What Exactly Is a Line - Essay Example

Tara Gray McHenry ENC 1101-4407 August 9, 2007 A Little Line of Thought We’ve all heard common words used a thousand times in our conversations and other social interactions and some have been misused and abused that they have lost their important meanings. This statement is perfectly exemplified by our definition and concept of the word “line.” At the mention of this word, most of us typically think of a thread-like mark on a piece of paper traced with a writing utensil. But what exactly is a line? Lines when taken in deeper consideration can refer to a wide array of things. They can suggest and promote psychological and humanitarian issues. These all correlate with the way we think and act as people. In these terms, a line can be a shallow mind, hatred, ignorance, segregation, and an arrogant person. In essence, the word “line” almost always implies dissimilarities, divisions, and opposition in our world. A line is something that delineates boundaries and sets limits on the ideas, beliefs and actions of humankind. A line is a shallow mind. Shallow minds are narrowly constricted and do not allow for any room for critical thinking and reasoning. They cannot see past one aspect of an idea, situation or problem. They could not comprehend the idea of a challenge thus they never really rise above that is asked of them. Their trend of thoughts is static and stale. If you feed a shallow mind with garbage information, then expect to get garbage information in return. A shallow mind is often restricted to living in a world without the more. Seeking the more is characteristic of a healthy, working mind that works off the beaten path. Therefore, a shallow mind lives in a world containing only the absence of the more. It recoils from the curvaceous and ever expanding path of deeper thought. Therefore, a shallow mind is a line. When we think of hatred, we do not normally think of it as a line. However, if we take a closer look into nature of things, hatred limits the capacity of the mind to understand. It narrows down our way of thinking, thus hatred is a line. When you are angry, you draw a line; you close down your mind and channel your energies into one direction. Prejudice exemplifies a type of hatred. It is the persistence of racism that has emanated from ways of recognizing and classifying strangers. In the Medical Dictionary, hatred is defined as “an affection of the mind awakened by something regarded as evil.” The word “evil” is the key word. It is the seed that cultivates hatred, the hatred that when grown, enshrouds a mind, and turn it into something that uncompromising and destructive. The rigid and narrow lines of thought produced by hatred are something that has always caused so much pain and sufferings in the world. Hatred is a line that divides people. Just as hatred exemplifies a constricted way of seeing, ignorance is the contraction of the mental capacity of a person to think. Ignorance hinders the mind from becoming productive and resourceful. In other words, ignorance is a line that is drawn to limit the capacity. Since a human being is just as big or as small as he or she thinks, the effect of ignorance is crippling. It limits the capacity of a human being to comprehend and to enjoy the things in life. Not only does ignorance limit the mind, it also twists the truth. Once the mind could not comprehend what is right form wrong, it ceases to become rational. Ignorance is like a type of line that we all know of, a fishing line. Once its victim is entrapped by its grasp, it cannot escape. Its victim is unaware or uninformed, and can become entrapped its own confinement from being able to think on its own. A widespread example of ignorance may entail the fact that one perceives drinking as “cool,” and does so in order to fit in a social group or crowd. What they do not know is that drinking is bad for one’s health. Although there are people who believe that ignorance offers a certain sort of bliss and not knowing can save one from him/her self, such belief is actually subjective. The saying that goes “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” can always be debunked by the saying that goes “what you don’t know can kill you.” In most cases, ignorance can kill a person. Ignorance therefore is a dividing line that separates the gullible from the wise. Since human beings are born with the power to choose, one can always choose to cross the line either way. Segregation is the infamous line that infixes itself between societies and people. Segregation represents the dividing line that can cut a society into pieces. It can crush the very foundations of a society. Although segregation is almost extinct today, it existed in the late 1800s to the 1900s. This was the time when the group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorized people whom they think are outside their class. It may be noted that the acronym, KKK, is made up of the lines that everyone know so well, the denotation of the word. Thus, the denotation of the word correlates directly with the abominable habitudes that represent the lines of this merciless establishment. Again, lines are seen as a constriction, the objects that actuate beings into ruminating off the cuff of the conventions of society. A line is arrogance. It is an overbearing pride, an insolence that confines the human mind. It is described as the disdain that constrains one from reality. An arrogant person may offensively display their assumed superiority or self-importance. This only exists in their mind, however. The arrogant serve primarily themselves, and may secretly revel in the sentiments of finding flaws in others. This abject complexion is manifested by many celebrities and famous persons. These are persons to who much has been given, and have been catered to most of their lives. The arrogant have not had the luxury of the observation of society’s variety, much less what goes on inside of them. Rather than the self-assurance born of knowing his own strengths and limitations, arrogance admits no limits. Arrogance is therefore a line that masks the inner emptiness of one’s being. It is the confinement of knowledge of oneself. A line incorporates many terms into one making this word unlimited in its scope. More than just a plain “thread-like” mark on a piece of paper or in a drawing, this term can be suggested as and curtailed to humanitarian issues. A line can be a shallow mind, hatred, ignorance, segregation, or represent one’s arrogance. A line is a snake like creature, entrapping humans and constricting thoughts, feelings, the way one views the World, and many more things. A line is mysterious. These actions that a line can perform are not limited to these evils of the World, however. They do not offer the complete scope of a line. It can oppose, and offer dissimilarities, but it can also represent much more that is yet to be discovered. Read More