Me at the End

I'm writing this blog 3AM on the day
It's due, soon, 6th period philosophay
I sit, staring, still, stumped on what to say-
Realizing not only how this poem is bad
But that I had already ruminated on my past
My present, but not my future, not certain on my beliefs
Yes, maybe, but not no, cause I don't know, can't know, won't know
if what I believe is right, trouble telling tricks from truths
But just between me and you, is that all we knew?
Lies and deceit that clouded our minds.
Stubborn and firm of our own place in time.
Our importance, and on the line was our pride.
And prejudice, Austen would say
Often leading to austere debates,
We just had to emancipate our ideas and thoughts
let them be free, to learn only wisdom should be sought,
like the great minds, famous and those never talked about
Because those great thinkers, great minds, great philosophers
Those great people in books, sir, madam' and her
mind, his mind, my mind, our mind, are just as great
just as large pondering subjects we all do,
we all share, because we are all human.
We have our differences, our tastes, our beliefs
that we teach, we heave, we leave, we find,
constantly changing, leaving lost ones behind.
Because we are continuously growing,
On our own, alone, slowly, but there is more,
cause I care to share what's there 'neath my hair
in my brain, must explain this knowledge.
Spread it far like a global telecommunicast
Because the curtains finally cast, I've seen the past,
written by the winners, not those who finished last.
But those who did last are those who populated
The world with their thoughts on how it operated.
Elated, fated that others seem to tend
the same thoughts in their head, torn beliefs to mend.
But as this is my last blog post I will send.
I will just leave this: This is me in the end.

LETTER

Dear prospective philosophy student,

Congratulations for choosing this class. This may be the highlight class of your year; at times it’s starkly different from other classes, especially the English ones. Many English classes are filled with writing, reading and busywork or a combination of the three such as a long summary and analysis of themes of a couple books comparing them, and/or story questions of a book. Yes, those are in this class as well, but most questions are not story-based, or even theme-based. They seem to be more reflective, going beyond the theme and applying it to one’s self and the world around us.

This is especially the case for movies. While some questions may be the typical “movie questions” of the plot and idea, many truly try and get one to think about the underlying message and how it affects themselves. There’re a lot of movies in this class. And a lot of books. Pay attention to both of them, because this class is truly what you make of it. The philosophy will only come if you participate in the discussion, pay attention to the movies and books and most importantly reflect on it all. But yes, there’s a lot of discussion. And I feel like that’s where most of the fun and learning in this class is, discussing our thoughts related to whatever book/movie we have been keeping up with. But then we also get to learn from each other.

There are also blog posts due e’ry Friday. They’re a way for reflection. Just do those, and have fun with them. And that’s pretty much the message of the class. It’s a fun and educational class if you, as a student, make it. So do it.

Good luck,
Dohyun Bae

Thoughts on Earlier Thinking.

Throughout this class, I think I've learned a lot. I don't feel as stubborn on my views and have started to question everything, especially in these last couple weeks with the latest movies, books and discussions. I don't know what to think anymore. I probably have my own philosophy somewhere deep, but it's almost as if it's become muddled with questions.

I don't think my earlier thinking before this year was wrong however. I just have learned more? It's not as if there has been a sudden revelation, completely upturning my original thoughts. Just some amendments constructed from what I have learned. Although now everything is questioned. Maybe I'm not sure about my philosophy.

Earlier, I was stubborn on ideas such as a lack of a god, but with recent discussions pertaining to the Higgs-Boson, perhaps I’m not so sure. I’m still adamant on the lack of a Christian or any large religious human god figure, but maybe this god is nothing more than something we cannot comprehend, something more comparable to a force than a human being.

And stuff like that has changed and revised, and I am sure it will continue to be changed and revised.

Surrounded by Cuckoos, but I was the crazy one.

What does it mean to be crazy? Who defines what crazy truly is? Is it the state of simply being "mentally unwell"? "Unfit for society", deemed "a hazard to others", living in "a state not of this world".

We see others as crazy. When something goes wrong, we jump to blame others who were related. It couldn't be us. We couldn't make the mistake. But yet when someone else is involved, it has to be the. Confirmation bias, as psychology calls it.

And this works for insanity, I suppose. Maybe they aren't the crazy one. Maybe we are.

We have been just too blind to see that. In the end, we're all crazy. We're all flawed. We're all human. We have more in common than we like to believe, especially when feelings of such aversion from what we deem crazy is large.

We're all crazy. It just depends on when you accept this fact. Have you? Because I already have.

Together

We need each other for survival. Just like the old Aesop fable. The fable where the old father takes his three disagreeing sons out to the woods and tells them each to break a stick, and they easily snap the twigs into two. But then the father brings a bundle of sticks for them to break, and alas, they cannot.
There is power in numbers, in unity.

And I suppose that is right. Together we create an army, a force. We cannot live in isolation, for those that try to do so end up going mad. There have been unethical tests on babies, leaving them in solitary confinement, and they do not develop normally.

We do not develop normally mentally if we mentally isolate ourselves. Aloof, away, hidden, shy, whatever the reason, it only feeds the problem.

Together, together, together at last.
Be thankful for others, realize that you do make mistakes and so do others. Realize you would not be anywhere without others.

This has not become rambling, it has always been a stream of conscious. But now, here I am, together with everyone in the world, expressing what I feel and what I know about being together.
As a human being.

Alone? More like Alone Journey.

A blog post, in spring break. This ain't even for real.

Well, I didn't feel like writing a story, so instead, I'll write a review of a fantastic artist known as Blazo. Living in Kraków, Poland, his music is a mix. Instrumental, he combines jazz-influences with the beats of hip hop all with a piano and other instruments deemed to be "classical". Through it all, he makes each track unique, with different influences, while still keeping each of them beautiful.

I'll let the music speak for itself:

Save the Earth, Do this!

To save the Earth, people ight tell you to recycle. Drive less. Do something for the environment.

But really, to save the Earth, we need a revolution. A revolution in people. We need everyone to change, not only small aspects in their life, but their beliefs and lifestyle. We must work together, everyone for this common goal. In the end, we see in politics, school or any other projects that demand group effort to be hindered because of a lack of cooperation. And with the daunting task of saving the Earth ahead of us, full cooperation would be necessary to even think of it as being even remotely possible.

But Saving the Earth will take more than just being "open-minded". We need to be completely new people. The same person with the right idea. The large number of people on Earth can either be a bane or a blessing. We need it to be a blessing.

Much like how we disagreed on those questions, we will find ourselves disagreeing on ways to save the Earth. Maybe that's why this is the blog topic. You sly old coot, Mr McCarthy. How very sneaky.