ISSUE 3
JUNE 2020
Our core values by Dorotheea Stejar 6F
They are rules. But they are not the kind we despise, the “made to be broken” type. These values are rules we follow involuntarily, which determine our way of life, our choices, and, in the end, the future of our society. The widely known ancient Greek philosopher by the name of Aristotle once claimed that, “educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” This statement conveys a quite elaborate meaning, which many don’t seem to fully grasp. That it’s no use having an outstanding logical comprehension of the surrounding world if your emotional intelligence is not as cultivated. Experiences affecting us psychologically rather than physically cause the human brain to automatically decide whether the happenings were beneficial or not. It creates the basic concept of good and bad. This is where the previous talk about core values starts to make sense. This concept is solely mental, and we consider things good or bad according to the principles we imposed for ourselves. To conclude, I believe one of the most significant factors that caused us to evolve are core values. And not only did they lead how we wrote the history of humankind until now, but they will continue to forever.
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D O R O T H E E A S T E J A R / 6D
The disputed question of whether humans are animals or not brings some of us to wonder this: What makes us human? The common answer to this is that the difference between us and other species is mainly our intellect. What I fail to understand is why we are satisfied with mainly, why we don’t delve deeper into this subject. What brought us so far, apart from our natural survival instinct, is our wish to evolve. Our intellectual superiority in comparison to other species is one of the many factors that aided this constant need for evolution. It isn’t our logical thinking alone that differentiates us from animals, but our emotional impulses, our ability to subconsciously generate a set of principles we follow, as well. These principles we call core values. But what are they, really, setting aside fancy words and complicated explanations?
