FINAL EXAM

FINAL EXAMINATION
DUE AUGUST 8TH
1. Be sure to place your entire FINAL on your website and when youare finished send a link of yourtest to your teacher directly at neuralsurfer@yahoo.com (don't sendit to any other email address, except that)2. Make sure that it is YOUR OWN work and that if you use otherauthors please be sure toquote and/or cite the material appropriately. Plagiarism will not betolerated and you will receivean "F" automatically for the examination.3. The test is due AUGUST 8TH.
3a. Each answer should be at least two paragraphs long, if not muchlonger.3b. What grade do you deserve and why?A) I think i derserve a B in the class. I ve done all the postings on time and made sure ive read and watched all of the videos and articles.4. What is your real name?A) Richard Chen5. What is your "user" name?A) rchenhc5a. What was your midterm grade? Or, if you revised it, your revisedmidterm grade? Provide a LINK to your midterm.A) C6. What is your email address that you use for this class?A) rchenhc@yahoo.com7. Name and address for your website.A) PHI 5 : http://dazedreams-phi5.blogspot.com/8. Have you done all the reading for the entire class?A) Yes9. Have you watched each of the films that were required?A) Yes10. Please place here all of the postings you have done for thisclass (you can copy and paste them. ALL SIX WEEKS OF POSTINGS.WEEK #6
Post #1 The ZahirTrippy video. Still trying to really understand what this video is trying to get at or explain. From what i know "The Zahir" stands for beings the has the power to be unforgettable, and whos image turns people really mad. Its a coin of some sort that has a date of 1929 stamped on it. The man in this film supposedly experience the effects of the Zahir and dreamed about how he was gaurded by a grip of coins. The narrotor tried to overcome the Zahir by repating the image and its name, if he was able to surpass that then he will find God. What i this movie is explaining is money gets the best of people. I believe in the saying "more money, more problems". More money means more freedom and more freedom may lead to some unwanted problems. Money might be something that is bad, but if didn't have money we would be screwed too. There needs to be a balance of wealth. The lottery winners on T.V, not all of them live good lives beacuse the hit the jackpot. I remember watching something on T.V where the documented a few of them and how there lives crumbled because of the lottery. I think you should be fourtunate for what you have not what you don't have.Post#2 Inner Visions and Running TrainsThis video talks about a person by the name of Baba Faqir Chand. When they werein a middle of a war, and there was a seize fire. They then realized that theywere short on ammo and they began to panic. Everyone thought that they weregoing to die. But then his guru showed up and told him everything is going to befine. The guru said that the enemy arent going to fire at them, they are justgoing to come and pick up their dead soilders. After they had survived the warthey worshiped him, thinking hes a guru and saved their lives. He himself don'teven believe hes a guru.No one thinks about how their God, became a God. Instead they fall into thebelief that God is just God. Also people look to their Gods when they aretroubled and think that he/she will save them. I don't nesscearliy beleive thatGod will save you everytime you ask him too. It is that belief that is insideyou that made you think everything is going to be alright that does. Many peopletend to think that they aren't good enough to solve some problems in life sothey look to God to guide them. I think a everyone has enough knowlege andwisdom to overcome anything that life throws at them.Post #3 Ramana Maharshi and Indian philosophyRamana Maharshi was very dedicated to his religion and his beliefs. It was veryfascinating to see that a little kid can meditate for weeks on end. Also tostarve himself while doing so. His life was compelled with everything that hasto do with his religion. He was very attached to his religion, and i find thatkind of odd since he was very yound at that age. His meditation brought alot ofattention from people that surrounded him. It made him a bit famous. His beliefin self which is something i believe in also. It brings individuality andcharacter to a person. But i believe that self comes from the people thatsurround you. You find yourself and who you are from the people that are amongsyour peers. You see yourself the way you are from others.I can't see myself as a young kid and be as dedicated to a religion as muchas Ramana was. The way he changed was when he suddenly had a overcome a fear ofdeath. I also believe in happiness is your true nature, as do Ramana. He gave upeverything to be an insturment of God. He is a very interesting man.Post #4 A free man's worshipThis essay basically talks about his beliefs on how the world began and how religion started. Russell says that the creation and the blief in God is to answer those of the unknown. I believe in his theory also. I beleive that God was somewhat created to fill in those gaps of the unaswered questions that we have. I feel as if God was made in the belief so that we have someone above us to guide us we feel useless or directionless. Hes there to tell us whats the goods and the bads. But then again i kind of do believe in God and saying all that would just make me a hypocrite. I am not at all religious, but i do believe in God. But i do believe in Russell's theory. What i see around me is people are so devoted to God, that no one can really say bads about him, or use his name in vain. I believe in God, but not at all religious. Coming from a background where most of my family memebers are catholic i find it very hard to fit in when iam not at all religious.Post #5 A confessionThis was a story about a boy who grew up in a religious family and followedeverything within the family. He later grew up and started to lose faith in hisreligion. He then later started thinking about what is the reason he is livingand then soon found faith again. I think that religion should be a personalchoice and shouldn't be force upon you. I hate it when your somewhere and peoplewalk up to you and start talking about God and faith. "Not to disrepect yourbeleifs and religion or anything but iam trying to enjoy my time and i wouldappreicate it if you would lay off the subject." I know God exists. You don'thave to tell me what i already know. The boy was religious because his familyforced him to believe in faith. I was never religous even when i was little. Iwould go to church with my friends and would sit through mass not knowing why iwas there. Soon later i found out about religion and God but wasn't really intothe whole religious aspect of it. But i do believe in God, and i feel it shouldbe a personal choice to believe in what you believe.Magazine Post "The Cerebal Wave"This magazine was about travelers who stop at a coffee shop and they started talking about the topic of religion. Each person says that their God is surpreme. The last person that speaks about his God says that our Gods to us is surpreme, but we have to ignore their pride and beliefs towards others. This i believe is the key that keeps all of the religions going. That is why there is so many religions cause people think differently. I think that religion should be a personal thing and how you see the world in your perspective. Their is so much history with war fighthing over religion. If it was kept as a personal thing there wouldn't be so much killings that had happened.
WEEK #5
Post #1 "Nietzsche and the Myth of Eternal Recurrence"This video was very trippy. In this film it said something about if a demon crept on you and told you that "this life that you live now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number. There will be nothing new in it, but every pain and joy and every thought and sigh and all the unspeakably small and great in your life must return to you, and everything in the same series." I thought about my life and through each years of it. Have i made any impact yet on this world? Why am i here? It just made me think about what i would like to do and accomplish before i die. There are so many things i would like to do. This just made me realize how precious life is and iam sure others are thinking about this also. It just makes me think about if i toke back some of the things i did, would things be different? This was the interesting part of the video, throughout the video this topic was just stuck in my head. I didnt really pay attention to most of the video other than thinking about life.Post#2 Flame OnThis film talks about the controversial topic of homosexuality. They gave a list of historical figures who accomplished alot but were gay. such as Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great. The arguement for homosexuality was very interesting and a very good one. Basically what this film was trying to prove was that anybody can accoplish alot even if there gay or not. This topic is a very controversial topic these days, or gay marriage. What i think is, a person is either borned straight, or borned heterosexual or homosexual. I think it isnt really a persons choice on being in a group that society tends to show alot of hatred towards. I don't neccesarrily have a problem with homosexuality, i don't normally judge a person by just there sexuality. But society thinks differently. Religion has always went against homosexuality. A person that is borned gay might not believe it since his/her religion taught him/her that it was wrong. They might be very discreet about it and to others. So many famous people on tv today are coming out and saying they are gay, its shocking to find out.Post #3 why turn vegetarian?This video was produces by the PETA. It tells the viewers why not to eat meat and also shows clips of animals getting slaughtered and killed in the background. I think this video wasn't really convincing and unargumental. Telling someone to not eat meat, just because "its just wrong" ain't really convincing. Not eating meat can be unhealthy since there is alot of proteins in meat, like chicken and beef. I dont believe killing animals for their meat is being a bad person Plants and furits are alive too. Killing cows and chickens for meat is just part of the food cycle. Telling someone there a bad person just because they kill animals for their meat is really stupid.Post #4 non-violenceNon-violence is the key to solving alot of issues around the world, wellaccording to Gandhi. He says that violence never solves nothing, relationshipwise, arguments, etc. I beleive in this and starting thinking and reminiscingabout my childhood where i have encountered violence with others over somethingthat was really stupide and the outcome of it was nothing. Gandhi says thatviolence only brings more issues. He says that non-violence is a surpreme law. Iagree. For example, if someone in a club started a fight with another person,and the cops broke it up, they end up going to jail for the night, did any ofthe 2 solve their problems? no, they ended up in jail also. But lets say if theyverbally diffuse the situation, then both of them walk away satisfied and theissue of being in jail wouldn't have come up. But then theres an argument tothis. What if someone you encountered wants to still beat you up after you triedverbally diffusing the situation, do you fight back or do you lay there beinghammered with punches. In Gandhi's perspective you have to be the bigger man andnot fight back. Ive tried putting myself in this situation and thought aboutwhat i would do. I would probably fight back sense its my self-defense. But ibeleive in Gandhi on non-violence.Post #5 Sam HarrisRespecting ones religion is something i totally believe in. Someones beliefs is their own personal perspective on God, to disrespect and to make fun of ones religion is really low and i think is inappropriate. This video explains about the bible, and how we if believe in the bible and followed it to a certain extent thatn we would be beating our childrens, stoning them to death, and also killing everyone who believes in God. The video was kind of blunt about this and shocked me kind of. Is it really saying this and putting it out there like this? Religions and our morals should'nt be put together and mix in with each other. Religion may play a big part in someones life, they live, eat, and breath their religion. To moralize what they can and can't do might prevent them from living. Everyone lives a different life and shouldn't be made fun of just because they live that way. The argument about the stakes being high, we choose to conversate or violence. This is very true. When an altercation happens in a bar or club, most of times it leads to violence but other situations like being in a store might lead to a coversation diffusion.
WEEK #4
Post #1 "A Glorious Piece of Meat"This film was very fascinating to watch, and learn how and why we do certain things that we do. This film was mainly talking about our conscience and how it works.It basically says that our brain controls the stuff that we do on a normal day. For instance, eating and sleeping, we sleep and eat because of the neurons in our brains are sending information to do these things. This film was kinda tricky when it says that our conscience controls our neurons but the neurons dosen't stufy our conscience. So in that sense what does the neurons go off of? I think there might be something esle to it. Using our brain to control what we do is really interesting. A murderer kills somebody and are called psycopaths. It was always intersesting and fascinating to me about what was a psycopath thinking about or what was in his mind that made him commit murders. At the beginning of the films a lady by the name of Patricia Smith Churchland had said that our brain is just meat, and if we dont use it then nothing would change. Our brain is the commander and the captain of our body without it telling us what to do, there would not be me.Post #2 "IS CONSCIOUSNESS PHYSICAL?"Before reading this i though that it was physical. William james gives four characters in conscience. The first one, Every 'state' tends to be part of a personal consciousness. Second, Within each personal consciousness states are always changing. Third, Each personal consciousness is sensibly continuous. Lastly, It is interested insome parts of its object to the exclusion of others, and welcomes or rejects all the while. The first one i agree with the most in the sense that our brain can think of random mutiple thoughts all at the same time, and yet not even make any sense. Our personal conscious, would be our dreams. Where it it is kept only to us, and excluded from others. This book helped me understand consciousness more. It is still a mystery to how it actually really works, but i believe that part of it has to do with you soul.Post #3 Steven Pinker on Evolutionary PsychologyEvolutionary Psychology is the study of the brain and how it all came about. Steven Pinker says that Evolutionary Psychology is the same as psychology and should be in the same field of study. I dont see any difference between the two, what i always thought was anything that is the study of the mind was psychology. One interesting thing that i liked about his lecture was the misconception of things people had, genes, and dreams. Pinker says that dreams are misconcieved. I kind of paused for a second and thought about it. Then came to realize that what he was saying was true. Usually after i wake up from a dream, i try to remember what i dreaming and try to figure out what it all meant. Then again, its kind of hard when your dream makes no sense what so ever. Pinker says that dreams might as well be screensavers, and have no meaning behind it, and also, they are just there just to keep our mind moving while we are asleep. Dreams that make no sense can either be a hidden message, or a screensaver, like pinker says. Ive recently been having dreams where i am on a mission like 007 or something. Really trippy and weird. Can't seem to find the meaning behind it.Post #4 Gerald EdelmanAfter watching his lecture, It was a little bit hard to understand. The First few minutes of the video was kind of confusing. Gerald Edelman says that neural darwinism is our instinct, which is or survival on food or sex. He says since a long time ago the study of mind and consciousness have been separated from the study of science.He also states that concepts that are study by philosophers, like mind and consciousness, now can be explained using science and the study of neurons. It started to get interesting when he talked about our brain and our consicous. He says that our brain is not like a computer. Although i think it does kind of work like a computer. Edelman says that you can't explain the steps of Darwinisn without including youself. Evoltion can be explained step by step but without including yourself you won't be able to fully explain it since you are part or the steps process.Post #5 What is Consciousness?Consciousness, can be really confusing and be misunderstood as something esle. It is a biological phenomenon. It should'nt be confused with knowledge, attention, and it should'nt be confused with self-consciousness. Cosciousness has something esle that other biological phenomenon dont have. "subjectively", there is a sense that a person has their own private conscious. Which is something like their own dreams, tickles, feels, and movements. The relationship between consciousness and the brain is actually relatively connected. The brain is like a captain in which it tells the body what to do. Conscious states are caused by lower level neurobiological processes in the brain and are themselves higher level features of the brain. The key notions here are those of cause and feature.Post #6 Theory of ConsciousnessThis was an fun read.The four corners of the cosmos was very interesting,I thought they belong to another quadrant but they didn't. Intentional, behavioral, cultural and social were the four quadrants. The four quadrants were accessed by different types of truth ofvalidity claims. There are 12 theories for consciouness. Wilber explains them and says that consciousness is anchored in and distributed across all of the four quadrants. Cognitive science is consciousness as anchored in functional schemas of the brain and mind. I think that consciouness throught cognitive science is a real possibility. I also think that individual psychotherapy brings individuality to someone and that the consciousness is able to adapt to its environment and its surroundings.Post #7 The Astonishing HypothesisVery interesting to read. Crick says, "The Astonishing Hypothesis is that "You," your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules." It is really amazing to see that we can be shorten down into a small reasonable explantion. This article was interesting in the sense it talks about we have no soul. I do beleive that everyone on this earth has a soul. But Crick makes a good argument asking where does our soul come from in our body? He also believes that everything that appeared in our heads, or any thoughts that we have, are all produced by neurons. Crick does not believe that a soul is something that exist outside of science. Even though he has stong points and a good arguement, i don't agree with him. I believe that everyone has a soul and it isn't held in our body but in spirt. It doesn't have to be part of a body for it to be an individual, and unique.Post #8 "why i don't eat faces" VegetariansIt basically gives you the pros on being a vegetarian. How your life would be like if you are, or turn into a vegetarian. It says that being one can prevent heart disease, reduce of impotence andpreservation of the environment. I can't see myself eating straight veggies for the rest of my life. Meat to me tastes so much better and have much more flavor than vegetables. Even though it may lead to heart diseases, and knowing so, i still can't see myself as a vegetarian. This audio tells a story about a boy who turned into a vegetarian. He says he never liked the taste of meat, i can't see how someone might not like the taste of meat. Vegetarians are missing out so much on that juicy, much flavored than veggies, and delisious meat. This audio says that fish is considered meat. Vegetarians can't eat any seafood either? Wow that must sucks since fish is so good. All this is my own opinion, and i can see from a vegetarian's perspective on why they don't eat meat. Like for instance they are grossed out by it, or they are simply trying to save the enviroment. I eat way more meat than i eat veggies, and i know this is a bad thing. What this audio is trying to explain is that animals shouldnt be treated any different than humans and that if we eat animals then we might as well eat ourselves.Post #9NUMINOUS LECTURESThis lecture was very boring but what really caught my attention was something that was said. The lecture says that even the men who are healthy and have a healthy mindset and live their life carefully by taking good care of their body, are just lucky that bad health and personal problems haven't happend to them. This is false in my opinion. I played basketball in high school and keeping yourself in good shape and health was an essential part of being on the team. It helped you keep your stanima up while playing in a game and it makes you feel better about yourself. While i was on the basketball team it made me feel more fit and healthy since every practice you are working out. It changed my personality and my attitude a little. I was more outgoing and not hesitant to speak my mind. After basketball season was over i wasn't working out as much and it my mood changed also. Keeping in shape and working out does something to you not only on the outside by also on the inside. And personal problems are just personal problems. You can't blame health for personal problems.Post #10 Is my i phone conscious?Is my i phone conscious? No, or is it? In reality, i think not. But in fantasy it might be since it can practically do most things that you would like it to do, almost like a mini robot or human. I still don't fully understand the full concept on how conscious works and what is it. Our dreams happen when we are unconcious and those are wierd. The argument put out in this article was far beyond my expectations. It was very well put. Their might be something out there that we cannot see. The part about the phantom limb seemed like good ammo for this argument. Ive always thought about this question, if my computer was conscious, or if my phone was conscious. This article just backs up my theory and makes me believe it even more.Magazine Post "The Voyage within"This was a very very interesting and entertaining to read. Throughout themagazine they talk about the effects that weed has on a persons vision and body.They say that you hallucinate when you smoke weed. My personal experiece is thatyou don't really hallucinate when you smoke weed. What i think is it depends onthe person also. So people that smoke weed might get very paranoid, and somearen't. Also, it depends on the type of weed you smoke. Some marijuana helps yousleep, and some gives you a more of a lightheaded feeling. Different people havedifferent effects when smoking marijuana. There are different reasons why peoplesmoke marijuana too. For instance , some people smoke weed because of medicalreasons, and some do it cause its "the thing to do". Alot of people saymarijuana is a drug and should be kept off the streets. Only if you abuse it toa certain extent. I think it should be compared to alchohal. Theres no harm insmoking a little bit of marijuana. I dont know how the hallucination part playsin with this. From what i heard, mushrooms and acid makes you hallucinate.
11. Why does Steven Pinker believe that evolution is important inunderstanding human behavior? Be specific in your answer.A) He believes that evolution is important in understanding human behavior, because he says that it is important for people to know why they act the way they do. For instance, If a person dosen't like a person with the same-sex, It might be something that was adapted through the reproductive period. It could be that we are defenesive towards people of the same-sex cause it was important for us to pass down our traits. 12. In addition, why is the theory of evolution helpful in doingphilosophy?A) Evolution is very helpful in doing philosophy. In philosophy, they come up with new theories in order to back up the old ones. This is what makes the drive in them to figure out something even though if it doesn't have an exact or quick result. Even if the person is not benefited from the research he is doing, he researchs a thoery that benefits the whole people. Evolution is the traits that is passed down from our ancestors. Our traits are selected and passed down from generation to generation. We strive for perfection because that is how we survive. Philosophy can be explained by evolution.13. Explain why Francis Crick does NOT believe in a soul.A) Crick says that the entity which we claim to be our soul is actually a complex network of neurons. I think what he really wanted to get through us was that there is no need for a soul when we have cognitive brain activity which is comprised of billions of synapses and neurons that control our every movement and act. He dosen't believe in a God so that is why he does not believe in a soul. He also believes in free will.14. What are some of the major issues behind a neuro-ethicalargument for vegetarianism? What are its strengths? What are itsweaknesses?A) Some major arguments for vegetarianism is that Vegertarians eat healty and that not eating meat is preserveing the animals. I think that the streagths for vegetarinism is that it is healty. I can see how eating nothing but vegetables and fruits are healthy, but then wouldn't you need protein too form meat to have an even balance? A weakness about vegetarinism is that don't eat meat because eating something that is living is bad. Plants were technacially alive also. We are made to be a carnivours creature, telling ourselves not to be ourselves is just not right.15. How do John Searle's views differ from Ken Wilber's? Who do youfind more persuasive and why?A) Searle believes that, "Conscious states are caused by lower level neurobiologicalprocesses in the brain and are themselves higher level features of the brain." He would say that he is a Cognitive Scientist, or some one who "tends to view consciousness as anchored in functional schemas of the brain/mind, either in a simple representational fashion (such as Jackendoff's `computational mind') . Wilber believes in a culmination of all of the ideas behind the conscious. He thinks that they can be put together in one model to explain consciousness. I find Ken Wilber's views to be more persuasive and his model makes more sense because it is all inclusive.16. What is the theme behind the little movie, a GLORIOUS PIECE OFMEAT? How would a religious person argue against it?A) The overrall theme would be that the brain is a amazing piece of object. All the stuff that make up this thing that helps operatenot only our functioning body but the bodies of live animals as well, isamazing. The human brain consisting of the cerebellum, cerebrum, brain stem, pituitary gland,and hypothalamus control some aspect of the body allowing you to move, think,and react consciously as well as subconsciously. A religious person would say that we act and think because of our body does so. A religious person would go against the scientific thinking of consciousness.17. Why is Sam Harris so critical of religion? Give his strongestarguments and where do you think his argument fails? Or, if itdoesn't fail, where does it succeed?A) His arguments are fairly controversial. He goes on and talks about certain religious beliefs that are ridiculous to him, which are never questioned because it is areligion. He makes a "conversational intolerance". He says religions do not have boundaries and this is what makes them so powerful. Religions will go in every person's life and try to control it. From being born to how they die. This is why he says that there are no boundaries. He tends to shoot on the Islam religion more than the rest of the religions. I think the reason why he is so critical of relgion is that there religious concepts that can't be touch simply because its religions and he also has a problem with fundamentalism.
18. Explain the essence of Nietzsche's genealogy of morals. You canoutline your answer here.A) what i think Nietzche is trying to do here is to break down the origins of morality in humans. He started by asking the question "who we really are". Nietzscheexplains his thought process of why so many people ask themselves this question, and his answer was: the reason why many people ask themselves thisquestion is because they take life for granted. His thought process is if aperson doesn't know who they really are but are in the very instance "livinglife" then they are taking life for granted.
19. Why does Gandhi believe in ahimsa?A) He believes in ahimsa because of his family, mainly his father. He believes in non-viloence. he experience this during his youth when he was stealing to support his bad habit of smoking, and he wanted to come clean with his father, but fear that he would bebeaten. By confessing his crime to his father with a letter saying his crime and he promised not to do it again. In doing so, he sees his father's tears, an act of non-violent, forgiveness, and love. To Gandhi, the term ahimsa means to be non violent and it means to love all living things. He says ahimsa must be practiced in both ways. One must love all living things therefore one does not cause violence or harm to any living things.Gandhi did not believe in punishment. To punish some one would go againsthis views on ahimsa. Ahimsa was important to Gandhi because it is the foundationof all of his beliefs. He believes that nonviolence is the law of the human race and isgreater than and superior to brute force.20. What is Nietzche's notion of the myth of eternal recurrence? Besure to use the film as your guide.A)The myth of eternal recurrence reveals that a demon presents a curse to you that
you live the life you live over and over forever. Your soul gets recycled into the universal time like an infinite amount of times. Then there is a question that is asked, would you lash out and curse this demon or would you praise him? This is the main purpose of the myth.
Nietzsche is testing our reaction to the situation through presenting it in an erie manner, and how you react to this situation is related to how you view your life.
21. What is the ironic theme in the movie Flame On? Hint: what isthe movie REALLY trying to say?A) This film talks about the controversial topic of homosexuality. They gave a list of historical figures who accomplished alot but were gay. such as Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great. The arguement for homosexuality was very interesting and a very good one. Basically what this film was trying to prove was that anybody can accoplish alot even if there gay or not. This topic is a very controversial topic these days, or gay marriage. What i think is, a person is either borned straight, or borned heterosexual or homosexual.
I think the overall theme of this movie was that just because people are the way they are doesm't mean they can't be something of themselves. Famous People are put on a pedistol and everyone wants to inmatate and act like them. So when they find out they are gay, some already show disrespect of them and don't realize why and what theyve had done to become famous22. Why does Daniel Dennett favor calling himself a "bright"?A) Daniel Dennett believes that "Brights" is a person or movements that will help someone think and relate their naturalistic view with their religion. Dennett also believes he is a bright cause he thinks that he has man doubts about his naturalistic and religion. He want to encourage this thinking and behavior to the kids today. He wants them to be nautralistic in everything they do or touch. He wants them to think about ESP, superstitions, astrology and etc. This will be known as their "worldview." That is why Dennett believes is "bright," and refers to himself as one because he thinks of everything from a naturalistic perspective.23. Outline Bertrand Russell's a FREE MAN'S WORSHIP.A) This essay basically talks about his beliefs on how the world began and how religion started. Russell says that the creation and the blief in God is to answer those of the unknown. He first speaks about what he means by "Free man's worship;" God beingworshiped. Then he explains explanation of purpose and knowledge in life and also talks about evolution. He believes that all of mankinds beliefs are nothing because of science. He ends it by talking about accidental selection.
I beleive that God was somewhat created to fill in those gaps of the unaswered questions that we have. I feel as if God was made in the belief so that we have someone above us to guide us we feel useless or directionless.24. What is the overall theme of the movie INNER VISIONS AND RUNNINGTRAINS?A) This was very interesting. This video was about a person named faquir here everything thought of him as a guru becuase he had a vision in a middle of a war. The visions he had can be compared to dreams that weve had. Very strange dreams made me feel as if they were real or not. It might of been in another life, i don't know The overall theme in Inner Visions is this video has the same kind of rhetoric: what is a dream or what is reality? what had happened and what didn't happen25. What does Nicholas of Cusa mean by "learned ignorance"? What areits implications for your own life?A) Nicholas of Cusa says that "learned ignorance" is something people expereice in their lives. What he means in his thoery of "learned Ignorance" is that it occurs when a person is disproved of a belief that they thought was true. Until they are proven wrong that they learn that they were ignorant, that is "learned ignorance"; they learned that they were wrong, so therefore ignorant.I have occasions where ive learned i was ignorant. I don't think iam an Ignorant person, but there are times where i have learned of my ignorant ways in certain occasions. But ive learned to control it and become more humble.26. What does Gerald Edelman mean by Neural Darwinism and SecondNature?A) What Gerald Edelman means by Neural Darwinism is that the brain hasevolved in ways to serve us the best in the environment we are in. Our exterior bodies as well. Th neurons in our brain have evolved as well. He describes how neurons control our bodies and that consicousness exist because of them.What he means by Second Nature is what the body does withoutus knowing. He uses Second Nature to explain what we do without consciouslyknowing it, like the beating of our heart and digestion.27. Why turn vegetarian?---according to the film you saw. Whatarguments are there against vegetarianism? You may need to do agoogle search here.A) Vegetarians is unhealthy. Not having any meat of any source in your system is not very good to your body since meat has alot of proteins in them. You can't maintain a healthy diet. Also, people say that vegeatarians are going against how we are made as human beings, being carnivorous creatures we should be able to eat meat. Alot of people would say that vegatarians are missing out on the flavor of meat.
28. What was the turning point in Ramana Maharshi's life? A) Ramana Maharshi's life was very interesting. He wasn't the smartest kid and would rather play games than study. The turning point of his life would be the time he was at his uncle's house, upstairs, where he expereieced a violent fear of death. He felt like he was just going to die. He then was curious about it, what is death? He later said that his body died, that he was a spirit, a "deadless spirit". He lost interests with everyone and everything. It was almost as if he didn't even exist. He would go to the temple and be there alone. But OnAugust 29, 1896, something happened to him. Something that struck him like lightening kind of. He was trying to do a grammer excercise and out of no wherehe began to meditate. This probabley was an important part of his life also since after this he became more religious.
29. What was Gandhi's double shame? If Gandhi lived during our era would he have a different view of that event? Why? Why not? A) Gandhi's double shame was when his father passed away while he wassleeping with his wife. He felt really bad of what happened and of himself when he was taking care of his father through out the whole day and having thoughts of sleeping with his wife. On the one night Gandhi finally sleeps with his wife, his father passes away. Gandhi was full of regret and shame.Sex today is being bluntly put out for our whole society to see. Sex sells. Having sex with your wife isn't as shameful as it was back then. If Gandhi lived in our era i think he would view it differently, since sex is seen differently today then back then.
30. List Four distinct passages from Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and explain what you think they mean. A) 5.253 One situation can reverese the effect of another. situations can cancel oneanother out. The meaning of this passage is a deed seen as good can be outweighted by a deed seen as bad and vice-versa.6.1261 In logic process and result are equivalent.Theses mean that logic always makes sense, logic does the same thing always almost like math. There is no surprise in logic.4.015 The possibility of all smiles, of all things of our language, rests on thelogic of repersentation.this passage to means that everything within our existence left upto every person individually to interpret.1.2 The world divides into factsWhat this passage mean is that our world is filled with facts and can be divided with us and people that surround us.
31. In the booklet IS MY I-PHONE CONSCIOUS what is the author's overall thesis? Why does he use the sound grenade application on the i-Phone as an illustrative example? What he is trying to demonstrate? A) The overall thesis in "Is My I-Phone Conscious?" was thequestion of whether every single thing around us is conscious or not. Heuses the sound grenade application on the i-phone to show us his theory.The sound grenade makes a very high frequency noise, like15 MHz or something.He couldn't hear the sound, but people that were around him could. This made him conclude to the theory , that maybe had a conscious and decided forthose select people to hear the noise and for him not to. But i didn't really believe in the theory since they tell us that he couldt hear the high pitched noise because thebones in his ear were worn out, not because his i-phone had a conscious.32. In the booklets IS CONSCIOUSNESS PHYSICAL? and the PHYSICS OF AWARENESS the author champions a materialistic undertanding of our "I" awareness. Present a detailed outline of his arguments. Present a critique of it (pro and con).A) The Physics of Awareness generally explains how the brain functionsand has arguments about whether or not our consciousness is physical orsomething different. Throughout the article there was a quote that stood out tome about demon possession which is seen to be a reasonable answer for a personwho acts differently than the norm of society and has strange behavior.In Consciouness Physical?, William james gives four characters in conscience. The first one, Every 'state' tends to be part of a personal consciousness. Second, Within each personal consciousness states are always changing. Third, Each personal consciousness is sensibly continuous. Lastly, It is interested insome parts of its object to the exclusion of others, and welcomes or rejects all the while. The first one i agree with the most in the sense that our brain can think of random mutiple thoughts all at the same time, and yet not even make any sense. Our personal conscious, would be our dreams. Where it it is kept only to us, and excluded from others. This book helped me understand consciousness more. It is still a mystery to how it actually really works, but i believe that part of it has to do with you soul.
33. Explain Leo Tolstoy's confession and religious conversion. What do you think were the key elements in his radical change in philosophy? Be specific.A) This was a story about a boy who grew up in a religious family and followed everything within the family. He later grew up and started to lose faith in his religion. He then later started thinking about what is the reason he is living and then soon found faith again. I think that religion should be a persona lchoice and shouldn't be force upon you. He realized that his religious belief was more a custom taught by his family rather than aconviction to follow, so he lost his faith. When he lost faith he started being more artistic and started becoming more of a conviction and a man who had principles and ethics. Later he started asking himself what is the point of living and the point of a life. He then found out that he was living a life filled with lies. He believe that reason and science is not the reason that gives meaning to life. The only purpose was faith.
34. What was your favorite expert film lecture this term?A) Steven Pinker on Evolutionary PsychologySteven Pinker on Evolutionary Psychology
35. What was your favorite movie this term?A) Little Things That Jiggle36. What was your favorite reading?A) God 10137. Most unusual thing you learned this termA) There was alot of unusual things ive learned but this most unusual would have to be the theories on counsicousness.
38. Give a review of the 3 required magazines listed above that you were required to read.Magazine Selection "God 101"Dont judge a book by its cover! This magazine article was very interesting to read. The beginning was a bit one sided on how god is a fictional character, But the comparsion between Charlie Manson and God was very on point. I think the point about the sheeps blood and the snicker bar was hilarious but rather not so much. Although i don't go to church i do believe in God. I think that God is real but i don't believe you need to go to church 24/7 to believe in God. Sometimes people that are overly going to church and too religious and thinking that if they don't praise God every minute of their lives dont get to actually live their life that God had gave them. The middle point of this article was very very interesting. Peter Mcwilliams, i found to be an very interesting man. He published a book titled: "Life 102" about John Rodger Hinkins. He Later sold it to him for 2 million in cash?! Iam guessing someone doesn't wants his beans to be spilled. As i kept reading, Medical Marijuana popped up. He uses it to relieve his nausea feeling after taking his AIDs medication. Whats the problem with that? Marijuana can relief a substatial problems a person might have. He ended up dieing from vomiting because a judge wouldn't allow him to use medical marijuana? Marijuana today is almost about to be legalized in general. The book that he was going to write before he died would i think be a interesting book to read even though its from an atheist stand point. One of his quotes that i find very fascinating was "All the things you think you should have done that you didn't do, and all ofthe things that you shouldn't have done, accept them. You did (or did not) do them. That's reality. That's happened. No changing the past." this quote i very much believe in.
Magazine Post "The Voyage within"This was a very very interesting and entertaining to read. Throughout themagazine they talk about the effects that weed has on a persons vision and body.They say that you hallucinate when you smoke weed. My personal experiece is thatyou don't really hallucinate when you smoke weed. What i think is it depends onthe person also. So people that smoke weed might get very paranoid, and somearen't. Also, it depends on the type of weed you smoke. Some marijuana helps yousleep, and some gives you a more of a lightheaded feeling. Different people havedifferent effects when smoking marijuana. There are different reasons why peoplesmoke marijuana too. For instance , some people smoke weed because of medicalreasons, and some do it cause its "the thing to do". Alot of people saymarijuana is a drug and should be kept off the streets. Only if you abuse it toa certain extent. I think it should be compared to alchohal. Theres no harm insmoking a little bit of marijuana. I dont know how the hallucination part playsin with this. From what i heard, mushrooms and acid makes you hallucinate.
Magazine Selection "Naturally Selected"Naturally Selected by Darwin has an autobiography of his life. He explains that he has never earned his own "bread", meaning money. His dad payed for his education at school and for everything esle. Darwin was attracted to nature and first learned that nature had an interest for him when he started learning about bugs and plants. He read alot of literature by was very interested in shakespere. This was very interesting to read. I think alot of autobiographys are interesting to read. I think the fact that his dad was paying for his schooling and then being involve in learing about nature with beatles is very interesting.
39. BONUS QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDED SHORTLY.