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Post by Dylan Hennessy on Sept 7, 2015 3:58:02 GMT
Film Exam 1
1. I would be entirely fine if there was nothing “meta” physical about us. I find it interesting that considering the amazing complexity of the human body, we find it so mundane that we would simply label it as “stuff”. I am not very concerned with the implications of whether humans have souls, or some other kind of divine connection. If others prefer to believe there is something more to us than our current experience, that is fine by me. However, if we supposed that we are not the result of a divine creator, and simply evolved from some single celled organism, wouldn’t that be miraculous just on its own? Maybe if the people who think we are just “stuff” changed their perspective, they would realize that human biology, along with the rest of our universe, is far from simple or boring, and is quite amazing with or without anything extra.
2. My understanding of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave was as a parable contrasting the effect of education versus ignorance. The central character of the story follows a light (representing reason or education), out of the cave, leaving behind the false reality of the cave shadows, to emerge into the real world. Upon witnessing the truth, the ignorance that he had lived under is dispelled. This story illustrates the purpose of the philosopher: to seek truth and knowledge, and with these come the realization that what many of us hold as certainties are often as false as the shadows on the cave wall. What I found particularly noteworthy is that the characters journey to reach the outside world is not an easy one; rather it is quite long and difficult. What Socrates explains with this detail is that the reward of knowledge and truth is only earned after considerable time and struggle. The Allegory of the Cave reflects the journey we all take in our own lives to reach a higher level of understanding. Education is our path to find the truth and banish the falsehoods we once held as fact. Just like the characters path out of the cave, however, it will take extensive time and effort to reach our goal.
To tie this in with myself, I believe two ways I reflect this in my life is by continuing my education, and by being open to ideas even if they conflict with my beliefs. I believe that challenging our values and beliefs fosters personal growth, and promotes a better understanding of other people and the world. Being close-minded in the face of evidence to the contrary, and holding to tightly to our beliefs is the same as being chained in Socrates’ cave.
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Post by gusram on Sept 7, 2015 4:04:55 GMT
#1 If someone was to tell me I was just "meta", like a nothing physical about me. I would feel pretty bummed out. That's like someone telling me that after this life there is nothing to look forward to. That after this life all there is going to be left is a dead body. I feel like I have work really hard to be more then just subsequent matter. Physically sure, I am just matter but intellectually I am more superior to other stuff such as non living items or lower living items. But after watching the movie I would have to say if someone was to come up to me and tell me all I am is matter. I will now see it differently. The way I will see it now is, If all I am is matter then technically I am equivalent to everything else in the world. Even the things that are more superior then I am. Crazy right?
#2 A time in my life where I was mistaken something to be true or real. This would have to be the time in my life where I was very young. It was where I thought there was only one explanation of human life to being discovered. By this I mean there are different religions, different theories to evolution. Different beliefs to how human life became to existing. At first when you are young you are introduced to what your surrounding family or friends believe in. Then later in life you introduced to other theories that others believe in.
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Post by Cindy Dice on Sept 7, 2015 4:11:47 GMT
Film Exam Extra Credit Responses, Code# 11632
Response to czaragoza3:
1.) I can't believe I never thought about wondering what others might think. The first person I would turn to is my dad since he's always on top of other people's viewpoints. I would want to know if our reactions to this information matched and, if not, I would like to know how he's handling the news. And I, too, would live in confusion. Hopefully having this conversation with my father would ease my misunderstanding.
2.) In a way, I can relate to your childhood view on there only being one ocean. When I was a child, and even up until high school, I would forget that there's more than one elementary, middle, and high school. I would always assume that everybody attended the same schools that I did. When I found out that my friends went to different schools, for some reason, I would feel left out because I would realize that they had a vastly different experience at that particular school. I had led myself to believe that if I were to compare my grade school experience to someone else's that ours would look almost identical. Obviously, I know that would never happen.
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Post by charlesc1994 on Sept 7, 2015 4:42:05 GMT
Film Response #1 Code:11632 1. I would accept and agree with the idea that I myself am just a "body", a "stuff". It is true that human bodies are made of matters just like plants and animals. However, the difference between humans and other creatures is that humans have a different kind of "soul" that can better operate senses. If a part of my body is damaged, that damaging part is not going to affect my "soul". I will still be able to live with other parts of my body and apply my senses. Therefore, I think that I am actually a "thing" which is managing my body physically. In other words, my body is just a combination of matters which will only be altered physically. And, the "real" me is the "soul" that is controlling and using the "applications" of this "stuff". 2. According to Plato's Allegory of the cave, the first example I think of is the experience of hearing something being dropped upstairs when I was laying on the bed. It is a common phenomenon that happens to many people. However, I have experienced this situation numerous time when I was younger. I thought that there was really something dropped upstairs every time until I read the hypotheses or proves that explain this phenomenon scientifically. One explanation is that the materials of the ceiling has slightly changed because of the temperature and further causes sounds of that. Another explanation is that there are some kinds of bacteria or fungi that are eroding the materials of the ceiling and causing the sounds. Although both of the sayings are possible and convincible, there is still possibility that the exact reason is something else. The second example from my experience is that I always have the impression that I have experienced doing something or gone to some places in my dreams. I call this situation -- "dreams of foreknowledge". Even though there are people saying that the reason of this phenomenon is caused by the intensity of human bodies encountering a new situation, I still consider that it is an known question that cannot be answered by the technology now. Hung-Charl (Charles) Chen sites.google.com/site/philstorychen/
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Post by chrisn on Sept 7, 2015 4:54:12 GMT
Question #1 All while watching the film, I realized that humans/animals and all living creatures are really just made up of "stuff" that scientists give terms for. When they break it down and tell us what we are comprised of, and what those things are comprised of, it makes you feel weird inside. Sure everything is made up of stuff; we all know that. But being alive and aware of everything around you, it doesn't seem that way. We all believe that we are in some form better or more special than the other living beings, and therefore must be "meta". We are extraordinary creatures, but that doesn't mean we are "meta". Question #2 Countless times I have mistakenly believe something to be true/real but realized later it wasn't true. One example is Santa Claus. Being the easily-gullible kid I was, I believed the stories my parents told me. Each Christmas I would eagerly wait for my presents, sometimes even staying up as late as I could to catch a glimpse of him. I tried this many times over the years, and at one point as I was running downstairs to open my presents, I saw a person running out towards my backyard. My mother was the one who woke me up, so she followed me behind as I was coming downstairs. She also saw him too and said, "Did you see him?! That was Santa Claus!" Since I didn't see that it was actually my dad, putting the presents on the fireplace at the last minute, I believed my mom. A couple of years later, my mom told me the truth, and I was completely flabbergasted. I got angry, and realized that my whole life, I've been living in a lie. At first I didn't believe her, because of those many years of being constantly surrounded by stories of Santa Claus at a young age. I was going through a state of cognitive dissonance and it was very hard to choose between the two different beliefs that I was given the task of choosing. This is especially apparent in religious people because at an early age, they are being exposed to God, and the "Holy Bible." When someone comes around and tells them that what they believe is false, they experience this dissonance and they don't know what to do but defend themselves. Another example of Plato's allegory that I have experienced is when I was in middle school. During that time, all my core teachers told us that once we reached high school, everything was going to turn tough. The teachers were going to be harsh and unforgiving, and we were going to get piles of homework. We were all scared to death, and we were all nervous into going to high school. They told us this every week, and by the end of the year, we had it all believed the stories to be true. They would even tell us things we would have to do/learn and everything was going to be discipline. But by the time I reached high school, none of those things happened, and what my teachers told us were all but a lie. sites.google.com/site/chrisphilweb/essays
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Post by Eduardo Solis on Sept 7, 2015 7:02:42 GMT
1) If I woke up one day and realized that there was nothing metaphysical about me I would feel lost, or puzzled. I would feel disconnected from the world, but I would be eager to find a purpose as to why and how I am the way I am. Like many people in this world I need to understand how things work to live a happy and fulfilled life.
2) Using the example of Plato’s Allegory of the cave, I can think of a few times when I thought something to be true, but only to found out it really wasn’t. As a child going through school or tying out for a sports team I would always pray for god to help me, and I would succeed although I always thought it was “ gods” will that helped me. Until I was in high school I started to think it was a bit foolish to believe I was accomplishing all of this because of someone or something I didn’t reall know. So I began to ponder back tpo all those exams and tryouts and figured it was because of my hard work and dedication and not because I would pray.
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Post by xandera93 on Sept 7, 2015 8:01:17 GMT
Film Response #1 Code: 11632 1. I accept the realization that I am just 'stuff' in this universe, this on its own holds a lot of truth. Humans are a product of planet Earth, created by the available resources and conditions that it houses. To expand on that, it's safe to say that Earth is a product of the universe, created within a planetary system that holds all the necessary components to form life as we know it within our home planet. Although I accept the thought of just being 'stuff' in this universe, it can be an understatement to what we truly are. In the grand scheme of things, yes I am just a small figment of 'stuff' in a massive universe that holds billions of stars, but humans are still something different. We are a part of something enormous, the way red blood cells are to a human body. We may not exactly hold a crucial task in this universe such as a red blood cell does to a human body, but humans are still something remarkable created by chance. Taking into consideration all the special circumstances that occurred for life to happen here on Earth, we are something different created by the same 'stuff' that is found in our vast universe. It is true that we are made from 'stuff' within our universe, but Earth is still the only known planet to hold life as we know it, which on its own holds weight as something truly extraordinary. 2. There have been many times in my life where I mistakenly believed something was true but later realized it was not. Growing up, I was told that higher education is the key to acquiring a job with high wages in order to live comfortably. Through my childhood years I believed this to be true since I had not yet experienced certain circumstances of life. Although this can be true, it is still uncertain because attending a college or university to acquire a degree may not always guarantee such a job. This was life-changing for me and because of this realization many things needed to be adjusted. After graduating high school, I realized that not only higher education is required, but also experience, training and other applicable things. While adapting to this, I moved towards something I really wanted to do but after its all said and done, what I was told was not completely true. The only certain thing is to continue through it with perseverance and dedication in order to get there. Another time this has occurred in my life has been with music. Growing up, I was exposed to music that my family would listen to and what was commonly heard on the radio. To my understanding at the time, I believed that this was the only music out in the world. Later as I grew up, I began to meet new friends that introduced me to other music and I liked it. From there, I realized that there was more of it out there and could be found with little effort. I began to search for this music through many different methods, some of which I was not aware of when I was younger. I began to find more of what I truly liked and I appreciated it for what it was. -Alex sites.google.com/site/theactivereasoning/
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Post by jomel28 on Sept 7, 2015 8:29:07 GMT
Film Test 1 Code: 11632 1. I don’t really mind if I am just made of “stuff” because it is the truth, and I cannot do anything to change it. I’m not the type to think there is more to an answer when there really isn’t. To me that shows a person is in denial because they can’t accept what is presented in front of them. It is just like the movies when someone searches for a treasure then they stumble upon the chest they have been searching for years to only discover that it is empty, start going mad, and keep searching for nothing. I will not keep searching just because some emotion inside of me feels like this isn’t enough. Maybe it doesn’t faze me as much as it does to others because I know I am made of stardust. That in itself is already magnificent. To some it may not be the case because there seems to be nothing holy or spiritual about being created by “dust”. 2. The most popular answer probably is believing in Santa Claus. For nearly half of my life (18 years old now), I believed that there was a white-bearded man that wore a giant red suit and went to every house to give presents, but when I moved to America (9 years old), my classmates were baffled and made fun of me for believing in such a myth. This revelation made me furious, but then I realized I got free gift from my parents so it wasn’t so bad. My second example is believing Pluto was a planet up until it was announced to be a dwarf planet around 2006. For a while I was mad about that too, but as I got older, I realized that was a good thing because science is constantly changing and disproving itself. It does not dwell in the past it keeps moving forward. - My website sites.google.com/site/jmeekohd/home
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Post by Alexis Bond on Sept 18, 2015 20:34:53 GMT
1) If I realized I were just "stuff" and not a being made of light I would feel disappointed. In the film previous students mentioned that they felt boundless and liberated when they were told they were made of light, and I agree. The thought that I were made of light would make me feel like I had meaning, a real purpose on this Earth. Hearing that I am just “stuff” makes me feel uninspired. The quote from the movie explains exactly what I would feel like, “A glorious piece of meat”. Once the idea sank in I would feel better. Who cares if I am just made of "stuff" and not light? Not me. What difference does it make what I am made of? I believe life is what you make of it. Realizing that I am made of "stuff" wouldn't change that fact that I am capable of making an impact on the world or someone’s life. Life is all about choices, and I choose to be happy regardless of what I am made of.
2) Here are some examples of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave using my life as the template. The first would be Santa Claus. Right before Christmas my parents would always tell me Santa wouldn’t bring me presents if I didn’t behave. So I would behave more and receive presents at Christmas. As I got older I learned there was no Santa Claus. Even after learning this I still made cookies for my dad (AKA Santa) to eat while him and my mom wrapped our presents. Another example would be the tooth fairy. As a child I was told to put the tooth I lost under my pillow and the tooth fairy would leave me a gift, usually money. Again, once I was older I realized it was my parents that would leave the money under my pillow.
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Post by sammikimura on Sept 21, 2015 2:01:57 GMT
Film Test #3
Code: 64247
1. Knowing that I am made up of atoms and material stuff makes me feel less important or insignificant. It changes how I see myself because it makes me realize how small I am compared to everything else in the world. It also humbles me and makes me realize that all humans are made up of the same material, and we are all really the same. There is constant competition and comparison between humans, and if everyone realized that we are all made up of the same things, then maybe a lot of things would change. The world is enormous, and I am just one person out of seven billion. The universe is so much bigger than I think, and it makes me wonder what purpose I have here on this earth, or what purposes all of us humans have in the entire universe.
2. Chance alters my philosophy on life because it shows me that not everything happens for a reason, or that I do not have to question every little thing that happens to me. Chance makes me feel like some things in life happen because they just happen, and I cannot control them. Chance sort of gives me a sense of peace. I used to believe in karma, and feel as if something horrible would happen to me if I made a wrong choice or action. Chance does not make me feel like I can be an awful person without any consequences, I just simply feel like it adds less pressure to constantly be perfect. I now truly believe that good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people because of chance. Of course good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people by chance too. Chance makes me think that a higher power or God is not watching my every move, or looking down at me and judging my actions.
3. Science broadens my appreciation of life and beauty because it helps me understand everything that is around me. Science explains everything that occurs in life with facts, and it gives me a sense of comfort. Science is factual, and cannot be wrong. Science gives actual facts as to how I get here, and why I am here. It explains how I became a human on Earth, and that I exist because I made it through conception. I feel like it is so easy to think that everything around us is simple, and is here because some greater power made it and placed it here. But everything around us is so much more complex than we think. Science proves this complexity. Whether it is the process of a single sperm making it to the egg, or a beautiful lotus flower blooming, science proves how many atoms and cells make up these processes and natural beauties.
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Post by sammikimura on Sept 21, 2015 2:03:02 GMT
Film Test #1 1. If there was nothing “meta” physical about me I would feel like my life holds no importance on this Earth. If I were nothing more than my body I would have no purpose in this world. I would be a meaningless human being just taking up space in this world. My life would have no purpose because it would not mean anything once I died. I would feel as if I had no reason to live because I would just be a body of empty mass serving time on earth until I once passed. If there was nothing “meta” physical about me I would feel sad and empty knowing that my body represented my life, and that my life would not be important without my body on earth.
2. The first example of Plato’s Allegory of the cave in my life is when I was growing up as a child in the church. I always thought that there was only one right way to live life. I also always believed that I could not surround myself with people who did not live this one way of life. During high school I realized that many Christians in the church that I attended were mistreating many people including myself. It caused me to stray away from the church and Christianity as a whole because I felt as if my whole religion was a lie. I felt like these people were hypocrites, and they did not practice what they preached. I began to see different ways of living after I removed myself from such a biased environment. I found people who had different beliefs than I did, and soon realized that they were genuinely good people. I realized how wrong and narrow-minded my thoughts were for many years of my life. The second example is my perception and realization of my family while growing up. When I was growing up my parents wanted to protect me and make my life easier because I was obviously young and innocent. I was a clueless child who did not understand certain circumstances at the time. While becoming older and more mature, I started to realize the family dynamics I once never saw. My parents explained the confusions I had, and opened up my eyes to what was actually happening all that time.
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Post by dylanhensley on Sept 21, 2015 2:03:39 GMT
Film Test #3
Confirmation #64247
The fact that we live in a world that is constantly in motion and expanding boggles my mind. It gives me a sense of wonder when I look at the stars from a mountain or when I’m in the desert. It’s crazy to me because every star that I see is burning and I’ll never see the light it’s currently giving off, only the millions of light years old starlight that reaches the Earth. It makes me feel even smaller than I already do to know there is such a vast amount of space that will never be conquered and it just suspends in nothingness. All humans are really made up of stardust originally in the big bang, and this is shocking to me because an organism with such intelligence can be made up of the same atoms of a rock, or a plant, or anything in the universe. It’s all connected. This doesn’t change the way I think, but it does give me an entirely new perspective on the importance of my actions and how similar everything in this world really is. Knowing that everything in the world is based off of chance is a very interesting concept to me. I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family, so the idea of chance was never introduced to me, only the will of God could explain mysteries according to my upbringing. I’ve never believed the saying “everything happens for a reason,” because I’ve always believed it was just a cop out for people to stop complaining. Everything happening by chance also takes all credibility from that saying. Knowing that life is based off of chance makes me want to seize the day and make the most of every opportunity I’m given, because you never know if the same situation will present itself again. The story of Feynman’s Flower really caught my attention because of his perspective on the beauty and complexity of nature. There is complexity inside of complexities all around nature. A flower is such a good example because each is unique and has it’s own scent with differences on each bud, however if you go deeper there are complex cells within the flower that a naked eye can’t see. This is obvious, but still amazing because this complexity is found everywhere on the Earth. From my personal experience I find the most beauty and complexity in nature when I see mountains. I live very close to Mt. Baldy, and seeing the mountain from my house amazes me, because you can see thousands of trees and the structure of the mountain, but as you get closer the less you can see, and the more detailed everything becomes. This relates to Feynman’s flower because like mountains, flowers get more detailed and sophisticated the closer you look at them.
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Post by esoemardy on Sept 22, 2015 5:46:29 GMT
Film Test 3 #64247
1. The conception of multiverse makes me really appreciate life, because if there is one little thing that goes wrong, I would not be alive right now. Knowing that it is very highly unlikely that the universe is able to support life, we might be the only living things that exist in this “infinite realm.” Although that does sound a bit lonely, it makes me feel very special to be alive. Hearing that we are made up of atom and material stuff makes it sounds as if we are weak and fragile. This on the other hand, makes me feel that I am no special, that I am no different than any other creatures that live in this world. Ultimately we are just a different configuration of everything that is in the universe.
2. Quantum mechanics shows me that everything ultimately can only be explained by chance. The fact that we are alive right now is due to chance that the earth forms just the right distance from the sun and life appearing and changing in the order that it did. If the dinosaurs that dominated Earth in the past were never wiped out, humans would not be the way they are today, if we exist at all. A slight alteration can cause human beings to never exist in the first place, but that isn’t the case all because of chance. This makes me feel very insignificant because it makes me feel that my actions would not matter at all since everything is the product of chance.
3. Science helps us appreciate not only the aesthetics of an object, but also what we cannot see with naked eyes, like the atomic structure at the molecular level. It shows that something as simple as water can be considered complex when put under a microscope. As a kid, I often played with dry ice. When you put it in water, a lot of smoke comes out of it. This becomes the more fascinating when you know what is actually happening in the molecular level.
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Post by jhernandez720 on Sept 23, 2015 5:38:00 GMT
original postFilm Test 3 - 64247 1. I feel Like a multiverse makes sense... but that's cognitive. I'm pretty analytical and while all the evidence modern science presents to explain and predict the world - on a subatomic level, an intergalactic level, an individual organism who against all odds and probabilities managed to chance my way into existence - the processes make sense but the odds of things actually coming to be as they are are so astronomically rare, I couldn't wrap my head around how many things had to simply "work out" not as single events, but as systems and predecessing foundations for this reality, our universe to take form. On an emotional level I feel like my head, before reaching an understanding of the concept of a multiverse - within which our own universe exists - just felt like it was spinning really, really fast. If there's only one universe, I just can't fathom how everything fell into place. I understand that the universe doesn't owe it to me to be fathomable, but when I'm voraciously curious, I want to try to figure things out and "it was designed that way" just actually do any real explaining, so I'd rather go with "we don't know" and have my answer come as we discover more through science. Due to the fundamental basis of quantum physics involving chance we found that the layout of our universe is more comparable to the large scale product of an algorithmic sequence - the one that just happened to work out and produce form - and less like a prior designed plan with purposes and missions. The universe starts small and grows into diverse complexities - both in its origin (the big bang to present day) as well as in structure and form (particles in quantum physics to galaxies, superclusters, an entire universe, and finally a multiverse). Similarly, it should follow that the things start simple and grow bigger; if you start with a "plan", that means the origin starts with a complexity and ignores the origin of the simpler components that create that complexity, and thus it is not a very good way to get a full picture of what's going on in the universe. Moreso, considering a multiverse with innumerable little universe popping into existence, it's more rational to think that at least one would form in a way in which creative design is ultimately the the product of its basic units arranged in algorithmic patterns. So this state of feeling "ah, that makes a little more sense now" feels nice, like things are simplified... even though it's actually complex - at least to me. It feels like having been stuck alone inside a gray office space all day and there are no windows, just harsh fluorescent lighting, but then at six in the afternoon you were able to leave, and opening the door you stepped outside feeling a breeze that immediately relaxed you, and looking at the trees, you saw sunlight filtering through their leaves and heard the rustling of the wind through their branches - even though it felt "late" just a minute before, now you've let go of keeping track of time since you just slipped into the moment and here you are, enjoying it. I was going to try to simplify my feeling a bit more, but the truth is, it involved the discarding of an old feeling and the arrival of a new one - since I couldn't think of a word to define that precisely I decided to give a sensory comparison to represent the feeling I was trying to name. 2. A deep understanding of chance alters my philosophy on life, because to understand chance you have to understand that what is here has at least some probability of never being here at all. Examining this, I just feel like everything that has come together to form my existence ultimately did that without motive, yet I'm here anyways. So it feels really special to me - to be alive, to be able to think the thoughts I think, to experience the sensational experiences I've been a part of, especially through the last year alone, doing more of what I love. I enjoy music festivals and being out in nature and spontaneous adventures; to exist in a way where I can formulate a life for myself that is consistent with my desires and beliefs and pleasures is remarkable to me. Even if it's all a result of chance, that doesn't lessen the joy of my life, in fact understanding chance and its total presence in the universe accentuates this special feeling I get. The combination of the rarity of the odds of my existence with the view of chance as a total accident, means that I have fallen upon an incredible stroke of luck. And I fully intend to take advantage of it. 3. Science broadens my appreciation of life immensely. When I took a course in genetics, studying in depth how and why species carry traits or differentiate, from one generation to another I saw a subject that was previously just a vague question and a mystery to me unfold as intricate formations from simple things and it was fun to begin a fascination with something that I used to take for granted in ignorance. When I was 18, for a time I was in the midst of an existential crisis. I was enraptured by the smallest particles I knew of at the time (before I know of quarks, neutrinos, and that photons were in atoms) protons, neutrons, and electrons. I was mesmerized that the air I breathed, the grass outside, the roads I walked on, and I were all the same things. Well almost. We all consisted of the same basic things, just restructured in different ways which cause our differentiation in form and function from one another. So we were not the same, but similar - made of identical components. Identical pieces forming the vast diversity of the world. And I felt lucky the subatomics which were a part of me got to be part of a motivated adventure and journey. Learning about cosmology in space from star births and deaths, to electromagnetics' role in star formation and shaping galaxies, to mysterious black holes and dark matter and dark energy, string theory, and the concept of a multiverse... this is my favorite subject because there's always something new that blows me away, always a new layer to uncover and a new horizon to look towards. I appreciate the world more because it's bigger. Each new layer I uncover reveals the simple as intricate and the intricate as simple. Contradicting my childhood upbringing of a fixed universe with mysteries unsolvable, I appreciate the way science lets me dive in and explore in new ways not seeking to "crack codes" but to uncover what I can and see a more fully explosive and wonderful picture of the universe.
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Post by normajeahn on Sept 24, 2015 7:31:10 GMT
Week 1 Film Questions 11632
Question 1
Coming to the realization that I am just stuff and that there is nothing meta physical about me really brought me to a depressing state, just as the video "Mysterium Tremendum" had admitted. That statement made me feel so small in a world that I suddenly felt like I had no further purpose in. I realize now why people hold on to their beliefs so tightly. They need to feel like they have a place, or a purpose here. When that is taken from you, you can find yourself really lost in this world. However, after listening to the rest of the video, I found that my opinion of this has dramatically changed. Being told that I am "just stuff" or "just decomposition of this world" actually makes me feel pretty amazing when I really start to think about it from a different perspective. In a way, this makes me feel like I am more than my own body. To think that the same matter that makes up the mountains or the beach, also makes up me. "That is the biggest mystery of them all," and it does not change our value in any way.
Question 2
Santa Clause is the biggest example I can offer of "Plato's Allegory of the Cave". Every year for Christmas, I would enjoy stories of a big jolly fellow who was kind enough to deliver presents to every good child in the world. For years, I kept up my very best behavior to ensure that he would pay my home a visit at the end of the year. Our family would make him cookies and my siblings and I would stay up as late as we possibly could to sneak a peak at this mysterious person. There was no doubt in my mind that the presents I oppened that next morning were from him. As I got older however, the truth that Santa Clause never existed began to unfold. I realize now that it is merely a story that is told to give children a great Christmas.
Another example of "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" from my own life is the belief that everything happens for a reason. I used to believe that every bad thing that has and will happen to me is part of some grand design. A pre designed plan that will lead me to a better situation. I understand now that life is a roller coster of good and bad times. There is no way for one to live without the other, and everything that does happen to us in this life, just happens. Whether it was influenced by us or not.
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