Week Three

Week Three

The Himalayan Connection

This article starts out talking about the UFO that it is interesting to think that there were people releasing fake UFO video to mess up others people’s mind. Is it because they want other people to believe want they believe? Later on he talks about dreaming which people can get confused by the dream to the reality. For me, I believe dreaming is an action the reveals what people are really thinking. Dreams come from one’s own mind that I do not believe it will predict the future for one, but I believe people can analyze it because one cannot control one’s dream that it shows the true self or deep inside what one is really thinking. If one goes analyze the dream by doctor or others, it will probably tell the character of one that may seem amazing to he/ she, but in reality it might just be one telling the true self from one’s brain.

Should Skeptical Inquiry Be Applied to Religion? by Paul Kurtz

I think skepticism should definitely be applied to religion, as religion has dominated most of people’s life that why shouldn’t people give doubt about it?  Personally, I believe it is people’s right to decide what they want to believe, it is people’s right to be blinded by faith. Even with many evidences prove that many concepts in the religion are wrong, people still keep faiths to it. They can only have faith since there are no grounds to support it. Then my question rises again: why can religion still be a foundation for many societies? It is people’s freedom to keep faith on something, it is my freedom to apply skepticism upon religion.

Filed guide to Critical Thinking by James Lett

Lett organizes a guide for people to diagnose the information we gained from contemporary world. Nowadays, we have many sources to get information such as online, media, TV shows etc. Once my political science professor had asked that nowadays students are able to get information or learn the course from online, then what is the point of student going to the school? Then he answers that the point the professor still exists is that it will be a chaos if one try to absorb all the information and determine what is right or wrong. When we at school, the function of professors are not only organizing the information for us, they teach us how to think critically. After we graduate, without the accompanying of the professors, it will be our obligation to determine our beliefs with the support of evidences.

Mysticism and Logic by Bertrand Russell

At first Russell consider the world as a whole and was divided by two impulses. One is through mysticism and other through science, then, he makes philosophy as a greater of two, as it is the combination of the both. I think that to believe only on mysticism and science only shows the narrow minded of people that they are not willing to be open up to any possibility in the world. To philosopher, they are open-minded and willing to believe anything can happen in the world. I think only with this concept that our knowledge of the world can be improved but not detain.

Intelligent Design by Ken Miller

Right when I watched the film I am confused by the term intelligent design. After he talks more and more, I realizes it is probably the term for anti-evolution that they believe the form of life should began with intelligent causes. I always think that when people gain knowledge from the world, it is their right to decide whether to believe it or not. When Miller describe how his book was label with sticker that is trying to prevent people from believing the evolution theory. It is always important about what to teach in all class in the United States. Instead of parents or schools tell the children what to believe, children should be educated with both sides of knowledge. With the full understanding of it, then it will be fair for anyone to determine their beliefs without biases.