Still, this definition seems wrong. Could something that a person really wants be classified as ‘important’? Maybe to some people. But to others, ‘important’ means the bare essentials. Does this mean that favorite foods, or cell phones, or laptops, or pets are not ‘important’? are the only things a person really need, food, water, shelter, clothing, and love all that are ‘important’? This cannot be fully true either.
The key to finding out what ‘important’ really is to look deeper. Finding a middle point is the best way to find out the true meaning of the word ‘important’.
So where does one start to find out the true meaning of this word? Well, the best place to start is most likely at the bare essentials. Food, water, clothing, shelter, and love, these are all ‘important’. Does this classify ‘important’ as “anything that must be obtained in order for survival”? So far, yes.
Now, technology should be added to this list of ‘important’ things. No, technology is not one of the bare essentials, and yes it has caused many problems, but technology is very ‘important’. Without it, people might still be nomadic hunter-gatherers, following their food anywhere and everywhere. Society would cease to exist, and organization would no longer be available. Of course, this is the extreme consequence of absent technology. Things such as televisions, radio; entertainment things would be exterminated. These are things that people are able to live without, which classify them as ‘unimportant’. So technology, in its advances, is ‘important’ as a whole, but some things produced by technology are ‘unimportant’.
So, the new definition for ‘important’ may go something like this: “the bare essentials that must be obtained and things that improve these bare essentials for better survival”. This definition already seems better than the one previously stated. Of course, technology can be broken up into many different categories, some ‘important’, and some ‘unimportant’.
Domestication of animals and plants is a factor of technology that is clearly placed under ‘important’. When animals were domesticated, man was able to settle down into small societies, and spend more time on improving their lifestyles and survival for the better. People were able to live in a more healthy way, and live longer.
Entertainment, as I previously stated, is another factor of technology, however, it is clearly placed under the ‘unimportant’ side of the matter. Things such as games, radio, television, etc. are not something needed for survival, and can be disregarded without any harm. People might revolt if entertainment was taken from them, but it is not something that can be classified as ‘important’.
Factors such as education make it difficult to figure out where to place them. On one hand, education can be very helpful to survival of man, and in the beginning, education such as teaching a child how to catch food or farm was clearly ‘important’. But now, education is not as vital to the survival of people. People can live better lives, but education is no longer going to kill a child if he or she does not attend it in the way such known as school. However, Education is probably leaning towards being an ‘important’ factor. In order to live a happier and healthier lifestyle, having an education about whether to make better choices, etc. is always helpful. This may help some lives, but in others, their lives will not be changed. It can sometimes “go in one ear and out the other”. Education, as you can see, can be very helpful, or not helpful at all, which makes it hard to classify it under ‘important’ or ‘unimportant’.
‘Important, so far is best defined as “the bare essentials that must be obtained and things that improve these bare essentials for better survival”. However, things such as religion and beliefs are ‘important’. Religion may not be one of the bare essentials, but it is definitely important. It helps one keep a healthy mind and soul, and having a health mind and soul is also ‘important’. One’s mind and soul are not something that can be fed with normal food, or any of the bare essentials (with the exception of love). Some people may be confused about something, causing them to be upset, and upsetting their mind and soul, which are both important to maintain. Beliefs can help fix this. Beliefs can give a person a feeling of completion, or fulfillment. Even the people of the ancient times praised Gods for food, water, etc. nomadic peoples probably thanked some sort of religious figure for their food they were either hunting or gathering. As time went on, these simple worshipping habits developed into religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc. The religions were very different, some praising a single all-powerful god, and other praising many individual gods. This shows that people had different ideas, and acted on them in different ways. However, though the ideas of these religions and beliefs were not always the same, the feeling of fulfillment and completion was always a result. Believing in something gave people hope, something to talk to and help them with their troubles. Essentially, even though all people are very very different, inside, we all have the same needs, whether for the bare essentials, or for other ‘important’ things. And it is here that we are able to find the true definition of ‘important’. Important is: “the bare essentials that must be obtained and things that improve these bare essentials for better survival, things needed to keep one sane and healthy all-around, and things that all humans essentially need at some point in their lives.”
Citation:
1. (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). "Define:important - Search." Google. Web. 07 Feb. 2010.
2. (image) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Nuvola_apps_important.svg/600px-Nuvola_apps_important.svg.png
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