|
|
Post by bhart1992 on Sept 2, 2015 21:26:39 GMT
1. My reaction to being told we are no more than a bag of meat is rather disappointed. For the longest time I believed there has to be something more to reality than what we know. The universe is just too vast--things can be too complex for this physical world to “be it”. Thinking that consciousness is no more than a chemical reaction relying solely on the brain is too simple. However, with the complexity and layers of forces, known and theoretical, can this hyper awareness be an explainable, run of the mill, chemical reaction? I have always believed that consciousness was universal, that there is much more to it than we know. To think our extreme awareness of reality is only due to our brains just seems unfulfilling and leaves a sense of incompleteness. The feeling that the soul is special could very well be incorrect, but to think it is a figment of our bodily chemistry seems almost ignorant. Jumping to such a theory we cannot fully analyze is bad science. Consciousness may be no more than a chemical reaction caused by our brains, but it could also be a very important force that humans have come to harness yet refuse to admit to its mysteriousness.
2. A time in most children’s lives when they believe something to be real, but later found it to be fake, would be Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny; I was raised to believe these were all real. Growing up, my parents would act as if these imaginary beings were real and this led me to wholeheartedly believe in these entities. I remember the week after returning to school, it was the fourth grade, the teacher asked everybody what they got for Christmas. When she got to my friend he stated that he got something he didn’t like, but he couldn’t return it since his mom didn’t know where Santa got it--his mom was sticking to her “Santa” lie--this is when the rest of the class started laughing at him. Apparently, we were the only two kids who still thought Santa was real. Me, being the clever kid I was, quickly caught on. The year after I would slowly hint to my parents that I know it was them giving my siblings and I the gifts, but they would never admit to it. Of course one day they caved, but this goes to show how easily one's mind can be tricked into believing something is real when in reality it is not. and all it takes is a bit of clear insight to have your world turned upside down.
|
|
|
|
Post by atheinabernadette on Sept 2, 2015 22:02:54 GMT
11632
If I was told that I was just this physical being and that there was nothing "mete" about me, I would have to say I'd be very disappointed and hurt. I for one absolutely feel that my mind and spirit cannot be limited by anything physical. The video discussed how mysterious and incredible the idea of matter is because of the idea that everything is made up of it. This means that light and planets and famous people and flowers are all made up of matter. The fact that everything is made up of rearranged atoms making up matter is an incredible idea. But I feel that things that are "meta" are more incredible because they are harder to understand and they are not constrained by anything physical. Matter holds physical cages. I am much more than matter and am capable of stretching myself out by sharing my thoughts through words to others. Once I die I like thinking that my soul will not die with me but will go on and live in some other state unknown. I understand how mystical matter itself can be and how incredible it is to be made up of such a thing, just reconfigurations of atoms, but I also feel that metaphysics are even more incredible and mystic. We don't know much about them and can't even come close to fathoming things that are more than physical things themselves. People are capable of having a better grasp and a better understanding of what matter is because it is physical. It is much easier to study and experiment with matter rather than things of other nature, allowing us to know more of the subject matter. I am more than just matter. Matter itself is incredible but I feel my thoughts and ideas go past the materialistic layers.
When I was younger I believed that all people were as accepting as my mother's side of the family. My older cousin, who is now in her late 40's, has been with a girl my entire life. My entire family was accepting and very tolerant of their relationship and I never thought anything of it. I never assumed it was different or wrong; I never thought anything of it. As I grew up I began to notice that a lot of other people preached hating other's because of their sexuality. I learned that our world is very homophobic by using their religion as a propaganda tool. Another example of when I assumed something and was proven wrong is when I thought the tomato was a veggie. I'm not entirely sure how I came up with that conclusion but I think I thought it was a veggie because it wasn't as sweet as other fruits. I was finally told the truth in class when we were all talking about delicious fruits and somebody brought the subject up of how a tomato was a fruit. I was shocked but I accepted it.
|
|
|
|
Post by emeraldforrest on Sept 2, 2015 22:22:36 GMT
Much like the students from Mysterium Tremendum, I would initially feel sort of damned to have my entire being be limited only to the physical realm. I think that is because we all feel transcendent of our bodies because of the power of our minds and what most would call spirit. Though, the film brought up an important point that the idea of being only matter is not bad news. The purely physical still has mystery and complexities if one simply looks beyond to the magic of the unknown in modern science.
Up until about a year ago, I'd always thought that the ranging term "several" was specifically limited to the number seven. I'd always been weak in the area of numbers connecting to loose amounts in words, like knowing how much a "handful" referred to etc. It took me a long while of picking up hints that my assumption about "several" was wrong. Finally I realized I was wrong when a number of items, four, were referred to as "several". I turned to the internet for a quick definition check to find that several indeed meant more than two, but not many. I came to a conclusion on my own about something based on what I knew and it turned out to be wrong. Another example of a situation like Plato's Cave I experienced was when I thought that the Mexican tradition of a Quinceañera was for a girl's sixteenth birthday. I came to this assumption because it is common for Americans to celebrate a sixteen year old girl's birthday also know as the "sweet sixteen". I thought that a Quinceañera was simply a Mexican version of a sweet sixteen and had no idea that Quinceañeras were religiously affiliated or were for the fifteenth birthday (quince in spanish means fifteen).
|
|
|
|
Post by kellivalbuena on Sept 3, 2015 19:24:05 GMT
To athienabernadette:
I like that you took the opposite approach, of almost a negative form of enlightenment-reality. Your realization was not something technical or linguistic. It was not a child's error due to their underdeveloped mentality or socialization skills. This was merely the truth that you believed and that society as a whole should believe and adopt as core values. Not only tolerance, but love and empathy towards minorities of race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. Your parents definitely taught you right. The world on the other hand, has it all wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by pjoyce on Sept 4, 2015 1:46:29 GMT
I am not quite sure if I feel disappointed or sad at the thought of my physical being was created from old particles of stars from billions of years ago. I actually feel nothing at all sad nor disappointment. I do think though, with each new science discovery it creates doubt in what we once believed. For that, I think it’s fascinating and anything is possible. But I do believe that everything in the universe have something in common with each other as if we were cut from the same cloth.
|
|
|
|
Post by bhart1992 on Sept 4, 2015 2:01:26 GMT
pjoyce, It's not a matter of being disappointed that we are made from "star stuff", on the contrary this is an incredibly fascinating thought, but the idea that we are no more than a bag of meat; that our consciousness is nothing special. Nothing more than a manifestation of the brains chemical composition. This leaves a feeling of despair, of "flatness" as described in the video. Another point I'd like to make is that I'm not sure we are all supposed to post our test in this thread. I know extra credit was assigned to reply to somebodies test, but it seems as if people are putting their test answers in my test post; I may be wrong though.
|
|
|
|
Post by pjoyce on Sept 4, 2015 2:26:33 GMT
oops sorry wrong post
|
|
|
|
Post by pjoyce on Sept 4, 2015 2:30:24 GMT
11632
1. I was somewhat taken back by the question, how I would feel if I was made of stuff? I can truly say that I don’t feel anything at all, for me it was just question to engage my thinking process of where did I come from? The truth is I am made of stuff. All I know is that I am here in a physical body. I once started out in life as a giggly glob of cell and fluid bounded together, it’s called an embryo. I know this much, my body is composed of many different elements, one can considered these elements to be stuff. The stuff that I am made of composed of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and other elements. So what does that really mean? The idea of I was created from stars that exploded billions of years ago is hard for me to grasp. That I was formed by particles from these dead stars and somehow bounded together and became a mass that fill the space. If that is so, my questions would then be who created the stars that created me and everything on this universe? There’s got to be a higher source that creates our conscious and subconscious self not just whole bunch of molecules that joined together…… but science is fascinating and there’s so much more out there that’s unknown to us. It’s thrilling and scary at the same time and the more things that are being discovered or will be discovered will make me question what I once believed.
2. In the concept of Plato Allegory of the Cave the video suggested that what I see or believe is not true it’s just a mirage of our brain wanting believe. If I understand this correctly, what Plato Allegory of the Cave really means is that what we believe to be true is just an illusion of what our mind hopes wants it to be. For example the welfare system, I believe that it was created to help those in needs. It didn’t help people like me or my friend who lost her job and all we wanted was medical insurance for ourselves and our children. We were denied of this service because we made too much money. We were collecting unemployment and barely making rent. The sad part was I’ve been working and paid into the system since I was 15 years old. When I needed it. It failed me. Another example was I once went through a variety of tests and interviews and didn’t get the job. I later found out that it was given to a niece of the department head person. What I thought and believed that, if you work really work hard then you will excel in the company, maybe so many years ago. But in today’s world it based on who you know. So what you believe may not be true, it’s an illusion of what you think should be.
|
|
|
|
Post by ccarla on Sept 4, 2015 3:31:14 GMT
1. I believe I am more than just this body, therefore I do not know how I would feel if I were just "stuff". What does "stuff" mean?
However, at one point I did identify myself with just my body since I had not put any thought into my existence. From what I remember I was content, since I had no idea there was so much more to being alive. The more I learn the more I realize I know nothing.
2. From the time I can remember I've been told animals were put on this planet for us to eat. I have cared for animals all my life, I've felt this unexplainable connection to them and now its unavoidable. As I pursued my academic path of animal science, I was continuously told and taught raising animals for food consumption was "normal". I never questioned anything until one day a girl asked me what my major was. I told her it was Animal Science and then she said, "Oh, so you must be a vegetarian or vegan right?"
Her question was unforgettable and it bothered me for days. I couldn't understand why she had assumed I was vegetarian/ vegan. Then another friend of mine, (philosophy major) asked me if I would ever go to a doctor that was a cannibal?
I was shocked and thought his question was crazy! and then he said " How can a veterinarian go and help a cow in the day while at work but then eat a cow for dinner?"
I began to lose sleep since I had so many mixed feelings about what I was studying and then I realizes I was being brainwashed that raising animals by the thousands and feeding them different feeds to make them grow at a faster rate, plus adding growth hormones and weaning them from their mothers after hours of being born was "normal".
When I stopped writing notes and began to listen to what I was studying I could no longer look at my food choices the same. I had been learning about each industry: Dairy, poultry, beef, swine, and taken genetics courses where there was a normal distribution curve and the outliers were culled because they were not up to par.
I was part of a machine where animals are seen as a commodity and no longer a life form.
Going back to the allegory of the cave, my eyes had been open just like this person who saw the truth. The images on the wall were not real, just like the things I was taught did not have to be accepted. But now the dangerous part is... do you go back and tell everyone the truth? you could be killed.. Its almost like they were asleep...waking someone from a deep slumber can be a dangerous thing.
As for me I live day by day to myself but when I see fertile ground I do plant a seed, I used to try and tell many people what was really going on but they did not believe me and thought I was just a crazy animal activists. I am thankful I had a shift in mindset and became more aware of what was really going on.
|
|
james
New Member
Posts: 7 
|
Post by james on Sept 4, 2015 6:25:20 GMT
James Parker In Phil 1 Tuesday 7pm
1. If I was nothing more then my body or even my brain. I would feel quite empty and hollow, knowing there is nothing beyond this existence. It takes a lot of mystery out of life when science goes to great lengths to explain what we are. There would be no further possibilities beyond the extent of my body and mind. Though we all experience a multitude of things with infinite possibilities. But in the end our bodies decay and we die, then the atoms that comprise my body will return to the earth. Therefore everything that made me unique all my memories and past experiences would be gone. All that would be left of me then would be any legacy, memory in others, or any thing I may leave behind. That is if I believed we were all made of only "this stuff". By only considering myself organic material I lose optimism and open mindedness. And I feel we all thrive on an endless degree of possibilities.
2. There were a few times in my life when I felt trapped in the metaphorical "Plato's Cave". One being the way I viewed the government. In grade school I believed the government to be infallible, I thought they had everyone's best interest at heart. Later in life I discovered cover-ups, civilian surveillance and broken promises. I was in a dark cave not perceiving the shapes and sounds around me for what they really were.
Another time being when I found out that wrestling on television wasn't real. I was a very young child and I idolized a few of these characters. Later when I found out it was all one big dramatic show televised on a nationwide stage, It made me feel stupefied. Like being in a strange dark room then someone turns the lights on. And everything you thought you saw was wrong. It makes me wonder, what other things are in the dark that I'm not perceiving correctly.
|
|
|
|
Post by glennonbell on Sept 4, 2015 21:15:01 GMT
sites.google.com/site/glennontakesphilosophy/movie-testsWeek 1 Film Question/Answers - Code 11632 Questions: How would you feel if you realized that you were just “stuff”, just this body, and that there was nothing “meta” physical about you? Be sure to use your “I” voice and present your reaction in an autobiographical framework. Also make pertinent references (when possible) to the film on mysterium tremendum. Using your own life as a template, provide two or more examples of Plato’s Allegory of the cave. Hint: think of those times in your life when you mistakenly believed something to be true or real but you later realized wasn’t. Be sure to think within the context of the movie. Anwers: 1. Mystericum Tremendum To an extent I already believe that, but not in a way where I feel that light is matter therefor I must also be light. There’s nothing self-aggrandizing about it. At the same time, being human is pretty amazing. I’m a “meatsicle” whose greatest joys are singing, dancing, and acting (musical theatre), and just being made of “stuff” allows me to do/experience that. Honestly, I am not sure how I feel about it. On one end it seems like something so grand (I’m compilation of so many minuscule, amazing things I will never fully understand in its entirety). On the other end it seems so small (in comparison to the expanse of the universe I am a grain of sand.) Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Example 1 - Belief in/of Santa (childhood): I think the most obvious (if you grew up celebrating Christmas that is) would be the belief that is created in Santa. As a child I absolutely believed in Santa, yet it wasn’t surprising when I found out Santa was actually my parents (ergo not real). Granted there is the whole thing about the spirit of Santa, but that’s not entirely relevant. I think ultimately finding out that Santa wasn’t real didn’t make the holidays any less wonderful or magical, it simply transferred that spirit of kindness and generosity to people more tangible in my life. Example 2 - “Fear is something you break through” (young adulthood): I have constantly heard that fear is something you break through. Somehow living with fears is shameful, which is obviously ridiculous. This idea was proven utterly false after attending a leadership program (GYLP - just finished my third year with them this summer). They promoted the idea that the fear is something you overcome, and it is gradual. They also dispelled the idea that having fear is shameful thing.
|
|
|
|
Post by pjoyce on Sept 11, 2015 2:59:10 GMT
sorry for some reason I kept getting your post. |
|
