William James can be described as holding a pragmatic view of life. He felt that facts were just facts but each individual created his or her own truth from those facts. His view was like the adage that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ The truth was what the individual made of the facts.
Based on this view and perspective of life, James considered the ideals that we each hold and to state “ with each new ideal that comes into life, the chance for a life based on some old ideal will vanish.”1 This, in turn, lead to the belief that a human being can alter his or her life by altering his attitudes. Since one’s life path is really determined by the interpretation of facts and, therefore, one’s version of the truth or one’s attitudes regarding the facts. I question James’ approach to the truth as I believe truth is the facts and not merely one’s interpretation of the facts. I think that it is very rare and probably impossible for the truth to be altered by one’s attitude or view of the facts. However, I do believe that one can alter one’s life by altering one’s attitude related to the facts.
At one point I applied for a job with an employer that I knew and who knew me. I was quite qualified for the position yet I did not get the job. When I was informed that I did not get the job I was rather vocal regarding my feelings and made a number of negative comments about the job, the interview and even the company. Once I had cooled down I spoke with the key person in the company that I knew and asked for an explanation of what happened. It seems that the attitude I presented during the interview was one of entitlement and that I gave the impression to the interview team that I would be given the job regardless of the outcome of the interview. The interview team members felt that I would not make a good employee as this attitude might make me less receptive to following company policies and less likely to put forth my best effort on behalf of the company. Although I think I would have been a very good employee it was interesting to note that regardless of my thinking and perceptions, it was the different views of others that determined the truth of the situation.
This news and the subsequent thinking gave me much ground for consideration and after carefully recalling the behaviours of many people that I had worked with I identified certain attitudes that I would need to develop and show if I was to be successful in the future. Although I occasionally regress it is as a result of the changes I made in my attitudes and behaviour that have resulted in my success since this interview experience.
Works Cited
James, William, (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology--and to students on some of life's ideals., (pp. 265-301). New York, NY, US: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, vi, 305 pp.
Schwehn, M.R., Bass, D.C., ed. (2006). Leading Lives That Matter: What We Should Do and Who We Should Be. Wm. G. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan
