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Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Is there a common human understanding of morality? - destination, 5 stars

            I wish I could believe that there was a common human understanding of morality, however, if there ever was one, it is no longer present in today�s society. Just by walking down the halls of Linden High School one can see that a large portion of the school has little morals. The golden rule was taught to most people as a child and this rule is a logical understanding for what is right and what is wrong. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. If a person wants respect, he or she must give respect in return.

            Morals on an elementary basis are almost nonexistent. In almost every culture elders demand respect, but in today�s American society, everyone is too preoccupied with themselves. There will always be people who have loose morals but the number of people seems to be growing in size.

            Religion and human life continue to be a major moral dispute. People continue to kill for their religion and many do not value human life, including their own.  I believe that humans naturally know what is right and what is wrong. Everything a person does, will affect them emotionally. This will allow the person to determine what is right and what is wrong. Today either people don�t feel, or don�t take their feelings into consideration and thus they don�t care if what they are doing is right, they just want to complete their objectives.

Overall, I feel that morality is dying, it�s not dead, but it�s very ill.

Fairness (TOK) - destination, 5 stars

Children often have the misconception that the world needs to be fair. Children are very naive. Most children are not able to look at multiple points of view and thus they do not understand that most people are not concerned with what you want. As a person gets older they realize that life isn�t fair and they stop using this phrase. Nothing is really fair, there are too many variables involved in every situation so it would be impossible to give everyone the same opportunity.

If everything were fair then there would be no corruption in the world. No matter how fair you try to make everything, someone will always try to manipulate the situation to his or her advantage. The key point is not the welfare of others but the survival of your self. It is instinctive to preserve your survival.

Fairness is usually not in question unless it is to your disadvantage. If everyone receives the same amount of homework but it is several hours worth of homework, it might not be considered fair because of the amount of time it will consume. It is not favorable to those who must complete it and thus the students might say that it isn�t fair. Everyone must do something that they don�t wish to at one point or another in their lives and as a person you have very little control over any of it.

Regardless of if something is fair, you are usually stuck with it. In there are no refunds in your life. Whatever, fate, or time, throws you, you must beat or you will never overcome your obstacles. There is no one to complain to nor is there anyone to fix your problems if you do not do it yourself.

Art (TOK) - destination, 5 stars

�Art is the most intense mode of individualism the world has ever known. I am inclined to say that it is the only real mode of individualism, since, alone, without any reference to his neighbors, without and interference, the artist can fashion beautiful things; and if he does not do it solely for his own pleasure, he is not an artist at all...All art is quite useless.�

-Oscar Wilde

            Art is emotion in its purest expressible form. Art shows life from the artist�s point of view thus giving you an insight to the artist and his or her influences. Art is one of the few things that doesn�t have to make sense. Poetry is in my opinion, the best example of incoherent thought within art.

Overall, I have no idea what this except means. It does have meaning somewhere, but since I wasn�t present during the activity mentioned above, I have no idea what Kelly is trying to express. Images, thoughts and feelings are described but the average person has no idea what the meaning is to all of it. It is created from emotion and it evokes emotion in others who can relate with it.

Art can be beautiful. To say that art is the process of creating beautiful things is incorrect. Art is more about emotion then beauty. What you feel is true to you while beauty holds no truth. The quality of the artwork can be beautiful and detailed while the message behind it can be dark and grotesque.

The artist who works for others isn�t an artist in Wilde�s view only because the artist is expressing the emotions of someone else without feeling them directly. The artist may or may not feel what a client is trying to express but the emotion will be contaminated with his or her emotions as well as those of the client regardless of how the artist feels. Art should be used as an outlet for creativity and stress. A true artist is not only creative, but feels inspired from time to time. During this time, the artist needs to burn off that creative energy and thus will be compelled to create works of art. He or she is not doing this for anyone else; it is for his or her own satisfaction. All artists dream of making profit off of their work but money is not the main or original focus.

All art is more or less useless. It isn�t totally useless, for nothing is totally useless, but if one looks at the big picture, art has little impact on humanity as a whole. Yes, art can be used as an emotional outlet; however, art will not cure disease, hunger, or other worldwide problems. It can affect the individual. Art is a form of entertainment and it can help one relax. Overall art helps me as an individual. Whenever I�m stressed out I�ll drew, or write poetry, or take pictures and it allows release for whatever is bothering me, and then I can start a fresh look at reality. Watching TV is more pointless then art just because TV consumes your mind and yet provides no exercise to your brain while artistic activities increase creativity.

I do agree with Oscar Wilde�s quote regarding art. I believe that art is a form of individualism, however it is more connected with emotions, either human emotions or the specific emotions of the individual. Art does not have an important purpose but it does have one all the same.

Has learning mathematics trained your mind? (TOK) - destination, 5 stars

In my opinion mathematics has had little impact on my mind. Mathematics was never a strong point of mine and this might be the reason why I don�t see myself trained by mathematics. When I go to solve a problem mathematics are not my tool of choice. I first go to logic to help solve problems.  Even then I cannot say that learning logic has trained my mind. Your mind trains itself and it should be open to a variety of methods. Mathematics are considered to be a logical subject, however, unless your mind is theory orientated, visible methods are preferred over anything abstract. Most of math is abstract and exists in a realm of its own. 

            Math can be applied to everyday life and I do need it to figure out certain problems. When shopping, I�ll calculate percents to determine the discount. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and basic algebra are the extent of my math usage in everyday life. Mathematics contains many more aspects, but unless your work requires them, they will rarely ever be used. While learning math, I often find myself questioning exactly what the material does. I know what a function is. I know how to draw functions. I don�t know when I would use a function outside of school. I need to learn this material because a person should have a well-rounded concept of every subject, however, it isn�t very useful to me. I am sure it is useful to some people but the knowledge of it does not help me to apply it.

            In all honestly, I believe math and history are the least trained in my mind. My mind is trained in art because I know when I see something beautiful. Arts and languages inspire emotions within and your mind reacts when they are present. My mind is trained in science because science is proof. One might say that math is proof and much of science is obtained through the use of numbers in math, however, science is physical and is based more on observations rather then method. History as a subject is not trained in my mind. I do know historical facts, but I cannot relate them to my life.

            Overall I fell mathematics has not trained my mind. It is useful but it is not the main focus of my thinking. I understand it as an abstract concept, but in reality it means very little to me.

Science and Perception (TOK) - destination, 5 stars

          Science has been greatly misunderstood throughout it�s history. During the middle ages, scientists were seen as magicians, the only ones capable of predicting and explaining the world around them. Science was nothing but a trick and this idea still applies to this world. When Copernicus proved that the Earth orbited the sun, people refused to accept his theories. The church was so powerful that it was easier to agree with the church then hold your own opinions.

          Today we have a greater understanding of not only the world around us, but the universe as well. The knowledge of subatomic particles, the space-time continuum, and the behavior of electromagnetic fields might not seem to have an impact on your everyday life, however these rules effect your everyday life and they might have a greater effect on your life in the future. To not care about anything around you that you cannot see is simple ignorance.

          Subatomic particles are one of the main reasons why you cannot walk through your front door while the space-time continuum could allow man to travel to other universes in the future. These topics do affect your daily life even though they aren�t directly visible. Further research about these topics could lead to great invention and thus saying that these are unimportant only limits you.

          The public often has problems perceiving and understanding science. First of all, science uses its own set of vocabulary. This is similar with any other subject, english has its own set of terms and science does as well. Science is not introduced to children at the same level as english, math and other subjects. Many people have trouble understanding things that they cannot physically see in front of them. As a child I remember asking my math teacher about negative numbers and she just told me that they existed but that I shouldn�t ask about it until I�m older. When a child learns to count, expressions such as �You are given five apples, how many apples do you have when four are taken away?� are used to help the child visualize counting. A child cannot visualize negative one apples and thus this concept is saved until the child is older. The same holds true for science. We cannot see much of science with our eyes alone. We see the products of science, however the reasons behind it aren�t always visible.

          Morals and religion also play roles in the understanding of science. Much of religion interferes with science. Religion was used to explain why things are the way they are. Some believe that it was just created to comfort people and to give them something to explain reality. Religion is based on faith while science is based on proof. The proof that science presents will often conflict with faith, this discourages people from science.