Blog 12

Discoveries and the MIND

The way the mind works in the face of problems, both within and outside the individual, is the subject of the six selections in Part Eight. The means by which we think clearly about issues in our world depend on how carefully we prepare ourselves to examine the evidence before us and on which questions we choose to ask. Psychologists ask questions that lead us inward to an understanding of our own nature and our personality. Investigators of the natural world lead us outward to help us know the truth and avoid superstition and the kind of error that leads to ignorance and its destructive social consequences. As Plato and Bacon show, we are sometimes easily misled.

PLATO QUESTIONS:

1. Consider the issue of what it is we know when we rely on our senses. Is sensory knowledge as unreliable as Plato thinks it is?
I believe sensory knowledge is very reliable. Our five sense is how we live our everyday life, and is essential. 

2. Are we materialistic when we praise sense perception? What are the alternatives to any such materialism arising from overvaluing (or solely valuing) sense experience?
I don't think we praise sense perception as a materialistic thing, but we alternatives to sensory details. When using common sense, logical facts, and critical thinking. 

3. If we could perceive the world beneath sense experience, what would it be like?
It would be a world without sense, so the earth would be plain. 

4. I often ask my students to choose a sense that they do not already have and add it as a sixth sense that cannot be a merger of any of the five. It has to be new—not smelling, seeing, or hearing from a great distance. If nothing else, this exercise helps them begin to realize how hemmed in we are by our senses — particularly when I point out the ultimate similarity of touch, taste, and odor, three the five senses that constitute virtually one sense with three “flavors.”
I would choose the sense of reading people's minds as my sixth sense if that counts. 

FREUD QUESTIONS:

1. Do you feel your dreams have a significance that would be useful to understand?
I do think my dreams have significance that would be useful to understand. With my dream, you have to understand to keep fighting, even when things get hard. 

2. What dreams most mystify you?
The ones that test your persistence on your weakest assets. 

3. Which dreams are frightening? Describe a recent frightening dream.
The dreams that are the most frightening are the ones you are fearful of. My most frightening fear is losing my boyfriend, my mom, siblings, the people i care most about. 

4. Why do you think most people forget their dreams?
I think most people forget their dreams because it has not happened yet, and in a way it is a made-up situation we make up. 

5. Is dreaming a mental activity?
I do believe dreaming is a mental activity, as you only dream when your sleep or daydreaming which requires you to use your mind more than anything.