21st Century Agora: We can't change it

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We can't change it

This may make me a horrible person, but I wasn't moved by any of these articles. They're sad, but I was already aware of the dayly struggle for families to provide nurishment for their children. I have a hard time caring about people I don't have to interact with on a daily basis, problably like most of the students in this school who don't realize that students, sometimes their classmates, don't eat on a regular basis. As the world is right now, nothing can be done for the millions of starving individuals in the world, so I don't worry about something I can't change. My influence is limited and even if I attempt to help those dieing from starvation I can't help everybody. But I don't mean to say that nothing can ever be done. I just done believe a group of unknown highschooler can solve anything. Even if we feed a thousand people the problem will still exist. The root of the problem is the lack of resources which in this lifetime cannot be solved, so I didn't get worked up over information I already knew, and I don't think anything can change my mind.

3 comments:

CHUNGUS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; November 21, 2008 at 12:57 AM
CHUNGUS said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; November 21, 2008 at 12:58 AM
CHUNGUS said...: i was just wondering : even though their is no physical connection shared between you and the impoverish can you not develop any empathy or emotional connection for them? Just because you are physically incapable of connecting with these people should you really ignore the fact that you should contribute in alleviating some aspect of their suffering. Even though your contribution might be small and minuscule,helping just one person is better than helping none at all. I find it is a duty as a human being to not only recognize the suffering of your fellow man but find a way to alleviate some aspect of his/her suffering, rather than being ignorant and just walking away from the situation on the basis that you can't "physically connect" with them. Just because the problem with poverty will exist overall it does not mean it will exist with that one person that you helped.; November 21, 2008 at 1:19 AM

Post a Comment

The Episteme Lectures Renewed!

Thanks to a generous grant from the Washington Township Schools Foundation, The Episteme Lectures have additional funding for another three years! While we continue to need further financial support to expand the level of excellence for which the lectures are known (interested donors should contact Steve Perkins at sperkins@msdwt.k12.in.us or 317.259.5301, x5526), we are deeply grateful to the WTS Foundation for its previous and continued support of this unique educational opportunity. Please visit us at www.epistemelecture.org.

Former TOK Students Speak Out

Today, when I went to open my links to my required reading for my Intro to International Studies, I laughed out loud as I read the title of the second article we had to read:
Epistemology: How You Know What You Know.
Something tells me I am already very well prepared for this course thanks to two years of thinking in one class. I hope all is well with you and your classes at North Central and thanks again for two years of one of the best classes I ever took. Alley Murphy

I'm finishing the last 20 pages of the marathon that is Will Durant's Story of Philosophy. You should recommend its 400 dense (both in words and concepts per square inch) pages of 1920's ornate and pristine prose to any exceptional student; if they start now, it would supplement their ToK experience and undoubtedly imbue them with remarkable writing ability. Although I realize that ToK isn't a philosophical survey course, I can't help but see my youth as one of privation for lack of Kant. Spending one class surveying Kant would not only reveal to ToKers the joys of philosophy and the inevitable narrowness of their perspective, it would also provide some support against the arrogant materialists. Benson Tucker, Brown University

A quote by Rousseau was brought up in my Intro to Itnl. Studies class, and it reminded me greatly of TOK. Fred Hendricks III, Indiana University

As I was sitting in Mexico, waiting for the VBS my youth group was running to end, I noticed the hue of the sky. It indicated a nearing sunset; thus, it was time to go. I got up only to find it was in fact not time to go but at least half an hour early. I took off my sunglasses. They were spotless, unscratched. They gave me a perfectly accurate view of the world save for tint, and that exception influenced my actions greatly. It got me to thinking what other slight misperceptions of the world could have caused me and others to do. It got me talking about perception back at my hotel room. It got the little TOK voice in my head whirring.

Just thought you should know as you begin to plant that questioning seed inside the minds of your new class that your last crop was successful, that even in another country there is no place for your students to run or hide and that even the quiet ones will fall. Kim Hotchkiss, St. Olaf College

Tell all your IB students TOK is the one thing from IB that you will most definitely use in college! I certainly have and I am so happy I was exposed to something like TOK before college. Marissa Hampton, University of California-Irvine

TOK is the best class you can take in high school. And, being able to write critically off the top of your head is pretty much what your have to do on all your non-math/science exams. Plus, TOK is generally a heck of a lot of fun. If you can make it through the beginning of junior year, you're golden. I really do appreciate what TOK has done for me. Anna Boch, Harvard University

I'm double majoring in political science and criminal justice. I've taken some philosophy classes and in depth political analysis classes already and basically owned them. TOK really gave me a crazy perspective when analyzing texts and debating them. I found that I was much much much more prepared than the majority of the students. Keane Mossman, Indiana University

A couple of years ago I asked a large group of [Katie's] friends if they felt prepared for college and what class at NC helped them the most. This was a group of kids who were at Harvard and Stanford and everywhere in between. They said without a doubt they were better prepared than 99% of other students. They also agreed that the best class by far was TOK because it really taught them to think and question. Sara Lootens, mother of Katie Lootens, Duke University

21st Century Agora

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We can't change it

3 comments:

2011 Episteme Lecture

2011 Episteme Lecturer -- Dr. Carlton Waterhouse

The Episteme Lectures Renewed!

Former TOK Students Speak Out

Links of Interest

Former Students

Blog Archive

from Plato's Apology