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Post by Drummerboy1 on Mar 2, 2015 21:08:06 GMT
How would I feel if someone came and told me that I was just a piece of meat? Well first I would have to examine myself and see what made that person say such a comment. Have I ever done something wrong to this person to render such a statement? I would then realize maybe this person is trying to be mean or get some type of reaction out of me. I don’t know how I would respond. I would probably try to come up with a joke to diffuse the uncomfortable situation. It makes you wonder exactly are we pieces of meat going through the conveyer belt of life waiting for our number; headed to the ultimate slaughter house? Well, I don’t know but it would be interesting to find out the answer to, “where’s the beef?” One experience comes to mind is the show Sesame Street had a beloved character by the name of Elmo. The day I found out Elmo was not real and just a puppet I felt so sad and lost. It was then when I began to ask myself whose puppet am I. Why are we even here and what does this all mean? I know that these questions are a lot to comprehend but maybe this course of study will help answer some questions. Second time I remember I believed my brother that if I stayed in the bathtub while the water went down I would be sucked into the drain. For the longest time I believed him it was quit sad, but in the end I realized it was not true. It made me wonder though was life an illusion things appearing one way and ending a different way. . Second time I remember I believed my brother that if I stayed in the bathtub while the water went down I would be sucked into the drain. For the longest time I believed him it was quit sad, but in the end I realized it was not true. It made me wonder though was life an illusion things appearing one way and ending a different way.
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Post by barryallen on Mar 3, 2015 5:26:46 GMT
Christian Allen; 11632
Question 1:
Would knowing I am simply stuff without any "meta" change my life? I believe it would change my life drastically, but doubtfully for the better. I am my faith. In saying that I am trying to explain how essential and big of a part my faith plays in my life, personality and actions each day. I practice kindness with abundance each day regardless of my mood or circumstances. I do this because I believe it is what God expects of me; to not be selfish but always think about others. It is the same reason I personify being a "gentleman" much better than almost anyone else I know of, real or fictitious. Because of my faith i hold myself to a higher standard than I believe any man can accomplish. But if I were proven incorrect and that this existence is it, there is no higher power to hold any of us accountable for our actions or inaction- then I would live a drastically different life from now on. I wouldn't worry about some vows I've made to a nonexistent God. I would be focused only on self-satisfaction and pleasure in each moment! I wouldn't worry about other's plights or feelings, but say and do whatever I want at any and every time. My only deterrent may be laws that govern the state and may endanger my freedoms or life. Wouldn't those become my new priority or even gods... I can't say whether I would extend any kindness to even build a legacy or having a lasting impression on this planet since I would only have a finite existence.
Yes I would definitely change if my only purpose for living became for myself. Would that be good or bad? Well I would argue neither since the two terms are increasingly relative to an individual without a universal constant or standard to define them.
Question 2:
Realities change. Or I believe it is more accurate to say perceptions change yet reality is both singular and constant, independent of beliefs or knowledge.
Being a Canadian living in not only America but California many Californians have unrealistic expectations of Canadians and many Canadians have unrealistic expectations of California. After I moved to California I realized that not everyone lived within walking distance of the beach and neither did every male look like a body-builder nor every woman look like a supermodel; though there are numerous beautiful women. I was also surprised by how strict the Seventh-Day Adventist school I attended was. How sheltered the other students were and the lack of responsibility and freedom they could enjoy. It was a drastic contrast to how I was raised and showed in how outgoing I was compared to others and my maturity in various situations.
My friends later told me of their expectations of me and their rude awakening. They said they "expected a white freckled ginger kid" whose vocabulary revolved entirely around the letter "A." Well I am a brown-haired black man with a healthy vocabulary and thoughtful mind.
Another way my "perception" has been changed is when I found out my older sister is technically only my half sister. Even though I grew up hearing that she was going to visit her other grandma or see her other dad, I never realized that there was a difference between us. It did't impact my feelings for her in the slightest, and why should it? My experiences with her and the feelings I've had for her weren't lessened. But what was impacted the most for me was my respect for my own father. He never treated any of his children differently based on blood relation or not. He has inspired me to embody a higher standard for "a man" and not write off a woman because she may already have a child with someone else. Whether the conception of being "a mistake" or just something by chance is used or thought of for that child/children; that child/children deserve and will receive the same devotion, kindness, care, and love my own blood would.
sites.google.com/site/barryallenphil5/
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moe
New Member
Posts: 10
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Post by moe on Mar 3, 2015 6:24:09 GMT
Q1 If someone would to tell me that I was just “stuff” I would feel pretty hopeless. The few questions that would come to mind at that moment would be what is the purpose of going to work every day or even life in general and is there even a thing as afterlife and was me living gods will a lie is there even a god. I would certainly be confused because all my life I been going down this path I thought was right and to be told that I was wrong the whole time would really be upsetting. There wouldn't be any reason for us to be on earth. For some reason I think we would start acting like WALKERS like on the show WALKING DEAD. "Those with little faith have little doubt and those with great faith have great doubt" I'm someone of great faith and believe that I’m more than just “stuff” so I think I would have to just ignore that person.
Q2 Back in high school I use to think that if I showed that I was tough then people would respect me and like me. So I would jump at anybody that looked at me sideways or said anything bad about me but as I got older and into a lot of trouble I realized that showing I was tough wasn't going to get people to respect me (at least in the way I wanted them to). I had to learn that I needed to give respect to gain respect and carry myself in a respectable manner. Another example is when I was a child I use to think to myself “if everybody is going the speed limit then wouldn't that mean all the cars would on top of each other or right next to each other” but I quickly found out that that was not the case.
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Post by nestorcantu on Mar 3, 2015 6:54:30 GMT
Question 1 I don't know how I would feel. Its weird thinking about it especially because I do not want to believe that we are just stuff. If there is nothing meta physical to us then there isn't after death. And that can be odd because I was raised a catholic and told that there is some type of meta physical being or spirit after death that's beyond our self. Although I would also think I would feel some sort of relief, mainly because there would be some sort of pressure lifting off my shoulders. This would be because if I knew I was just stuff and there is nothing beyond myself I wouldn't have to ponder or be afraid of death or trying to understand what we are because we already know the answer. Question 2 I was raised catholic by my family. My mother and father were also raised catholic and so was mostly all of my other relatives. Like common Catholics we went to church every Sunday, learned our prayers, went to Sunday school and so forth. As I got older something just smacked me in the head and said well how do I know what I'm told is true. Religion is not based on evidence like science instead we follow the writing of men thousands of years ago. So one day I said to myself where is the evidence? While doubting that nothing really seemed to fit logically when you have very strong evidence to somewhat disprove that. Another false knowing I had was back in school. I never really seemed to study much although I did understand most of the material. I had a very big test coming up and I was confident I didn't need to study. I was wrong I knew nothing on the test and failed miserably. sites.google.com/site/icanyoucantu/
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Post by barbara on Mar 3, 2015 22:23:26 GMT
Barbara Hennessy 11632 1. To think that I am just "stuff", that I am merely three pounds of matter makes me want to use those three pounds wisely. As I get older and my body starts to fail me I find myself using those 135 pounds less and the three pounds that make me…well "me"…more. Could the debate not be that we are three pounds of matter but whether those three pounds are aware of being conscious versus just sleep walking through our life? Shouldn't the question be "how much of the three pounds are we using" and are we aware of using it? What is thought and where does thought come from…can we control our thoughts…can we retrain our brains to help us make better decisions and be at ease in our skin…is this not the basis for meditation and perhaps religion: the human need to feel peace within? Perhaps our consciousness can also be called our soul or our spirit and this what constitutes our belief in religion. Perhaps when our body dies our spirit does live on in "heaven" or gets reincarnated into another body. That is a religious debate going on for centuries and I am in no position to answer. I do believe that our consciousness is a bundle of neurons as Francis Crick says but those neurons can be broken down to sensory neurons, motory neurons and association neurons and it is the messages that these neurons carry that make our life worth living. Descartes said "I think. Therefore, I am." I believe he is referring to his three pounds of matter and not his body weight. I do not have an ethical or spiritual dilemma that we are just matter nor do I have an opposition to the definition of matter because it does not change who I believe I am as a person. It does not change my intent of being a better, kinder human being than I was yesterday. It does not change my desire to use my mind fully…whether by taking a class or by playing a game on Lumosity to challenge my brain and my brain paths or by meditating in my backyard to gain some inner peace. I'm still me regardless of the words used to describe my molecular makeup.
2. Last August I was backpacking through Indonesia and I was offered the opportunity to hike on Mount Batur, an active volcano. Halfway up I realized I was never going to make I to the top as the incline was way too steep and the atmosphere was already thin. I told my much younger companions to go ahead and I stayed in the middle of the volcano where an impromptu prayer ground had been erected. I was alone on the volcano as all other tourists had already departed and it was quiet and peaceful. The sun was beating down on me and the humidity level was higher than southern California will ever see. I put my ipod in and was listening to the chants of Padma Previ and I began a deep mediation like no other. I was probably ten minutes into it when I felt a golden light enveloping both my body and spirit and I felt warm and safe and so at peace. The presence of my business partner (who was back in Mision Viejo) was overwhelming and it was as if he was standing behind me giving me a hug…it felt that real. I stayed in that trance-like state for over an hour and when my travelling companions returned from having reached the monkey sanctuary at the top of the volcano I was more relaxed than I had been in months…possible years. I have travelled to other countries always with the goal of meditating in various places and have met many monks and scholars who have given me lessons on how to relax my mind but nothing compared to this wonderful experience. I came back to the states relaxed and at peace and told my family and friends about this marvelous experience. And then I told my therapist who calmly asked me "Do you think it was an energy force or do you think it was a hallucination from going off your Cymbalta?" And much like the chained people in the cave who only saw the shadows of things and never the reality my entire spiritual experience was diminished to the side effects of choosing to detox off a powerful medication while out of the country. Had I in fact transcended out of my body for this mind awakening mediation or was this the dreaded side effect that the doctors warned me about?
When I watched Plato's Allegory of the cave I thought to myself "smoke and mirrors". I have created an illusion of something that does not in fact exist within my company. I closed down our bricks and mortar office and put my entire company into "the cloud". Because we are a leading recognized nationwide healthcare recruiting company candidates and clients "assume" we have a large office with a booming staff; when in fact, my assistant and I work out of my house (often in our pajamas) and the rest of my staff do likewise from their homes all over the country. I actually have employees that I have never met face-to-face. But by having a popular newsletter and posting pictures on LinkedIn my company gives the appearance that we are so much larger than we are. Sometimes when a local candidate wants to come to our office I have to meet them at a Starbucks or for lunch because we do not have an office. Much like the shadows on the side of the cave I have created the illusion of something that does not exist.
sites.google/site/educationismyhobbywhatsyours/
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Post by "BEAR" Shalin on Mar 4, 2015 3:16:28 GMT
Critical thinking test #1 1. On a regular basis I like to think that i act like spock and scotty. i dont really have any storys of me acting like kirk, maybe like one or two(been single for like 3 years now hahaha oh how sad). i dont really make to much money on a weekly basis, well in my standards i dont. so when it comes to having fun im some what limited, i dont like to drink but i enjoy smoking very much. usually once or twice a week i usually buy some trees, i might buy 4 grams or 14 i never know. one thing i do is that i always make sure that i smoke without loosing money or i make sure i get more money (im not a drug dealer). its not a survival instinct i just dont like being without money or trees, so i make sure that i have one that can buy the other or sell to make the other good's (confusing i know). money+trees= Happy jewls (theory in perspective). no money+ trees=money, no trees+money=trees. when i was young about 2 years ago i did alot of stupid things to make one individual person happy, lets call that person person bitchney. i stayed with her because every time i tried to break up with her she would always make me feel bad about trying to leave her. finally towards the end of the relationship after alot of bullshit and lies, i just coudnt take it any more. i grew distant from my family, my friends and my co workers. So every time i tried to break up with this girl most of the time she would tell me she was pregnant( cuz i stuck around for a month to see if she really was) and off course being a young i did alot of stupid things without protection with bitchney( i made sure she was on birthcontroll... okay so dont be so surprised... you know you did it at one point to .... or ur still doing it !!! -_- ). but after all this i left the relationship with a bunch of awesome experiences but drained. i shouldn't have never let my inner kirk out, i know now and this will never happen to me again. prob why im single for the past 3 years hahahah. I would just like to point out after all this time i was cheated on in the end, gave her one chance to make it up and she did it again, you really cant teach a old bitch new tricks. this really isnt a story about my self but about a story about one of my best friends. and this guy no matter what acts like scotty (survival at no cost). partly why i dont hang out with him any more, he has thrown me under the bus so many times i should be dead by now. my friend would lie to my other friends about things that he obviously did like for example. a girl would tell him a secret and tell him not to tell any one els. but he would always spill the beans to other people. and even if i wasn't there he would say i was. and these girls some times are as dum as they came because i would explain to them that i didn't even know those secrets until they told me and the fact that i was never there. if anything i learned to weed out my good friends from my bad friends at a very young age, but ofcoure you are going to loose alot more friends but in the long run ive definitely came out of it on a good foot. 2. about a year ago i got into a really bad car crash. it was all my fault and my fault alone, with that being said. i was street racing with my car a Nissan 350z ... in my head she was a monster. So i was at a car meet and i got called out by a random guy and he was driving a Honda S2K ( we became close friends after this happened). we raced about 3 times on the freeway easily exceeding 150 mph, i won the three freeway races and he was dissatisfied with his results wanted to run again but from a dig (from a stop). so i found a place and i don't know why but deep down inside i had one of those feelings like( this is a bad idea brudaha) . i just brushed my shoulder and continued. typical start we had my friend nani as our flag girl she, race started and bam .... bad start his car got in front and i was just falling behind towards the middle i passed him but i was carrying to much speed to enter a corner 120 with bald tires. entered the corner i looked down 127 mph my back end lost it threw me into the first curb just like a pinball i went toward the opposite curb maybe going 60 mph i took out a treet and my car dug into the ground before i missed a light pole by exactly 8 inches after all this i got out of my car to find that i shattered my rims, my bottom of the engine got hit, passenger side fenders and side skirts were done, my back wheels were bent in wards .... roughly around 9 thousand dollars of damage. i took my car back home on a flat bed and talked to my dad and my dad being a smart man that he is told me how to work the system. so i called insurance and told them that i hit a fox last night while i was driving and lost control of the car (what do you think im going to tell the truth lol ) so the next day insurance adjuster came by to look at my car and to the place where the crash happened, and wouldn't know a fox crossed his car on the way to where i crashed and then another when he was walking around. the chances of this happening would have had to be one in a million and i was approved for the claim and i got my car fixed. If Bertrand Russell or any skeptic would try to explain this it would be pretty easy just because it happened in norco hill which has alot of wil animal like mountain lions, coyotes and foxes. so on a regular basis you do come across them but the chanced of lieing about hitting one and there being one there was just dumb luck. sites.google.com/site/shalinbeargunasekera/ <---- come check me out !
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Post by jess998 on Mar 4, 2015 8:17:51 GMT
11632 Philosophy Film Test Questions 1.If i just realized I was just "stuff" a body and there was nothing "meta" about me I would feel many things because "stuff" not being specific can mean many different things and many different things can come in handy to not everything but maybe one thing. I would useless to the world because it seems like I wouldn't have a role in the environmental system which is what keeps humans animals and plants alive, and that is very important. I would also feel confused to not know what I really am, like what stuff, I am, texture, feeling, appearance. I would feel like if I would continue to question myself and the universe what I am. On the other hand if I was told I was made of light then that would give me a happy feeling because light is good, light is something people metaphorically go for as in we prefer light rather than dark. Light sounds like positivity, enlightment, and freedom. For me to realize that I am just a piece of meat wouldn't sound as bright and happy as light would cause me to feel. It would make me feel as if I was just a body with nothing important inside like a brain, heart, lungs, organs. It would make me feel empty without a soul, feelings, a heart beat, or a mind and brain to think. According to the film Mysterious Tremendum matter has light, and if it were to have light taken out it wound't be anything lesser than what it is, it would still be just matter, just as light is just light. 2. Using my own life as a template, there has been times in my life where I mistakenly believed something to be true when I was younger but now I realize it isn't true. I used to believe that the moon was made out of cheese and there was two rabbits living in the moon because of the shapes it has. I always belived this lie because my brother would tell me these things. I also believed that Santa Claus was actually true and he would actually go around the whole entire world in one night riding in his sleigh with flying reindeers, squeezing through chimneys dropping presents off at every persons house. As I got older I started to realize that it was not true and there was no santa just parents wrapping presents when the children are asleep. sites.google.com/a/student.mtsac.edu/jessica-phil-5/
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Post by sierrag on Mar 4, 2015 23:10:07 GMT
11632 Question #1:
By being described as matter, it makes me feel as if I am an inanimate object. Almost like saying you are nothing. Well, at least to someone more dense this is what it may come off as. It can be misinterpreted easily as saying a person is a "thing". Now that may sound slightly insulting. Truthfully, it is because we don't understand. I can say that if someone walked up to me and said, "you are just a piece of matter". I would probably be oblivious to what they're saying at first. But by taking a deeper thought, it is just the truth. When people don't fully understand what something is they simply call it a thing. It is the most elementary answer for everything we can't describe. By calling me a piece of matter, you are calling me a thing. Generalizing the idea that I am composed of in fact unexplainable "things". It feels only natural for me to want to be offended by this. Just like most people, I see myself as something made of greatness. So the choice of the word "matter" being used to describe me feels like much of an understatement. However, in reality it is a great compliment and also truthfully accurate. Even though I would not want that particular choice of words used to describe me it still compliments my inevitable greatness. I am a thing made up of stuff. I am a piece of matter. Unexplainable, indescribable, and well that pretty much sums me up. So yes, I am a piece of matter. An immense structure of matter.
Question #2: The biggest and most devastating let down of my life would have to be learning the truth about Santa Clause. Seriously, this was a massive let down in my childhood. Along with the Toothfairy and the alleged Easter Bunny. However, in those cases I was a bit more skeptical. As a kid I caught on quick to the truth about the Toothfairy. It was disappointing but I came to the conclusion that the pay out was worth going along with. You can say that I appreciated the extra allowance just for entertaining my mother with a collection of teeth. As for the Easter Bunny, I was in denial from the moment I came into grade school. Seriously how can you expect anyone to believe a giant mutated bunny that defecates brightly colored eggs filled with candy, sneaks into your backyard and hides them all around for you to find? Unlike these more obvious myths, Santa was more believable. Being that he is described as a man, a saint, who has a workshop where he produces toys to bring to all the good children every year in one night. I was led to believe that he was a "magical" and "wondrous". Writing lists and devoting to good behavior for the whole month of December expecting to be visited by the big man. However this was a cruel myth after finding out that it really was just my parents. Average people who inevitably are obligated to take care of me and reward my good behavior anyways. It was all lies. This was the most heartbreaking let down of a lifetime.
sites.google.com/a/student.mtsac.edu/sgomezphilo/
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Post by MatthewM on Mar 5, 2015 3:50:37 GMT
#1 If I were to be called just stuff, and there were to be nothing meta physical about me I think not only myself but a good majority of society would function in a much different way. Without the belief in being something more than just stuff, I think humanity in a whole would be a lot less sensitive. People will not know remorse. There's nothing to believe in, therefore why even be? There will be no sacred bonds of marriage, in which would most likely produce a lot of parentless children. We as a people need something to believe in other whys the world would be in pure chaos.
#2 Just a couple weeks ago I actually had a dream that I was going to be the lucky winner of the power ball. The next morning I felt this crazy urge to go out and buy myself 8 entries. Walking in to the 7-11 I felt really confident. I felt that way all day. I was not thinking of any current hardships or struggles, just what I was going to do with my money. I was so confident and content that I gave a solicitor a five dollar bill thinking I would't miss that. To my dismay later that night when me and my girlfriend looked up the winning numbers I had not even one matching number. I wasn't even close. I felt like a complete idiot for even buying into the game and very suddenly thoughts of the every day struggle come rushing back to my head.
I would also say when I was a young boy, my parents lead me to believe that a jolly old man with a white beard would sneak down my chimney to bring me presents. As I grew older I later found out that it was my parents. They would shower me with gifts, even though all my dad would get would be socks or some pajamas. As I look back I remember the example my parents set on me and I try to repay them back every year now that I can, at least before I have my own children when I can continue the tradition.
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Post by swerve on Mar 6, 2015 4:45:45 GMT
Film Test 1: 11632 Question 1: I would feel different because I would feel like was just here to be here. I would not serve a purpose of being here except to satisfy myself; I would not see the bigger picture, and I would just care about myself. If I was just three pounds of meat, then I would wonder what differentiates us from animals. Animals have yet to develop plumbing, farming, and so on. I just want to know why animals have not made advances like that yet. Maybe squirrels have elevators built inside of trees,and we have yet to discover them. Question 2: The AT&T Building in Nashville is commonly referred to as the Batman Building, and my parents would always tell me that Batman lived there which I obviously believed. I was five years old whenever my mom told me that my two brothers and dad went to the Batman Building without me. I asked her why I didn’t get to go, and she said because my name didn’t have five letters like Isaac and Tyler. I told her that I could have gone by Sammy since it had five letters, so I could go. She told me no, and I was crushed because I always wanted to see Batman’s house. Whenever they came back to the house, they went along with the plan that it really existed which led to more spitefulness. I was in downtown Nashville one day with my dad when I was about eight and asked if we could stop by the Batman Building since we were already in the area. He told me that Batman didn’t really live there, and it was just a building with offices. Another anecdote would be when I was in middle school and looked up to high school football players. I thought they were special watching them on Friday nights, but whenever I was a freshman in high school, I moved up from the freshmen team since our season had ended to varsity. I was nervous to practice with them because I thought they would be so much better than they actually turned out to be. They were good just not the invincible people I had imagined. , As I became a senior, I realized that the seniors that I revered were mediocre in actuality, and I was much better than them when I was a senior. sites.google.com/site/swerveedmondson/
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Post by jaelku on Mar 6, 2015 7:17:00 GMT
11632
Question 1 If I where told that i was just "Stuff," I would at first feel a lack of motivation to act and live according to the set of morals I have grown up believing to be something relevant to me. I would, however on the other hand also feel that I lack safety within my life, first and foremost in the idea that if I, (who I would believe to be considered a decent person, neither good nor bad), would at once believe it is no longer useful to consider good or evil in my actions, than would would others around me do? I would also feel a lack of safety in the idea that if my spirit is not real, and my soul only a temporary chance happening of neurons connecting, then my actions impact no greater scheme, being, or future, just as no greater scheme, being, or future awaits or impacts me. This thought would on one hand excite me in the freedom it holds, as if a child where left at home for a weekend, and yet scare in the thought that no one and nothing is there to make sure good is rewarded, wrong is righted, and to map out an ultimate better plan for humans.
Question 2 Plato's allegory states at its base that people cannot truly know what something is until they have seen or experienced it firsthand. This is elaborated in the idea that people bound hand and foot within a cave who see shadows moving on the wall in front of them might assume it is from people passing by the mouth of the cave, but until they are set free to turn around, look, and walk out, they will never know the true source of the shadows or the true source of the light casting shadows. The shadows on the walls could very well be from puppeteers next to a fire behind a screen above them. I realized this concept within my life in that I believed myself to be incapable of athletic activities. I refused to go snowboarding one year with my family, because I had grown up terrible at all sports, I have always had no hand-eye coordination, two left feet, and I was very clumsy. I just knew that I would be incapable of getting down that mountain, I probably wouldn't even get off the lift without falling off. But my first time sliding down the gentle slope off the lift, I boarded smoothly around the track, and eventually I was in fact able to learn to get down that mountain. I fell enough times to bruise my hands and knees as well as wet my suit through to my underwear, but I also stood up for long enough to learn to brake, turn, and slow down. By the end of the night I found myself telling my family that I wasn't tired, I could do another two hours or so-which in itself was another example of this concept in that I had never before experienced the muscle soreness of a post extreme-sports day, (or any serious work out at all-I don't exercise often, can you tell?) and I woke up after the car ride down the mountain nearly incapable of moving my arms and legs.
This allegory was also relevant to myself as a child; growing up I found that all my church elders and friends of family thought me to be a rebellious youth. My mother would tell me to offer them a polite greeting in Chinese, as respect is an incredibly relevant part of Asian culture, and I would instead mutter hello under my breath and walk away. My parents yelled at me for years, because they assumed I was just genuinely rude. Yet in actually I had grown up being incredibly shy towards people I did not know well-which my parents had never realized as I was always openly opinionated at home. I had had an incredible fear of talking to strangers, and even asking a cashier to break a bill required me to prethink my words and speaking in out loud class used to be unthinkable for me. Yet by appearances, I seemed simply like a teenager too self involved to properly greet her elders, and people who had never truly spoken to me or known me assumed as much.
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Post by alondra7 on Mar 7, 2015 4:04:05 GMT
Question 1 If I was told that I was just "stuff", I would feel confused and argue that we are not just stuff, that we are more than just our brains. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that if we were all just, as the film said, three pounds of meat, our way of thinking would all be the same and we wouldn't have different attitudes and personalities; we would be like robots. If we were just the effects of the signals being sent from our brains, then that would mean that everything that happens is a coincidence and that everything just happens by chance. If this is true then there is no sole purpose for our existence, in which case we would have no hopes to find our destiny and the choices we made would be more rational. Our lives would not have as much meaning because what we believe to be emotions and feeling would simply just be chemical changes in our body and we would have nothing to believe in. By me believing that we are more than just our brains, it gives me something to look forward to. If we are just our brains and if I am wrong for thinking that there is something metaphysical about us, I would be rather disillusioned. Question 2 In Plato's allegory the cave it says that we believe only in what we see and not what is really there. One example of this allegory is that as a child I was told by my mom that if I did not behave properly that I would be taken at night by the "Cucuy" also known as the "Boogieman". She told me stories about other misbehaved children that were supposedly taken by the Cucuy. When I turned 9 I found out that it was just a folklore that parents used to make their children behave. Another example is Santa Claus, I was so convinced that Santa really existed because we never spent Christmas at home. We always went to a relatives house and when we left our house there would be no presents under the Christmas tree but when we got home on the evening of Christmas the tree would be surrounded by gifts. As a child the only logical explanation I could think of was that Santa was there. As I got older I started doubting and found out that my parents would get up early in the morning and leave so I started to think that maybe they go back to our house and put the presents under the tree, surely enough I was correct. It was a very sneaky and smart way to keep us believing. sites.google.com/a/student.mtsac.edu/philosophywonderland/
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Post by evelinalove on Mar 8, 2015 0:05:18 GMT
11632 1. When trying to find synonyms for the word "stuff" one comes across with an array of options such as "material, fabric, cloth, etc." so many options appear yet it is very difficult to find a synonym in the "stuff" category to pertain to human being. So how would I feel if I came to realize that all my life I have been compared to "cloth?" How could one possibly feel? I would feel confused, how can I be categorized as inanimate object when I talk without using my voice, when I feel such emotions such as happiness, surprise and despair. I hear and acknowledge the wind in the air to the currents of a river and I am still considered nothing beyond death? I would feel infuriated and lost as to who am I? What am I? I want to believe I have a purpose as I hear and feel things that are not tangible constantly reminding me that I am someone with an ability. Maybe it’s the sense that I am not extraordinary gives me anger. Or maybe the mentality I have been accustom too, as society is constantly reminding me that you must be "someone" in order to succeed in this game we call life. As it creates lingering effects that one may not even notice as it is all subconscious. Are these the reasons why I would feel a certain way? As I would more than anything feel a sense of betrayal and wasted "piece of meat." If I had discovered all this "living" served no purpose as the emotions one feels were all illusions that the human species condoned upon his or her self was to feel as the main goal to this “life” was to be happy but then again what is happiness everyone's definition is different. And if everyone’s mentality is different we could not all possibly serve a common purpose to use up resources and die. Because even when I die the “piece of meat” that I am will become the resources for the generations to come.
2.Alcohol is the devils nectar to many and to some an escape. Growing up in Hispanic home I had been surrounded by alcohol providing beer to my parents on command especially to the company we had over. It was the norm for me to grow up believing that alcohol was not as bad as it was portrayed to be. I was aware of the accidents and anger alcohol could provide but have only see it for myself on rare occasions. The belief that my parents could have a couple of alcoholic beverages as long as they could still drive was normal for me. I didn’t bother to question my parent’s decisions nor judge them especially my father on their consumption of alcohol until just recently when I began to drive for myself. As soon as I received my license I was the chauffeur for my father my mother hardly drinks while my father consumes it any chance he gets. At first I didn’t have a problem picking up my father when he was drunk. As I would gladly do it as I did not want him to drive drunk nor walk home under the influence. In my mind I believed I am his daughter it is my obligation I can not leave my father to do such task under the influence. Keep in mind I am the 3rd child meaning I have to older brothers that could easily pick up my father as well but they hated it I never really understood their anger until just recently. Since my father knows my older brothers give him a hard time to pick him up he always calls and prefers me to pick him up as I do not fuss and am willing to wake up at any hour for his safety to some home. Eventually I would start to get upset as upon arriving to pick up my father I would wait about 10 more minutes just for him to get in the car and my patience was killing me. Then one day after picking up my father every other day in one week from his rondayvoo of drinking i finally realized and thought to myself “Oh My God. My dad’s an alcoholic!” I was so upset that I did not realize this sooner or that no one had told me as one day when I told my oldest brother on my epiphany he told me “I knew that already,” I felt so confused as to why no one had told me as they assumed I should have already knew. I never saw my father as an alcoholic and finally realized why my older brothers refused to pick him up. It was because they did not want to show my father that they supported his illness. I had been surrounded by alcohol my entire life and never thought much of it until that day and I realized by me picking him up I was encouraging his consumption. I’m still in disbelief but at the time more upset at the thought that I was brainwashed to believe that alcohol was nothing more then a social drink and shocked at the fact that it took me 19 years to realize it.
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Post by n28ramirez on Mar 8, 2015 6:02:30 GMT
Week 1 Film Questions
1. For many, finding out that we are just “stuff”, just some meat would be quite catastrophic, however, if I would feel sort of relieved. We all think we are here for a purpose, but what if we aren’t what if we are just a body no soul no purpose just living waiting for the end.
2. California has been my home since the beginning of my life. Figures I would move to Texas my 8th grade year. It will be fun they said, well let me just tell you that a small town in Texas is the worst place to move to when you are a city girl. This small town is called Dumas; I moved there thinking I was going to see cowboys and all the country life style. Well that was a lie in the winter it was too cold and in the summer it was way too hot. I only lasted one year in Dumas, Texas before I begged to come back to California.
As a child my mother would say "eat your carrots or your vision will get bad" and I would believe that if I didn't eat my carrots I would end up losing my eye sight forever; so I would eat them. I guess I started to catch on when she used that line on me with every vegetable so I stopped eating my carrots I no longer believed they did anything. I recently researched out of curiosity what health benefits come from eating carrots. It turns out my mother was right, carrots do help make your vision better, they also promote healthier skin, slow down aging, and protect your teeth. I could be wrong but hey I googled it and now I make sure I eat my carrots.
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Post by Noah Yoon on Mar 8, 2015 17:04:31 GMT
Q1 I would feel indifferent because that information would have no bearing on how I live my life. I already know that I am me. Just because I’ve discovered a new angle to perceive what I am, it doesn’t change who I am. I’ll still be the same me going to Mt. Sac every week. I’m not religious so I don’t believe in some sort of metaphysical reward after my death if I’ve lived a good life As far as I can tell this new revelation would have no impact on how I choose to live my life so it’s no great loss to me if I discover that none of that metaphysical stuff is real. The part of Mysterium Tremendum that resonated with me the most is when David Lane stated that an increased understanding of the world only serves to enrich our perception of it. I’ve certainly found that to be the case in the realm of the visual arts. Things like the shape of objects, arrangement of colors, and how they moves would normally go unnoticed without my training in the arts. Still, a greater understanding is no compensation for a lack of satisfaction for baser needs so I am unfortunately left with a deep apathy.
Q2 As a child, I believed the moon the be following me because as I moved the moon appeared to stay the same size while most other objects closer to me would become smaller as I moved further away. Later in life this helped me understand why people in the past believed in a geocentric orbit or belief in the world being flat. Because of our point of view from the Earth’s surface it appears as if the sun is the one moving across the sky. When we look towards horizon line it appears flat and not circular. Another belief I held was that fortune cookies had powers to predict the future. I remember one fortune cookie was so vague that it stated something good will happen today. The cookie wasn’t wrong. I was still living and breathing at the end of that day so I suppose that was good. In retrospect, I’m surprised that was strong enough evidence for little Noah to believe that the cookie held some sort of predictive power.
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