Response to Aly's post "Conception"

Your post about the conception of our universe reminded me of the statement "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" How much of our lives can we credit with psychological invent? Certainly mentally impaired individuals have a different reality they experience on a daily basis.  Furthermore, people under the influence of narcotics or hallucinogens vehemently insist their experiences are reality.  Who is to say what is true then.  This also reminds me of the constant conundrum I consider in regards to recognition of colors.  While we can say the ink is black, we can never know if we all have the same color in mind or to the same shade or degree. 

 I also agree that it is absolutely frightening to think that all we experience or interact with are formations made by our mind.  Are our experiences half reality half constructs?  One thing is for certain, we will never definitively know.  If you ever lie (don't recommend it) and perpetuate the lie so its validity becomes skewed to you, have you voluntarily contributed to this fallacy? 

Suppressed Potential as a Result of SOcial Circumstances

We also discussed yesterday the correlation between infantile tendencies and the structure of people's everyday lives.  Are our "infantile tendencies" to question our purpose and functions of the world suppressed in adulthood by social circumstances?  If a person's potential is stifled by the consumer culture we are bound to live by, what is the outlook for future generations?  I personally know a woman who I would classify a victim in this situation.  She is a "happy menial worker" stuck in the confines of economic and social constraints, in which she gauges happiness relative to the system of our perverted culture.  Her and her husband each work a minimum of 40 hours a week and they make decent wages.  They also have a young child.  She is happy in every respect, given she is able to purchase goods and services to satisfy her and her family's needs.  She has very rarely expressed any true interest in advancing; citing she can live a good life with her current situation.  Is she a pawn in the cyclical wheel of a consumer oriented working dependent society? 

Would a person who desires betterment or personal expansion, but is hindered by the very forces they attempt to overcome (finances, societal pressures, etc.) be classified by this?  What if they said "I am not happy"- are they void of this concept no longer naïve to the constraints but lacking the ability to apply themselves appropriately?

Pursuit of Knowledge vs. Project Achievers

I will begin the last week of blogging addressing a couple abstract concepts that we discussed in class.  Being the first post of the week I will begin with my shortest and weakest.  We discussed in class last week and this week about educational perceptions and the individual's intentions regarding academics.  We touched lightly on the subject again on Monday, although the constructs were variant.   Dr. Johnson asked; Are we as people on a lifelong journey in pursuit of knowledge, or are we all project achievers (he noted that knowledge can be a project). Obviously I began pondering this notion.  To which category should we classify ourselves? Would it vary on an individual basis, or is the very question an attempt to explain humanity as an entirety?  Furthermore, is the categorization that a person dedicates their life in pursuit of knowledge a highly specialized description that pertains to exclusive groups or individuals? (given that "project achievers" can assume knowledge as their project).  Who would be considered resolute to obtain knowledge; Albert Einstein, various philosophers, Monks? What groups or organizations do you know exist for the sole purpose of enhancing knowledge?