are not justified in what you believe, you just have decided to believe what you know.

Durrie said...

I think that knowlege is a continuation, not a goal. Because your beliefs will always change and develop as you grow. The more you understand, the more you open your mind, the more different your opinions will be. And in all honesty, I think "right" and "wrong" are almost impossible to obtain. Do you realize how many people have completely opposite ideas of right and wrong? They're impossible to define because nobody agrees.

I. Kennedy said...

Unlike Andi, I used to beleive the opposite. I thought everyone who entered into a relationship was not there for honest means. I thought that they were all there to use and backstab to make themselves look better or save their own skin. This came from two places. My parents believed this, and as a kid I picked it up at home. To make matters worse, what I heard at home I saw at school. I was always used because I was the "smart kid" in elementary school, and other kids knew I would get them an "A". I also was never popular. My belief began to change throughout junior high as I acquired a group of friends who genuinely liked me for the person I was. It's frustrating now, because while I've changed, my parents have not.

Shannon said...

I used to believe that there was something out there... something watching us to keep us from messing up. I guess it was because I never really did mess up. Unfortunately, there isn't and if I mess up, I have to deal with the consequences, which I found out that first time it happened, and it was a painful experience.

Eric said...

When I was younger i believed, like many others before me, that my parents were right all the time. I think that most people do believe this when they are young because they are where you get most of your information. In elementary school you learn basic knowledge but you learn more life-skills and facts from your parents. Once I got older though I realized that I can form my own ideas about the world and like Jake before you can form your own solid ideas you have to take many others' knowledge into account to get as many different views as you can before you solidify your own beliefs.

DrewC aka BA said...

National Football League
I used to believe in professional football but have since lost that belief. I have found that many ex-football players are not healthy and do not live healthy life-styles. I was losing faith in the NFL and when Brett Favre went to the Jets I gave up any hope of having faith in the NFL. So...I do not believe in the National Football League any longer.

Anonymous said...
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Erin said...

I also used to believe in the unquestionable maturity and wisdom of the adults in my life. I recenlty discovered that my mother had to intervene with my third grade teacher, whose teaching style came close to failing me. My mother succeeded and I, oblivious, passed with good grades. This has caused me to re-evaluate both my memory of that class and of my teachers themselves, all of whome I now realize were aware of this conflict.

Tess Santangelo said...

i used to believe if you waited around for things to come to you or good things to happen... its not that easy... you have to go get the stuff you want to make anything happen

Anonymous said...

I agree with Hannah on this. When I was young, I always thought my parents were right and held the answer to everything. Whenever something was wrong, they would be there to fix it or would explain their views of it to me. Now, I realize that although they may be older, have had more experiences, and are more "wise", it doesn't mean that I have to agree with them. I can have my own ideas about certain issues, ideas that they may not necessarily agree with. By paying attention to the rules and the world around me, I've become more independent with my ideas. And now, I'm okay with having an opinion with which my parents may not agree.

Abby said...

When I was young, I used to believe that the world was without a lot of chaos and hatred, but I realize that the complete opposite is the case.

taydolak said...

I used to look at older people and think there would come a certain point in my life when i just knew stuff and was smart. Now I know that even as you get older you never really get to a point where your done learning and finding out stuff. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Anonymous said...

i used to believe that life would bring everything to me; that life would be easy (i wish..). i used to depend a lot on my family and friends. Now, i know i can depend on myself. i know that to get what i want, i have to work for it.

Jessi G said...

i agree with annelise it always seems like people have it better than you do, but really, they don't, nobody's perfect. i also agree with taylor, i used to think i want to be like them.. but now i don't feel like anyone else but myself

Mia said...

Something that I used to believe that my parents knew everything. They had the answers to all the questions that I could ask. As I got older and started asking more I began to realize that I was wrong. Their answers would be vague or even nonexistant. Like others said they give us the basic skills as children, but we have to learn other things ourselves.

Ilya said...

For a while I used to believe that planning things in life ahead of time was a good thing, no doubt passed on through organisation of other things being a good trait - when I say planning things in life, I mean something more along the lines of what to do, etc. - I fully agree that having at least a general plan of what you need to do, and how you're going to do it is good, for things like homework.... but with time, my original feeling that I could plan out what I want to do, (and how I'll do it, and that would work) slowly disintegrated into my current mindset that the vast majority of life isn't worth planning for - if you spend all your time planning, not only will Fate throw a wrench or hammer into your plans, but you'll also have lost significant amounts of time making your plans, the very same ones that will no longer work...

Moral of the story: life is for living, not for having planned out in advance. It's more fun that way.

Lauren P said...

I completly agree. When I was little I used to think that everyone had to know EXACTLY what they wanted to be when they grew up. And yet here I am in high school, still not completly sure where my life will take me. And now I realize, that's ok. It's alright to not know who you will be five, ten years from now. In fact, I would be willing to bet that at least half of our senior class doesn't know what they want to do with their life either. I guess what I'm try to say is that... that's all right!

Amelia A. said...

Now hang with me on this one, because it's a little bizarre--I used to believe in world peace. I was a completely idealistic child: I thought that one day, everyone would finally be able to get along with each other and live together harmoniously, and this complacency would be the best thing for the world. However, as I grew older, I began to realize that due to human nature, this would never come to pass. We are far too stubborn and arrogant (each in our own way) to ever completely be tolerant of everyone. And then I began to realize that maybe there was a reason for this; maybe, the world needed "good" and "evil" people to function. We need these two elements to sustain our purpose in life, and without them both our world would crumble into chaos.

Pfiester said...

I used to believe that things were really disconnected in the world. That things happening in Guatemala or Malaysia or some other seemingly foreign land would have no effect on me. I believed that there was some cross over, but the vast majority of happenings in the world would only change the little corner they occured in and that they were unable to impact anywhere else. Of course I've since learned that everything is connected. A tsunami in Asia is every bit as important and effects me just as much as one in North America. While certain things might be more emotionally present for me because they more directly impact me, I'm still effected by happenings that are far removed from me. Distance is no longer a dividng factor that carves up the world, with new technology and communication ability we're better connected to countries thousands of miles away than anyone has ever been before.

Ben Baroch said...

I used to believe that there could have been a higher power in the universe. i was never religious, but a hopeful agnostic. however, the more that i have gone through life, the less i believed that it was possible that there was a higher being controlling everything. if there is a 'god' type figure who is supposedly great and kind and loving, i believe that this being is equally, if not more, cruel. enough terrible things have happened in the world through the ages to where one can not possibly claim that from all the tragedies came a greater good. so, my belief now is that there is either no higher being of any sort that can control everything, or if there is a higher being(s) that entity is cruel beyond imagination. i don't think that everything that has ever happened in the world is bad, but there is no doubt in my mind that we're all circling the drain.

Kaelee said...

When i was younger i used to believe everything and anything an authority figure would tell me. That was before i proved my fourth grade teacher wrong!

Unknown said...

I used to believe that there was an individuals' free will but through a Calvanist class I changed my mind that everything is already planned out either by fate or a higher power

Durrie said...

i used to believe that perfection was possible. Then I realized that a lot of the people who seem perfect are the most unhappy.

Ali said...

Really, up until this year, I've believed that everyone was happy.
Everyone in the world, poor or rich, black or white, hungry or stuffed, was happy with their life and with what they had been given.

But i was wrong...
much like annelise said, people display the best parts of themselves. and this is all i saw for 15 years.

You've really gotta get to know someone, and dig way deep into them to know what the world's really like.

tpau said...

I guess I always believed that every person was kind and caring. I thought that everyone was there to help other people and because of that the whole world was a wonderfull place. But now I know that the world isn't that perfect place I thought it was as a little girl. You hear of such horrible things in the news about what humans have done. Like torture, war, animal abuse, child abuse, ect. Those being direct acts of, so called, 'evil'. I think now that an individual has choices to make that will lead them to be either kind or full of hatred, or a good amount of both.

Ryan Beethe said...

I used to believe that I was like, WORLD CLASS mathematician. Then I met Sam Elder, and that crushed that belief. I also used to believe that I was a faster runner than most people, until I played football at a 5A school. Again, my belief was crushed. I guess growing up means losing the invincibilty I thought I had in middle school.

Taylor G. said...

What did I believe? That's pretty vague, but now that I think of it, I used to believe in the concept of worldwide Utopian goodwill and harmony that kindergarten tends impose on you as a child. I would also venture to guess that Fort Collins as a whole largely sheltered me from any real exposure to hate and suffering that is all to common in the world. As I began to grow older, and become more aware of television and other aspects of the media, it quickly became evident to me that a large portion of the global population content themselves with malice and vice. That is not to take a pessimistic view of things; a majority of the world is good, its just that we as a whole are far from moral perfection.

Nels said...

I used to believe that I was immune to peer pressure. Yeah, that came crashing down during the course of a few years. I thought that I was making my own decisions when I was around these people, but most of the time they really weren't mine or ones I would want to make. I found out that I was making choices that helped keep the group somewhat harmonious, but weren't really the best choices. Finding that out I have tried shove this peer pressure thing into Nelsdoras box, never to be opened unless somebody forgot their lunch money.

Big D said...

I used to believe that our world was driving itself into the ground

Sarah Dean said...

its not something i used to believe in, persay, but just something that i never really understood. I just didnt understand people at all, like the complexities of what some people had gone through, or what they could be thinking, and not only did i not understand, but i did not care to understand. Now, however, how and why people do the things they do are more of an interest to me, and i have just started to comprehend why people make their choices. And although i may not share the same beliefs as some people, i can understand why they believe what they do.

Anonymous said...

I used to believe in free choice. I used to think that everyone could do what they wanted, when they wanted... It's practically writen in our constitution. But now I know that there will always be someone there to stop you from doing something, someone to put you down or prevent your free choice. If you go against this person, you get punished, and thats how the world really works.

christine said...

I used to think that everything happened for a reason. I didn't have a justification for my belief but I just chose to believe in that. As I got older, I started to wonder if dying in car crashes, having cancer, and all of those things happened for a reason, especially when it happened to good people. I asked myself: Were good people destined to die?

I didn't agree with my logic. Now, I think sometimes, things just happen. Who decides when we die? No one. At times we set ourselves up for it, but it also depends on the time, place, and situation we're in. I don't believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe there's a reason that forms after the event, but peoples' deaths aren't planned out.

Brittany said...

I used to believe sort of the opposite of what Minny said; that it wasn't worth it to depend on anyone else becuase things would never be good enough unless I did them myself. I thought everyone's ideal was the best thing that they themselves could have or do. I came to realize that I wasn't the best at everything, and letting other people do things sometimes, even if they went or ended up differently than I envisioned, it wasn't necesarily a bad thing.

Tae Naqvi said...

I used to believe that knowledge was more important that happiness. I also thought that the meaning of life was the betterment of oneself. This was probably because I valued my intellect and moral code and felt that these were the only means to happiness. However, happiness is the only factor in our life we can be sure of. We do not know what happens after death, and thus maximizing pleasure and happiness during this life seems the only worthwhile goal. Of course, there must be some moderation between long-term and short-term happiness, but ultimately this is the only goal in life.

Anonymous said...

I used to believe that I have to earn my parents' love. If I got all A's on my tests and did all of my chores, then they'd love me and be proud of me in return. But if I got bad grades and forgot to do the chores for a week, then they'd shun me. That's what I believed. But I realized that it's not like that at all. My parents love me because I'm me. I don't have to try at all because I already have their love. I think that's a really great thing to know because when I suddenly feel like there's no one in this world that loves me, I can always turn to my parents.

Laura Jo said...

Well since Mr. Malone said i couldn't talk about Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy, i decided to go with this...

I used to believe celebrities were the most successful people in the world. Sure they have fame, tons of fans and loads of money, but are they truly happy? Think of all the stupid things celebrities do just because they can get away with it. Also look at all the stuff they have to deal with on a daily basis, the paparazzi, black mail, stalkers...you name it. Who wants to live a life where everything about it is exposed for the whole world to criticize?

Sure the tight rides, giant houses and designer clothes are nice but I think the reason why I don't believe in this anymore is because my idea of success has changed.

To me, success is when you can wake up every morning and do something you love, be in the company of people you care about, and at the end of the day be able to say..."I've made a difference today".

Cynthia Santos said...

When I was young I used to believe that somehow my life would always be perfect. That everything that was good in the world would magically happen to me and that I would never have problems. Well very soon it my child-driven fantasies vanished. Just because somebody's life isn't perfect doesn't mean that happiness can't exist in their life.

Cynthia Santos said...

When I was young I used to believe that somehow my life would always be perfect. That everything that was good in the world would magically happen to me and that I would never have problems. Well very soon it my child-driven fantasies vanished. Just because somebody's life isn't perfect doesn't mean that happiness can't exist in their life.

Simone said...

I used to believe that Communism was a terrible evil thing. Like, our government was a democracy, and that was best right? Well, my elementary teachers need to reword that; we're a democratic republic and there's a difference. But communism isn't necessarily a bad thing. So some of the stereotypes you grow up with, and are taught in elementary, are disbanded later in life. So nothing is permanent, everything is shifting.

Kathryn said...

I used to believe that there was no bias out there in the world. I think everybody has believed this at one point when they were younger, i mean we do live in Fort Collins which is a great place but pretty sheltered if you think about it. Especially with recent events that belief has gone down the drain. Unfortunately there is a lot of discrimination in the world, just look at Matthew Shepard who we talked about in class the other day. I mean i realize that there are people who discriminate, but when i hear about things like that i am apalled and can't imagine how people could do something that in my opinion is horrible. And this is just one situation, it happens with gender, race, and religion. I guess i'm lucky to live in such an accepting environment, so thanks to all you IB kids who don't ever make me inferior. Lets try and spread that message

Megan said...

I used to purposedly cave to peer pressure because I thought being normal was good. Back in elementary school, doing something or acting out of the ordinary would make you "weird". It even seemed like your teachers tried to strangle you into a routine. So much has changed since then. Now, I don't purposedly try to be different, I just do what I like. I realized that it is really stupid to make yourself unhappy just to conform to do what everyone else happens to be doing.

Meredith Wheeler said...

I used to believe in the two-party system. I was raised in an idyllic liberal home where NPR was always on and politics pervaded dinner table discussion. Now, I am far more conservative than I was as a child, which I suppose goes along with my acquired cynicism. Though I am still socially liberal, I no longer believe in the two-party system's ability to accurately represent the will of the people. We are far more complex politically than Democrat vs. Republican. As we move towards the center (on the political spectrum, the two parties are virtually indistinguishable), I think we move towards a certain common mediocrity which satisfies no one but the elites. I no longer believe that either party entirely fulfills the constitutional standards I still believe so fervently in.

Unknown said...

Like Shiven, I used to believe that money was the most important thing in the world. American society would still lead you to believe this to be true when considering just how much of our entertainment and recreation requires it, but I've recently realized this to be flawed. Money is not necessarily needed to enjoy yourself, although it can sometimes help. I've come to the conclusion that simply being outdoors is almost always the most entertaining thing that one can do, especially in an area such as Fort Collins, which is rich in Natural Areas. Best of all is the fact that it is completely free.

Unknown said...

Well, many people have stated this already but I think it really is the most significant change in my beliefs so far. I always used to take what my parents or other adults in my life said as absolute truth. I have really started noticing, especially when having political discussions with those people, that I no longer really align myself with their thoughts anymore. I am realizing their biases and their life experiences that have influenced their beliefs and I know that I cannot consciously blindly follow those ideas anymore.

Selina Lujan said...

I used to believe that my ethnicity and color defined who I am. With this I believed that I needed to act in accordance with cultural traditions and stereotypes, in order to be accepted in the community that I live in now. Realizing that I am my own person and that I have my own beliefs I really didn't need to conform to societal beliefs. As long as I am happy with myself and am successful in what I do there is no reason to let one thing like color or ethnicity define who I am.

Paigeypoo said...

I use to believe in superstition, black cats, spilling the salt shaker and all that jazz. But nothing ever did happen after i spilled the salt shaker, or broke a mirror. So after nothing happened i realzed it was just all in my head.

Lindsey Goris said...

I used to beleive that in order to be "successful" you had to have a high paying job and live in a big house and have lots of money. I also beleived that I had to go into science or medicine law and make some huge contribution to society, but then I realised that to me success isnt knowing everything and having a huge ammount of money, but doing something that you love, that makes you happy, and something that you are proud of.

tucker said...

I used to believe that i could achieve all my dreams. I know that it sounds really depressing because its in the 'what did you used to believe' blog, but still. While growing up, I thought that most everybody reached their dreams. One day i suddenly got it. i used to dream of being an elite gymnast. i then realized how many people actually get to be elite gymnasts. not many. i then decided that anyone could reach their dreams if they really really dedicated. a few years after that, i realized how many obstacles actually come in your way. I realized that not always can i get over my obstacles. i've decided since then that i don't believe i can achieve all my goals, but i will still dedicate myself to them fully, in hopes that i'm wrong.

leahreynolds said...

I totally agree with Minny. A few years ago I believed that things would just come my way; like the opportunity would be there and all I would have to do is say yes or no. But over the years I have come to notice that when I want to do something I have to go out and look for it myself. Sometimes it can be frustrating and hard, but in the end it is always worth it because I know that I did it without any help. Before, my parents planned everything but now its like im finally grabbing my life by the horns and going in my own direction. I can count on them to be their if I need them but its comforting to know i can do it all on my own.

Bismah A. said...

I used to think that the american way of doing things and way of life was the only way to approach things. When I moved to Germany in 4th grade I was confronted with an entirely new set of social norms and customs, as well as a completely different way of looking at the world around us. I found that in Europe in general there is much more empahasis on environment (even before the massive green movement)and we had to sort our trash at least ten ways. Even things that I thought to be universal, like math, were different. I learned new methods for addition and subtraction as well as a new method of long division. The experience as a whole really opened my eyes, and although in some ways it did make me appreciate the states more, I found that I liked some ways of thinking, and that I would never had been exposed to them had I not ventured out of the country.

Kelsey B said...

I used to believe that a failure was a failure and that all failure was bad, period. Now I realize that failure is generally a bad thing and I am not saying that it isn't, but I am saying that I have learned that there are lessons that can and should be learned from failure that are very important. My sophmore year of high school, I got my first grade in a class that significantly lower that I wanted it to be. Now the actual grade isn't important, it is what I learned from it that matters but it took me a while to realize that. I learned that there were thing that I could have done to help myself that I didn't do, I just sat back and get upset when things didn't turn out the way that I wanted. I could have gone in and talked to the teacher and asked questions about the material, I could have spoken up when I didn't think that the way things were being graded made much sense or when I thought things were not being kept track of the way that they should, but I didn't. I didn't know how to advocate for myself, I just accepted that if the teacher did it that way then that was the way that it should be done and that isn't necessarily true. I was the one who suffered from my not speaking up and I learned the importance of that, so even though my not speaking up resulted in what I reguarded as a failure, I learned a very important lesson that I am not sure I would have learned if not for the experience of "failing," at least by my own standards, at something.

Audrey said...

I really, truly, used to believe that the government always worked with only the best interests of the people in their hearts, and nothing else (and, connected with that, that it's actually possible to act in the best interests of every single person in the country...). I was proved wrong, and have since developed more informed and nuanced views on what's in the public's best interest, but it's still sort of an interesting conundrum to think about: the limits of perception, how you can think you're acting for the best really be totally wrong, and how hard it is to do what's best for even one person, let alone a country full of them.

Noah P said...

I used to believe that if an adult told you something it was true. I especially thought that the more acredited an adult was the more trustworthy they were. How wrong I was. I have come to realize that often adults can be less trustworthy, especially the more acredited they are. This is not due to lack of knowledge, but more to the ignorence that comes with this knowledge. For instance, I respect my dad's opinions greatly, for I share virtually all of them with him, yet he cannot open his mind to new opinions. I tend to be the one trying to present the opositions side to him, for even if he knows the principle of the oposition, he does not understand why they believe that way.

Karam said...

When I was but a young boy, I used to believe in the the notion that "money brings happiness." I used to think that if one was rich and was able to buy anything they wanted, they would truly be living a happy, carefree life. But one should note that this was the same time that I believed the Power Rangers served as our law enforcement. This concept of money=happiness was easy to explain when I was little. If I were to have all the money in the world, I could buy toys and candy and play all day! But as I grew up and lost this childhood innocence it became clearly easy to understand that there are mannnnny other things to live for than money. For example, love, friendships, knowledge, are all things I live for as of now. Of course, money is still a significant part of one's life, but it shouldn't be all that one lives for. I used to believe in money equaling happiness but now i believe in "loving the life I live and living the life I love."

Dylan Sublette said...

I used to believe that every story had a happy ending and that everything would always be all right but this cannot be. When i got older I learned that there are happy endings but they do not happen all the time. I learned that you have to work for everything you have in life and sometimes even if you work hard you still lose but thats life; life is the unknown and all you can do is hope for the best and work toward that bright end.

Nick Jordan said...

When I was a young boy,(kind of like when Karam was a young boy as we were the same age)I believed that friends stayed with you forever. I thought that my best friend in elementary would be my room mate in college and so on. But now I find that friends change a lot with every big step of life, and even some of the small ones. When I went to jr high, the three amigos were split up. Then through jr high I didn't have many friends and that was sad :(, but I did have a few close friends. And in high school I've found the best and truest friends yet, and IB is the best because it sticks all of us together into one big ibfamily.

Liz I. said...

i used to believe, like tess, that if you waited around for something to happen or be completed it would happen. however i have learned that this is not true. if you want something done you have to do it yourself and you can't sit around waiting for everything to come to you. you must be proactive.

Ellen Palmquist said...

I used to believe that anything was possible. I thought I could play for the US women's pro soccer team or be a rock star. I quickly found out that this would not be possible. Although soccer is a passion of mine, I'm not tall enough to be on the US team and I can't sing a note on tune. As much as I would like to believe any of my wildest dreams is possible, I have had to settle with setting the bar a little lower.

hockeysuto22 said...

I used to believe in so many things. I believed that people always had answers, I believed that my parents were going to live forever and so would i. First i'll start by saying that i learned my parents would someday die while watching the Disney Movie, The Lion King. When Mufasa's parents died, I remember turning to my uncle and asking if my parents were ever going to die. He honestly didn't want to lie, so he said nicely that one day they would. This destroyed me. I remember crying my eyes out forever. I didn't want my parents to EVER leave me because without them i thought i would be lost in this world. Well, as i grew up I realized that my parents aren't the only ones to influence me. I also need them to somewhat step out of my life in order for me to mature and grow to be a man.
I also believed in people always having answers. I grew up in school having teachers always ask questions and if i didn't know, they would tell me the answers. However, especially in TOK, I learned that people almost NEVER have the answer. The "truth" that some believe in is based mostly on emotion. There possibly could be no supporting evidence, and yet someone might support it with their whole being because they have faith in that specific thing. I learned that you always have to back up what you learn, with what you believe or think you know.

Callie said...

I used to believe (kind of like Nick Jordan) that friends would stay with you forever and always be there for you. My experiences have proven me wrong because I have had friends move away and never talk to me again,and I have had friends that have just changed and I have very little in common with now. I also used to believe that the United States was the best country in the world and that everything we did was right. After many history classes and paying attention to current events, I would have to say that while the United States has some wonderful opportunities, we have committed some serious errors in the past and it is important to question the actions of the country rather that just going along with them.

Kara said...

I am like Callie and Nick too. I used to believe that I would always be friends with the friends I had in elementary school. When we went to jr. high school, we all started to change and drift apart. Those years going from being best friends to just friendly with eachother was the most difficult and painful times in my life. I learned that friendship isn't invincible no matter how hard you try to hang on and sometimes it is better if you just let go.

Nathan B. said...

One belief I always had as a little kid was that people with a lot of money were the most successful and greatest people on the planet. I don't know what sparked this belief, whether it was the media or friends, but I was very young and very naive. Now I'm almost the opposite as I'm very critical of those who have what I consider "more than their share".

Nathan Beta said...

I used to think that the sun went around the earth. it made sense; the sun goes up, the sun goes down, and nothing changed here. when i was five, my mom told me that that was not true, that the earth went around the sun, and we were just spinning. so, naturally, i tried to test it. i thought that if i spun around, the sun would stop moving because i was spinning the opposite way. good in principle, but totally five year old knowledge. i got dizzy and fell over about ten minutes in.:)

meredith said...

I used to believe that we had all of the answers, and that these answers were absolute truths. I’ve since learned that humans know only a fraction of all there is to know, and that any day what little knowledge we have could be taken away, and be rendered untrue.

Nick Jordan said...

I used to believe that people could get their Disney references straight. But I was proved wrong by Suto. It's SIMBA! not Mufasa! Mufasa doesn't have parents that die, he is big daddy.

jeff_tweedy said...

I totally had a really insightful comment here and it somehow got lost in the internet... so I used to believe that the internet could never fail me, but it has.

-E

(E is short for Ed)