In the beginning of the Hellenism chapter, Sophie receives a test with 4 questions on it. The first problem reads, “1. Make a list of things we can know. Then make a list of things we can only believe” (Gaarder 123). This problem reminded me a lot of Sarah Kay’s Ted Talk, If I should have a daughter. In Sarah’s Ted Talk, she asks her students to write a list of 10 things they know to be true. Although she discusses that only briefly, I’ve thought a lot about it and this test question has helped me remember my response. In this essay, I will be writing 10 things I know to be true, and I will counteract those responses with 10 things we can only believe. I will start with a quote I’ve heard many times. “Tell people there's an invisible …show more content…
man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.” - George Carlin. The first thing that I know to be true, is I do not know very much to be true at all. I know that the longest word in the english language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis which is a word that refers to a lung disease gained by breathing in small particles most likely from a volcano. I know that as of right now, my favorite coffee comes from Dunkin Donuts, I know that I cried in the middle of a horror movie because they killed a cat, and I know I absolutely despise the word, ‘moist’. But none of that is relevant enough to write an essay on. I know that everyone has a fear of something. Whether this person is frightened of something we see to be silly, or something we, too, are frightened of, everyone has a fear of something. My worst fear is to end up alone, although that seems to be a common fear, it is different in my eyes. While most people don’t want to grow old alone, I am at angst that I will lose the rest of my family and be the only one left in the end. I have a fear of losing people to death. The third thing I know to be true is that everyone has or had someone who has changed their life for the better. Some people will argue that others have only changed their lives for the worst, but another thing I know to be true is that time heals everything, however, it cannot fix anything, which ties in with the 5th thing I know to be true: everything happens for a reason. Albeit, I do believe in quantum immortality, I also believe that our lives have been predetermined.
I believe everything we do, has already been decided, and that is why everything happens for a reason. The one person who has changed my life for the better is my little brother, Brendon. He lives in Tennessee now, but I will never forget the way he made my heart warm with his laughter, and how much I’ve grown to appreciate the innocence of a small child and their wonder for the world. The 6th thing I know to be true, is it is very hard to take care of yourself and to love yourself in a world that is always pushing you to be something greater than what is possible. I know that there will always be stars in the sky, even if the clouds are covering them, they will return soon enough and I know they will always be beautiful. Number 8 on the list of things I know to be true, is you cannot pick up anyones broken glass by yourself without expecting to wind up with blood on your hands. In other words, you cannot fix anyone who does not want to be fixed. I know that love is the answer to everything, and it will heal all pain and everyone needs to feel loved to survive. The 10th thing I know to be true, is I will never forget the color of his eyes, and sometimes his kisses make me feel like I’m on another
planet. Now that I have listed 10 things I know to be true, I will list 10 things we can only believe. The first thing we can only believe in, is a God. Nobody can know for sure that there is someone acting as the puppet master of our life, living in the sky. Number two, we do not know if there truly is life form on other planets. Admittingly, a lot of people believe in aliens, we cannot be sure just yet. I know that we cannot be sure as to where the world came from. Referring back to an early section in Sophie’s World, Alberto asks Sophie the question, “Is there a basic substance that everything else is made of” (Gaarder, 29)? This led to the explanation of what different people believed on where we originated from. People can only believe in where we came from. Number four, astrology. While astrology and daily horoscopes are one of my favorite things, we cannot be sure that the alignment of the stars on the day you were born can shape any human. When things are going bad for us as humans, we like to believe that we are living in a dream and we will wake up any moment, but that cannot be proven. A lot of people believe we go to Heaven after we die, because it makes death seem more comforting, but we will never know. I, and many others believe in ghosts, but cannot prove that they exist. Number 8, I believe we all see a different shade of every color, and my blue may be your red. I believe that we are all connected in some way, shape or form. However, I cannot prove that I am connected to someone living on the other side of the world, for I will probably never even meet them. Lastly, I believe that everyone is good. I don’t think anyone intentionally wakes up every morning hoping to be evil, and if they do, I don’t believe it is their fault. I want to believe everyone wants to be happy, everyone wants someone to love, but I could be wrong, and we will never be able to prove that. I’ve reached the conclusion of my essay, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share my beliefs with you on what I know to be true, and what I can only believe.
In her article, “Lecture Me. Really”, Molly Worthen addresses the issue college students know all too well: how to lecture properly. Published in the New York Times, Worthen writes a passionate article about lecturing but from the perspective of a professor. Worthen presents the idea that lecturing, although some may think ineffective in the classroom, is a way to truly challenge and engage students into critically thinking. Worth dictates this idea with an excellent build up logical argument but lacks the proper evidence to support her claims creating a faulty argument.
Helen Keller, against all odds, became a mouthpiece for many causes in the early to mid-twentieth century. She advocated for causes such as building institutions for the blind, schools for the deaf, women’s suffrage and pacifism. When America was in the most desperate of times, her voice stood out. Helen Keller spoke at Carnegie Hall in New York raising her voice in protest of America’s decision to join the World War. The purpose of this paper will analyze the devices and methods Keller used in her speech to create a good ethos, pathos, and logos.
Sarah Polley’s film Stories We Tell is as much about how we interpret images – what we take as “true” – as it is about how we remember. Through a close analysis of the film discuss what you think the film sets out to do and how it achieves these aims. In answering this question you might also want to look at reviews of the film.
It is only human to be biased. However, the problem begins when we allow our bigotry to manifest into an obstacle that hinders us from genuinely getting to know people. Long time diversity advocate, Verna Myers, in her 2014 Ted Talk, “How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them” discusses the implicit biases we may obtain when it comes to race, specifically black men and women. Myers purpose is quite like the cliché phrase “Face your fears.” Her goal is to impress upon us that we all have biases (conscious or unconscious). We just have to be aware of them and face them head on, so that problems such as racism, can be resolved. Throughout the Ted Talk, Verna Myers utilizes an admonishing yet entertaining tone in order to grasp our attention
In the TED video “my stroke of insight” brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor describes her life changing experience of having a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain on December 10, 1996. Taylor begins her presentation by speaking about her brother’s mental illness and her research to find out what made him and other people with mental illnesses different from regular people. Taylor speaks about her work in the National Alliance on Mental Illness until she had her own experience with a brain disorder. Taylor states that on the morning of december tenth she had a brain hemorrhage and in four hours she lost all of her ability to process information. In “My stroke of insight” Taylor begins the presentation
Reading the poems in second person makes them much more personal and easier to connect to and imagine oneself in the situation, to picture what is happening. It forces you to pay attention to the little details. Second person point of view forcibly draws the audience into the scene, gives them no choice but to mentally participate. It helps you to avoid the disconnection brought on by monotone narrative textbooks. In her Ted Talk, Chimamanda Adichie makes the observation that if you “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” With Rankine’s second person tellings, creating a “single story” becomes impossible, because the reader is drawing on their personal emotions and experiences. So
The TED talk by Philip Zimbardo was very thought provoking. He was a witness of the Abu Ghraib jail prisoner harassments during the Iraq war. He shared graphic images of what occurred in those torture chambers and it really made me doubt humanity and it’s morality. He believes the military police were put in a position by the interrogators to perform evil acts against the prisoners as an intimidation tactic. He also conducted the Stanford prison experiment where he sort of mirrored the events that took place at Abu Ghraib jail. He asked for volunteers and made sure they were mentally fit. He made half of them the officers and half the prisoners. The prisoners were humiliated and abused, he actually had to end the experiment early because several of the volunteers had mental breakdowns. Phillip made a point during the speech that the system creates a situation
Social Psychologist,Amy Caddy in her persuasive and information from Ted Talk “Fake It Till You Make It” claims that if you stand in a well- asserted position you will feel and be more confident than others she supports her claim first by comparing how we feel happy but also when we are force to smile,then narrating that harmones could change us by being more assertive and confident can also lead us to being optimistic by illustrating confident images it can finally boost your fearless of confidentiality.
After Watching Carol Dweck’s Ted Talk I realized how our lives as students would be so much easier if schools used the “not yeat” technique except, it comes with some downsides because if you tell someone “not yet” it might defeat their confidence if they have tried several times before.
In my 18 years I can relate to most of these quotes but some of them have a much deeper meaning to me than others. I have picked “The River” quote by Garth brooks because it is the most relatable to how I already think about how I want to live my life. When ever I have free time I attempt to use it up because life's too short in my mind to just not take the time to enjoy it. This quote relates to my yearbook quote of taking every day to have an adventure and having every adventure make its own story, but since a few months ago this quote now has a new meaning to me. A month ago I had a friend die, he was 18 and had a terminal tumor in the right side of his brain.
In this talk, Sherry Turkle’s arguments are shown to be very logical because she proves her points through the use of induction. Turkle first provides an example of an experience she has had with people as her “case”. From her experiences, she forms a rule or idea. An example of this is at 8:57 - Turkle says that she often hears people say, “I would rather text than talk.” From one simple statement, Turkle is able to draw from this that people are “used to getting by with less”. Moreover, Turkle provides an additional example on how lots of people have shared with her the wish of a more advanced version of Siri so that Siri will become more of a best friend figure - “someone who will listen when others won’t.” From these two statements combined,
What point stood out to you the most? Why/what about it? Do you agree? Why or why not?
"The death of a beautiful women is unquestionably the most poetic topic." This quote, stated by Poe, reflects the author’s dark and twisted perspective on life. Poe’s tragic life influenced his writing; making death the reason Poe wrote. Substance abuse, the denial of death, and self-destruction, made Poe one of America's most beloved and well-known writers. The poem "Annabel Lee" best exemplifies the author's dark past with love, death, and drug abuse.
The question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a haunting question for everyone. At the age of five, any child has a whole list of careers, and they want to achieve every single one. What is wrong with that? According to Emilie Wapnick, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that idea. As I watched Emilie’s TED talk, I was enlightened about the fact that maybe it was okay to have more than one passion in life.
I feel that I am fully prepared for anything that life has to throw at me. I am, wholeheartedly, looking forward to the life I have ahead of me, and I have my family to thank for providing me with the confidence to face fresh challenges. Along with my family and friends’ support, I have managed to fall in love with myself and my own personality. I learned to overcome various obstacles along with how to handle new hardships. I continue to grow as an individual every day of my life, along with facing new situations and environments and learning to adapt to these changes. I am still in the process of trying not to completely overthink every single detail of my life, but I am, nevertheless, making progress. I truly feel grateful for all the moments in my life that have led me to become the person I am today, along with getting to know and love who I truly am. As long as one is confident enough in knowing what is best for oneself and who one is as a person, even if a mistake is made, there will always be a way to find a