December 1, 2010
The Meaning of Language
Out of Class
Revisiting my previous discussion about language, I want to talk about thinking in languages. In general, we say that language is a means of communication. But of course, it is also a form of thinking. Has it every occurred to you that we also think in certain languages? (Maybe this doesn't apply for those who only speak fluently in one language.)
When I was born, the first language that I learnt to speak was English. Although both of my parents were Chinese, they studied Chinese in school only until elementary standard and studied in the United States for their university courses. As I turned 7, my parents understood that speaking one's mother tongue was very important, so I was sent to study at a Chinese elementary school. I had a hard time. Although I understood Chinese, I was very slow in responding because in my mind, the words were all in English.
From 7 to 16, my Chinese improved a lot and English, hmm, not as much. One thing that I did not realize until I came to Vietnam, was that I was no longer thinking in English. I thought in Chinese most of the time. I feel in the Chinese language. For example, if there were two people who said "I love you" to me and one person said in Chinese whilst the other said in English, I would feel the love more from the person who spoke in Chinese. English, to me, was merely words.
After two years of studying in Vietnam, I am ashame to admit that I think the language that I'm thinking in is changing again. I don't know how much it has changed, but the lack of speaking in my mother tongue, especially when I don't live with my family anymore, I realized that phrases that I used to say are not being substituted by English sentences. I like English, but I love Chinese. I am afraid of the change. Is it possible to be able to think in two languages? When I don't think in Chinese, does that also affect my ability to speak it?
Source of image:
http://commonsenseatheism.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/intro_to_language.png
John Nash, A Beautiful Mind
IB Class: Economics
In our Economics class, we learnt about Game Theory and Mr. Isley showed us a movie about the creator of Game Theory, John Nash. "A Beautiful Mind" must have been one of the most touching movies I have ever watched. John Nash was a brilliant mathematician. He wrote a paper about Game Theory and became famous. He also had a beautiful wife. Unfortunately, John Nash started to have hallucinations and he was diagnosed to have schizophrenia. Then, he had to have medicine to stop the hallucinations but the medication prevented him to have a clear mind to perform mathematics. Finally, he succeeded in convincing himself of which was the reality and which was just his imagination.
Very few people are able to do what John Nash has done - to know which was the reality and which was not. I've also heard stories about people secretly stopping their medication and then their hallucinations came back. What are their intentions? Maybe because they hated the effect of the medications, that they cannot really think consciously, but at the same time, I feel sorry for those who live within their hallucinations. This reminds me of the movie "Inception" as the main character kept wanting to go back into his dream to live with his wife. I think that living in hallucinations and dreams are mentally unhealthy and they should be aware that there are people who care about them are waiting for them in the real world. The reality has what you really have whilst the hallucinations or dreams have what you think you have, but what you really don't have.
Source of image:
The Romantics
IB Class: English
Currently we are studying about the Romantics. A few days ago, we watched a video clip about a few of the poets. In the clip, one of the poets was depressed because he stopped believing in Christianity and felt loss thinking that he did not have an afterlife.
To be honest, when I was watching the video clip, I did not feel any empathy for the poet. I think this is due to the fact that I do not have a religion and I do not understand why the poet is so depressed from not having a religion. (I'm sorry, please do not be offended when you're reading this.) What is the purpose of an afterlife? In my opinion, the most important thing is to live the life that we're living right now to the fullest. Do what we really want to do and have no regrets. Even if we have an afterlife, we are separated from the ones we love. I think that this is the only lifetime that I have, so I try to live it the best way possible.
Source of image:
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/melancholy/keats.jpg
Is Swallowing Chewing Gum Dangerous?
Out of Class
I read Q&A section in this website The Straight Dope about a person asking if swallowing chewing gum was dangerous. Apparently this person, Patrick, chews an average of eight to ten sticks of gum each day and he always swallows the gum he eats. His friends were shocked when he told them about this so he was wondering if doing so was really dangerous.
According to the answerer of the website, Cecil Adams, it was not dangerous to swallow chewing gum and the rumored consequences, such as the gum staying in one's stomach for seven years, were ridiculous. Yes, chewing gum is indigestible, but humans eat many indigestible things.
This funny Q&A reminded me of I was afraid of eating seeds of fruits when I was young. I believed that if I ate the seeds, the seeds would stay in stomach and grow into a tree. I couldn't let that happen! So whenever I eat watermelons, I have to pick out the seeds before eating them. It's funny how I believed that seeds would grow in my stomach when I was young. Now the whole idea just seemed ridiculous. I think nowadays, even adults believe in many things although the things are ridiculous. Why do we believe in them? Maybe it was caused by fear. Sometimes, we just don't think consciously enough with our heads.
Source of image:
http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/347451-13019-39.jpg
Beau Lotto TED Talk
In Class
We watched a TED Talk video by Beau Lotto about optical illusions. The main purpose of the TED Talk was about the difference of our perception of the world and how the world really is. Beau Lotto used a lot of colors to show how they can affect our perceive the world. A quote that he used, "We have no direct access to our physical world other than our sense". Light allows us to see the world, but there are many factors that affect our vision, such as the color of the object, the color of the light that reflects the object, the color of the space between our eyes and the object, and etc.
I think an issue that Beau Lotto is trying to point out that we will never know how or what the physical world really is. Maybe every individual on this earth has their own different perception of the physical world. This then makes me wonder, if physical things are actually not what they seem and are perceived differently by everyone, then do we perceive intangible things, such as emotions differently too? If we cannot be sure of what we see is the same, then there might be a flaw in our standards. For example, Ariel and Betty are looking at a color. Assuming that both of them don't know the name of the color, but Ariel sees the color green and Betty sees blue. Then, they were taught that the name of the color was sea green. As a result, every time Ariel sees the color green and Betty the color blue, they call it sea green. Then again, I wonder, does the difference really matter?
Children's Drawings
In Class
During class, each of us were given a piece of paper with children's drawings on it. The drawings were divided into two categories - drawn by city children and farm children. Then, we were given the instructions to describe the characteristics of the two categories. After a short moment, Ms Jackson asked us to talk about what we wrote. Oddly enough, the students on the left side of the classroom talked about city and farm children whilst the students on the right side of the classroom talked about creative and non creative children. We then realized that the descriptions on our paper about the drawings we different.
I think it was interesting how we managed to describe the drawings without much difficulty although the class was given different categories. This reminds me of confirmation bias. As I believed what I was told on the paper, that the drawings were drawn by city and farm children, I was still able to find characteristics from the drawing to support my belief. All I saw was evidence that can confirm what I believe was true. This was caused by the idea of city and farm children drawings before I could make a judgment by myself of who had drawn the drawings. If I wasn't told that city and farm children had drawn those drawings, I might have drawn a different conclusion, possibly that creative and non creative children had drawn those drawings.
During class, each of us were given a piece of paper with children's drawings on it. The drawings were divided into two categories - drawn by city children and farm children. Then, we were given the instructions to describe the characteristics of the two categories. After a short moment, Ms Jackson asked us to talk about what we wrote. Oddly enough, the students on the left side of the classroom talked about city and farm children whilst the students on the right side of the classroom talked about creative and non creative children. We then realized that the descriptions on our paper about the drawings we different.
I think it was interesting how we managed to describe the drawings without much difficulty although the class was given different categories. This reminds me of confirmation bias. As I believed what I was told on the paper, that the drawings were drawn by city and farm children, I was still able to find characteristics from the drawing to support my belief. All I saw was evidence that can confirm what I believe was true. This was caused by the idea of city and farm children drawings before I could make a judgment by myself of who had drawn the drawings. If I wasn't told that city and farm children had drawn those drawings, I might have drawn a different conclusion, possibly that creative and non creative children had drawn those drawings.
A Whiff of Experience
In Class
As we were learning about sense perception in class, we were divided into groups of three and assigned a type of sense perception to read and make a skit of. The sense perception that I was responsible of was smell. In the article "A Whiff of Experience", I learnt several important facts about the sense of smell. The facts include odors will become less noticeable after we are exposed to them frequently, odors affect what we do and how we feel, certain sicknesses have their unique smells, and the power of smells to bring back the most vivid memories.
I think the smell of a place is very unique. Once I walked into a place (I've forgotten where) and I was stunned. The place smelt like my former school. It was a wonder that another place in another country would smell like my old school. At that moment, I felt as if I didn't want to leave that place because of the smell that brought back nostalgic memories. I tried to find what was the thing or things that created the amazing smell of a place of old buildings, grass, trees, food, students, cars, and newspapers. It was as if I was suddenly brought back in time, to 2008 when I was still a student of my previous school.
Source of image:
Synesthesia
In Class
Synesthesia is the combination of two or more senses of perception. One of the most common characteristics of synesthesia is the assigning of colors to numbers. For example, a person who has synesthesia will always see red color surrounding the number 5. In class, we did a synesthesia test. As Ms Jackson read out a series of numbers, we had to write down the color that we associate with the numbers. We did the test again after a week. I did not have synesthesia, because the colors that I wrote were different.
I think it would be interesting if someone had synesthesia. Does it affect the person's lifestyle? I think this depends on the symptoms of each individuals who has synesthesia. A few weeks ago, Mai Vi told me about a character in an American drama Lost who has synesthesia. The character can associate sounds with colors. Other than that, the character later also realized that certain colors are related to certain emotions. For example, if the character's mother was shouting, the sound of the mother shouting creates red sound wave. In some ways, this is an advantage for the character because the character is able to know the emotional state of people who are speaking. I personally would want to have that characteristic of synesthesia. It would help me to identify people's emotions and it would be a great help when I'm interacting with people.
Source of image:
At First Sight
In Class
As we watched a 10 minute clip of At First Sight, we were learning about sense perception. In the movie, the main character was blind since birth and in the clip that we watched in class, Virgil had just did an operation and the doctor was opening his wound dressing. It was a very nervous moment for Virgil's sister and girlfriend, Jennie and Amy.
After Virgil opened his eyes, he was very frightened as he couldn't understand what he was seeing. Even if his closest sister was standing in front of him, Virgil did not know who she was because he had never perceived his sister's physical appearance. Hence, he had to associate his sense of touch to help him believe what he is seeing is what it is. In addition, one interesting moment that was shown in the clip was that Virgil did not recognize himself when he saw himself in the mirror. He thought that the figure in the mirror was another person until he saw the reflection followed his actions then he only realized that it was himself.
Firstly, I think that people who used to be blind and regain their sight would not have a sense of beauty. They wouldn't know if a person or thing is beautiful or ugly. This is because their minds are not affected by different factors - commercials, artists, culture, etc. For example, a very traditional Chinese may think that single eye lids women, with their eyes slightly diagonal (phoenix' eyes) are beautiful.
In addition, I also came up with a question: how do blind people dream? Usually when we dream, we have visions. The visions are created from our imagination, or settings that we have seen before. Given the fact that blind people cannot perceive the material world, I assume that they won't have visions in their dream. Then what do their dreams consist of? The touch of things, sounds, and voices of people?
Sources of images:
http://www.firsttvdrama.com/show2/history/atfirst.jpg
http://cimg2.163.com/catchpic/6/60/601B4A7F5509EA9C4DE3B5DC65BA3C5A.jpg
Quarter 2 Terminology
1 Inductive Reasoning
A kind of reasoning in which a general conclusion is drawn from specific examples, usually personal experiences and observations. The conclusion drawn from inductive reasoning may not always be true, but practical for the person used.
Example: All humans cannot breathe underwater for a long time, therefore, humans cannot live underwater.
2 Deductive Reasoning
A kind of reasoning in which a specific conclusion is drawn from general statements. Deductive reasoning is more reliable than inductive reasoning because we can know whether the conclusion is true but sometimes the logic is difficult to follow.
Example: Some fish are silver. A salmon is a fish. Therefore, some salmons are silver.
3 Syllogism
A kind of deductive reasoning that consists of two premises and one conclusion.
4 Premise
Statements that provide information in order to come to a final conclusion. The premises have to have quantifiers and three terms in total.
5 Conclusion
A proposition formed based on two premises. In order for a conclusion to be true, the two premises have to be true and the logic must be valid.
6 Terms
The subjects of premises, usually nouns.
7 Quantifier
Words that tell us the approximate amount of things that are referred to.
8 Fallacy
A kind of reasoning that has flaws; the false reasoning is used to make a invalid conclusion.
Equivocation: A type of fallacy that is caused by words that have double meaning. Sometimes the way how the words are used are ambiguous so it is difficult to know if someone is using the word with the same meaning consistently in an argument.
For example, a paper is light. The light is broken. Therefore, the paper is broken.
9 Inference
The action of drawing a conclusion based on evidence and logic.
10 Argument
A series of statements intended to establish a proposition, to come to a valid conclusion.
11 Logic
A process of reasonable and rational thinking that guides and allows us to judge for what is correct.
12 Hasty Generalization
To make a generalization without enough evidence.
Example: I have never seen Sae Hyun eat bananas, so she hates bananas.
13 Enthymeme
A premise that is not expressed because it is implied that everyone knows it.
Example: James is a businessmen. James is rich. (The premise that is missing is "Businessmen are rich.")
14 Confirmation Bias
When people are unconsciously selecting (to only see) evidence that support their beliefs to confirm that what they believe in is true.
Example: I believe that Asians are good in math and the Asians who are good in math in my school confirm my belief (I ignore the Asians who are not as good in Math.).
15 Belief Bias
16 Synesthesia
The combination of two or more sense of perception. For example, a person who has synesthesia may see certain colors when they see, think or hear certain numbers.
17 Veil of Perception
The idea that we can never perceive how the material world really is, because there are veils or barriers, such as our ideas, impressions, and interpretations that affect how we perceive the world.
18 Naive Realism
The things that we see are how we perceive them to be. For example, an apple is dark red because that is how I see it now.
19 Idealism
Something does not exist unless there is someone to perceive it. For example, if a tree falls on the ground but no one is there to hear the sound of the tree falling, then the sound does not exist.
20 Immaterialism
There is no material world, the only thing that really exists is our mind.
21 Law of Simplicity
We do not invent new names for shapes that are irregular, but categorize them into what they are similar to. A shape that is not a circle but looks like a circle is called a circle.
22 Law of Parsimony
To explain a thing or event with the simplest explanation that fits the data.
23 Context
(a) Based on our understanding of the world, we see something depending on the context in which we see it.
(b) Our mind is set of how things should be so when things are out of our expectations, they become disturbing.
24 Expectations
The tendency for us to overlook the things that are irregular, that do not fit with our expectations.
25 Selectivity
The tendency for us to only notice things that we are concentrating on and unconsciously ignore others because we cannot be aware of everything that is happening around us.
26 Visual Grouping
The tendency for us to look for shapes and patterns in what we perceive in order to make sense of it.
27 Figure and Ground
The tendency for us to draw attention to certain things and treat others as the background. We usually highlight things that are in black (figure) and white as the background.
28 Gestalt Principle
The tendency for our mind to perceive things as how we think they should be, seeing things according to what we already know.
Example: This book is is blue (We omit the second "the".)
A kind of reasoning in which a general conclusion is drawn from specific examples, usually personal experiences and observations. The conclusion drawn from inductive reasoning may not always be true, but practical for the person used.
Example: All humans cannot breathe underwater for a long time, therefore, humans cannot live underwater.
2 Deductive Reasoning
A kind of reasoning in which a specific conclusion is drawn from general statements. Deductive reasoning is more reliable than inductive reasoning because we can know whether the conclusion is true but sometimes the logic is difficult to follow.
Example: Some fish are silver. A salmon is a fish. Therefore, some salmons are silver.
3 Syllogism
A kind of deductive reasoning that consists of two premises and one conclusion.
4 Premise
Statements that provide information in order to come to a final conclusion. The premises have to have quantifiers and three terms in total.
5 Conclusion
A proposition formed based on two premises. In order for a conclusion to be true, the two premises have to be true and the logic must be valid.
6 Terms
The subjects of premises, usually nouns.
7 Quantifier
Words that tell us the approximate amount of things that are referred to.
8 Fallacy
A kind of reasoning that has flaws; the false reasoning is used to make a invalid conclusion.
Equivocation: A type of fallacy that is caused by words that have double meaning. Sometimes the way how the words are used are ambiguous so it is difficult to know if someone is using the word with the same meaning consistently in an argument.
For example, a paper is light. The light is broken. Therefore, the paper is broken.
9 Inference
The action of drawing a conclusion based on evidence and logic.
10 Argument
A series of statements intended to establish a proposition, to come to a valid conclusion.
11 Logic
A process of reasonable and rational thinking that guides and allows us to judge for what is correct.
12 Hasty Generalization
To make a generalization without enough evidence.
Example: I have never seen Sae Hyun eat bananas, so she hates bananas.
13 Enthymeme
A premise that is not expressed because it is implied that everyone knows it.
Example: James is a businessmen. James is rich. (The premise that is missing is "Businessmen are rich.")
14 Confirmation Bias
When people are unconsciously selecting (to only see) evidence that support their beliefs to confirm that what they believe in is true.
Example: I believe that Asians are good in math and the Asians who are good in math in my school confirm my belief (I ignore the Asians who are not as good in Math.).
15 Belief Bias
When people believe an argument to be valid because the conclusion that fit with their beliefs.
Example: I believe that all bears are black because I have never seen bears in any other color.
16 Synesthesia
The combination of two or more sense of perception. For example, a person who has synesthesia may see certain colors when they see, think or hear certain numbers.
17 Veil of Perception
The idea that we can never perceive how the material world really is, because there are veils or barriers, such as our ideas, impressions, and interpretations that affect how we perceive the world.
18 Naive Realism
The things that we see are how we perceive them to be. For example, an apple is dark red because that is how I see it now.
19 Idealism
Something does not exist unless there is someone to perceive it. For example, if a tree falls on the ground but no one is there to hear the sound of the tree falling, then the sound does not exist.
20 Immaterialism
There is no material world, the only thing that really exists is our mind.
21 Law of Simplicity
We do not invent new names for shapes that are irregular, but categorize them into what they are similar to. A shape that is not a circle but looks like a circle is called a circle.
22 Law of Parsimony
To explain a thing or event with the simplest explanation that fits the data.
23 Context
(a) Based on our understanding of the world, we see something depending on the context in which we see it.
(b) Our mind is set of how things should be so when things are out of our expectations, they become disturbing.
24 Expectations
The tendency for us to overlook the things that are irregular, that do not fit with our expectations.
25 Selectivity
The tendency for us to only notice things that we are concentrating on and unconsciously ignore others because we cannot be aware of everything that is happening around us.
26 Visual Grouping
The tendency for us to look for shapes and patterns in what we perceive in order to make sense of it.
27 Figure and Ground
The tendency for us to draw attention to certain things and treat others as the background. We usually highlight things that are in black (figure) and white as the background.
28 Gestalt Principle
The tendency for our mind to perceive things as how we think they should be, seeing things according to what we already know.
Example: This book is is blue (We omit the second "the".)
October 6, 2010
Terminology
Knowledge issues
Questions, ramifications, and problems raised that we refer to our understanding of the world when we try to make sense of a piece of knowledge.
Ways of knowing
The four ways of knowing are emotion, reason, perception, and language.
Connection, Observation, Wondering (COW)
A relation or an association between things or events, the act of paying attention and making a judgment, showing curiosity by having a desire to know something
Areas of knowledge
A classification of knowledge into subject areas, and the six subjects are natural sciences, mathematics, ethics, the arts, history, and human sciences.
Knowledge claim
A piece of knowledge that you believe is true
Empirical
Something that is obtained from experience, observation, experiment, and not by any scientific methods nor theory.
Rational
The ability to use reason, logic, and good sense.
Solipsism
A philosophical idea that the only thing that exists is one's mind and others are just creations of the mind.
Skepticism
The questioning behavior of doubting the truth of something.
Relativism
The idea that knowledge, truths, and concepts are not absolute but depend on the are subjective towards the people holding them.
Prejudice/Certainty
A preconceived opinion formed without the support of knowledge, thought, or reason.
The state of having no doubt.
Pragmatic truth
A proposition that is true when acting upon it yields satisfactory results.
Coherence truth
A proposition is true to the extent that is agrees with other true propositions.
Correspondence truth
A proposition is true when they correspond to the reality.
Sources of knowledge
- Faith/revelation
The confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of an idea, person, or thing.
- Print sources
Sources such as book, newspapers, journals, magazines, etc.
- Live sources
Sources such as human.
Reliability
-Valid
The state of being acceptable, having truth, and corresponds to the real world.
Perception
The process of attaining and understanding information.
Justification
The action of reasoning or explaining something.
- Pictorial
Relating or consisting pictures.
-Authority
One who has control over others and whose views are respected and taken as definitive
Plato's cave allegory
A group of people who has only seen shadows in their life mistaken shadows as the reality of life until they are released and allowed to explore the real world.
Elephant and Blind Man allegory
A group of blind men touches parts of an elephant trying to understand what an elephant is. They then compare their experience and ended up with arguments. All of their descriptions of elephants are true but only partially true.
Knowledge by description
A piece of knowledge that one knows what it is without having any experience of it.
Knowledge by acquaintance
A piece of knowledge that one knows how it is because of experience and sometimes it is not easily expressed.
Belief
A mental state that accepts something to be true.
Knower
A person who has a certain level of understanding of a subject.
Common knowledge
Information that is generally known to everyone, does not require specific training, and can be defined by a large number of people.
Justified true belief
The state for someone to know knowledge for something, it must be true and believed to be true, and the belief is justified.
Truth
A statement that is verified to conform to reality
Logic
The sound judgment or persuasiveness of principles that is applicable to any branch of knowledge.
Reason
The explanation or rational thought for a belief, event, or action.
Trust
To have complete confidence or faith in a person.
Mental construction of reality
The link between perception and reality.
Sources of definition from Dictionary.com, thefreedictionary.com and handouts given in class.
Questions, ramifications, and problems raised that we refer to our understanding of the world when we try to make sense of a piece of knowledge.
Ways of knowing
The four ways of knowing are emotion, reason, perception, and language.
Connection, Observation, Wondering (COW)
A relation or an association between things or events, the act of paying attention and making a judgment, showing curiosity by having a desire to know something
Areas of knowledge
A classification of knowledge into subject areas, and the six subjects are natural sciences, mathematics, ethics, the arts, history, and human sciences.
Knowledge claim
A piece of knowledge that you believe is true
Empirical
Something that is obtained from experience, observation, experiment, and not by any scientific methods nor theory.
Rational
The ability to use reason, logic, and good sense.
Solipsism
A philosophical idea that the only thing that exists is one's mind and others are just creations of the mind.
Skepticism
The questioning behavior of doubting the truth of something.
Relativism
The idea that knowledge, truths, and concepts are not absolute but depend on the are subjective towards the people holding them.
Prejudice/Certainty
A preconceived opinion formed without the support of knowledge, thought, or reason.
The state of having no doubt.
Pragmatic truth
A proposition that is true when acting upon it yields satisfactory results.
Coherence truth
A proposition is true to the extent that is agrees with other true propositions.
Correspondence truth
A proposition is true when they correspond to the reality.
Sources of knowledge
- Faith/revelation
The confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of an idea, person, or thing.
- Print sources
Sources such as book, newspapers, journals, magazines, etc.
- Live sources
Sources such as human.
Reliability
-Valid
The state of being acceptable, having truth, and corresponds to the real world.
Perception
The process of attaining and understanding information.
Justification
The action of reasoning or explaining something.
- Pictorial
Relating or consisting pictures.
-Authority
One who has control over others and whose views are respected and taken as definitive
Plato's cave allegory
A group of people who has only seen shadows in their life mistaken shadows as the reality of life until they are released and allowed to explore the real world.
Elephant and Blind Man allegory
A group of blind men touches parts of an elephant trying to understand what an elephant is. They then compare their experience and ended up with arguments. All of their descriptions of elephants are true but only partially true.
Knowledge by description
A piece of knowledge that one knows what it is without having any experience of it.
Knowledge by acquaintance
A piece of knowledge that one knows how it is because of experience and sometimes it is not easily expressed.
Belief
A mental state that accepts something to be true.
Knower
A person who has a certain level of understanding of a subject.
Common knowledge
Information that is generally known to everyone, does not require specific training, and can be defined by a large number of people.
Justified true belief
The state for someone to know knowledge for something, it must be true and believed to be true, and the belief is justified.
Truth
A statement that is verified to conform to reality
Logic
The sound judgment or persuasiveness of principles that is applicable to any branch of knowledge.
Reason
The explanation or rational thought for a belief, event, or action.
Trust
To have complete confidence or faith in a person.
Mental construction of reality
The link between perception and reality.
Sources of definition from Dictionary.com, thefreedictionary.com and handouts given in class.
October 5, 2010
Memento
Memento was listed as one of the TOK related movies that was given to the IB Diploma students. I chose to watch Memento because the plot interests me. The movie basically is about a man who started to suffer from short-term memory loss on the day his wife was killed. His wife was killed by two burglars who broke into his house and he suffered from short-term memory loss because one of the burglars hit his head against the mirror. Then, he wanted to revenge for his wife but because of his memory, he had to use notes and tattoos in order to find the murderer of his wife.
As I watched the movie, I felt pity for the main character, Leonard, because some of the people who knew about his condition (the way Leonard addressed his problem of short-term memory loss) took advantage of him. For example, the main female character in the movie, Natalie, criticized Leonard's beloved wife causing Leonard to be in rages that he punched her. Then, Natalie went out of the house, bringing all the writing utensils at the same time so that Leonard wouldn't be able to write down what had happened. She came back in 2 minutes with blood on her face and when she slammed the door shut, Leonard forgotten what the argument between him and Natalie. Natalie acted as if another person had abused her and asked Leonard to take revenge of that person.
The ending of the movie is the shocking part. After Leonard kills the murderer of his wife, John G., his friend Teddy tells Leonard that actually he has already killed the real John G. Teddy explains that Leonard continues to find a new John G. because he does not have a motive to live after killing the murderer. Leonard was so angry by that piece of information that when Teddy tells him that his initials are also John G., Leonard decides to make Teddy as his target, the John G. who killed his wife.
I think what's scary about this movie that facts can be manipulated when one is emotionally unstable. For example, Leonard knows that if he writes down a characteristic of Teddy as the murderer of his wife, one day he will kill Teddy. What are the knowledge issues? Leonard trusts only the tattoos on his body and the note cards that he keeps in his pocket because those tattoos and notes are written by him. Just because he was angry at that moment, Leonard created a new "fact" for himself to believe, that Teddy is the murderer who he is supposed to kill.
Watch the trailer if you haven't watched the movie: (CAUTION: there is swearing in this trailer)
Source of image:
Note: The director of Memento, Christopher Nolan, is the director of Inception and The Dark Knight.
Language and Thinking
20 September 2010
In our IB English class, we were asked to read an article, which as titled "Does Your Language Shape How You Think?"
In our IB English class, we were asked to read an article, which as titled "Does Your Language Shape How You Think?"
In this article, the writer discussed about the misunderstandings of the limitations that language present to its speakers and that if a language does not have vocabularies for certain concepts, it doesn't necessarily mean that the speakers of that language do not understand those concepts.
An example in the article used by the writer is use of tenses in languages. For example, in Chinese language, there is no past nor future tense. In order to express an action that happened in that past or an action that is expected to take place in the future, the speakers simply add words such as yesterday or tomorrow to show the time of the actions.
One interesting example that I want to talk about is the directions that we use in daily life. When we give other people directions, usually we express ourselves in saying words such as, left, right, in front of, and behind; but a remote language spoken in Australia uses north, south, east, west. An explanation in the article is presented here: "To tell you where exactly they left something in your house, they'll say 'I left it on the southern edge of the western table.'" In my opinion, this is a strange way for me to give directions because most of the time I don't even know where north is!
Language is one of the most common devices that we use in our daily life to express ourselves. I speak Chinese and English fluently, I can communicate in Cantonese and Malay, and I have been learning Spanish for two years. I think it is interesting how sometimes I want to express myself but only one language can express the certain idea that I want to talk about. For example, when I speak to Joseph, who also speaks fluently in both Chinese and English, we usually speak in English because it is more convenient due to the fact that the subjects that we talk about mostly are about the events that happen in school. However, sometimes we express certain ideas in Chinese because Chinese was able to serve the purpose of expressing that particular idea than English.
Although the author of the article does not think that one's mother tongue prevent the speaker to think certain thoughts, I believe that the more languages that a person knows how to speak, the better the person is at expressing himself.
Source of image:
October 4, 2010
Sightless Experience
20 September 2010
How does it feel to walk through a site without your sight?
Today in class we had to pair up with someone to experience blindness by blinding folding ourselves. Our mission was to walk through a park nearby our school blindfolded and our partner, will be the guide, giving us directions such as, left, right, straight, up, down, straight, etc. After we succeed in walking through the park, we then change positions - the blindfolded becomes the guide and vice versa.
Below are my reflections of both roles:
Blind role
As I navigated the park without sight, I felt as if the only things that existed were my guide's, Phil, voice and the park. Other people and their voices did not matter. They were distractions that will take my focus away from walking through the park. It wasn't frustrating relying on Phil and I did not feel helpless. I trusted Phil. However, I think the frustration, helplessness, and trust are very relative because it depends on who is my guide. If I did not have a chance to choose my guide, and I was assigned a person who I didn't know, my trust for that person would not be as much as I had for Phil. In the beginning, I wan't able to walk at my open space because I felt unsafe. Although I knew that I was "safe" because Phil was giving me directions to walk in the right way, I didn't know exactly where I was going. Later, my pace sped up as I felt less insecure but still not at my normal pace. I think the most difficult part of the journey was when I had to walk on the pathway. The pathway was made up of stones, so it wasn't really flat, which makes me feel unbalanced as I walked. If I was not blindfolded when I walked on the pathway, it would just be a piece of cake because I know what to expect and my body involuntarily balances myself as I walk on the pathway.
As I walked through the park, I did not really use my "mind's eye". I wasn't trying to walk through the park by remembering how the landscape of the park was. I couldn't really visualize where I was except where I was stepping on because I could feel the touch of the grass or the pathway. The other sense that I used while I was blindfolded were mainly my auditory perception, because I had to listen to Phil's direction in order to go through the park. If Phil wasn't guiding me, I might be relying on my cutaneous perception the most to feel where I was going. I think the statement "Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes" means that we "see" and understand things through our knowledge. Although we actually look at things through our eyes, it's our knowledge that is processing what we're seeing at the moment and helps us understand what we see.
Guide Role
As I helped Phil walk through the park, the only concern that I had was that my directions were correct so that Phil wouldn't bump or hit into anything. So other than keeping an eye on Phil, I also had to pay attention what was in front of him and where I should direct him to. It wasn't really frustrating to explain the directions to Phil even if I knew that it would be so easy if he could only see, but I think this is relative because Phil is a good friend of mine. If I were to explain something as easy to a person who I didn't know and I was busy at the moment, I would be frustrated. In addition, Phil listened to my instructions and he trusted me because we are good friends. I think the most difficult part in helping Phil was giving the right directions, because I used the method of clock, such as 12 o' clock is to go straight and 3 o' clock is to turn right, etc. It was difficult for me because sometimes I was confused with 11 o' clock and 1 o' clock so there were times when I directed Phil in the wrong way. I think he would be able to walk through the park without my help by feeling the objects around him, such as the grass and the trees. However, it would be a difficult and long process.
I did not find myself in any dangerous situations. However, if there were any and Phil had been able to see, it would be less dangerous because Phil can avoid the dangerous objects as he sees that he is going to bump into the objects. Seeing is critical to knowing and understanding because seeing gives us a more vivid image of what we're supposed to know and understand. In addition, some things are difficult to be known or understood by not seeing especially with things that one has not seen before. For example, if I had not seen blue before and I am not able to see it, I cannot feel, smell, hear, or touch blue. It would be very difficult for me to know and understand what blue is. To describe a cat to a blind person, I can say that a cat is a smaller version of a tiger but it is not as fierce and it is a pet that can be kept at home. Instead of roaring, a cat meows. Riding a bike is like riding a motorbike but we have to pedal in order for the bike to move. A sunset is the opposite of a sunrise. The sun looks as if it is descending and the color of the portion of the sky looks dark orange as the sun sets.
As I walked through the park, I did not really use my "mind's eye". I wasn't trying to walk through the park by remembering how the landscape of the park was. I couldn't really visualize where I was except where I was stepping on because I could feel the touch of the grass or the pathway. The other sense that I used while I was blindfolded were mainly my auditory perception, because I had to listen to Phil's direction in order to go through the park. If Phil wasn't guiding me, I might be relying on my cutaneous perception the most to feel where I was going. I think the statement "Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes" means that we "see" and understand things through our knowledge. Although we actually look at things through our eyes, it's our knowledge that is processing what we're seeing at the moment and helps us understand what we see.
Guide Role
As I helped Phil walk through the park, the only concern that I had was that my directions were correct so that Phil wouldn't bump or hit into anything. So other than keeping an eye on Phil, I also had to pay attention what was in front of him and where I should direct him to. It wasn't really frustrating to explain the directions to Phil even if I knew that it would be so easy if he could only see, but I think this is relative because Phil is a good friend of mine. If I were to explain something as easy to a person who I didn't know and I was busy at the moment, I would be frustrated. In addition, Phil listened to my instructions and he trusted me because we are good friends. I think the most difficult part in helping Phil was giving the right directions, because I used the method of clock, such as 12 o' clock is to go straight and 3 o' clock is to turn right, etc. It was difficult for me because sometimes I was confused with 11 o' clock and 1 o' clock so there were times when I directed Phil in the wrong way. I think he would be able to walk through the park without my help by feeling the objects around him, such as the grass and the trees. However, it would be a difficult and long process.
I did not find myself in any dangerous situations. However, if there were any and Phil had been able to see, it would be less dangerous because Phil can avoid the dangerous objects as he sees that he is going to bump into the objects. Seeing is critical to knowing and understanding because seeing gives us a more vivid image of what we're supposed to know and understand. In addition, some things are difficult to be known or understood by not seeing especially with things that one has not seen before. For example, if I had not seen blue before and I am not able to see it, I cannot feel, smell, hear, or touch blue. It would be very difficult for me to know and understand what blue is. To describe a cat to a blind person, I can say that a cat is a smaller version of a tiger but it is not as fierce and it is a pet that can be kept at home. Instead of roaring, a cat meows. Riding a bike is like riding a motorbike but we have to pedal in order for the bike to move. A sunset is the opposite of a sunrise. The sun looks as if it is descending and the color of the portion of the sky looks dark orange as the sun sets.
September 30, 2010
Newspaper Articles
16 September 2010
Today we read some newspaper articles that seemed absurd, such as the amazing talking cat that could speak 68 words. We discussed about the justifications and validity of each articles.
We regarded most of the articles as false because of the lack of validity of the sources. However, I think that even if we do not consider the justifications give, we already think that the articles are not true because they are just too impossible to believe.
In my opinion, some of the readers choose to believe the content of these articles because believing makes them happier. For example, the first article that we read was about drinking shark liver oil could make us healthier. Some people would believe that article because they needed something that could make themselves healthier. As a result, they would buy the shark liver oil.
This is related to pragmatic truth, which is something that people would believe in order to make themselves happier. In this case, the read, absolute truth does not matter anymore. As long as they are happy, why not believe it? That makes life simpler, doesn't it?
Source of image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chipcotton/4776240145/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Would you eat this just because someone told you that it would make you healthier?
Today we read some newspaper articles that seemed absurd, such as the amazing talking cat that could speak 68 words. We discussed about the justifications and validity of each articles.
We regarded most of the articles as false because of the lack of validity of the sources. However, I think that even if we do not consider the justifications give, we already think that the articles are not true because they are just too impossible to believe.
In my opinion, some of the readers choose to believe the content of these articles because believing makes them happier. For example, the first article that we read was about drinking shark liver oil could make us healthier. Some people would believe that article because they needed something that could make themselves healthier. As a result, they would buy the shark liver oil.
This is related to pragmatic truth, which is something that people would believe in order to make themselves happier. In this case, the read, absolute truth does not matter anymore. As long as they are happy, why not believe it? That makes life simpler, doesn't it?
Source of image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chipcotton/4776240145/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Knowledge Issues
14 September 2010
Today we discussed about knowledge claim in class. A knowledge claim, we discussed, is something that we believed is true. And of course, there are the regular knowledge issues, such as - where did the sources come from, are the sources reliable, how can we justify it, does it correspond with the reality, etc.
Sometimes, when I think about the knowledge issues that we discussed in class, we don't really think about the knowledge issues consciously. For example, when we are reading a statement, we don't go step by step thinking about the knowledge issues, whether we should believe the statement. In my opinion, people usually don't think about knowledge issues on a regular basis. If we suspect every statement that we read or hear, our lives will be a little miserable and tiring. I think that if a person who often suspects whether things are true is a rather negative person. Of course, I am not saying that we shouldn't think about knowledge issues at all.
I wonder, what are the benefits of considering the knowledge issues? Is it necessary to know the absolute truths behind the things that we believe? Will that make us happier?
I wonder, what are the benefits of considering the knowledge issues? Is it necessary to know the absolute truths behind the things that we believe? Will that make us happier?
September 28, 2010
Inception
21 August 2010
As many of the fellow students in class said that Inception is a good TOK related movie, and since I was planning to watch the movie with Jenny, I decided to invite the whole TOK class and Ms Jackson to watch Inception together.
About ten people went to Lotte Mart - Jenny, Amy, Phil, Sonya, Joseph, Howard, Fatiah, Uyen, Renevee, Ms Jackson, and I. My mum came along too but she sat by herself in the cinemas.
To be honest, the movie was a little confusing, and luckily Jenny was beside me to explain to me what was going on. Like everyone else who had watched the movie said, this movie was about a dream within a dream within a dream.
Cobb, the main character, accepted a job from Saito, which was to plant an idea into Saito's rival company's future CEO's mind. Cobb accepted the job because the pay was high enough to let him go home to his children. In order to plant the idea, Cobb gathered a group of people which were Arthur, Ariadne, Eames, and Yusuf.
I like how the characters used a normal concept to make the subjects of their dreams to wake up - the kick. I hate the feeling of the kick. It makes me feel as if I am falling from a high place, which is scary, and suddenly I would wake up feeling shocked.
Although it is creepy to think that everything that is happening right now might all just be a dream, I don't think it really matters because
If you haven't watched the movie, watch the trailer:
Source of Image: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3426651392/tt1375666
As many of the fellow students in class said that Inception is a good TOK related movie, and since I was planning to watch the movie with Jenny, I decided to invite the whole TOK class and Ms Jackson to watch Inception together.
About ten people went to Lotte Mart - Jenny, Amy, Phil, Sonya, Joseph, Howard, Fatiah, Uyen, Renevee, Ms Jackson, and I. My mum came along too but she sat by herself in the cinemas.
To be honest, the movie was a little confusing, and luckily Jenny was beside me to explain to me what was going on. Like everyone else who had watched the movie said, this movie was about a dream within a dream within a dream.
Cobb, the main character, accepted a job from Saito, which was to plant an idea into Saito's rival company's future CEO's mind. Cobb accepted the job because the pay was high enough to let him go home to his children. In order to plant the idea, Cobb gathered a group of people which were Arthur, Ariadne, Eames, and Yusuf.
I like how the characters used a normal concept to make the subjects of their dreams to wake up - the kick. I hate the feeling of the kick. It makes me feel as if I am falling from a high place, which is scary, and suddenly I would wake up feeling shocked.
Although it is creepy to think that everything that is happening right now might all just be a dream, I don't think it really matters because
If you haven't watched the movie, watch the trailer:
Source of Image: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3426651392/tt1375666
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