Wednesday's discussion on what an honors student should be was very informational. It gave me more of a sense what the honors program is about and what students should expect from it. One interesting point that Professor Silliman brought up is that he wanted honors students to be involved in extra-curricular activities. I thought that was interesting because the stereotype I had about an honors student was somone who constantly did their homework and just focused on the intellectual side of things. By him stating this, it showed me that I can still be involved in extra- curricular activities and do my work for my honors classes in a high enough standard.
The quality of an honors student that I agree with the most is the one of being open-minded. I believe that this is important because in order to learn anything from anyone, you must be open-minded and willing to accept the fact that what you think could be wrong. Also, it shows that an honors student is not expected to know everything right away. This quality shows how honors students can learn from one another through their open-mindness and gain more knowledge.
Another quality I thought was important was motivation. This is important because an honors students need to be motivated to do there best and research things they do not understand. An honors student should be very interested in the honors class they choose in order to excel in them to the best of their ability.
This was very informational and am happy we did this.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Bertell Ollman
Bertell Ollman's writing "Excerpts from How to Take an Exam...and Remake the World" was very interesting. One part that really interested me was the "Rules For Writing" by Steven Rubin. I like how the rules show an example rule of how to not follow the rule. It was interesting to see how many rules I break. The rule that interested me the most was the one on prepositions. It was interesting see how easily it is to end a sentence with words such as with or from.
Another interesting part was the part about alienation. It was interesting to see how much people isolate themselves from society. Whether it is my neighborhoods, work places, wages, race, etc., people are alienating themselves from others all the time. It seems something that is inevitable. I believe that people will always alienate themselves from others to a degree whether they realize it is not.
Lastly, the part on money and grades interested me. By Ollman saying "Both money and grades serve our society Procrustean beds. Money enables us to compare very different things on the basis of their price. Grades enable us to compare very different people on the basis of a letter." (Ollman 4). This struck me because it shows how the impact that money and grades have on society. They are a tool that allows us to judge people. It reiterates the fact that people can be alienated depending on their grades and money. It shows that every characteristic someone has can impact their isolation from others.
Another interesting part was the part about alienation. It was interesting to see how much people isolate themselves from society. Whether it is my neighborhoods, work places, wages, race, etc., people are alienating themselves from others all the time. It seems something that is inevitable. I believe that people will always alienate themselves from others to a degree whether they realize it is not.
Lastly, the part on money and grades interested me. By Ollman saying "Both money and grades serve our society Procrustean beds. Money enables us to compare very different things on the basis of their price. Grades enable us to compare very different people on the basis of a letter." (Ollman 4). This struck me because it shows how the impact that money and grades have on society. They are a tool that allows us to judge people. It reiterates the fact that people can be alienated depending on their grades and money. It shows that every characteristic someone has can impact their isolation from others.
Marxism
Our first discussin on Marxism was very interesting. I thought it was interesting to learn that he wrote most of his manuscripts for himself. It gives me a different outlook on what I read. It makes me wonder if any of the missing parts to his manuscripts are really significant or not. It is something that we wont ever know.
Also, I thought it was interesting how he critiqued religion. I thought it was interesting how he compared the Earthly Family to the Holy Family. It showed his religous views in an interesting way. Lastly, I loved how Feuerbach influenced Marx. It makes his Thesis XI more meaningful to me. Through him influencing Marx, it shows how "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it." (Marx) Marx using Feuerbach as a way to explore his own points of view shows how important it is for philosophers and other people alike to use other people's views as a "springboard" to discover your own views. I look forward to discussing this more.
Also, I thought it was interesting how he critiqued religion. I thought it was interesting how he compared the Earthly Family to the Holy Family. It showed his religous views in an interesting way. Lastly, I loved how Feuerbach influenced Marx. It makes his Thesis XI more meaningful to me. Through him influencing Marx, it shows how "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it." (Marx) Marx using Feuerbach as a way to explore his own points of view shows how important it is for philosophers and other people alike to use other people's views as a "springboard" to discover your own views. I look forward to discussing this more.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Marxism
The reading on Marxism by far was the most confusing one for me to read. I think I understand the concepts, but I had to read it more than once to understand it completely.
The statement is the essay that really sparked my interest was when Marx said, “Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.” (Marx 4). I thought this was interesting because it showed how the point of philosophy is to view one person's philosophies and make your own philosophy through what you learned. I think this is interesting because I have not ever though of philosophy in that way. It makes me realize that it is a process of learning from others' ideas.
Overall, I really thought The Theses of Feuerbach was very interesting. I am looking forward for the class discussions about Marxism today.
The statement is the essay that really sparked my interest was when Marx said, “Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.” (Marx 4). I thought this was interesting because it showed how the point of philosophy is to view one person's philosophies and make your own philosophy through what you learned. I think this is interesting because I have not ever though of philosophy in that way. It makes me realize that it is a process of learning from others' ideas.
Overall, I really thought The Theses of Feuerbach was very interesting. I am looking forward for the class discussions about Marxism today.
End of Determinism
On Monday, we ended our discussion on determinism. Discussing genetic determinism was more interesting than I thought. Do our genes really make a difference on who become. I think both yes and no.
I believe that genetics do have a part into who we are. We are bornwith genes from both our mother and father and gain traits from both of them. There are some traits such as alcholism that are spread through genes. However, I think the more important factors are our living siutation and society.
Living siutation is a major part of who we become. The topic of being adopted and having the traits of the adoptive parents came up during this discussion. How children are raised is how they will initially act; it feels "natural" to them. Children are used to certain habits that they begin to pick up and inhabit over time. They see the people around them as role models and try to imitiate them as much as possible. However, children naturally grow out of that state and want to become their own human being.
They can do this through picking up habits through society. Society is a major influence on people. As people get older, society influences more than their upbringing does. Society is the "final molder" in the "molding" process of a human being. Society is where children learn new habits that make them different fromt the rest of their family. It makes you become the individial that you are.
I thought this was a great discussion and look forward to discussing Marxism.
I believe that genetics do have a part into who we are. We are bornwith genes from both our mother and father and gain traits from both of them. There are some traits such as alcholism that are spread through genes. However, I think the more important factors are our living siutation and society.
Living siutation is a major part of who we become. The topic of being adopted and having the traits of the adoptive parents came up during this discussion. How children are raised is how they will initially act; it feels "natural" to them. Children are used to certain habits that they begin to pick up and inhabit over time. They see the people around them as role models and try to imitiate them as much as possible. However, children naturally grow out of that state and want to become their own human being.
They can do this through picking up habits through society. Society is a major influence on people. As people get older, society influences more than their upbringing does. Society is the "final molder" in the "molding" process of a human being. Society is where children learn new habits that make them different fromt the rest of their family. It makes you become the individial that you are.
I thought this was a great discussion and look forward to discussing Marxism.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Social Determinism
Yesterday, we had a great discussion about social determinism and its affect on people. One affect is how narrow-minded people can become. Even though I dealt with narrow-minded people at my high school, I still do not understand why people are like that. I would assume that Christian groups would be more accepting so people would convert to their religion; however, they are the exact opposite. It was very interesting hearing different people's points of view of parochial schools.
Hearing Liz's experience frightened me. I did not realize how uptight people could be and not accepting teachers can be. Although during my parochial was the complete opposite. I had teachers and students around me who were not Catholic. None of my teachers tried to "force" us to believe the Catholic teachings if we did not believe. Although at my high school, the experience was different.
Every day, I had people trying to convert me to the Protestant denomination. Whenever I would state my beliefs, I would be verbally attacked. I believe that this attitude comes from their upbringing. Parents "push" their faith upon their children and expect their children to believe the same thing. Their narrow-minded needs spreads to their children. The same goes with homosexuality and racists. People who are against homosexuals "shove" their belief down their children's throats so they believe the same thing. Methods like this are completely ludacrious to me. I will not ever understand the concepts. This shows that social determinism can have negative effects.
Hearing Liz's experience frightened me. I did not realize how uptight people could be and not accepting teachers can be. Although during my parochial was the complete opposite. I had teachers and students around me who were not Catholic. None of my teachers tried to "force" us to believe the Catholic teachings if we did not believe. Although at my high school, the experience was different.
Every day, I had people trying to convert me to the Protestant denomination. Whenever I would state my beliefs, I would be verbally attacked. I believe that this attitude comes from their upbringing. Parents "push" their faith upon their children and expect their children to believe the same thing. Their narrow-minded needs spreads to their children. The same goes with homosexuality and racists. People who are against homosexuals "shove" their belief down their children's throats so they believe the same thing. Methods like this are completely ludacrious to me. I will not ever understand the concepts. This shows that social determinism can have negative effects.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Stay Home Moms
When discussing Nature vs. Nurture, the topic of stay at home mothers was raised. Do children with stay home mothers have a better life since there mother was constantly around when they were younger? I really wonder if stay home moms make that much of a difference in a child's life. My mom was not a stay at home mother, I came out fine. Do stay at home mothers help their students grow more or does it hinder them more? Questions like this kept coming into my mind when this topic was discussed.
I have friends who have stay at home mothers, and I do not see that much of a difference in our upbringings. The only difference is that there moms were always there. My mom had to work; therefore, she was not there for everything, but was there for the most important events of my life. This question of the impact of a stay at home mother boggles my mind, and I hope to see if that truly makes a difference in the nature vs. nurture debate.
I have friends who have stay at home mothers, and I do not see that much of a difference in our upbringings. The only difference is that there moms were always there. My mom had to work; therefore, she was not there for everything, but was there for the most important events of my life. This question of the impact of a stay at home mother boggles my mind, and I hope to see if that truly makes a difference in the nature vs. nurture debate.
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