Atanasio+Atanasio

=__Atanasio Atanasio__= WAKING LIFE “Dream is Destiny” Waking Life This is a quote from Waking Life. This quote was said in the beginning of the movie by the little girl play with her fortuneteller. This quote captured my attention because it got me thinking about the real purpose of dreams. The definition for dream is a sequence of mental images during sleep (MSN Encarta), but it does not explain why we have them or what their purpose is. I like this quote because it has two interpretations. One interpretation is that a dream, being you dreams for your future, is your destiny. If you work hard enough towards your dreams they can become true. The other meaning is the dreams you get when you’re sleeping. I don’t believe that that the dreams that you have while you’re asleep can become destiny because the events that occur in them are impossible in this world. I’m not sure if dreams are destiny or past. They can be both, most of my dreams are past events that occurred in my life. Not all these past events occur exactly how I remember them, but the still in a way are the same events but from a different perspective. Sometimes my dreams are in the future. My dreams that occur in the future are have one of my biggest dreams occurring within them (probably doesn’t make sense but it is hard to explain). In my dreams I sometimes win the lottery, but before I can claim my win I wake up. I don’t believe that dreams are destiny, but there is no way to be 100% sure. We cannot remember all our dreams and maybe the dreams that we cannot remember tell our future and our past.

(I don’t think these ideas flow but I was trying to write them down before I forgot them) I like this Atanasio, and I happen to agree with you: dreams in the sense of goals, ambitions, longings are bound to be part of our destiny, at least one really hopes that they are. But our sleeping dreams - who knows what they are about? Sometimes they seem to center around real concerns and sometimes they include images that seem to have no relevance to us whatsoever.

Assignment 4 - I don’t think that it would be possible to not think, because then a person’s brain would not be doing anything. I believe that you still have thoughts but they are more visual thoughts then language based. These are **great** observations, however, your next statement is a bit confused because language isn't a sense it is a skill, a congnitive ability and a learned process.  You thoughts could also be based off your other four senses. For example one might think about how different things feel, smell, or what sounds they make instead of verbal language. I think in language and images, which I think is easier then thoughts based of smell, or texture. But I cannot be one-hundred percent sure because I have always thought with language. - A baby dose not know how to speak any language, but it still knows when he/she is hungry, or is uncomfortable. So I believe that it is possible to think without a language. Maybe some people who don’t speak any known language speak there own made up language, which we cannot not understand (if spoke to us). Maybe a person who cannot speak a language makes up different names for different objects and builds a language using that technique. Humans did not always know English, French, Arabic, Spanish etc. so you have to wonder what there thought process was like. These are all very good points; it seems to me we are not entirely unable to think without language, but our thoughts are limited to what can be sensed or felt. I'm not sure how we would move beyond very basic ideas without language, although I am fascinated by your idea that people without access to a preexisting language might make up their own private one; if it is true (and we really don't know whether it is or not) that we are born with an innate tendency to put things into categories and to make connections, then I think that would support your idea that we would also have a predisposition to develop language even when isolated. - Word’s that cannot be directly translated into another language is what is lost in translation. For example I speak both Arabic and English and not all the Arabic words can translate into English, and not English words can translate into Arabic. “Al Salam Aleikum”, which in Arabic is equal to “hello” in English, does not translate to hello in English. When it is literally translated it means peace be with you (I think). I think that words get lost in translation because not all languages are based on one base. Not all people come from the same place, which is what makes their languages different. People who live in a cold environment are going to have many words for snow that cannot be directly translated into a language that comes from a place that is really warm. Some people argue that all difficulties in translation can be overcome by using more words until you have sufficiently captured the nuances and subtleties of what is meant by the word or phrase you are trying to translate. I think this can be done for particular words, but I'm not sure if you can sufficiently capture the underlying connotations or tone of whole conversations, poems or arguments this way. For example how do you capture all the subtle messages about status and respect that are imbedded in how Japanese people talk to one another? Perhaps with enough time and enough skill you can do it.
 * Is it possible to think without language? How does language facilitate, extend, direct or limit thinking? **
 * What is lost in translation from one language to another? Why? **

This is good work. (Atanasio be careful not to write "then" when you mean "than" and "dose" when you mean "does". )

sorry this is late but i was sick the week it was assigned, and when i looked on the wikispace it wasnt there. I know, it's O.K.

Assignment 3 To what extent do our senses give us knowledge of the world as it really is?

What possibilities for knowledge are opened to us by our senses as they are? What limitations? Word count: 490
 * I believe that sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell are our only way of communication with the world because without sight we would not be able to see the world as it is. We would not be able to see what the world really looked like, we would not know anything about our surroundings. People would not know if they lived in a jungle or in a dessert without water. Without hearing we would not hear the sounds of the world such as rain, or thunder warning us to find shelter. Without taste we would not know what things tasted like. Mankind would not know what tastes were poisonous and what are not. Without touch we would not know the difference between smooth, soft, hard, or sharp. People would not know when something is affecting there skin. For example when your hand is on a hot stove you nerves send a message telling your brain that it is hot and your brain reacts by moving your hand quickly (this all happens in seconds). Without touch you would not be able to tell that it was hot and you would get burned. Without smell we would not know the smells of smoke warning you of a fire. Without smell you would not be warned of a propane leak because you cannot see a propane leak the only way to detect it is by smell. Without our senses we would not be able to live, because we would not be warned of the dangers of life, or be able to locate nourishment. I believe that our knowledge of the world is completely dependent on our senses because without them we would not be able to have contact with the world.
 * In a very literal way, I think you might be right: without our senses we know nothing, because we can't even learn about other people's experiences without our senses, unless, of course, you think there might be some truth in the theory that we are born with some ideas already present in our brains - those would be independent of senses. But to open the question up a little, to what extent do we have to experience things for ourselves in order to have knowledge of them? Can we meaningfully experience or get to know things through second-hand reports? Can we use our imaginations, our minds to know what we haven't "sensed"? Do we always depend on analogy to do this i.e. do we understand things we have not experienced only by being able to refer them to things we have?
 * A lot of possibilities’ are opened to us by our senses because we are able try different experiments with our senses to gain knowledge on a subject. For example if we did not know anything about oranges we could learn more about them by using our senses. We could use touch to feel the orange’s outer, and inner layer and see that the outer layer is hard with indents on it. We could taste the outer layer to see what it tasted like. You could also cut it open and see that it tastes sour with a sweet aftertaste. You could also smell it and see what it smelt like (which is hard to explain because to me the smell like oranges, I have never tried to smell it and describe it before). Not all senses are used in learning about and object. The limitations of using your senses to learn about an object is that everyone’s senses are from one another making it hard to compare senses.
 * What about the fact that the orange has qualities that other creatures or scientific apparatus can detect but we cannot? Do those parts of the orange have no reality for us? Are those qualities always part of our experience even when we are completely unaware of them, or do those parts become real only when technology gives us access to them? What about all our associations with oranges, for example, how to grow them (feelings of hard work and anxiety about late frosts), we have them for Christmas (feelings of happiness or sadness depending on how you view Christmas) etc. Are those associations part of the essence of the orange or not?
 * Good thoughtful responses 6/7

Assignment 2 Gaining Knowledge in the context of values: Your School system 1.What was included in your schooling? What subjects were you taught, and why do you think these ones were judged to be the important ones for you to know? Were any of the following included in your schooling: politics, religious instruction, military training, gardening, cooking, or sports? - I have been lucky enough to go to many different schools and have many different experiences. I have gone in too many different schools in many different places. I have gone to school in Khartoum, Sudan, Cairo, Egypt and Boise, Idaho. All my school experiences have been different. I won’t talk about my experiences in Sudan, or Egypt because I was very young and cannot remember most of it. Here in the United States I don’t think they really focus on a specific subject. I went to a public school before for 4 years before transferring to Riverstone. In the public school they didn’t focus on a specific subject they had all the classes like P.E., History, Math, science… I don’t think in Riverstone that they focus on a specific topic either. From what I can remember and from what I hear from my parents I think the school’s in Sudan and Egypt focused more on math and sciences. I think that math, and science were judged to be the most important ones because you use math and science in everyday and many of the greatest paying jobs require you to know these subjects. Almost all the schools that I went to in America did not have politics, religion, military training, gardening or cooking the only class that they offered was sports. In Sudan and Egypt, I cannot not remember if they offered any of the classes listed above. 2. What value seemed to be placed on the subjects in your school? Were some subjects considered to be superior, or to be the ones to which the best students should give their attention? If so, why do you think these subjects were most valued? How was the attitude toward them conveyed? - I don’t think in America any subjects was placed above another. Maybe math but that’s because it think it is needed in most of life’s situations. Actually I think reading and writing is considered the most important because you really suffer in adulthood if you can't read, but we don't notice it as much as the math, perhaps because most of us learn to read and write without too much trouble, but many of us find math tricky right from the beginning. 3. Compared with six subjects of your diploma program and their balance, did your school system encourage greater or less specialization in particular areas of knowledge? - No I do not believe that that out of my 6 classes that the school puts anyone above the other. But in my mind I value math and science being higher than all others. That may be because that is what my parents view, and I “inherited” from them. The school systems in Africa, I believe also view this. Sometimes I also find myself thinking that math and science will lead to a more secure and more financially successful life for my children, (not that they have taken these paths; one is going into art and the other into music!). My view is not based on much objective data. If we looked at the highest earning people in the country and found out what they had studied, I suspect we would find that all the subjects can lead equally to success. Sometimes I think we value math and science more because we can know for sure that the answers are right and wrong, and yet it can be much more difficult to work and succeed in areas where more than one answer can be right, and there is a lot of subjective judgment about what counts as good, bad, excellent, indifferent etc. I actually think that you should do your best in all subjects up to the high school level and then select and favor those subjects where you personally excel. 4. What was considered by the school system to be proper behavior toward teachers and other figures in authority? To what extent did it include appropriate dress, manner of speaking, and body language? What values lay behind the expectations? - In Sudan/Egypt, where I went to school they were very strict, you called the teacher by their last name. You were also expected to behave properly (such as not talking out of turn, not talking to the person sitting next to you…). If you broke these rules you would get punished (I will explain punishment in question 5). In America the school’s seemed to be more laid back because you are never really punished. There are not many consequences for speaking out of turn like there are in Sudan or Egypt. Did you find that the different ways of interacting and disciplining students affected the way you learned? Is it,for example, easier to learn in a strict and formal classroom, or in a relaxed and friendly one? 5. What measures were used by school authorities to deal with behavior considered inappropriate? What attitudes toward social regulation and punishment seem to lie behind these choices? - In America there isn’t really a punishment other then suspension, which some students view as a vocation from school. In Cairo, Egypt they would hit you with a yard stick if you misbehaved. You would also get struck for being tardy to school by the teacher. 6. To what extent was your school system competitive to gain good marks? Were good marks important to students or their families? Were they made public and rewarded? - The school system in Sudan is entirely based on good marks. The school system is different from other like America. In America they have and “A-F” grading system. In Sudan they grade in order from the smartest student to the “least smart”. On student would be first, the other would be second etc. they tell all the parents which student is first, second… the families with the student who is number one/called first is the smartest and their parents would be proud of them. The parents of the student who was called last would be humiliated because there child was the last. I don’t think that’s a fair system because everyone is smart in their own unique way. This is so miserable - we also had this system in England when I was at school, but it was not the only form of evaluation and it was not made public. They still do this in some public schools in USA. I agree that it is unfair and I would add that it is inaccurate because, as you imply, it measures only certain successes and leaves out others. 7. To what extent did the values of the teachers, students, and their families seem to be in harmony regarding education in general, subjects studied, marks, and appropriate behavior? - I’m not sure if I fully understand this question, but I will try to answer it to the best of my ability. Good approach. - I think that all students (maybe when they are older), teachers, and parents all view school as a necessity, and will help them greatly in the future. 8. In sum, how would you describe a “good student” in the context of your own school system? The students pictured here are speaking from their personal impressions of their cultural backgrounds and do not claim to be experts on culture or education. How would you, also not as an expert but as a student who has experienced years of education, express your impression of what it is to be a “good student”? What values emerge? - To me a good student is: · a student who always does their homework · never miss-speaks in class · always participate in class · every student is good in his own way An excellent list and I have noticed that you live up to it. You are very conscientious to do this assignment as I did not mandate it, but I really appreciate you putting in the extra effort,

Personal Profile as a knower 1. How old are you? How might your age affect both what you know and your attitude toward gaining knowledge? - I am 15 years old - Well because I am 15 my brain is able to process more information allowing me to memorize, and store more information, but most teens today are not really interested in learning about things. They are more interested in music, games, and hanging out with their friends. My attitude towards gaining knowledge is different depending on the subject. I am interested in many different things and the things that are not always taught in school. 2. What is your mothers tongue? What other languages do you speak? How might your particular languages affect your knowledge? - My mother speaks Arabic as her first language and a little bit of her tribal language. When we moved to America she also learned Arabic. - I speak Arabic as my first language, English as my second language, and now I am attempting to lean French. - Well, I guess the languages I speak and know affect my knowledge because the will allow me to understand more subjects from other nations and countries. 3. What sex are you? Does your gender role affect how you see the world and what expectations you have about your knowledge and education? - I am a Male - Yes I do think that gender affects how you see the world because the brain of a female and a male think differently from each other. Males and Females as a whole may be interested in different things females may wonder why they are lower then males in our society and try to gain knowledge so they can be seen on an equal level. Many places in the world If you are a male you receive a better education then females because in that society males are seen higher than females. You might be interested in this article summarizing some of the latest research on gender differences in the brain. The conclusion is that the differences are virtually negligible and that the way each gender is treated has a much more significant impact. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=girl-brain-boy-brain&page=3 http://www.psychologymatters.org/thinkagain.html 4. Are you Urban or rural? How might living in a city or living in the countryside affect how you have learned and what you know? - It depends what you consider to be urban or rural. Because to someone living in a very big city like New York with a population of 8.2 million Boise may seem very small and rural. I guess I live in an Urban environment because there are places that are more rural than Boise. - Living in an Urban or rural area are different because they are two completely different environments. Living in a city and on a farm is different because something that is important in the city is different in the farm. Living on a farm you don’t have to worry about city life you would focus on your livestock. You would need to learn milking cows, planting seeds… if you were living in a city I don’t think those skills would be very helpful. You also may not get as much information from the outside if you are really rural. You are right, I think, in observing that your environment is not only going to influence what you learn but what you // need // to learn. 5. What is your spiritual worldview? How do you think that you’re following a particular religion, or not doing so, affects your knowledge? - I am Catholic - I guess if I didn’t follow any religion I would not now about then and what they are about. I would also not understand the history behind them, because buy studying religion you can find out about history. You can see if a religion had changed from when it first started and why it changed. 6. What other aspects of your background belong here? The Questions so far have just been guides, opening thoughts to which you can readily add - I guess because I am not from America and am from Sudan. I see things differently from an American. I understand the struggles going on in Sudan better than an American does. I may also have different thoughts and knowledge. I have experienced many different cultures so that affects the way I think. Can you give me an example - I would love to learn about this from you. - Because I am also a different skin color then the people of America I am viewed as different and am judged by my skin color then who I am. This is an interesting observation because you are not a different skin color from many of the people of America; the people of America have every skin color that is possible for humans. What experiences have you had that have made you feel like this? It is annoying, not to say, at times, infuriating and distressing, to have people make assumptions about you based on completely irrelevant data like skin color, which, as you know, is not connected to one's character, personality, abilities or interests. People cannot know what anyone is like from seeing someone's gender or appearance, and yet people continue to make judgments on these bases; it is interesting to think about why we do this. We will talk about this more when we study classification in TOK.

ps. i did this at different times so the thoughts may not mesh I think you managed to be pretty coherent in your thoughts. Good work, thank you. 6/7