Find your Inner Woman 12: the Philosopher

So I meant to write this post ages ago...like back during philosophy class, but  (as you may remember) I was slightly overworked and super busy and a little stressed during that week and so it didn't happen and so that is why TODAY, I have decided to post it!

Basically as we were reading our "Introduction to Philosophy" textbook, we were noticing all these ridiculous philosophical theories and examples and things that really just made us laugh or confused or were just plain dumb and I made note of them so I could share them all with you... (warning it's kind of long and probably confusing, I understand if you skip reading this one!)


In relation to knowledge and skepticism...
     There is a state called ephoche which is the "suspension of judgement" which means that "one must embrace all mutually inconsistent claims and withhold judgement on each of them"

- now this is just plain confusing and I don't know WHY you would even sort this out enough to put it down. I mean it doesn't even make sense - you have to "withhold judgement" on all things...so do you have to "withhold judgement" on "withholding judgement"???

Another skeptic says...

     "We can conceive of a world quite like ours in which the sun will not rise tomorrow morning"

- uummmmmm...I don't know about you but this is kind of inconceivable to me...how can a world be like ours but without a sun rising...? basically his point is, you can't say that something will happen because it has always happened because we can imagine  it NOT happening...

Okay, Descartes has a pretty great philosophy...

     "I think, therefore I am" You may have heard this before. His point is that you can't be sure of anything in the world, real or imagined because "there may be a demon or an evil god who systematically deceives [us]" YET we know that WE must exist because even if God tried to deceive us about ourselves, there would have to be an "I" to be deceived. 

- OH! THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THAT SO CLEARLY!!! How did I miss it?

On the logic of listening to authority...

     If we didn't heed the warnings of others, believing that they know what they are talking about - if "we refused to accept anything we were told...we would probably end up in a mental institution"

- this is probably true...but then, you could end up in a mental institution just thinking through all this mumbo-jumbo!

Back to Descartes...

     "He was concerned that he might be systematically deceived by a malevolent demon or evil deity" but was comforted at deciding that "God is a perfect being, and thus would not deceive him"

- aren't you happy for him?

Here is his thought process for the "external world"...

     3 options: "(1)Descartes might be responsible for the idea. He might have a fertile imagination, and thus manufacture the idea of an external world. (2)God could deceive him, and place in his mind the idea of an external world...(3)The external world itself existed, ad was the cause of the idea in Descartes' mind. 

- wouldn't you love it if your mind worked this way????

Now we have the topic of REALITY. I give you Zeno...

    "Achilles could never catch a tortoise" because to catch him you'd have to go halfway to catching him and then half of the half and half of that half and so on and you would never actually get there...

- no comment


Platonism...

     Identification by negation: "we define or identify the pencil by showing that it is not the table"

- that makes sense right? I mean if it's not a table...or a chair...or a bird...or a mountain...or the sky...or any other of the innumerable things that it COULD BE...it must be a pencil. So...why is this important???


Being...

     "there can be different kinds of beings depending on their potentiality. Some beings (like men) have the potential for being rational; others (like tomatoes) do not."

- aren't you glad you have more potential than a tomato????


Concerning the relation between mind and body...

   "While it makes sense to ask the location of a physical event, it is absurd to ask the location of a mental event."

- thank you EINSTEIN!!!


Spinoza speaks about man's freedom...
     "it is conceit to that leads us to think that we are the masters of our behaviour...suppose that a stone has been thrown into the air and suddenly becomes conscious...it would believe that it was the source of its own motion"

- I mean, I get it, but WHERE do they come up with these illustrations!?!?!?!? Did he just compare us to a stone? ...I'd say we have more potential than that!

Here's an interesting theory: indeterminism (basically NOTHING causes our actions)
     Following this view..."the understanding of man that now emerges is that of an erratic, jerking phantom, making moves and actions without rhyme or reason. he moves at one time this way and at another time that way but in both instances without cause!"

- yep, that's definitely the answer to life...

Concerning truth...

     This guy, James believes these two sentences are the same: "It is true that it is sunny out" and "It is useful to believe that it is sunny out". 

- I don't even know where he gets this...basically I think, to him, "truth" is what is "useful to believe"...right.

Aristotle's definition of truth...
     "To say of what is, that it is not, or of what is not, that it is, is false; while to say of what is, that it is, and of what is not, that it is not, is true"

- that clears things up now don't it?

And here's a precious nugget of truth...

     "when we falsely believe that the moon is made of green cheese, our belief corresponds to nothing"

- and this is why we should all take philosophy classes - you learn such awesome things!

Geometric rationalism...

     ""evil is but an illustration of the moment or the particular. The universe as a whole is good, just as a mosaic as a whole is beautiful, despite the seeming ugliness of an individual piece"

- so obviously this has major flaws but I just have to point out one that really hits me - there is STILL THE PROBLEM OF THE UGLY PIECE! I mean, just because the pieces together make something beautiful, this doesn't make the pieces individually any less ugly...

Concerning "good"...

     "Some goods are higher than other goods. An unhappy man is better than a happy pig, said Mill"

- again, the comparisons to the animals and such!??!?!

Another opinion on "good"...

     "The attempt to save a drowning man is not in itself a good act. For the extreme utilitarian, the act is not good unless it bring about good results. If the man is rescued, then the act is a good act; if he drowns, it is not"

- now this is just pessimistic and sad!

Often the most simple and obvious ideas, upon critical examination and reflection, show themselves to be complicated and profound. 

     - so perhaps we should critically examine and reflect on such things... I think sometimes the answer is really in their simplicity 

Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a philosopher but these and many more things I have found in the subject just make me shake my head in wonderment. Oh the things we confuse ourselves with, psych ourselves out with, cause doubt and unbelief and fear with! If only we would just turn to the One with the answers to it all and read the Word He provided for us! How blessed I am to have been gifted and shown the truth. So many intelligent men have agonized over these questions of life and God has graciously provided ME with the answers! How awesome, how amazing, how humbling.

Going to court

So today Lish, Jen, Cally and I went to the courthouse.


Wouldn't it be great if I just left it at that!?!? You'd all be like...WHAAAAAT??? WHYYYY??? ...or you might not really care and just move on...either way, I will tell you, don't panic! The reason was rather simple, Lish wants to get her passport so that she can come visit me in Canada (YAY!!!) and we tried getting the application from the post office but the person there was not of the highest intelligence and gave us the wrong paper SO off to the courthouse we went...so begins our story...

We walk in and see a sign saying "For Passports go to the courthouse on ....S. King St." so we are like...what? Where is S. King St. and WHY do they have TWO courthouses in this teeny-tiny town. So we ask the very nice helpful ladies there and they point out the front doors down this side street to the grey building. So we get in the car and head over, yelling at Cally (who is driving) that she passed it and we have to turn around and it is all quite hilarious. So we park and walk over to this very imposing building with big white columns and locked class doors with a sign "Push bottom to open door" and an arrow pointing right. So I go over to the right and there is like a little intercom thingy button and I go, "this button???" (of course there is also a little sign directly below it with an arrow pointing up which says quite clearly "button". No joke, the sign is there...so I press the button. We wait. Jen tries the door. A little short lady, dressed in severe looking clothing opens it asking what she can do. (we all immediately feel guilty and ready to turn ourselves in, like seriously, she was scary even in all her tiny shortness and I was like "AAAHHH IT WAS THE WRONG BUTTON" - in my head) Lish tells her we are looking for passport stuff and she points up the street to the other grey building...

So we head off to the THIRD COURTHOUSE, laughing our heads off at the whole situation and walk in to find a guy with like a big security scanning machine and computer and he asks what we are looking for...passports...and (hallelujah!) it's the right place. Upstairs we get the application and head out again (laughing of course).

After more conversation and debate in the car we head to DQ for icecream. As we drive in, Lish gives Cally a heart attack with a SUPER excited exclamation about a puppy she saw and (with more laughter) we make it into a parking spot. Now in  DQ, the guy at the till made our day with his witty statements and teasing as we make things complicated for him (Lish NEEDED a raspberry milkshake but it wasn't on the board so we had to ask and THEN she had to add pineapple to it.. luckily they have this ability at DQ so all was good). As usually happens when eating ice cream, the conversation moved happily through many amusing topics from Oreos to Canada to my brain to politics to ice cream to hugging the till-man (don't ask) and other such things.

All in all, it was a fantastic little excursion to town resulting in much enjoyment for all parties involved.

if only...

Kaitlyn and I were talking today, about giraffes (I don't actually remember what got us onto this topic) and as some of you may know, and if you don't this is an essential tidbit of information about me that you SHOULD know (so PAY ATTENTION!!), I have had a dream since about grade 6...er... 6th grade for all you American readers, to ride a giraffe. Yep, that's right. I mean, riding any sort of exotic African animal would be cool but giraffe is definitely at the top of my list. So we were wondering if people do this, and if not, why? are giraffes endangered? violent? and then we got onto the topic of baby giraffes being born and dropping like 5 feet to the ground and maybe they didn't often survive this, making them endangered...so I had to do some googling.

I found out that people don't ride giraffes...I mean, there were some pics but I am pretty sure they are photoshopped...and they aren't endangered - well some subspecies are but as a whole, I guess the giraffe population is doing okay. The mothers will violently kick predators to protect their young but even when the males 'fight' each other, usually no one gets hurt. Oh and I didn't read anything that indicated that the babies are hurt in any way, actually they can stand within half and hour and run within 10 hours!

cutest little mommy-baby EVER

Other interesting facts:
- they walk moving both right legs and then both left
- drinking water is dangerous because of the position they have to put themselves in - easy to attack. Fortunately they can survive several days without drinking due to the moisture from their food
- way back when people thought they were a cross between a camel and a leopard...however that works
- their "horns" are really there to protect their heads not to fight
- babies can grow an inch a day!
- people poach giraffes for their hides, meat and tails - that's right, tails. In many African cultures they are used as good luck charms, fly-swatters and thread...
- no two giraffes have the same pattern of spots

So basically, giraffes are AWESOME and I love them and I still really want to ride one though I don't think it is going to happen. God is seriously so amazing! I mean, just looking at the world around us is inspiring enough but when you do even a little research into something, the details and magnificent intricacies of the earth and universe are astounding. I am constantly becoming more and more in awe of our amazing God.

partially albino giraffe!!

And now...what?

So yesterday was the last day that Snow King is open for the season. We went for like 2 hours after church for one last hoorah (we got about 5 inches of fresh powder the night before so it was SO worth it). In looking back, I think I have gotten a lot better at boarding, a lot more confident, that's for sure. I mean, we were going out of bounds, I was going down black diamonds, went over jumps all the time, did the rail a bunch and even worked on carving regular (as I am goofy). It was so fun to be able to go whenever we wanted, to hang out with different people and make memories that I will have forever. It sure made all this eternal snow much more tolerable and purposeful. I mean, it's odd, now that the season is officially over (unless I get a free pass to Targhee or something), I am quite done with the snow. Now I just ache for spring! (unfortunately, it's snowing...again)

As I am prone to do these days, I see such application in life circumstances to spiritual life. This year at JHBC is such an amazing opportunity to do things that I love - study God's word, grow in my walk with Him and expand my 'dot' of knowledge, as my brother would say. Just like I had such easy access to the ski mountain and that allowed me to really get better at snowboarding, I have an unbelievable blessing of being in a place surrounded by Biblical teaching with a multitude of mature believers I can go to and amazing teaching each day. I am learning how to study; I am expanding my areas of knowledge and maturing in areas I thought I understood; I am growing in my own independent study of the Word and take a step of faith into those black diamonds of theology and doctrine; I'm getting to know Jesus better. Just like I took full advantage of having a ski resort practically in my back yard, I am striving to squeeze every ounce of what God has for me here into my brain. This year is such a blessing and I hope I do not fall into the habit of merely taking it for granted.

Unlike snowboarding which has its seasons, I pray that this season of spiritual growth in my life will continue. After all, though the coming of spring is an end to the ski season, it is also a the beginning of new life and growth on the earth hence, to continue the application - I know that my spiritual life will continue to flourish in different ways even as the seasons change.

Find your Inner Woman 11: the old lady

As one should in collage, we had a crazy, random, hilarious party last night in which those age 25 and up had to dress young and those under 25 had to dress...elderly.

From baby to grave...

I have to admit, I was less than excited about the whole prospect going into it. I didn't have anything to wear and I just wasn't looking forward to it. Fortunately things changed as I talked about it more and made some plans with my friend Natalie. No sooner did we make one set of plans that they all changed when we made a random trip to Kmart and found THESE:

I know right? I can't believe they still sell this kind of thing in real stores! They were only 3 dollars to we had to buy them and I have to say, they were a hit. We first planned on using a rolly-chair as a wheelchair but then switched to this highchair walker instead. We had such a blast. We were laughing like lunatics, looking for people to play Bingo with and being just silly. I have to say, I quite enjoy acting like a crazy old lady, smacking people with my purse, making my back ache from leaning over the stupid "walker", wearing ridiculous clothes and talking like a weirdo. It was so amusing.

Best part of the evening was when Jared came in dressed as a baby with a SHAVED HEAD. I seriously screamed. The whole room was in an uproar it was SO funny. I can't even look at him with a straight face anymore.

Anyways, basically it was a lot of fun - good food, lots of laughter and lots of pictures (check the photos page for more).

Jess and her mom switched - SO funny!

Things get scary

Evidently I have been working too long on this week's paper. It brings to mind the odd things which occurred during the writing of last week's paper...

I have this odd habit of making bizarre and apparently slightly scary noises after I have been sitting for a long time especially in deep concentration or exertion of the brain (hence, not reading a novel which I can do for a whole day with no negative side-effects other than a sore butt...these issues arise in activities more like, writing essays, researching etc). So last week I spent probably over 4 hours straight just researching, organizing and writing my paper on Hebrews 6:4-6 (which is like the MOST CONTROVERSIAL PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE). Suffice to say, it was VERY exhausting and though I enjoy this type of thing, I got bored. As such, I have the natural impulse to relieve the pressure of boredom building up in my very being by making outlandish noises. These could start off as over-exaggerated sighs, highish pitched squeally -type things, or rapid breathing. Last week, when I emitted one of these bizarre sounds (rapid breathing in this case), Natalie looked up from her study, gave me a weird look then broke out laughing telling me I sounded like I was in labor...well, I suppose I was laboring pretty hard but I don't think that's what she meant. It was quite amusing to the both of us and the laughter was a good break from study.

So today, I have only been working steady for about an hour and a half and I just suddenly "buzzed" really obnoxiously through my lips, expelling a huge burst of pent up air and energy that has been suppressed by this increasingly boring paper. This time there were a few more people in the bunkhouse and I heard immediately, "WHAT WAS THAT!?!?" One friend said it sounded like a bear's stomach rumbling. Another said, "I wasn't thinking that...but I won't mention what I thought it sounded like..." After more laughter, Natalie said it wasn't as bad as the labor pains so I guess that's something...

Bibles, commentaries, notes computer...ahhhhh!!!!

Because I have evidently grown too bored to work on my paper, I decided to take a break and post this. Unfortunately, I don't feel any more energized to continue for the next 45 minutes till dinner...I think it has something to do with staring at this annoying (but incredibly and unfortunately useful) glowing screen in front of me. These outburst don't tend to occur when I do such intense study by hand...I say it again: I was born in the wrong era.

Encore

So I thought, perhaps spring was coming. After a week of warmish weather, rain and slight flurries, by the weekend the grass was exposed in places for the first time since November! It was fabulous. However, all those bright hopes were dashed, starting last night. Woke up this morning to a nice thick layer of new snow over everything. Granted, the temperature is hovering around zero (32 Fahrenheit) so there is the steady beat of dripping everywhere and tufts of snow continually dropping off the cloaked tree branches. Yet it just puts me in the mood of winter all over again. It seems as though this white world of Jackson Hole was never green and will never be that way again. How I ache for flowers and spring birds chirping in the morning; for warm sunlight on bare arms and the fresh smell of dew on newly sprouted grass. I don't suppose I could live here for life - I am in love with the seasons - each in its due time and for its due length.

A Wholly Holy Equipping

For class we had an assignment to write a devotion from Hebrews, something that we had learned or just really struck us this week. So I thought I'd share mine with you. 

Hebrews 13:20-21:

Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

A more fitting benediction to Hebrews could not be stated. A book full of fearsome warnings, confusing controversies and strong exhortations, Hebrews can leave a believer floundering in despair. There is such an emphasis throughout the book on faith, endurance and spiritual maturity, I feel completely inadequate to the task set before me; the responsibilities of being a child of God. Do I have the ability to pay close enough attention to what I have heard, enough to keep from drifting away (2:1)? Can I be diligent enough to enter God's rest (4:11)? Do I have enough confidence to draw near to the “throne of grace, that [I] may receive mercy” (4:16)? Am I mature enough to discern good and evil (5:14)? Am I able to hold fast without wavering (10:23)? Do I have “faith to the preserving of the soul (10:39)? Do I have the endurance to run the race (12:1)? To most of these questions I cannot answer yes with certainty but for the knowledge that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

Yet of even more assurance, this benediction convinces me that God gives me the equipment to make it happen. It brings such encouragement to know that we have a powerful God who does not leave us out there alone for if so, no one could be saved. As Hebrews states: “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6) and faith itself is a gift from God, nothing of my own efforts. To know that I can pray, ask and receive from Him, the ability to live rightly is a miracle. My God, who created the world, bestows us with blessings, loves us even as sinners, provides a way of salvation through the blood covenant and raising His Son from the dead is surely capable of providing me with the means to live a life pleasing to Him.

Not only is this God powerful enough to raise the dead, He even provided us with such a Shepherd as His Son. A Shepherd who is also our “high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). Indeed, I will gladly, whole-heartedly, thankfully be a sheep guided by this Shepherd and equipped by God. For in this position I have full assurance that through Jesus, I have “every good thing to do His will...that which is pleasing in His sight” (Hebrews 13:21). God working in me makes it possible for me to please Him and bring Him glory. How grateful I am that this is possible for I would surely fail on my own.

“To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Counting Sheep

It's said to be a exercise leading directly to sleep, for all those nights when sleep just won't come, count sheep. But seriously, I mean, if you've tried it you know, and if you haven't, well you knew better, that it really doesn't work. But, I was out of options last night and so I decided to try out the age-old trick.

At first the monotony had me thinking that maybe this was going to work. The sheep were stacking up in my brain, one-dimensional and all the same...however by about 16, this got too boring and they started to take on characteristics: old sheep with long white beards, young girl sheep in bonnets, cowboy sheep, skinny sheep,

fat sheep, sheep with buck-teeth, sheep with no teeth, sheep smiling, sheep crying etc. This went on for awhile but slowly the sheep because 3-dimensional and started moving. By the 40s there was a tap dancing sheep, a line dancing sheep, a sheep herding dogs, a sheep jumping over the moon, a sheep barbering a man's head and they got more creative over time.

Unfortunately, coming up with new mind pictures was growing exhausting and so by the late 60s I was back to monotonous plain old sheep. By the 70s, it was just sheep heads, the the 80s they had turned into ducklings somehow and by the 90s were fortunately back to sheep.

 By the time I reached one hundred I decided this exercise was fruitless and annoying. I thought about starting over at one (as saying one hundred and one would take too much effort) but gave up after about 10...I wasn't even imagining sheep anymore, just counting. So my mind wandered and I started writing this post in my head and so here we are...I eventually fell asleep around 12, long after the details of this post were put together and I was once again bored.

So, I have decided that the whole idea is nonsense and either bores you so that you can't continue or leads your mind on so many different paths that you get confused and more awake trying to figure out where the sheep are than sleepy.

According to Wikipedia it is "presumably, is to induce boredom while occupying the mind with something simple, repetitive, and rhythmic, all of which are known to help humans sleep." (maybe it didn't work because I wasn't imaging them all jumping one after the other over a fence, all identical and such...but I tried the monotony, it failed). However according to a study done at Oxford (people actually do STUDIES on this type of thing!?!?) it is less beneficial than imaging a calm seen such as a beach or waterfall (why do calm scenes have to have water in them??? and anyways, depending on the beach or waterfall, things might not be calm there at all!)

Interestingly one of the earliest references to this activity dates back to 1605 in "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes :

 "Let your worship keep count of the goats the fisherman is taking across, for if one escapes the memory there will be an end of the story, and it will be impossible to tell another word of it."

However, this sentence really makes very little sense to me so I fail to see its relevance...in other news, people of India and Pakistan would refer to the exercise as counting stars.

In regards to my further research on the topic I have found that there is very little information about the origin and effectiveness of this old folk lore. But I have discovered some interesting tidbits about the way shepherds in like the DARK AGES, actually, I don't know the time period, but they had this weird rhyming system of counting sheep...like, real sheep...I'm sure you wanted to know that. As my search has yielded nothing else which strikes me as particularly fascinating, I will here close my post. If you have more questions or interest in the subject...Google your heart out.

A bad day to nap

Back in Jackson for my last 8 weeks of study...moving on from that decidedly depressing topic...With the time difference and that wonderful thing called day-light savings, getting up at 7:30 this morning felt more like getting up at 5:30, as such, I was dreadfully tired all morning and could barely stay awake during church. So after a delicious lunch of spaghetti Alfredo, fried beans and garlic bread,  I read my Bible for a bit then decided to take a nap. As many of you would know, I don't nap very well - I can barely sleep in, never mind sleep randomly during the day but as I could barely keep my eyes open I decided it was worth a try, so I lay down and surprisingly am slowly drifting off. You know when you can like feel your brain start to lose it? like you start imagining the weirdest stuff and you feel all floaty-like, ya so I was in that state, enjoying it's delicious nonsensical-ness and SUDDENLY there is an outrageous ROAR like thunder and a large thud. Of course, my sleep-deprived yet half-asleep mind is jolted rather abruptly from its ease and my heart immediately starts pounding as my brain leaps in a million directions at once trying to decipher the source of this rude intrusion on my serenity. Thunder? Earthquake? Gunshot? Explosion? It doesn't take long for the mental image of the 6 inch sheet of ice and snow inching itself part way off the roof of the bunkhouse to come to mind.

Snow build-up and ice slide upon my return after break

Forest of icicles growing along lengthening ice sheet

Ice sheet in front of guys' door

I close my eyes and try to mentally calm my agitated body as I realize it was only ice sliding off the roof and crashing to the ground. (Normally, I would be up and checking it out but at that moment I was too tired and peeved to have my rest interrupted.) As such, when Natalie showed up a few minutes later describing the wreckage below, I had so drag myself up and go check it out. Indeed it was quite the sight and pretty cool to see but only minutes later, I was back in my bed hoping to get some rest. HA

Broken ice wreckage in front of girls dorm

Ice wall in front of guys dorm (note the post knocked over!)

I should have known that something like this is just too interesting and entertaining for a bunch of college students to ignore. Soon, there is half a dozen students outside, some clearing away the sheets of ice, some banging on the roof to dislodge more and most just standing around exclaiming, coming in and out and telling everyone else. At this moment, I ache for even the slightest bit of soundproofing in the walls. Yet, somehow I manage to just lay there with my eyes closed and slowly the sounds fade away. I think maybe I slept...half an hour. Basically, I plan on going to bed at 8, maybe that will be more successful...