bigquestions' Blurty
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
bigquestions' Blurty:
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| Thursday, June 15th, 2006 | | 10:13 am |
CLASS EVALUATION
So, now help me out to see what you got out of (if anything) this course. Class Evaluation time. Please post a response to the following ANONYMOUSLY!
Looking back over the term, what are your overall thoughts towards this class? What did you feel you got out of this class (if anything at all)? What did you like best about it? What did you like least? Did you like the topics that we covered? The films? Siddhartha? PV High X-change? Please include any suggestions you have.
What else do you think Mr. Leibner needs to know? | | Tuesday, June 13th, 2006 | | 9:46 pm |
PHILOSOPHY FINAL EXAM
You have to write THREE (3) TYPED 500-WORD ESSAYS on the following THREE (3) TOPICS:
TOPIC ONE: ABSTRACT PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION:
Answer the question: "WHY IS THERE SOMETHING INSTEAD OF NOTHING?"
TOPIC TWO: PHILOSOPHY OF THE REAL WORLD: Making a Moral Decision and Why.
You are at the street corner when you see a car speed down and through a red light. The car hits a pedestrian and runs off. You recognize that car as that of your brother. The person who was hit is dead. You run off. You tell your brother you saw what happened. Your brother begs you never to tell a soul. He is VERY SORRY about what happened, but nothing he can do now could bring the person back to life. Him turning himself in or being brought to court would just mean his life could be over too and what good would that do to anyone.
The police learn you witnessed the accident. They question you. Your brother's fate lies in YOUR hand. If you say it wasn't him, he goes free. If you say it was, he will probably do a long time in jail. What do you do and WHY?
You must justify your thinking and your actions. Consider ALL the ramifications about what you decide to do and explain what is going on in your mind as you debate the answer and explain FULLY why you end up doing what you do. Justify your actions.
TOPIC THREE: YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT
What is your own personal meaning of life and how did you come to this philosophy?
PROOFREAD!!! BE SMART!!! IMPRESS US!!!
DUE: MON. JUNE 19!!! | | Friday, June 9th, 2006 | | 7:18 pm |
| | 3:23 pm |
50/50
Remember, you must ALSO turn in your list:
50 Things You Will Miss About Being Alive (the more descriptive and specific the better)
and
50 Things You Wish To Do Before You Die.
Due WED. JUNE 14 | | 3:18 pm |
YOU AND RELIGION
You are to write a 750-word, three page essay. PROOFREAD!
How were you raised in regard to religion? What were you taught to believe? How did your family practice your faith? How did you used to conceive of God?
Has your thinking changed over the years? If so, why? What events in life made you question your religion OR made your faith even stronger?
DUE WED. JUNE 14. | | Wednesday, June 7th, 2006 | | 1:15 pm |
BREAKING THE WAVES and the Question of FAITH
"The opposite of sin is not virtue, but faith."
---Soren Kierkegaard
"Some people think faith is something comforting like a security blanket, when, in fact, it's the cross."
---Flannery O'Connor
Well, what are your thoughts either on the film BREAKING THE WAVES or the idea of "faith". This film offers a very brutal concept of faith, much like many moments in the Bible. How does anyone KNOW if what they're doing is right? Many people fight and die for some reason because of their FAITH that God wishes it. Are they right? What about the people on the other side who believe the same thing except from their own point of view? Are they right?
How do you know you are correct in your faith and that you are doing what God wants?
And if you don't believe in faith, is there something/ANYthing you DO have faith in???? | | Friday, June 2nd, 2006 | | 7:30 pm |
PV/CARSON XCHANGE
Carson students post your impressions on your day at PV. What stood out the most? Upon reflection later, what did you think about and why? What conclusions have you drawn? What new perspectives have you discovered?
Dear PV Students:
How wonderful it was to have a chance to host you and hear such intelligent comments and insights. Please post your thoughts on your experience of the exchange with Carson. What were your impressions of the day? What did you like/dislike? What were you too shy to voice at the time? What did you feel you learned from the experience? When you look at some of the comments, try and analyze the various reactions.
I know sometimes this sort of dialogue is both exhilerating and difficult. In our philosophy class, we have been studying how we become who we are: the influences of our parents, our culture, our environment and our economic class. We are examining how all these elements shape us into who we are/become and affect our psychological outlook on our world and ourselves. What are some of the ideas that you come up with when you think about these factors in your lives? Be honest and reflective in your comments.
Again, PV, thank you for hosting. I am encouraged by your big hearts and ambitions.
Carson students, you can comment on their comments as well. May this exchange continue and become an annual event. Thank you Ms. Jimenez!!!!
(P.S. To post, hit comment prompt below and then hit ANONYMOUS box and then start typing. Write your name at the end of your posting if you want!) | | Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 | | 1:13 am |
JESUS SON and Christianity: The Hard Cross to Bear
In the film JESUS' SON, the allegory is that everyone on this planet is, in their own way, a Fuckhead. We share all the traits of screwing up but, maybe, no matter what happens to us, it is possible to be redeemed. Some believe that we all have the chance to find "grace". I'm very curious to know WHAT redeems us (if we are indeed redeemed) and by WHOM and for WHAT REASON!
How hard is the process? Is it just possible to say "I'm sorry" and be forgiven? Or is something else required? Can you keep f'ing up and f'ing up for all time? When are your actions completely your responsibility or can you ALWAYS get another chance? Does Christianity promise this?
What EXACTLY ARE the things that make our lives worthwhile? Do these things REQUIRE salvation from someone or something else? Do humans need a God to give rewards and punishments? If so, why doesn't EVERYONE who believes in Christianity do the RIGHT thing ALL the time?
Is it possible for people to live up to the ideals set by Jesus? Or is the bar too high for us and Jesus has IMPOSSIBLE standards for us mortals? | | Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 | | 6:38 pm |
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS: Who Judges? God or You?
In this film, the question of Religion and its meaning is asked. Part of the film is a comedy and part is a serious drama.
God tells the Jews they have to be faithful to each other (humanity) and God. We are put on Earth to do righteous deeds and behave. In the story Job from the Old Testament, nothing good happens to him. In fact, his life turns out shitty EVEN THOUGH he has believed in God and shown God nothing but devotion and righteousness. The lesson is that even though things might not turn out the way we want, God promises to keep his faith in us but we must TRUST God, even if there is no proven, tangible reward.
That might be a tough deal to swallow. Jews maintain God's faithfulness even if things are awful, painful and unbearably tragic. After the Holocaust, many Jews looked at it like a Job-like story wondering WHERE God disappeared. Some lost their faith altogether.
In this film, does evil win out? The main character Judah gets away with the murder. Woody Allen's character loses the girl. Lester, the idiot tv producer not only gets all the rewards life has to offer (fame, money, awards, etc) but he also gets the love of Woody Allen's life. Where's the justice?
Woody Allen's character (who doesn't believe in God) maintains at the end, the murderer should turn himself in at the end because absent God's presence, all of us have to BECOME GOD and DO THE RIGHT THING. Since there is no God to punish or reward us, then we humans must be responsible enough to fill that role.
What are your thoughts? Does things ALWAYS work out? Does Good Always Win? If not, what does that say about life or God or our role? Is faith easy or is it hard? You can write about the film or your own personal ideas and experiences. | | Monday, May 15th, 2006 | | 3:03 pm |
What happened?!?!
Here is the scenario:
Your friend decided to have cereal after she got home from school because there was nothing else in the refrigerator to eat. Your friend took the milk out of the fridge and put it on thecounter. As she was getting the cereal from the cabinet, her cat jumped up on the counter and knocked over the milk carton. The milk carton spills on the ground.
"Damn!" she exclaims. "Now I have to go out and get some milk!"
Her father comes in the other room and says, "Hey, don't worry. I'll go out to the store to get you some more milk. I could use the exercise."
As the father is walking to a store, a car driven by a man who was late to pick up his wife from her up work becuse his friend wouldn't get off the phone with him talking about his girlfriend who was cheating on him, hits the father in the crosswalk.
The father is rushed to the hospital but dies.
Now, your friend blames herself for her father's death. "It's all my fault," she wails. "He'd be alive right now if none of this milk stuff happened!" She is feeling horribly guilty and is inconsolable. She turns to you for advice or understanding for her tragedy.
In a thoughtful 250 word letter to your friend, explain to her what happened. Was it fate? God's will? Screwy random chance? Post your letter to her here.
P.S. Don't spend much of the letter writing how sorry you are or what a great person your father was. That's not the point! Get right to the philosophical argument you wish to pursue. | | Friday, May 12th, 2006 | | 1:31 pm |
MAELSTROM: Connect the Dots of Life
There are a lot of elements to think about when considering this Canadian film. Methinks it's one of the GREAT philosophical films of all time combining all sorts of elements...love, destiny, freak random chance, death, our "responsibility" to one another all blanketed in The Great Mystery of Life Itself. What more can you want in a film????
First, analyze the story itself. If you were to just "tell" someone the story...a woman hits a man coming home drunk from a party....CONTINUE the story. Life as a series of dominoes that fall knocking over something which knocks over something else which....
Think about how much in life is an absolute enigma to us because we can never fully know all the pieces of the BIG PUZZLE; All the bizarre coincidences in life that we NEVER EVEN FULLY realize that happen which creates the events that happen in this thing we call "our life". MAELSTROM asks large questions such as is everything pure random chance or is there in fact, some kind of plan unbeknownst to us in action? Think about it. If so and so NEVER happened then how does EVERYTHING in the entire world gets changed? If you think about it, every single action (or non-action) by each and everyone of us, ultimately effects the direction of the entire universe...maybe not right NOW but over the course of time...think about how actions by your parents ultimately effected YOUR very existence...and if you didn't exist, then think about how different so many people's lives would be and so on and so on and so on....
Oh yeah...and how 'bout the fish? What's his "role" in this film/fable?
Explore all that fish and water symbolism...Maelstrom is a Norweigian word...look it up. | | Wednesday, May 10th, 2006 | | 1:28 pm |
Enlightenment Guaranteed
Gustav and Uwe are brothers who don't appear to have much in common. They do share something though: They don't have a sense of "the meaning of life" and each somewhat lost.
When Uwe decides on a trip to a Japanese monastery hoping it will further his steps toward enlightenment and peace, Gustav begs to go along because his wife has suddenly abandoned him. Once they arrive in Tokyo, the brothers struggle to cope with the difficulties of being in a foreign country and not being able to speak the language. They find even the smallest parts of everyday life difficult - getting taxis, ordering food, etc. and it leads to disasterous results.
What ideas did this film bring up? What exactly is their "journey"? What does Buddhism and Zen teach them? What do you find fascinating about that religion and way of life? How disoriented are we all when we are forced into a foreign culture/language and what must we do in order to get by?
What does this film teach about Buddhism and life? | | Friday, May 5th, 2006 | | 1:58 pm |
BUDDHIST SAYING FROM "SAMSARA"
"Is it better to satisfy a thousand desires or conquer one?"
Think about this concept through the prism of Buddhism. What are your thoughts on it? | | Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006 | | 2:16 pm |
"TEDDY" by J.D. Salinger
This is a very complicated story with a very complicated lead character.
The story is all about a different way to view life. Teddy sees the world very differently from his parents. He's obviously very smart, but he isn't interested in beling "book smart". It's all about understanding the world.
What were your thoughts on Teddy's ideas and ultimately what happens in the story. What is the significance of his concept of milk and pouring it onto cereal and then perhaps, see how that connects to the extremely eerie conclusion. "God" is seen in a radically different way than perhaps what you are used to. Why did Teddy do what he did and explain its relationship to his philosophy. What else stood out for you about this story? | | Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 | | 8:31 am |
SHORTCUT TO NIRVANA
What makes people believe what they believe?
How does "ritual" tie in with belief? Why do we do the ceremonies we do that go along with the religion? How important are these ceremonies? Think about the ceremonies you do in your religion and why you do them.
How does every religion hold its "power" over people? Does religion have power or do people "give" religion its power? | | Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 | | 11:43 am |
The Devil's Playground
What did you think about this documentary?
What ideas did it bring to your mind? Should religion be about "Choice"? Are we "defined" by how we are brought up? How hard is it to change our psychology once it becomes imprinted on us? | | Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 | | 4:08 pm |
YOU AND THE RULES OF RELIGION
In THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, Patrick, the youngest brother, believes he's going to go to hell because he HAS to follow very strict church doctrine (and YES, the RULES of Catholicism are EXTREMELY STRICT, but the RULES of JUDAISM and ISLAM are also VERY HARD). Older brother Jack says the hell with religion and God (in that VERY dramatic sequence) after he cheats on his wife. Jack wonders if there really is ANYONE telling you how you MUST behave and MONITOR it and then PUNISH it. Patrick's new love says that she can't be a good Catholic and have a sane sex life so she creates her own rules.
What rules of your religion do you have a hard time with? Do you believe in the rule? Does it matter if you follow this/these rule(s) or not?
Are these rules from humans or God? Do you HAVE to obey them? Or can you decide? Does God punish you for disobeying? Should we follow these rules or decide for ourselves which rules we should follow? Can you STILL be a member of your religion and NOT obey your religion's rules? | | Monday, April 17th, 2006 | | 2:10 pm |
Greetings From India I posted this for my english class, but i miss you guys also and this IS the philosophy class! First thing you have to realize is that the Cow is king here. Imagine a bunch of cows just walking down Main Street and every vehicle in the world has to dodge them. No one messes with them. The driving here is insane and there are no rules. If there's a narrow space where a vehicle, moped, auto rickshaw can inhale, it forges through. So many near misses and catastrophes here. Can't believe I have survived thus far... The sights, sounds and smells of India are very intense. There is not one building or store that can not be made better by adding yet another blinking color light. You girls who really like to show your bellies would be goddesses here. The colourful saris and fancy shmancy dresses are impressive. Am in Udaipur right now and it's a gorgeous city on a lake...lots of palaces and lights. Big full moon tonight. Wish you could see it. Yep, the Taj Mahal was pretty great. It is an amazing structure. You can read all about the history of this Muslim style shrine built by a king in 1632 to memorialize his dead wife, but you just stare it and say, wow. Wow. It is stunning and gorgeous and when you think about it, what structures are there that are paens to love? There's plenty of structures for self-aggrandizement and to recall wars and icons of concepts like Liberty, but this thing is only for love. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. But before we get too sentimental, the king, like all rich people, had the power and tacit slave labor to accomplish the task. We should all be so lucky. World history is rife with rich SOB's...at least this one left something for all humanity. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_MahalSo, I must say i am very very sick right now. I don't know what happened to me, but I have gone down. I need to eat food to keep my strength up, but I am hurting badly. They seem to call what I have, "Delhi Belly." Third World sickness is probably the worst. Because I truly believe in that there are some things that a teacher can never discuss with a student without crossing the lines of propriety, i will spare you the details of this particular sickness. Suffice to say that I dream of your modern bathroom conveniences and the miracle of 21st Century medicine. I had to bail on going to Varanasi which is where the Ganges River is and the holiest city in India because my train never came. Even though there was the reassuring British voice over the intercom: "The train to Varanasi will be here shortly (Oh, I think they use British PA voices all over the world--including LAX--because the accent sounds in control and full of confidence)", the train refused to arrive. The railway station had people sleeping on the platform and lots and lots of beggars. Children and mothers with outstretched hands. It is hard to take of course. It's humbling what people do to survive and how resiliant human beings are...I knew someone who used a public latrine here and unfortunately, her cell phone fell out of her pocket into the muck ten feet below. A few days later after she got a new cell phone, she called her old cell phone. Someone answered it. Oh...and before I forget, the headline on today's Hindustan Times is that there was a famous Bollywood star who died last weekend and was brought to a stadium in Bombay so his fans could pay final respect. They packed the stadium and rioted. Five dead. Seriously. They take their stars to new heights here. You think you're a Beyonce fan? Well, would you cut off your fingers to show your devotion? How about painting 56 portraits of a bollywood leading lady in your own blood? Last year, 32 people committed suicide when a star died. Now, that's being a fan! Life seems very cheap here...lots of major death and destruction in all forms...earthquakes, ferry sinkings, market fires. Unbelievable grotesque casualties that we would never tolerate. Guess it helps to believe in reincarnation 'cause, you know, what the hell. Next life has got to be better for all of us! I am going to some other cities in the Indian desert. To show you how crazy this place is, when it's 7am in Carson, it's 6:30 pm here. How is it possible I'm in a half-hour off time zone?!?! On Monday I'm off to the Himalayas for some enlightenment. I'll pass on what the Dalai Lama tells me and grade you accordingly. I hope your lives are fine and righteous and good karma is spreading from you all over. If I have any other tales, I'll pass them along. Be extra good and I'll put in a good word to Krishna for you! Get to work on Gender Papers! Siddhartha! Gender X-change! Be good to the sub! Think about your religion and WHY you believe it! I will be posting from the Himalayas!!!!! | | Saturday, April 15th, 2006 | | 2:56 pm |
SIDDHARTHA PAPER
You are to write a 750 word paper on the following:
This is a reflective essay on your journey through life thus far. Look at your "ups" and "downs" and reflect hard on what you believe you've learned from the experiences. What do you still need to work on? What do you WANT to experience in life before you die? Why? What "knowledge" or "wisdom" do you seek and look into your future and try to see how you plan on achieving it?
Enjoy this highly personal paper. Think hard about your life up until now and explain what you want out of it and what you hope to "discover" during your years on this earth.
I look forward to see what you've come up with.
DUE: Tuesday, MAY 2
P.S. PROOFREAD for posterity! You WILL want to save this paper to look back upon and you don't want to cringe at what dumb-ass grammatical mistakes you made. | | 2:55 pm |
OM: The final lesson learned
"Siddhartha listened. He was now all ears, completely absorbed in his listening, completely empty, completey receptive; he felt that he had now learned all that there was to learn about listening." (p.73)
What truths does he impart to Govinda at the very end?
Look at the lesson of the stone. "This is a stone, and within a certain time it will perhaps be earth, and from earth it will become a plant or an animal or a person...." (p.77)
Siddhartha speaks of the "illusory" nature of life (p.78). And what is the significance of Govinda not seeing Siddartha's face at the very end...(p.80). What does he see instead? And why?!?! What does it all mean?
P.S. Write down what you thought about this book and if it affected you. |
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