Question and Significance
How have I become the person I am today? Understanding this is crucial for my self-awareness, my goals, my resilience, and my interpersonal relationships.
Diversification of Disciplines
Who can I consult to help unravel this complex question? Several academic fields offer insights into a person’s development: Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Biology. However, these fields have become highly specialized over time. For instance, general Biology is further divided into Genetics, Molecular Biology, Epigenetics, and DNA Methylation.
Knowledge Explosion
Even general answers from fields like Biology or Philosophy would be overwhelming due to the vast expansion of knowledge. Up to 1900, knowledge doubled every 100 years, post-World War II every 25 years, and today, in areas like Medicine or IT, it doubles every 12 months.
Lexical Answers
Ultimately, I would only gather a collection of factual data regarding my upbringing, experiences, genetic predispositions, prevailing culture, social environment, and the significance of my individual freedom.
The Phenomenon ‘Me’
As a unique entity, I disregard the fragmentation of sciences; I resist being neatly categorized. No single science can capture me completely, and understanding all aspects of my persona does not equate to comprehending me as a whole. I will not submit to the dominance of Neurobiology, which attempts to subsume all other sciences under its paradigm.
Approaching Synthetic Philosophy
I propose an approach to the so-called General Systems Theory or Synthetic Philosophy, addressing the issues of scientific fragmentation and the explosion of knowledge. My first step is to analyze a key moment in my life that significantly shaped me, examining how various factors from different disciplines interacted. The aim is to merge these perspectives into a coherent synthesis.
The Start of My Self-Employment as an Example
This segment of my life serves as an illustration. It aims to create a comprehensive picture that acknowledges both the complexity of human existence and my personal experiences and environmental influences. This is just a preliminary step before we delve deeper into the workings of General Systems Theory.
Context and Decision
By the end of 2019, I had earned my bachelor’s degree. I abandoned my initial plan to become a lecturer and chose to venture into freelance IT support and web design—a decision that still surprises me occasionally.
Disciplinary Perspectives
From a philosophical perspective, the desire for self-fulfillment was crucial to my decision to become self-employed.
Psychologically, my unwavering optimism supported me.
Sociologically, two self-employed relatives positively influenced me, while others were surprised by my plans.
From a cultural-sociological perspective, MJ DeMarco’s “The Fastlane Millionaire” inspired me to deviate from traditional career paths.
Biologically, genetic factors like risk propensity and my ability to manage stress aided in this life change.
Interaction
These factors complemented each other and created a solid foundation for my career reorientation: the pursuit of self-fulfillment, optimism, family support and skepticism, inspiration from unconventional literature, and innate traits such as risk-taking and stress resilience.
Conclusion: The Value of Knowledge
The vast array of human knowledge serves not only scientific or technical purposes but also has a direct impact on our personal lives. Each area of knowledge helps deepen our understanding of ourselves and enables us to make more informed decisions that directly improve our lives.
The following book formed the basis of my considerations: Günter Ropohl – “Allgemeine Systemtheorie: Einführung in transdisziplinäres Denken” (2012)
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