Last blog of the semester. It's been a great class, in my opinion. I think everyone at MCLA should take it and learn as much as they can from it. My favorite chapter was the one about existentialism. I think the greatest lesson taught was the one outside of the book: Do not let college be a means to an end.Take as much as you can from it and don't use it as a stepping stone just to get to three or four years from now.
What is your opinion on the class? Best lesson? Favorite chapters?
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A comic for NHN...
Just a funny comic for all NHN bloggers.
(Even after the end of the year, they'll be watching over us. Don't worry!)
Credit goes to xkcd.com. Check it out sometime!
Immortality as a Curse
Austin asked why people view living forever as a curse rather than a blessing. Well, I believe they say this under the assumption that even though you live forever, your friends and family do not. You would watch everyone you have ever been close to die, yet you would live on. I think most people believe that there comes a time when you have fulfilled your life and that it is a good day to die. If you live forever, that time will never come. You would watch the world change and be constantly floating in change. And what do you live for when you live forever?
I think I will use that as my discussion question: When you can live forever, what do you live for?
I think I will use that as my discussion question: When you can live forever, what do you live for?
My faith.
This is a response to a simple, yet powerful, question posted by Karla. "How strong is your faith?" This can be answered first by describing what faith and spirituality is to me. I am an odd mix of all sorts of spiritual beliefs. Faith, to me, is trusting in these beliefs based on evidence that I can see, even if others cannot. I understand that what I see as evidence may be coincidence to some or mere foolishness to others, but it reinforces my beliefs nonetheless.
My faith has only grown stronger as I discover more and more practices of spirituality that go hand-in-hand with my own. I believe that there is some form of life after death, but that doesn't mean I am ready to face it. I admit I sometimes think, "What if I am wrong? What if I die and that is the end? What if I don't wake up in some other world and I really am nothing anymore?" This is when my faith comes in and comforts me, and I look at the world around me and see all sorts of spiritual things. I feel confident that this is not everything. We have much more to look forward to.
My faith is not as strong as it could be. It started as a lump of clay, to use a metaphor, and I have been shaping it over the years. It still has a bit more of forming to go before it is at its strongest, but I know it will get there in time. I cannot rush it.
Do you believe there is more to life than what we see?
My faith has only grown stronger as I discover more and more practices of spirituality that go hand-in-hand with my own. I believe that there is some form of life after death, but that doesn't mean I am ready to face it. I admit I sometimes think, "What if I am wrong? What if I die and that is the end? What if I don't wake up in some other world and I really am nothing anymore?" This is when my faith comes in and comforts me, and I look at the world around me and see all sorts of spiritual things. I feel confident that this is not everything. We have much more to look forward to.
My faith is not as strong as it could be. It started as a lump of clay, to use a metaphor, and I have been shaping it over the years. It still has a bit more of forming to go before it is at its strongest, but I know it will get there in time. I cannot rush it.
Do you believe there is more to life than what we see?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Like Father, Like Son
A couple of classes ago, we discussed parents, children, and careers. More often than not, children will end up following relatively the same career path as their parents. This probably started years and years ago, where if your parents were farmers (for example), you would inherit the farm and become a farmer.
Nowadays, even with all sorts of careers available, kids tend to follow the examples that their parents set. Even if they don't have exactly the same career, it is usually influenced by what their parents did.
My question is this: Let's say there's a kid who has a perfectly good relationship with both of his biological parents, but goes into a completely different career field than both of them. Who influenced this child? Was it nature or a nurture outside of his family?
Nowadays, even with all sorts of careers available, kids tend to follow the examples that their parents set. Even if they don't have exactly the same career, it is usually influenced by what their parents did.
My question is this: Let's say there's a kid who has a perfectly good relationship with both of his biological parents, but goes into a completely different career field than both of them. Who influenced this child? Was it nature or a nurture outside of his family?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The New MCLA
My layout for an existentialist MCLA would be as follows:
No majors are to be declared until a student has received two years of education. The first year, the students take a variety of classes and seminars that cover many of the school’s offerings. The next year, the students choose one or two subjects from the previous year they liked most, continue to study those, and take even more of a variety of courses. This goes on for one semester. The next semester, if the student wants to change the class they like from one from the previous year to one they studied first semester, they can. They will still take the last few variety courses and then declare a major based on what studies of the past two years they liked most.
Junior year would be focused on what the student likes the most. The student would take advanced level classes in these subjects, along with a philosophy class and a class that is very different from the students major. For example, as a writing major, I would take some 200 and 300 level writing courses, a philosophy course, and another course in something like physics or chemistry. It will strengthen the students’ weaknesses and broaden their mind.
Senior year, the student would be the year of freedom for the students. They would get to utilize all they have learned in the subject they chose as their major and do things like write a thesis paper or carry out an independent study. They could do whatever they like, as long as it reflects on what they have learned for the past three years of their lives.
What do you think about this?
No majors are to be declared until a student has received two years of education. The first year, the students take a variety of classes and seminars that cover many of the school’s offerings. The next year, the students choose one or two subjects from the previous year they liked most, continue to study those, and take even more of a variety of courses. This goes on for one semester. The next semester, if the student wants to change the class they like from one from the previous year to one they studied first semester, they can. They will still take the last few variety courses and then declare a major based on what studies of the past two years they liked most.
Junior year would be focused on what the student likes the most. The student would take advanced level classes in these subjects, along with a philosophy class and a class that is very different from the students major. For example, as a writing major, I would take some 200 and 300 level writing courses, a philosophy course, and another course in something like physics or chemistry. It will strengthen the students’ weaknesses and broaden their mind.
Senior year, the student would be the year of freedom for the students. They would get to utilize all they have learned in the subject they chose as their major and do things like write a thesis paper or carry out an independent study. They could do whatever they like, as long as it reflects on what they have learned for the past three years of their lives.
What do you think about this?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Repsonse to Yvonne
So, this blog discusses family. When looking for potential partners, do we look for traits that our parents have? And how does this apply to people who grow up with one parent?
First of all, I think it would depend on how you were raised. If you grow up with abusive parents or hate your parents, I think even subconsciously you would be turned against anyone who is like them. However, if you like your parents and relatively get along with them, then you know that you are comfortable around those kinds of people and might manage to find yourself dating someone like your parents. I don't think it is always the case, however. If we like how we were raised, we may find flaws in it and try to turn away from people like our parents, even if we appreciate them.
If you grow up with one parent, then all of this applies to the one parent that you grew up with.
How would this concept affect children who have been moved to and from multiple foster homes?
First of all, I think it would depend on how you were raised. If you grow up with abusive parents or hate your parents, I think even subconsciously you would be turned against anyone who is like them. However, if you like your parents and relatively get along with them, then you know that you are comfortable around those kinds of people and might manage to find yourself dating someone like your parents. I don't think it is always the case, however. If we like how we were raised, we may find flaws in it and try to turn away from people like our parents, even if we appreciate them.
If you grow up with one parent, then all of this applies to the one parent that you grew up with.
How would this concept affect children who have been moved to and from multiple foster homes?
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