Let's see those critical reasoning skills, kids!
Please post your list of reasoned opinions here! I would also like to see an example of a poorly reasoned opinion (with a little commentary on why you think it's badly put together). Bonus point if you post a link to your failed philosopher(hint: check the Fox News site. Just kidding. Sort of.). Please also comment on the opinions of the person who was the last poster...you can provide additional support if you agree or you can undermine their arguments if you disagree...or do the reverse to play the devil's advocate.
Looking forward to reading them! Deadline for completion is 7 a.m. on September 7th.
JC
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 9:41 AM
34 comments
34 Comments:
All right, the first "unanswerable question" that has often plagued me is "Is there such thing as God?" After much thought, my conclusion has been that there can't be. I understand how there is a difference between scientific truth and religious truth or whatnot, but it just seems like people that believe in God are blindly following what is told of them without questioning the logic behind it. First of all, how could one mystical being have created the entire universe? There is much evidence to the contrary with the scientific "big bang" theory, stating that the universe was created from a massive explosion 10-20 billion years ago, although it hasn’t been definitively proven. And on this note, there is no scientific proof whatsoever for the existence of God, and it would be illogical to put all my faith into something that there is a good likelihood does not exist. At least the former theory of how the universe was created has some solid backing to it, evidence that someone can lay out before me and say, "See, that's how it was done." After so many years of taking science classes, how can I cast it all away for something that can never be proven? People that put their faith in the fact that God created the universe are simply ignoring the facts and all the evidence that has been presented about the evolution of human beings- i.e. that man and woman weren’t created just the way they are today. Jose Arcadio Buendia couldn't get a daguerreotype of God and therefore asserted that he (or she) didn't exist, and I demand one too before I can lay aside my convictions and admit to the possibility.
Here is my second unanswerable question: “Is there such thing as destiny?” Again, I must take the opposing side. This was a question that came up a great deal in Antigone- how no matter what she did, Antigone was predestined by the gods to a tragic downfall. This is all very well and good, but it too deals with the existence of gods. Being as there I don’t believe in a god or gods for lack of scientific proof, I cannot well be convinced that there is some higher “puppeteer” that is pulling the strings to control my life. I also suppose that one can assert that destiny doesn’t have to be determined by a specific higher power; it just is. However, if there was such thing as a predetermined fate, then why I am able to make decisions on a daily basis that affect the outcome of my life? Every day I decide what to wear, what to eat, what people I hang out with, where I'm going after school...but there are obviously much bigger decision that must be made. I decide every day to go to school; my fate would, of course, be made much different if I decided to drop out (which indeed I am legally able to do). When I go through months of a grueling ordeal to decide which college I’m going to, there is no sealed fate that is beckoning to me. I alone have to make the ultimate choice after flip-flopping several times (!) about where I go. The whole process of life, the process of growing up and having to make the “hard decisions” would indeed be rendered meaningless if all along there was an ultimate fate for us all. Saying there is a destiny for us all is also undermining all of our achievements and giving us a reason to slack off because it's like saying, "Well, it's going to happen anyways..."
My next question is “What is the meaning of life?” This really is an “unanswerable question,” because whereas the first two do deal more with having some scientific backing and pure facts, this one does not; it is purely opinion-based. I personally believe that life’s meaning is derived from what you put into it. If Person A dedicates himself to volunteer work and social justice, then the meaning of life for him is about being accepting of other people and working for the bettering of humanity, about putting others before himself and giving back to the world. But not everyone is like Person A, of course, and so whatever they put into their life alters its meaning for them; in other words, no one answer is applicable to every individual. If Person B spends his whole life trying to get ahead and become the big executive with the big paycheck then the meaning of life to him is only about material possessions and defining oneself by social status. Maybe another question should be “What should the meaning or purpose of life be?”, in which case I would say that it should be about finding oneself, questioning society and the norms, and striving to reach the potential of Person A (however idealistic this may be). It should be about trying to be more connected as a society and working for our own betterment. In this way, life would be more than just the materialistic rat race that it has become, and life would be more focused on people than possessions.
A poorly reasoned opinion on a topic about which I am passionate is that homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to adopt because of the “damage” it does to the kids that they adopt. I actually did a paper about this last year so I have tons of research to the contrary. The American Academy of Pediatricians testifies that there is “ …no existing data to support the widely held belief that there are negative outcomes [for children raised by same-sex parents]…[and that] denying legal status for adoption…prevents these children from enjoying psychological and legal security that comes from having two willing, capable, and loving parents.” In other words, many studies have been done to validate my opinion that children are just as well having homosexual as heterosexual parents. In the long run, it is so much better for these children to be given any loving parents than to be tossed around from foster home to foster home, and the last time I checked, sexual orientation didn’t determine one’s parenting skills or how much love he/she could provide a child. Adam Pertman, author of the book Adoption Nation, agrees: “Whatever one thinks of ‘imperfect’ parents, if you will, whether that means gay or single or divorced, the operative question has to be whether the child is better off in his eighth placement in nine years of life, because that’s the option…What our new research affirms is what all previous research has shown, which is that there are no substantive reasons not to place children with gay and lesbian parents.” Others have voiced concerns that the child would suffer from the social stigma of their parents’ sexual orientation, but other studies have shown that most kids dealt well with any teasing and actually became more tolerant individuals themselves as a result. Another study from the American Academy of Pediatrics looked into whether children of homosexual parents had any mental or psychological problems or issues with relationships, and the results merely verified that such children have no more of these problems than those with heterosexual parents. The statement that gay adoption causes harm to the adopted kids also is presumptuous in insinuating that kids raised by straight parents are problem-free and lead perfect lives. When discussing this issue once, someone I know said, “I was raised by straight parents, and I still have problems.” Bravo. In other words, there is no such thing as perfect parents, and if there was, there is no reason to suggest (and actually most evidence to the contrary) that this can be determined by one’s sexual orientation.
This is not my actual comment, but I want to say "bravo" to Nina and that I strongly agree with her opinions.
I agree with Nina on the subject of "God" and how our existence does make more sense through scientific reasoning. My opinion matches Nina's, but I have some other points which I'd like to make. I died of heart failure when I was a baby; I was pronounced legally dead. According to some religions, dying at this early stage means that my "soul" is in some sort of afterlife. I have some issues with this, mostly because I'm alive right now. By believing in such teachings, I would be agreeing that my soul is already in some sort of "hell". Also, I was brought back to life due to machinery (science). I believe in the Big Bang and Darwin’s theory of evolution because they explain why I more so than religion. Before anyone gets horribly upset, keep in mind that this is just my opinion; I mean no harm by explaining my opinions. Since we talked about validity today, I believe that religions have been proven wrong too many times on too many important issues to still carry validity.
How come a "psychics" don't constantly win the lottery? Well that is simple, since they cannot actually predict the future. While reading about Houdini, I learned about the chaos which mediums created between the World Wars. Supernatural powers do not exist; only the frauds that pretend to have them exist. I've researched so many "busts" which Houdini took place in that I could re-create an "authentic séance". Houdini himself admitted that he pretended to be psychic / cable of contacting the dead early in his career. Houdini would simply travel to a small town, read obituaries from the past month, and seek out the relatives of the people who recently died. Since he was a stranger who knew all about their departed family or friends, people believed that he must have had some sort of ability to contact the dead. Houdini, a man which nearly everyone believed had supernatural powers, admitted that he was simply good at deceiving. While psychics may be good at tricking people and brilliant with observations, I do not believe that have any supernatural abilities.
(I will write the second half after dinner)
Tania seemed to be thinking of equivalent exchange in her last comment; that theory could be used to give evidence to reincarnation.
My first question is whether or not walking underneath a ladder is unlucky? This is one of those silly superstitions people say but is it really true? I do not believe that walking underneath a ladder makes a person unlucky. I do not even think that there is such a thing as luck. Sure good things may happen to somebody all the time, but I think that everybody has an equal chance in everything that happens to them. For example, if I buy a ticket from the lottery machine, I have the same chances of winning as the person next to me. The tickets aren’t organized in such a way as to give me a better chance of winning than the person next to me. Also if walking underneath a ladder was unlucky then wouldn’t walking underneath anything be unlucky? People say that the ladder against the wall creates a triangle and that the triangle represents the holy trinity. By walking under the ladder, it supposedly “breaks” this holy trinity and disturbing peace. I think that is a bunch of nonsense because if I took the instrument triangle and poked my finger through it, will that also “break” the holy trinity? So in conclusion, nothing really happens when you walk underneath a ladder.
Alright, first off I would like to say Nina made some great points on God and other reasoned opinions. I would like to add to her blog that if God were to exist and be the almighty creator of this world, then why he or she would allow such horrendous things to happen to us. I personally do not believe in God. I think it is rather ignorant for people to believe that one being is as powerful as to have created and have control over the lives of so many people and to have created the universe. If a theory such as the "big bang" being what created the universe was proven, what else is needed to discuss. It's proven and that is it. Has there been proof of God? I haven't heard of one yet. Anyways, one thing that always troubled me was, if this being was so amazing why are people dieing? Why are people suffering from poverty, terrorism, and genocide? Why do people go through such tragedies in their lives? I wish I knew the answers to these, but I am left in the dust. It is ironic how people still have so much faith in God after all these tragedies such as the Holocaust, slavery, and natural disasters have occurred. Perhaps it needs to hit home before someone stops to think. I'm just baffled by this. I'm getting really heated sitting here and thinking about this.
I am not completely bashing anyone who believes in God. You are free to believe as you wish and so am I. So therefore, this is what I believe on the question about God. I think there is no religious truth. Even though there are stories of religious miracles that people believe to be the works of God, it has not been proven! So whose to say that it couldn't have been an accident in which someone interpreted it as the work of God. But then again this is just my opinion.
By far, my favorite question is "Why do hotdogs come in packages of eight, but hotdog rolls come in packages of twelve?" (this was said in Bulletproof Monk). Why do I think this is such a great question? Well, there really is no answer. Perhaps the hotdog producers got together with the hotdog roll people and decided they could sell more of each product by giving different quantities. Well, that seems highly unlikely. I suppose by nature those numbers seemed to be reasonable to food producers over the years. I do not even like hotdogs, but I think the rolls come in packages of twelve so they could be sold at a higher price than bread. If a pack of eight rolls still cost more than a loaf of bread, I doubt many packages of hotdog rolls would be sold. On the contrary, twelve hotdogs would seem like too much. Sure, for cookouts and things of that nature, the more the merrier, but people do not want hotdogs taking up precious space in their refrigerators. Hotdog manufacturers (I think that word is appropriate) sell hotdogs in packages of eight because consumers will buy them for a higher price. If hotdogs were sold six to a pack, people would obviously pay less than a package of eight, but that means by adding two more hotdogs they could tack on a higher price. This may not seem relevant now, but when you see mounds of hotdog rolls at a cookout without any hotdogs to fill them you'll understand.
Unanswered questions part II
Do ghosts and supernatural spirits really exist? I have always wondered about this and it sort of ties in with Tania’s question a bit. When people die is that really the end or do some of them come back as ghosts or other supernatural spirits? I for one do believe in ghosts because, well actually I’m not quite sure why I do. Let me think, it may be a result of my over exposure of Hollywood films and campfire ghost stories. I’m only kidding. I have sort of grown up believing in supernatural spirits. I remember my mom telling me when I was little to not go into cemeteries without a purpose because I might bring home unwanted spirits. In Chinese cultures we have reflectors outside our houses as a way of keeping evil spirits out of our houses.
Anyways, I have always been afraid of the supernatural, and I have hear real stories of mysterious occurrences happen to people I know. I have even experienced some freaky happenings in my day. I don’t think it is that hard to believe that if a person dies with unfinished business that they will not return in another form to complete what they need to. Maybe not always with the intention of revenge and inflicting pain upon the living(that's mostly Hollywood trying to make box office bucks). They could come back to watch over the living, like a guardian as well. But, I bet most of us have experienced a moment in our lives where we couldn't really explain what happened other than coming to the conclusion that a ghost or something did it. Overall I do think ghost exist, as much as i would like to not believe in them, I do.
Props to Dana for that insightful blog about the hot dogs. It did always bother me why they did that.
to sandra's comment
i have always heard about chinese people putting mirrors outside their house but for some reason i haven't met anyone who has. I remember when i was in China, this salesperson tried to sell us this dragon thingy that supposedly "chases" away evil spirits. Your suppose to place this dragon towards your front door or something. I think it's pretty silly if you think about it. Can something so tiny like a dragon statue have magical powers to chase away evil spirits? Anyways, there really isn't a way to prove that such "creatures" exist. But like Sandra, my parents and relatives always talk about their instances with ghosts and spirits. The stories seem so real and I can't help but believe in them.
So before I begin my wannabe reasoned opinions (hopefully they won't be wannabes forever), I want to comment on the posts so far. I'd just like to agree and say that I also don't believe in God. I do however, believe that all the religious wars and hatred from religious doctrinal conflict are utterly stupid and avoidable. I personally am sick of hearing about all the inhumane and psychopathic crimes committed by cult members--all because they're blindly vesting their faith into a belief "without questioning the logic behind it," as Nina said. I also totally agree with Dana's bit on the psychics--Dr. Phil you should be incarcerated...with a really creepy doll or something. Anyways.
My first unaswerable question is "Is social injustice an inevitable part of society?" My opinion is that while it exists as a technical possibility, human nature will probably just never completely allow for the elimination of it. Considering the scale of the human population and the rate at which we're proliferating--I am really doubting that humans will one day live in a world free of social oppression and discrimination, de jure and/or de facto. It seems like with the way politics are run today, the population numbers, among other things, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a completely morally sound/intact global community. Although the Holocaust occurred more than half a century ago, there was still the Khmer Rouge, the killings in Rwanda and genocide is still occurring in areas like Darfur today. Social oppression exists virtually everywhere in several different forms: Latin America, the United States, the Middle East, Asia, South Africa, etc. We certainly have the capabilities to ameliorate social problems in this area, but really to what extent and how many of us take on the effort? At the risk of sounding excessiviely cynical, I would say that human nature is human nature. We are vain, put our own interests before considering any others, and many feel too removed from the genocide in Darfur to ever really let the reality of it sink in. I am basically basing my opinion on the assumption that human nature will never be perfected or approach perfection to the extent that social injustices will cease to exist. As a collective group, we are much too flawed. I've thought about the sources of all kinds of different social oppression, and of course, it's all attributed to the flaws of human nature (doi). Within society, considering its magnitude and all the other aspects that are going to characterize the global community for centuries to come, I'd say that we very well may lessen the degree of social injustice but we will never eliminate it.
There have been a lot of posts concerning religion and more specifically God. Although, like most of you, I do not believe in God either, I can see why many others believe in Him (to answer the question of why people still believe in God even after so many scientific contradictions). Except for those really dedicated to the exact history of the world from the view of the Bible, I think that the people who believe in God do so because it gives them something—such as hope, faith, or a sense of understanding. They are able to look to someone and pray when all else seems lost. And God is also said to love everyone, so perhaps believers are attracted to the thought that someone out there loves them and cares about them. And something else…God gives them something to blame when things don’t go there way. There are people who believe in this universally controlling God just to blame certain events on Him when things go wrong.
My first “unanswerable” question is, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” I actually want to answer this haha. Although this isn’t like the deepest question, it is quite puzzling. So….I believe the egg really came first. I know you’re thinking that of course there had to be a chicken to lay the egg in the first place, so how can the egg come first? But I don’t think that it was a chicken that laid the first “chicken egg.” It might have been some species that was similar to a chicken and just perhaps laid a genetically deformed egg that gave birth to the chicken. I know this may seem ridiculous, but hey, it’s possible. One had to come first, so why not have it be the egg? And for those that believe the chicken came first, what was the chicken born from, if not an egg?
Dun nun nun. Alrighty folks. So my second question is this: "Is it okay for people to do the right things but for the wrong reasons?" I think the answer in most cases is a definite "no." I feel the initiative for your actions should be genuine or else almost every other aspect will be tainted and you're nearly defeating the entire purpose. The moral aspect as well as the relative effectiveness would be really compromised. My friend recently told me about a project that she was working on (can't remember for sure where, maybe Costa Rica). At the time she was working for the UN and their proposed goal (on paper at least) was to help promote education and its accessibility in the area. She told me that at one point she was questioning one of her colleagues and the reply she received was something along the lines of: "C'mon Diana. We can really only do so much, do you truly believe that we can actually eliminate illiteracy or come close to it?" While I realize and completely agree that we need to keep as realistic a perspective as possible, especially in consideration of the endeavours that we choose to take on, I found it unsettling that there are people like this working on such projects for the UN. I'm not saying she's a horrible person or anything, but I think a lot of people would agree that were the right people--motivated and passionate people--the workers on projects of this sort, we would approach the (however unattainable it might or might not be) goal to a much greater extent. While she may have been doing her job and she may have been playing a certain part in the project--she was simply not working anywhere near the potential that her capabilites allowed for. At the very least, the passion for coming as close to achieving the goal as possible should be there. There are plenty of people that I see doing community service and while it may appear that they are doing something extremely applaudable, I choose to reserve any personal merit for only those who do it based purely or at least primarily, on genuine initiative. At times it might be better to have people doing the right things for the wrong reasons than to have no one doing anything right at all, but in the end, I think it's just wrong. An example could possibly be the United States and its involvement in Iraq. While our reasons for invading the country is a topic of controversy and debate, I'm going to assume that it was not purely because we wanted to be a champion of democracy and shine the light on the people there. So while we may have ousted a horrible, cruel and unjust dictator, the fact of the matter (or just my opinion?) is that we have not efficiently, consistently, and effectively orchestrated our actions/resources in Iraq. I'm going to attribute that to the fact that there have been and there are ulterior motives aside from the ones that our president and his administration claim. Along the same lines, when a certain party will overthrow a corrupt government with a pretext of ushering in justice and eliminating some sort of oppression, etc. but they are really just trying to attain power for themselves--the outcome is most likely not going to be good. They might have done a "right thing" by taking away power and authority from an inept and unjust government but what good is it if all they ever really intended was to replace one corrupt government with another? True, there have been those who had true intentions in this sort of situation and still failed to institute a just administration but it is still better than those who never had good intentions at all.
Does deja’ vu exist? I strongly believe that it does exist. It seems strange to think that you can envision yourself in the future at a different time and place, but believe me, its true. It seems almost uncanny. Scientists believe that “déjà vu is not an act of "precognition" or "prophecy" but is actually an anomaly of memory; it is the impression that an experience is "being recalled" which is false.” For me, deja’ vu normally happens when I am dreaming but while researching I found out that there are different types of deja’vu. For instance, deja’ vu can occur through something you dreamed about, something you think you’ve seen before, and something you think you’ve felt before. I remember instances in my life where I’ve experienced deja’vu, but for some reason I can’t clearly recall what I said. It seems like my memory is playing tricks on me or something. I can remember where I was and what happened but not exactly what I said. I know it’s a little strange but I’m sure everyone has experienced it at least once in their lifetime.
Responding to Cora's egg comment: How did that certain deformed species of "chicken" reproduce if it was the first?
My second question is “What happens after death?” Like Tania, I too believe in reincarnation. Heaven and Hell just can’t seem to be a possible place; too many people and other species have died to have a big enough place for everyone and everything. And there can’t be a system that can calculate if a person will go to Heaven or Hell…too many people have done good and bad. Reincarnation brings a lot more choices to what happens after death. You’re not just sent to one of two places, but instead are converted into another species based on what you did during the current life. This makes some sense because the cycle of life would be continuing. As things die, they are reborn. I actually had a dream once that before I am who I am in this life, I was actually some professional soccer player (sorry, if this sounds weird). Anyways, reincarnation can explain how some people can see each other for the first time, and yet feel like they’ve known each other before.
And for my final question, I’d like to answer Janna’s. She asked, "Is it okay for people to do the right things but for the wrong reasons?" Although her supporting reasons were very good, I don’t totally agree with her. I think the question can’t really be answered. The line between “wrong” and “right” is not always so clear. As in her example of doing community service, if someone does it, so they can look “better” on their college application, is that wrong? What’s wrong with someone who wants to help himself by helping others? And I don’t think there are that many people who are perfectly “genuine” in everything they do. There can just be so many different benefits involved in making a decision to do something good that the “genuine” side is often clouded up. As for the Iraq war, it’s most likely true that the U.S. did not help out purely to throw out Saddam Hussein or purely because of the weapons of mass destruction. But is it wrong to help the U.S. get more oil (assuming that was one of the underlying reasons) that is indeed a valuable natural resource? Is it wrong that the U.S. is spreading its “democratic” ideals to the Middle East? I’m not saying that these reasons are right, but that it’s just not so easy to distinguish between right and wrong (which again, can be based on opinions). So after all this, to pick a side, I would say that it’s not entirely not okay for people to do the right things for the wrong reasons. In other words, I’m leaning to the “okay” side, but may still have certain reservations on certain issues.
To respond to Dana’s question, (How did that certain deformed species of "chicken" reproduce if it was the first?) I have to say I don’t really know, but don’t chickens just lay eggs? If the first egg gave birth to a female (a hen), it can lay eggs without being fertilized with a rooster, and that egg could start the line of chickens and eggs…but at this time, according to what I think, they still weren’t real chickens yet, but will slowly develop into what the chickens today are like. I hope this sorta answered your question…it was the best I could think of.
"Old people shouldn't drive" WRONG. I work at a retirement home with many people who are 5-6 times our age. While some do not drive, atleast half do. The people who drive are legally capable and perfectly healthy. I suppose I do not have concrete factual evidence but after working at my job for more than a year, I have never heard of one of the residents getting into an accident. Yes, certain people should not drive, but ALL elderly people? That is just plain wrong. Instead of worrying about elderly people and their driving habits, society should be more concerned about drunk drivers. I get irritated when someone asks "Do they hit everything?" when I tell them that I know nearly a dozen elderly people who drive; by elderly, I mean in their 80's. Did I just blow your mind? If so, good. Just because someone is old does not mean they are not capable of driving, perhaps they could not drive properly in their youth either. Remember kiddies, respect your elders.
First of all I have so say I really love all the different view points that everyone has. Wither I agree with them or not, the indepth though of each persons opinion was really interesting to read.
(Is this the best English class or what?!?!)
So first unanswerable question, "Does the means justfy the ends?" That's kind if hard to say (that's why its an unanswerable question - Duh!). Anyways, someone could totally agree with that because they just believe that they should do what ever it takes to get what it is that they want. That could mean not going easy on a friend who is in the same competition as you because you really want to win. Or that could mean killing, stealing, or destroying someone's property and may be somebody thinks that it is okay to do that if it means that, in the end, the situation comes out in your favor.
Second unanswerable question, "Is there such thing as destiny?" Well personally I think that I am going to take a Forest Gump approach to this one. I think that maybe we are all just floating around on the timeline of life, maybe by mistake, and, maybe, there are a few things in out life that we were destined to do. Like which college we are going to go to but how we actually get there, the journey I guess, is all up to what ever just happens. I guess what I am saying is that maybe the destination is sometimes written but the journey isn't. But to be honest (totally flip-flopping here) maybe I don't agree with that myself. Whoa! Anybody lost? I don't know, I might be.
Anyways on to my thrid unanswerable question, (and this one's not as much of a brain twisted) "Why is a hot water heater called a hot water heater if the water is all ready hot?" Hun, how about that question?!?! So it is called a hot water heater. Okay got that down. But how can the water be heated if it is all ready hot? Right. Shouldn't it be cold water heater? I don't know maybe that's just too much common sense for some people. Or maybe they thought that the name would be too long. Well all I know is if the water is all ready hot it does NOT need to be heated.
HA HA!!
My poorly reasoned opinion is that whole God thing. Wither there is a God or not. Now, someone could argue that it is a reasoned opinion because of all the artifacts: The Holy Bible, other texts, art work of the time, and so on. But I say that it would still be a poorly reasoned opinion. First of all, the Bible. The book that was suppose to have been the record of what happened and who said what. Well, (and this is were my crazy theory comes in) the Jews were being treated horriablly by the Romans during the time that Jesus was put on the cross, right. Well in hard times people look for something to believe in. So what if someone just wrote the Bible as a really nice story to believe in because they thought that maybe, if nothing else, it could be a little time away from the horrors of the day.
Let me say right off the bat that this is just my opinion about that whole God thing. I have and will always have the greatest respect for the different beliefs or opinions of everyone.
So there is Kate's crazy thoughts on all those unanswerable questions.
And remember the meaning of life is 42. Now all I have to do is figure out the question.
I may have been harsh with the word ignorant in my first blog.Everyone is free to believe as they wish, but I'm not sure if God exists. It may just be because it's not my religion. I used to be a Christian when i was younger(I'm buddhist now) and I did beleive in God. However, I no longer do.It's strange to put so much faith into something that may not even exist. If this being was so great why would so many horrible things happen to so many people. We all move on after things such as the Holocaust happened, but why do people have to suffer through things like that? Why would God create humans and make then suffer through things like that? If it was a test of devotion what about all those people who kept their faith and still died as a result of the Holocaust? Did they fail the test? There may be a higher being in this world somewhere, but i have doubts about God's existence.
I found a lot of these responses to be very deep. I feel inadequate, but I did bold my questions.
Whenever I encounter a question of whether or not something exists, I remember my 6th grade math teacher. She said she didn't believe in moose because she had never actually seen one. It seems kind of silly, but how do we know that moose are not some kind of international conspiracy to trick us all unless we have actually witnessed them first-hand?
Whatever. She was a nut. =(
I think my first unanswerable question is: "Does the Big Bang REALLY exist?"
Playing a little devil's advocate here. Pretty ironic, considering the subject matter, isn't it? Oh well, I swear I'm not this contrary all the time.
I personally am of the opinion that the Big Bang was God's plan. The Big Bang can be explained using string theory. String theory has recently come into question, as well as its sister theories. If you don't know about String Theory, then a) read about it, it's confusing and intense; b) it's pretty much the "theory of eveything" that connects Einstein's Theory of Relativity and quantum mechanics (they are inherently incompatible theories). Maybe the reason they are incompatible is that humans are not capable of reasoning out God.
This explains string theory: The Elegant Universe. This summarizes the reasons why it's a little sketchy.
Moral of story? Before you go disproving God based on a scientific theory, make sure that theory is still on solid scientific grounds.
I think the most interesting argument against God is "How can a God let terrible things happen?" I really, honestly, do not know how to answer this question and I can't even begin to think about it. The most religious people I know have lived through unimaginable hardship (Nazi occupation, the Great Depression, war). I guess in these instances where everything is lost, it helps to know that something out there has a plan; that this will all pass soon.
"Why does history repeat itself?"
Well, why does it? Humans have records of history dating back thousands of years, and yet we still find it impossible to avoid making the same mistakes. If Machiavelli was able to pick out specific patterns in history -- and he was a failed politician -- then why can't the people running the world do the same?
"What makes an artist?"
I thought of this while doing the reading over the weekend, and of course, every author cited had a different opinion. But what makes us connect with a piece of cinema, writing, sculpture, or architecture? If we are all human, why can't we all create something that expresses the human condition? I think it was William Faulkner in the text who said something along the lines of bringing something huge into "human" terms; that is, taking something we all see every day and bringing that mark of humanity and smallness. He used moonlight reflecting off a bottle at night as an example, and suddenly we can see tiny pebbles tinted by the green glass and a low moon through the trees.
"Liberal arts schools are the way to go!"
Big universities aren't right for every student. We went over this when discussing The Gatekeepers, but what makes a liberal arts school perfect for everyone? I personally do not plan on attending graduate school, so why can't I get a Big University Experience? If John Jacob wants to go to Sarah Lawrence and then on to Yale Law, that's terrific for John Jacob. He's got a great plan! He's going to make it in this world! But if Bo Peep plans to attend Stanford and then graduate directly into the workforce, well golly, she shouldn't aim so high. No one gets into the Ivies right out of high school. And what's more, no one is happy once they get there. Everyone complains about the blanket statement that Harvard is the only way to live a happy life, but the converse is just as oppresive.
Kate, the question is, "How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?"
My last question is : Is there such a thing as destiny? I've always wondered whether or not our lives are completely planned out before we are even born. If this is true does that mean our mistakes and our accomplishments are predetermined also? And if this is so, then can we change those mistakes and accomplishments? Nina says that we are able to make our own decisions and that is why she doesn't believe in destiny but ARE we able to make our own decisions? Maybe destiny planned out those decisions and it may seem like we are changing our minds but it is really destiny changing its mind. I'm not really sure what my opinion is on this. In some ways I do believe in destiny and other ways I don't. I think that everybody is destined to change something in this world but it's up to us if we do or not. I do not think that destiny controls our minds or for that fact our lives. I do believe though that destiny pushes us to make the right decisions and therefore leading us down the path it wants us to take. It's kind of like a little conscience I guess.
Okay here goes.America is a free country. We can say we are free but only to a certain extent. We are not necessarily able to do EVERYTHING we want. We are still restricted and limited by laws, rules, and society. If one was truly free wouldn't they be able to run around like a psycho and say what they wish and do that they wish. We are better off than most countries where people aren't allowed to have free speech, but aren't we only more free than they are? What does it mean to be completely free anyways? We may think we are free but do we all want to go to school and get a job? Some of us do but we do a lot of the things we do based on what society makes us think. There are just extents of freedom. Is anything ever free??
I think i might have one last question. Are there such things as brainwashing? I really don't know where i stand on this. I mean can someone's mind really be erased and replaced? It would be kind of sad to see someone's mind to be completely changed. Are there actual machines out there that do the deed? Who owns it? Have they used it? Where is it? So many questions!I guess i don't think people actually get brainwashed. I really need to stop watching so many movies, they are taking over my mind.Oh, this brings up subliminal messages! I always wondered if it really worked. I know disney has all their infamous subliminal messages. For example, the cloud of dust in the Lion King that spells out the word s-e-x(hope i'm allowed to say that!) and other ones in Aladdin and The Little Meramaid, most of us are familiar with them.Has anyone really been influenced by subliminal messages? I know i haven't or at least i don't think i have.
Well, to comment on Jill's "unanswerable questions," I somewhat agree with the first one, concerning Heaven and Hell. I believe that there is a Heaven, a personal paradise as you might say. I believe the place we live in now is considered Hell because of all the cruelty and harshness that life throws at us, especially me for some reason. I agree that after you die your soul does reside someplace else, someplace peaceful and harmonious.
As for her second, I believe we are all predestined in fate. I believe that everyone serves a purpose in life and that purpose is to finish in death. Even if a child is still-born, that still leads to more medical research to help stop that from happening again, and it puts the family in a new path and direction to go about the pregnancy differently. Melanie's Law was put into effect after a young girl was killed by a drunk driver. Her death changed laws and the lives of others in an instant. So yes, I do believe that we all have a certain fate. Many times, including today, although I can't distinguise it from fate or premonitions, I have dreams and days, weeks, or even months later a scene in that dream will happen in my day.(Today involved anatomy class where we were all sitting around doing an activity packet.)
For her third question, I most certainly believe in reincarnation. (I was writing about it for the first question but deleted it, so here I am!) I have had episodes where I am at work and I see someone that I feel is very familiar yet I haven't met them before in my life. That only leads me to believe that this person and I have met before in another life. I am a religious person and I agree with Jillian when she says that living once is just unfulfilling.(Makes me want to watch James Bond in You Only Live Twice!)
As for her poorly reasoned opinion, I think that is just ridiculous. I think all people are equal in strength and intelligence, but certain people are able to tap into that reservoir and express those characteristics. It is most certainly true that women can be stronger than men.(I know Jennifer Garner could beat the Hell out of me, and I wouldn't complain hehe. =)) For strength or athletic ability, women are coming along with the guys, if not they are equal to them also. There has been integration of women in NASCAR(Danicka Patrick is the woman's name)and even golf.(Annika Sorenstam played the guys too.) There is my proof that everyone is just equal and some can show it better than others.
For my badly reasoned opinion, I want to focus on the SATs (sorry, if this makes you guys think about the grueling college process). Well, I have heard many people say that the SATs are unfair. And that is most likely true, but people usually support that statement by saying that it is unfair because some people get to study for it and some people don’t. I think that is just a ridiculous reason. They just want to make themselves feel better by making those who do well look nerdy.
Everyone knows what is on the SATs more or less. There’s no surprise. No random history or science questions pop up on the test. And every library (and even teachers) offers preparation books (so you can’t really blame performance levels on money issues) that a student can “study” from. Those people just can’t say the test is unfair because they didn’t study for it. A lot of students don’t study for regular tests in school, but even if they do poorly, rarely do they blame it on the unfairness of the test. They had a chance to study for it, but just didn’t. Even the busiest student can find time somehow to prep for the SATs (if they need it), so not being able study is just a very poor excuse. Many of those who support this badly reasoned opinion would not study for the SATs even if they had all the time in the world.
Alright so before I post my last unanswerable question, I have to comment back on Dorotie's bit on karma. I am not going to lie--if I could make one wish, I would wish for karma like there was no tomorrow. I personally am not a strong believer in karma, although there is absolutely nothing else in this world that I want to exist more. To me, karma should constitute a component of reality much the way time does. Oh yeah. Here's what I feel about communism. It is, in a way, ideal but strictly in the theoretical sense. In practice, it just seems to fall apart. I personally am against complete equality and similarity among humans. I think a more moderate version of communism would be nice, but then again that might mean "moderating" the very foundation of communism. Okay, I'll put it this way, the distribution of resources in this world is completely skewed. While I can accept and realize that we are going to have stark contrasts in terms of the haves and have nots--I think we could improve the distribution to a level much more humane than the level it currently is at now.
So my final unanswerable question: "While most of us seem to be sure about the existence of our minds and our body, do we really have a spiritual soul, and if we do, does it play a role equal to that of the other two?" Okay, that may seem like a crazy question, but it's something that I've thought about a lot. We always hear about studies involving cancer patients--group A feel hopeless while group B have complete faith in recovery, and these studies claim that group B tend to have a higher survival rate than group A. There was a story some months ago about premature babies that are born. Some hospital workers claim that premature twins who are placed near each other have a greater chance of survival than those who are separated. A lot of us believe in things that we want to believe not necessarily what we know we should believe. I'm willing to bet there are lots of people out there with good intentions that try to give hope by asserting "truths" that they know are false. It might seem strange but I totally understand where Maggie's coming from in regards to hearing ghost stories from relatives. My cousins and my own parents have told me stories that I really have a difficult time doubting. Do we really have spirits or is it just an aspect of our minds? It seems natural to think of this triumvirate--body, mind, soul. I feel like it's just been so ingrained and inculcated into our heads that we all have a soul or spirit of some sort, but we don't know if it's just some term that was created. I would say that the church has wielded a lot of influence with threats that we need to do this and we need to do that so that our souls won't end up in hell. When did the whole notion of a soul first come up? I think the term "soul" just encompasses all the emotional aspects that are really derived from our minds.
Alright, here's a poorly reasoned opinion that I feel is popular in our society today: "We need to be placing more and more emphasis on technological innovation that is intended to increase human convenience." Yes, it's true that technology helps us in a lot of really great ways--I am totally for that. However, I feel like a great majority of society has been prioritizing in a way that's placing emphasis on things that really shouldn't matter and completely neglecting extremely dire issues. I really feel that we should concentrating more on fixing or improving all the social problems that exist in this world. I'm pretty sure that we can live without robots that can do house chores for us. It'd be way more important to have robots that can make pies...no I'm kidding. Seriously though, I might be like a cynic that wants to live in a more ideal world, but what's important--a car that goes 600 mph or offering the opportunities in life that children in Darfur, Mexico, Cambodia might never even get a glimpse of. Sure technological development does not always mean that it's directly attacking humanity, but we do choose to direct our limited amount of resources to objectives that at present, should not take precedence over more pressing issues.
Anyways so everything I wrote just got DELETED so I’m pretty mad right now. So I’m going to try to remember what I wrote but I know I will be forgetting a lot of the information that I first wrote. My poorly reasoned opinion is that prolonging school days would help the student excel in school. I think that forcing another two hours on a student and a teacher may lead to more problems. I recently heard from my brother that Salemwood school has increased their school hours and now gets dismissed at 3:30 or was it 4:00? Anyways, I just think that increasing hours of the school day may not exactly have the good effects that it was meant to have. Parents also feel that increasing school hours will have a bad effect on their children. ''Keeping a 6-year-old at school for eight hours a day doesn't make sense," said Teri Batting, the parent of a kindergartner and a second-grader at Forestdale. ''They're not going to be getting academics out of it." I know that students do not want school hours to be added, but I believe that teachers don’t want it any more than the students do. Since school started my Spanish teacher has complained at least twice about how tired she is. If teachers are tired, then they won’t teach as well. By prolonging the school hours it affects extracurricular activities as well. That means extracurricular activities will have to start at 5 and after that how many hours is left to do homework? Students who are balancing AP classes along with a number of clubs and sports will not be able to handle the workload.
Pattie Maillet believes that ''It will make for a more positive learning environment…and teachers will have more time to explain so that the kids really understand” but is that really true? I guess we will just have to wait for the studies to show the impact. I just think school is hectic enough. Also I think since students are young, we should enjoy our teenage years instead of piling on stress. I’m not saying it is all fun and no work but there should be a balance. By adding school hours, I feel as though the balance would be thrown off.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/02/12/a_longer_day_at_school_some_in_malden_say_no/
Now, after all that, I'd like to share what I have to say.
My first unanswerable question would have to be if there is a God.
For my reasoning, I believe that there is. Despite the Hell I have been through in the past month I believe that there is an Almighty amongst us. Just a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine was in a car accident. (They hydroplaned head on into a van.) The car was completely totaled and no one was hurt. When the tow truck came to move his car, he removed his personal belongings from the car. He had a set of rosary beads on the mirror that were still intact but the instant he touched it to take it off the mirror, every bead crumbled into pieces. Someone had to have been watching out for him in my estimate. My mother has been through Hell lately, pretty much on her death bed for a little while in August, but she's still alive and kicking. To me, for her to be able to survive is sheer willpower with a little Divine Intervention. Some may say that no God can exist with all this evil going on in the world, but I believe that because there is so much evil in the world, we do not see the miracle of God as much. You could say he is too busy. Most people in society today with prayers asking for money and good fortune, but that is just pure greed. The real necessities are what God provides, like my family still being alive through all these years. I am forever grateful and humble for what I have and I thank God for it every day.
My second question is if there is alien life on other planets.
I believe that there is life on other planets. I do believe that science will not be able to answer this question so for now on we can just believe. I do think that other life exists because of the situation we would be in if there wasn't. How is it, if the Big Bang Theory is true or even if God did creat all, the only human life or intelligent life exists on this little blue planet we call Earth? I can't fathom that we are alone on this planet. If Big Bang is true, how is it we are the only intelligent life to develop out of that phenomenon. Some other life must have developed in close proximity to our planet. If God created all, why just creat us on this planet and just throw a bunch of giant balls out in open space? There has to be life forms on other planets or life forms in development.
The third unanswerable question I present is: Can the mind really predict the future?
I believe that the mind can predict the future. I stated above that I have numerous "deja vu" incidents where I encounter something in my day and remember that I have dreamed about that incident in the past before. To me, it's really creepy but I accept it if it is true.(I don't accept it, IT'S AWESOME) Some people see magicians and they predict something that happens, and the people believe it's all a trick. A lot of times I do believe it is a trick, however, but I do think that it is possible. Science someday will unveil more about the mind but as for now, I just think I'm either mentally superior or I'm just a freak.
The poorly reasoned opinion that I am bringing up is that Loch Ness Monster really exists. The reasoning behind this opinion is rather shady. A few videotapes of a lonely wave in the middle of a lake and suddenly, "there is a monster under the water!" There has been no sighting of Loch Ness and I don't think there ever will be. Show me some solid proof and then I'll believe you. (Stop selling t-shirts to capitalize on it, too!)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
For some reason my website didn't paste all the way soooo... here it is.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/02/12/a_longer_day_at_school_some_in_malden_say_no/
My first unanswerable question is, like many others comments, “Does God exist?” I’m a believer in evolution so the theory that God created everything in six days seems preposterous to me. Everyday, billions of people sit at the edge of their beds praying for good luck on an upcoming event or wishing that things will go their way in the future. As soon as something good happens, they immediately thank God for their good fortune. To me, this just doesn’t seem plausible that God, who supposedly listens to all of these prayers, can help out each who prays. (This also reminds me of the movie Bruce Almighty in which the leading character plays God and cannot respond to a small percentage of prayers before millions more appear.) When a person thinks and hopes that things will look brighter, he starts to have a better outlook on the next day, thinking that today is the day! When a person thinks like that, he tends to do things with hopeful wishes which would ultimately lead him to come across something he would have missed had he been in a miserable mood. It simply is the power of the mind. When a person thinks that it is a good day, he will look at things in a more positive way and common occurrences can just appear to be a streak of good luck. I know that people have a very big underlying faith in God, but science has almost proven that the world was a result of a Big Bang. I’m a logical person and I like things to be explained mathematically or scientifically. I just can’t help it.
The second unanswerable question is similarly related to the religious aspect. “What happens when a person dies?” Many say that we are reborn as new people or animals depending on the life we had just lived. Others say that our ‘soul’ lives on and watches over our loved ones. I too believe in reincarnation. I don’t like the idea that a person is stuck in the sky, watching down on his/her loved ones grieve for a long period of time and then left to watch them live a happy life for years to come until someone else passes on to join him/her. I believe that when a person dies, the physical body may be gone, but the ‘soul’ itself is merely born into a better person. I always think about this when somebody says “He reminds me of…” because in my mind, a person is a collection of all of these lives lived over time that has been globe-hopping around for millennia.
My third unanswerable question has always bugged me but it seems pretty simple. “What is the American dream?” Foreigners always come to the US and say that they want to live out this dream. Most don’t really know what the American dream is, but they have all seen the pictures of the happy-go-lucky family. Apparently, the American dream is supposed to be a happily married family with two children and a pet living in a decent home that is paid for by jobs that the parents happily carry out. This idea behind this dream is pretty simple to me. The American dream is to have money; money to support the kids; money to drive the kids to soccer practice in the family van; money to pay the bills. In fact, I believe the dream is simply to be happy in your own terms. If a person only wants to be successful in life, why should he have to be forced into a family if it may drag him down or inspire him?
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=39193
Last but not least, the poorly reasoned opinion makes its stand. The idea that I completely am against is the idea that “homosexuality is a disease.” This may not be a philosopher, but this was another blog that completely bashed homosexuality. This idea disgusts me because it relates to my idea of the “American dream.” A person may or may not be able to choose who he/she is naturally inclined to feel affection towards. If a person is a homosexual, so be it. If it makes that person happy, there shouldn’t be anything that prevents it. What ever happened to the founding principles that this nation was founded upon, the idea of pursuit of happiness?
One of my favorite questions had to be from Dana regarding the hot dogs. I never realized that until he mentioned it, but now it puzzles me. To Grace’s last post regarding the existence of other dimensions, I would have to agree with her. I also believe that there are n-dimensions out there, we just haven’t grasped the concept of it. Think about it, it took us years before we shook off the idea that Earth was the center of everything.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I can see my rosary beads hanging on my wall out of the corner of my eye as I type this sooooo! I'm jumping on that religious bandwagon. And I'm copying Michelle and bolding my questions. :-)
Does God exist?
While I'm not a practicing Roman Catholic going to church every Sunday, receiving the Eucharist, and confessing my sins regularly, I do pray, and I do believe in God. I feel that so many people refuse to believe in a higher power because humans are so self-absorbed. So many refuse to feel vulnerable to an unknown force; a force that, I believe, put us on this earth. What I find kind of funny is that people are saying that religion isn't backed up by scientific facts, but if you think about it, there are so many unproven scientific theories out there; the main one here: the Big Bang Theory. While scientists are experiencing inner turmoil, scrambling to find a way to prove that this was how the world was created, the believers are a little more at ease believing that God created all of us. How can millions of people be wrong about a God? How is it that we're all here by accident? I'm pretty much right there with Grace on that whole argument. And as for the whole debate on the Bible. What I learned is that many people wrote the bible -- educated people (historians, philosophers, etc.). I was actually talking about this whole issue with Grace, Sandra, Tommy, and Tiffany in Anatomy class, and Tiffany made an excellent point that I really agree with: If we haven't studied the Bible and its history first hand, we have no way of forming a solid, reasoned opinion on the matter. Also, I feel that the Bible isn't there to be taken literally. It's there for us to use its stories as metaphors. For example, Jesus Christ didn't actually go around making blind people see out of their eyes, but making them see that there was still hope left. I guess I'm not a practicing Catholic because I put my own twists to the traditional study of Catholicism, but I firmly believe that there is a God because of the complexity of things such as the human body (c'mon, we're perfectly symmetrical, that's not an accident) among others.
I had a feeling someone was gonna grab this one before me, but...
Is there life in places other than Earth?
I absolutely, positively believe that there has to be. There are so many other galaxies, and I think that it is completely insane to think that there can't be life out there. This goes back to my religious beliefs, and how I contradict myself when it comes to those terms. Anyways, those other galaxies are millions of light-years away, meaning that we'll never be able to reach them in one person's lifetime, so I guess we'll never know for sure. I read that the closest galaxy is also a spiral galaxy like ours. If the Milky Way Galaxy is so organized, then why can't this neighbor galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, be the same? What if it's our exact replica and there's life going on in an Earth pt. 2? This sort of leads me into my third question...
Does time exist simulatneously?
I'm not really sure how to say this. In other words, is there a parallel universe going on in another dimension that corresponds to a different time period, be it in the past or the future? This is probably impossible to figure out (unless we get one of those cool time-turners from Harry Potter), but I think it's a really neat idea. If you think of time in a linear way, then it seems preposterous, no? But what if you thought about time in terms of repetitive moments all occuring at the same time that the way they fall into place just happen to come off linear? It could maybe explain the feeling of deja vu and why 'history repeats itself.' I just think it's such an interesting concept.
To Erica:
I feel your pain with the Cheverus issue. I went to a Parochial school from kindergarten through 8th grade, and it was during those times that I doubted my faith the most. People telling you to believe something is reason enough for us rebelling teens to automatically say I OBJECT!!! P.S. - Erica is the real god, people. It is proven (her screen name is Eri is GOD x, and we all know AIM doesn't lie).
And I'll be back with my poorly reasoned opinion.
I disagree with Betsy on the issue of homosexuals adopting. I think it is a poorly reasoned opinion that it will threaten the population. Given the situation that a male child is adopted by a homosexual couple, and he does turn out to be gay, they can always find a willing female to artficially inseminate. Same goes with a lesbian couple that wants to have a child; male donors are always out there. There's also the chance that a gay man might actually go about the natural way of having a child with a female as opposed to adopting, or artificially inseminating. However, I do feel that homosexuality is a result of nature, not nurture.
Post a Comment
<< Home