Exploring the World with Receptivity and Expectation
Vincent Chee
9/17/12
Final Draft
Exploring the World with Receptivity and Expectation
Like everyone else, we eventually get bored of noticing the same things day after day.
What we like to do is explore and move away from expectations. There must be some activity or
pastime that triggers such excitement towards new destinations. Maybe it is the dull continuity
and repetition of similar surroundings that is making us desperate to discover new things. In “On
Habit” by Alain de Botton, de Botton makes distinctions between the “traveling mindset” and a
“habituated” view of the world in the line between receptivity and expectation. The mindset
described as habituated, is dull to the human mind and life because it takes on a pattern in which
there is no spontaneity for an individual to explore new ideas and experiences. The mindset is
not necessarily an indication that the real world provides no intellectual or emotional satisfaction
for the human being, rather it is inside the mind of the individual that confines him or her to
believe that there is nothing to look forward to. By believing that there is nothing new to see or
learn, we no longer find interest in places we encounter or pass through. On the other hand, a
“traveling mindset” is concentrated on receptivity, meaning, the willingness to process and find
value in human experiences and knowledge. The whole purpose between the distinctions of the
“traveling mindset” and a “habituated” view of the world is not necessarily trying to prove which
one is better but rather a way to show how the human approach to daily life needs to be set on
learning new lessons and experiences.
An individual that has an open mind to the new opportunities and learning experiences
that surround every day life look at people, places, and events with an eager desire to engage
them with a “traveling mindset” approach. This is evoked from a receptive
9/17/12
Final Draft
Exploring the World with Receptivity and Expectation
Like everyone else, we eventually get bored of noticing the same things day after day.
What we like to do is explore and move away from expectations. There must be some activity or
pastime that triggers such excitement towards new destinations. Maybe it is the dull continuity
and repetition of similar surroundings that is making us desperate to discover new things. In “On
Habit” by Alain de Botton, de Botton makes distinctions between the “traveling mindset” and a
“habituated” view of the world in the line between receptivity and expectation. The mindset
described as habituated, is dull to the human mind and life because it takes on a pattern in which
there is no spontaneity for an individual to explore new ideas and experiences. The mindset is
not necessarily an indication that the real world provides no intellectual or emotional satisfaction
for the human being, rather it is inside the mind of the individual that confines him or her to
believe that there is nothing to look forward to. By believing that there is nothing new to see or
learn, we no longer find interest in places we encounter or pass through. On the other hand, a
“traveling mindset” is concentrated on receptivity, meaning, the willingness to process and find
value in human experiences and knowledge. The whole purpose between the distinctions of the
“traveling mindset” and a “habituated” view of the world is not necessarily trying to prove which
one is better but rather a way to show how the human approach to daily life needs to be set on
learning new lessons and experiences.
An individual that has an open mind to the new opportunities and learning experiences
that surround every day life look at people, places, and events with an eager desire to engage
them with a “traveling mindset” approach. This is evoked from a receptive