Solititude

Reflecting on solitude led me to realize that almost everyone in my family are solitary people. I do not like being around a lot of people, I do not like having to socialize when I don't feel like it. Ever since I was a young girl, I never liked hanging out in crowds. While there are people who yearn for the company of others, I prefer being by myself. If society didn't frown down upon solitude as much as it does, I would probably not care for being social. There is always this constant pressure that makes me look for people, to be their friend and to have them keep me company. I do not like this pressure, but at the same time I do not like others giving me pitiful looks because I am sitting alone or walking alone. Physically I am never alone but emotionally and mentally I am, and there is nothing wrong with that. I might have someone to keep me physical company but there is no one that understands how I think and how I feel. I like having life this way, it creates a sense of privacy and feeling of self. Being alone gives me the opportunity to find things I am happy for, I do not have to pretend to like something or to act one way. Yes, perhaps I need to find other friends who I have more in common but it is hard to do that, to establish friendships on common things because if people are like me, I will never know when they are truly are being sincere or they too are changing just so they can have someone and not be alone. Being alone is not bad, and I will never understand why society sees is as a bad stigma.

I Know This Means Something

Everyone always has those days where we have a sudden epiphany. You might be driving down the street, or sitting out somewhere, where there is no one that keeps distracting you. You are paying attention to the road or to nothing, just alone with your thoughts. When you reach that moment of thinking where you go over what you do and why you do it you often get that feeling of either satisfaction, indifference, or panic. Some people will be happy to realize that everything they do is for something and has a meaning. Those people might make themselves happy or others happy. At the end they are satisfied with what they do and with the meaning that their life and actions have. Then, there are the indifferent people. They don't mind their life like it is. Yeah, sometimes it must suck but they deal with it. They might not find meaning in all of their actions  but they know that there are some in between that do. To them, they are not sure if there is meaning in something but they won't take the extra step to figure it out. Let it come to them if there is, if not then oh well. Lastly, we have our panickers. The people who left alone in their thoughts will panic because they realize that what they are doing has no direction. Sometimes they over analyze things to the point where they have no distinction on what is enjoyable and what is not. They do not know if something means something, if they do not see it right infront of them then they won't believe it. They do not know what to do with themselves and if you do not know what to do with yourself, how can you know things have meaning or not? If you have not found your individual meaning?
I am probably way off, or wrong in most of this. But I do not care, or mind, because it is something I think of often. Something that somehow makes sense to me. I often have those days where I am alone with my thoughts and I just think. Every time this happens I go over events that have happened to me and I think to myself, "This happened for a reason. The reason might not be explained right now, but maybe it will be later on. But this has a reason." If you believe something happens for a reason then you must know it means something. Everyone has to know something means something in their life, some come to the realization sooner than others but it happens. You just have to wait.

Frankl-ly Speaking/Thankful for a Classmate

I like history. European history, American history, Latin American history, Asian history...just give me history and I'll love it. I thought I was pretty informed and educated about WWII. It is possibly one of my favorite periods of history, people often do not understand why but they do not understand or see what I see amid all the troublesome images. Frankl was able to give me a more personal meaning to their sufferings. His book is a first, where he did not go in depth about the horrors of life as a inmate in a concentration camp. No, he took his time to explain to us what kept him alive. His wife and the manuscript were what kept him afloat at the camp. Frankl mentioned that many of the inmates did not commit suicide because they had that someone or something for them out there, or so they hoped. I liked how Frankl went over the different stages that prisoners went through when first arriving at the camp. I was vaguely aware of them but the way he went out explained them really made me understand the reasons behind it. Frankl did not just explain life at a concentration camp, he showed us how many prisoners, including himself, were able to survive such a life. They all found meaning in their suffering, it was the only way that they could keep on living. 

Thankful for a classmate. I am thankful to have Sydney in my class. I have never had a class with her before but this year I have two with her, Philosophy being one of course. I am thankful for her because she always contributes to the conversation and because she was probably one of the four people I knew in that class. I always have someone to talk to during group discussions. Shes very outspoken and funny. I am thankful that I got to know her more through this class because she cracks me up every day. 

A Direction the Class Needs

I honestly like the way class is going right now. There is always a lot of discussion and view points, everyone so far has been respectful of everyone's point of view. I like the fact that the class is not a one-man show or a two-man show. I do not know what there could be less off...maybe changing group work to just individual work? That's all we do, and I think it is much faster to get through. Though, sometimes working as a group can help clarify questions about the reading. So maybe that is a good thing.
Even though I keep quiet during class, I pay attention to everything everyone is saying. I have agreed with a majority of the things said in class, and I haven't reached the point where I have to speak out my opinion just yet. I don't really think there is anything in the class that there should be less. I like the direction the class started in and the direction it has stayed. It should stay the same, as long as the participation of people keeps being like it is at the moment.

Voltaire and Camu Vote for....

The 2012 U.S Presidential elections are nearing. Next Tuesday, November 6th a large number of Americans will vote. 

I do not see Voltaire voting for any of our two big parties, he is not going to vote for Romney or Obama. Voltaire will go up to the polling place and either vote for a third party, such as Gary Johnson. Voltaire values civil liberties, something that in his earlier life had been severely restricted. Voltaire criticized everyone and their mother in his books, and under Johnson his personal freedom would still be protected. The government under Johnson, as Voltaire sees it, be more efficient. Either he'll vote for a third party or do his own write-in candidate. Who knows, he might write himself in. 

Camu would not show up to vote at all. I feel like Camu sees no point in going to vote. The views that any parties showcase are not something that he would be attracted to vote to. He gave raise to the idea of Absurdism, which states that it doesn't matter how much or long we try to look for the meaning of human life we will fail inevitably. So, I do not think that Camu would show up to vote at all. 

Meaning

To say that every single person in this world has the same meaning to their life is wrong. Different people have had different experiences and those experiences will shape their thoughts regarding what is meaningful to them and what is not. To be honest I am not sure if I have discovered the meaning of my life at this moment, I am still young and have maybe a few more years before I have to sit down and actually think of the meaning of my life or if I am following the right path.
Right now I hold very few things really meaningful to me, my family and traveling. Even though often I do not get along with my family I still care for them. When I am angry or annoyed they are always there.When I am happy and optimistic they are there. When I just don't know what to do with myself they are there for me. Family is meaningful because they have always been a security blanket for me and will keep on being for a long time. Traveling is also meaningful to me because it allows me to learn so much more. It is something that excites me and makes me giddy. Traveling makes me look forward to the next day, every hour brings new things. I do not know how to properly express the meaning that traveling has to me, but I know that many of the ideas and thoughts I have would have been shaped differently if it weren't for travel. Family and travel are big parts of my life and have shaped me.

Candide's Punishment, Do they fit the crime?

Candide's first punishment was expulsion from the castle because he was caught getting friendly with Cunegonde. At first I thought this was too extreme, it did not seem fair that a stolen kiss was worth being kicked out and almost left for dead. Yet as the story progressed I began to realize that maybe being banished from the castle was not the worst. If he had been given a less extreme punishment for the stolen kiss then Candide would have been present when the Bulgarians attacked. He might have died trying to defend Cunegonde from being ravished by the Bulgarians, and that would have been a greater punishment for his crime. 

Sticking with only his first crime and his first punishment I feel like his punishment did fit the crime. His expulsion from the castle caused him to go out and learn more than what he knew. Even though Candide's crime was not serious, his punishment was. It might have be seen as harsh but it allowed him to live and to travel, to learn. Because of his punishment Candide was allowed to experience a harsher life than what he believed to be true, this has allowed him to learn and to be able to decide for himself what the best of all worlds is for himself-everyone has their own. 

How do I know what I know.

In all honesty I have no idea how I know what I know. Maybe it was through observation or experience but that doesn't fully support any knowledge I have. It's frustrating because I can't really explain it, it is frustrating because it doesn't matter if I trace a thing I learned to the beginning, it always end up in the same two ends: I saw someone do it or I experienced it myself.
I know how to play the piano, I remember learning how to play the piano. I was much younger than I am right now and I had a small keyboard set up to a piano. My teacher would sit next to me and hold up a note card with a music note. Then she would play it, say the name, and play it again. I had to repeat this until I learned or memorized that music note. Then she would move on to the next. After a while she would quiz me call out a name and I had to play it back to her or she would play something and expect me to tell her the name. It would be a similar process with some pieces she required me to play. This makes me realize that everything I have 'learned' are things other people told me about. In school I learn what the teacher teaches, how did they learn it? Someone had to tell them and so on.
I know what I know because other people told me a majority of it. The other part I know because I experienced it. I know not to put my hand near a stove because it will hurt. I know not to do a lot of things because they are painful but I also know to do a lot of other things because they are good or pleasant. I don't think there is a way where people can say, "I really know this because...." This topic is frustrating because what I know might be something else someone else does not know and then there are the things that  a few people might know but they know them to be different. How can we be sure that what we know is 'correct'? Does it depend on the morals of that person? I know what I know due to experiences and observations, while everything I know might not be right it is what I have grown to know, and my knowledge is my reality-everyone has their own reality.

The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living/Who is the Modern Gadfly?

"The unexamined life is no worth living for a human being" 

To me this quote tells me that there is no point in living a life that has no meaning to you or two others. The sad truth is that many people do live this life and it goes to show that people are acting without thinking. Imagine if everyone lived a life where they had taken the time to question themselves and their choices, there would be more happy people and ideally less problems. Of course there is still the great possibility that there would be those who find their life so deplorable that they would go into deep depression or even wish to die.
According to Socrates's principle, a person can only be truly and completely human if they subject their life to the tests of critical self-examination and through that examination they can finally achieve their greatest happiness. I agree with this principle but living in a society where many things do not require much thought doing this for everyone would be nearly impossible. People are not willing to question themselves, because sadly many of us think that how we are living is set on stone. Most people believe what they feel, think and know is the only correct thing and would not be willing to go through the series of critical questions. I wish we could all go through self-examination to reach that fulfillment but I know that it can never truly be a reality.

Michael Moore

According to many dictionaries a gadfly is a person who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, making people think he is just an irritant person. Many politicians and social commentators are said to be modern gadflies. Michael Moore is an American liberal filmmaker, social critic, author and activist  and he would be one of many modern gadflies. He has written many works that criticize globalization, national and international corporations, weapon ownership, U.S Presidents (George W. Bush and Bill Clinton among others), the Iraq war and many other things. Michael Moore is known widely for his liberal political activism, he refuses to accept the title by merely saying "If we're not politically active, it ceases to be a democracy." With this he defends his critiques by saying that if people do not question the government and the status quo then democracy, or the rule of the many as Socrates defined it, would not be in existence. Michael Moore takes the role of examining life in the United States for us, he questions the actions of our leaders and many people do not like that because it goes against what they believe. In a way the modern gadfly examines the life we currently life in and exposes to the population giving them the option to take it a step further and examine it for themselves.

Eulogy

Carmen was known for a variety of things among her friends and family. For her friends and family she was known to be talkative and friendly. In school, people saw her as a quiet girl who never really put herself out there. It was not that she was shy, but that she had her reservations about people. It took her while to feel comfortable around people who she did not know. One of her best qualities was the fact that she was a great active listener. She did not just hear people, she listened to them. Carmen also believed that everyone was their own person and that we were all entitled to do whatever they wanted. It all came down to the morals of that person if what they did was productive or destructive to themselves and others.

As she began to grow up she developed her own interests and activities. She accomplished many things during her childhood, some which followed her to high school. She has maintained Honor Roll/Principal’s List honor since 2^nd grade. She competed in swimming competitions until 7^th grade and then stopped taking Track & Field as a sport in high school. She learned to play the piano at a young aged and continued to practice it well into her teenage years. Everyone that knew her would agree with the fact that she was in love with the idea of traveling and exploring the world. This lead to her goal of self-teaching herself two languages, Portuguese and Turkish. Through her determination she managed to achieve an intermediate level of fluency in Portuguese. She also loved to volunteer at a local community center, where she used to help either the administration or the ESL evening classes.

Carmen never liked giving up. Her greatest fear was letting others and herself down. Her greatest goal was to move and work abroad. She might not have all the trophies and medals to count for her achievements but her achievements were personal and gave her experience. She learned through her achievements what she valued the most; fairness, helping others and pushing oneself to the limit. This also led her to know what she hated the most; stubbornness and ignorance. Carmen was a nice person most of the times, she had her flaws like everyone does but she believed those flaws made her learn and grow as a person, she did not like dwelling in the wrongs of others or even her own wrongs.