Dear Cormac McCarthy,
I really enjoyed your book. It evoked a sense of mystery and a sense of fear from within me. I enjoyed the dark and loneliness of the story. I believe that it has a pretty good message to the world as well, just like Charles Murkowski’s “Dinosauria, We.” The book told of what could possibly we our future if we do not change our ways. It also basically said that this was an inevitable end to things. For instance, the old man on the road said that he knew it was coming, but he just didn’t know when and he didn’t know how to prepare for it because it was impossible to prepare for. I agree with the old man in a sense. More than likely, the way things are in our world currently will cease to be the same. No one knows when things will change or why they will change, but one day, hopefully in the distant future, things will change, for the better or for the worse.
I also enjoyed the characters that you presented. The little boy and the man were a great inspiration in the book simply because they kept going, no matter how difficult life was. The boy in the end seemed to be a beacon of light to all of the other lost people and the lost and lonely world. He held the fire. As long as he continued on, there was some type of hope for the world. It is amazing that someone can continue on their path although it seems so hard and pointless to do so. I felt that this aspect of your book was a great inspiration despite all of the sadness and darkness within your book.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Charles Bukowski (Dinosauria, We)
In my opinion, it seems that Charles Bukowski has quite a horrific outlook on our future. I totally agree with him because people in this world don’t seem to care enough about how they treat others, other peoples belongings, or the world around them. In the end, these non-caring people are passing down this behavior to their children. The children do not really have a choice on how things are around: their parents, the decaying earth, and the pollution.
The good things is that the new world can try to make a difference if they know how. While my parents have contributed to this dying world’s death, I can help to change things since it isn’t too late currently. In a few years, it will be too late and the world will be similar to how Mr. Bukowski explains it. The idea is to shape and mold today’s generation to teach them better than what their parents where taught. All of these natural things that we take granted for are more than likely not permanent, just like we are not permanent. But with proper care, these things can last a long time.
Basically, the end result for the world if we do not make these changes to became better individuals and live healthier lives, lives that are good for us and our environment, is worldwide death and an uninhabitable earth. An earth that is dark, lonely, and almost lifeless. And the only people that will be able to escape is those people that may not deserve to escape, the rich and lucky ones.
The good things is that the new world can try to make a difference if they know how. While my parents have contributed to this dying world’s death, I can help to change things since it isn’t too late currently. In a few years, it will be too late and the world will be similar to how Mr. Bukowski explains it. The idea is to shape and mold today’s generation to teach them better than what their parents where taught. All of these natural things that we take granted for are more than likely not permanent, just like we are not permanent. But with proper care, these things can last a long time.
Basically, the end result for the world if we do not make these changes to became better individuals and live healthier lives, lives that are good for us and our environment, is worldwide death and an uninhabitable earth. An earth that is dark, lonely, and almost lifeless. And the only people that will be able to escape is those people that may not deserve to escape, the rich and lucky ones.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
classroom direction (north, south, SOUTH EAST, east, west)
The room that my philosophy class is in looks over the west side of the campus. To be more specific, it looks over the street that it is named Laflin. I have spent almost three years in that same classroom, 207. I find it to be a better class this year, not having to do with the teachers that I have had, but totally on the principle of the classes that I've had in the room.
This year, my class in 207 is HONORS Philosophy in Literature (yes, we are indeed fancy). I enjoy this class simply because it isn't cut and paste (in other words, dry); it isn't like most classes where there is a set rubric and you have to follow the textbook. In many literature classes the teacher says, "Well, the author had an intent for this book. They wanted you to think of something specific that it relates to." Well, I am not a history teacher, mind reader, or the author, so I can only guess and I don't tend to get that SPECIFIC answer correct. It seems that I think out of the box at times. This class gives the students an opportunity to read some very intriguing books and discuss them (in philosophical terms) with the teachers and their peers. There doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer in this class and we can all accept that.
But in reality, while there doesn't seem to be a lot of direction, there is inevitably a great deal of direction. Besides, can you think of anything in life that is fun, enjoyable, and natural that doesn't have some sort of direction? I didn't think so. We are guided to think outside of the box, to look at and face questions that we wouldn't normally dwell upon. For instance "If the world was dry and barren and there were few people left, would you kill and eat a human being?" Who would normally think of this type of question? I would not. In the end, who likes direction when it is blatant and forced upon them? I SURE DON'T!
This year, my class in 207 is HONORS Philosophy in Literature (yes, we are indeed fancy). I enjoy this class simply because it isn't cut and paste (in other words, dry); it isn't like most classes where there is a set rubric and you have to follow the textbook. In many literature classes the teacher says, "Well, the author had an intent for this book. They wanted you to think of something specific that it relates to." Well, I am not a history teacher, mind reader, or the author, so I can only guess and I don't tend to get that SPECIFIC answer correct. It seems that I think out of the box at times. This class gives the students an opportunity to read some very intriguing books and discuss them (in philosophical terms) with the teachers and their peers. There doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer in this class and we can all accept that.
But in reality, while there doesn't seem to be a lot of direction, there is inevitably a great deal of direction. Besides, can you think of anything in life that is fun, enjoyable, and natural that doesn't have some sort of direction? I didn't think so. We are guided to think outside of the box, to look at and face questions that we wouldn't normally dwell upon. For instance "If the world was dry and barren and there were few people left, would you kill and eat a human being?" Who would normally think of this type of question? I would not. In the end, who likes direction when it is blatant and forced upon them? I SURE DON'T!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
PARENTS
All around the world there seems to be this competition between the parents. You can't wait to see what word comes out of the child's mouth first. Is it da-da or is it ma-ma? It doesn't really matter the sex of the child, the parent just wants that glory. HA! They recognized ME first.
Throughout life it is seen that the father is usually closest to the male child and the mother is usually closest to the female child. I've always been closer to my mother personally. I feel as if her personality is closer to mine and she is younger so she can understand me and the things I do a bit better. My father on the other hand is still a pretty cool person. I used to participate in some of those classic father-son activities such as going fishing and playing video games. For some reason, sports just never really agreed with me. With my mother I've always talked and went shopping.
My sister and father also have had a pretty decent relationship. They were inseparable when my sister was younger, but as most people know, as time goes on, young people grow more and more distant. I feel that a relationship is a relationship no matter what is consists of. The typical relationship one has with their mother is more warm and kind hearted. The relationship with their father is usually more distant and or filled with less emotional situations. This is only the typical stuff, because the roles can always be reversed. I believe I would be able to handle some of the emotional part of a relationship as well as some of the hard, physical things that fathers deal with. If only I planned on having children...
Throughout life it is seen that the father is usually closest to the male child and the mother is usually closest to the female child. I've always been closer to my mother personally. I feel as if her personality is closer to mine and she is younger so she can understand me and the things I do a bit better. My father on the other hand is still a pretty cool person. I used to participate in some of those classic father-son activities such as going fishing and playing video games. For some reason, sports just never really agreed with me. With my mother I've always talked and went shopping.
My sister and father also have had a pretty decent relationship. They were inseparable when my sister was younger, but as most people know, as time goes on, young people grow more and more distant. I feel that a relationship is a relationship no matter what is consists of. The typical relationship one has with their mother is more warm and kind hearted. The relationship with their father is usually more distant and or filled with less emotional situations. This is only the typical stuff, because the roles can always be reversed. I believe I would be able to handle some of the emotional part of a relationship as well as some of the hard, physical things that fathers deal with. If only I planned on having children...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
How do I Know What I Know that I Know I Know…..
Is there any possible way to be one hundred percent sure that you know what you know? You can know what you know…but what you know could be wrong. But if it is wrong, do you still know something? In my opinion, you still know, but what you know is just wrong. Many people feel that if you can’t explain what you know, then you just don’t know it. I disagree seeing as there are many things that I know personally but just can’t seem to put into words.
I know some of the things that I know because I’ve experienced them and the other things just seem like they make sense even without an explanation. On earth we have experienced gravity since birth so we know if we throw something in the air, it will fall back down. So some things are pretty obvious, although we may not know at a young age that it is called gravity, we know that it will fall.
On the other hand, some things we really don’t know that we know. I’ve been in experiences where someone has brought something up or showed me something that is a bit unfamiliar, and I might say “Hey…I knew that.” So I knew it, but I didn’t know that I knew it. Sometimes in these cases we actually did know it before hand, but I learned in psychology that many times we THOUGHT we knew it before hand, but we actually didn’t and it just seems so common, which makes us think we actually did know it.
I know some of the things that I know because I’ve experienced them and the other things just seem like they make sense even without an explanation. On earth we have experienced gravity since birth so we know if we throw something in the air, it will fall back down. So some things are pretty obvious, although we may not know at a young age that it is called gravity, we know that it will fall.
On the other hand, some things we really don’t know that we know. I’ve been in experiences where someone has brought something up or showed me something that is a bit unfamiliar, and I might say “Hey…I knew that.” So I knew it, but I didn’t know that I knew it. Sometimes in these cases we actually did know it before hand, but I learned in psychology that many times we THOUGHT we knew it before hand, but we actually didn’t and it just seems so common, which makes us think we actually did know it.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Our Meaning
Everyone has one of these, whether they realize it or not. It takes a bit of searching and thinking to realize what YOUR specific meaning in life, but once you’ve discovered it, you can go far and reach some type of potential. Some people may never actually find their meaning, and I believe there are many cases of individuals who haven’t in this world, or at LEAST in my view. While I may view someone such as a crack addict as one of those individuals that have no meaning, they might have possibly discovered their meaning already and just discarded it, or they might be serving their meaning in some sense being in their current state.
Everyone has one main meaning, which is to procreate. But fornication isn’t all that we’ve built our society on. Different people have different meanings in life, so while mine might be to become a doctor and help those across the world that need medical attention, yours might be to serve my order at McDonalds. No, I’m just kidding. That is a very simplistic way to look at it, because the person that is working at McDonalds could potentially be doing a lot more than just serving individuals fast food, they could also be the leader of several different outside organizations.
Basically, I feel that our meaning in life shouldn’t only be to find or have only one meaning. We should try to find other ways to give back to the community that helped nurture and raise us to whatever level that we ascend to. Individuals can have multiple meanings and some I believe may seem to have none, but only we can FULLY judge ourselves on what our meaning or meanings are in life.
Everyone has one main meaning, which is to procreate. But fornication isn’t all that we’ve built our society on. Different people have different meanings in life, so while mine might be to become a doctor and help those across the world that need medical attention, yours might be to serve my order at McDonalds. No, I’m just kidding. That is a very simplistic way to look at it, because the person that is working at McDonalds could potentially be doing a lot more than just serving individuals fast food, they could also be the leader of several different outside organizations.
Basically, I feel that our meaning in life shouldn’t only be to find or have only one meaning. We should try to find other ways to give back to the community that helped nurture and raise us to whatever level that we ascend to. Individuals can have multiple meanings and some I believe may seem to have none, but only we can FULLY judge ourselves on what our meaning or meanings are in life.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
God In 2010
It seems to me that God has just become a figure of speech or just a word in a phrase. Religion doesn't really seem to take up a major role in many people's lives. This might only be the case from a Chicagoan's point of view since this city is extremely diverse and so is Whitney Young. I feel if I went somewhere other than Chicago, as long as it isn't as busy as Chicago, I might find more religious individuals although it really depends on the people themselves whether they follow a religion, not the state they're in or the city.
God seems to only be important when people are in need now days. People call on him during the hard times in their lives such as: they lost their job, or someone close to them has passed. People don't seem to acknowledge in the way he should be on a regular basis: thank you for waking me up this morning, thanks for guiding me through my day, thanks for bringing individuals that care about me and my future/well being into my life, etc. Also, God seems to be called upon for people's selfish reasons as well: Dear god...Please let me get that new XBox with W.O.W and Call of Duty for my birthday, or God, I just want to grow up and be rich...you think you can make that happen? Okay...cool!
Personally, I don't care what people confront God with since it isn't any of my business, but I just feel that their confrontation should be well rounded. I also feel that people should understand that God isn't Santa Claus, handing out free gifts, he only helps those that help themselves. So basically, GOD isn't an insignificant leaning post on the corner of 63rd and Lake Park Ave., and you may say "OH MY GOD!!!" but do you really treat him like (he) is yours, acknowledging (him) as you should?
God seems to only be important when people are in need now days. People call on him during the hard times in their lives such as: they lost their job, or someone close to them has passed. People don't seem to acknowledge in the way he should be on a regular basis: thank you for waking me up this morning, thanks for guiding me through my day, thanks for bringing individuals that care about me and my future/well being into my life, etc. Also, God seems to be called upon for people's selfish reasons as well: Dear god...Please let me get that new XBox with W.O.W and Call of Duty for my birthday, or God, I just want to grow up and be rich...you think you can make that happen? Okay...cool!
Personally, I don't care what people confront God with since it isn't any of my business, but I just feel that their confrontation should be well rounded. I also feel that people should understand that God isn't Santa Claus, handing out free gifts, he only helps those that help themselves. So basically, GOD isn't an insignificant leaning post on the corner of 63rd and Lake Park Ave., and you may say "OH MY GOD!!!" but do you really treat him like (he) is yours, acknowledging (him) as you should?
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