So many thoughts can relate to our Humanities blog, so post any ideas and questions you have or theories and philosophies you come across, including contradictions, explanations, ironic moments, insights, and in general, anything that might help us to navigate our way on the journey through Grade 8 - and maybe life itself! For this post, you can identify yourself as 'anonymous' or create a nickname for yourself.
32 comments:
I am personally intrigued by philosophy. I like them because they are truthful and hard to contradict. I am also interested in quotes, and coincidently there are many philosophical quotes which I have come across. This is just a collection of quotes that I have that you may or may not be interested in. I find it is more interesting to interpret it yourself, but you can always ask about them if you wish.
"The problem with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game."
"Everything's possible, the impossible just takes longer"
"The pen is mightier than the sword"
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
"If you rest, you rust."
"You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine."
"Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
"I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific."
I looked on some sights and found some inspiring quotes:
Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.
- Tyron Edwards
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.
- Gucci Slogan
You will never find time for anything. If you want the time, you must make it.
- Charles Buxton
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
- Ivan Turgenev
I have come across some eternal (forever lasting) philosophical questions on the internet what may be interesting thing think about. I am interested in philosophy, but it seems that Pammy and Robin already gave all the good quotes. So I posted the questions for those quotes.
What is?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
Why is the world the way it is?
Where does it all come from?
Where do we come from?
Where are we going to?
What is the purpose of it all?
Is there a God?
What is good and what is evil?
What is knowledge?
What is truth?
What is consciousness?
Do we have a "free will"?
How should we act?
How can we be happy?
Why cannot we live forever?
What is the meaning of life?
I have also encountered a quote from the fox in The Little Prince chatpter XXI page 72 when he told the prince "What is essential is visible to the eye"
The little prince made the rose important to him so he could see her more in her than the other rose, other words, he tamed her.
uhmm.... ok. I found an interesting little piece of info that is mildly entertaining to read:
NERDS
A person who gains pleasure from amassing large quantities of knowledge about subjects often too detailed or complicated for most other people to be bothered with.
Often mistaken for Geeks, who aspire to become nerds, yet lack the intelligence, and end up giving nerds a bad name due to their poor social skills.
Non-nerds are often scared of nerds, due to their detailed knowledge, and therefore seemingly high levels of intelligence - and subsequently denigrate them as much as possible as often as possible
Another definition is:
An 'individual', i.e. a person who does not conform to society's beliefs that all people should follow trends and do what their peers do. Often highly intelligent but socially rejected because of their obsesssion with a given subject, usually computers. Unfortunately, nerds seem to have problems breeding, to the detriment of mankind as a whole.
*notice, Mr. Kenney, this last definition included the word conform...ooooooooh!*
Ok, these are just stereotypes but in some cases are somewhat true. Check out: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nerd for more definitions on subculture titles and slang words, be aware that this site (http://www.urbandictionary.com) may contain inappropriate definitions and words, so if you want to surf this site and come across something that startles *another vocab word!* you, don't blame me! Go at your own risk!!!
I'm Failing as a Nerd.
Today I was wondering what new comments there would be. I came and saw all the comments as I always do. I read some comments and then saw Lisa's. It is very funny!:)
Another random thought, I don't know if it may seem a dumb question, but it's strange for me how babies learn to talk. Why?
Well, because how can a baby learn the meaning of a word(which includes other words) without knowing the meaning of ANY of the words?? It is really strange and I would really like my question to be answered.
Uhmmm... I guess you learn the meaning of words like anyone does. Your mom or dad points at themselves and says, "Mommy/daddy," and they point at the dog and say, "Doggie". You start off learning single words, and after a while, you can say phrases like, "No want sleep" or "I go potty." Then you learn complete sentences.
Mr. Kenney, I know how much teachers appreciate it when their students make connections. Whilst reading "The Hollow" by Agatha Christie, I came upon a passage that struck me as very insightful. It is perhaps barbaric, but it is truthful. One of the characters has died, and here is what lady Angkatell says in a conversation with her husband: "Oh, well, everyone has to die some time" ... "I found him amusing. And he had charm. But I don't think one ought to attach too much importance to anybody." As you may or may not have guessed, I made a connection to "The Little Prince". After all the literature circles, all the work that we did, and the essay, I still could not find a correct way to word what I felt about the message of the story. One is prompted to write essays in a formal manner, but I think that lady Angkatell says it all. In words that are ever so blatant, Christie gets the point across brilliantly. It is quite touching. Whether one is eaten by a goat or bitten by a snake, everything will eventually die (perhaps everything is ephemeral). The only fault I find in the passage is that it says you should not get attached to anyone or anything too much. This is somewhat contradictory to "The Little Prince", because it is saying that one should become attached to people (tame?) and remember them. If anyone has opinions about which is more correct, please comment. This has greatly augmented my affinity for Agatha Christie, which was starting to diminish. On the subject of random thoughts, I would like to recommend a few of my favourite books by Agatha Christie: "The Big Four", "The ABC Murders", "And Then There were None". I believe that these books can be found in the High-school library if anyone is interested. Merry Christmas everyone. See you in January.
Thanks to Robin for relaying an intriguing idea that he synthesized from two writers - Agatha Christie and Antoine de St. Exupery. Maybe Robin's comment will lead us to think about, and follow up with posted blog observations that we make during vacation, especially in regards to the interactions we have with family members and friends during semester vacation, a holiday time that can sometimes be pretty intense in the realm of understanding what makes us, and other people, 'tick.'
Back to Robin's comment, and maybe a balance between the messages from the two authors that he referred to, I was impressed with Anavi's recall, on the last class day of the semester, the theme of 'The Little Prince' as related to the theme of the movie, 'A.I.' - "Friendship and love may be ephemeral, but they can last forever with the help of memory."
The Movie 'I am Legend' in my opinion illuminates the meaning of the word 'tame' in TLP. The LP was talking abouut how if you invest your own time into something then you grow to love it. Same with "I am Legend" Will Smith spent his 3 years in New York city with his isolation broken by his Dog companion. When his dogs life was taken away from him he became sad and didn't feel the point of living anymore. So he tried to run over as many mutant humans with his car as possible knowing it would be suicide. Just like the LP, left his rose, but his rose did not die and he knew he could see his rose, but the essential thing was his rose so he did what he could to get back to his rose. Just like Robin, teachers love it when kids make connections to class.
Like Robin and Paddy’s comments, I also found a connection with TLP over the holiday. In the book called My Sister’s Keeper, the two characters, Anna and Kate, reminded me of tlp and his rose. Anna, the main character, resembles the little prince while Kate (Anna’s sister) resembles the rose. When Anna was born, she tamed Kate and they were all they had in their lonely planet, or life, like the little prince and his rose. Since Kate had leukemia, no one in her life would be friends with both Kate and Anna, which left both of them in a planet/ life alone together. They lived and shared everything together because they’ve only got each other. The little prince only had the rose to talk with, just like how Anna could only discuss things with Kate. Also, like the rose, Kate will die before Anna because of her sickness. She is ephemeral like the little prince’s rose. In TLP, the little prince leaves his rose to explore Earth. In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna in a way leaves her rose (Kate). She decides to stop donating her blood cells and other things that will help Kate fight of the disease. By doing this, she leaves Kate with no donors who will donate blood to her and she also leaves her with a harder chance of surviving. However, by leaving her rose, Anna discovers how much she loves Kate, just like how tlp discovers his love for his rose.
During the vacation I didn't do very much, except for staying at home and play some games. On December 28- January 1, I went to visit my Grandma up north and I have a very nice time.
Overall I think I have a very good vacation!
I went to Chiang Mai with my parents, my grandmother, uncle, and aunt. We stayed at my uncle's house. The house was big enough but there is only one TV. I did not get to play as much Playstation as I wanted. I only get to play around midnight. When I returned home I realized my inner clock is all messed up I now sleep 2 in the morning and wake up at 10.
I'm staring at this little white box for 15 minutes and it's still empty. I wish there is at least a topic we suppose to comment on because at the moment I've got none and I really have some other stuff I need to take care of. Oh, wait I've got something. There is just so much homework this week I have to sleep late every single night. And I am sure I did not waste my time and it still was clearly way over the 2 hours. And I've still got all this assignments, one project, and one test due Monday.
Oh boy, the teacher really missed us don't they?
Sorry I didn't say before, but the progressive metal band 'Dream Theater' is performing saturday night 19th of january. The band is well known in metal and rock and consist of amazing musicians. John Petrucci who toured in G3 (guitar three) with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert recently. G3 guitarists are normally chosen because of their unique, fast playing. John Petrucci is known for his work in Dream Theater and for playing very fast. The concert is worth seeing, it starts at 17:00 at the Bangkok Hall in suam lum park. You can buy tickets at the door. If you are interested.
That is a problem that many people have, Earth. The fact is if you are asked to think a random thought then one does not usually get an idea. Random thoughts come as they are, randomly. It helps to read other people's comments, then maybe you will think of a reply or make a connection, or make a specific connection to the topic of your homework.
Paddy, I was looking back at your first comment and read some of your questions. The one that stood out for me was: is there a god. Rather than answering, I would like to hear your take on this. I'm not sure whether you were asking as a response to our comments or whether it was a random thought.
I can't really think of anything to write right now, (it's probably the brain nullifying effects of the weekend) so I'm just going to be philosophical: what in the heck is the difference between right and wrong?
Personally, I think people get too caught up in thinking "good-evil". Was Hitler evil? Sure, he killed, he ravaged, and he sinned, but he surely must've thought "I'm doing this in the name of the fatherland", which translates to him as good.
So, if people were to judge the morals of those around them, the Tsar Nicolas may have judged Rasputin a Saint, while others saw him as a rapist and sadist.
So, if people can't all have a uniform vision of those who do good and those who do bad, who makes final cut? To me, it's The Lord.
To others, it may be Allah, Buddha, or other spiritual figures. Now, this makes it even more difficult; which of those dieties or prophets makes the decision?
Once again, everyone has a different opinion. Even among people of the same religion, views can differ greatly. So when it comes down to it, right and wrong are completely opinional.
For instance, I think taking something that noone really owns is not wrong. Maybe Jack the Ripper thought murder was right. What do you think?
As some people mentioned before, the existence of 'God' is being discussed frequently. For me, i don't think there is any answer to this general question, and if there was to be any answer, the answer would be made by each of us. A god might exist in some people's hearts but the god might not exist in some people's minds. Personally, i don't think it's a topic for humans to discuss whether there is an answer or not.
Here's a completely random thought: Why do humans dislike pain, yet enjoy seeing others get hurt? Think about it. Most, if not basically all (don't want to generalize here) things that are funny involve someone getting hurt in some sort of way. We like seeing someone get beat up, trip (out of nowhere), etc. as long as it isn't us- that's why action movies are so popular. We love jokes, even though they always insult someone, or something that someone values. I doubt it happens at ISB, but at schools, people enjoy seeing kids fight. I say this because my old public school in the U.S. had a couple of fights over the school year, and people would run to watch and talk about the fights weeks after (I was always on the opposite side of the campus).
So why do we enjoy hurting others? What have we come to as humans?
Just a quote to remind you all
"genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration"
-Thomas Edison
After reading taehoon’s comment I thought about the existence of ghost except for god. Personally, I believe that there are ghosts around the world. In fact, there are some people who are studying about the psychical research. But I think the problem of the existence of ghost is not really significant and there is no answer. This is not necessary to solve for our future and it is not important. On television sometimes there is a program that talks about the ghost or psychic pictures and I always discern between truth and falsehood. But when the person who is called the “Spiritual counselor” talked about the truth that explains there is a ghost I often believe that there is a ghost around me.
Most of all people observe about philosophy and expressed their thought. I researched about nitches philosophy which is explaining about "The birth of Tragedy."
Nitches theory is related to Dionysus pleasure. I think Nitches philosophy is mentioning about the falling of the Rome.
Rome itself drain the cup of pleasure to the dregs and cause the tragedy. And Nitch is thinking about Dionysus who is the god of wine and pleasure related to failure.
But not all of this is what Nitch is referred to. I didn't finished the whole books but what I mentioned right now, is some part of it.Oh nitch! If you are not a part of Romanticism, What then ? All your theory is full of destruction and despair... And the desire as a human.
I'll end this quote and next time, I'll come up with more deeper meaning of this part.
I'm not writing about theories and philosophies. I was wondering about last weeks paraphrasing about Social Studies goal. To think critically you have to think out of the box. Last week I found a strange question:
"There was a hunter who went 1km south from his house. The hunter shot the bear when he was 1km south away from his house. He went 1km east to retrieve the bear’s body. Then he went 1 km north and found his house. What color is the bear?"
It’s really weird that it asked what color is the bear. It’s not like that we are gods and know what color it is. Then I tried to think what happened. If you want to get back to your house normally you have to travel 1km west, but it traveled only 1km north. The only way to get to your house is like a square in this situation. 1km south, 1km east, 1km north, 1km west. Then I thought of Earth. Since the Earth is round, if you travel north, you’ll end up in the North Pole. Since the hunter went north and went back to his house instead of south, the hunter must be in North Pole. Therefore, the bear’s color is white.
It’s a math-like problem, but it consists of critical thinking.
i wonder what is out there in the space far from us would there be a living thing will it be good or bad I was thinking about this about these UFO's and the universe, I am very curious about the universe because I think there is no ending of the universe, but I really want to know if there is an ending to the universe or would it go on for ever. And I want to know what is the UFO's we see the air craft flying and disappearing and the most subject I want to know is, is there a cure for HIV and Aid's in the world.
Last Christmas, my family and I had a great vacation in Japan. We met my father’s friend and his family in Nagoya. I had a chance to meet his daughter called Emily. She had the same interests as me which is reading. We talked randomly about books we have read and luckily I found out that she read “The Little Prince” at her school. I asked her about the ending of the story in the Japanese version to see if it is similar to the English version that I have read in school last semester. She told me that in Japanese version the ending was quite obvious that the little prince died which is different from the English version that the ending let us use our own opinion to solve the conclusion of the story by ourselves. She also told me that TLP book is one of the most popular novels in Japan because most schools use it in their study program. Then I told her a bit more my favorite part in TLP novel in English version and she was quite interested in it too. So she was probably going to buy one of her own. Later on, Emily’s family took us to many famous places in Japan, they also took a good care of us. So I believe that in next summer vacation they will spend their times in Thailand, we will take care them as well as they did. Finally, Japan is one of the most interested places that I had ever visited because of its high-technology and lots of beautiful sight-seeing.
It seems to be quite weird, because in the beginning of eight grade (semester 2) we learned about the poem "Road less traveled by." Then I found this very odd.. I was watching a video called "The Suite life of Zac and Cody" which there was one seen that Cody was in a classroom and the teacher was teaching this poem.
(AMAZING RIGHT?)
Then after a few weeks I was watching this very random THAI TV SHOW which was mentioning how famous this poem was again. I found these two situations very interesting.
I think that ISB gives out too much homework. When you look at one classes homework, it seems reasonable but when we have to do it for all classes it is really hard to do it. I hope that I should get less homework.
I just thought about something: I'm constantly thinking, but I seldom think about my actions, their consequences, or anything else!
This site's pretty good http://www.pravsworld.com/new/pravsworld.htm
it reminds the purposes of our existence
Some nice quotes I got from pravsworld
-I Wanted To Change The World-
"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world."
"Life's filled with possibilities
That challenge us each day, to take a chance, try something new, see things a different way, And it's through, these special moments, That we learn, to change and grow to explore the precious gifts of who we are, and what we know for it's not until we try that we find out, what we can do. So don't wait until tomorrow, to discover something new."
http://www.pravsworld.com/new/xperience.htm
In Palestine, and I’m sure in some other countries of the Middle East, there are “Apartheids” going on towards women. In Palestine, women’s rights are determined by the laws of Islam. Just like the black people in Apartheid South Africa, the whites though the bible told them that black people turned black for their sins. Wife-beating is so common in Palestine and women don’t call the authorities because they know the authorities won’t be able to help them. Husbands beat wives for going outside the house without permission, for their cooking, even how they behave. In South Africa it was normal to beat blacks for anything they did wrong, even for a mistake. Most of the women in Palestine work low-grade jobs like, looking after family, cooking, teaching, cleaning, ect… These jobs are important, but the number of female politicians and lawyers are very low in Palestine. In the South African Apartheid, blacks had inferior jobs too.
The current status of Palestinian women can be compared to the South African Apartheid because of the rights women in Palestine have. Palestinian women’s rights are low because of very religious people who follow Islam seriously, just like how the South African’s looked at the bible very literally. There are women in Palestine who fight for their rights and want to keep Islam in tact, so they try to interpret the Islamic Laws more figuratively. Female suicide bombers bomb themselves because of their society which restricts them from having a fulfilled and normal life. I think more attention should be put on the women being oppressed in the Middle East, just like the world did on the South African Apartheid. What is happening to women in places of the Middle East are against human rights.
Paddy
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