Red Pill or Blue Pill?

Matrix- 
The Matrix is a science fiction action film starring Keanu Reeves. It depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, created by intelligent machines to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When computer programmer Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias "Neo", uncovers the truth, he "is drawn into a rebellion against the machines" along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix. 

Neo, when given the chance of the blue pill (wake up in his bed not knowing anything and continue to live a peaceful delusional life) or red pill (face the truth of reality and his enemies which would force him outside of his normal lifestyle), takes the red pill. This perfectly relates to Nietzsche's philosophy of achieving happiness by going through the pain in life. Nietzsche's states that in order for one to get real fulfillment they must go through the pain first, which relates to Neo because if he was to take the blue pill he would wake up in his bed living a fake easy life without real joy instead of fighting and going through that pain to live in reality to achieve true happiness. 

The Matrix also partly relates to the Philosophy of Buddhism, as when Neo "unplugs" from the illusion-generating Matrix he allows himself to "die." This leads, inevitably, to self-sacrifice: by finally "allowing himself to die," Neo "is reunited with spirit" and "becomes the true savior of humanity." Similar to Buddhism, "no-self" in which one does not have a soul or a "permanent self." Neo also risks his life to fight for the greater good and makes many sacrifices for humanity.  

Like Socrates, Neo is also chosen and must save his people like Socrates was trying to. Matrix also relates to Socrates because of the teacher/student relationship portrayed throughout the movie. His teacher never gives him any answers but only shows him the paths he can choose to walk. 

The Existential Value of Scott's Tots

Michael Scott cringing at his own failure to follow through with his promise

"Scott's Tots", season 6 episode 12 of popular sitcom The Office is considered by many (along with season 4 episode 13, "Dinner Party") to be the most cringeworthy and difficult to watch episode of the show or even in all of television. It brings up feelings of empathy and shame in the viewer, especially the younger audience of the show that is near college-age.

Synopsis: "Hey Mr. Scott, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Make our dreams come true!"

In the episode, Michael Scott, a main character of the show, discovers that it has been 10 years since he ridiculously promised a group of 3rd graders to pay for their college tuition when they graduated, and he must go to a reception at the school in his honor, put on by the now-12th grade students about to graduate. Unfortunately, Michael isn't as rich as he thought he'd be 10 years ago, and he must tell the kids that he cannot pay for their tuition. When he gets to the school, they put on a whole song and dance for him along with testimonies of how well their lives have gone and how they've always had this goal in mind and their dreams are close to coming true.

Then Michael tells them the truth. This is met with anger and yelling. He tries to make up for it..... by offering the kids laptop batteries. This did not help at all. Even the fact that the batteries were lithium.

"Hold on! They're lithium!"

The Existential Value of Scott's Tots

"There were a lot of times over the years where I was pressured to get into the drug game. But I always thought back to my guardian angel, and the gift that you gave me. So I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to go to college, educate myself, and become the next President Obama."-One of Scott's Tots

Though it's obviously horrible how Michael Scott broke a really big promise here, it is also evident that it wasn't completely worthless. Existentialism teaches that the sum of what you are is what you make of yourself.  Despite Michael's broken promise, the kids knew the promise of a college education, so they made something of themselves. One student refused getting into drugs because he knew that because there was a promise of a free college, he had a hope and made something of himself. Despite the fact that the promise didn't end up being fulfilled.

"The principal told me that 90% of Scott's Tots are on track to graduate, and that's 35% higher than the rest of the school. So I think if you hadn't made that promise, a lot of them would've dropped out. Which is something to think about, I think."-Erin Hannon, Michael's receptionist/assistant

Despite Michael's promise being fulfilled in the form of useless laptop batteries, Scott's Tots actually did make something of themselves. While Michael thought he "destroyed 15 young lives", he actually made a positive difference, at least in the existential sense. Though Scott's Tots were all deprived of their promised tuition, they all ended up graduating at a much higher rate than the rest of the school. They made something of their lives, despite the broken promise, and gave themselves actual value in life.

The pleasure of friendship

Thanksgiving break gave me the opportunity to see friends that I had not seen in a while since college had started. Some of these friends go to college in different states hours away so I do not get to see them often. Being able to spend time with my friends and family over break gave me a lot of pleasure. After learning about Epicureanism this semester and how Epicurus believes that friendship is very important for finding happiness in life, it made me appreciate the time I got to spend with my friends over break even more. Epicurus also believed that in true friendship a person feels the other's joy and sadness as deeply as their own. I was able to affirm this in my own relationships. One of my friends in particular has been going through a difficult situation. I have known this person my whole life and he is like a brother to me. I felt his pain as my own and really enjoyed the time I got to spend with him.

Every good memory I have my friends are there with me, and every bad memory I have my friends were there to get me through it. Friends to me are the most important thing in life because they bring me happiness and help me when I am suffering. Learning about Epicurus's beliefs about friendship helped me to appreciate friendship even more and remember to enjoy every moment I get to spend with my friends.

Fear of Death

Out of all the philosophies we have reviewed in class, Epicureanism has resonated the most with my own life. One of the main beliefs in Epicureanism is that humans should not fear death. The reason being, "Therefore, it is relevant neither to the living nor to the dead, since it does not affect the former; and the latter do not exist.” (Epicurus, 124). While this claim by Epicurus if founded in the belief that their is no life after death so death cannot do us any harm since we will cease to exist, I believe that even those who believe in an after life should not fear death. Death is the one guarantee in life. So, fearing the only thing in life that is inevitable doesn't make much sense to me. Epicurus believed that fearing death was causing many people to miss out on life and I agree. While I don't fear how my death will affect me, I do fear how my death will affect others such as my family and friends. I have lost family members and I know that the death of a loved one can have a huge impact on a person's life. So, I agree with Epicurus that death should not be feared because it gets in the way of living, but I am worried that my death will have negative affects on those around me. Overall, I think that death should never be feared because it is something that will happen to everyone. Life cannot exist without death so it is important to accept this and focus on the affects I can have on people while I am alive.

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

The song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin related to several of the philosophical perspective that we have discussed this semester. The song begins with the following lyrics:

Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

 

 

Essentially, all of the lyrics in this entire song revolve around not worrying about anything that is happening in your life; just be happy no matter what. The main philosophical idea that I think this related to is the Epicurean philosophy. He is saying that you always need to seek to have a pleasurable state of mind and try and experience as much pleasure in your life as possible, while experiencing as little pain.

I also belief that this relates to wu wei from Dao De Jing. By living a life free of stress and worries, and always focusing on being happy, I feel that this would allow one to live a life in the world without excessive striving and stress, over-thinking, over-analyzing, or forcing thing.

Connection between ataraxia and my time spent in Africa this summer.

During this past summer, my cousin and I travelled to Tanzania, Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The mountain was challenging, but making it to the top was very rewarding. Though the mountain was incredible, what has stuck with me the most about the trip are the attitudes of every local that we met while on the mountain. We had around 25 people in our group in total. We had seven tourists, three guides, and the rest were porters (the people that carry the tents, food, and pretty much everything except for your snacks and water and maybe some extra layers of clothing). When we discussed the Epicureans' idea of ataraxia, the porters and guides in our group is the first thing that came to my mind, especially the porters. Ataraxia is the freedom from distance, stress, and anxiety. According to Epicureans, it is the highest form of pleasure. The porters did not get paid much when compared to the amount of work that they did. They had the hardest job, yet every single one of them radiated positive energy. They would always greet you, ask if you needed anything, and have conversations with you even though some of their english was not perfect. Though they do not have a lot of material goods, they still seem to be stress free and have a way of building up those around them. Their favorite phrase is "Hakuna Matata" or "no worries." They basically used it for everything, and I loved it. "Thanks for setting up our tent!" "Hakuna Matata no problem!" "Can I please have some tea? "Of course brother, Hakuna Matata." They say the phrase often, and they seem to do their best to live by it as well. My favorite part of the trip came the second day that we were on the mountain. Once we made it to camp for the night, we had our formal introduction to the porters. This introduction came by way of singing and dancing in a big circle. You could tell that they all truly loved what they were doing, and it was an amazing experience for all seven of us tourists because none of us had seen anything like it. We had myself and my cousin from the US, a recently married couple from Spain, two cousins from Denmark, and a lady from Mexico who had been to over 120 countries. Despite us coming from all around the world, we were all enamored by the joy that the locals seemed to possess. These locals probably do not have near the amount of material goods that any one of us tourists have, yet they seemed to be happier than all of us. I believe this is what ataraxia is all about. The only stress and anxiety that existed in that singing and dancing circle came from us tourists wondering when the altitude sickness was going to kick in.

Snowden and the Ring of Gyges

Edward Snowden is a world famous whistleblower known for disclosing top secret documents of surveillance programs that the NSA was conducting. Snowden was selected to run these programs due to his high level of intelligence and skills in the surveillance field. Essentially, Snowden had the power to spy or anyone or anything by hacking cameras and other electronic devices. The system was initially designed to avoid terrorist activity and serious crime. However, Snowden recognized the ability to abuse this power and deprive the masses of their privacy.

Very much like the Ring of Gyges, Snowden had the power to abuse an individual's privacy and not be caught. Rather than abusing this power, he decided to expose the corruption and let the public know what they were secretly being subjected to. Snowden was able to avoid his appetites' cravings and was able to rationally maintain control of himself.

Gattaca and the chariot analogy

Gattaca was released in 1997 Vincent Freeman has always fantasized about traveling into outer space, but is grounded by his status as a genetically inferior "in-valid." He decides to fight his fate by purchasing the genes of Jerome Morrow, a laboratory-engineered "valid." He assumes Jerome's DNA identity and joins the Gattaca space program, where he falls in love with Irene. An investigation into the death of a Gattaca officer complicates Vincent's plans. 


In this movie they base everything off of the human genes which they see as a way to distinguish between superior and inferior people. This goes against the idea that a person is more than one part of all that parts that make them up. Vincent eventually challenges his genetically superior brother to see who can swim further. Based off what the movie is stating his brother who is genetically better should win easily. However Vincent ends up winning because he leaves nothing in the tank for the swim back. He uses his determination and human spirit to out swim his brother. This demonstrates that a person is like a chariot which does not work without all of the parts of the chariot. In the same a way a person is not just one aspect of a person it is all of the different physical and psychological parts of the person. When I first watched this movie in my high school chemistry class I did not realize the reference this movie was making to philosophy but now after taking this class I see how apart it is that philosophy is worked into a lot more movies than most people notice in today world. 

On WALL-E: Philosophers aboard the Axiom

On WALL-E: Philosophers aboard the Axiom

WALL-E (2008 dir. Andrew Stanton) is probably one of my favorite Pixar movies (probably beaten out by Inside Out (2015) dir. Pete Docter though). It deals with themes such as consumerism and environmentalism, and cinematically it is a masterpiece of visual storytelling, as there's no real dialogue for the first 30 minutes or so. The words heard most in the film are "WALL-E", "Eev-aah" (character names spoken by robots) and "Directive". Unfortunately it got snubbed from a Best Picture nomination at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, but it did take home the prize for Best Animated Feature (albeit, only beating out Bolt, another Disney film, and Kung Fu Panda, as 2008 wasn't the biggest year for animation, as the only other notable animated U.S. theatrically-released films that year were Igor, The Pirates who Don't Do Anything: A Veggietales Movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which beat out Wall-E for the coveted animated feature prize at that year's Kids' Choice Awards). Cinematic snubbing aside, the world and scenario of WALL-E presents interesting philosophical dilemmas and scenarios. Though the philosophy presented in the film itself has notably environmentalist and Christian influence (the film has been compared to the story of Noah's Ark from the Bible, and one of the main protagonists is named after the Biblical Eve), the scenarios presented in the film leave room for other philosophical interpretation.

What's left of Earth in WALL-E

The Axiom

A short synopsis

WALL-E follows the story of a robot named WALL-E, who is left as presumably the last working robot remaining on a deserted Earth, as all the humans left their trashed planet 700ish years ago aboard "5-year cruises" on space ships chartered by the corporate giant Buy-N-Large, which at that point had become so large that it ate up all the competition and bought out all the world governments, taking control of the planet and giving themselves absolute power over everything. One day a probe robot, Eve, lands on Earth to search for any signs of sustainable life, her "directive". WALL-E comes across Eve and leads her to his home, where she finds a plant that WALL-E has found, takes the plant, and shuts down, which leaves WALL-E extremely concerned. Eventually the rocket that dropped Eve off on Earth returns to take Eve back to the Axiom, but WALL-E tags along. Eve tries to follow her directive and takes the plant to the ship's captain, but the evil autopilot prevents this from happening in order to keep the ship in space instead of returning to Earth. After a series of events, WALL-E and Eve eventually get the plant to its designated place, defeat the evil autopilot captain, and return the ship to Earth after all this time. The humans set foot on a deserted planet and plant the one plant Eve found and the film ends (though the credit sequence implies that humanity, with the help of the robots, rebuilds instead of dying off).

The Axiom

The Axiom is the space cruise in which humanity lives. It is a ship of luxury. Robots do all the work for you, and all you get to do is enjoy yourself as you float through space. On the Axiom, Buy N' Large provides "Everything you need to be happy"as the "captain and autopilot chart a course for nonstop entertainment, fine dining, and with our all access hoverchairs, even grandma can join the fun". It is a floating bastion of eternal consumerism, entertainment, enjoyment, and excess. Humans who live on the Axiom need not worry about anything as they live in a land of fun and carelessness with all work done by robots. It's the ideal life. Or is it? All the people on the Axiom are overweight and in terrible health, barely able to even walk. At the time of WALL-E, humanity has lived on the Axiom for around 700 years and have devolved into barely human entities. Has 7 centuries of indulgence led to the destruction of humanity?

Onboard the Axiom

Inside the Dubai Airport Emirates terminal, a real-life bastion of consumerism, with a statue of a palm tree made of faux gold bars as the centerpiece.

Philosophy

At the end of WALL-E, Eve fulfills her directive and returns the plant to the hub which directs the ship back to Earth. The question remains, however, if that was actually a good idea. Sure, humans returned to their natural home, but now they have to toil to rebuild the planet their great-great-great (x700 years) ancestors destroyed, instead of still living in the luxury of the Axiom. Was this a good idea? Imagine that, (though this is unlikely considering the circumstances of Buy N' Large and The Axiom) the humans on board were allowed to read ancient philosophy. Picture an Epicurean, a Buddhist, and an Existentialist sitting in their hoverchairs together at the end of WALL-E as all the humans aboard the Axiom are brought to the Lido Bay when Eve returns the plant. How would they feel and react as they learn that they must now return to Earth?

The Buddhist

I feel like, for one thing, the Buddhist aboard the Axiom would bear more of a resemblance to stereotypical Buddha than the actual Buddha.

Statue of Buddha at a temple in Vietnam

Humans aboard the Axiom

But regardless of what your image of Buddha himself looks like, I feel like the Buddhist would feel conflicted about returning to Earth. On one hand, the Axiom is arguably a place where striving has ceased, so there is no suffering. The goal of Buddhism is to end the striving that causes suffering, and with the lack of striving aboard the Axiom, it has become like a mindless type of Nirvana. On the other hand, it could be argued that the Axiom is a place of only striving. Everyone is striving to buy, striving to spend, striving to be a consumer and have pleasure. Is there much suffering seen aboard the Axiom? Not really. But are people living peaceful lives? Not really. It's a faced paced world of endless consumerism, but also a place where people are not seen suffering. While returning to Earth would almost certainly cause striving, as humanity toils to bring life back to the planet, staying on the Axiom could go either way, so I feel that the Buddhist would be conflicted about returning back home.

The Epicurean

The Epicurean would almost certainly desire to stay on the Axiom, as Epicureanism is hedonistic. The Axiom is a place of pleasure. Even though it's a place of bloated consumerism, it's also a place of endless pleasure. While Epicureanism is against destructive pleasure, unlike a lot of hedonism, it can't be said that the bloated devolved state of humanity actually is destructive in itself, as the destruction has already happened. Living on the Axiom is safe and pleasurable. Humanity has already destroyed itself, so you can't really get any worse or destroy yourself any more. Why would you want to escape the ship of endless pleasure to toil to rebuild a destroyed planet? The Epicurean would rather just stay on the ship, as the autopilot wanted.

The Existentialist

"I can't just sit here and do nothing! That's all anyone on this blasted ship has ever done!" -Axiom Captain B. McCrea

I feel like the existentialist would be excited to land on Earth. They've made no purpose for themselves aboard the Axiom, All they've done is sit in their hoverchair and indulge. They haven't worked, haven't had hobbies, and haven't moved on their own right at all. They can barely walk. They are pretty much a worthless sack of meat floating adrift in space. Landing on Earth gives them purpose, especially if their following Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism, as Sartre said

"Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself" -Sartre

An Existentialist aboard the Axiom would be excited to finally make something of themself. Instead of floating around indulging in worthless pleasures, they can now find purpose in rebuilding the natural home of humanity and restoring it to its former natural glory.

Conclusion

At the end of WALL-E, we see humans getting off the ship and the captain replanting the first plant found. The credit sequence implies that humanity successfully restores Earth. But it is unclear whether everyone is happy about this. Is the Buddhist happy about all the hard work and striving it took to restore Earth? Is the Epicurean happy about going from a ship of endless pleasure to an Earth full of hard work for food rather than the "regenerative food buffet" mentioned on the ship? Is the Existentialist happy they've been able to make something of themself? We can only theorize.

WALL-E and Eve gaze upon the original plant that grew into a mighty tree in the credit sequence

The Lion King

The Lion King is a Disney movie that about the adventures of the young lion Simba, the heir of his father, Mufasa. Simba's evil uncle, Scar, plots to overthrow Mufasa's throne by luring father and son into a stampede of wildebeests. But Simba escapes, and only Mufasa is killed. Simba returns as an adult to take back his homeland from Scar with the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa. Two examples of philosophy in the movie are friendship and no worries. First, friendship is related to Epicurus, who believes friendships are the most important thing in life. In The Lion King Simba runs away from home after being blamed for the death of his dad, who was killed by his uncle. While away from home he meets Pumbaa and Timon who become his best friends and help him return to his home and take back what is truly his. This shows the importance of friends in your life and how they can help you accomplish major goals in your life. While on his adventures with Timon and Pumbaa, they teach him the phrase Hakuna Matata which means no worries. This relates heavy on the teachings of Lao Tzu of not trying control everything and just going with the flow of what life brings you. 

Tool and Laozi

One of my favorite bands is Tool, and one of my favorites from their albums is title track from "Lateralus". The song has interesting resonances with the idea of wu wei (or non-action) as expressed in the Dao De Jing.

Wu wei literally means "without action", but it does not really mean to do nothing, sitting on the couch and letting the world pass you by.  Instead, it is a way of being in the world, contributing to development and flow of things, without excessive thinking or control of the situation.  Many poems in the Dao De Jing explore this idea--we need to open ourselves up to the depth of the situation as it is, not only so that we can experience it fully, but also so that we can respond in the best and most productive way.  Laozi urges us to "cultivate emptiness" (Dao De Jing 16, trans. Addiss and Lombardo) so that we can be open to the experience as it is happening.  Rather than imposing our own expectations and desires, we encounter life's mystery (Dao De Jing 1).  As Laozi explains,

"Things grow and grow,

But each goes back to its root.

Going back to the root is stillness.

This means returning to what is.

Returning to what is

Means going back to the ordinary.

...

Understanding the ordinary: Mind opens.

Mind opening leads to compassion,

Compassion to nobility,

Nobility to heavenliness,

Heavenliness to the Way." (Dao De Jing 16)

Similarly, Tool's song "Lateralus" begins by taking us back to the root of our humanity--the experience of a baby:

Black

Then

White are

All I see

In my infancy

Red and yellow then came to be

Reaching out to me

Lets me see

The baby's experience of the world begins with basic black and white, no colors, with no definite understanding of the shapes and forms and objects she is seeing.  But colors and objects begin to arise, the experience "reaching out" to the baby's developing mind.

But the chorus of the song describes a problem:

Over-thinking, over-analyzing separates the body from the mind.

Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind.

The baby is purely receptive, learning, growing, engaging the world with playful spontaneity. But as adults, we lose the attitude of wu wei.  We desire to understand, to control, and to effect the results that we expect and want.  Unlike the baby, who experiences unmediated reality, we over-think and categorize until we cannot react in an intuitive, embodied way any longer (see Dao De Jing 2).

The song's climax expresses a wish for a different kind of relationship:

Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.

Reaching out to embrace the random.

Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to

I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected

Enough to step aside and weep like a widow

To feel inspired, to fathom the power,

To witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain,

To swing on the spiral, to swing on the spiral,

To swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.

In the mindset of wu wei, you don't impose upon experience.  You reach out and embrace it, taking in whatever comes. You feel its rhythm, weep, dance, breathe in the beauty that life has to offer.  You can do this only when you disengage your will to categorization and control.

I'm reaching up and reaching out.

I'm reaching for the random or whatever will bewilder me.

Whatever will bewilder me.

And following our will and wind

We may just go where no one's been.

We'll ride the spiral to the end

And may just go where no one's been.

Being bewildered, losing control, not understanding--these are components of a deep experience.  As Laozi says

I have the mind of a fool,

Confused, Confused.

Others are bright and intelligent,

I alone am dull, dull,

Drifting on the ocean,

Blown about endlessly.

Others have plans,

I alone am wayward and stubborn,

I alone am different from others,

Like a baby in the womb. (Dao De Jing 20)

So we return to where we began--the baby.  I have often puzzled about this poem in the Dao De Jing.  Why is good to be confused, dull, wayward?  But Tool's song puts poem 20 into context:  It's often a good sign that you are bewildered and confused about life.  It's evidence that you are truly experiencing it.

Happiness for the Social Beings

"The Happiness Hypothesis" discusses humans and their social nature. It goes into detail about the biggest part of what makes people happy which is our conditions. It says, "We are ultra social creatures, and we can't be happy without having friends and secure attachment to other people." This statement is completely accurate and reveals how humans live their lives. I am constantly around friends and when I am alone too much it lessens my sense of happiness. 

One condition that is vital to one's happiness is the emotion of love that is given in a relationship. Love is something that connects us to others. Love deepens our feelings and strengthens the bonds with our peers. There is many ways love can give a person value. A mother loves their child so much and that is the foundation of that child's life. We focus our lives around love by being with the people we love. We have parties to celebrate our loved ones and we get married to further our love. This condition is very important in establishing a happy life.

There are many things that go into being happy and finding lasting happiness. The people we have in our life and the time we spend with them vastly improve our sense of happiness. We are social beings and our friends and family make our lives important.

Stoicism in My Own Life

For me it has always been easy to put off happiness and think "Well I will be happy when this happens or this happens" instead of being happy now. In high school I thought once I got to college I would be happy, but when I got here I wasn't much happier at all. If anything I was worse. I felt alone and like I had no friends. It really took this class and a little bit of Epictetus for me to change my mindset.

When we started talking about Stoicism and Epictetus at first I thought it was kind of silly for us to ignore our "bad" emotions, but then I came to create my own view of what he had to say in The Handbook. I really just thought about how if I don't choose to be happy and work to be happy then I will never be happy. I cannot choose what bad things I experience, but I can choose how I react to them. I can learn to enjoy the small things like the smell of freshly mowed grass and the sun on my skin. I realized I need to learn to enjoy those things because tomorrow is most certainly not guaranteed and that I was taking life for granted every second that passed me by. I have already lost my dad at a young age and new that I needed to appreciate my family. I had been working on this for years now and have come far, but Stoicism opened my eyes to new things that I was not appreciating. I learned that I need to appreciate what I have now because I have little control over many things.

Accepting what I cannot change and having the power to change what I can is a big thing to most people, including me. So thank you Dr. Rider and Epictetus for opening up my eyes to a beautiful world.

The Meaning of Life

What is the meaning of life? This is a question that I don't necessarily think there is any right or wrong answer to. I think the answer is based on one's experiences and expectations in the world. In our book, there was an example that was used that caught my attention. The movie example. One individual saw the whole movie, while the other missed out on the beginning and the end of the movie. Not seeing the whole movie led them to have questions about certain aspects so they could piece it together and make better sense of what was happening in the movie. In this sense, life is like a movie. We walk into it well after its opening scene, and we will have to step out long before the storyline reaches the conclusion. I think this is referring to the lives that we are already living. Walking in after the opening scene is referring to when we are born and the opening scene is everything that happened before our lifetime. The middle section of the movie is the world we live and experience. And the "stepping out long before the storyline reaches the conclusion", is referring to our deaths because we can no longer experience life. I think it difficult to form one right answer because no one is really able to experience all of life, but I think each individual can form an answer that is specifically right to them.

Philosophical Ideas of Epicureanism and Confucianism Found in Television

By Madison Stewart

 As I watched an episode from “The Andy Griffith Show” this afternoon with my grandpa, I realized that this particular episode’s plot directly related to Chapter 11 of Epictetus’ Handbook of Stoicism and the idea of filial piety supported by Confucius. In the episode “Opie and the Spoiled Kid,” the main character Andy Griffith aides his son Opie in learning about the value of responsibility and resulting consequences for poor actions/choices made.

Opie learns that one of his new friends is rewarded with expensive, elaborate gifts from his rich father for just being a child. Opie fawns over his friend’s brand new $70 bicycle. On the other hand, Andy requires Opie to do chores around the house for merely a quarter a week (keep in mind, this is in 1963, so the current U.S. economy does not reflect these prices). Opie’s friend soon explains that he just needs to throw a temper tantrum in order to get his way. Opie later tries this after he asks Andy for a raise in his allowance and Andy denies him this raise. As Opie rolled around on the floor, Andy simply requested that he not get his pants dirty.

Later in the episode, after the second time Opie’s friend is stopped by the deputy sheriff for nearly running a woman carrying groceries over with his bicycle, Andy the Sheriff holds the boy’s bike until his father comes. When his father arrives, the little boy threatens the sheriff by telling him that his dad can take anything that comes his way since he has the money to take care of himself. Andy then asks him if that includes putting his own father in jail in order to retrieve the bicycle and the little boy responds with a definitive yes, ordering the sheriff to put his father in jail because he just wants his bike back.

It is at this point that the little boy’s rich father realizes that he has not been properly disciplining his son, to the point that it has influenced his son to acquire a great lack of disrespect for his father. He then tells the sheriff that they won’t be needing the bike back, as he plans on selling his son’s bike. Andy also points out that they have a good shed out back behind the police station in case his father wanted to give him a spanking.

After thinking about this plot, I realized that this spoiled kid did exactly the opposite of what Epictetus instructed in chapter 11. Chapter 11 explains that we should never say of anything, “I have lost it,” but instead, “I have given it back.” If someone were to say that their wife died or their land was taken, this too was given back. Another way of looking at this idea is accepting that whatever you “have lost” is a gift. You get to use it, but it isn’t really yours.

That being said, the concept of filial piety is not properly distributed here either. One of the Confucius Chinese terms that we learned is xiao, which means filial piety. This refers to having a proper love, respect, and obedience to your parents. Xiao is also the root of ren, which means goodness, and is an inner quality of character acquired by developing proper habits of emotion and action in your relationships and social roles. The spoiled rich kid never displayed this for his father, even though his father bought and gave him everything that he wanted. He would even sacrifice his own father’s status as a free man in order to get what he wanted. This is the total opposite of how xiao and ren are meant to be displayed. I would imagine after the way this boy’s father talked to him and took action to sell his bicycle, this son would learn and exhibit the value of filial piety.

As for Opie testing his limits as a child, the stoics (such as Seneca and Epictetus) explain that emotions like anger, hate, jealousy, envy, etc. represent irrational, immature, and unhealthy responses to situations so it is best not to have them. On the other hand, Aristotle explains that these emotions are a natural part of our psychological functioning and, when properly regulated and trained, play important functions in our lives as social beings. I think that both the stoics and Aristotle are correct in this situation. For one thing, Opie is just a young child. Children are smart in that they look for different ways to do things and accomplish certain feats. In this example, Opie is looking for a way to be happier in a materialistic sense. Yet, his actions taken to get what he wanted were displayed as childish and immature, showing he still has a lot to learn while growing up.

On the other hand, situations such as these are all just part of being a child and learning about life while growing up in the process. It was a good thing for Opie to experience this situation because he learned an important lesson: the value of growing up with responsibilities and respecting your parents for the decisions that they make (regardless of whether you care for their decisions or not). This shows that Andy’s son will benefit in the long run by being prepared for future responsibilities in life, while staying humble, and being able to maintain respect for his parents throughout the course of his life. In this way, we should also adhere to this lesson and do the same in our own lives.

Les Miserables

I was watching one of my favorite movies of all time, "Les Miserables", the other day and it got me thinking. One of the main characters, Fantine, had quite a rough start to her life. She worked for a sewing company in order to make money for the innkeepers watching her child in the town over. However, she keeps her child a secret from everyone in order to keep her job. Unfortunately, a letter from the innkeeper is sent to Fantine, and her secret is revealed. This causes her to be thrown out of the sewing company and out of a job.

Fantine realizes that she has to find another job or another way to earn money for her child. This is due to the fact that there's no way she could care for her child in this town. So, Fantine sets out looking for another job. She is stopped by an individual who says she could earn money from selling her hair. Fantine believes she has no other choice, so she agrees. Right after, another individual says he will pay her for her teeth, and again Fantine agrees. By this point, Fantine has lost a lot of her self-esteem and worth, but is still determined to get money for her child. She eventually begins selling herself to men through prostitution. After a while, Fantine gets sick and passes away without being able to see her daughter for one last time.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because it is an example of when choosing the dangerous path of life doesn't bring any joy in the end. Fantine chose to stay in the town and work hard for money. She went through so much pain for her child, and none of it mattered in the end. Her goal was to be able to earn enough money to get her child back, but that never happened. I am one to believe in taking the dangerous path of life because the majority of the time it ends well. However, this is just one case where that didn't necessarily happen.

What path to take

The other day my friend was worried about how to set up her class schedule for next semester. She could either be positive she gets the teacher she wanted and have class on Friday or risk not having a good teacher and not having class on Friday. She was really fond of the idea of a three day weekend every week. So I jokingly lectured her about what we just recently talked about in class. I told her about Nietzsche's philosophy and taught her about the safe and dangerous paths we have to chose from. I said that if she choses the dangerous path, which is risking not having a good teacher but also not having class on Friday, she will be more pleased with her decision.

In life when we chose from the safe and dangerous path we need to remember that we will grow only if we take the dangerous path. Yes, it will be scary because it is something new and the turnout is unknown, however; that is the exciting part. If we always knew what was gonna happen in our lives that would not be a life worth living. Nietzsche says we need to say yes to life! We must embrace the good and the bad.

Struggle Bus

Jonathan Haidt writes about the importance of overcoming adversity and enduring struggle in the book "The Happiness Hypothesis". The chapter "The Uses of Adversity" discusses why going through hardships are vital to becoming strong and confident when future struggles occur. Struggles can be difficult and feel heavy in our life, but they help us to overcome obstacles.

Religions such as Christianity teach that struggles are beneficial for one's faith and relationship with God. The Bible says in Romans 5:3-4 that "Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" which reveals the religious value for suffering. When someone goes through a traumatic experience or just an ordinary hardship they have the potential to grow into a stronger person. Thus able to face adversity with a confidence that they can overcome anything that life may throw at them.

The most common misconception people have about their abilities is that we can't get through something. It is discussed in the text that people might say "I could never survive what Y is going through" which shows how people underestimate their capabilities. The biggest thing a person can learn from a bad experience is that they are much stronger than they realized" which gives them the "confidence to face future challenges". Haidt teaches that struggles are unavoidable so when we do experience them we should learn from them which lets us become stronger as people.

Having too many choices

The paradox of choice is an observation that having a lot of choices will lead one to better choose the option that best suits them. However, a large variety of options will actually hinder your decision-making process. Once you actually pick something, you then might begin to wonder if that was actually the best option for you, which could potentially cause stress and anxiety. I think this idea coincides with college students today. We are all already stressed with our classes we are currently taking, but on top of that, each semester we have to pick classes/clubs to be a part of. This whole idea is stressful because there are so many options and opportunities it is hard to really know what you will enjoy the most, but nearly impossible to try everything. I feel like this also goes into choosing a major. Most of us already have a general idea of what we want to do, but there are so many options out there it is kind of hard to really decide what is the right fit for you if you are stuck about what you want to do with your life. The idea of having to choose can become overwhelming for the individual, making it ten times harder to make a decision.

Is adversity for the best?

The movie "When the Game Stands Tall"  is a perfect example of how going through tough situations will bring growth.

The movie is about a football team that had the highest winning streak record for any high school in history. The whole town had parades for the team when they came home from winning. Sadly, when the new season started the team lost the streak. When this happened the team seemed to fall apart. They could not get out of their funk and began losing many games. Another bad thing also happened, one night a team member was picking up his friend from a party and got shot. The team and coach were lost with what to do, but ultimately came to the conclusion that they should not feel sorry for themselves or use any of their suffering as an excuse to not win games. Instead, the team decided that they would play their hardest for their teammate who lost his life. They went on to win their hardest game of the whole season and learned a much bigger lesson in the process.

Without going through this adversity the team would not have pushed themselves to their maximum level, earning them another championship. While it was never easy to lose the streak or lose a teammate, the De La Salle football team took their tragedies and turned them into motivation. So in the end, I believe adversity is the best way to overcome and push your limits to uncover abilities that were unknown before.

Options All Around

In "The Happiness Hypothesis," Haidt explains the concept of a "paradox of choice." This paradox is that having too many options is detrimental to a person rather than beneficial. Those who maximize their options or possibilities are not better off than those who have a few select options. Career specialization is such a common thing in our society today for this very reason. Going to college for a specific type of career rather than simply learning general skills has become the new norm among American culture. If someone didn't have to choose a specific major area to study, then it would be a lot more difficult to determine which career they would want to pursue in the future.

Since the beginning of man people have been innately aware of this concept which you can see in hunter-gatherer societies, in which one group is taught how to differentiate between berries and other resources while the other group is taught the best technique to hunt each specific animal.



The "paradox of choice" also allows people to recognize that they are capable of having too much. The United States, which is recognized as a highly developed country, has high rates of depression than other, less developed countries. One could argue that this is due to the "paradox of choice" in daily American lives.

 

What is Flow?

Flow has three key ideas. These being, There's a clear challenge that fully engages your attention; you have the skills to meet the challenge; and you get immediate feedback about how you are doing at each step. The progress principle ties into this because it states that pleasure comes more from making progress towards a goal than from actually accomplishing your goal. One example was when I was at baseball practice, during high school, I had to pitch during practice. My coach told me to strike the batter out in three pitches. He would give me feedback after every pitch on what I was doing right or wrong. It took me several batters but I overcame the challenge and struck out the batter within three pitches. I grew better as a pitcher from learning what I had accomplished and not giving up when I couldn't strike them out in three pitches.

The Happiness Formula

The Happiness Formula

 (H=S+C+V)

The "Happiness Formula" is one                                        

of the most important ideas in 

positive psychology. Three 

psychologists (Lyubomirsky,

Sheldon, and Schkade), composed

a formula that calculated one's 

happiness based upon three 

different variables: biological 

set point(S), the conditions of one's

life(C), and voluntary activities(V). 

H: level of happiness that one actually experiences 

S: biological set point

C: conditions of one's life

V: voluntary activities 

When dealing with "C", the conditions of one's life, we must realize that there are external conditions that we have no control of. Things like race, age, gender, and socioeconomic status are conditions that humans have no control over. This goes hand-in-hand with the card game analogy that we discussed in class. We can not control how old we are or what our ethnicity is, but we must choose how we handle these conditions.