People are limited only by their
imagination. Oliver and Wilbur Wright believed they could build a machine that
could fly, and they did. Albert Einstein thought he could split atoms, and he
did. Copernicus said the Earth is not the center of the universe, and he was
right. Claude Monet broke all the rules of painting and began producing work
that many considered sloppy because they were outside the lines, and
Impressionism was born. Each one of these people exhibited a propensity to
self-subversion.
Although self-subversion can most
probably be traced as a reference to the theory expounded by economist Albert
Hirschman, applications of thinking beyond the boundaries of an established
framework is the stuff of invention, innovation and radical thought. Very few
of the greatest people in history were considered “players.” Many of them were
considered eccentric, even crazy, by the society in which they lived. Some
became shunned and were outcasts, until later events proved them right and
society wrong. When Walt Disney decided animated figures could become more than
a 10-minute cartoon and produced a full-length animated feature, people thought
he was crazy. Today Snow White and Cinderella are still being watched by
children and Disney theme parks are all over the world.
All inventions and innovations began
as voyages of curiosity and discovery, fueled by imagination and compulsion,
and given substance by passion and persistence. It began with a “what if…”
These are considered events and accomplishments that could happen to only an
exceptional few. But human development is limited only by the boundaries set by
the person for himself. Self-subversion is a technique in which a person turned
himself inside out and back again. It requires the minute examination of
routines, manners, beliefs and goals and a rigorous casting about of what
direction one should take. Complacent people tend to go with the flow, maintain
the status quo. These are also the people who are least prepared for life’s
surprises and most badly shaken by unexpected developments that people have no
contingency plans for.
Self-subversive people are
perennially prepared because they are not confined by self-imposed limits.
Anything goes for them and they welcome change because it prevents them from
getting into a rut. Most people live in the rut because it is the easiest thing
to do. They live but they are not alive. They are shielded from the best and
worst of life experiences and end up living a mediocre life.
A well-examined life is a life that
goes beyond what family and society prescribes. If you are the son of a
successful lawyer with a lucrative practice and you have no interest or passion
in the legal profession, but you go into it any way because it is expected and
easy, then you have just wasted a life, your own. It may bring riches and
prestige and material success, but it will be a wasted life nevertheless.
However, self-subversion does not
automatically mean different or radical. A person who has examined and
questioned his own life may find that he is exactly who he wants to be, where
he desires to be and what he needs to be, in which case it is a well-lived
life. The point is self-development will only be possible if one is willing to
understand that there are many paths to happiness and fulfillment, and they may
not always be the path well trodden. It may be that there will be conflict
between what society expects and what you want, and that taking control of your
life may lead to some disagreeable consequences. But it is important for each
person to discover the self in the clearest light possible because this is the
way to a fulfilled life and effective self-development. Do we need to live a
self-subversive life?
