Animal minds and Serpents of Pardise

Animal Minds
1. One of the divers from Animal Minds explains, "when

she was only inches away from my chest…she stopped and pushed me on the chest backwards, then released then pushed again… she swam to the surface and just stared at me, she wasn’t looking at anything else. She was just looking directly at me…she went to the next diver and did the same thing…one by one”.  I completely agree with this! At the beginning of this story they describe the wall as first being very cautious of the divers until the whale soon begins to learn what the intentions of the divers are. The divers soon begin to cut these ropes that was holding the whale down, when she becomes free her gestures towards the divers is a gesture somewhat like a thank you. I believe that her gesture shows how animals other than humans also have a sense of feelings. The whale has full gratitude towards these divers, which leads me to believe that the mind of other creatures could be as complex as the brain of human beings. I don’t believe that the whale was “distorted” in this scenario, I believe the whale learned what the divers were doing and full heartedly showed her gratitude after she was freed. When thinking about feelings in other creatures, I just believe that they have another way to show feelings unlike we do. There are so many things in our world that we aren’t 100% sure about but that is because with some things we don’t have the power to study. For an example, we have not even been able to study the brain to its complete capacity, so it is hard to say that another creature does or doesn’t have feelings and can connect with other beings. I believe that all creatures have the ability to feel the same emotions as all.

2. I do believe that dogs and other creatures are able to sympathize with others, in this TED talk, Abumrad and Krulwich describe the scenario on how dogs began to feel shameful when talked down to. These dogs although may not fully understand what they have done they are still able to decipher our feelings and have reactions to our words or emotions we portray. I also do believe that animals do have a sense of knowing what is happening with another creatures thoughts or feelings. Especially dogs, I believe are able to decipher many things. It has been seen before that dogs have empathy with those around them. With humans dogs are really prone to feel what their “master” is feeling. In some cases it has been seen that dogs have a sixth sense almost that allows them to feel differently than we do. In many cases, dogs have been the reason humans have found cancerous tumors or other medical deficiencies. This could be evidence that dogs do feel and are able to communicate with others, this is seen usually in drastic situations when things are needed to be communicated.

Serpents of Paradise

 

1.

I do also believe that animals are a superior as human beings. Growing up my dad consistently reminded me the value of animals. He had a sense of relation with every creature he came in contact with. I believe that sometimes more than others, people can have relations with creatures. In this reading, Abbey states, “the snake is passive, apparently contented, and makes no resistance when I pick him p with my hands and drape him over an arm or around my neck”. I personally viewed experiences like this many times while I was growing up. My dad always had a way with animals, every animal loved my dad and consistently remember their relationship with my dad. I fully heatedly believe that we are all connected with animals but others are more empowered to this connection and are more susceptible to act on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can we really know another person? Team Sphinx

Can we ever really know a person? I believe we can never really know a person because each person has their own secrets and each person will only let people know certain things about themselves. We may think and believe we know a person inside and out but we really don't we all have a best friend a sister or a brother or even a cousin or someone who we believe we know but the truth is we don't know that person. For example I really thought I knew who my childhood best friend was but truth is once we got into high school things changed for the worse and her true colors came out. Another example is I'm a twin and I really thought I knew who my sister was because we were always together and we told each other everything well at least I thought we did, but recently she became engaged and didn't tell me and she even went dress shopping with out me and through the entire engagement she left me out of it and ever since we were little we always talked about being there for each other. This goes to show that you never really who a person is just like I didn't really know who .my childhood best friend was and even my twin. I agree with Morrison when he said “an image can determine not only what we know and feel but also what we believe is worth knowing about what we feel”. We create an image of the people that we really want to truly feel like we know them and that image almost makes them perfect in our mind and when they back stab us or disappoint us we feel betrayed because in our mind we believed that we knew that person inside and out and never thought they would do such a thing. It almost makes us feel like we've been living a lie because we thought we knew that person and we made them seem like such an amazing person.

Team Phoenix: What responsibility do we have to one another?

In “Strangers,” Morrison writes that he “denied [the woman] her personhood, the specific individuality we insist upon for ourselves.” I think the main responsibility we have to each other is to appreciate that we’re all different from each other. Our similarities to each other (hobbies, similar upbringings, etc.) might be what bring us together initially, but it’s our differences that actually make us closer. I think Morrison might’ve been suggesting that it’s a bad thing that we see ourselves in other people. I don’t necessarily agree with that. I don’t think a lot of us can really see where a person is coming from until we walk a mile in their shoes, at least not at first, but I think once we’re able to understand who they are (and why they are) without having to put ourselves in their place, we’ve achieved a much stronger bond that’s more intimate and meaningful. I think a lot of the times that we start to feel tension in our relationships – because of faults in each others' personalities, clashing opinions, etc. --we tend to shut each other out. MLK mentions in his letter that he “is not afraid of the word ‘tension.’…there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” I think our main responsibility to each other is to face the tensions we feel with each other head-on; Make an effort to grow from the tension instead of dismiss it and run in the opposite direction. Once we’ve managed to achieve that, I think we become much closer to coming to terms with the fact that we’re all different from one another – and that our differences are not something to be afraid of. I know that my strongest relationships are the ones that have had some ups and downs. I’ve learned something from those people and that’s what brought us closer together. If I didn’t allow myself to face the tension, those strong relationships and meaningful friendships would’ve been reduced to “kind of okay, not that deep, not irreplaceable” acquaintances. Closing ourselves off from truly understanding the experiences of others prevents us from bettering ourselves (and vice-versa.)

Can we ever really know another person?

    I think it is impossible to really know a person. We might think we do if that person is really close to us; a sister, a best friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, etc. You might share big secrets and confide in this one special person things you would never tell anyone. Even in that case that person will never fully know you. For starters it is really hard to even know and understand ourselves, let alone fully understand someone else. Each person has to have their own inside world, their own personal feelings and thoughts that they would never reveal to anyone. I really think that if we were an open book, even if it was to only one person, we would loose our identity. We tend to make our own personal image of a person, like Morrison told in his story. An image that is convenient to us and that will serve a purpose in our lives. That is why we get disappointed when we realize that a person is not what we thought. Although that person never lied to us. We lied to ourselves, wanting that one person to be as we wanted them to be.  I agree with Morrison when he said “an image can determine not only what we know and feel but also what we believe is worth knowing about what we feel”.  It is very true that we rely on images all the time. We even think we might know a person just by looking at them. The truth is that no image, no body language or even experiences could make us really know a person at all.

1. Can we ever really know a person?

I believe that we can never really know who another person is fully. There are things and events in a person’s life that they normally wouldn’t share with everyone. Everyone has an internal mind, which consists of our personal thoughts. These thoughts are apart of us, which makes us separate from others. Also, when people go through traumatic experiences the cause of them could leave a person changing in a matter of ways. One’s personality can completely change because of the feeling they received that may have altered the way they view the world or even how they view themselves. A lot of the time when big impact events occur, the thoughts of that person can cause them to hide there true feelings. There are so many cases when a person will commit suicide and there close family and friends will say that they never saw it coming. We hide so much in our minds, that a person who may seem happy on the outside may be struggling and fighting on the inside.In Morrison’s essay, she creates an image on how she wishes her new neighbor could be. Over time she develops a mental picture and becomes very disappointed when she discovers that her neighbor is not who she imagine them to be. This occurs a lot for me personally, I have met people before and without even really knowing them I have created a person who I think they are in my mind. In time I learn who they are and most of the time I am disappointed that they are not what I wanted them to be. Also, many people have multiple personalities that can be deceiving when trying to get to know a person.

"First Person Plura"/ “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self”

I imagine Alice Walker and Paul Bloom, if they were to sit down and have dinner with one another, would find something to share in common in regards to one's Self. Paul Bloom acknowledges the existence of a multitude of personalities within each person. While Alice Walker in her essay highlights the fragility of our temperament. Alice remembers vividly being the confident, dauntless child she was. She flourished in social situations, giving formal speeches without hesitation and promptly declaring herself "the prettiest" to her father in an assertion that was reason enough to choose her over her siblings (and he did). Then preceding retelling of an accident that left her eye blinded and visibly scarred she points out the twist of fate abruptly stating, "It was great fun being cute. But then, one day, it ended." This is followed by a dramatic withdraw socially and academically for her. She recollects this time negatively. At age 14 she has the mass left in her eye removed and minimizes the appearance of the damage. Although, as drastically as her personality seemed to 180 at the occurrence of the injury, she claims that, "Almost immediately I become a different person from the girl who does not raise her head." Paul Bloom would consider this an illustration of his point, "The idea is that instead, within each brain, different selves are continually popping in and out of existence." Paul Bloom believes our personalities can be conditional and dominate depending on circumstance. Alice Walker’s essay gives a seamless account of how delicate our dispositions may be and how rapidly they can polarize.

First Personal Plural

If I had the opportunity to have dinner with the four authors, I would definitely be on Paul Blooms side. I really liked his article and I agree with most of his ideas about the self-sense.  After reading “First Person Plural”, I realize that I found the answer to the pursuit of happiness. I believe, like the author said, that each of us has multiple selves, with different desires, and they are constantly fighting for control. One self is competing with the other, making ones happiness the misery of the other. The way we make decisions depends on which of the selves “win”.  In the article it is stated that one self doesn’t have access to the other selves.  But I believe they do, and that is how we can make the decision we think it is the best considering all the self-senses memories. The idea of having a short-term self and a long-term self helps explain why sometimes we decide one thing over the other. The long-term self tends to be more cautious and more experienced than the short-term self.  Although the long-term self is not always right, it tends to be.  Having multiple selves doesn’t mean you have multiple-personality disorder. It just means that there are different “you’s” trying to decide what is best for you in that very same moment.  Which of the selves wins depends on the time, moment, place and state of mind we are in at that very specific occasion. On the other hand, as the philosopher Jerry Fodor said, “If, in short, there is a community of computers living in my head, there had also better be somebody who is in charge; and, by God, it had better be me”. This means to me that even though there are several selves, I am in charge of each one them and I decide which one I listen to and which one I don’t. My favorite part of the article was when Paul Bloom wrote, “The community of selves shouldn’t be a democracy, but it shouldn’t be a dictatorship, either”.  Listen to all your selves, because in the end, they all are part of you, but don’t forget you decide which one to listen to. In the same context, Alice Walker explained on her essay, “Beauty: When the other Dancer is the self”, how she became aware of her self sense when her daughter asked her where she got that world in her eye.  All her world was in her eye, and she loved it. After all that time, she finally could be happy with herself and faced the old self. This is explained when she said, “We dance and kiss each other and hold each other through the night. The other dancer has obviously come through all right, as I have done. She is beautiful, whole and free. And she is also me”.