Angela Tolbert
Critical Reflection 1
On Liberty: Ch 3 & 4 I connected with this reading a lot. I am a strong advocate for individuality and the right to express that, and I’m glad that Mill was supportive of the idea that basically ­ to paraphrase ­ if a person’s actions or opinions aren’t harmful they should be able to act or think whatever or however they want. I wrote down “One whose desires and impulses are not his own, has no character, no more than a steam engine has character” because it’s so true! He pretty much was like if you follow the crowd, you’re basic and are probably as interesting as plain toast. I feel so similar to this. Especially from experience. I used to just want to “fit in” and be like everyone else, wear what the most popular look is, but it was always so hard because deep down I knew I was too weird for that. Once I actually stopped caring what other people thought of me, acted as an individual, and owned my own personal beliefs without fear of backlash, my life made so much more sense. Mill used the metaphor of sheep, and I use that metaphor a lot. I actually had a conversation a few days ago about how in a world of sheep I’m cool with being an alpaca.
Like..I’m not drastically different from everyone else to where I’m a complete spectacle, but I’m admired for being different. Another point from the reading that stood out to me was “Genius can only breathe free in an atmosphere of freedom”. It’s true. If there aren’t enough people who can embrace the higher intelligence of certain people, they’ll be