Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 6)

Is what is good good because the gods commanded it or did the gods command it because it was good? (Alt: Are the things that are valuable, valuable because we value them or do we value them because they are valuable?)

The answer to this question is both, what is good is good not only good because the gods commanded it but because it is good. The gods commanded it so it it good, but they commanded it because it is good. The answer to the second question is both. The things we value are valuable not only because we value them but because they are valuable, otherwise we wouldn't value them.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

Philosophical Questions (Response 5)

When we say ‘Pegasus does not exist’ what subject are we talking about?

Talking about something does not cause it to exist, the idea of that thing may exist but that does not cause it to spontaneously come into existence. For example, I could talk to someone about Norse mythology, or any other fictional work, but that doesn't mean that I believe that any of it is true or that it exists I am simply discussing an idea that someone thought of. Therefore, the answer to your question would be that we would be talking about Pegasus, not as a material being, but as a thought that was created by the ancient Greek people.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

Music Video

Banjo Boy

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 4)

Since my acts are caused by my choices and my choices caused by my beliefs and desires and my beliefs and desires are not in my direct control, how can it be that my acts are free?

What you believe in is your choice, what you want is your choice also. Your desires, however, are more difficult to choose but most of them exist because of some choice of yours. An act is is the result of a choice and a choice is a result of thought. You can do whatever you want but that does not mean you will. You beliefs and desires affect what you do because you want to be inline with what you believe and you want to get closer to what you want but your acts are still your own, although they are being affected by other forces.
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Philosophical Questions

My Band

My band finally has a name...The Sound and the Fury and were on Myspace Music! We play progressive rock. What is progressive rock? Progressive rock is an attempt to lift music to higher artistic levels, essentially we try to make music without conforming to any specific genre, we compose our music according to the way the song should sound, not according to how our band is 'supposed' to sound.

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Now playing: Jorge Drexler - Guitarra Y Vos
via FoxyTunes

Quote:

 "...Virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, [but] evil cannot tolerate the presence of light."

-Boyd K. Packer

Orange

Orange challenge.

Orange sponge.

Expunge that orange

You challenged sponge.

A Bit of News

I'm going to a Three Days Grace Concert at Graham Central Station on December 5th!

Quote:

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Music Video

A Little Advertising

Check out this Splats! For Kids video, the rest are available at splatscooking.blogspot.com

An Interesting Observation

I was recently riding the bus home, something I do very rarely, and I noticed something very interesting. There was a very attractive girl sitting in the front seat and, despite what I would suspect, more girls looked at her than guys. I expected nearly every guy to look at her while walking by, but the opposite occurred, interesting right? I have several theories to explain this phenomena, all of which I will elaborate about in the following paragraphs.

The guys walking by want the girl to think that they are not interested hoping that she will find interest in a guy who doesn't want her. In my experience that doesn't work, especially when there is no preexisting relationship. A guy or girl may being to avoid a friend they have begun to like to avoid awkward situations or to see if the other person is interested. But besides this ignoring someone to make them find interest in you doesn't usually work.

The girls walking by are jealous because she is extremely attractive, therefore they would look at her because of this jealousy. It is often mentioned that girls can be self-conscious and feel threatened by another girl that is more attractive than her. This may explain the phenomena that I had witnessed on that bus ride.

The previous example could also apply to guys, because a guy can also feel threatened by an attractive girl and not want to look at her because of how they feel when they see her (i.e. threatened). Unlike girls guys tend to avoid things or people that make them feel threatened, at least in this respect.

There are probably a million more possible explanations but I believe these to be the most likely of those possiblities.

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 3)

If two distinct objects have something in common then in what ways are they the same and different?
The fact that two things are similar, or in other words have something in common, does not make them identical. Therefore the differences between two similar objects would be everything about them that is not the same. For example, two similar triangles may look like one another but they are not the same size, ergo they are not the same, but they are proportional to each other.


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Philosophical Question

I'm Writing A Book!

I'm starting a book I hope is going to be part of the next great fantasy series of all time, hopefully even rivaling the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien. It'd be awesome if you left some comments etc. The book I'm working on right now is pretty intense, its called The Skull King. I've included a small excerpt.

From: The Skull King

Darien awoke with a start. Looking around his small room a sense of dread filled him.

Oh, no, he thought, Norek is drunk again.

Within moments there was a crash and the sound of a man stumbling through the house, his father, the town drunk. He heard Norek angrily moving things that got in his way. There was another crash and Darien heard his mother scream. He leaped up to run to her rescue but he could not move! Darien could take it when his father beat him, he was strong, he had to be, but not mother, not her. He could hear his mother pleading with Norek to calm down, but his drunken excuse for a father would not listen. Muffled thumps and cries stuck daggers of ice into his heart that quickly became a burning fury in his mind. Despite his fury all Darien could do was stand, shaking in his room and listen to his mother die.

When the screams stopped the drunken Norek stumbled to Darien's door. The door opened and Darien heard his father speak to him with the slurred speech of a drunk, "You heard it didn't you, the screams. Haha. She deserved it, the witch, and her demon whelp didn't have the balls to stop me." And he spat in Darien's face.

His anger suddenly intensified, Darien felt as if his blood had become molten light. It built as every fiber of is being became saturated with hate-laced light.

"Drunken bastard," Darien replied, his voice sounding strangely calm and detached, "You don't deserve to live!"

Then the was a roar and fiery light enveloped everything.

Note: The purpose of this event and several others like it in The Skull King is to allow for Darien Voreyé's development as a character who would become the Skull King

Chilling

Although I am no expert at the art of chilling I have discovered, through experimentation, that chilling out can be a great aid in life. Chilling has one danger however, it is somewhat similar to a teaching of the world, coldness.

One thing that the world teaches is coldness, 'don't feel, don't care' is what it says, and if you think about it, doing that is a lot easier than feeling all the negative things that the world has in store, teaching coldness is the only way she can keep people in, otherwise everyone would flee to the safety of the gospel because they would be more able to see what has happened to our world.
What I am talking about is not being cold, chilling is more of a letting go, don't let things that bother you bother you. Just relax, don't let go of your standards or your feelings, care but don't let pointless annoyances bother, just let go of the negative things that can keep you down.

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Now playing: James Blackshaw - Running to the Ghost
via FoxyTunes

Quote:

"Things that go away by themselves can comeback by themselves"

-Unknown

Quote:

"...for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire."

-Thomas Paine

Quote:

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

-Thomas Paine

Quote:

"There is a prime difference between heroes and everyone else. Heroes face danger while everyone else runs away."

-Carlos Killpack

Quote:

"The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawn to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."

Henry David Thoreau
From: Walden

Quote:

"What sort of space is that which separates a man from his fellows and makes him solitary? I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another. "

-Henry David Thoreau
From: Walden

Quote:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

-Henry David Thoreau
Naturalist and Writer

Quote:

I, by definition, like every pretty girl I see.

-Carlos Killpack

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 2)

2. If two persons who have all the same experiences disagree about some matter of fact has at least one of them violated some rule of good reasoning?
Although experiences do shape people they do not necessarily define them. If two people have the same experience one may use it to make them stronger and the other may be weakened or hurt by the experience. This being said neither of the two persons described in the question would be violating any rule of good reasoning. A more valid question would be 'If two persons who have had all the same experinces and taken them the same way disagree about some matter of fact has at least one of them violated some rule of good reasoning?'. I do believe that one would be violating a rule of good reasoning, although this scenario is neigh impossible.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

Join the Jihad!

Come here to check it out!

Ten Philosophical Questions (Response 1)

1. Why is there something rather than nothing at all?
Needless to say if there was nothing at all we would not exist. But besides this it is necessary for there to be something in order for reality to exist. Also, if there where no reality we would not be asking this question because doing so would require something (e.g. us) to exist.

Although I feel I have answered this question you may not believe the same. Personally this question seems like it could not be adequately answered because one cannot know what 'nothing' is like because everything is something. In reality we lack the experience to fully grasp the answer to this question, if any exists.
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Ten Philosophical Questions

All About Me

I've had this blog for a not-so-long amount of time but I think its about time that I fully introduce myself. If you have read any of my entries you probably know something of my ideas and such, but I thought it would be nice to share some personal stuff.
My name is Carlos Enrique Killpack. I am 16. My main interests include music, playing the guitar, reading, and challenging myself physically. I also have the obvious interest in girls that is shared by most members of my gender, especially at my age.
Enjoying reading is something that has, for the most part, been lost to the mainstream; it has been replaced by both movies and TV. Before these technological replacements where invented the only ways to experience a story was either to go to a play or to read a book. Since then books a plays have all but been replaced with technology. All that remains is a relatively small tradition of putting on plays.
Music is my addiction. I am literally addicted to music. Its strange, I know, but it is true.
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Now playing: Brand New - Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
via FoxyTunes

Splats Rocks!!!

I found this website called Splats that I think is awesome. Its these kids that are teaching other kids how to cook. Click here to check it out.

Cockiness

In this world in which we live the person who is the most cockeyed is generally the one who wins the competitions who's prizes are considered extremely valuable. For example, winning the girl is a competition in which cocky individuals often win. This is due to the very nature of cocky individuals: if a challenge comes up they take it, they never wait for someone else to rise to the occasion, they take it themselves. Another example is getting the last dough nut, if you hesitate someone else will get the dough nut, someone cocky enough, or just hungry enough to go for it.

Ten Philosophical Questions

I found this in a Google search so I'm gonna take on the challenge to answer all of these questions to the best of my ability.

Top Ten Philosophical Questions

Driving back from spring break I got to thinking about the eminent philosophical questions. Here’s a top-ten list I came up with (it’s lemming focused, of course).

1. Why is there something rather than nothing at all?
2. If two persons who have all the same experiences disagree about some matter of fact has at least one of them violated some rule of good reasoning?
3. If two distinct objects have something in common then in what ways are they the same and different?
4. Since my acts are caused by my choices and my choices caused by my beliefs and desires and my beliefs and desires are not in my direct control, how can it be that my acts are free?
5. When we say ‘Pegasus does not exist’ what subject are we talking about?
6. Is what is good good because the gods commanded it or did the gods command it because it was good? (Alt: Are the things that are valuable, valuable because we value them or do we value them because they are valuable?)
7. Must there be some basic element of reality from which everything else is composed?
8. Does time have a beginning?
9. If I think of a being greater than which none can be conceived must this being exist?
10. Since minds have properties natural objects lack, how can minds be a part of nature?

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Response to #1
Response to #2
Response to #3
Response to #4
Response to #5
Response to #6
Response to #7
Response to #8
Response to #9
Response to #10

Quote: Judgement

"A man cannot be judged based solely upon his actions. All things must be taken into account, then, and only then can a true judgment be passed."

-Carlos Killpack

Quote:

"Football is a twenty-yard game"

-Coach Luis

Impetus

All of us need an impetus in order to have the will power to do certain things. Some are simple to find and simple to use. Others, however, are more difficult to find and often more difficult to put to use. Especially when there is an opposing force in the equation. One can attempt to find a powerful impetus but unless one can make it part of them the more deeply rooted opposite can often drive it away like leaves blown in the wind.

An example of this is the will to do good versus the urge to do evil. All of us want to do good, but we often find ourselves doing things that we don't want to do, but do anyway for whatever reason. In order to overcome this one must change ones nature, only in this way can the urge to do evil become the urge to do good. Although is sounds simple enough urges are something that can be difficult to combat with the mind. There are many reasons for this, one being that the mind isn't blindly incessant enough to simply drive the urge away. Another is that urges affect the mind. Therefore it is necessary that the mind be reinforced by something stronger than an urge. Faith. Faith is something deeper than an urge, it is something that comes from deep inside. Faith combined with diligent study of the word of God can make an immense impact on this internal struggle between good and evil.

Quote:

"The mind commands the body and immediately it obeys. The mind orders itself, and meets resistance"

- St. Augustine

Right and Wrong

The difference between right and wrong is something that has caused much debate among people for years and years. In great part because the knowledge that one possesses affects their perception of right and wrong. For example, if a man believes and understands that stealing is wrong he would feel that stealing is wrong, but if a man was never taught that stealing was wrong he would not feel that stealing is wrong.

However some would use this argument to allow them to break laws because they didn't 'know' that stealing was wrong or against the law. I believe my original argument to be true but it can only apply to those who have had not contact with those who understand stealing to be wrong. Otherwise they would come to understand that stealing is wrong by the example and teachings of others.

Socrates once said that a man would never do evil if he knew good. While his statement did have some good support I believe this statement to be partially false. Yes, a man who knows good would rather do good but if he does not have good things on his mind he may do something he would not have done otherwise. I believe that a man will not do evil if his mind is filled with not only knowledge of good but also good, wholesome, thoughts.

I believe that we are creatures of circumstance. In one circumstance we may make one choice in a given situation, but in another we may make another choice completely. For example, a man has been thinking about various things concerning women, given a chance this man would most likely resist very little to the enticings of pornography. That same man having had more wholesome thoughts is his head would be less likely to even think about viewing pornographic material. For another example, if a man has had been caused to be angry throughout his day he would be more likely to use violence to solve a situation. But, if he had been having a good day he would be more likely to attempt to talk it out rather than to solve it with violence.

Religion by far has had the greatest impact on what men perceive to be wrong and right. The Bible has always been and always will be the number one best selling book ever written. This book has been the place where men throughout the ages have discovered their question to that eternal question, 'What is right? What is wrong?'

The last point that I will discuss is that of the conscience. The majority of people, myself included, believe that men are born with the innate ability do discern wrong from right. This being said, 'Why do so many people wish to discuss the difference between wrong and right?' I think that this understanding is not so much what is wrong or right but rather what is true. Man is possessed with the desire to discover that which is true. But many ask the wrong question during this search. They ask 'What is right?' and 'What is wrong?' when the question they should be asking is 'What is true?'. It is this asking of the wrong question this has led to the many oft contradictory responses to the question of what is right and what is wrong.

Just a Note

All post previous to this that where posted today are essays I wrote about three years ago. All posts after this where written pretty close to when they are posted.

A Poem Called 'Falling'

Drifting…

Falling…

Through the air

The darkness calls from far below

The things of mystery float through the air

An unknown void of memories past

The land of lost and forgotten thoughts

Returned to reclaim their

Honored glory of remembrance

But as they stand so bold and strong

They see they are not strong

They are not great

They are forgotten

They have no weight

A Poem Called 'The Eagle'

The amber pools

Survey the skyscape.

Spotting prey…

Diving…

The pure joy of the dive

Impact…

Hooked talons catch

Soaring away to feast.

A Poem Called 'Black'

All is dark all is black

The sun is gone

But there the moon some light still sheds

All is safe the light is there halting the shadow

Look about the moon is gone

In shadow fear the light consumed

The holy stars no light do shed

All is lost we are dead

But there beyond the blackest night

The dark is deep no light be found

Oh bright stars shed the light of which I so dearly need

Then the dark the dark so deep

The dark that hides the dark that needs

To feed upon the fear of men

To prey upon the blinded

But in the morn’

In the bright

The sun returns the dark destroyed

All is well and come next night

Part of the sun will be with me a fraction of the light.

Essay: How Prejudice Can Be Solved

Prejudice is usually a negative opinion based on feelings that we have that may make us feel better because we are frightened or unsure. Prejudice is part of human nature. Even though it can cause trouble we can’t help but make opinions based on feelings. If humans see someone walking by we instantly make assumptions about them with out even trying to get to know a person people just decide whom they are. Prejudice can be based on many different things the most common of which is racism, which is a false opinion based on where someone is from. Racism stereotypes people of any race. A common stereotype in the United States is that all Arabs or Muslims are terrorists. This is not true even though many people believe it to be. Prejudice can also be based on little things like how someone does their hair or what somebody wears. An example of this might be if someone sees a person walk by in black clothing one might think that the person in black clothing is gothic or something and react negatively.

One way we can solve this epidemic is getting to know those who are prejudiced against and learn whom they really are. This is really the most basic thing that can be done to combat prejudice. If someone were prejudice against Latinos then getting to know someone of that ethnicity would probably lift the prejudice from the persons mind. Therefore making the person less likely to be prejudices at a later date because they already proved themselves wrong about an ethnic group. To combat prejudices that others implant into our minds we can get to know the people that are prejudiced against and discover the truth of things. If someone has a bad experience involving some other race or ethnicity researching and getting to know that race or ethnicity could also remove a prejudice related to a bad experience. Put in essence understanding those who are prejudiced against reduces prejudice. By simply getting to know people who are prejudiced against, which are generally nice people, prejudice can vanish.

Prejudice can be very destructive and it can degrade entire nations. Racism is one of the worst forms of prejudice that exists. Minimizing it would greatly benefit the world for good. Countries should look at what their actions would do to other peoples and look at all races as equal human beings. The idea of people of different cultures being different races is an idea that promotes prejudice, moreover all of the human “races” are human and since all of the people on earth are human, people should treat one another as equals. This attitude would greatly aid in the removal of prejudice. In some places ruling classes where formed to make the natives feel inferior. Eliminating this practice would make dealing with the natives of many countries much easier because they wouldn’t be afraid of the possibility of long-term degradation by the newly enforced overlords.

The media is one of the main contributors of prejudice. The movies that the media produces are often full of prejudice against someone. The media not only spreads prejudice it is also infected by it. The medias view of a place like Utah is distorted. One example is that the media most likely believes Utahans to be cowboys, hillbillies, pioneers, and other such people. Because of the medias power over the opinions of the people prejudice is directed wherever the medias prejudice is focused at the moment. The media really doesn’t care whom the prejudice that it spreads hurts. The media simply wants to spread their opinion and be paid for it.

Understanding each other and trying to stay away from our feeling based judgments can essentially solve prejudice. Avoiding the degradation of entire nations by way of racism would be a powerful tool in the removal of prejudice from the existence of man. Much of the blame for prejudice belongs to the media. The media invents rumors and spreads lies for a profit not caring if anyone was affected by the slander. If mankind where to embrace compassion and understanding prejudice would melt away like ice on a hot griddle. Without the armaments of love and understanding for our fellow man we are like leaves in a windstorm, powerless against the forces of nature. If we posses them we are like stolid fortress walls against a water balloon. With love and understanding for our fellow man the world would be a peaceful place unified with no prejudice or contention of any kind.

Essay: Loyalty

Loyalty is like trust or friendship. When someone is loyal they want the person that they are loyal to succeed. Truly loyal people do what they can to help the one they are loyal to accomplish what they want to accomplish. The truly loyal feel no bother when helping someone they are loyal to. There are many forms of loyalty including loyalty to a crown, kingdom, or county, loyalty to a person or group, or loyalty to an idea or belief. Everyone is loyal in more than one way. A person can be loyal to their country and the current ruler of that country, that person can also be loyal to their religion and also their family and friends. Very few people are loyal on only one way, even less are not loyal at all.

True loyalty is the best kind; it’s strong and lasts for-nearly-ever. Loyalty to a county can be like that, or even loyalty to a religion. True loyalty is not blind loyalty; those who are truly loyal follow those who they are loyal to. They do so with some thought they don’t just do it because the person they are loyal to said so. In most cases people or groups that one can be truly loyal to are worthy of that loyalty, but sometimes no one knows exactly what the group wants but some people are still loyal to them. This type of loyalty is strange and very blind. Ignorant loyalty is not true it’s the opposite of true loyalty. People of groups that are worth being loyal to have a reasonably open demeanor; they share their ideas and beliefs, they tell people what their intentions are, and they are true to what they say.

People can be loyal in many ways. The most common type of loyalty is to one or more countries. This includes loyalty to your homeland and to the place you live, even the land of your ancestors. Loyalty takes time to develop and even longer to make permanent. Some types of loyalty can be passed down through generations. Loyalty is sometimes implied or strongly suggested by the government or another group. Some people are “loyal” just so that they can say that they are ‘loyal’ to some group or idea that may be ‘cool’ or appealing to others. This so called loyalty is pointless and fleeting. It never evolves into true loyalty or anything else that resembles it.

Loyalty is everywhere everyone is loyal to someone or something. Though it is a sick and twisted slave-like loyalty even drug addicts are “loyal” to their drugs and/or drug dealers. Real loyalty is better for your health and mental stability and much more common. The few that are loyal to none are either very paranoid or have lost their ability to trust due to involvement in gangs or other crime. For the most part loyalty is a good thing and most people are loyal to something. Be it religion, country, a group or person, or some combination or these. Most people are loyal to more that one person, group, idea, county or place. These loyalties are not always of equal strength however, they are usually staggered with one or two being stronger and the rest being equally or progressively weaker.

Loyalty is important it is one of the glues that hold society and people together. Loyalty doesn’t come in a set amount it has varying degrees. People can be strongly loyal or weakly loyal and even somewhere in between. True loyalty can last for-nearly-ever it’s the strongest kind of loyalty and true loyalty is above other types of loyalty after loyalty reaches a certain degree of strength it becomes true loyalty. Loyalty can come in many different forms. It can be slave-like or happy and constructive. Loyalty develops in many ways and it always takes time to do so. Nobody can become passionately loyal to someone over night. Loyalty is an important and part of our world it strengthens and hold is together. Loyalty is one of the many types of glue that hold the world together and it is also one of the strongest next to love and friendship.

Essay: Justice

Justice is fairness it is a very important thing for governments to have and without justice a government would fall. Justice is the basis of our court system and if someone is taken to court that person has a fair trial with an unbiased jury and a fair judge. Law is meant to uphold justice without law justice is difficult to find. There is very little justice in chaos but in law there is often justice. In the United States there is justice everywhere. The sixth amendment guarantees us the right to a just and fair trial, this is one of the many reasons that the United States is such a nice place to live. Justice and Fairness are almost synonymous if there is fairness there is justice and justice is fairness. If there was no justice fairness could not exist for if there was fairness there would be justice. To be just is to see all sides of an issue and make a decision based upon what would be beneficial to all parties involved.

The sixth amendment says in part “...the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury…” This means that in any court of the United States if someone is sent to court then they are always allowed a fair trial with an unbiased jury and fair judge. The United States in one of the greatest places on earth and one of the foremost reasons for that is the fair court system. In a court hearing the jury is chosen almost randomly. Anyone called to serve in the jury who has a connection to anyone involved in the case is asked to leave the jury in order to keep the jury evenhanded. The decision of the court is based entirely upon the evidence presented by the prosecutor and the defendant’s counsel. The judge is not always as unbiased as the jury but in most cases the judge makes just rulings.

Justice is synonymous with fairness if someone is said to be fair then that person is in all likelihood also just. Fairness and justice are synonymous in that fairness is deciding while seeing all sides of an issue and making a decision that benefits all involved as much as possible. Fairness and justice are one and the same in that if a judge is fair he makes just rulings. Fairness and justice are identical in that if a decision is reached that is considered fair that decision could also be considered just. The point of this comparison is to show that if one is fair one is also just. Justice and fairness are nearly the same with the exception that they are typically used in different contexts. Fairness can be used to indicate equality. If the law is just, which it often is, then it affects all equally, and therefore it is akin to fairness.

Seeing all of the sides of an issue and deciding based upon what would treat the parties equally is a just act. If a person makes these decisions consistently that person would live a just life. Not all people can do this but those who can lead very good lives and make extremely effective judges. This trait is something that many may benefit from because there are many judges with this ability and it allows them to make good decisions more easily. These decisions lead to people being treated equally and the world becoming a better place to live. This trait is something that the majority of judges have because it allows them to see all sides of an issue and not become biased during a court hearing. This view of things makes justice quite simple, and that simplicity is very useful in this unfair, unjust, and loophole seeking world.

Justice is simple, fair, multi-sided, and equal. Justice is like the law it affects all involved equally. Justice is unbiased it is unchanged regardless of the people involved. It is seeing all of the sides of and issue and making a decision that benefits all involved as equally as possible. Justice is nearly the same as fairness, without fairness justice would not exist, and is justice exists then fairness exists. Justice treats everyone equally it has no preferences, biases, of prejudices. Justice is therefore a fair thing. If the world were completely just there would be no need for wars, political arguments, and needless squabbles because everyone would understand how these things would affect the world and attempt to avoid them to keep the world fair. Justice all over the world would also cause those who are now poor to be able to live relatively comfortably.

Essay: Fate

Fate is a predetermined end for someone’s life or a force that control events. Many people believe that no matter what they do they cannot change what’s going to happen to them, this would also say that you have no agency. This means that you have absolutely no say in what you are going to do. But this means that people who do bad things cannot stop doing those things unless fate wills it. Fate can be rationalized because people can say that even though it was a strange turn of events it was what fate decided would happen. This is why people usually believe in fate, because it can’t be disproved but it can’t exactly be proved either. Even if it only might exist many people believe in fate, possibly because it removes fault from the person, and allows them to do whatever they want because they believe that whatever they are doing is what fate is making them do.

Many believe that life is uncontrollable, that its outcome is determined by a force called fate that supposedly controls all of the events that happen in a person’s life. Some people may use this definition or belief to their advantage and say that they are destined to rule the world or even kill someone. If this person can convince people that this is true then they can gain much political or at least social power, those that decide that they are destined to kill someone probably wont gain any kind of real power however. It is possible that fate exists but we all have choices and if someone does what they are supposed to they will accomplish their fate but still have a say in the specifics of what their fate means. Technically death could be considered fate and because it happens to every one people can say that fate is real because they can also say that everyone is fated to die. Though many aspects of life are uncontrollable life is usually in the control of the person living it. Sometimes ones fate can be exactly what the person wants to do or accomplish. In which case ones fate would be more of a goal than a doom.

The reason that many peoples and cultures believe in fate is because either their shamen make general predictions or because they cannot disprove fate. The deepest underlying reason that fate is believed in is because it cannot be disproved. One could say that it doesn’t exist but that person could not give solid evidence for their conclusion. One could also say that fate does exist but that person couldn’t give solid enough evidence to convince skeptics either. Due to this fact many people neither strongly believe or doubt fate. It is simply accepted as something to blame troubles on, or is otherwise ignored. Blame is also a reason that people don’t forget about fate. Many people blame everything on fate and hate it, but they still think that it is fates fault that something bad happened. It is possible that it is fates fault but most likely that person did something stupid and are now facing the consequences.

In some cases people use fate as an excuse to do whatever they want. For example in series called The Wheel of Time there is a country called Shara in which certain ‘servants’ kill or assassinate the current emperor or empress and basically whoever they want. They claim that it is the will of the pattern, otherwise known as fate, that whoever they killed or assassinated was to die. This form of belief of fate is often used as an excuse by people to do whatever they want, in our society this excuse is less powerful because the justice system does not believe in using fate as evidence during the judgment. However in the past, such as the Middle Ages or early renaissance, this excuse would carry quite a bit of weight and could possibly prove the person innocent of any crime. As mentioned in the earlier example when enough people believe in fate strongly people can potentially take advantage of that belief and gain power over them to do what ever they want.

Though there are many examples here that could prove or disprove fate, and even some that say that fate can be used in a wrong way against believers. I believe in fate but my belief says that someone’s fate is accomplished only when that person does what they are supposed to and is usually a good thing. When it is not accomplished in this life my belief says that if that person was doing right their fate will be accomplished in the next life. Fate is more of a guiding force than a controlling force. It pushed one towards ones fate but that fate can sometimes be avoided and that usually isn’t a good thing. Weather or not fate truly controls of predetermines events we still have control over our actions. If someone felt like they where supposed to walk one way that person could potentially walk the other way. Though some might say that the way the person went was fates original plan or predetermined choice. That could also be said of the other way and that is why people cannot disprove fate.

Essay: Change

Change is becoming different when change occurs it is not usually detected until afterwards when the person looks back and sees the difference between the person now and the person then. People change all the time it’s the way things happen. Some embrace chance but some hate it and do everything they can to avoid and fight it. Regardless of view change happens to everyone, even rocks change eventually. The largest mountain could have once been the bottom of a lake, which shows that nothing can stop change. Although change is unavoidable it can still be difficult. Prejudice can change a person. If everyone, or almost everyone, believed in some rumor or false opinion it could have disastrous affects on the person. This kind of treatment could even lead the person to believe the false opinion of another. Bringing this person back to their original state would be very difficult, if anyone could remember their original state. If nobody knew how this person was it would probably be tremendously difficult.

This year I am taking seminary and it has strengthened my testimony and helped me to read the Book of Mormon regularly. Before Seminary I was decently strong in the church but seminary has really deepened my understanding of my religion and given me a new perspective on life. My new strength in the church had helped me deal with pressures and many other things and I have learned that the best way to follow something is to make the ideas yours and to make teachings and stuff part of your life. The most difficult way to follow something is to try to follow but instead of making yourself part of it you try to make it fit you. At the first of the year I was trying too hard to do things right, and I didn’t even try to remake myself so I would do things right without thinking. Now I have remade myself and now I feel no strain from anything I just take things as they come.

Before school started this year I was lazy I liked to eat and I only exercised once or twice a week. But when school started and I had Physical Education, hereafter known as P.E., and this class gave me the determination to get into shape. The more difficult change that I went through to become more fit was eating healthily it wasn’t too hard but it was harder that exercising regularly. Now I exercise more and eat healthily so I think this was a partially self-induced change. I didn’t notice at first but as I participated more in the P.E. sports I was less tired and I had more energy and then I ran the mile . . . running the mile burned all of the small amount of fat off of my legs and it hurt. But it also changed me. It gave me the determination to run because I knew I could run a mile so I wanted to be able to do it faster next time. I’m sure this change is still happening and I’m excited to see the result.

To Kill a Mockingbird or not To Kill a Mockingbird that is the question. By deeply pondering To Kill a Mockingbird I learned not to kill a mockingbird, which means not to be prejudice. Mockingbird taught me that the world would be a much better place if prejudice, one of the greatest downfalls of humanity, were eradicated and we where left with the armaments of love and understanding for our fellow human beings. Mockingbird changed me in that I really tried not to be prejudice and I discovered that I had some prejudices even though I thought I had tired not to. I also learned that prejudice is part of human nature and that humans can’t help but be somewhat prejudice. I also learned that some nature within us causes us to have opinions of someone without even knowing them. This topic was discussed in class and I remember agreeing and remembering that times I had done just that and then remembering that I had also dispelled that kind of prejudice a couple of times and I changed. This change caused me to look at people in an unbiased was and getting to know who they are without seeing them in a prejudiced way.

The change described in this paper has all been positive. Carlos had improved and learned from it. He became more fit and learned how he could reduce his prejudiceness. Change is generally good and when people embrace it change can be very beneficial to almost anyone. It can also be an obstructive thing, when people change too much somehow they can be shunned or rejected by others. Change requires a balance between positive and negative change. While having only positive change is good a little bit of weird negative change always makes things more interesting. Having a lot of negative change may attract some friends but they may not be very good friends.

Essay: What We Love to Hate

The things that people love to hate are many. Most people just can’t stand someone being different from them while others cannot stand someone of another race for some or no reason. Some people hate those with more power then them or those who abuse their power. Some even hate people who sell things, be it over the phone or at your door. People hate because they are taught to. No child hates anyone, when a child is growing up the hatred his or her parent’s feel toward others teaches the child to hate. People fear that which is different, fear leads to anger and anger quickly becomes hate. Everything and everyone who is or has ever been hated was once feared to some degree. Almost always in the origin of hate fear, though most might not notice it has began as a fear or insecurity that eventually grew into what is now hate.

The fact that someone is different makes many people afraid and that fear eventually makes them angry at who ever they find to be different and that anger eventually simmers down into hate. Racism is one of the greatest examples of fear becoming hate because of differences that exist. Racism is the degradation of an entire race, or a portion thereof by making those who belong to that race feel inferior or selling them into slavery and thereby making them feel an even greater lowliness. The people who conquered South Africa are prime examples of how I might define racist. They set up a ruling class made up of only Afrikaans, to keep them away from the people they feared, and took away the majority of the rights of the native people. The Afrikaans also segregated the communities to keep them apart from the native people. All because they where afraid of the native peoples of South Africa because they where different.

People with power are afraid of people with more power than they. This fear of someone with greater power eventually becomes anger and that anger ultimately becomes hate. This hate of greater power is caused by the fear of that greater power being used against you. Terrorists, for example, have power in the form of bombs and planes that they crash into buildings, people fear terrorists and eventually they hate them due to their fear of death. The fear that someone or something has the power to cause death is also a great source of power-based hate. The hate of power not only comes from a greater power but also from lesser power. The hate of a lesser power comes from the fear that one day the lesser power will be greater than yours. The hate of a lesser power can also come from the fear that the lesser power has enough power to cause you harm and remove your power.

Salesmen are a very common focus for hate in this world. This hatred is very weak and fleeting; it comes from annoyance more than it does fear like most other forms of hatred. Therefore the hatred most people feel towards salesmen is only mild and is more often than not easy to ignore if the need arises. The problem is that having a constant, though minor, hate in the lives of people can eventually lead to greater hate and possibly violence and suffering. Some people however feel a deeper hatred for salesmen. This hatred probably comes from a bad experience or somehow a fear of salesmen that became anger that grew into hate. The strange thing about the common hate of salesmen is that people usually don’t have specific salesmen they hate; they hate salesmen in general. Hating a group is akin to racism, though the odium felt towards salesmen is minor, and can be equally destructive.

Though true hate has many forms it shares one central characteristic, it is fueled and has its origins in fear. When someone is afraid they eventually become angry at the source of their fear, that anger rages through them and eventually takes a new form as hate. The more anger and fear that the person the greater their hate will become. Minor hate which is more like a deep annoyance is fueled and has its origins elsewhere is nothing compared to the true hat that many people feel sometimes. If mankind where to embrace compassion and understanding prejudice and hate would melt away like ice on a hot griddle. Without the armaments of love and understanding for our fellow man we are like leaves in a windstorm, powerless against the forces of nature. If we posses them we are like stolid fortress walls against the tempest. With love and understanding for our fellow man the world would be a peaceful place unified with no prejudice or contention of any kind.

Essay: Silence

Silence is a contemplation of your surroundings and a way to gain a deeper understanding of the world. Silence is a learning experience; it allows us to get in touch with ourselves in an open calm atmosphere. Silence also allows us to gain a connection with our surroundings that would never exist otherwise. The reason that this connection never forms is because we are so busy and we never have ‘time’ to contemplate and gain a connection to our surrounding in silence. Silence not only gives us a connection to our surroundings in addition to giving us a profound understanding of our surroundings and ourselves. Silence is relaxing it can give us breathing room to deal with the troubles of everyday life. The fact that you push everything aside when you listen to silence allows you to be calm and ready to deal with the rigors of life. Silence is basically an awakening experience that gives us breathing room when we need it and a way to connect to our surroundings and ourselves.

Silence is difficult to get into sometimes. When I began the thirty-minute silence assignment this work is about it was really difficult to remain focused on the silence. I kept having the urge to grab a book and read it or to do something other than sit there. Eventually it got easier to remain in the silence, once I was completely immersed in the silence time just slipped by, to me it seemed that time was passing ever so slowly. When I went to check the time I discovered that nearly thirty minutes had passed. The really amazing thing about silence is that you enter this little world that includes only you, your surrounding, and the silence. This solitude allows you to view the world in a new perspective uncluttered with worries, thoughts, or stresses. During the course of the silence I felt a feeling that I should do something but in the back of my mind I knew that I had to experience the silence so I resisted that urge to do something other than sit in silence.

Being is silence is almost like floating in the middle of a pool underneath the water and just relaxing. I felt like I was within and endless void that stretched on forever. Though my mind was cleared and empty most of the time I felt like my mind had grown and expanded to fill the void that I sat within with the silence. I felt like my cluttered mind had been expanded and somewhat reorganized I felt as if my mind had been sharpened and I saw my house more clearly. The silence drew the whole world into a greater perspective for me. The silence was serene and expanded to the limits of my mind it was a really stirring feeling to fill my mind with silence. The most powerful thing that I felt during the silence was the feeling of an expanded mind and of a deep penetrating peace. The strange thing was that many of my thoughts where outside of me they where like bits of dust that where blown away almost as soon as they landed.

Silence creates and atmosphere that cannot be achieved in any other way but silence. It’s almost like floating in a cloud; of course I have had very little sleep lately so that’s probably why it felt like floating in a cloud. It just gives you that perspective that really opens your mind and lets you see things more clearly. Silence also makes you feel separate from other people. During that time that you connect yourself with your surrounding and yourself somehow you are distanced from others that distance is easy to overcome but it just feels odd to me to be distanced from people. The distance seemed huge after the silence was over but as soon as my sister talked to me somehow that distance vanished. Silence is great and all but I couldn’t imagine being raised like that. The ability to contemplate everything all of the time is good but not being able to talk to my parents would be strange and my life would be a lot harder and completely different. Being raised in silence would eventually expand the distance from people into an enormous gap that would be enormously difficult to cross.

In conclusion silence is a useful tool that can be used to relive stress and give you some breathing room to people with to many things on their minds. Silence is like a serene void surrounded by a shield that nearly keeps out thought. The downsides of silence are the distance that silence puts between you and other people and the proneness for it to cause sleep sometimes, for the most part though silence is very useful and a good way to strengthen the mind. While I sat in silence after I had overcome the temptation to read a book I began to feel a peace that flooded through me after I had cleared my mind that was really nice. When some time had passed I began to feel extremely tired and nearly fell asleep but just barely managed to escaped falling asleep. When the near sleep experience was over the time just flew by and at the end of the experience my tiredness had melted away. The only way that I think silence can be misused is if a father or parent figure forces silence upon their child and this forcing can possible cause the child to have a hard time talking to other people because of the forced silence. But for the most part I think that silence is a good tool to use and a good was to pass the time if you have nothing else to do because of the rate that time flies during the silence.