Zaehet Strife
Well-Known Member
Final Exam
5/9/11
5/9/11
The Socratic Method is a way of getting someone to question their own thinking, or way of thinking, in order to get them to perceive something in a different way. That is how I understand it, in which i could be wrong. I think a lot of people take offense to this method. With this method you are attempting to make people question their beliefs or belief system. It doesn’t matter who you are, if someone criticizes your beliefs you tend to get offended. A lot of times people get offended even when it was not their intention. To ask someone to even think about the possibility that what they have believed all their life might not be true…is outrageous to them. But you have to think about it in a different light I think. Its people like that who just haven’t had the opportunity for their minds to mature. It’s not a bad thing, it just hasn’t happened yet. Think of it like this; it’s like trying to explain to a ten year old what it is like to be an adult for one day. It’s impossible, you can’t just expect to be able to understand what that’s like if you don’t have the experience yet.
I think the Socratic Method is fun, I like to debate about things. I especially like to debate about things when it makes you question yourself, and why you think the way you do. I think it’s disrespectful to many people, but I personally don’t think so. I think it’s imperative that we question everything for ourselves, no matter what it is. I think it works, but for very few people.
2.“ Do not attempt to change the way things are” –I think that means who need to accept our circumstances in life. We need to accept the things that we cannot change. The only thing we can change is ourselves and we may change our perception at any given time, it just takes concentration and free thought.
“Do not grasp at earthly pleasures for eventually they will cease to exist and all that is left is the Tao” - Things, materials, objects… what is value? What does value truly mean? What is truly important in life? Do things really make you happy? Are things there only to distract ourselves, from facing our true selves? What would happen if everything you have was gone tomorrow? Could you live? Could you survive? All that is left in the end is not your physical body, but your consciousness, and what you have made of it.
“It is not living that matters, but living rightly” To be able to fully grasp this statement, you must be able know how to live rightly. I’m not sure if anyone knows how to do that perfectly, I’m not even sure if it’s possible. All I know is that I know what love is, I know what feels is like. I know that the closest thing that could ever come to living rightly would be to live with only true intentions of love. We can try, we can always try. You must understand that love loves everything, there are no exceptions. Love loves the good, and the bad. You must also remember, every single individuals perception of good and bad is different… wouldn’t that make good and bad the same thing? Except that they are just two sides of the same coin?
3. Logotheraphy; finding meaning to ones lives; choosing one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.
That is the question isn’t it, what is the meaning of life? People forget, or have never had time to stop and think about it. We are too busy searching for something else, when we have everything we have ever needed within ourselves. What is the meaning of MY life? That is the question you need to ask yourself. It is different for everyone. That is so crazy for me, we all come from the same exact “stuffs” but yet we are so completely and utterly different in every aspect. The way you think about a certain situation, will judge how you react to the situation. If your meaning of life is to spread the word of love, optimism would probably be a very valuable asset. I think the way you perceive life is directly related to what you want to get out of life.
What do you want to get out of life? Do you want wealth, fame, good fortune, good health, toys, shoes, things… To love? To teach good morals? To instill a sense of freedom? To instill a sense of separation between body and soul, consciousness, mind, whichever word you would like to choose. To instill a sense of balance between ourselves, others, and nature.
When you figure out what life means to you. What you want to get out of life. That is what dictates your perception about life, which in turn dictates your attitude in any given set of circumstances.
4. “god is dead!” this comment was uttered by a most misunderstood philosopher.
We are now beginning to awaken from our own self-induced realities. We are now beginning to think for ourselves, instead of thinking like the majority. Questions that have no answers…questions people say they know, we know you cannot know. Theology teaches us morals and values. It molds the foundation of our very lives. What will happen when this is gone? What how people react when they realize the stories they have been told their whole lives are not true, they are man-made… that they are just stories. Will you not only lose faith in your idea of self, but is it possible you will lose faith in your morals and values?
I too used to believe in a story once, I was raised in a Christian home. Something must happen for you to question your faith, for you to question what you have been told is true your whole life. To perceive things through the real truth, not your truth. It’s a scary thing, giving up the lie. To come to an understanding that there are some things that cannot be known by us. I think that’s one of the most important lessons any human can ever experience. That there are some things humans do not have the ability to know, straight up. If you try to tell yourself that you know, that’s called self-willed ignorance. People are happy living in their ignorance… I’ve come to terms with that. It was very hard for me at first, but eventually you realize you can’t change anyone’s perception. I have to be happy because I’m awake, and I have just begun to see the cosmos in a new truth. Attempting to see things for what they truly are, not the way I WANT to see them.
I would like to think that there is a creator, or a god, or magic or divine force somewhere in existence. But I’ve come to the realization that no human has ever seen this, we have only ever seen this in our imaginations. I know now that I cannot give shape or name to what we humans have been calling “god” but I would like to think that there is a reason for life, that there is a reason for existence. The answer to that question lies within that same something or nothing… that we could never even begin to understand.
The answer- “I do not know, and I will never again presume to do so” for if I did I would then go back to sleep, and after you awaken it is not possible to sleep again… to perceive things the way you did before. People do not need theology to teach them morality, we need unity…we need harmony.
Everything said is all just my personal opinion, coming from my own perceptions
Its always comforting to know that there are people that DO expeirence what I feel and think.
