VII- A Brave New World

O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.

- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1

With the arrival of summer, hundreds of thousands from all over the world began their transition from the world of academia into the real world. After many years of studying they were to be finally given a sheet of paper stating they were capacitated to serve society as qualified workers. In his diploma, which he would soon receive, Leonardo would be able to read the words “Bachelor of Arts – Philosophy and Politics”.

Three years before that, the idea of studying such interesting subjects have seemed excellent to him, a considerable amount of thought having preceded the choice to study them. Now, however, he wasn’t sure if he had made the right choice any more.

            After all, what was he supposed to do with that specific degree? Which of the skills that he had acquired in the past 3 years could actually be employed in a pragmatic, profitable activity?

Philosophy, he considered first: the love of knowledge. Studying the works of the most important philosophers and having learned to argue his point of view competently had certainly made him a more interesting and cultivated person. Yet, it had brought him very little in terms of practical skills. In the modern world, unlike in Ancient Greece or Rome, there’s little demand for professional philosophers.

            And what about Politics? What is anyone supposed to do with a politics degree anyways? It’s a very interesting field of study, no doubt, but what can you actually do with it? Becoming a politician wouldn’t be a bad bet, except that it doesn’t pay any bills. Even more importantly, being a politician where exactly? In Portugal ? Maybe in Brazil? The idea of spending his entire life in one of those two countries displeased him considerably, which seriously went against the idea of becoming a professional politician in any of those two nations.  

            In spite of all this, Leonardo felt free, that’s for sure. The final results of his exams and dissertation were still pending of course, but he was fairly confident he had done well in all of them. He had made sure that he would pass by applying himself quite hard in the last few months. During that time, the idea of becoming finally free had driven him to work hard unlike anything before that. Now it was finally over, and he was free.

            Yet the joy of freedom often carries with it the responsibility of choice. His case was to be no exception. He had finally graduated and left the academic world behind, and now a new world presented itself to him.

            During twenty-five years he had been preparing himself for that moment. He had climbed the ladder, step by step, patiently and diligently. From the age of six to the age of ten he had learned how to write, how to count, a little bit of English, some fundamental mathematical notions, some history and geography, a bit of science… From ten to fifteen his training continued, he learned about literature and grammar, English and French, History and Geography, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and so on… Then in high school his learning was directed into the humanities: History, Geography, Literature, Philosophy and Languages. Then he went to University, where he first studied Law and later Politics and Philosophy.  Along the way, he had learned to speak three new languages.

            So now was the moment to use all that. The time for learning was over and the time to act had arrived.  So where to begin?

            The truth was, he didn’t know where to begin. He didn’t know what to do. All of a sudden, his life seemed like a big sham. After that many years of preparation, so much money and time thrown into his formation, he really felt like he couldn’t do anything. Ironically enough, he didn’t feel prepared for what lay ahead. Worst than that, he wasn’t even sure where he was supposed to go or do.  

            That is, he certainly knew what he was “supposed to do”. Every boy in his generation has been told how they’re supposed to live their lives countless times: “Get out of your mom’s uterus – cry – breathe - learn how to walk, talk and go to the bathroom by yourself - go to school - enroll at university – graduate from university - get a job - get married - have kids – (get divorced - spend a good sum of money on a flashy sports car in order to find a girl half your age no brains and big boobs) - grow old – (be sorry for everything you’ve done wrong during your life - be sorry for everything you wanted to do but you didn’t during your life) - and finally: die.”

The truth is, we are all indoctrinated by our parents, by our grandparents, by our teacher, by TV, by our bosses, by our friends and even by ourselves, and everyone knows how it’s supposed to go.

            The thing is, what if you don’t wanna comply to the rules. What if you wanna be different? What if you want to find out for yourself what you REALLY WANT TO DO? Then what?

Then my friend you will probably have to stray from the “official” path and take your chances and that’s what. And this was what Leonardo started realizing. He began to understand that the journey to self-discovery was from being over, and that he was probably going to be alone during most of it.

The Traveller is Listening to:

Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve, 1997)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74&noredirect=1