animal crackers in my soup.

A look at the morality of non-human animals.

The intro to honors class ha seemed to be hung up on this topic all semester. I feel like i've been taking an intro to PETA course. However, i know that there is merit in these questions, else we wouldn't be asking them.
Just the simple fact that we care so much about whether non-human animals are moral creatures shows us what kind of creatures we are. We are so concerned with whether the way we treat other animals is right or wrong and this shows us that we are moral, though possibly misguided, creatures. I don't know if non-human animals have morals. I would like to see the world through the eyes of a member of a different species for a day so then i would know. However, because this is impossible for me to do, i will just have to assume that animals could be either moral or non-moral and that either way, my choices will affect them. And so, i have decided that it would be wrong for me to mistreat these creatures... to just eat them. And thus comes th decision to refrain from eating meat unless i kill the animal myself - i am against slaughterhouses but people need the nourishment meat has to offer.

The Dark Side of the Universe

For the reading assignment, i went to the library in an attempt to find something with philosophical value that wasn't so dry that i wouldn't be able to read it. I considered rereading Plato's (?) Republic but decided that it would be best if i had chosen something new. I looked into famous philosophers and thought about reading some Marx but the library didn't have a great selection. When i was searching through the databases for the right book for me, i came across this book: The Dark Side of the Universe. Not only did the title remind me of a Pink Floyd album i have back home, but it was a book about space theory, something im very interested in. To make sure, i picked up the book and started reading. This is what i found:
There is a theory that the universe can have no end, that it simply continues forever. The point is made by the idea of a spearman, standing at the edge of space. He holds his spear tight, draws back his arm, and lets his spear fly. Where it lands beyond the edge of space, the spearman then walks to and that becomes the edge of space. He then repeats the process. The conclusion is that because the spear can always go beyond the edge of space, there is no edge of space.
This theory captivated me. I know that because of the zero gravity point outside of planetary atmosphere, that the spear would never land, it would just keep flying until some other force interfered with its trajectory. However, the point presented made sense: if the spear can travel at all past the "edge of the universe" then that point must not actually be the edge of the universe. There is also the possibility that the universe is like the earth in that it is a round space and if you go straight along a path across the universe, you'll eventually end up where you began. But then, the fact that it is a round-shaped universe, it must be contained within more space, and withing the other space, there can be more universes. or maybe that space around the universe is just another part of that original universe which would man that the universe is endless. I feel like i can talk in circles about this forever ans neer find a solution. Maybe there is no answer.

the philosophy of decisions (a post for myself and anyone who wants to listen)

there is ambiguity. shades of gray, spots of gleaming white light, abrupt black lines 0f varying thicknesses crisscross the patchwork gray once in a while. With all of these bland, muted monochromatic shapes which make up our world, it is easy to understand how making clear decisions would be impossible. We struggle with ourselves to do what's right. Sometimes, we're lucky and we come out better in the end. Sometimes, we're not so lucky. Is it luck that forces our decisions: are we just guessing and hoping? do we really know? these questions ring through my mind because i'm sitting here wondering whether i've made some unlucky choices, or whether, knowingly, i made bad choices.
Maybe i'm hoping that my own choices aren't what brought me to this point. This point where i'm looking back, wondering where i'd be if i had made different choices. Or is it fate that i'm sitting here writing this down? i don't know. What i do know is that my choices are made, they are past already. My future choices will either be fate or accident, or they will be clear choices an dwhere i end up, is where i'm supposed to be.

inside an honors student

there is no true recipe for an honors student. each honors student is unique, as every student is unique. However, there are some attributes that any true honors student should possess.

the key ingredient: hunger
the hunger for knowledge. it is not love for competition or the ability to ace a test that matters. it is the desire to learn; to break down barriers and expand horizons. it is not the need to organize every factoid safely in notebooks or in the compartments of one's brain; but the gumption to recognize the chaos and the patterns and accept that no human is infallible. the honors student will not necessarily earn good marks in classes, but they will do the best they can to squeeze all of the information out of any source. the honors student does not do their work for the rewards or accolades received but to gain new knowledge.

next on the list is empathy. this goes hand in hand with humility. the honors student may recognize kindred spirits, their intellectual matches. and they may see those who appear less intelligent than themselves. The honors student looks at both of these groups and sees the similarities. each person has their faults, including the honors student. recognizing the similarities helps the honors student share what they know while accepting that their own knowledge is incomplete. thus, the honors student is humble.

one thing to remember is that all honors students, as all other student, have their difficulties. Sometimes, an honors student hits a low, skips a class, forgets homework, and at some points simply does not care. but what separates the honors student from the other students is recognition of these times; the pride to make no excuses for their pitfalls; and the strength to get back up and try harder the next time around.

nature vs ... by now you guessed it ... nurture.

when one considers philosophy, one very likely considers this debate at least a little. To make things short for those who don't feel the need to read to much into this blog, the answer is BOTH! both nature and nurture affect human development. If it is in one's nature to look on the bright side of life and one is thrust into a violent society, that society can either hae a negative effect on your optimism or you can have a positive affect on the environment. people are fille with various receptors that pick up different signals and interpret them in unique ways. These people, once having interpreted the signals, put out signals of their own which are received by other people and the loop continues. Thus, humans affect society, or the nurture aspect. In return, the signals have the power to influence the receiver. People continually grow and change and what may have begun as nature is soon affected by nurture.

torture to me

Controversy is nothing new; especially when it comes to the definition of torture and the repercussions of this definition on the law. Firstly, i would like to state that i haven't been desensitized. I have played violent video games, really who hasn't? but it still sickens me to see blood and gore and to think of one human being pulling out the fingernails of another. Gross.
Now, back on topic.
When it comes to legal torture in democracy, as ludacris and ironic it sounds, it is a part of issues which are wholly subjective and thus, controversial.
I believe that torture, in some of its lesser forms, are a necessary evil. i'm not a god and therefore have no right to judge the wicked (i'm still debating whether a god has that right or not anyway) however i feel that all knowledge is worth haing. And some of the most necesary of knowledge comes at a price. Sometimes, that price is weighed in flesh and blood. referring to an earlier post, i will restate that this price IS subjective and that if all people felt responsibility for fellow humans this wouldn't be an issue. But they don't and it is. Therefore, we go back to the drawing board. Torture can be necessary as a valid means to gain necessary information.
Someone made a point that torture should be defined as anything which causes intense anxiety or fear. No offense, but i find this idea pretty ridiculous. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and one useful thing that many seem to have lost through evolution is a spine. Fear and anxiety, as much as joy and laughter are a part of the human spectrum of emotions. To try to cut off these emotions is unwise because fear and anxiety CAN make one grow as a person so long as they have the will to travel through these travails. TORTURE IS SUBJECTIVE! people find different things torturous and hey, some people enjoy pain. I personally find this argument, as well as any kind of radical rant torturous. Everything in moderation, that's my motto.

the man with the Moses beard

there was a question in class in regard to this murderer's sanity. Some may say that any person who kills another human being is insane, but this is not necessarily true in my eyes. Sure he was deluded, but it was his personal belief that he was helping the world. Maybe he was simply misguided in this notion. Maybe it was one of those errrs where we try to put our best foot forward with the best of intentions and instead, we make the situation worse. It happens on different scales but is it not possible that this is one of those instances? where politicians and preachers of all sorts stand up against the communist and they tell you that they're the reason everything in the world is as bad as it is and that it's your responsibility to flush out the comunists... they may not mean killing your neighbor, but it's not far off. this man may have been crazy or he may have been trying to do his part to make the world a better place, like he was told to do. we shouldn't brush aside either end of the argument just because it doesn't make sense to us.