There are a lot of different
factors that influence and ultimately determine an individual’s behavior. These
factors can range from general moral standards on a personal level to more
calculated reasons like trying to impress someone and anywhere in between. What
most people don’t realize is that other people can tell if one’s behavior is
honestly genuine or completely fake. These differences in behavior are part of
what contributes to a person’s reputation.
For the most part I can say that I
have been content with the reputations I have held so far in life. Although I
don’t really care about reputations and what people really think about other’s
behavior, I do think it is best to associate one’s self with a respectable
society for a variety of reasons. One reputation that came to mind as I was
reading the prompt is my reputation that I had in high school. According to my
mom, I was raised differently than some other kids that I grew up with. A big
part of this is she explained that she wanted me to hold myself to a higher
standard than what I see from my peers around me. I was never really sure what
she met by this, but I did notice some differences in my behavior as compared
to other’s behavior. I would argue that I try to carry a decent character in
most scenarios in life. I think this has contributed to the majority of my
reputations being what I would expect. Back to my overall reputation in
highscool, I would that I was seen as a hard working kid that also liked to
socialize. I went to a high school of 400 students where my grandpa had
previously been the principal and my mom was a current teacher in the district.
I remember at the time thinking that I also had a family reputation that I had
to uphold. From a teacher’s perspective, I was at the top of my classes while
getting straight A’s and never really complained like some others. I wasn’t
really friends with everyone in the school, but I tried to treat everyone with
respect and have a good time. I think that my reputation helped lead to a
variety of accomplishments in high school including being the captain of my
football team as well as the president of the school’s National Honor Society.
I didn’t really get in trouble a lot, which I think I can give credit to the
fear of my parents as well as the sense of “being in trouble.” However, as
important as my success in school was to me, I also really cared about the
social aspects. I went to a lot of parties on the weekends and even hosted a
few of my own. I remember some fellow students thinking this wasn’t a good move
considering my positions, so I could probably equate that towards a negative reputation
with some students. All in all, I would argue that my reputation has evolved
over the years as I have gotten older as well as gained more experiences.
In this scenario as well as the
majority of other areas that I could have a reputation, I would say that I have
never “cashed it in” for some sort of immediate gain. I understand why some
people might be tempted to do this, especially if the amount of gain is of
significant worth or even worth than the reputation itself. However, I think
that one’s behavior should be for what they honestly stand for, and therefore
their reputation should be genuine. I realize that this is an ideal that myself
and others might strive for, but I have also met a variety of different people
that could care less about their reputation.
Though you posted this list night, it only showed up in my blog reader after class today.
ReplyDeleteYou say you don't care about your reputation. As a student I can understand that. But you are supposed to graduate soon and for getting a job, especially beyond the first one out of the box, you typically need references who will speak about your qualifications. Do you not care about that, as well?
Professor,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your comment I reread my post a few times and I realized I that I sort of mistakenly made it sound like I completely don't care about my reputation. I was aiming more towards addressing that it is something that I don't overly stress about. I see some people who will act differently around certain groups of people in order to manage multiple high reputations with each group. In some cases this can create conflicting decisions, that could ultimately hinder one's reputation with another group. While I do care about my reputation as a whole, I am not interested in falsely impressing a group of people if it is against what I generally believe in.
William,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, it seems like your time in high school really humbled you and taught you some valuable lessons about your character. I think your line about being able to tell if peoples behavior is genuine or fake is really good and I believe the same thing. Also similarly, I personally do not over stress about how people perceive my reputation, but that isn't to say I don't try and align myself with respectable society and keep a good image.
Will,
ReplyDeleteAnother great blog. I was raised in a similar sense to you because I was always taught to be the bigger man in every situation and carry myself as a high-minded individual. These lessons have helped me ten-fold in life because I think the greatest thing you can show a person is respect for them and respect for yourself. My mom also taught at the small middle school I went to so I went to so I also felt that I had to keep the family name upheld while there. I got great grades and participated in multiple sports and activities in order to maintain a good reputation at the school just as my older brother did before me
Pertaining to what you said in the beginning about people being able to tell if others are being genuine, you might consider that since the point of deception is to make others believe you are telling the truth, a successful deception would be perceived as truthful. The people you think of as genuine could simply be the best liars.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have built a very positive reputation for yourself even without having that as an explicit goal. You've also managed to keep that reputation overall while being social in some ways that might be considered as cashing in on a reputation in some circumstances.
You've referred to the idea that maintaining a reputation leads one to not being genuine with others, as if a reputation is used as a mask. You might consider that building up a reputation could also be a way for someone to show others their true self through their overall behavior. A reputation might cause others in a social group to think of you as the way you genuinely are (i.e., if you are genuinely a good student who truly cares about your learning, working hard in class and scoring highly on exams will let others know what kind of a person you are.)