M. Scott Peck's philosophical novels and the importance of human development

In modern society, more and more people vainly try to find meaning in their lives through the acquisition of money, material goods, and popularity. While these secular pleasures may bring us financial security, comfort, or short term happiness, the true purpose of life is to mature physically, mentally, and spiritually. As M. Scott Peck postulates in his series of philosophical novels, if one wishes to be happy and to live life to its fullest, one must simply strive to learn and develop. Thus, human development is the highest aspiration one can possess. Peck speculates in The Road Less Traveled and The Different Drum that in order to grow individually we must first be willing to grow with others as a community. Over the semester, I began to see the validity in his assertions as I saw myself, my freshmen, and others evolve according to the step by step process that Peck lays out in his books. Additionally, I noticed a discernible change in my relationship with God as a result of my absorption of Peck’s theories.

In The Different Drum, Peck equates maturation with individualization, declaring, “This process of human development is one of becoming fully individual” (Drum 54). He encourages us to hear “the beat of a different drum” and to march to that beat; however, Peck carefully establishes an essential, fundamental difference between what he calls “rugged” and “soft” individualism. The former is a modern day philosophy influenced by the popular media. According to rugged individualism, a person should show no signs of weakness, should become totally independent, and should never ask others for assistance, since he/she should be completely competent in all aspects of character. In Peck’s own words:

Because we cannot ev...

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...atements, “The essential dynamic of pseudo-community is a lack of discipline.” I can vouch for the validity of this assertion, as both my C and D day groups desired to remain in the comfort which pseudo-community afforded them. However, they unconsciously realized that in order to develop as a community they would have to leave the stage of pseudo-community behind. As they progressed into chaos, they had to delay their gratification: I am sure they would much rather have been in pseudo-community than in chaos, but they saw that the former, however easy or comfortable to be in, was a dead end. Additionally, they had to give up the spoils of pseudo-community. As Peck writes, “The essence of this discipline of balance is ‘giving up’” (Road 66). As is evident, the freshmen unwittingly affirmed all of Peck’s hypotheses about communal development and discipline.