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In "The Opposite" (5.22), George returns from the beach and decides that eveery decision that he has ever made has been wrong, and that his life is the exact opposite of what it should be. He decides to do the opposite of everything he would normally do and it pays off - big time.
George’s life turns from a series of disappointments and disasters to a string of successes simply by him changing his behavior. His assumption was that his whole life had been a series of bad decisions, so by flipping his thinking and doing the opposite, he had to be right. This speaks volumes not only to George being an influential and dynamic problem-solver, but also to the character himself. When you start studying personal development, you realize that the difference between you and more successful people isn’t just that the successful ones are working harder. They are doing something else than you are doing. Personal growth isn’t always doing the exact opposite of what you’ve done before, it is trying out different methods. It takes an intelligent and brave person to realize that they need to change; it takes an even braver person to actually do it. This is what George realized and did, it is what makes him a winner.
It is the complete opposite (pun intended) of Root's thesis of George being a colossal failure in everything he did. He became self-aware and made a personal decision to change his life. In Seinfeld and Philosophy author William Irvin examines the ethics in George doing the opposite of everything he has ever done. "To throw away everything one has learned and rebuild themselves is insanity; it is impossible to start over and completely adopt a new mind frame" (211). He compares George to Rene Descartes in the "I think, therefore I am" motif in that he breaks himself down just to build himself up again. He says that once you question yourself, your morals and your values, you call into question who you are. As a result you also question everything else, including if you truly exist. Although deep, it definitely serves as a counter-argument to Root's claims that George is a loser. With changing himself for the better, he is the furthest thing from it.
George’s life turns from a series of disappointments and disasters to a string of successes simply by him changing his behavior. His assumption was that his whole life had been a series of bad decisions, so by flipping his thinking and doing the opposite, he had to be right. This speaks volumes not only to George being an influential and dynamic problem-solver, but also to the character himself. When you start studying personal development, you realize that the difference between you and more successful people isn’t just that the successful ones are working harder. They are doing something else than you are doing. Personal growth isn’t always doing the exact opposite of what you’ve done before, it is trying out different methods. It takes an intelligent and brave person to realize that they need to change; it takes an even braver person to actually do it. This is what George realized and did, it is what makes him a winner.
It is the complete opposite (pun intended) of Root's thesis of George being a colossal failure in everything he did. He became self-aware and made a personal decision to change his life. In Seinfeld and Philosophy author William Irvin examines the ethics in George doing the opposite of everything he has ever done. "To throw away everything one has learned and rebuild themselves is insanity; it is impossible to start over and completely adopt a new mind frame" (211). He compares George to Rene Descartes in the "I think, therefore I am" motif in that he breaks himself down just to build himself up again. He says that once you question yourself, your morals and your values, you call into question who you are. As a result you also question everything else, including if you truly exist. Although deep, it definitely serves as a counter-argument to Root's claims that George is a loser. With changing himself for the better, he is the furthest thing from it.