Weekly Blog Post #3

Wednesday, August 28th, 2013

Do we all live in a Brain in a Vat?

      Many advances in science have caused controversy based on ethical issues and concerns, notably in biotechnology. Examples of these advances are stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to replace deficient cells in the body and provide solutions for cases that had been unresolved before. For example, maybe a victim of paralysis might be cured. So these advances, though raising concerns and running into disapproval, have their reasons to be developed and supported. However, I do not really understand the purpose of creating or developing the technology for a Brain in a Vat. 

      From the perspective of an outsider, of someone who is not in the state of a Brain in a Vat, the idea is absurd. The individual is basically dead, or at least I think is not alive. His brain has been taken out of the body and placed in a jar. The brain of the individual is locked in a simulated world, fooled to believe that it is in the "real" world. Why would anyone think of developing a technology that messes up with the reality of another individual? What would be the purpose of the experiment? To prove that humans can manufacture an artificial world? To prove that humans have the power of creating a world parallel to the world we are living now? To prove that humans can be cruel enough to rob people of their lives, of the reality, to make another world, another reality, by connecting their brains to a bunch of electrical circuits? 

       I just wanted to point this out, because the brain in a vat reading had bugged me. Well, it's not as if I began wondering whether I am living under the state of a brain in a vat, or because I am questioning the reality around me. But I was just wondering whether this was a true event, whether people did actually perform this experiment and were trying to develop the technology to create worlds for a brain in a vat. Maybe the Brain in a Vat was just fiction, a text written by the author to demonstrate a point of his. Mm, at the end of the day, I guess that what is important is my perspective. I live in my world, a world filtered by my perspective, my values, my emotions, my desires... Everyone lives according to their perspectives, and it would be impossible to have two people thinking/living exactly the same way. The perspective applies to anything, really. Even going back to the stem cells. Some people will reject it because stem cells do not fit their perspective of the world, while others will embrace because they accept it as a part of the world they live in.

Weekly Blog Post #2

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

Testing Limits

      Many times, my math teacher said "It takes everything to prove something right, but it takes only one thing to prove something wrong". Let's take a look at science for example. It takes such as a long process to establish a theory. So many experiments, and testing, and constant revision of hypothesis. Yet, even after this straining procedure is all passed, one single example that is an exception to the theory would discard it. I've heard many times people saying that scientists seem to be pessimists who ramble around in the search for truth. But isn't that what we all do? Don't we live in order to find out more, whether it is about ourselves, the people around us, the world, any kind of knowledge? That reminded me of what I learned about limits. A limit is a point that is constantly approached and gotten closer to without ever being attained. It is the point that we circle, we push ourselves to reach, but we do not manage to get to it. In a mental picture, this sounds like some kind of torture. I mean, imagine trying to reach your goal, getting closer to it at every second, but never managing to actually grasp it. This would be an analogy for our lives. We always try to search for answers, for the truth, for a state of certainty where we would not need to search for anything else. Absolute peace. But this is not possible because we always find another door to pass through, a stain that grabs our attention and asks us to keep searching. 

      We live in a quest for truth and knowledge. We live to try to attain certainty, without never actually reaching this destination. We live to test our limits, the boundaries set upon us, eternally. 

      Mm, I didn't want to make it sound like some sort of doom or curse, but it sort of looks like it. Well, on a more positive note, I will add this, even though it is a little off-topic from the previous topic. The important thing is to have confidence in one's beliefs, to trust oneself. We all know our own limits, and as long as we are confident about what we want to believe, are certain of ourselves and our decisions in our own perspective, we will live in happiness. Because life depends on how we decide to look at it. And I am certain and confident about one thing: As long as I decide to look at life with a smile and to have hope, I will live a happy life. 

BBT Week 2

Friday, August 23rd, 2013.

"What men really want is not knowledge but certainty."

-Bertrand Russell-

Can we have true certainty in the world? Why or why not?

I believe that there is no absolute certainty. Certainty is the absence of doubt, and this state is not possible to attain. There is always an underlying doubt, questioning the absolute truth or faith in a belief. In order to be absolutely certain about something, to prove something as absolutely true, we would have to prove this belief true for all cases. However, it takes one evidence to shatter this foundation of belief invalid. Furthermore, in order to have true certainty, everybody would have to have the same views, the same perspective, because it is only when everyone has the same views that there will be no doubts raised, no one to question the certainty of a belief. Personally, I would not want to live in a world where everyone shared my views. Life would be much duller, don't you think? It is our differences that create a dynamic and allow us to feel different emotions. And may I note that the simple fact that we are questioning whether true certainty exists or not exhibits that there is no absolute certainty.
I think that it is better to live in doubts, in an "eternal" quest for meaning. Our lives would be much less colorful and interesting if we knew everything, if we did not have a reason to keep on searching. "Ignorance is bliss", people say, and this axiom has much truth. We live in our own "worlds", through our perspective, the way we want to see the world. This filter of some sort is what enables us to have hope, to expect a better tomorrow. Our doubts and uncertainties allow us to have faith in our dreams. For example, if an average student knew he would not be able to attain the prodigy level of knowledge he yearns, he most likely would feel less motivated in putting effort and striving to become better.
My point: There cannot be true certainty, because there is always at least one factor that triggers a doubt. Nonetheless, there is no wrong in this uncertainty. On the contrary, it is what makes us experience different kinds of emotions and allows us to hope and dream.

Weekly Blog Post #1

 Friday, August 16th, 2013.

The IB Learner Profile Evaluation of "Despicable Me"

      Guess what I was doing on this Friday evening? I am babysitting the children of the parents who came to the PTO event! As you may or may not know, I am the president of this year's National Honor Society, and I have been put in charge of organizing the babysitting corner. At first, I was a little bit worried (though I apparently appeared otherwise to the people around me), but as time went by and things went according to plan, I relaxed. And after all, the evening went on smoothly. But the point of my blog post is not to show off my accomplishment. 

      We had put up "Despicable me" for the children to watch in the later part of the evening. I had been walking to and fro around the school as I checked up on the children and the volunteers who had come to help out. But even during my restless walking routine, I found time to watch portions of the movie. And its plot made me reflect about the IB Learner Profile we had discussed in class.

      One of the traits the IB program strives to improve in the students is "caring". The main character, Gru, learned to become caring and affectionate as he lived with the three little girls. Originally, he acted distant and grumpy, not allowing them to do anything ("Don't breathe. Don't make annoying sounds." and all). But as time went by, the little girls managed to make him soften and open up to the world of love, especially the youngest one Elsie. The girls' affection and tenderness touched Gru's heart, and made him turn into a caring person. You had asked us to create an action plan to improve our areas of weakness. Although out improvement does depend on the way we think and our efforts to become better, I think that it may not only depend on us. As depicted in "Despicable me", Gru may not have become a more caring person if he had not been exposed to the children's tender affection. He may not have learned the importance to love and care if he had not lived around them and was exposed to their cuteness and adorableness. When I think about it, care cannot be achieved by one person alone. Care is given to others, shared with others, because it is a mutual feeling.

      I think I'm getting fumbled up in what I am trying to say, possibly because I am in the middle of volunteers asking me what I want them to do next and children who are asking me for this and that. Point being, I think that the traits on the IB Learner Profile can be developed through mutual help, not just the individual concerned. Students will learn more effectively when they are actually exposed to situations that will help them realize the importance of a particular trait, or when they are around people who exhibit a particular trait. Just like Gru learned "caring" when he was around the little girls and lived in an environment full of family, care and love, the students will learn to improve the characteristics of an IB learner when they are in an environment filled with the need for these traits and are around people who have these traits (at least partially more accented than themselves).