In today’s world, with technology accelerating at an ever impeccable rate, and globalization connecting countries and cultures far and wide, in a world with seven billion citizens and a growing population, what does it mean to be an individual? Are we individuals? Are our thoughts in fact our own, or are they a configuration of the society that surrounds us, morphed by our exposure to bias beliefs and impending influences?
In my ASTU class, at the University of British Columbia, we are learning about the importance of academic integrity and contributing to the world of research with our own and innate ideas. During one of my lectures a classmate asked my professor, Dr. Luger, how we can achieve such a thing when all ideas and insights have already been claimed? This thought sparked ideas of my own; how are we supposed to add to such a vast field of knowledge without stepping on someone else’s toes? Is it not true that every claim and every stake we position ourselves on, has not already been brood over by someone else? How are we supposed to affirm our individuality in a world of seven billion, and in a university who is a host to sixty thousand students?
In my sociology class, we are being exposed to the idea that individuals desires and ambitions are often controlled and seized by the society in which one lives. In the book ‘The Promise’, written by C. Wright Mills, our class read, “Nowadays people often feel that their lives are a series of traps. They sense that within their everyday worlds, they cannot overcome their troubles, and in this feeling, they are often quite correct.” “Underlying this sense of being trapped are seemingly impersonal changes in the very structure of continent-wide societies”. Reading this script of Mills gave me a feeling of discomfort. It made me think that perhaps we as individuals are as meaningful in being alive as we will be when we are dead. If we are nothing but a product of the environment in which we live, an environment which seemingly has the ability to control our lives, what does our individuality matter?
After only two weeks of university my mind was troubled with ideas of my own insignificance and helplessness, when I had an epiphany; I realized that the thoughts that were tainting my brain were incorrect. If all the ideas and insights have already been claimed, then why is our world such a mess? According to the United Nations food and agriculture organization, almost eight hundred million people, or one in nine, are suffering from chronic undernourishment. Twenty one children under the age of five die every minute, and not one country can say they have found a perfect political system that benefits all. Teaching students to have academic integrity means much more than just teaching students not to lie and cheat, it is a method to develop Global Citizens; Individuals who use their knowledge and kinship to develop a better future in their community and in others. Academic Integrity to me, means using your knowledge to overcome the boundaries placed on you by society, and use your ideas to build what our future needs to become. In our world, we are in a continuous cycle of approaching new and horrendous challenges, and we will need new leaders, new thinkers and new philosophers to make sure we, as a species, overcome these challenges, and they do not overcome us. As individuals, we do have the power to make a difference, as stated by Prince Ea, in the video Man vs Earth, we simply need the wisdom and drive to do so. Although our society may have an effect on our individuality by pressure and biased beliefs, being aware of this influence on us, only puts us in a better position to challenge it. Being aware of the forces our society has over us, is the answer to finding our individual self within the community, just as academic integrity is the answer to a new, revised future.
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