POUR OUT YOUR MIND IN ENGLISH

The Power of Inner Discipline

By renzphotography

I have always believed that discipline is important, and so is creativity. So how do we strike a balance between them as far as education is concerned?

After days of scouring the Internet for an answer, I finally have this to say: Discipline and creativity are actually offshoots of conformity and individualism.

There is actually plenty of online material on the topic. What is clear about conformity is that it exists when there is an implicit or explicit “social contract,” as the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau would put it. In this social contract, people who conform with the accepted behavioral norms are bound to gain rewards or a reciprocal benefit from the “system” whether it is promoted by a government, an organization, a religion, or simply a collection of people who share the same belief.

Individualism, on the other hand, is a more self-aware belief that addresses the innate uniqueness of the human being. It acknowledges unique needs, aspirations, desires, and other aspects.

Taken to extremes, an extreme individualist would be an anarchist who mindlessly rejects any form of social order and the institutions that promote that order. On the other hand, an extreme conformist would be a fanatic who listens to no reason and follows the dictates of the organization that promotes the social contract. These two extreme types are no better than the other.

What struck me is that individualism and conformity could actually co-exist within the belief system of a human being. You see that it is human nature to resist discipline or standards of conformity when they are forced by external sources. However, if a person exercises his free will and then chooses to accept a set of beliefs, then the discipline comes from within that person as an act of individual choice.

Therefore, the most disciplined people are free-thinking individuals who believe that they are serving their best interest by acting in conformity to a set of norms or beliefs. Creativity and discipline can co-exist after all; just look at the people in advertising agencies who are creative and yet are very keen on details and deadlines.

In short, the most effective way to discipline people and of kids in particular is not to enforce harsh external discipline on them but to convince them that performing certain behaviors will help them become better persons.

Looking back, the best way I was disciplined was when my Dad told me how some people turned out to be losers not because they lacked money but because they didn’t value education when their parents sent them to school. I knew I had to get my act together because I didn’t want to be like them, and so the force of discipline came from within myself.

Perhaps the reason behind the surge in individualism among younger Japanese can be traced to the shattered social contract of a lifetime of fulfilling employment, where people work to death for dwindling benefits and unbearable stress.

In contrast, Filipinos value education because we know it is the key to a better work or to a better life, if not in the country then abroad.

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