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1. We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are.

Reason is always and everywhere the slave of the passions - David Hume (1711-76)
We see and understand things not as they are but as we are. In order to more fully understand
and question this statement, it must be broken down to its core. We see, is referring to the way
in which a human perceive the world. If looked at from a visual perspective, one person will see
a guitar in the exact same way as millions of others do. However, see in this case is referring
to the thought process that occurs in our minds after we use our five senses (touch, smell, hear,
tastes and see) to perceive the object or idea and is very closely linked to understand which is
to think about and comprehend something. The word things is referring to anything in the
world, whether it is a tangible object, a thought, a concept, a theory, an emotion, etc. The phrase,
not as they are but as we are, is implying that we see the world differently from everyone else
as our past experiences mould the way in which we see and understand things. Furthermore,
the statement also suggests that everything has one absolute, true form which exists and can only
be seen through a person who holds no bias. Therefore, the way in which we view the world
tells us more about ourselves, then the world itself.
We wouldnt have much knowledge of the outside world without our perception. For example,
in many parts of Eastern Europe, a head-nod means NO and a shake means YES; anyone from
south Asia would be totally confused if trying to establish contact through head-gestures. The
central issue here is that, a same thing is perceived differently by different observers due to
various aspects in their lives. These perceptions are often strongly influenced by our experiences
and memories, religion, personality, culture and even gender. Plato defined knowledge as Justified
True Belief. Mostly the knowledge primarily is based on cultural backgrounds and past knowledge.
For example dogs will always scare a man if he has been bitten by dog in the childhood while
some people on the other hand have dogs as pets and loves them as their own children.
One of the main issues of knowledge in this context would be to explore the question that states
that do emotions affect the way we see and understand things? For example, sacrifice of self is
highly appreciated in some cultures but in others self reliance is honoured the most. This reveals
that culture plays a significant role in what we see and how we perceive it. Similarly, when it
comes to business, an Indian seeks to build trust in order to do business. For Americans, this is
frustrating because this takes time. And for them, its the other way around. Trust happens later,
as a consequence of business, or what is called a track record.
Religion also plays a part in the perception of people. For example Muslims and Jews are not
allowed to eat pork and they have religious justifications to prove their belief, but for the rest of
the world, it is quite normal to eat pork and in many countries, they serve it both at their national
and holy events. Therefore a same event in time and space cannot be perceived by same point
of view by particular group of people. These three examples reveal clearly that perception is so
strongly influenced by emotions, culture and religion that people see the reality as they are not
as the reality is.
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Sometimes one comes across knowledge that seems authentic and is also well-accepted, but that
is not true. I will quote the 4th century BC concept that the earth is flat. Lack of equipment and
modern technology lead ancient scientists to claim this hypothesis. The scientists justified this
hypothesis by saying that if earth was not flat; rather sphere then the things on the curved
surface of the earth would slide and fall down. Moreover they also justified that the earth
appears to be flat even viewed from a high altitude. Since their conclusion (justifications) made
sense to the people of that era, so they considered this knowledge valuable. But with the passage
of time, scientists realized that earth is spherical instead of flat. They justified this belief by
showing the fact that if earth was flat then, all the bodies in the sky should be visible at the same
time for all parts of the surface. Also when a ship disappears in the horizon justifies that the
earth is sphere. These justifications were not enough for old believers of flat earth. Advancement
in science and technology made humans land on moon. When astronauts showed pictures of
earth taken from the surface of moon, people started believing the new knowledge. Pictures
served as proof for the belief. Even in the presence of these strong reasoning some old religious
scientists deny the fact and are still proving their old knowledge. They believe that in such cases
pictures can serve as propaganda. Knowledge based on photographs could be biased or subjective.
Thus this example shows that the knowledge that people value the most is the one with their
own concrete justifications based on the circumstances or the previous knowledge.
More there are justifications, more reliable the belief is, but sometimes even justifications and
proofs fail to convince people. So this whole discussion can be concluded by saying that knowledge
that is most valuable traits depends on how it is acquired, from person to person. If for someone
any knowledge that satisfies his belief, emotions, and actions is valued to him. Then it is not true
knowledge, instead it should help to universalize these and should be able to remove biases.
There is seldom such a thing as an absolute truth, as it is nearly impossible to remove bias from
ones mind. Everything we see and hear causes us to come to a conclusion about what we have
seen or heard based upon our own experiences up to that point.

2. Character determines destiny

Watch your thoughts, for they become your words, choose your words, for they become your actions,
understand your actions, for they become your habits, study your habits, for they will become your
character, develop your character for it becomes your destiny...
History is largely known to us through the acts, thoughts and spoken words of great heroes
whose character shaped their times. But as important as it is to understand how powerful
character is in influencing events, it is of greater importance to recognize how powerful we are
in molding our own character and, therefore, in controlling our destiny. Character may indeed
determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate.
A bad habit has a long term negative consequences, but it still gives immediate comfort thats
why unaware of the negative consequences people so blissfully get addicted to the immediate
comfort . They cannot accept the bad of their habits, but can accept the situation of becoming
socially unpopular and unacceptable.
Alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity are to the physical health, what gossiping,
backbiting, criticising, jealousy and hatred are to the mental health. These are the habits which
are termed as bad. Some people, when things go wrong, thinking that life had been unjust and
unkind to them, in self-pity join the downward trend and take to drinking, drug abuse etc and
their lives will further be snarled up by bad habit patterns followed by bad human relations.
A man of character is he who commands the respect and admiration of all. It is true, that in
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many cases heredity and upbringing play their part in strengthening and perfecting a mans
character. Then there is the influence of the age in which one lives. Character is the sum of those
qualities, actions and tendencies which distinguish one man from another. In this scene many
men do not have definite character. As Oscar Wilde puts it, Most people are other people.
Their thoughts are someone elses opinions. their passions a quotations. So the first essential of
character is individuality and independence. It does not mean that the man of character should
all the time do what others have not done to keep up his independence. That would be foolishness.
What is meant is that the man of character should be able to go against the accepted view or
opinion or convention when his judgment guides him to do so.
Another essential of character is that the evil passions should be effectively checked or conquered.
A man of character is not to be swayed of his path of duty and rectitude by a temptation. All
of us cannot be saints. But if we have any pretensions to character we should see that we do
not give way to evil passions. These cannot be destroyed altogether, but they should be held in
check. This means that the man of character should have a regulated and finely tempered will.
On the negative side it would help him to restrain and control undesirable feelings; on the
positive side it would enable him to make up his mind about something quickly and finally.
Prejudices should not be encouraged. A man of prejudices and superstitions cannot be a man of
character.
Character is often thought of as something fully formed and permanently fixed early in life. This
belief implies that we have very little to do with who we are, that what we call character is
essentially a composite of hereditary tendencies and temperaments, and environmentally imposed
values and attitudes.
This fatalistic notion must be challenged as exercising good character is a choice. There is no
doubt that the good and bad habits that become our virtues and vices are strongly influenced
by both our inheritance and environment. But in no sense is anyone predestined to be good or
bad, nor is a persons character permanently fixed by external circumstances.
Describing a persons character is like taking inventory of that persons habits of thought and
action at a particular time. Of course its not easy to change our ways as our habits of heart and
mind are well entrenched, rooted in durable dispositions and beliefs. Yet just as a mountain is
constantly being reshaped by weather, our character can be reformed by our choices. Our
human capacity to reason and choose makes the formation of our character an ongoing, lifelong
process.
Real life is not a clockwork mechanism but a fluid, complex, dynamic system. We are parts of
this system so it doesnt help to think of ourselves as absolute slaves or masters of it. Nothing is
completely fixed or free because everything is affected by what surrounds it. We should simply
change what we can, knowing that we cannot control everything. Given this the question arises
what can rescue us from temptations that surround us? If we are aware of the end results, how
bad habits can really hurt and twist our lives, worse still our childrens lives and probably may
result in a broken home, we will develop a defence mechanism, which will make us pause, stop
and not proceed into darkness of evil habits.
Our inclinations will lead us in certain directions, but we dont have to follow them all the time.
After all, we can train ourselves to behave differently. Even if we are introverted, for instance,
we can push ourselves to be a bit more sociable sometimes, whether we feel like it or not. Going
with the grain may be more comfortable, but there is no reason why we should always be
comfortable. Taking inspiration from Aristotle, we should remember that altering our habits can
be a powerful tool for self-training. Humans are complex and multifaceted, neither completely
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fixed nor infinitely flexible. Even some of our enduring personality traits can change, although
we do not really know to what extent until we try. Taking refuge behind such phrases as Im
like this wont do: we should take responsibility for making an effort if we have good reason
to. How we think about who we are can make all the difference.

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