These past couple of days I've been feeling bad, because I feel that I've been living in this bubble where everything is perfect. For the past couple of months I have met some really amazing and interesting people, who have had really impacting stories. I always thought every mom and dad must be like mine, every friend I have must be like everyone else's. I was so wrong though. This past weekend I realized what people have to go through to get to where they want. As much as I would love to share this person's story, I can't. I just know that the person went through a lot to be successful, but at the same is scared for life. It was so hard listening to this person's story, because I had no way of relating to the person. Like Mr.Summer's said, "In this society it's a custom to think about what we don't have, but we don't realize what we do have." I have never agreed with something so much like I do with this statement.
We sometimes get mad at our parents because they yelled at us or grounded us, but we appreciate the fact that we have parents there to put us back on the right path. Some people don't have parents at all or if they do they treat their kids really badly. There's some kids that didn't live in nice homes didn't have a TV or a bed to lie in. What would it feel like to seventeen and be on your own? Paying rent, going to school, and having two jobs just to be able to make it through the week? I wasn't able to understand this before, but the more I hear from people the more I understand that people that are hurting others are hurting themselves. There's no justification for what these people do, but I don't they realize they will be alone for the rest of their lives. The people they hurt and pushed away won't be there when they realize what they have wrong.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Alienation of Man
What does it mean to be alienated? How Hegel understood alienation was "the failure of the will of the individual to identify with the larger will of the society." I take it as the opposite of Hegel's idea of mutual recognition. One alienated himself or herself from society when he or she rejects or thinks the ideas of society are meaningless to him or her. I've felt like that before, not necessarily that the ideas were meaningless but that they weren't part of who I am. Kind of like they don't apply to me, because I don't believe in the idea. Hegel views the unifying of society as a necessary condition for happiness, and alienation is necessary condition for unhappiness. Even though, some feel that we are bounded by society we aren't really. If you follows society's rules and morals is capable of becoming happy, because there are people that recognize you and that look up to you for what you do.
In class we mentioned the quote, "what bounds you gives you freedom." If one conforms and does what society expects of him or her they are rewarded with the freedom to assert themselves in the society. We are giving opportunities that others that alienate themselves from society aren't given. Here is where the whole idea with mutual recognition comes in. If you alienate yourself you destroy the purpose of mutual recognition and you destroy the possibility of it happening. You are not able to recognize yourself and in turn you don't exists in the minds of others, as Hegel's philosophy of mutual recognition goes. Why would anyone try to alienate themselves from society when unifying with society brings about one's own happiness and recognition?
In class we mentioned the quote, "what bounds you gives you freedom." If one conforms and does what society expects of him or her they are rewarded with the freedom to assert themselves in the society. We are giving opportunities that others that alienate themselves from society aren't given. Here is where the whole idea with mutual recognition comes in. If you alienate yourself you destroy the purpose of mutual recognition and you destroy the possibility of it happening. You are not able to recognize yourself and in turn you don't exists in the minds of others, as Hegel's philosophy of mutual recognition goes. Why would anyone try to alienate themselves from society when unifying with society brings about one's own happiness and recognition?
Mutual Recognition-Hegel
Talking about Hegel in class has helped better understand his philosophy. The ideas of self-consciousness and the consciousness are more clearer. One needs to be recognized by another person to recognize himself or herself. When I recognize another person and that person recognizes me we have mutual recognition. Mutual recognition can be seen in the world wide web, and like some say Hegel was definitely a man ahead of his time. The internet permits us all to recognize other human beings and their thoughts and vice versa. Before we started talking in depth about Hegel, I just didn't understand why we needed another person to recognize us when we had ourselves to recognize us. However, that's not true because we have family and friends that we have developed relationships with and that recognize us. Family especially is a mutual recognition that inherently exists, because every recognizes each other in the same household. Friendships, like Mr.Summer's said greatly representative of Hegel's "mutual recognition." Better understanding Hegel helps to see his impact and his thought in our present world.
What is Death?
What is the meaning of death? I wasn't really sure until a couple of days ago. I have no lost both of my grandparents from my dad's side and it never hit me what that really meant. I have always thought when people die their souls move on to whatever after life exists, and that the only things that one has left of that person are the memories. Talking about Hegel in class helped me realize that the memories we keep of loved ones that have passed away means that they still exist. Their thought still exists and we can sometimes mirror ourselves in their thought. For example, if there was a saying that that person always said and one can connect to it one is mirroring him or her into that person.
I hadn't seen my grandparents in almost eleven years, and it hurt so much to know that I will never get the chance to develop a better relationship with them. All that remains on of them are pictures and memories, even as weird as it sounds mean that they are still alive. The fact that they are on my mind 24/7 now mean that they are still alive in a spiritual sense. My grandfather wasn't ready to die, but I think in the end he welcomed it because it meant he would be rejoined with my grandmother. It has greatly affected my father, of course, but I think that part of trying to move on is for family and friends to also accept death and what it means. Death is meant to be peaceful and it's supposed to mean that your soul will move on to be in God's kingdom. But how do you accept the death of a father, grandfather and brother, which is what he was? When I found out my grandfather had died the first thing I thought was "why?" Why did he have to leave and not give us the chance to see him for the last time? It's hard accepting death when one feels that it came to early. I don't think I'll be able to accept the idea of death for a long time, because I think of my parents and how I would find someone or something to blame if anything ever happened to them. I know death is a natural process of life, but what does that really mean?
I hadn't seen my grandparents in almost eleven years, and it hurt so much to know that I will never get the chance to develop a better relationship with them. All that remains on of them are pictures and memories, even as weird as it sounds mean that they are still alive. The fact that they are on my mind 24/7 now mean that they are still alive in a spiritual sense. My grandfather wasn't ready to die, but I think in the end he welcomed it because it meant he would be rejoined with my grandmother. It has greatly affected my father, of course, but I think that part of trying to move on is for family and friends to also accept death and what it means. Death is meant to be peaceful and it's supposed to mean that your soul will move on to be in God's kingdom. But how do you accept the death of a father, grandfather and brother, which is what he was? When I found out my grandfather had died the first thing I thought was "why?" Why did he have to leave and not give us the chance to see him for the last time? It's hard accepting death when one feels that it came to early. I don't think I'll be able to accept the idea of death for a long time, because I think of my parents and how I would find someone or something to blame if anything ever happened to them. I know death is a natural process of life, but what does that really mean?
Monday, October 31, 2011
White Paper
So how does a blank, 8 by 11 1/2 piece of paper represent all of humanity?.....So when Mr.Summers first presented this in class I was little confused and not all clear on the assignment. Then I actually started thinking about the question he pose and it all fit. All of humanity, regarless of religion, race, sex, etc., we all conform to our society. We all follow certain rules, believe in certain things, and act a certain way because we all want to fit it. We kind of do it subconsciously sometimes, but at the same time we are quite aware why we do it. The sharp edges and the four sides of the paper represent humanity's conformity to the established rules of societies, and how they can't be changed which are the sharp edges. The blankess of it represents the idea that we can paint and draw all kinds of people from all over the world, but in the end we end up drawing the same person because we all manage to somehow connect even though we live in different extremes of the world. Even if the paper is torn to pieces, riped in half, made into a ball it doesn't change what it stands for.There are many interpretations of how the white piece of paper represents humanity, but in the end it represents humanity as a whole with one specific personality.
"The Web of Intentions"- Matthew T. Grant
In this blog, Matthew T. Grant states that the world wide web is Hegel's Phenomenology of the Spirit in its true essence. Hegel's whole philosophy was about recognizing others around us and them recognizing us, and in turn it would allow us to realize that we are existent and are separate entities from one another. Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Blogger and many other websites is our self-consciousness and consciousness being realized because we each recognize the thoughts and actions of one another, because we post them up for everyone to see. The social networks mentioned above are what their name states "social networks" we are all able to communicate and realize our own existence through the realization of another that we are present. It's sort of hard notion to grasp and the more I learn about it the easier it is for me to understand what Hegel meant by it.
One of the most interesting parts of the blog was the idea that the Web doesn't file what we search everyday on Google or Bing, but actually files "what we do." It shows to others what we are thinking, what we are doing, and what we are feeling. It's kind of weird that we are able to show so much of ourselves through the screen of a computer, but shockingly we do so.
Source: http://www.matthewtgrant.com/2010/06/09/the-web-of-intentions/
One of the most interesting parts of the blog was the idea that the Web doesn't file what we search everyday on Google or Bing, but actually files "what we do." It shows to others what we are thinking, what we are doing, and what we are feeling. It's kind of weird that we are able to show so much of ourselves through the screen of a computer, but shockingly we do so.
Source: http://www.matthewtgrant.com/2010/06/09/the-web-of-intentions/
Video "Relationships"
In class we watched a video called "Relationships." It was pretty much an informative/documentary on how our world is evolving more and more towards technology. People play video games all the time and more connected to the virtual world rather than the real world. That is is really scary! I'm aware that we are only on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, and many other social networks hours and hours, but it's scary to know that we are on these websites 24/7. Because really we are on them 24/7 with our iPhones we are on them all the time because we have the apps for them. During class people are "tweeting" or on Facebook. Once we get on the computer or start playing a video game our minds are fully immersed in the activity and tend to block everything else out. People that are video games and playing with other people from around the world start to consider those people their "friends," even though they have not actually met them in person. There's no physical interaction, so how can that be considered a relationship at all?
The video went on to talk about "Second Life," a virtual world where people create virtual person of themselves and interact with people from all over the world. The film said, "...technology has separated us over the last fifty years and it's just bringing us back together." How is that true? I don't think it's bringing us back together, but rather separating us even more. How can we develop communicational skills when we don't actually communicate physically with one another? We spend more time in a virtual world than in our own realities. The company IBM, uses the program "Second Life" and state that they would save millions of dollars in using the program than flying out to a different country or state for a meeting. There's economic incentive in using the program for companies, but at the same time don't people realize that the actual world and the virtual world are starting to become one world. If our brains tell us something is real then it's real. We are deceived by our surroundings and our brains are starting to not distinguish between the real world and the virtual world.
The video went on to talk about "Second Life," a virtual world where people create virtual person of themselves and interact with people from all over the world. The film said, "...technology has separated us over the last fifty years and it's just bringing us back together." How is that true? I don't think it's bringing us back together, but rather separating us even more. How can we develop communicational skills when we don't actually communicate physically with one another? We spend more time in a virtual world than in our own realities. The company IBM, uses the program "Second Life" and state that they would save millions of dollars in using the program than flying out to a different country or state for a meeting. There's economic incentive in using the program for companies, but at the same time don't people realize that the actual world and the virtual world are starting to become one world. If our brains tell us something is real then it's real. We are deceived by our surroundings and our brains are starting to not distinguish between the real world and the virtual world.
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