I Know This Means Something

Well let's see...one thing that I know that truly means something...
In the spirit of the Thanksgiving passed by ever so quickly, I know that my family means something. Cheesy yes, true? Also yes.
I know that not everyone can agree with me, sometimes family doesn't mean that much to them, but mine does to me. My aunts, uncles and cousins have been there for me and loved me even though I rarely get to see them (they live in the cornfields of Iowa). Each time we have some sort of a get together, they always remind me of how much I am apart of that family, even if I am about 200 miles away from them.
I went through the typical teenager phase of not caring so much, but this past year has really shown me the wonders and pay-offs of being outgoing and embracing my family. I actually cared about an aunt's birthday and bought her a gift. She was a bit MIA because she was on depression medication and she was just out of it. But they redid her perscription makeup and now she's as lively as she used to be, if not more.
She got a new hairstyle, and got her ears repierced (a plus for me, I bought her a pair of earrings and hadn't even realized she didn't wear any before that week).
But I strayed too far, I know family matters. It does.
Hopefully when I go to Iowa State or University of Iowa I'll be able to see them more and actually be involved in their lives.
If I feel this much love now, I'm excited to see what happens when I'm a measley few miles away.

Student I am Thankful For

Well here goes all my cheese cards.
I remember doing this same blog sophomore year; I had a whole list of people I was thankful for.
Now I feel it was because I didn't want to disappoint any of my friends who were in the class. It's a little easier this year though.
I'm thankful for Artem and Balz...Matthew. I'm sure that made you smile a little since it's of all people, those 2. But you know what, I am thankful for them.
They've made this year very interesting as well as eye opening. In a class other than Philosophy (or any other class not taught by McCarthy), you don't get to share your perspective on certain topics that have been questioned for many many years. This year presented this opportunity and really opended my eyes to views that were either very similar to mine or just the plain opposite.

I'm thanking Artem for never backing down. I'm sure he's the person who points out all the white hair (but cute) elephants in the room that no one dares to. Most of the time you don't hear many people question what the teacher says, but Artem does, and surely Matthew has the Balz...ekas to also question certain parts of the current conversations.

Yes I'm clever, I know.

They both show me a different perspective of my life after they hear my stories or problems. Overall, they also just liven up my classes.

A Direction the Class Needs

In all honesty, I don't think our class needs much of a direction. We are leading ourselves in a good direction all on our own. As Mr. McCarthy has said, we're more active than most of the other classes. I don't have too much to say about it other than...
MORE OF YOU NEED TO SPEAK UP!
There's nothing to be afraid of. It's a philosophy class, there aren't any right or wrong answers, UNLESS it's about a specific aspect about a book, then you need to read...
I've already begun reading Man's Search for Meaning, and I'm not sure how much I'll like it just yet, but I really liked The Stranger. I could just really relate to Mersault -- being an oddball just because you don't care, hell I don't care! But I guess I have a little more gusto and opinion and every-day things that come into play.
I like 5th period, it's one of the only classes I look forward to that won't judge my answers. What a confidence boost! You should contribute too, it's not a big deal.
You know who you are!

Voltaire and Camus would vote for...

NEITHER.
Duh.

Anyway, I don't know anything about politics to be honest. I don't really even know what the difference is between democrats and republicans. All I see from these two are debates and wastes of millions of money supporting themselves. I was just thinking why they can't just be in some broadcasting station campaigning but then I thought about it some more…it’s because they get paid and get to be popular through a live show. In terms of Camus, it’s a stranger coming to talk about what they’ll do to represent millions and billions of strangers – now that is a live show.

Would a satirist really vote at all? Voltaire would most likely just write another novel about the ridiculousness of the government and the millions spent on self-promotion. Would an absurdist vote? At most it is as meaningless to Camus as most other things are.

I heard either in a video from class, or/and some other places around media – why can’t the two parties work together. After all, they seem to say that they want what America wants, however they’re on opposing sides. OBVIOUSLY they have different viewpoints on certain topics, but isn’t that what checks and balances are for? Draw up some sort of document on both sides, Republican and Democrat, compare, compromise, vote. Instead they have to make commercials to slur and demean each other. It’s absurdity. It’s a show.

“Democrats are generally more liberal. They believe in a larger federal government, and often implement tax plans to try to help the less privileged. They tend to believe the government must look for the greater good above the individual person in terms of welfare and do what is necessary to make the populace more "equal". They assert that the values our country holds must evolve over time, and, therefore, tend to support such controversial choices as Pro Choice and gay marriage.

Republicans are generally more conservative. They believe that the answers do not lay with the government generally, but rather with the people. They want less government interference and tend to believe more strongly in property rights and less strongly in well-fare rights, holding economic equity above equality. Many republicans are religious and tend to hold to the morals characterizing the Founding Fathers, which results in general disapproval of abortions and, for some, gay marriage.” 

They both seem awful and biased to me. Behind door 1, equality but less self-supporting freedom, and door 2 you get a little more freedom and more self-support HOWEVER, you have to live like Scarlet Letter times.

I'm not sure who these 2 would vote for, but what I know is that, until there is a person like...Gandhi. More spirituality but not of the overbearing pushy religious sort. No offense - really. Let's not make these 2 great novelists vote for a mistake in our society.

Our Stranger Meaning

The meaning of life, thats something. The meaning of my life? I'm trying to figure that out. What's meaningful to me? Well why didn't you ask that in the first place!

Music is important in my life. It's there for when I get lonely traveling. It bends to my will and bends to the mood I yearn for. Sad, mad, happy, excited, or even just relaxed. I've been getting over my "senioritis" with Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra. It makes me want to attend an old style jazz club or a calming coffee house. Then again, it doesn't make me want to go back to school - so maybe it's not helping me get over it...

Animals are meaningful. They boost my mood. Animals are everywhere and I appreciate them. Every morning the crow says good morning to me and I say good morning too. Weird, I know. But I will never stereotype animals just as man has stereotyped each other and the animals.  They're intelligent creatures that most overlook. Some are solitary just like I. I connect most with the wolf. Protective and loving but sometimes solitary.

My sketchbook is meaningful to  me. It's where I write my philosophies and practice my art. Practicing really helps me get my hands moving, all that stuff about idle hands being a devils playground and whatnot. I don't believe that but all I'm thinking about is getting my thoughts out. Sure my friends are meaningful, but they arent there all the time.

Meaning takes on many forms. What defines the meaning is how youve grown up. What helps you cope.

Deserving?

Did Candide deserve the punishments he received?

Well as most philosophical questions are answered -- THAT'S A TOUGH ONE!

This one is a bit simpler. 

I believe that, in the beginning, Candide didn't necessarily deserve the punishment he received, as getting intimate was something that he learned from Pangloss as a blank slate. He didn't know that it would get him kicked out in the end and lead to quite a miserable life later on...

All through class we've been talking about "all that [he] has known" and that is true, but an excuse can only be used so many times. Killing the first person...well that may be crossing the line just a little bit. However, after killing the second and the third, that's where you should already be thinking to yourself "Oh no, what have I done, what am I going to do? I've slain these people" and have a sense of urgency and guilt. Not commit another murder as the people line up. Though another thought popped in to my head, guilt sometimes leads to more and more mistakes to cover up what you did in the first place. Sooner or later you just forget what started this whole mess and you're stuck in the mess you're currently in!

Though by now, Candide is being a little selfish. I'm sure many can vouch for the fact that if someone really wants to be with this other person they they will do everything to be together -- however in that day and age, perhaps it was better to leave Cunegonde with someone who can take care of her and isn't a fugitive.

This leads to that elusive question -- even though you want to be with the person so much that it may kill you, perhaps their thoughts are the same, if their needs are met and they are safer somewhere or with someone else, will you be selfish and be with the person in misery? Or will you leave him/her where their life can be better?

How do we know what we know?

How do we know what we know?

Well we don’t. All of what we know is based on what others have told us is right or wrong. But of course, most questions have a right and a wrong based on the person – a bit like morality.

I’m going to pick a hard topic. I’ve known words for most of my life; certain words go to certain objects, people, nouns, etc. But in reality, is there a right and a wrong word for all of these things we give a name? Up may be down, left may be right, however, they’re just words. Words that were made up some time ago by those who thought it was best for survival. These words have spread throughout the whole world and have made a variation of their own.

At the same time, a lot of the languages are similar based on their geography. The simplicity of it is, is that one can point to an object and the person will recognize it, however if I were to say “chair” they wouldn’t understand unless they knew English or a language that had a similar sound. In Chinese it would be the world equivalent to “space” or “spot”. This is one thing I’ve known all my life.

However there is another I want to bring up. I have known all my life, that I am alive. However, I once heard that…perhaps we are not alive (or just me), perhaps we are in our afterlife, living in this hell, or heaven – we just don’t know it. But of course, life and afterlife, similar aren’t they? Just living again. It all comes back to words, the words we play with. It just makes you think about the things or actions associated to the word, that is what makes one thing. Because we have learned what we know as left if I were to say that left is not left, left is actually right. We think it’s not possible because it’s the action connected to it.