Week 11

The Individual and the State

I would disagree with Mill, because we are forced to pay taxes, and we are also forced to serve as jurors.  If you decide not to pay taxes in the long run the IRS will catch up to you and then you will be penalized by adding taxes on the taxes you already owe, I think this is not an option.

As for Jury Duty, if you decide to skip jury duty they eventually catch you, the government states that it is a privilege to serve as a juror, and an experience of a lifetime, this is not optional.  No freedom here.

I can agree with Marx, we do need to be able to make our own economic choices, but I disagree that the government whether it is city, state, or federal should intervene in your economic growth, if you make it or fail should be on the individual.

Week 9

This week has been a horrible week, the discussion of GOD leaves me empty.  There are 3 things I do not like to discuss with no-one and those three things are:
1. Religion
2. Sports
3. My life
This has been a week that as a believer I feel hurt when I here someone say that God has no feelings, that he does not exist, that he allows things to happen because he does not feel.  I hope that the coming week is a better one.

Week 9

The Problem of Evil, and Asian Religions

Buddhism may be right in some aspects, to say that we are “preoccupied” with our own desires”.  Generally, when we want something in life and are unable to get it we tend to suffer, we are humans with feelings, are we selfish in wanting what we desire No.  Wanting something in your life is not being selfish, for example:  I want a brand new car, am I being preoccupied with this NO, if this makes me selfish than sobeit, can I afford it NO, not yet.  Will I detach myself from my desires, NO; I need to have desires to be able to accomplish my goal of buying a brand new car. 

I belief that sometimes our suffering is not self centered; it can be other things such as the death of your friends love one.  Buddhism teachings may or may not be right for everyone, we all have different beliefs and society has established its rules and regulations that we must follow, Buddhists must follow their own rules and regulations in their society.

Do I think it is possible to learn according to the teachings of Buddhism; everything in life is possible, we learn to love, to hate and to be.  Some of the teachings of Buddhism can be followed in society; we can try to live in peace, yet we have not succeeded.

Week 8

Cosmological and Design Arguments

Because philosophy is explained more by knowledge and experience, and religion is mostly faith, what is felt by the heart, what man has proposed as being real, such things are explained in a holy book to be real.

Although, written by man, and translated by man, we know that in translating from Hebrew to English and other languages, we know that you can lose some of its value of what is truly being said. 

I was raised with Pentecostal beliefs, we were educated that there is a greater being in this universe; we were told of the Holy Trinity, have I ever experienced a miracle “NO”.  There are scientists trying to deter people from their belief, they explain or try to explain the BIG BANG THEORY that may put doubt in anyone’s heart.

To belief a scientist theory or to belief what you have known all along is a struggle in it self.  I belief that you should not have to struggle if your faith is stronger than your doubt.   I personally think that humans need to belief in something just because.  Those who belief in this greater being have never seen or touched him, yet we belief that he is present in our daily life’s.

Week 6

Another day another 50 cents, it has been hard for me this week between the deaths of 3 patients, not even the machines that kept these patients alive worked, they were just machines. Then we have school, it makes me wonder if this is the right thing to do, but despite everything I am going to continue until the last day.
Now to a lighter note  I saw a movie I Robot, I think that was the name, with Will Smith I liked alot, its sort of what we are learning in class, AI and humans, how they can react to your questions, professor has critiqued some students not all. Oh well just another week.

Functionalism and Artificial Intelligence

Week 6

This brings back memories of a true story written by John Colapinto, “ As Nature Made Him.”  This is a story of a young boy who because of a freak accident lost his identity and was brought up as a girl as part of a cruel experiment. We are made to believe from childhood that we are who we are. We are being taught to do every task as a women would do or as a man would, as a women we are told that it is ok to show emotions and man are told that they should show strength and not emotions (cry), we teach our children how to talk, walk, dress and so on.  We are given the opportunity to decide what is best for us.  Sometimes our decisions may be wrong by other people’s standards, but are correct for us.  We can also make wrong decision right,

Intellectually, we are similar to computers they are programmed to do exactly what the programmer has intended it to do, as humans we are also programmed to do as our parents intend.  If computers are not programmed they are just metal objects without data .  Can the computer have the ability to think, love, and to feel on its own? I can only say that they do not, in order for a metal object to love it must have a human heart and a human mind. As humans we know that we are capable of many things, we have freedom to do as we wish, even if what we do is not right in the eyes of our society.

Week 5

I can't believe this week has past me by so quickly,  there is so much reading and writing to do that I feel exhausted.  Although this weeks class I enjoyed very much, it was creative to say the least, and many of the students did such a good job with their lesson plans, that it brought me back to when my son was in school, where he came home excited because that days lesson was fun and he was able  to participate.  Anyway, week 5 is upon me.  Got to go and read.