This I Believe

You are probably thinking about your "This I Believe" essay.  For this last blog discussion, explain what your core belief is.  What belief is the center of your life and actions and attitude.  What belief drives your life? If we had class on Tuesday, we would have done this there.  

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for such a good class.  I can't adequately tell you what it means to me as a teacher to have a group of students teach me so much--and remind me repeatedly what a joy and blessing my job is.  Best of luck to you all.  Look me up now and again.

Terrorist World View

We discussed what the text calls the two dominant images of the World War II Cultural Matrix:  The Holocaust and the Atomic Bomb.  In both those instances, how did the values the support technology challenge ( and, you might argue, defeat) the values that oppose technology?

It has been more than a generation since those horrors of World War II, but in our current war on terror--or whatever the terminology is today-- how are the same values that were in play in the 1940s still active?

Valuing Technology

I loved the Conan clip yesterday in the combined session that illustrates how we live in a "Science Fiction World."  In what specific ways to we show how we value technology (and the the values that support it) in our culture today?  Do you think that our valuing of toys, size, information, and speed and what they can bring to our lives override the values that oppose or conflict with technology (the subjective values) ?  Can we reconcile those conflicts?

Evolutionary World View and University College Day

I saw many of you in the keynote address on Tuesday, Thank God for Evolution.   If you attended that lecture, what did you think of the idea of an "evolutionary world view," or how evolution helps us understand ourselves and our world without removing the importance of the spiritual?   Or you can just discuss what you thought of the ideas Rev. Dowd presented.  What ever you do, discusss the relationships between the values associated with science and the values associated with faith, and how, or if, Rev. Dowd reconciles the two.

Alternatively, if you did not attend that lecture, what session did you attend and how can you apply our broad discussion of values to the presentation you heard.

Week off

As the portfolios were due on Thursday and we won't start the new unit until Tuesday, April 14, because of University College Day and Easter Break, we won't do a blog discussion this week.

I will post again next Friday, April 10.

Propaganda and You

Now that we have really discussed how propaganda works, at least according to Adolph Hitler, think about how you can recognize propaganda when you see it.  First define it and then give examples of how you might have been influenced by propaganda and when you recognized it and resisted it.

Is Freud Valid?

As a reminder, the first post for this prompt is not due until 3/24.  I hope you all have a restful Spring Break.

When we discuss the ideas of Sigmund Freud, we tend to focus on his quite controversial ideas about sexuality.  He does, however, have some valid points about how the mind works.  What connections can you make between his ideas about the validity of dreams as ways to understand the self and the values of the WWICM?  

The Sorrow of War

I was particularly struck by last week's discussion in that most of you focused on the values associated with motion, or the mechanistic values, but one person said that in our culture we want or need to believe that organic values still exist. I think that idea is particularly apropos to our discussion of the poetry of the First World War. The poets seem caught in despair when looking at a world that seemed to be out of control--where the mechanistic values all trumped the organic values with disastrous results.

We saw the human side of war and battle in the poetry we discussed in class. Do you feel that war today is humanized or is it dehumanized? Are we more sensitive to the horrors with the instant communication we have today--or are we desensitized? Whatever your reaction, what does that tell you about our values? Do we need the organic values?

Btw, I took the title of this post from a novel on the Vietnam War by Bao Ninh.

Bureaucracy

What values associated with the World War I Cultural Matrix do we as a society and culture still value? Which ones may have gone by the wayside? Be specific with your examples.

How Pink are We?

Wow! Isn't this discussion awesome?!! (And fun, I might add). This is really the pleasure of my day to sit and read such thoughtful, respectful intelligent conversation. I, like most of you, don't think too much about the working conditions of the workers who make (or pick) the items I buy. I am too much of a relativist for that, I think. You can see, however, that the matter is much more complex than simple righteous anger. This discussion just might mirror what consumers in Industrial England might have said about the textiles they bought . . . .

Anyway, on to this week's topic. In this country, we have political parties and social movements that seem to align themselves or distance themselves from the ideas presented by Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto. How would you imagine certain groups (pick your own, Republicans, Democrats, Religious Right, Feminists, etc.) would see their group and their cause in the context of those communist ideas?

Child Labor--Then and Now

I am posting this early this week. Your first response is due by Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 9:25 am.

At the end of class yesterday, I finished with a few questions that we didn't really have the time to discuss, so let's do it here.

When you buy any product, how concerned are you about the origin and production of that product? If some of the values of the Industrial Cultural Matrix are still values today (as you have noted) how much are we willing to accept in the name of progress and affordable goods?

What kind of ethical dilemmas might you be faced with when you consider boycotting certain products because of the use of child labor or other oppressive labor tactics? From what perspective do you make those judgments?

From Enlightenment to Industrial Revolution

Review the values associated with the Industrial Cultural Matrix and then consider the following two questions:

1. Do you think it a natural (or, perhaps more accurately, a logical) progression to move from the ideas of the Englightenment and the values associated with Critical Thinking to the ideas and practices of the Industrial CM and the values associated with Progress? Why or why not?

2. Do you see any of the values associated with Progress (both those that support and those that oppose it) in our contemporary culture? Be as specific as you can with your examples.

I Think, therfore I am

Rene Descartes' "I think, therefore, I am" became the foundational element of the Western Philosphy. My literal translation would mean, If I want proof that I exist, I have to be able to think, "I think, therefore, I am".

I had to research Descartes in order to get to know him better. He was a French philosopher and mathematician. He was educated by the Jusuits. While we was being educated by the Jusits, he realized how much he didnt' know. I learned that Descartes thirst for knowledge. He viewed everything through his eyes as mathematical. In other words, everything had to have a purpose and everything could be explained mathematically. Everything had to be precise and exact in his mind. There could be no room fo doubt.

This is where it doesn't make sense when he admits to thinking that there is a God, because in his mind, there had to be some higher being. Religion is based on Faith and that contradicts his philosophy. I'm glad he realized that there had to be a higher being but when you look back at how he viewed the world it doesn't make sense.

I need to go back to the original statement "I think, therefore, I am". That statement could not be so simple as it sounds because Descartes was too complicated of a man to have said something that didn't have a deeper meaning. For example, Descartes introduced the concept of mind and body into scientific philosophical debate.

I believe he was challening us to start to think differently. I once read somewhere that "the way we think, affect the way we feel, the way we feel, affects the way we act". What if Descartes wanted us to challenge even the most simplist things, for example, Is up really down, or is right really wrong, what if light was really darkness. I know it's sound crazy but, Descartes was way ahead of his time. He was in another class.

The fact that he reconized that the mind and body is one is an example of how way ahead of his time he was. I believe he wanted us to go forward and take everything we had learned and rethink it. I like the fact that he reconized that there had to be a Higher Being, God!!

I think; therefore, I am. (??)

Excellent discussion this week! This really bodes well for this blog!

How do you understand this, Descartes' most famous philosophy of life? I know we haven't had the chance yet to discuss it in class, but you seem like an astute bunch. What do you think this means, and how do Descartes' ideas about perfection clarify that meaning (or not, as the case may be)?

Enlightenment Values Today

We discussed all the values associated with the Enlightenment's integrating value of Critical Thinking. How do you see these same values being acted upon in our society/culture today? If you don't see them in our culture, you can discuss that as well. Be specific with the value(s) you see and give examples.

I know we also discussed the values associated with Progress, and the Industrial Cultural Matrix, but we'll discuss those later.