So I know I talk about supernatural stuff a lot on this thing, but I just see a lot of philosophy in it, I guess. In most of the fantasy-like shows and movies out there, the heroine and other characters often have a hard time accepting that there is more out there. This reminded me of how many of the philosophers we have studied (more of the earlier ones) that had big opinions of whether or not to rely on what our senses are telling us. In the shows/movies they almost always say “Are you crazy?” Because it really does sound crazy.
I remember a line in The Santa Clause where Judy the elf tells Tim Allen (playing Santa) that “Seeing isn’t believing; believing in seeing.” What a deep elf, I know. I, personally, do have to see something to believe it. Proof all the way. Judy says this is because the imagination or whatever grows out of adults. That’s why we can’t believe in Santa anymore.
The last chapter Albert wrote for Hilde reminded me of Descartes’ evil genius theory. In that last chapter basically everything is crazy –people are acting very strange and impossible things are happening. Let me just say that the Joanna and Jeremy thing was so, so weird. They were making out and taking off each other’s clothes in full view of their friends and parents! Anyway, the evil genius theory says that there is a god-like being that creates a world of illusion and deception. So basically you doubt everything, including your very existence. Sophie and Alberto know that they are in a story, but they are trapped. This reminded me of both The Adjustment Bureau and Inception because in both movies, there are forces against the main characters that are trying to control them and put strange obstacles in their paths.
I also have six pages left of the book that I am excited to finish. I really hope it will be a good ending or else I will be disappointed.
So I just finished reading the Darwin chapter in the book. I have to say, it was a little boring. The book picked up a couple chapters back with all the new discoveries about Sophie and Hilde, but now it’s declining again. Hopefully more new stuff will happen soon because I can’t concentrate. Anyway, the chapter was obviously on Charles Darwin. He made a lot of scientific discoveries on things like natural vs. artificial selection, adaptations, evolution, etc. I’m in Environmental Science and we just had a whole unit on evolution and adaptations, so this was boring reading about it again. However, I thought it was interesting how he discovered it all, especially natural and artificial selection. I am interested in biology, so I thought it was cool. Yep.
We know that people involved in politics hold back information from us. The question is whether this is the right choice. Do politicians earn the right to have more information than other citizens? Personally, I feel that the majority of information should be available to the public. I do not see why they deserve to have more information than other people. However, I think things of danger may be held back or else chaos would occur. This really depends, though, on the degree on danger. Let’s say a nuclear bomb was about to hit and there was absolutely no way to stop it. I think in that case, telling the people would just cause unnecessary stress and panic. Actually, I’m not sure if I agree with that. I’d want the chance to say my goodbyes. I don’t know. Anyway, the government holds back information that isn’t a danger to us as well, which isn’t right in my book. They aren’t doing it for the well being of the public; which in Kant’s mind, is wrong because they aren’t choosing the moral path for the right reasons.
<-- I typed in government conspiracy on google and found this...
In my Science Fiction class, we are reading a book called Ender’s Game. The book is based on a six year old boy who goes to battle school to learn how to fight off these aliens called buggers. It goes through the years Ender spends at the school and shows how the teachers are manipulating him into becoming the best commander ever. When you are at these schools, you can’t speak to any of your family members until a certain age, and no one of the outside world really knows what happens at these schools. This made me think about what the government could make us do in our reality that we might not even know about or be able to change. There could be another world out there with aliens who want to destroy us simply for not understanding this. This sounds a little more science fiction than philosophy, but I think it can be both as it goes into other realities and moralities. Such as, does the government have the right to keep things from its public? I personally think we should be aware of any possible danger. That way we can be ready for anything to come or not be as taken aback if whatever it is someday attacks or communicate or whatever. Secrets are hardly ever good ideas.
Hilde finally talks to her father! I am still unsure of what Hilde’s father is trying to get from his book to his daughter. Hilde stills thinks that Sophie and Albert are actually real. I like how we are seeing the story from both Hilde and Sophie’s point of view. That way you get more knowledge than the two of them separate, and you also see similar events happening such as Hilde’s father coming home and Sophie having a party --both celebrations.
Sophie’s world (I didn’t mean that as the book title) is definitely getting stranger. We’re seeing more “romantic irony” from Albert which shows his control over every aspect in Sophie’s life. Now things like little boys named Aladdin are showing up with lamps that spill out spirits and stuff. Odd. I do think it is an interesting touch though. I want to see what else Albert changes in Sophie’s reality.
I just want to say I typed this whole blog out and then I exed out of the freaking tab after I pasted it on here and exed out of microsoft world. So here it goes AGAIN!
Yes! The point of view finally changed to Hilde. I thought it was interesting how all the things Sophie found like the scarf and wallet were actually Hilde’s lost things, for real. However, I don’t get how Sophie can see the image in the mirror winking with both eyes but Hilde can’t. What does that even mean? How can a person wink with both eyes? Wouldn’t that just be blinking…I really hope they explain that.
I like how we’re finally getting some information on Albert, Sophie’s father. There are still many, many blanks about him though. I don’t understand how he knows all this information on philosophy and Hilde’s life. It just seems like some of the details are impossible to know. Who knows? I hope the book shows when Albert comes home on Midsummer’s Eve because I really want to find out more about Albert’s behaviors, mannerisms, etc. He seems to be an interesting guy…
<----- what came up when I typed in "wink with both eyes"
...didn't solve anything for me.
So I was struggling through what I should do my philosophy connection to culture would be. However, I was in my peer mediation class when we were talking about our four basic needs (belonging, power, freedom, and fun). This made me think of why we do or don’t follow certain trends or behaviors. I think it all ties back to these basic needs. Let’s say we see a group of girls all wearing the same new brand of boots –maybe in different colors or a slightly different style. Over the next couple weeks you may see more and more of these boots popping up around the halls. What drives us to buy these boots or resist?
In my opinion, it all ties into the compulsion to belong. We do not want to be the one girl who doesn’t have the new “it” thing. On the other hand, some people will purposefully rebel against the latest trends. Some people may just be oblivious or maybe they like the power/freedom of being above everyone else. I can’t say for sure what is going through everyone’s heads when they see these so-called boots, obviously, but for me, I might suddenly decide the boots are really cute or good for the winter or something when they could have actually been quite ugly. It’s like there is some force that drives us girls into being and looking the same, when we should really be discovering our unique selves.
I really like how this book is progressing. The information on Hilde and her father is growing, and I can’t stop wondering how Hilde and Sophie are tied together. Well, to be fair, I finally gave in a looked up what happens at the end. I couldn’t help it, I love spoilers. I’m surprised I didn’t do it sooner, actually.
Anyway, I have to say, I like this series of philosophers better than the past natural ones like Parmenides and Empedocles, etc. Those guys were just all very confusing. I feel like the philosophers like Aquinas and the views of the cynics and stoics are just more relatable to our world now because we still have cynical and stoic people.
I’m also glad that Sophie and Alberto are finally having conversations. The pages of philosophical text were very hard to read because they were so dry. I like the way the author went back into story mode and delves deeper into the mystery of Hilde and her father.
Over the weekend I re-watched The Sixth Sense for the third or so time. Now this movie has a ton of philosophical questions packed in to it. I mean, come on, a ghost who doesn’t know he’s dead, a little boy who “sees dead people,” the color red, etc. etc. What happens when we die? The afterlife is one of the world’s greatest mysteries. There is much contemplation on where we go after we die or what we become. There are the obvious religious beliefs –heaven, hell, purgatory, reincarnation, etc –but there is also many other theories like your atoms dispersing around the universe, simply becoming nothing, and a lot more. Is it right for us to know what happens after? I’m not sure. Knowledge can be power. Power can corrupt. What could happen if we gained the power to exploit the afterlife? That is probably much overstretched, but nothing is impossible –in my opinion, of course.
I got caught up when I was reading the chapter “Aristotle” in Sophie’s World. On the very last page Sophie is talking to her mother about why people are alive. Sophie then states, “People live on this planet so that someone can go around giving names to everything.” I remember back when I went to Sunday School and we learned how Adam was in charge of naming every animal on the planet. Did that make him the first human then? Are we really only here to identify new things? I don’t think so.
However, Sophie’s next comment proved more true to me: “…because a human is a thinking animal. If you don’t think, you’re not really a human.” Is that really the only distinction in what makes us human? Research has proved that animals do have thoughts; however, they aren’t as complex or interesting as human beings are. I think that the fact that humans have the ability to have complex/interesting thoughts makes us the most advanced, but not necessarily human. There could be an undiscovered species out there that is just as advanced as we are or even more so. What if there was another animal out there that had thoughts just like ours, also, but we just didn’t know about it? It’s really just all a mystery that may never be solved.
I was thinking through songs that tickled by philosophic thoughts, and I remember an episode of The Voice from a few months ago. This guy Patrick Thomas was singing “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw (which I’m sure everyone has heard.) He was excellent, by the way –perfect country voice. Anyhoo, I started thinking about the song’s lyrics. For example, “I was in my early forties, with a lot of life before me.” I realized that I really do not want to be one of those people who lead a simple, safe life without taking any risks. I’m not saying I want to be a daredevil who does whatever the heck they want, but I want a wealth of knowledge and experiences in my life.
To me, to live like you are dying means living completely in the moment, like you could die at any second so you do everything you had ever imagined. In the song, the man says:
I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying.
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'."
These were all the things that were on his bucket list. For me, I definitely want to do a lot before I die, but I am afraid I will wait until it’s too late to do a lot of it. Or maybe I’ll suddenly die one day before I am able to do some of these things. That is why I think you should do whatever it is that you want to do as soon as you possibly can. I realized that I no longer want to go into English/Education because I would be settling in a career that I am not truly passionate about. I like it, yes, but it doesn’t, I don’t know, complete me or anything. So I then went back onto all my college applications and changed my major to Animal Biology/Zoology. I think it is something that will satisfy me and be fulfilling. So I am going to live like I am dying! I just hope I’m not…
I picked up a random book a week or so ago and decided to read it. It was a fantasy novel about a girl who becomes possessed by a demon. Understandably, she was very upset by this. To add to her displeasure, the demon tried to convince her that he was a good demon and wouldn’t hurt her. A good demon: what an oxymoron. This takes us back to nature versus nurture. Because the demon, called Darrak, was born a demon in hell, does that automatically make him evil? What if he grew up with a regular human family, unknowing to his true self? I believe evil is a trait that is developed, not born with. If you are born into a family of gamblers, you won’t automatically become a gambler. It is what you see around you that becomes your nature.
A group called the Malleus was later introduced into the story. It is a group whose goal is to defeat all evil –Darrak was a target, obviously. The group sees only black and white; when it comes to other species, they are all evil, no question. In my opinion, nothing is solidly black or white –everything is a shade of gray no matter how dark or light it may appear. Black isn’t even a real color, is it? This is why close-minded people really get on my nerves; they see only what they want or expect to see. And all I want to say to them is “LOOK AROUND YOU!” Anyway, Darrak is not evil. Throughout the book, instances show how truly “human” he really is. He protects, defends, and heals the girl he has to possess. It is said in the book that demons only think of themselves and their own survival, so Darrak must obviously be different if he isn’t doing this. So basically, evil is born: it’s made.
I was immediately interested in “Top Hat.” I really like how the philosophy teacher compared our existence to a magician’s trick, because, really, there is no concrete information as to how our universe or world was first created. Yes, we know all about evolution and whatnot; however, there is no true beginning –unless you are religious and say God or some other deity. In my head, it seems as if we just popped up, like the white rabbit in the hat, out of nothing. Poof!
On the following page, it says “The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder.” I am not quite sure whether I completely believe this. Does it mean any person of any age can be a good philosopher only because they are curious? Maybe I’m too used to having to have skill or talent to achieve something, but I suppose having a deep sense of wonder is a talent, too. Hmm. Like it said, babies probably have the most wonder; are they the best philosophers, then?
I also thought it was interesting how in the first experiment the mystery philosophy teacher compared the Martian to ourselves. I think that this is very accurate considering many of us really do not know who we really are. Each and every one of us is different, so in reality, we are all Martians to each other. Furthermore, we might just find out who we are and what our purpose is randomly one day, maybe in a grocery store, of all places. I believe that through our experiences and knowledge, we begin to understand ourselves more each and every day. Or maybe you'll have an epiphany one day where you suddenly think "what am I doing?" and begin something new. We aren't born with who we are, only what we are.
