Why Discipline is Very Important: Practical Philosophy

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Mr. Bright Joseph's Synopsis

The article "Why Discipline is Very Important - The Philosophy of A Practical Value" explores the importance of discipline on personal and social levels. It defines discipline as the ability to consistently obey a system, code, or philosophy, often requiring the suppression of personal temptations and desires.

The article differentiates between external discipline (obedience to authority and social systems) and self-discipline (personal commitment to one's goals). It highlights the role of discipline in maintaining social order and increasing productivity, emphasizing the collective benefits of personal discipline. The article also emphasizes self-discipline as crucial for personal growth and survival.

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Introduction

Generally speaking, discipline is the ability to obey consistently to a system, code or philosophy, and apply its teachings. Most of the time, this comes with a price, which is the rejection and suppression of temptations and desires. This is why discipline, while highly important, can also be very difficult for those who lack restraint and tenacity.

By being more disciplined to something external to you personally, you cancel your own urges in its favor. This allows you to survive and potentially prosper in an external system where there are higher priorities than your personal wants and needs.

Expressions of Discipline

The art of discipline expresses itself in various ways, whether by obeying current authority or pursuing a goal in solitude. That's because it is not necessarily dependent on other people, it is called self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to obey oneself persistently at the price of avoiding pleasure and laziness. While the external disciple is loyal to something and/or someone else, the self-disciple is loyal to either themselves or to their own beliefs and ambitions.

As an individual who very much appreciates self-discipline, I believe it serves as a better motivation than simply a certain urge, and it is very important to maintain, specifically in solitude. In solitude no one might be there to take care of you. The disciplined man or woman may act not on instinct on desire but on a rationalized motive.

One can say that discipline comes into practice when a child becomes a student in school. They have to obey their teachers, do their homework, and follow the rules of the institution.

The more the child obeys and does their obligations, the more disciplined they become. Thus, on the interpersonal level, discipline serves a basic function in a social order or construct: The function of complying to instructions, rules and the application of their lessons. The more disciplined the members of a construct are, the more productive and efficient the construct is.

Should you be discilpined enough in a social order as its subordinate, you have a chance to be recognized for your efforts, and even climb up its ranks. Thus, being a good disciple of something other than yourself, can reward you, giving you interest to stay disciplined, and stay loyal.

Discipline is expessed by act, and does not exist as being, like in true love. While in true love you are embraced and appreciated for who you are, discipline compels you to disregard your feelings, and improve your flaws. For example, we may work regardless of our desires, because the rationality behind our actions is to survive and earn money. In the absence of peer pressure, we must act like energy factories, and not batteries, to achieve our goals.

Batteries are passive sources of energy, while factories are the places where things are made. In this case, it's where your tasks come into fruition.

Thus, the self-disciplined person ought to take care of themselves, whether it is the maintenance of the body, pursuing a hobby, or doing a project. Compare this to a factory that needs maintenance. Fail to take care of your problems, and your output would decrease. Just Like in a factory.

To Overcome the Self

One of the most advantageous things about discipline is the ability to liberate oneself from one's current desires and overcome them in the name of a higher value or goal. And thus, the disciplined person can become a master of themselves in the name of rationality. Through denial to act on impulse, we are able to conquer it, and thus, ourselves. More specifically -- our id-ego. 

Discipline exists regardless of what they feel at the moment. When your rationality overcomes your short-term temptations, that is an expression of discipline, if it's applied practically.

Thus, the issue of discipline is one that is based on respect, as respect is measured by practice, and not by love, which aspires be one with a being. No, the disciple is one that has to prove their discipline by their actions, as their acts serve as proof to their compliance of a code/system/something else. The disciplined man or woman are respected not for who they currently are, but for the function they continously serve by being disciplined.

Discipline is also very vital when growing up mentally, and therefore high levels of it can indicate a mature personality. The mature individual knows that they have obligations, whether to themselves or to other people, and they are the ones to take responsibility for their actions.

Laziness and Health

One can say that discipline is the antithesis opposite of laziness, which I believe to be true. That is because laziness is expressed by the submission to urges that tempt you to not act on the ability to apply enough reason to act rationally. The lazy individual is prone to damage their health and not fulfilling their reason, by pursuing passions that do not promote their commitments. Playing video games for long periods of time, instead of working, while being supposed to work, is such an example.

The lazy person is not disciplined because they lack the will or tenacity to exert effort to do something which is not fun or grant them pleasure. I tend to believe that children are usually very lazy, mostly today. Instead of indulging in physical exercise, they usually spend their time in front of a computer or a TV screen, and thus some of them get obese and weak. Laziness can be compared "to a demon" which seduces you to harm yourself and your body by submitting to pleasures instead of effort. It's even sensible in religious context.

This is why self-discipline is also important when leading a healthy lifestyle of good nutrition and physical exercise. The healthy person overcomes the temptation for candies, cigarettes, alcohol, and so forth, and the athlete overcomes their will to skip a training session.

An example of self-discipline can be seen in my own life when I used to be more-physically active. I made an obligation to myself to go to the local gym once or twice a week, regardless of whether I wanted to or not, or if I preferred to do something else at a certain moment. Except for one time when I skipped the gym due to muscle pain, I kept my obligation and plan to do so until the end of my membership.

I know that going to the gym is important because it is good for my health and physical maintenance. Thus, being disciplined means doing your deeds not because you necessarily want to do them, but because you are aware of their functionality, whether to yourself or to society.

Final Words: Discipline As Virtue

When you act on the functionality of the teachings you follow, AKA, the codes which you submit yourself to, it is then when you know you are capable of doing more than what you otherwise want to to do. We need to understand that our wants do not always matter in this world, which can be harsh and merciless.

And we need to do whatever we can to survive, as survival allows us to prosper. And in order to survive, we must be fitting enough to our lives, and that is done by being disciplined. The self might not always fit in society or in a professional setting they're compelled to be in. Discipline as such allows us to improve ourselves so we will fit better, and get into conflicts and distresses -- less. As such, canceling ourselves in this world may be more important than some of you might think, for discipline is the mold we can use to shape ourselves in accordance to our surroundings.