I have read, learned, and now I will summarize

I have read some references about philosophy (hmmm, I'm getting a bit hooked up on this!), and here I will summarize what I have learned. The first chapter of a book by Tomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein introduced the theme of the book, which is, of course, philosophy.
I learned that in philosophy, questions beget questions, and the questions beget even more questions. And these questions beget yet a whole generation of questions. Well, I realized that's the whole idea of philosophy, finding answers naturally, rather than just a cooked up story (supernatural, in other words).
According to Aristotle, everything as a telos, which is an inner goal it was meant to obtain. An acorn has a telos: An oak tree. Birds have one, bees have one. Actually when I first read about this small subject it sounded a little abstract to me. But when I read a joke about this, it became clearer:
Mrs. Goldenstein was walking down the street with her two grandchildren. A friend stopped her to ask her how old they were. She said, "The doctor is five and the lawyer is seven."
What does this mean? I mean, the hidden meaning behind it? I was thinking about this joke when I read it on my ipod. Then I thought about the telos. What do you think?
Does human life have a telos? I was thinking about this. Well anyway Aristotle thought so. He thought the telos of human life is happiness, but this was much disputed by other philosophers throughout human history. St. Augustine thought the telos of life is to love god. Martin Heidegger (a tentalist, actually) thought the true telos of human life is to live without the denial of the true human conditions, especially Death. Well this is a rather challenging starting topic huh? What haveYOUgot to say to this?

- The HM

Chapter 3: The Myths

Sophie received the next big brown envelope which contained her next 'lesson' on philosophy. It was about the Ancient Greek myths.
"By philosophy we mean the completely mew way of thinking that evolved in Greece about 6 hundred years before the birth of Christ. Until that time people had found answers to all their questions in various religions. These religious explanations were handed down from generation to generation in the form of myths. A myth is a story about the gods which set out to explain why life is as it is." (mysterious writer, page 21-22)
Now there's another job for the philosophers. They sought to prove that these explanations were not to be trusted. That's why (partially only, actually) they had these questions to answer (by the questions I mean the ones that were stated earlier in the previous posts). Then the letter goes on to talk about one of the myths in Ancient Greek: Thor and his hammer (but these were not Greek myths).
Myths also existed when the first philosophers were evolving in Greece. The story of the Greek gods had been handed down from generation to generation for centuries. The gods were Zeus, Apollo, Hera, Athene, Dionysos and Asclepios, and many other gods. I am sure you have heard of them. It became only possible to discuss them when Homer and Hesiod wrote most of them down at around 700 B.C. The earliest Greek philosophers criticized Homer's mythology, because the gods resembled mortals too much and were just as egoistic and treacherous. For the first time, in history, it was said that the myths were nothing but human notions. It was probably also because of this that now myths are only stories to entertain somebody with (there are many interesting stories and adventures).
"men have created the gods in their own image." (Xenophane, 570 B.C.)
In conclusion, the Greek philosophers wanted to find natural, rather than supernatural, explanations for natural processes.

- The HM

P.S. What have you got to say to this? It's the newest topic of discussion =D

Chapter 2: The Top Hat

In this chapter, Sophie received a big brown envelope from the same anonymous writer. It was actually a free 'Course of Philosophy'. The first type-written letter was about the questions in life that philosophers seek the answer to. For example, one of the questions mentioned in the letter was "How was the world created?". But that will come later. At the start of the letter, the anonymous philosopher was talking about what people, or philosophers rather, do when their basic needs are satisfied. He/She gave a few examples: When somebody is dying of starvation, the most important thing to him is food. When somebody is dying of cold, the most important thing then would be warmth. If somebody feels lonely and isolated, the company of others would be a significant importance to him.
But when these basic needs are satisfied, what do people do then? Philosophers think that there is still something that we all need. Men cannot live by bread alone. Men need love and care, of course. But besides that, philosophers think there is still something else that we need to know: How we got here and why we are here. The mysterious writer suggested that the best waay to approach philosophy is to ask a few philosophical questions, for e.g., How was the world created? Is there any will or meaning behind what happens? Is there a life after death?
But basically there are not many philosophical questions to ask. Some of the most important ones were already mentioned above. History provides us with various and different answers to the questions, so it is much easier to ask than to answer the philosophical questions.
In conclusion, a philosopher is always searching for the truth.
Do you have any viewpoints on this matter? please leave a comment, and discuss in on the forum, thank you!

- The HM

2nd Topic I encountered in 'Sophie's World'

Sophie received a letter by some unknown person. That triggered her mental discussion about 'Life and Death'. Now she had received a second letter, probably from the same person, and it wrote: 'Where does the world come from?'. That triggered another mental discussion about the existence of the Earth, the galaxy, the universe. It ultimately led her to think about the existence of God:
"But if space had come from something else, then that something else must also have come from something. Sophie felt she was only deferring the problem. At some point, something must have come from nothing. But was that possible? Wasn't that just as impossible as the idea that the world had always existed?"
And:
"But then she started to think again. She could accept that God had created space, but what about God himself? Had he created himself out of nothing? Again there was something deep down inside her that protested. Even though God could create all kinds of things, he could hardly create himself before he had a "self" to create with. So there was only one possibility left: God has always existed. But she had already rejected that possibility! Everything that existed had to have a beginning."

Isn't this topic interesting? Have your say in the forum. Discuss about it.
-The HM

P.S. Before you discuss in the forum, you MUST, MUST comment first!

The Starting paragraphs of 'Sophie's World'

I managed to find 'Sophie's World' (the book that was recommended by Mr. Teo. The book was by Joestin Gaardner). As Mr. Teo has said, it was indeed a challenging read. More so because the book is a novel that was wrapped around philosophy. It makes it harder for us to understand. There are parts in the book (the parts which I read, of course) which require really in-depth thinking to uncover the profound and intriguing meaning to it. For example, what does this paragraph mean to you? :
"As Sophie started to think about being alive, she began to realize that she would not be alive forever. I am in the world now, she thought, but one day I shall be gone.
Was there a life after death? This was another question the cat was blissfully unaware of.
It was not long since Sophie's grandmother had died. For more than six months Sophie had missed her every single day. How unfair that life had to end!"
And, :
"As soon as she concentrated on being alive now, the thought of dying also came into her mind. The same thing happened the other way around: only by conjuring up an intense feeling of one day being dead could she appreciate how terribly good it was to be alive. It was like two sides of a coin that she kept turning over and over. And the bigger and clearer one side of the coin became, the bigger and clearer the other side became too."
These extracts talks about life and death (not literally, or course!). It is a topic that most of us try to avoid discussing about. In these few paragraphs it is talked about clearly. Sometimes people can only appreciate being alive when they are about to die. Quite interesting, isn't it? I will post more about Sophie's World as I read, so keep looking for these posts!

P.S. Remember to comment on it too!
P.P.S. I have added a forum so after commenting on the post you guys can discuss in the forum! =D

"Something very human about the whole thing."

In reference to the comprehension exercise that I have done, in the last paragraph of Passage A, the author said something about the ants that are 'very human'. He was referring to the black ant-slaves who were cheering for their slave-masters (the red ants) when they returned home in glory (after exterminating a black ant nest).
What the writer means is probably that when some people are not properly educated, they become less knowledgeable, and when they are influenced by the people around them, or more so, the people who are either their master or somebody of a higher rank, they are less efficient at making decisions, and worse still, thinking properly. Like the black ants that were cheering for the 'downfall' or their own kin, their own relatives, of their own kind. The author probably thinks humans are the same way too, in a sense that the youngsters/youths are not properly educated and they grow up to become gangsters or boisterous and un-educated, good-for-nothing people.
The author was suggesting that our education is not good. That should be the main point to that sentence (phrase, actually). Please commment under the 'comments' section or the tagboard. Thank you.

In response To Mr. Teo's post about Haiti

I have mentioned in my article about Haiti, that the difference in media attention etc. That just because they are a third-world country and they live in poverty, their living conditions are poor, so they receive more damage and it would be much harder for them to recover from this 7.0 earthquake.

Flowers For Algernon

Here's a video for FFA (Part 1):

If you want to view more of this video, go to:

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6hXBCahxrg&feature=related

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul_5KacN_b4&feature=related

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsNab1IARQc&feature=related

Part 5 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHgomHPQXNo&feature=related

Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptF06AEuDm0&feature=related

Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OveaA4l2KPw&feature=related

Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNKc0oyZ1No&feature=related

Part 9 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrITowvTqO4&feature=related

Part 10 (Final): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICPkFz93-uc&feature=related

Just click on the links to view them!

(Credits to alexei127!)

That was my third article

That was my third article thus far! I'm so proud of myself! ~lol~

Contents for last three articles:
5/20/2010 - Frankenstein
the other two are
Haiti , and Flowers for Algernon 'Settings'

Essay 2: Frankenstein - By Mary Shelly / Flowers For Algernon in comparison

Just recently in class, Mr. Teo (or Name, for that matter - NO offense, Mr. Teo) has shared with us two Expository Essays: 1 on the 'The Three Africas' and 2 on 'Frankenstein'.

It has been long debated about the issue of 'Frankenstein being a monster - or not?'

Frankenstein's creation's (FC) can be compared with Charlie Gordon (Flowers For Algernon), and we can see that there are many similarities. FC strived for love and friendship, and so did Charlie. And there is something else that they both sought: acceptance, and not rejection by the society.

The reason for their 'creation' is not very much different either: they were both out of good intention. Somebody close to Victor (FC's creator) died, and he was devastated, so he wanted to re-element people. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur conducted the experiment on Charlie Gordon, but the 'good intention' was on Charlie's part. Charlie wanted to become smarter so that he would be accepted by the society, so that he can make friends, so that he would feel love.

The only difference is the action that these two characters took in response to social rejection. FC transformed into a 'monster', a murderer who just wants revenge on the people who hated him. But deep in his heart he is good. He once helped out a blind man, and the moment of happiness he felt when the blind man said that he was the kindest man in the world. But still, he became a murderer who waants revenge. Charlie was different. When he could not find acceptance in society, he tried harder, and harder. He had the motivation to try and keep on trying.

There is another minor difference in their lives because FC was abandoned by his creator upon his creation, but Charlie Gordon was not really abandoned, but he was looked down upon and teased by his friends and other people.

FC was not as 'special' as Charlie in a sense that Charlie had the drive to become intelligent and make friends, but FC could not deal with the problem the hard way, so he chose the 'easy' way out, or the wrong way. He chose to kill.

Flowers For Algernon - Settings

I have been taking notes for the past few days, and this is an elaboration of some notes that I took 1 or 2 weeks ago.
So how is the setting reality important? According to what Mr. Teo had taught us and the notes that I have taken, it is so that the readers can relate to Charlie Gordon's experiences to his own life and feel the feelings felt by Charlie Gordon. Readers can also step into Charlie Gordon's shoes, so its almost as if the reader himself is Charlie Gordon. The author can also convey his themes (e.g. friendship) to the reader. Another reason is that the reader can easily understand, or actually understand more, about Charlie Gordon and his experiences.
This story was based in New York. When many people hear of New York, they think it as a place of hope, a place to be successful, and a place to have a new and potentially fruitful beginning. This is realistic because although this story is 'Science Fiction', it is not based in some non-existing place or planet, for example, the story (series, actually) 'Star Wars' is based in space, in some alien planet.
The characters in the story is realistic. They are not super-heroes, aliens or monsters, etc. Charlie Gordon was just a typical mentally-retarded person (but special), and Algernon was, literally, a typical lab reat (but also special). Even the other characters whose lives becomes intertwined with Charlie Gordon. Mrs. Kinnian is a night school (for the mentally-challenged), Dr. Strauss is a neurosurgeon, Dr. Nemur is a psychologist. These are not preternatural jobs or something that we do not already know.
The time when this story took place was also realistic. It was in the present, as in the story there were neurosurgeons and psychologists. This helps the reader understand better, because the reader himself is familiar with these subjects. Unlike 'Star Wars', where technology was so advanced we know almost nothing about it until we watch the movie (s).

- Uncle HM

The Haiti Earthquake -

A massive earthquake struck Haiti just before 5 p.m. on January 12, about 10 miles south-west of Port-Au-Prince, which is the country's capital. It was the worst earthquake in the area for around 200 years. This earthquake was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, and this earthquake devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people, and leaving even more people homeless. The only earthquake that was almost as powerful as this one happened in 1984, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.

The newly appointed head of the United Nations operations in Haiti, has remarked that the number of casualties cannot be determined, because people are burying bodies themselves, and many just throw the body into the dumps outside the city, and an untold number still lie under the rubble.

The after-effects of this earthquake was much worse than the Si Chuan earthquake, although the magnitude of the Si Chuan earthquake was greater than the Haiti earthquake. This is because of one substantial fact, that Haiti can be considered a third-world country.

Besides the US, many Aid agencies have tried to help out at Haiti, but there is another problem: The Haiti airport was destroyed in the disaster, and only one runway is available for aicrafts. In other words, the agencies' helicopters and aircrafts could not find a place to land. This reduced the Aid received by Haiti significantly.

Haiti faces another crisis: Leadership problems. According to what I read in an article about this earthquake, many millions of dollars have been injected to assist Haiti, but these investors only find the government too weak to use it, to harness it.

The White House is encouraging donations to the international fund of the Red Cross to support relief efforts in Haiti. This was what I read from another article:

You can text 'Haiti' to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross. This bill will be added to the donor's cell phone bill. There are other similar organizations, so if you want to play a part in saving Haiti, this is one thing you can do for them.

Flowers For Algernon

I googled on 'Flowers for Algernon', and I found this website. Scroll down for the Link, under 'Hyperlinks'. It has very sufficient information on Flowers for Algernon. Read it! You'll learn something. (I read it too, duh).
For those who are too lazy to scroll down, the website is this:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/algernon

Um...This may be unecessary but just to tell you

This is the 4th blog that I'm making, actually 2 was made because in Primary school there was a class blog and another class blog. Danyon says my blog is pathetic so I'll improve on it by adding this post =D