Transcendentalism Today

Transcendentalism is a philosophy that has been passed down through the ages. Just like the world and the people that inhabit it, transcendentalism has changed over time. Since technology has advanced over time, people have thought differently about things. Even though many people have changed their thinking, many others haven’t. There are some people who have slight transcendentalist features. Others have strong transcendentalist features and like to spread the word as often as possible.

One characteristic of transcendentalism is self-reliance, or individualism. The key concept of this characteristic is that you should only be yourself and do things for yourself as well. John Lennon once said, “It is weird to not be weird.” He said this meaning that everyone is weird in their own way, and if you’re not yourself then that is what’s truly weird. A musical group called Chiddy Bang says, “There is no one like me,” in their song “Mind your Manners”. This is a very strong example of individualism meaning that you are the only you, no one can change that. In the Bon Jovi song “My Life” he talks about how it is his life and he has to live it and do things for himself. Terry Brooks once said, “Who would you be but you?” He is saying, why would you be someone that isn’t who you really are? The old saying, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself is a very good example of self-reliance, saying that if you send some one else to do your task, it will not be completed as you had planned, so you should do it yourself instead.

Another characteristic of transcendentalism is free-thought and being optimistic.. Forming your own opinions is the most basic example of free-thought. Rather than adopting someone else’s opinions, y...

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...ranscendentalism is still the same as it was back in the time of Emerson and Thoreau, but some things have changed. Even though it may still be the same, for the most part, it is not as popular today as it used to be. There are still environmentalist groups out there, and people still try to convert you to whatever religion they are, but none of that was really necessary back when most people were transcendentalists. People now-a-days try to make you think their way, damaging the transcendentalist cause, and they don’t even notice it. Even though people will try to take away you transcendentalist features, you will always be you, and the only person who can decide if they will actually get through to you, is you.

As you can see transcendentalism is still around today it isn’t exactly the same as Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau. But the ideas are basically the same.