Whew. This afternoon was crazy. Morning was normal, but afternoon? Bonkers. Mad. Dotty. Gaga. Bananas, even.
The first Philosophy midterm. 75 minutes for two full essays and 10 short answer questions on everything from why God does(n't) exist to why we can('t) know anything for sure to whether (or not) anything exists outside of our perceptions. Erasers burned. Lead flew. Contact lenses dried out. Small fires started on several tests from pencil-friction.
Heh.
Melodramatic, much?!
For reals, I think it went well. I had done a pretty decent job studying last night and before. The only thing I'm worried about were the two essays. One of the prompts was pretty funny though:
"If Neo had read Descartes' Meditations while in the Matrix, to what extent could he prove that an external world (REAL world) exists? Imagine he finds them before meeting Trinity."
The other question was easier, about Locke's ideas of Primary and Secondary qualities of objects. This reading was pretty interesting. Locke argues that even though we can't be 100% certain of what we perceive, objects in the world still exist through their 'Primary qualities.' These are qualities that, even if we did not have the senses we do (sight, tough, etc) we would still be able to discover through some means. Like location, mass, dimensions, etc. He says what we perceive are 'secondary qualities' or qualities that the object creates in us, which some being without our senses would not be able to even conceive of, much less experience. Like, if a being who had never smelled anything saw a rose for the first time, he/she wouldn't try to find out how it smelled. Likewise, there are things humans can't see which others can ( like THE 6TH DIMENSION!!! oooOOOooo!), and which we can't even imagine would be like.
I still don't really buy the Primary quality things since it seems like everything about an object is something we perceive in it, and if there was a being that couldn't see and could pass through matter (like, I dunno, a ghost or something), how could it tell something's mass? Or dimensions?
And now for something completely different! Tonight in celebration of Oktoberfest, the dining halls served German food! I had a delicious (reeaaaally filling) dinner of knockwurst, bratwurst, speatzel, potatoes, and cabbage. It was prretty good, but nowhere near those dinners we had back over that side o' the world.
Oof...just realized, my breath must smell fantastic now. Time to go brush.
Talk to you all later!
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2 comments:
My head just exploded and then my brain crawled out what was left of my ear and called it a day! Man, you are studying some heady stuff right now!
I will have to think about what you described here before I can intelligently make a comment. Or possibly I will never make an intelligent comment about it.
Anyhoo, Kory, make sure you check your mailbox this week. There won't be spaetzel but there will be treats!
I'm so glad you made it through that midterm alive!
And also proud that you remember what spaetzle is - though I suppose I'd have to see sample to make sure you identified it correctly. =)
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