One of the assignments in my Philosophy 101 course is for each student to write a reflective personal philosophy. One of the things I have learned from these essays is how well known is Robert Frost’s poem about two roads dividing in a wood. Often it is quoted, especially the last lines, “and I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” If all the people, who think they have taken the road less traveled, have really taken the road less traveled, then it is not the one less traveled.
While it is true each of us is unique and there is not, nor has there ever been another like us, it is also true that we are very much like most people. A simple freshman course psychology textbook pretty much sums up the makeup of a normal person. It’s the persons described in the DSM-IV that are on the road less traveled. The variations between an Englishman and a Frenchman are cosmetic. The variations between an African and a member of the KKK are not nearly as vast as both groups might wish.
There seems to exist in most of us an egocentrism that tells us we are not like others. We are special. We belong to a superior race. We are part of the best culture. We are members of God’s church. We are more sincere than those who fill the pews around us. We. We. We. How deflating it can be to wake up one morning realizing that none of the above is true. God loves the common man. Just look at how many of us He has made. Enjoy your trip down the road most traveled.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 13, 2011
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