This semester I took a class because I heard the teacher was great. The class turned out to be one that really made me think hard about the things that I formerly thought I knew the most about. This class is Issues and Answers: Philosophy. The class is largely discussion based. There is no firm curriculum and we can take the subject in any direction within the broad subject we are dealing with. Even though there is hardly any outside of class work and a low emphasis on getting a good grade, I've taken away more from this class in a short period of time than I have in almost any other class.
One of the things that I've realized from this class is how little we know in general, but mostly how little I know myself. I've been forced to be really introspective while in Issues because I am able to draw the most from my own experiences. We began to talk about perceptions, their faulty nature, and how we are shaped by genetics and environment so much. Because we are shaped so much by our DNA and the influences that we have during our lives, Mr. Zapler brought up the point that we may not (and probably don't) have free will. It isn't the same thing as predetermination, but both mean we only have the illusions of having control over our lives. The difference is that everything isn't laid out before us, and we are still making those choices, but we have no control over the reasons we made the choices, meaning that we didn't really choose, but other elements outside of our control did.
This past week I've realized that I don't believe in free will as much as I want or feel I need to. We really are shaped by things that are outside of our control, and we make choices based off who we are. I really want to believe in free will; I like believing that I have control over my life, or at least some control. If we don't have free will it creates a completely different world. You couldn't blame anybody for their wrong doings because they didn't choose to do anything. You can't be proud of yourself because of the good choice you made because somebody else's influence caused you to make the choice.
I'm going to keep searching for ways that I can, any loop hole I can find, because I really need to believe that I have control. So until then, I'm going to keep relying on my illusion of free will, not because it is smart or the best thing to do, just because it makes me happier to believe in it.
Your entry made me wish I was in that class, it seems like a very interesting one. I also wish to believe that we have free will but I think that our free will is very limited. Past our simple choices like "to go to the bathroom or eat some food," everything is influenced by something else. We choose to do something but past that someone influences us to make the decisions we end up making.
ReplyDeleteI feel that "freedom" is just a word. In reality we are far from free. Every action that actually matters is somehow limited. The bill of rights are even limited when they actually matter.
I feel that even in classes where we are supposed to have the freedom to say anything we want, we are limited by the teacher and their opinion. Many teachers shut down our opinions because they think that there's is more important.
Debra: I took Issues and answers as well and found that it was one of the most difficult classes I've taken in High School. I was hoping it would be an easy A, and that I would discuss some cool stuff and I'd heard Zapler was pretty cool but from taking the class I feel as if my whole brain was turned upside down. Though we didnt have very much outside work I found myself wondering if I would pass. It was stressful but so rewarding. I found myself questioning what I really knew as well and sometimes didnt want to believe what I was hearing. I'm glad that you're getting to experience this too!
ReplyDelete