Ahhh...the unwitting brilliance of Eminem. He's no Lupe or Jay-Z, but although, not my favorite rapper, I do honor him as a poet. His ideas are always worthwhile, and although many find his...verbiage, distasteful, offensive or unintelligent, I sort of welcome his viewpoints and his unique expressive take on the world at large. And the song the title references is pretty cool, so...
How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...". I know I've said it at least once in the past month! In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?
It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make?
Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences. My question is: Why? Why do we care? Why is it important? Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us? Or do they? Be honest with yourself when you answer. After all, it's just us.
(400 words/55pts)
Hello. Thank you for waking up at 4:46 AM to write this. I always feel the need to be honest with this specific topic. Most people stray away from me for this reason. Dudes that I have beef with don't talk to me because they know how I will react because everybody knows at this point that I don't give a crap. I just don't care. I obviously care about school and everything that involves school because I want to be successful. I want to succeed where others haven't yet. It's important to be yourself and uncaring of what others think because it gives a person positive confidence and I think caring shows the real "bitch" in someone. That's why dudes get raped in prison. They become overpowered. But if you don't care what the consequence is in the end, I think that will show others that you don't care how "bad" they are, you're a firm individual. I think people can be scared of consequences in the end. If you're being pressured in school and you're afraid of getting in trouble, you will care. It depends on a person's upbringing. My upbringing was definitely awesome and it focused on this topic. My dad made sure i wasn't a bitch. And that's how I believe. So if I sound harsh at times, I DON'T CARE. (no offense)
ReplyDeleteAsk me that question face to face and I would tell you that no person affects who I am or how I act. However, since this is a blog and I have been honest for every one so far I feel the need to keep that streak up. My name is Keith Theriault and I’m a product of who surrounds me. Ever since I was young I’ve been obsessed with the idea of fitting in so I wouldn’t be the kid in the corner all by himself. I’ve changed clothing styles, hair styles, and the way I treat some people. Now granted all these weren’t bad changes, but they were still changes because of the people who I encounter everyday of my life. I have tried many times to make a couple tweaks in my life in order to fit the general stereo type of my generation. For example I have never drunk more than a sip of alcohol at any time, but as I grow older I feel that slipping away from me. Everyday I hear stories of people drinking and having a great time and other people asking me to drink because they would think I would be hilarious at a party. Now with each passing day I feel myself drawn closer and closer to have a drink so I can please others and not to mention I am kind of curious on what kind of drunk I am. I feel that when people say “I don’t care what people think of me” are liars whether they realize it or not. Day after day we have some kind of human contact with another person and no matter what that contact is it has changed us in some way. We pick our likes, our dislikes, and our personality based off of the people we encounter and our reaction towards them. It is other people that help mold and create each person so it is only natural for us to worry about what other people think about us.
ReplyDeleteThe simple question however is why. Why do I or all of us for that matter care about what others think. My main reason I think we care so much is because of the simple fact its human nature to want to fit in. Since we want to fit in we try to impress certain people so we have friends to talk to. We will change what ever we need to that doesn’t affect our morals in order to fit in with a certain group. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it’s just who we are as people. As long as we want friends we will always care what other people think of us whether we realize it or not. It’s just another one of those human things that is hard to explain.
I can’t really understand the question but what I can say is that I don’t really care if people don’t think I give all my potential in everything. Because really I give it my all in anything if it comes down to sports, school, or just life in general. My mom always taught me to always give it my all no matter what it is. I live by that every day. I expose my potential to my friends, and family because I guess you can say they look up to me. My cousin always says that he is going to take after me because I give it my all with everything and don’t care want people think. I guess I am a big influence for him but I don’t think so. Anyway I believe everyone should always work hard no matter what it is. Like today I had winter track practice we had to run five 200m dashes and two laps around the track we had to sprint the straight away and jog the corners. I came in first in all five 200m dashes and first in the two lap thing. I defiantly gave it my all. I was hurting bad at the end of practices. There were people who were mad that we had to do it I was one of them. But when it came down to doing it I gave it my all because I knew I had to get better. When it comes to sports and school I kind of try to do the same for both. What I mean is as hard as I run or as hard as I hit on the football field is how I study for a test and do my homework. But of course you do have those lazy days when you don’t do your homework or you miss that tackle. But those are one of the things I got to work on. So to conclude to want I’m saying is that the potential I give is my all and I expose as much as I can and don’t really care what people think.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of at a loss for words for a moment. I had to think hard! Do I care how people perceive me? I came to the conclusion that I do. It's kind of confusing the way that I'm thinking about it. I feel like if you act a certain way, people will perceive you that way. If people think I am ghetto for example there must be a reason. (although I am not "ghetto") Also if you hang out with a group of people, other people will automatically assume that you have the same personality and ways as they do, whether they are good or bad.
ReplyDeleteThen again I don't care what other people think. If they don't have facts to back up what they are saying about me, they can get lost. I feel as though nobody's opinion matter but the ones that really know and love me. If your just some hater outsider, i probably coulnd't care less. In y opinion there's always two sides for everything. I also think people say that they don't care to make themselves look stronger and ore self confident. Sometimes people care about what other people think when they have low self esteem. They want everybody to like them and want to fit in everywhere. Life isn't that way! There seems to be no independence. Meaning people don't know how to stand on their own two feet without riding on the coat tail of a friend or family member. In the end it all comes down to the person and how much they truly love themeselves. If they can stand alone then what other people think most likely won't have an effect.
All I know is that with me it depends on the situation. I don't want to be hanging around a group of thieves and people think that I am a thief as well. That's when I would care but if it's just your opinion than it doesn't matter to me. People are going to have their opinions until the day you die, its your choice to listen or brush it off your shoulder. In most cases I choose to brush it off.!
I have heard that life is 10% what happens and 90% how you react to it. Everyone can influence your life with what they do to you. However, the question is can they influence how you react. There are only a few people who's opinions of me matter. The reason why I don't let people get to me is because I know everything they say is either untrue or I have accepted it. I know my flaws and am trying to get rid of them, but until then I know them as a part of me.
ReplyDeleteAnother, good quote for this is "Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults." People while try to influence with not only negative comments, but positive ones as while. I will thank some for a complaint, however unless it is one of the handful people I while treat it like any insult, untrue or I already know.
how could it not ? expectially in high school. everybody wants to belong somewhere and what people think of you plays a big part. We seem to change our selves to fit into peope expectatios like what they want us to be for them to like us. but its not all that bad because as we grow we take that and alittle bit of personallity and make it our own and become our own person. its the same for parental pressure i all ways want to make my parents happy even if that means i have to join a club or two that im not even interested in then hey thats what ill do and it would kind of mold me to be the person imma be in the future.By saying this im not saying change yourself in a bad way should we care about what people say No but we do and it could either make or break you ! for me i do care about what some people think of me. its kind of a pride issue when i start to care about what people think of me i feel as though im beneath them and when i dont care i feel like ( excuse my language ) im the shit and thats when i find myself to become lonlyer with no friends and honestly who wants that. but their are some what i like to call haters out there and thats what i mean when i say some peoples opion of my personality dosent matter. its like i sorta of kinda know who i am as a indivual but im not fully sure and thats when peoples expectations and perceptions og me come to play. when i fully understand myself thats when i can truly say i dont give a damn about what people say about me becasue i would would already know who i am as a person and no outsider can tell me anything about myself and since fully there yet i tend to lose my way when i let what people get to me and i stray away from myself and who i forming to become just to please everyone around me and i forget about me and what i think and how i feel and thats what i mean when i say when i begin to listen to others i feel beneath them. eventually i will learn to not care !
ReplyDeleteIn my past I can honestly say I use to care what other people thought about me. Being a black kid in an all white place I felt like an outsider and I tried really hard to fit in with all the white kids. I was insecure cause I knew I was different and I believed that the kids would make fun of me because of how different I was. I tried to like their music, I tried to like their clothes, their styles and their ways, but it didn’t feel right to me. Growing I found out that I didn’t have to fit in with the white kids cause they were corny and I didn’t really like them that much. I realized this in the 7th grade and it was during that time started to walk my own path as my own person. I try not to care about what other people think about me cause people are going to talk about me till the day I die and I cant let every little thing someone says get to me. When someone tries to say something rude and ignorant to me I come back and say something just as rude or I do something really stupid to make them feel dumb. I see in the hallways at school and in life how people treat other people and I see how men and women change their personalities to please other people, it makes me sick and feel sorry for those people cause they are throwing away their dignity and pride for nothing. There are some things that people will say to me that will get me upset and I will want to do something to change myself because of their statement. I realize though I don’t need to change myself cause what people say, I think I am fine just the way I am.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Why in the world would I care about what others think of me? I'm seriously trying to think why I do this to myself. To be concerned with others, it's like I want their approval? I can't answer this question. I honestly don't know why. I know that I don't care for their approval, yet again I don't want them to think of me a certain way or talk about me in a certain way. I will even go and try to stop the talking, or change the way they preserve me. I get bothered, and irritated when I find out something someone said about me that's not true.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time when it comes to my thoughts, and belief system, I honestly don't care about what most people think of it. I don't care what they assume from it, or even if they like it. I'm very confident and stubborn with my way of life, my mind set, and my paths. Yet oddly enough I do care if someone thinks something I am not. For example if someone calls me out of my name, or says something about me that would hinder with my reputation and my image that I like to have then I will be concerned, and let you know too. I also get FREAKED out if someone thinks something negative about my physical appearance. I'm super self conscious, and I will get hurt about what others show as a reaction. Even though I will try to look nice, when I want too. I always hope I don't look too fat or too ugly, and most of all make sure no one stares at me long enough to be able to examine me and my hideous flaws, at the end of the day no matter how ugly I feel, as long as I'm comfortable then I still won't change. I refuse to try and look good for someone else's pleasure. Again, I'm clueless to weather it's because I truly don't give two birds, or I'm just too stubborn and proud to fall to someone's opinion.
I'm not going to lie, this is by far the hardest blog I had to do. I simply never was the type that didn't know the answer or what to say. I simply don't know why. Maybe it's a mystical thing about life, the way you try to satisfy others sub consciously. Maybe I'm lying to myself, and that deep deep down I just want to fit in and not be too much or more of an outcast.
A lot of people view me as a weirdo, and I will admit that I have been influenced by other’s views on me, but for the most part I don’t mind what anyone thinks about me. I’ve been called ugly, lazy and weak, but I don’t care. I don’t use anti-acne cream, I don’t push myself to work up to my high expectations, and you’ll never find me working out in a gym (unless it’s required of P.E., of course). Peer pressure has virtually no effect on me. 8th grade, a few people were playing spin the bottle as I was at the other side of the room doing something else. They walked over and said that it pointed directly at me. They had a girl and tried to get us to kiss. I resisted, but I didn’t have to put up much of a fight as the girl was a head shorter than me. I never tried beer or smoked, and I don’t plan to. I think that the main reason most people are affected by social influence is because of the desire to be normal, or accepted by society. They think that if they don’t act like others, then others won’t like them. Today, my friend Brendan posted on my wall about how much the show ‘Hey Arnold’ sucks. He said that nobody likes the show, but I said that I don’t care. ‘Hey Arnold’ was one of my favorite shows on Nickelodeon when I was a kid, and I like it even more now as a young adult. Basically, influence is just when other people convert you to share their opinion and teach you why it’s better, even though in many cases there is no real reason to be on either side of the argument. Sometimes, I myself fall into influence. I changed the way I act in front of people so that I could make friends. Eventually, that mask turned into a real face. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does complicate my life a little. However, the pressure that probably hit me the most is to be against mainstream. I had a desire to be different at all costs. If somebody was listening to a popular song, I would hate it. ‘Death Note’ was a very popular anime when it came out; there were shirts at Hot Topic, it would be on TV every night, etc. Too many people would come up to me and say “Nick, you should totally watch this show. It’s awesome!” I didn’t watch it only because of its huge fan-base. In time, I decided to give it a try and loved it. It was a masterpiece; a real work of art. It still annoyed me that it was so immensely popular, but this taught me that I shouldn’t like or hate something merely because of pressure or influence. Nowadays, I actually enjoy a little rap and ‘House’ every now and again. So, never give into pressure unless you think it is actually worth a try, and always stick to your own opinion no matter what.
ReplyDeleteHaha the age old question....
ReplyDeleteWell these are a great place to be honest and so i shall. I, to be completly honest, do not care what other people think anymore. However I'm not going to lie and say that i never have and to be completly honest a chain of recent events has taken away(pardon my language) my ability to give a shit. Now i can not lie, once upon a time i did care i was just like most teenagers and for that fact most humans, my goal was always trying to seek social acceptance. now dont get me wrong my goal isnt to be some form of rebel trying to take on the conformists but i do more or less do what i want and say how i feel all the time with no remorse. however i do understand why people allow others to influence their actions, and this is a vauge senseless attempt at social acceptance and to be a part of a bigger thing, the issue resides in that one shouldnt change who they are or allow themselfs to put on a fasad to obtain this because there will always be someone out there who will accept you and think what you are is good. Please dont take me for some cheesy school teacher when i tell you this but it is the truth. This isnt to say that i think people should follow in my actions because that makes people the same as what we are talking about that i feel isnt correct. I also dont advise my way of life because sometimes i am taken as being harsh or being mean, truth is that yes sometimes my opions are mean but they are the truth. so my advise to anyone just live how u really want to dont try to be something your not and dont change who you are.
To an extent I care what people think, but ill never make a choice based on what people think. The one exception to this is if it was someone I care about and respected, my mother and father would be a perfect example of someone I would make a choice based on what they are going to think of me. I think it is natural to care what other people think of you just because of curiosity. You sit and wonder what other think about you. To be honest I wouldn’t want to know what other people thought of me because I just think it would hurt me if I new. People are extremely mean and if your just some kid walking down the hall I don’t care about you and I don’t care what you would have to say about me because you don’t know me. It is not important people just waste there time caring about what other think…. But in all reality why does it matter. If your having fun doing what you want to do, there isn’t a care in the world. It has an influence on us because the fact I think its human nature to want to be accepted. If people don’t like you than your not going to fit in but if u do what people think is cool than you will most likely fit in. it really just depends the person you are. I go school all the time in sweatpants and a sweater, I also find myself some mornings so lazy that I just throw stained up sweatpants on. This is gross if you ask me it just looks grimy ,but I’ve come to a point in my life where I really just don’t care anymore I hate how your pressured to look good and wear nice things in school. This is how I know that I truly don’t care what people think of me because if I did I would get up dress nice do my hair and put make up. There’s no need for all that I am who I am and if you don’t like it than see you later.
ReplyDeleteFor starters Eminem is AWESOME. He is one of the artist that has influence on my iPod. Anyhow I feel as though for myself other peoples opinions don't really matter. There are however those hand full of people who's opinion you actually take into consideration. At school for instance, majority of the people here aren't important enough for me to give a second thought about. I'm not here to impress anybody because the fact is that most of these people aren't going to be a factor in my future. After I leave school I'll more than likely never see three fourths of the kids. But with everything there are always exceptions. Of course people that you like, i.e girlfriends/boyfriends, people your attracted to etc., their opinions will matter but that's because your trying to impress them. With me the only people who's opinions matter are those that actually have rank and sometimes not even them. I guess it's just the person themself. If I do pay attention to someones opinion I just take it as an opportunity to look at myself the way I probably wouldn't normally. If people do think a certain way of me though then that's their perception, it doesn't make it wrong or right, so I just let 'em think what they want
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