On Habit By Alain De Botton - 1323 Words

In daily life, we must be able to filter out the multitude of distractions which any physical environment can impose upon our senses. By creating a tunneled vision approach to moving about the environments which are a part of our everyday existence, we can more efficiently complete the tasks which are required of us in our various roles in society. In his essay â€Å"On Habit,† Alain de Botton, writes that people have become habituated in their own daily lives. In his first section he details himself returning from Barbados to London who discovers the weather isn’t what he expected. He expected his mood from the weather of Barbados to stay the same in London. De Botton illustrates that people in general are unhappy when it comes to observing†¦show more content†¦When we limit our focus to everyday experiences we sometimes forget to ask the most basic types of questions. For example, why is this street important for me? Or why did I choose this street? A typica l person would say, â€Å"This street is the fastest way to work. And † When you ask them another question; â€Å"what do you like most about this street?† They would probably just repeat their answer that the street is the fastest way to work..This shows that human beings only focus on a small aspect of their ordinary experiences, rather than focusing on where they are in the world. In his essay, de Botton argues that people can be oblivious to their surroundings and unwilling to look around them. To have a beneficial social structure we have to look at our surroundings with a broader detail because people will forget why they call home; home. Secondly, attempting to change our mindset we have to reconnect our senses to what we call home base. De Botton explains, â€Å"I tried to disassociate my surroundings from the uses I had found for them until then †[63]. This quote implies that a person must remove themselves from the ordinary. They have to look at an ordinary environment as if they are visiting it the first time. Observing an ordinary experience can be quite difficult because you may feel like you know every aspect of it. When a person goes outShow MoreRelatedHabit By Alain De Botton Summary1788 Words   |  8 PagesIn â€Å"Habit† Alain De Botton, the author mentions different ways one could travel without leaving the comfort of their home. The individual will come across the â€Å"traveler’s mindset† and see everything in a new light; what was the ordinary will become wonderous and exciting. One’s ordinary home will no longer be dull but quite entertaining. Developing the travel er’s mindset, one will start reversing the process of habituation; seeing the world through the eyes of the new. â€Å"Possible Worlds: Why do ChildrenRead MoreRough Draft Paper 21327 Words   |  6 Pages24, 2014 Creative Thinking With A Traveling Mindset In Alain de Botton’s essay, â€Å"On Habit† and Adam Gopnik essay, â€Å"Bumping into Mr. Ravioli† explain the way that individuals can think creatively and express their feelings and thoughts into newer meaning and in-depth ideas. They also explain the way that the human race are so engaged in technology and busyness that they are overlooking what really is important to them in their life. De Botton is worried that many people do not go beyond limitationsRead MoreCity Dwellers And Organized Time1661 Words   |  7 Pagesmodern life and this lifestyle tends to fall into the mundane according to Alain de Botton’s â€Å"On Habit† this jadedness is due to the busyness of the average city dweller. Examples of this can be seen in Adam Gopnik’s â€Å"Bumping into Mr.Ravioli.† In â€Å"Bumping into Mr.Ravioli† the reader is able to see how a few residents of New York City deal with their relationships as they get sucked into the busy ness. In Alain de Botton s â€Å"On Habit† he goes over how residence of an area become jaded and bored with theRead MoreEssay on On Habit653 Words   |  3 PagesIn On Habit, Alain de Botton writes about how people become habituated and believe there is nothing left to see or learn about the certain location they are in. In this essay, Botton discovers an attitude to approach places we think we already know, and no longer find interest in. This mindset is intended for the environment you are in, but can also be apply to styles of reading and writing. Botton had arrived to London from a trip to Barbados only to realize his home city hadn’t changed one bitRead MoreHow Proust Can Change Your Life941 Words   |  4 Pagesdesk to start reading your history homework. Next thing you know you wake up and two hours have passed by. While your body might have just been tired, it is likely that you became bored with what you were reading. In Alain de Botton’s book, How Proust Can Change Your Life, de Botton writes about factors that effect a reader’s attention. It is important to be aware of these factors in your own writing so your paper isn’t boring to the reader. THESIS Everyone has experienced insomnia but most likelyRead MoreThe Importance Of Being Influenced By Jane Goodall969 Words   |  4 Pagesshe stayed with chimpanzees, she feels peaceful. The natural environment helps her to get out of the sadness of her husbands (Derek) death. The days in the forest made Goodall believe that religion and science are not mutually exclusive. Alain de Botton in â€Å"On Habit† discusses a traveling mindset, which means that people are more likely to accept and respect new things during traveling. However, when they back home, they lost this traveling mindset, so they feel their lives are boring. Such travelingRead MoreThe Girl Effect : Nicholas D. Kristof And His Wife Sheryl Essay1445 Words   |  6 Pagesspecifically relating to the unfair treatment of women and girls. In this essay â€Å"On Habit,† Alain de Botton may refer to this blindness as a â€Å"home mindset† where we pay very little detail of what surrounds of because weâ₠¬â„¢ve become habituated to the everyday occurrences. Kristof and WuDunn write their essay in order to expose those quotidian cruelties certain cultures have become habituated in their home mindsets. De Botton might have suggested inheriting a â€Å"travelling mindset† for those people who livedRead MoreAnalysis Of On Habit And Adam Gopnik1550 Words   |  7 Pagesis essential in the concept of interaction and also how much we interact and to what degree is also influenced by multiple factors. Both Alain de Botton, the author of â€Å"On Habit† and Adam Gopnik, the author of â€Å"Bumping into Mr., Ravioli† talk about our interaction with our environment and how different mindset perspectives affect this interaction. Both de Botton and Gopnik observe how we become â€Å"blind† to our surroundings be it the place we live or the people we live with because we are too â€Å"busy†Read MoreCan We Have The Coffee Together?1530 Words   |  7 Pagesn amed Charlie Ravioli. Still, Olivia is a three-year-old kid, it is impossible for her to analyze aspects systematically and creatively. However, for some adults, like Alain de Botton, a Swiss philosopher and writer, seeks out an innovative way of traveling mindset to get along with his neighborhoods. Both of Olivia and de Botton get stuck with surroundings they live in. The modern urban grid crystallizes in our thinks and confines people into a preconceived stereotype to hinder close personal connectionRead Moresamplestrongpaper62230 Words   |  9 Pagesattained his dreams because of his goal driven mindset, in which the focus is set on one goal. â€Å"On Habit† by Alain de Botton is about the author’s views on the travelling and habituated mindset. He notices that his life has become dull and limited because of the habituated or goal driven mindset he was in. This mindset consists of not exploring our surroundings making the world seem monotonous. De Botton argues t hat the goal driven mindset is not beneficial because it limits how people perceive the