VonNoble

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Everything posted by VonNoble

  1. I am following to the point the Scriptures quoted ....could be (and probably are)...facts to believers. No issue there. and thx for your patience with the next bit.... After paragraph #4....isni’t the next bit an interpretation? The Bible does not actually SAY it is referencing the Catholic Church does it? once we enter the illusive world of interpretation.... facts cease to exist, no?otherwise all people using the same book would come to the same conclusion wouldn’t they? This is has always puzzled me. If the book book is the authority and they mean Catholics... why not just say so? That lapse of understanding maybe reflects more about my inability ....than it reflects on anything else. Maybe I just don’t get it. Or haven’t so far. thx von
  2. You certainly hit it right! I got a good laugh at the retort.... And “no” the grade is not an issue.... although I am about a whisker away from apply for regular admission (which will add this class to my GPA).... again not a problem. Thanks to help from the Forum.... I am doing okay. I did a note to self that wasn’t the best teaching technique I have ever seen. Too.... I have off days as well. i was happy to see your response.... made mine feel normal enough von
  3. BRAVO! I appreciate the inclusive approach. Universality....commonality....good ways to promote conversation, dialogue & understanding.... thx! von
  4. Interestingly enough...I have never been able to come up with an example wherein I failed to receive if I give. Maybe there is such a thing thing but I have yet to pin it down. If so, that is consistent with or without church/religious affiliation. Pastor Dave thanks for turning on the think motor von
  5. All of this recently confirmed in my Philosophy class. When asked by I would help someone in a hypothetical situation I replied because I would feel good if I help them. WOW! Did my professor go nuts....sort of accosting me that to come to (that one sentence on the fly answer) - I probably am a believer in Ego Ethics. This being my very first Philosophy class of my life - I had not clue what she was referencing (I didn't know we had types of ethics)...I sort of thought it was like a standard where everyone either joined in or didn't. THAT was wrong and apparently in her view I stepped in a cow pie patch remotely listing any thing affiliated with Ego Ethics as it is a "no no" concept in her world. After coming home to check and see if that was anything I wanted associated with me (I felt by her reaction I must be a borderline Psychopath) ....it did not seem all that extreme to me. Some of it fit. All of which is to say - upon my crossing over inadvertently into WHY people do good - how they come to be moral...I discovered every suggestion you made had proponents and opponents. Additionally, I found some stuff on line later that day from Richard Dawkins noting that we are moral for the same reason we biologically develop other tendencies. All interesting stuff. von
  6. How critical is a sense of humor in your life? Is it one of the essential top three traits necessary for balance? If not, does it make the top 5? The top 10? von PS.... I would likely put it in the top three. Maybe when I see other opinions I will realize I forgot something... that might bump it lower..... but I am starting with it in the # 3 position.
  7. I agree with you in general principle. I think it is GOOD for me to look at things from multiple perspectives....and often try to do that. Good approach. In this instance we were in a class.....with more than 50 participants trying to collectively agree on solutions ....racing the clock for points. SOoooooo when we take a vote and are ready to move on then someone slows down the process it does become a bit tedious. A few of us suspected in large part after a few rounds of trying it was (from the teacher's perspective) more about causing us to work as a group - weed out the easy stuff and dig a bit....if we did that for a bit - we sort of concluded we MIGHT be permitted to move on and finish for max points. We will never know - but there was serious speculation that it was an exercise in group dynamics as much as Philosophy as in reality Philosophy has very few absolutes. But again - in general life (outside of the classroom drill) - I would agree with you! Thanks for posting. von
  8. Actually it seems you are correct. Most people cannot read a book while dreaming - apparently it affects the right side of your brain...you also cannot count on your fingers (for some reason they are missing a digit or two or are somehow deformed) and you do not actually speak...in your dream your language skills are messed up - - - - you communicate in the dream just fine as if you were talking but you don't "hear" yourself talk. It is more some sort of telepathy. I am glad you brought it up - it was interesting. Of course research indicates this is not 100% conclusive as nothing ever is - but it is VERY widely true. thx von
  9. Is that for real? I M gullible enough to believe it. If it’s for real the team will love it as I suspect we will see this one (Matrix) again as one of the ones not solved by the class (like extra credit on a quiz).... von
  10. ..at least I saw the movie and “got that” .........AND enjoyed it thx von
  11. ...our class never reached a majority with most voting undecided. NOT because they could not decide.... they were stumped on how to verify/prove it. von
  12. Dan56, I REALLY appreciate your humor. I am glad I am taking ONE class to get an overview. I can appreciate the process used has worth. However, there are plenty of frustrations in this learning process! Not just the topic but too - the TEAM APPROACH to all aspects of this class. It doesn’t make it wrong... but the process of my success being linked ....to what others do in terms of my grade is new to me. There ARE moments where I can see “the others” have carried me when I was slow to grasp material. So so that is good I guess. i know I am not likely to take another Philosophy class. The value of it all in my view is fairly narrow. I KNOW that Philosophers want it to be more. I know my professor would argue re: the EXTREME value of this line of study. It would see since the time of the ancients it has not yet been deemed to be elevated as a popular field of study.... so it is not valued as much as Philosophers think it ought to be... Then again we are only mid-way thru the introduction....maybe that will change. Like you I had...and continue to have doubts but figure I need to take AT LEAST ONE class to get a feel for it. Too early to make a final determination... the half way point keeping an open mind is harder than week one ... that’s for sure.... I have to WORK to see the value... von
  13. The class (over 50 people) had to work together and reach a majority opinion to get through ten “problems” it was an earn extra credit exercise.... the number of points we earned was based on how many of the ten we could “solve” to the professor’s satisfaction. The very last one .....the one we never got to.... was I know God exists....had we reached it I don’t think we would have completed the list then either As it was - we completed only enough to snag 12 points each for the days efforts (frankly we were happy to get that much).... The last one we worked on... I know I am not living on the matrix... von
  14. This is where the class opted to “stick the landing” ....and we got a green light to move to the next (and last problem we were able to complete).... von
  15. Love this....wish you had been there to help us....NONE IF US thought if that... you geta gold star von
  16. True or false I know that the Earth is spherical (not flat.)
  17. I am happy to learn a bit more into that view of things. Until yesterday I am not sure I ever thought about how that must be..... thx von
  18. You are correct....that was the ONKY one we did not dissect over and over and over... von
  19. Sort of depends on your priorities at the moment doesn’t it? von
  20. I’ll take your word for that
  21. We were allowed to move on....after someone noted the earth still rotates during a thunderstorm with pouring rain.... we cannot “see” the sunset.... so we have no opinion re: the beauty of it. Along the way we wasted much time discussing sunsets by beaches being beautiful always....what is Beauty.... and how awful life must be for people who add color-blind von
  22. True or false..... All sunsets are beautiful. von
  23. Oh I forgot.... the IT guy stood up and dropped his pen..... on the desk.... again providing us an escape to the next one....