Alex Hwang

4/14/16
RELI 124 Year-Long Reflection

As a college student, it’s always a pleasure to take a class like RELI 124 with Dr.
Clements. I don’t think there’s been a period of time where I’ve ruminated on so many “great
ideas,” and reflected on the ways that I try to achieve meaning in my life. Reading the chapter
about meditation made me start meditating for twenty minutes every day—I think it’s changed
my life. Reading the chapter about divinity made me attend church for the first time, and reading
the chapter about the fault of others allowed me to approach attending church without too much
bias.
One of the units that struck me the most was Unit 2, about “changing your mind.” I
appreciated learning about what philosophers like Shakespeare had to say about how our world is
our own reality. If there’s one thing that stuck with the most from this class, that would be it.
Reflecting on this notion has made me think differently about what matters in life, what doesn’t
matter in life, what relationships to pursue, what experiences to search for, etc. It’s really a
powerful idea. And I appreciated that unit’s reading, as well—I remember being very inspired by
the way Ricard talked about dealing with his negative emotions.
I can’t reflect upon this semester without discussing Unit 5, the chapter about the “pursuit
of happiness.” I appreciate Dr. Clements’ introduction to this idea by providing elements of our
own culture that we are familiar with (Pharell Williams, Kid Cudi) in discussing the idea that
happiness is something that we pursue as an end goal. I’d read about flow before this class, but I
didn’t understand it as an integrated component to one’s life, as Haidt explains it. He weaves the
themes progress principle, adaptation, and flow so well together to explain “the good life,” one
that derives from pleasure from the progress and the journey of life. This kind of explanation so
directly contradicts almost everything we’ve been socially taught, so it was a fantastic experience
to learn about it in detail.
I’m not sure how I feel about Haidt’s final conclusions about “happiness from
between”—I think he panders a little and generates too many claims from ambiguity in an
attempt to construct a coherent conclusion. But I really enjoyed everything else that he presented
in the book. Really, it was the in-class discussions and outside supplemental texts that made
reading this text enjoyable, because it allowed us to think critically about Haidt from a different
perspective. As a science-minded person, it is often painful for me to think about using
philosophical arguments as tools to critique psychologically sound logic. But I’ve learned
through the course of this class that such arguments are sometimes the only ones we can use
when talking about issues as deep as morality and meaning.