In the Name Of Allah The most Gracious The Most Merciful

Assignment No 5: Write a position paper on

"We do not admire a person who makes us understand"
Or
"We admire a person who makes us more confused"

Your paper should have at least 1000 words and you should use at least 20 citations from the available academic literature. It may be an essay, an anecdote, an article or some other form of writing. Try to write in simple legible and correct English language.

Position Paper: Also called an argument essay. The purpose of a position paper or argument essay is to explain both sides of a controversy and then argue for one side over the other. A position paper or argument essay explains both sides and discusses why one is stronger or better than the other.
Answer:
TOPIC: We Admire Those People Who Makes Us More Confused

“Confusing movies are an integral part of the movie-going experience in general. Without them, everything would make sense and be predictable, and what fun would that be?” 1Malcolm Mathews, 2007.Some of us being human used to admire those people more who make us understand, but what if everything is clear in your mind and no fun to find out new things beyond your boundaries and what if everything is known and process of learning which gives self-confidence and self-aspiration lacks. So, for exploration of new things, ongoing process of learning and development, gaining sense of pride after goal accomplishment, so people who makes us confused is more admirable to a man for developing and discovering these thoughts
The Holy book Quran, which has been a path and guidance for all the human beings created by Allah Almighty and in one of the holy verses of this holy book Allah says “Indeed this Qur’an guides to the path which is clearer and straighter than any other.” ,2Holy Book Quran and Allah also says: “............ We have revealed to you the book which clarifies every matter.......” , so in both verses it is clear that message of Quran is clear and understandable to people, but if we look at one of Hadith which was written to spread message of Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) says: “I leave among you two weighty things, the Book of Allah (the Qur’an) and my Itrat (progeny); if you hold fast to them you will never go astray; and these two shall never separate from each other till they meet at the heavenly fountain of Kauser.”3 (Hadith al-Thaqalayn) , “The Qur’an by itself cannot teach and guide its readers because there is every possibility of misunderstanding and misinterpretations, and so, it is necessary that the teachings of Qur’an be directly taken from the Prophet and his Ahlul Bait (progeny)”,4 Shahid Juma , Allah also says in Quran "But none will grasp the message except the men of intellect." 5(Quran 2:269) And the discussion then continues on. “Clearly, it needs to be appreciated that the Quran really does reason with arguments and if one’s mind is not applied in the study of this Book, then the benefit will be very limited.”6 Omar Iqbal, 2003.So Quran indicates human to develop a sense of understanding, and learn teachings of Allah and his Messengers as well it gives a sign to all human beings to learn beyond their thoughts and understanding, and not to follow other things blindly in all spheres of life.
“Man is by nature a social animal”7 Aristotle, a man cannot live in isolation; it needs to learn by its surrounding and by people round them. “Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another” 8US Army, 1983. So if any people admiring other person in terms of clear understanding, it means the he is able to make him understand and able to communicate things effectively, Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit. On the contrary “Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood”.9 Freeman Teague, Jr, means everyone interprets and uses different meaning of information given by one person to another. This can be justifying by this quote "If you can't convince them, confuse them." 10Harry Truman. People, who interested in figuring out things out of confusions, are more admire people who create confusion for them. “Confusion is a natural part of learning. If I’m not getting confused then I’m not learning enough”11Koichi Tohei.
Another aspect when people admire those who confused someone, it urges the concept of learning and development. “Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action." 12Albert Bandura, 1977. It leads to another theory stated as Social Cognitive Theory,” the learner is viewed as thoroughly integrated with the environment within which he or she is learning” 13Albert Bandura 1986. It further adds other element of social factor, also states Individuals “function as contributors to their own motivation, behavior, and development within a network of reciprocally interacting influences” 14Albert Bandura, 1999.

Further learning develops a sense of self-efficacy which motivates man to achieve its goal.” The Social Cognitive Theory is composed of four processes of goal realization: self-observation, self-evaluation, self-reaction and self-efficacy.” 15Redmond , 2010. The basic principle behind Self-Efficacy Theory is that individuals are more likely to engage in activities for which they have high self-efficacy and less likely to engage in those they do not .16Van der Bijl & Shortridge-Baggett, 2002.

And further self-efficacy leads to goal accomplishment. More simply “self-efficacy is what an individual believes he or she can accomplish using his or her skills under certain circumstances.” 17Snyder & Lopez, 2007. In goal accomplishment a man needs to learn in depth knowledge and to implement it correctly. “Self-regulation of learning involves more than detailed knowledge of a skill; it involves the self-awareness, self-motivation, and behavioral skill to implement that knowledge appropriately.” 18Zimmerman 2000.

While admiring other person, human sometimes do comparison of people and show liking depending upon their interest. As stated “The idea that all action is fundamentally 'rational' in character and that people calculate the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do. This approach to theory is known as rational choice theory” 19John Scott, 2000. And if a person is liked by rational choice theory then it implies that “Extraordinary and praiseworthy actions, performed by a likeable person, attract our positive attention and focus, and this creates admiration.” 20Richard H.Smith 2000.

So, in admiring the person more who confused us rather than admiring a person who makes us understand, includes various factors: which are a man’s decision based on rational choices, he takes decisions seeking his owns interest and liking, in terms of liking a person for various reasons develop an admiration for him. And people who are more interested in learning and exploring new horizons, and desire to be motivated depending upon self-efficacy and through this quality of being self-regulated and wants to accomplish his goal are more inclined towards admiration of a person who confuses them. This concludes confusion leads to better understanding and urges to learn more.

References:

2.The Holy Book Of Quran, Sura Bani-Israel, verse 9 and Sura An-Nahl, verse 89

4.Shahid Juma , Article THE NOBLE QUR’AN IS THE GUIDANCE FOR ALL MANKIND

6.Omar Iqbal, Article Understanding Of Islam, Dec 2003.

1.Malcolm Matthews 2007, Top 13, Confusing Movies Of All Time, Geek Speak Magazine, September issue.

8.U.S. Army. (October 1983). Military Leadership. FM 22-100. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office

11. Koichi writings ,Adaptation Article Confused? That means you are understanding.

12.Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

13.Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall

14.Bandura, Albert (1999). "Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities". Personality & Social Psychology Review 3

15. Redmond 2010, as cited in Bndra 1977.

16.Van der Bijl, J. J., & Shortridge-Baggett, L. M. (2002). The theory and measurement of the self-efficacy construct.

17.Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (2007). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications

18.Zimmerman, B.J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner

19.John Scott ,From Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of The Present
(Sage Publications, 2000).

Heath, A. 1976. Rational Choice and Social Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hindess, B. 1988. Choice, Rationality and Social Theory. London: Unwin Hyman.

20.Richard H. Smith Assimilative and Contrastive Emotional Reactions to Upward and Downward Social Comparisons 2000.