In this lesson we discussed many things regarding whether or not the world we live in really exists. Arguing what is real, how can we be sure it is real and whether or not what does exist is 100% truthful or genuine. We had done some background reading, reading Descartes Meditations II, which gave us a base for discussing the existence of man, the world and the universe we live in. The idea that what can be defined as real, when we are not even sure that we ourselves are real was used a lot in the background reading. The example of Wax as well, being of a solid, hard coloured form, can then change to become a liquid form, with a different colour and texture. How can anything that changes its form so dramatically are classed by us as “Real.”
There are 4 ways of knowing, understanding and gaining knowledge. Through: perception, emotion, reason and language; we can obtain knowledge. Different areas of knowledge are as follows: Mathematics, Natural Science, Social Science, History, the arts and Ethics.
We then learnt of scepticism, the idea that everything should be questioned. There are two types of scepticism: Local, and Global. Local being things closer to home, such as “Is that a bird or a plane”. Where our perception and emotions have been put into question by things locally. Global scepticism is where things are questioned on a wider scale, such as “What am I, why am I here” etc, etc. These questions are often unanswerable; as they would seem to date back before any one can remember, thus why don’t have an answer. Global scepticism would affect our reasoning and language, as how can we be sure that what we are told is right and wrong, are in fact just that, or how can we be sure the words we speak, read and write, have any meaning at all.
It is through the ideas of scepticism, that we have reason to believe everything we thought we knew is wrong.
For example, how can we be sure that events in history actually happened? 1066, the battle of Hastings, how can we be sure that such a bloody battle for power actually happened. Arguably, there is the Bayeux tapestry in Northern France, however, how can we be sure that that is an accurate portrayal of events, and wasn’t just an artist having a play around with a needle and thread. Or perception of this event is that it happened a long time ago for sure, however how can we trust our perception, our senses.
There are many optical illusions that highlight this. For example, the picture bellow right:
The lines appear to be curved or wonky, however, looking closer into the picture reveals that the lines are actually perfectly parallel. How can we trust our senses and perception? If our perception leads us into believing one thing, when it is actually the opposite (for example believing the lines are curved) then how can we trust or believe in anything at all?
Watching the hit movie, “The Matrix” could also lead us into deep thought about what is and what isn’t. Is the world we live in today, just a series of illusions, and pictures, pulled over our eyes to hide us from the truth? Who can be sure of any of this? Are we not just people, hooked up to one big machine, which is constantly feeding bogus information into, forcing us to believe that the world we live in now, is real.
But what is real? How can you define Real? Are we even real?
Descartes, “I think, therefore I Am,” would suggest that we are beings, but whether we are 100% what we believe ourselves to be now, or just a machine that tells us what we are and what we think, I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, so this is why I’m guessing the IB has a subject about it.
There are 4 ways of knowing, understanding and gaining knowledge. Through: perception, emotion, reason and language; we can obtain knowledge. Different areas of knowledge are as follows: Mathematics, Natural Science, Social Science, History, the arts and Ethics.
We then learnt of scepticism, the idea that everything should be questioned. There are two types of scepticism: Local, and Global. Local being things closer to home, such as “Is that a bird or a plane”. Where our perception and emotions have been put into question by things locally. Global scepticism is where things are questioned on a wider scale, such as “What am I, why am I here” etc, etc. These questions are often unanswerable; as they would seem to date back before any one can remember, thus why don’t have an answer. Global scepticism would affect our reasoning and language, as how can we be sure that what we are told is right and wrong, are in fact just that, or how can we be sure the words we speak, read and write, have any meaning at all.
It is through the ideas of scepticism, that we have reason to believe everything we thought we knew is wrong.
For example, how can we be sure that events in history actually happened? 1066, the battle of Hastings, how can we be sure that such a bloody battle for power actually happened. Arguably, there is the Bayeux tapestry in Northern France, however, how can we be sure that that is an accurate portrayal of events, and wasn’t just an artist having a play around with a needle and thread. Or perception of this event is that it happened a long time ago for sure, however how can we trust our perception, our senses.
There are many optical illusions that highlight this. For example, the picture bellow right:
The lines appear to be curved or wonky, however, looking closer into the picture reveals that the lines are actually perfectly parallel. How can we trust our senses and perception? If our perception leads us into believing one thing, when it is actually the opposite (for example believing the lines are curved) then how can we trust or believe in anything at all?
Watching the hit movie, “The Matrix” could also lead us into deep thought about what is and what isn’t. Is the world we live in today, just a series of illusions, and pictures, pulled over our eyes to hide us from the truth? Who can be sure of any of this? Are we not just people, hooked up to one big machine, which is constantly feeding bogus information into, forcing us to believe that the world we live in now, is real.
But what is real? How can you define Real? Are we even real?
Descartes, “I think, therefore I Am,” would suggest that we are beings, but whether we are 100% what we believe ourselves to be now, or just a machine that tells us what we are and what we think, I don’t know, and neither does anyone else, so this is why I’m guessing the IB has a subject about it.
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