Shriram | Week 15 | Notes For Shriram Before 15 April 2026
The original title for this blog was “Hiding Behind Your Analysis.” It seemed too intellectual for this text.
YOU need to stop finding societal / economic / political / historical / socio-economic / socio-political / tiktok trends to justify YOUR emotions, because YOU will not provide any useful, objective analysis. And so, YOUR writing should be a portrait of YOUR contemporary self, not what you think you know about it. Allow me to demonstrate:
Social Darwinism was once considered valid scientific thought. Flat-earthers have conducted many scientific experiments which “prove” their theories to be true, and refuse any contradictory evidence.
Social Darwinism isn’t very prevalent anymore. But on a personal level, a lot of us are making judgments incorrectly. We face confirmation bias, looking only for specific evidence that supports the conclusion that we want to see. Another massive factor in confirmation bias is social confirmation bias, especially in the age of the internet.
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| I don't like using pictures of myself, but it seemed to fit this blog. |
YOU are not a psychology professor. YOU aren’t free enough from your current perspective to analyze it, but you’re special enough to feel what you do. Don’t be afraid to share it.
I’ve grown distant from some of my friends; I don’t think they like being disagreed with. I think that’s ridiculous. When we feel strongly about something, it’s natural to want your emotions validated. Everybody wants to be right, and I’ve been privy to many conversations where a friend aims to do just that: yes, you are right, no, nobody else has a point.
This advice is inherently limiting, but I think a lot of people have grown used to it.
I have a friend who some regard as annoying or insensitive. I know some who regard me as annoying or insensitive, and I firmly believe that a significant portion of these judgments come from the fact that both of us are in fact willing to disagree with people. “A good friend should be willing to keep good friends in check,” he claims. On paper, everybody I talk to agrees with this idea. In practice, he gets called a dick for questioning someone’s behavior.
I might never reread this blog. But if I do, I don’t want to know how I thought my perspective was part of a broader trend. I want to know how I was doing. My blog, my diary, my pictures should take me back to who I was when I wrote them.
Sometimes I think the crowd of good relationships I have is thinning, and sometimes I think I have more than enough. Sometimes I think I’ve been critically misinterpreted, and insist on making myself understood. I think some people are deserving of criticism, and we shouldn’t shy away from it.
This blog might be horrible, but I wouldn’t know. I will no longer pretend like I can analyze it right now.
Shriram, wow. Genuinely, every time I read one of your blogs, I pause a couple times to think and then go "dang, that's deep." In this one, it was the "not what you think you know about it" line. I'm thinking to myself now about everything that I know (or think I do?). Your blog makes me think that, in a way, we do not truly KNOW most of what we "know"; we just think we do.
ReplyDeleteI heavily agree with the freethinking part of your blog. I feel like social media has too strong of an effect on the shaping of people's perspectives, and it's kind of sad that many of us aren't able to—or rather don't—think independently.
I also appreciated the part of your blog about looking for specific evidence in comparison to just evidence. The close minded nature we probably all subconsciously act with is something nice to be aware of; being mindful of issues like this is always something helpful as, naturally, we do not realize we are acting in such a manner till it's pointed out.
Your address of validation in today's world is so real (lol, i'm doing almost exactly what the blog is about). But I say this because I feel like I've always been one to call my friends out—not necessarily to invalidate their feelings but more to give perspective on the other person's pov. I think validation of like emotions especially is something that doesn't really need to come from others anyway, but that's a whole different conversation.
I think the authenticity you touch on regarding how writing should trace back to the one who wrote it is extremely poetic, and doesn't just reflect writing but thinking and speaking as well. It shouldn't feel superficial or like you say from "social media" but rather genuine and individual.
Great blog as always. Most definitely NOT horrible.
I feel like your blog shone light on a thought that is often stuck in the back of people’s minds. Subconsciously we know that we are biased, yet that doesn’t stop us from continuing to live off of that preempted notion. At this age specifically we’re in this weird in between where we view the world as adults but are limited to the knowledge of children. I feel this everytime I try to make an observation around my older siblings. I’ll believe that what I am saying is something revolutionary and individualistic, only to come to the realization they all have gone through it as well. It’s somewhat of a canon event, where no matter what else goes on, everyone has or will have to think they know more than they actually do.
ReplyDeleteI find that your blunt outviews on the world are refreshing compared to what I experience on a daily basis. It gives me a different perspective that I otherwise subconsciously ignore. Although there are people who choose to live in their bubble of ignorance, the ability to form our own opinions is what makes us human. As teenagers we are extremely judgemental, so we often get affected when we learn that there is someone out there who disagrees with us. However, it’s just something we’ll learn to accept later on in life.
I really resonated with how you wanted to look back on your old media. I find that everything we create is a time capsule of the person we used to be. I value the person I was before and I look forward to the person that I’ll become, but that all depends on what I’m thinking now.
Overall your blog really made me think and I enjoyed reading it.
The intro was so innocent, and then I immediately got slapped in the face by a reality check (this is a great thing). I used to always orbit around my own opinions because I thought that they weren’t good enough or weren’t correct. I would shape my own opinions and feelings around what most people thought about something (even over things I liked), which I think made me more of a people pleaser and more resistant to being corrected. I would hope I’m not like that anymore, but your blog really hit home (in a good way). I really agree with your point about how our creations should be portraits of ourselves at the end of the day. The fact that I was not able to get around to planning more creative blogs for this quarter made me really upset, but this perspective is refreshing; yes, the last three were kind of iffy, but they also perfectly encapsulate what was on my mind. Thank you for your insightful blog!
ReplyDeleteShriram, I remember reading your blog back when it was posted. Or rather, I’ve remembered two things since then: #1. you probably aren’t going to look back on your blog any time soon. And #2. it’s hard to keep friends in check as a "good" friend myself. #1 struck a chord with me, since I often find that I write horrible blogs and can’t bear to look back on them. But, you’ve provided some nice insight about the fact that we aren’t psychology professors. I’m very thankful for that—you pointing out that we all feel things in our own way, and our uniqueness makes it valid to share our takes. And I like the way you’re treating this as a memento of this specific time of your life, like the way people read journals only years later.
ReplyDelete#2 has actually resurfaced in my mind multiple times since I last read your blog. When I look at my own friend group, I realize that I’m not so good of a friend since I’m just not willing to keep certain people in check. For one, I do criticize the friends I’m closest with, since I truly care about them growing up to be people who can operate regularly in society (like Sophia, who I’m sure you know). I do question their opinions, often to comedically start arguments about the best fruits or vegetables, but even within my close circle there is still this sort of boundary I feel like I can’t cross whenever someone does something that just isn’t right. Of course I love to talk with my friends. But gossiping is just odd; yet, I can’t call them out for it. Or rather, I don’t, because I know I’ll face backlash—for what, anyway? Maybe I should adopt some level of “insensitivity” that protects my bubble of beliefs rather than put up with feeding into stupid rumors. In this way, I sort of revere the way you might be regarded as insensitive, or, just willing to disagree.