Sunday, April 19, 2020
Friday, April 17, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Monday, April 13, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
topics for final exam (philosophy of religion) open book
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
generation z & social media
34% consider quitting because of negative self-esteem (up from 17% in 2017)
48% of Gen Z say social media makes them feel anxious, sad or depressed
27% report experiencing a negative impact on body image (up from 18% in 2017)
30% of GenZ appears to be more scared of adult social interactions than physical injury (which could be the reasoning for an increase in depression and anxiety (Twenge, 2017). Gen Z believe that social interactions carry a risk of being in emotional discomfort and they try to avoid this.
this is a big issue: society IS NOT (in) the internet. the internet IS NOT REAL, it's virtual.
no wonder we get these numbers:
Gen Z use video games, social media, and smartphones to avoid their struggles in the real world and the pervasive use of technology has caused a 30% decline in face-to-face communication.
Social media can create a misperception of reality through highlighting positive moments in life, while excluding the difficult moments, and focusing more on the self by creating a positive, and impossible, social image, which creates an unrealistic expectation of reality causing teens to think their lives are not as exciting as others and causing teens to think that they are failures (Twenge, 2017). A study showed that youngsters using Facebook have increased feelings of envy because when using Facebook you are watching other people’s vacation photos, wedding announcements, and other positive life changes.
this brings us with a new category: Emotional Contagion?
emotional contagion is now linked to social media.
according to this MIT study: negative feelings spread more rapidly than positive ones.
why should you become a victim of someone else's emotions?
which leads us to (the recent problem) of safe space:
the problem of safe spaces (from psychology today)
here, read an interesting critique of safe spaces in the NYTIMES.
Here is a defense of safe space:
Safe Spaces could increase empathic awareness because people are able to express themselves without fear of being judged.They can be exposed to different kinds of ideas and people going through different situations in a non-judgmental safe space. Increased empathy can be seen from learning from another’s perspective. Adolescence is a critical time for empathy development because cognitive changes impact adolescents’ ability to take others’ perspectives and their concern for others.
what is the definition of "judgment"?
the process of judging; the formation of an opinion after consideration or deliberation.
how can one be exposed to different ideas in a non-judgmental space when judgment presupposes an opinion different than ours?
unless "safe space" is simply an island of consensus.
i have good news: the safest, friendliest, warmest, space is YOUR WITHIN YOUR SELF.
"non-judgmental" begs the question on agreement. humans don't agree to feel good.
humans agree ONLY after an educated process of entertaining disagreements.
to be continued, 🏃
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
the illusion of an unbiased media
let's call this brief presentation FOLLOW THE MONEY$$$
232 executives control the information of 277 million americans!
these "big six", General Electric, News Corp. Disney, Viacom, Warner Brothers, and CBS own 70% of cable and TV NEWS,
each of the five BIG TECH (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Alphabet) have very different cashflow infussions, due to a diversified mix of applications and cloud services, products, and data accumulation (big tech is bigger than big oil and other major industry groups, plus they virtually influence the ebb&flow of NASDAQ).
the news and therefore the political ideas you consume are produced by corporate interests. their interests serve the pòlitical ends of the political two parties and their base.
the left controls more than the right, and donate more money, but in the end the process is similar. WE ARE MANIPULATED BY DARK FORCES.
why dark? because of their conflict of interest.
worse yet, big political projects like the GREEN NEW DEAL is in cahoots with BIG OIL and against NUCLEAR.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Monday, March 9, 2020
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Monday, February 24, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Monday, February 17, 2020
I need student assistants. Become one!
Dear PHI 2010 classes,
Anyone can become a student assistant. What does it take to be one?
1. grades A or B+
2. good attendance
3. good attitude
4. exhibit leadership (you have it in you to help other classmates)
The role of a student assistant is to coordinate reviews, help with the final paper, in short, do anything that's needed to increase student achievement in the class.
What's the reward? Well, one does service for its own sake, but there are objective results:
Respect, admiration, and gratitude of students and teachers,
I support your efforts, Xtra-points, letters of recommendation, and OUR GRATITUDE.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, LET ME KNOW VIA EMAIL ASAP OR NEXT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Monday, February 10, 2020
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
homework #4 chapter 4 (philosophy of mind) spring 2021
1. State the mind/body problem in your own words (section 4.1 pp. 206-210)
2. What is Cartesian dualism?
3. Define logical behaviorism.
4. What is identity theory? Explain.
5. Regarding Mind-Body Identity, explain J.C. Smart description of a "sensation," p. 217
6. What's Thomas Nagel's "bat" argument? p. 220
7. What is "qualia"? Is qualia irreducible, why?
8. What's the definition of A.I. according to John Searle? p. 222-229
9. What's Searle's Chinese Room mind experiment? Why does Searle believe computers cannot think?
11. What is an emergent property?
12. What is downward causation? How does this apply to the mind? Explain.
What does it mean to say that consciousness is a systemic property of the brain? (find my lecture here)
13. Why is it that consciousness cannot be eliminated from scientific discourse? Explain.
Monday, January 27, 2020
homework #3
1. go over these characters of epistemology, belief, justification, suspension, truth, and comment each.
2. go over these knowledge forms and give your own examples.
3. what are forms according to Plato? textbook section 6.2, p. 282
4. what is Descartes' doubt? textbook, p. 284
5. what is Descartes' certainty? textbook, p. 288
6. from textbook, answer questions 1-3 in Section 6.3, p. 310.
7. from textbook, answer questions 1, 2, 4 in Section 6.4, p. 319.