The humanistic approach to personality theory claims that the truth is the experience we undergo with the rest of the world.
 
But then…if that’s all truth is how do we know that something is true if we don’t experience it? Are there any truths that our experiences cannot compensate for?
 
The humanistic approach does seem rather comforting. Humans are perfect. Everything that we do has a goal…a purpose. We control everything we do.
 
But it doesn’t really take a great deal of seeking before you realise how screwed up YOU’RE world is. I’m not talking about the stuff you see on TV. When you’re young nothing bad happens (unless you’re unfortunate), you grow up thinking how lovely the world is…or perhaps how lovely the world is to you. You are the centre of your parent’s world…you ARE the world. Until you enter school til you find out that there are a whole bunch of other kids just like you, but not everybody is the same, some are better, faster, smarter, taller…whatever, so you feel like crap cause you can’t meet the expectations of others.
 
Yet, the world is perfect.
 
I want to believe in the humanistic approach…but sometimes…I just can’t put my head around it…perhaps it’s cause I’ve yet to walk in everybody’s shoes…but maybe it’s cause it’s just a whole lot easier believing that people are selfish, hating, "evil".
 
I was in the library today…and it somewhat brought back memories of last year…studying for the HSC.
 
Now I don’t like to think that I’m discriminatory on "race" (if such a thing exists) but…stereotypes just enter my mind.
 
A black man sat across me.
 
Wearing a bandana, with a pair of glasses sitting on top of it, he was also wearing baggy pants. But the thing that caught my eyes was the fact that he was carrying books…intellectual books. But then again…no "gansta" would ever set foot in a library. He carried a book called "The universe collapsing" (i think) by Isaac Asimov. When he sat down I took notice of the other book he carried…a chunky textbook with the words "Physics" across it. He sat down…opened up a book, began reading and taking notes…
 
At the moment I was thinking "Hmmm…wouldn’t it be great to have a black friend?" The first person that came to mind was Chaitu…but then he’s not really black…he’s brown. :P And then the next thought that came to my head was how Engleman has this pet hate for "Africans". So yeah…I was doing my work…and alround 1.5 hours later…he all of a sudden began talking to me…and asking to see my MATH1901 paper. I handed it to him and he began doing the first question. I asked if he did Maths and he replied saying he’s a Phd Student in Physics. I further learnt that he was studying at Macquarie but is planning on transferring to another uni. In addition I learnt that previously he had actually studied in China…Beijing. We even exchanged words in Mandarin…
 
So here I was…sitting in front of a South African man…who is not only a phd student but can also speak Mandarin…(did I mention he was black?)
 
I just wished this man, who’s name I found out to be Alberts, becomes successful in life…more so than most successful people.
 
And this is another library encounter…