Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Blank Paper
A blank piece of paper embodies the whole world, every here and now, the complete history of the universe. Every piece of history culminated in the creation of this one piece of paper. Every object has an eternal history since the beginning of the universe since the particles that create the piece of paper were once particles of a star. There are many heres and nows at this moment because every object is the manifestation of all the heres and nows of present moments.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hegelian Philosophy and the Web
The internet creates a connectivity between everyone's thoughts at any moment. For instance, when I tweet and search tweets, I am connecting with all the other people across the globe that are feeling similar to me at any given moment. This relates to how Hegel saw the phenomenology of the spirit because the internet is essentially the spirit that connects all human thought.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Progress into the Technological World
I sat watching Digital Nation very interested and slightly appalled. I was genuinely interested in the advances in technology and the creative, experimental uses of technology. Unlike the rest of my class, I was not appalled at the effects technology and online games have on human interactions. The producers of Digital Nation had a purpose: to produce an extreme view that human interactions are being lost all together as a result of the digital age. I was appalled at the one-sided perspective of this documentary and the dehumanizing of the people who do play video games regularly. Most people who do play online video games are not hard core gamers, and even those who are play because they enjoy the escapism. This want or need for an escapism is not a new thing! Isn't reading a form of escapism? Doesn't everyone thoroughly enjoy vicariously living through the characters in a book? Reading for pleasure is the same thing as playing video games except reading does not involve human interactions at all. I don't understand why this documentary placed such a heavy emphasis on the loss of human interactions via online video games when this modern form of escapism actually involves human interaction while reading involves none.
Personally, I have played and enjoyed video games such as Oblivion and Guild Wars. Oblivion is a single player game that involves creating a character and essentially living in any manner which you choose. This single player game is equivalent to reading because it does not involve human interactions, however, it does foster conversations just as reading does. People connect by the fact that they can discuss or share opinions on a specific book; in the same way, people connect by discussing their opinions on a specific game. While reading a book requires imagination, the reader simply follows the story of the writer. In playing Oblivion, however, one uses imagination, creativity, and strategy to create an entirely new character, a life path, and solutions to quests; the choice is yours! Now, as for Guild Wars, human connectivity is increased because it involves the interaction of digital characters. You create a character and advance through the game by participating in quests. Often you must seek help from other players to complete quests and therefore a form of reciprocity is simulated in the the gaming world and eventually guilds are created. Guilds are groups formed in the game of players with similar interests that form for mutual aid. This digital interaction is a manner of human interaction and in my opinion it is neither a good or bad thing. Why are people afraid of a new form of interaction? No one is forcing you to communicate or interact through the digital world, so if there is a personal problem for you rebel against it. Just say no to those diabolical video games!
Ultimately, technology is advancing and the only logical thing to do is to take advantage of what it can offer us. Another thing people scoffed at was having conferences on second life. Why should people fly across the globe to meet for a simple conference? It is less costly and more efficient to use second life, which simulates human interactions.
Technology forge ahead! We should be wary of all the consequences involved in advancing technology and the digital age but we should not delay progress because, after all, it is progress. Also, no one should blindly buy into the fear Digital Nation wants to spread about the digital age because there is an entirely other viewpoint that was sorely lacking in this documentary.
Personally, I have played and enjoyed video games such as Oblivion and Guild Wars. Oblivion is a single player game that involves creating a character and essentially living in any manner which you choose. This single player game is equivalent to reading because it does not involve human interactions, however, it does foster conversations just as reading does. People connect by the fact that they can discuss or share opinions on a specific book; in the same way, people connect by discussing their opinions on a specific game. While reading a book requires imagination, the reader simply follows the story of the writer. In playing Oblivion, however, one uses imagination, creativity, and strategy to create an entirely new character, a life path, and solutions to quests; the choice is yours! Now, as for Guild Wars, human connectivity is increased because it involves the interaction of digital characters. You create a character and advance through the game by participating in quests. Often you must seek help from other players to complete quests and therefore a form of reciprocity is simulated in the the gaming world and eventually guilds are created. Guilds are groups formed in the game of players with similar interests that form for mutual aid. This digital interaction is a manner of human interaction and in my opinion it is neither a good or bad thing. Why are people afraid of a new form of interaction? No one is forcing you to communicate or interact through the digital world, so if there is a personal problem for you rebel against it. Just say no to those diabolical video games!
Ultimately, technology is advancing and the only logical thing to do is to take advantage of what it can offer us. Another thing people scoffed at was having conferences on second life. Why should people fly across the globe to meet for a simple conference? It is less costly and more efficient to use second life, which simulates human interactions.
Technology forge ahead! We should be wary of all the consequences involved in advancing technology and the digital age but we should not delay progress because, after all, it is progress. Also, no one should blindly buy into the fear Digital Nation wants to spread about the digital age because there is an entirely other viewpoint that was sorely lacking in this documentary.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
God is Dead
To Friedrich Nietzsche there are three wills and stages of being: the primal will, child's will, and will to power. These three wills embody Nietzsche's philosophy on the individual and on society.
The primal will is the instinctive need to survive which sets the basis of the consciousness. The individual must do all that is required to survive and satisfy his or her desires, passions, and needs. Human beings are subject to their unconscious, involuntary, and basic Dionysian instincts. This primal will is ultimately the will to live.
Another aspect of the primal will is the acceptance of life that contains a unity of creation and destruction, joy and sorrow, for that is a truth in existence. With the birth of a child comes the inevitable truth that that child must die, but Nietzsche does not dwell on this truth. Instead, he believes that after an individual has come to this realization of death and acceptance of the primal will then that individual can live every moment in the present and satisfy the most basic necessity of existence.
The child's will is an individual's self-actualization; it is the ability to create an internal moral code. With the child's will, an individual has the ability to doubt, contemplate, accept or reject something; essentially, they have the ability and power to chose.
Nietzsche was a proponent of people creating and living by their own ethics instead of blinding following moral codes that have been impressed upon them. By creating one's own internal morals, an individual separates him or herself from the masses and becomes elevated to an Ubermench (superhuman) through the will to power.
The will to power is the nature of humans to achieve, compete, and gain all power in all situations in order to elevate oneself from all others. Humans that have embraced their Dionysian instincts and internalized their own set of values then accepts the will to power. Nietzsche believes this acceptance of the will to power is the means to success; with this acceptance comes the ability to elevate oneself to the Ubermench, an exceptional individual.
Nietzsche used his interpretation of these three wills of the individual to describe and criticize society. "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him..." Nietzsche criticized Christian society for hypocritically using the name of God to gain power and to continue social stratification. These "Christians" are only Christian in name and not in action. Those in power use the name of God to control the masses and thus have "killed" God because they have spoiled His name. The elites, willing to power, perpetuate a never ending hierarchy with God as their justification.
The primal will is the instinctive need to survive which sets the basis of the consciousness. The individual must do all that is required to survive and satisfy his or her desires, passions, and needs. Human beings are subject to their unconscious, involuntary, and basic Dionysian instincts. This primal will is ultimately the will to live.
Another aspect of the primal will is the acceptance of life that contains a unity of creation and destruction, joy and sorrow, for that is a truth in existence. With the birth of a child comes the inevitable truth that that child must die, but Nietzsche does not dwell on this truth. Instead, he believes that after an individual has come to this realization of death and acceptance of the primal will then that individual can live every moment in the present and satisfy the most basic necessity of existence.
The child's will is an individual's self-actualization; it is the ability to create an internal moral code. With the child's will, an individual has the ability to doubt, contemplate, accept or reject something; essentially, they have the ability and power to chose.
Nietzsche was a proponent of people creating and living by their own ethics instead of blinding following moral codes that have been impressed upon them. By creating one's own internal morals, an individual separates him or herself from the masses and becomes elevated to an Ubermench (superhuman) through the will to power.
The will to power is the nature of humans to achieve, compete, and gain all power in all situations in order to elevate oneself from all others. Humans that have embraced their Dionysian instincts and internalized their own set of values then accepts the will to power. Nietzsche believes this acceptance of the will to power is the means to success; with this acceptance comes the ability to elevate oneself to the Ubermench, an exceptional individual.
Nietzsche used his interpretation of these three wills of the individual to describe and criticize society. "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him..." Nietzsche criticized Christian society for hypocritically using the name of God to gain power and to continue social stratification. These "Christians" are only Christian in name and not in action. Those in power use the name of God to control the masses and thus have "killed" God because they have spoiled His name. The elites, willing to power, perpetuate a never ending hierarchy with God as their justification.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sense of Surroundings
Descartes, a rationalist, and Hume, an empiricist, had a natural tendency to disagree, to say the least.
Descartes based his method of doubt and fundamental truths of existence upon rationalist logic; through the use of mathematics and deductive reasoning, Descartes came to doubt sense perception, reality, and the seemingly self-evident. He determined the one foundation upon all knowledge is cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."
On the other hand, Hume believed rational thought came after sensing the surrounding environment; therefore, logic must be based on impressions of one's sense perception, or that if one cannot experience knowledge or concepts then he/she cannot have them. Hume, as an empiricist, held believed that humans have no knowledge, only beliefs which are felt to be true. Empiricists use sensory observations and experimentation to draw conclusions.
Although Descartes' method of doubt is rational, his inability to recognize sensory impressions before deductive functions is not. Hume states that perception of the environment must come before rational functions: this is true because what is pure reason without the senses influences? Humans will never know because no human has ever or can ever experience and communicate logic without the influence and impressions of the senses. In addition, what if it is true that there is a demon who deceives all that we believe? The knowledge or concept of a deceiving demon is beyond the realm in which we can perceive and thus this knowledge is something which we cannot be concerned with. All of what we believe find their basis in what we can perceive because that is the only thing from which belief can stem. For example, Descartes' method of doubt stemmed from his belief that the senses deceive us; thus, his entire basis for a fundamental truth was based in how he perceived his senses.
Descartes based his method of doubt and fundamental truths of existence upon rationalist logic; through the use of mathematics and deductive reasoning, Descartes came to doubt sense perception, reality, and the seemingly self-evident. He determined the one foundation upon all knowledge is cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."
On the other hand, Hume believed rational thought came after sensing the surrounding environment; therefore, logic must be based on impressions of one's sense perception, or that if one cannot experience knowledge or concepts then he/she cannot have them. Hume, as an empiricist, held believed that humans have no knowledge, only beliefs which are felt to be true. Empiricists use sensory observations and experimentation to draw conclusions.
Although Descartes' method of doubt is rational, his inability to recognize sensory impressions before deductive functions is not. Hume states that perception of the environment must come before rational functions: this is true because what is pure reason without the senses influences? Humans will never know because no human has ever or can ever experience and communicate logic without the influence and impressions of the senses. In addition, what if it is true that there is a demon who deceives all that we believe? The knowledge or concept of a deceiving demon is beyond the realm in which we can perceive and thus this knowledge is something which we cannot be concerned with. All of what we believe find their basis in what we can perceive because that is the only thing from which belief can stem. For example, Descartes' method of doubt stemmed from his belief that the senses deceive us; thus, his entire basis for a fundamental truth was based in how he perceived his senses.
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