In the book "The Road to Character," David Brooks uses figures, known as Adam I and Adam II to show how one's inner character can be developed. Adam I is a man with "résumé virtues," which means that his priorities include achieving wealth, fame, and success. Brooks compares Adam I to people in today's modern society. Then, he comes out with Adam II, a man with "eulogy virtues," focused on improving his own character. Adam II is a character that is constantly trying to become a better person. He disregards wealth and fame, and he wants to improve the good qualities in himself such as kindness, courage, and integrity.
Brooks wrote this book not only for the public, but also for himself. He felt that he could improve his inner character drastically. He claims he would see people with this Adam II-like persona, and he realized he didn't have that. Brooks, along with most people in today's society, wanted to have high status. He wanted to feel like he was superior to others, and this fell exactly in line with Adam I's character. Brooks, as a result, wanted to show people the path to becoming a better person, hoping that by sharing this, he would become a better person, too. Brooks saw the corruption and evil in people. He realized that people can change when fame and status come into the picture. It can control a person's life, and so the purpose of this book was to try and make a difference, notifying people of the Adam I problem and helping people improve themselves. Brooks thought the best way to inform people was to show them exactly what their priorities are and what their priorities really should be using the characters of Adam I and II.
-Mikaela Vail
This sounds like a very helpful book because there are many people in the world who have this Adam 1 personality. Many people tend to only focus on getting themselves ahead in life instead of helping others around them. I for one would like to try doing some of the things Brooks suggests for the Adam 1 people to do because I think that it would help me to figure out my priorities in life. Another thing I found really important was that he also wrote the book for himself. By doing this, he is admitting that he too has things he can improve on, and that is sometimes difficult for people to admit.
ReplyDeleteThis book would go great with Peak because of how both speak of self gain, that by you becoming successful and having a better character you need to work on yourself. And through practicing and being more structured with who you are and your talents you can only become a better person.
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