The Noble Savage in Today's Society by Julia Young

The Noble Savage in Today's Society 

The idea of noble savagery explains that all man is good when untouched by the corruption of civilization. It presents an idea, that without society's influences, people do not develop the selfish, greedy, impulsive and evil behaviors we often see surrounding us. Although this is an aged philosophy, it can be related to the world we live in today. While it is rare to come across adults who have not been influenced by our culture, I feel that this idea of the noble savage can be tied with child innocence.

As children, we tend to speak our mind; we don't really know what's considered right or wrong, and we often say and do things without really thinking about it. At a young age we don't know that your 'not supposed to' wear that shirt, do your hair that way, hang out with those people: toddlers just do what they want to do! They haven't been affected by the standards set by social media, or the propaganda we are fed through television and advertisements everyday.

In fact, I actually encountered a recent example of this child innocence over social media. The other day, as I was scrolling through FaceBook, I came across this picture of these two five-year-old boys from Kentucky:

left: Jax, right: Reddy

According to the caption, Jax-- on the left-- told his mom that when he got his next haircut he wanted it to be really short so he could match his best friend, Reddy. He giggled and explained that by having the same haircut, his teacher would not be able to tell them apart. Now to a grownup, teenager, or even a tween, many would easily categorize these two boys by their skin color; one obviously being black, and the other being white. Yet, unaffected by the society around him, the only difference this five-year-old saw was their hair.

So, the idea of the noble savage is still evident in the world today. While we are young and untouched by the corruption of society, our natural goodness shows. Exemplified by the story above, children perceive the world as they see it, free from society's filter, which is built up with standards and stereotypes.