"Every action we do says who we are, but every word we say says who our friends are."~S.C.
I am going to back track to when we went to the planetarium. I took some notes, not on what was being said but to what I was thinking about the Knowledge Issues that came to mind.
If black is the absence of light and the light from the stars keep on traveling towards us does that mean that the black night sky will no longer exist as we know it? Also does that mean that if I were to go outside and light a candle for five minutes and then extinguished it, does that mean the light from that candke would travel through the universe passing each point for a length of five minutes, or does that candle need to be continuously lit in order to push the light further on. I mean the light from the sun already reaches us eight minutes after it leavs the sun. Does the light decay or does it fan out so that the whole universe will get the five minutes of the candle light?
What is the center of the univer and what is located there? Is it empty? Is it a black hole? Is it a star? Is it a gargantuan planet? How far does it go to get to the center? If there is a center, is there an edge? Is the heat needed to sustain life come just from the sun or does it also come from the center of the galaxy or even universe? Does your location in the universe then limit the possibilites for life?
Does the universe expand until it "grows" to the point where the outward force is then reduced enough that the strength of the universe's(Not Earth's) gravity(center) is strong enough to pull it back in on itself and the pull of the gravity due to the amount of mass being focused in a single spot overcomes for a mere fraction of a second so that the waiting force of the electrons and atoms(quarks) reaches over the force of gravity but only after the condensed mass is under such great pressure that it becomes unstable to where now the force pushes it back out resulting in another "Big Bang". How long would it take for the outward force to slow enough so that gravity could overcome it? This is assuming that a frictionless universe it impossible. Would the rate at which the universal gravitational force accelerate in an exponental growth due to the accumulation of the universal mass being focused and thus receive a greater hold, or would the mass itself give negative acceleration? Or would the united force from the universal mass be so great that it expands the center to explode into the mass and the mass resulting in an implosion to where the previously stated Knowledge Issue would take over to the point where it would compact until it was unstable and then exert the force outward again?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Knower p6
"Life, the experience that gives you fun, love, sorrow, and the very things that are so annoying they could piss off a happy meal."~S.C.
I has been awhile since I have posted, but the reason is because I have been busy, go figure. School has been going well, for the most part. One ToK class we went to the planetarium because a few kids in our class were really interested in our relation to the rest of the universe. The Earth/Space Science and Astronomy teacher at our school gave the class insight. He guided the class through the cosmos. We started with Earth's address, and we backed out slowly to draw on a previous model we have seen and the relation to that. We left our solar system to look at your galaxy then further out to see multiple galaxies. He discussed The Big Bang Theory (not the TV show), and the origins of life and the possibilities for other life in the universe. He also showed us a model of what Hubble's deep space images look like. While doing this he kept his beliefs out of the classroom and at the end shared his personal thoughts. He always specified it what he was telling us was Fact, or Belief.
The problem with that is in a previous ToK class we talked about the linking questions/words in "Knower p1". Between Belief, Certainty, and Truth we also discussed what are facts and that facts don't truly exist. Nor to laws or parameters. There is no limit, so that doesn't define us to a set limit or an infinite limit, but perhaps a mixture, just as the way we really do have it now. Giving the teacher respect we let him talk. A big question at the end is how do we know for "certain" that the "facts" and information he gives us is "true". He responded with with the scientific response of what certain affects or science can explain this, he also said that there is a chance to be completely wrong, because the "Laws" of Physics and the Earth are very possible to not be the same somewhere else in the universe.
I didn't find this class to enlightening for myself because I did already know the material from watching countless hours of the Science Channel. My cup of tea is theoretical astronomical physics, and this last year for a few months there was a big special on just that. Sir Steven Hawking has my complete focus as well as other physicists. It takes a certain type of person to be a theoretical physicist, a person that is willing to question everything we know, everything we don't know; willing to scrap the table and start anew from the basics with the new technology that is here today. These people are the ones I connect with. I recall always, and even now, asking Why? and How?
I has been awhile since I have posted, but the reason is because I have been busy, go figure. School has been going well, for the most part. One ToK class we went to the planetarium because a few kids in our class were really interested in our relation to the rest of the universe. The Earth/Space Science and Astronomy teacher at our school gave the class insight. He guided the class through the cosmos. We started with Earth's address, and we backed out slowly to draw on a previous model we have seen and the relation to that. We left our solar system to look at your galaxy then further out to see multiple galaxies. He discussed The Big Bang Theory (not the TV show), and the origins of life and the possibilities for other life in the universe. He also showed us a model of what Hubble's deep space images look like. While doing this he kept his beliefs out of the classroom and at the end shared his personal thoughts. He always specified it what he was telling us was Fact, or Belief.
The problem with that is in a previous ToK class we talked about the linking questions/words in "Knower p1". Between Belief, Certainty, and Truth we also discussed what are facts and that facts don't truly exist. Nor to laws or parameters. There is no limit, so that doesn't define us to a set limit or an infinite limit, but perhaps a mixture, just as the way we really do have it now. Giving the teacher respect we let him talk. A big question at the end is how do we know for "certain" that the "facts" and information he gives us is "true". He responded with with the scientific response of what certain affects or science can explain this, he also said that there is a chance to be completely wrong, because the "Laws" of Physics and the Earth are very possible to not be the same somewhere else in the universe.
I didn't find this class to enlightening for myself because I did already know the material from watching countless hours of the Science Channel. My cup of tea is theoretical astronomical physics, and this last year for a few months there was a big special on just that. Sir Steven Hawking has my complete focus as well as other physicists. It takes a certain type of person to be a theoretical physicist, a person that is willing to question everything we know, everything we don't know; willing to scrap the table and start anew from the basics with the new technology that is here today. These people are the ones I connect with. I recall always, and even now, asking Why? and How?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Knower p5
"If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?" ~Stanislaw J. Lec
When we were going over definitions one of the student's words was Belief. We got into what is belief and how it differs from truth, proof, justification, religion, facts, and experience. Trying to move on we were told to write down our thoughts on belief.
I wrote: ~Belief~
An animal can have a feeling, but how we define it as relation among humans shouldn't transfer across lines of different understanding and how different species may have different neural systems and thus have different ways of translating how an animal might experience an emotion, but to what effect and how influential they are on the individual's actions.
When we were going over definitions one of the student's words was Belief. We got into what is belief and how it differs from truth, proof, justification, religion, facts, and experience. Trying to move on we were told to write down our thoughts on belief.
I wrote: ~Belief~
An animal can have a feeling, but how we define it as relation among humans shouldn't transfer across lines of different understanding and how different species may have different neural systems and thus have different ways of translating how an animal might experience an emotion, but to what effect and how influential they are on the individual's actions.
Knower p4
"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." ~Andre Gide
In ToK as I mentioned in a previous post, I had to disprove "I am the Knower". How I got to having to do this is because my teachers had everybody in the class write down five things they know is true. Preferably the top five things. I choose:
1-My name is -Blank- -Blank -Blank-
2-The building blocks of life are cells
3-I am the knower
4-I am human
5-I have written this exercise
These seem without a doubt completely true and factual. We then had to pick ONE that we believed in the strongest. I choose #3 partially because I wanted to be arrogant. The reason it is arrogant is because everyday our teachers tell us, we are the Knowers. Once everybody has shared we were told that our homework was to come up with three statements disproving our "truth". Mine is:
1-Maybe you truly don't "know" anything. It's possible that you only perceive the situation then your emotions and reasoning kick in to not just give meaning to what is going on, but to how you relate to the situation. Any language present helps refine what you are perceiving, and then language gives you the ability to express What is going on, Who or What is involved, When and where it is takign place, casue and effect, and lastly how you factor into it.
2-The only things we truly "know" are what we believe to be true, and what we, without hesitation nor doubt, want to be true.
3-If you are asked if you know something, you have to retrieve that information from your memory, and if you forget, or are unable to retrieve that information you've effectivly lost that knowledge. If at a later time you happen to remember the piece of information your memory has just failed you when you need it, and now has repaired itself. From that you could say that your knowledge is subjective to your memory, and your enviorment affects your memory; thus, your memory is affected by your environment.
In ToK as I mentioned in a previous post, I had to disprove "I am the Knower". How I got to having to do this is because my teachers had everybody in the class write down five things they know is true. Preferably the top five things. I choose:
1-My name is -Blank- -Blank -Blank-
2-The building blocks of life are cells
3-I am the knower
4-I am human
5-I have written this exercise
These seem without a doubt completely true and factual. We then had to pick ONE that we believed in the strongest. I choose #3 partially because I wanted to be arrogant. The reason it is arrogant is because everyday our teachers tell us, we are the Knowers. Once everybody has shared we were told that our homework was to come up with three statements disproving our "truth". Mine is:
1-Maybe you truly don't "know" anything. It's possible that you only perceive the situation then your emotions and reasoning kick in to not just give meaning to what is going on, but to how you relate to the situation. Any language present helps refine what you are perceiving, and then language gives you the ability to express What is going on, Who or What is involved, When and where it is takign place, casue and effect, and lastly how you factor into it.
2-The only things we truly "know" are what we believe to be true, and what we, without hesitation nor doubt, want to be true.
3-If you are asked if you know something, you have to retrieve that information from your memory, and if you forget, or are unable to retrieve that information you've effectivly lost that knowledge. If at a later time you happen to remember the piece of information your memory has just failed you when you need it, and now has repaired itself. From that you could say that your knowledge is subjective to your memory, and your enviorment affects your memory; thus, your memory is affected by your environment.
Knower p3
“There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul.”
"Arnold Bennett Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/arnold_bennett/.
Here is a cool video that I like, and in a way kinda gets to the ToK center. Try to thing about what is being said opposed to just the music.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Knower p2
“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones.”
"Alexander Solzhenitsyn Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/quotes/alexander_solzhenitsyn/>.
In ToK we started off discussing which way of knowing was more convincing to each of us(the students). I picked Reason. And a majority of the class did as well. About a fourth picked Perception, and four students picked Emotion. Nobody picked Language. We have spent a great deal of time on Reason.My word was Emotion. I gave my two definitions and the sources. A kid that sits next to me get really annoyed when people say "Like when I like...like... you know, like experienced this situation it like was like really like... like it had a great impact on me". Unfortunately we have about five kids in the class that do that, and they all love to talk. So this kid to distract himself brought in a book to read. One of the teachers(we have two for this class) told him to put it away when she walked by very politely, and he did so, but you could tell that he was getting annoyed with the "Likers". We have talked about different dimensions(all the way up to ten) and how religion has an effect on knowing, and knowing on religion. Today we were finishing(trying to anyways) our definitions of the Areas of Knowledge, Ways of Knowing, and Linking Questions/Words. Mine was Emotion.
An animal can have a feeling, but how we are to define it as relative among humans shouldn't transfer across lines of different understanding, and how different species may have different neural and nervous systems and thus, that different ways of translating how an animal might experience an emotion, but to what effect and how influential they are on the individual's actions. If we as human beings can't even accurately translate or transfer the meaning of one person's emotions to another then why should it be acceptable to do so with other organisms?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Knower p1
I have just created this Blog. I am interested to see how this works out, and basically I will put things that go through my mind. Some might be interesting or not. If I'm surfing the web and I get a cool site or a cool video I'll post the links. But first off I want to state that I am an IB(International Baccalaureate) student. Currently a junior, and I plan on continuing the programme. In IB there is a class that is called Theory of Knowledge. I will refer to this class as ToK. ToK is basically a philosophy class that breaks how we know things or if we don't and how or why. The four ways of Knowing are: Sense Perception, Reason, Language, and Emotion. The six areas of Knowledge are: Human Sciences, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Ethics, History, and The Arts. The main linking questions/words are: Belief, Certainty, Culture, Evidence, Experience, Explanation, Interpretation, Intuition, Justification, Reliability, Technology, Truth, Understanding, Values. Knowledge Issue(s) (K.I.(s)) are: Open-ended question; Explicitly about knowledge; Couched in ToK vocabulary and concepts; precise in terms of relationships between these concepts. Now that you know the terminology you should be able to follow.
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