The Last Blog.

Wow. Here it is everyone, the last blog of the year. Well, my last blog. I have enjoyed reading all of your blogs and answering any questions posed by you. It has been a great year working with you all!! :)

So, I've been thinking. I'm actually going to put my question at the beginning of my blog instead of the end, so here it is: Why did you take this class? Have you gained anything from it?

I know the answer for myself. I took this class because I took another philosophy course my first semester here and loved it. I took Logic and Critical Reasoning with Paul Nnodim. It was my FYE course, so there was no chance of me dropping it. At first I dreaded the class, but from the first day on, I loved it. I loved every minute of it. It was a challenging class, one like I had never taken before. So when I chose courses for this class I came across this one. I remember looking through the catalog and wanting to take it. It filled a requirement, plus I was interested in it.

From this class I have gained more than just the classroom material. I have learned in a true college setting. It was set up seminar style, and although I did not always speak, I would always pay attention, taking down notes. It has made me more comfortable in this kind a setting. Also, it has made me think about how I view the nature of humans. Why I think people act the way they do, behave the way they do.

Response to Bryan

"Do you think it is problematic that the desire for money is so great in today’s world?"

I do not believe that the desire for money being so great in today's world is problematic. In certain situations, I would say that it is. Greed can sometimes get the better of us and make us slaves to money. Gambling is another problematic cause. People gamble all that they have, and sometimes what they don't, desperately trying to gain more money. If the desire for money turns into a desperate hunger, then I would say it is a problem in the world today. Which, does indeed happen.

However, I don't think a desire for money is a problem. It is perfectly reasonable to want money in today's world. You really and truly cannot accomplish much without it. Sure, you can say money can't but me love, but what about happiness? Money itself does not bring that happiness, it is what you buy with it that bring the happiness. Because all the material stuff we have holds importance to us.

Another thing that I don't think is a problem is going to college to get a good job. You would be kidding to yourself to say that you are going to college strictly to further your education. For the most part, you go to college to find the best way for you to make a living. And personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. You still must have a desire to learn in order to be successful. Money is a necessary part of life, we have made it so.

Question: Do you think that the world is just becoming hopelessly starved for money?

Response to Karla

"How strong is your faith?"

First, to answer this question, I must describe what faith is for me. Faith is not believing in a God for me. It is not trusting in him when all else seems to fail. Faith is something that is very difficult to explain. It is not being afraid to believe in what you don't know fully if it exists or what. It is also more than this. Believing in things we simply cannot live without. Love, friendship, humanity, existence. Most of the time faith is just automatically associated with a belief in a God. But people can have faith in other things. For example, I have faith in humanity.

So, how strong is my faith in humanity? Very strong. I believe that there is something deep within us that will allow humans to overcome any kind of violence they may act out in. Right now, it seems that the only focus of humans is to be selfish and violent. However, I believe that someday soon, all differences will be put aside. All actions of violence or greed will cease and the goodness of humans will come out. And from this goodness will come a greatness and power that violence could never fulfill.

Question: Do you think it is possible to ever have no faith of any kind in anything?

"Because I could not stop for Death-"

"He kindly stopped for me-" Have any of you every read that poem by Emily Dickinson? I encountered it last year in my AP English class. In fact, I had to write a paper on that poem.

While reading the chapter, I came across something called the four stages of the proper life. The fourth one was of most interest. It is called sannyasa, which is when one leaves his or her family to prepare for death. It is such a different concept than the poem of Emily Dickinson. In the poem, and from what I gather about life, we do not slow down for death. Yes, we may worry about our death which can happen at any moment, but it doesn't really slow us down. In Hinduism, however, people abandon their families to prepare for death. I guess it might be their way to salvation, which is what they strive for their whole life. But, to actually prepare oneself for their death? It's crazy!!

Question: Why is it that Hindus can just prepare themselves for death? It would seem like a topic you would not want to prepare for, that you would rather just happen.

Response to Miss Yvonne!

"What do you think life would be like if there was no fear of change?"

Fear of change is a factor that greatly disrupts a smooth lifestyle, or smoother one. People fear change over the silliest things, such as electing a black president to office. Many people refused to vote for Obama not because of his policies but they feared the great change from the typical white official to the new race. Like the color of a person affects their leadership abilities!? Anyways, the same thing was said about Hilary Clinton, instead of race being the topic of dispute, it was gender. The public said she would be too hormonal because she was a woman, the country feared a change of the gender of our leader.

It is silly to fear change, because I believe that change of any kind is better than none. Without change there would be no progress for the human race. Change is necessary for life, and the more people fear it, the less progress our kind can make.

Question: Do you agree, is change a necessary part of life for there to be any progress of any kind?

Atheism.

"While Darwin's theory of evolution did not establish atheism, it made it possible to be a self-respecting atheist." p. 205

When I came across this particular sentence in the chapter, I immediately knew it would be the subject of my blog. Since, I myself am an atheist, it was a very interesting statement to read. Before Darwin's outright theory of evolution, there was very little acceptance on being an atheist. A person had to have a set religion to follow. The very thought of not believing in a God was thwarted. Nowadays, it is more so socially accepted to call oneself an atheist. I have no shame in calling myself an atheist. However, my mother does. I think the problem here is that when somebody claims to not believe in a God, others feel as if that person doesn't believe in anything. This is false. I liked the way a friend of mine back home phrased it. "Just because I am an atheist doesn't mean I don't believe in anything. I might not believe in a God but I believe in something else. I believe in humanity." That is how I view it. Just because somebody does not believe in an almighty being does not mean that they believe or feel nothing. Instead, they have a different take on life, one more involved with humanity and less with an almighty power.

Question: What is it that changed the minds of people to become more accepting of atheism?

Response to Karla

"Would you like to know when the last day of your life is going to be or not?"

This question has been asked many times in life. I always find the answers to this question quite complex and torn. Personally, I would not want to know when I was going to die. I feel like once we know this information, it becomes our sole focus. Even if the date is far off into the future, our date of death would always be at the front of our mind. Although we know we are mortal, humans try to find ways to defeat the call of death. If I knew what day was going to be my last, I would try and do everything and anything to keep myself alive. Nobody wants to know when they will die. No matter what it will always be a major worry in our minds if we knew. It is much easier to live life as if it were our last day. Although, we did discuss this phrase in class. I feel like it just means to not live your life in fear, to live you life, to say the least.

What do you make of the phrase "live every day as if it were your last?"