here is some food for thought..

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Originally Posted by txarkitekt

See? Two PERFECT examples of how EFFING USELESS that class is. Who would wanna go in there and have their mind corrupted by that jibberish? And if your mind is not able to be corrupted and you argue--is it REALLY worth your time to waste a breath on morons like that???

No offense to you Meli for taking that class. I am not making fun of you--honest.

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Exactly, it's all just hippie jibberish in the end. It might be a good topic to discuss if I were hanging around with the "Dazed and Confused" crowd, but I don't.

Philosophy for the most part is just theory that negates science. Sure the cells of George Bush aren't the same, but in the end everything is carbon based. The formation of molecules forms a complex organism capable of thought. One of those organisms thought of the idea of making a college class about "what ifs" and then that brings us back to where we started.

I don't mean this to be rude towards anyone in the least way. I just take a much more scientific approach to life. It might explain why I'm not religious.

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Originally Posted by txarkitekt

See? Two PERFECT examples of how EFFING USELESS that class is.

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LOL You need to come over and hear Tyler's lecture on philosophy; I've heard it, it runs about 26-seconds! LOL :P j/k

The *class* might be useless - growing a properly functioning critical mind is not. There is a description from the Old Testament that says The Devil is the one who seduces you with 999 truths, and then slips in the one big lie you fall for that unravels your life. All of us have judgements about how we think this world 'works', we have many ideas, assumptions, observations, impressions, understandings about society and family, and for most of us we get 99% of it right but also we usually harbor one (or more) mis-assumptions about how this world works and will unwittingly continue to operate from those flawed philosophies (for decades in cases) to our personal doom.

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Originally Posted by Melissa@NelsonPerformance

like the movie matrix??
he found out everything was computerized...
how do we know that the world we are living in is not computerized???
its not? can you prove it?
it is? can you prove that?

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Look, no disrespect here but if this is all the deeper your classroom discussion of The Matrix is then you guys are lost, and you are nowhere close to the question the Wychowski Brothers are asking in that story.

The answer to your questions is - you ALREADY live in "a matrix" - your brain is already being fed eletrical impulses that you interpret as reality (from your senses); and you already freely interact with other brains. In the story the machines never interfere with 'brain-to-brain' interractions; all they do is paint a stage for the dramas to play out on. All the "actors" in The Matrix still posess the ability to shape and control their everyday lives, just as we do; Morpheous is not exactly correct when he expresses that everyone in The Matrix is a slave. The movie makes it very clear that most participants prefer the comfort and routine and stability of that 'everyday world' and exist like machines themselves.

Now, if you want to take a thought from this - from the "what if" pretend situation where computers provide only "the construct", only the setting or appearances of a world - then it *might* be this realization: that once one chooses to not entirely believe the normally accepted appearances, to not believe in hard-cast laws of cause & effect (causality), then one will be freed from causal consequences and open new worlds of inner discovery. As Morpheous tells us, it's all in our minds. And that is closer to the entire point of the movie's authors, which is WAKE UP and not be afraid to change. The second point the authors are trying to make is that when you DO truly open up a world of discovery and attempt to introduce radical change it usually provokes negative reaction from society (the agents) because humanity has not matured to a point yet where real radical change can be *constructively* integrated into the fabric of our existence; in fact our societal structure has become so bloated it's like a huge ocean ship, you just cannot stop or steer it on a dime. And this limitation we are now fighting (as a culture), it would be really easy to attack global warming (as an example) if culture/society had a way to allow immediate radical change without upheaving the rest of the world - but it doesn't, and that property works both for and against humankind.

IMO that thought is a lot more productive springboard into more substantial philosophical "explorations".

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Originally Posted by Melissa@NelsonPerformance

• What form of government is best? A Republic.
• Is there a God? ...Does it make any difference whether there is or isn’t a God? George Carlin has already addressed this one. Well.
• Do ends justify means? Never.
• What is truth? Truth is your insights gained from examining the facts; we can all agree on the facts, but will each have our own unique view of Truth.
• Is it possible to know anything with absolute certainty? Don't ever take anything for granted - the world is not a simple place.

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Mr. P. :)

I'm offended by the negative usage of the name hippie above. :spit:

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Originally Posted by GasGuzzler

I'm offended by the negative usage of the name hippie above. :spit:

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LOL, are hippies a race now? NAAHP

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Originally Posted by misterp

Look, no disrespect here but if this is all the deeper your classroom discussion of The Matrix is then you guys are lost, and you are nowhere close to the question the Wychowski Brothers are asking in that story.





Mr. P. :)

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nah i was thinking out loud.. it was nothing from class.. its been only the first calm down!

OH, you’re one of those people wanting to know “What’s it all about.”
"We live on a rock. There ain't no rhyme. There ain't no reason. We live on a rock, just one of many, hurtling around in some big cosmic jambalaya. Now you wanna get questiony, that's your prerogative. My ma took me to a big loud church every Sunday. She squeezed her eyes shut, she pressed her rosary beads to her lips, and she prayed for good things for those she loved. But cancer took two of her sisters. Her husband couldn't make a move without a belly full of gin. Her youngest son turned to a life of crime. And her oldest--me--is a nasty sonofabitch who can’t get out of third gear without a snarl. So who was she talking to every Sunday? And why wasn’t he answering? I will tell you why. Because we live on a rock, just one of many. There ain't no answers. There's just this. And all you can really hope to do is find a couple of people who will make the seventy or eighty odd years we get to live on this sweet swinging sphere remotely tolerable."

From some corny tv show……..but that about says it for me.

Philosophy…….search for wisdom?
I understand why it’s studied (not taught) in college…….
Sharing your philosophy or opinion is one thing debating them is huge waste of time.

(first of all if you dont want to read about what im studying or give me some in sight then dont read or post! thx)

well guys,
my final project will be to answer "Does it matter whether there is an afterlife? Does the question of whether an afterlife exists affect how we live now?".
there were many topics that i could have chosen from but ehhh i wanted to write about this.
for those who WOULD Like to help me out with my final project! PM me thanks!!