Walker Percy's, The Loss of the Creature - Essay Example

There are several instances in school where having a preformed mind about certain issues can deny a student the real pleasure and joy of going through the experiences. As a student, I have desires to achieve several things through my learning. For instance, I want to get high grades, get a good job, and be an important member of the society. The desire to achieve these objectives often seems to override the real experience of going through the education system, thereby depriving the system of its joy and wonderful experience.

I tend mostly to focus on what will happen after my education, or after my tests, at the expense of trying to focus on the education itself and the values of the tests. Before joining school, my school, I had heard a lot about the school from former students. I had also conducted an online search of the school before submitting my application. This process helped me to have a preconceived idea about the school even before I was enrolled. Surprisingly, this is what most of the students do before the join their dream schools.

According to Percy, The curiosity and desire to know about something can derail one from enjoying the experience of discovering the process. Preconceived ideas create social biases and prejudices, which can hamper critical thinking and proper decision-making. For instance, I may have overlooked other schools, which may have been better than my current school, due to the prejudice I had from my preconceived ideas. Percy also argues that human beings do not often appreciate the full value of their lives because they unintentionally adopt passive roles.

It is almost as if human beings have lost their sovereignty and control of their experiences unintentionally. The loss of sovereignty can be seen when people create symbolic complexes, which undermine an individual’s ability to actively engage in issues. One example in which Percy uses to illustrate this loss is his description of a tourist couple that goes