Reply to comment

(Apologies, I somehow felt the need to quote RENT. It seemed like an accurate communication of my reaction to some of the content discussed below).

I was absolutely blown away by today's class and our discussion of Kauffman. I'm still apprehensive about speaking in class and I feel a little out of my depth, but the quick-paced examination of the reading was definitely stimulating.

I have the class discussion to thank for some of the ideas I want to post here. Firstly, I personally am inclined to resist the invalidation of personal testimony. I suppose that may have limited my reading of the text, in that I grew a little defensive of personality and the value of experience and probably didn't absorb or consider as much of Kauffman's argument as I should have.

One of the points I was brave enough to put forth in class has to do with Kauffman's (and de Laurentis') theory about the external influences on the psyche, which is held up in our thinking as an unbiased and unscathed source of personality. To a certain extent, through both careful reading and personal opinion, I agree with this point. I certainly think that societal issues and experiences exercise a great deal of influence on people's growth and personality (in that, for example, I find myself inclined to act or present myself in a certain way if I have been punished or rewarded in the past for my behavior in a social setting). However, I hold fast to the idea that, in spite of the experiences and influences we may share, the strength of our stories, the way in which these influences change us, and the lessons that we learn from these experiences are inherently personal and, I think, support the validity and value of personal testimony.