I was watching this film about a man who talked about different people who came by a coffee shop. There was an old man, a homeless man, a perverted man and the pink man (you can research about him in google) If you would notice, these people are totally different in the way they have lived their lives and it made me think of something about class last Thursday.
The main discussion was about existence and how one can prove he/she existed with his/ her lived experiences. How does this related to the video above? These people mentioned have lived differently which resulted to how they are at that particular moment. In a way, it shows how much experience can affect one’s existence. According to the narrator, “…I can sort of understood them in a weird kind of way.” He mentioned possible scenarios about how he could be that kind of person had he lived differently. In here, the mentioned experiences kind of reminded me about the different people around me. We each are currently living different experiences. There are people who are happy now but there are also people who are sad. There are people who are angry but there are also people who are guilty. In a way, I can relate to these people. I have experienced happiness, loneliness, anger and guilt. But this relation made me realize something. I’m sure even great people like Mahatma Gandhi have experience these feelings. Does it mean that my mere existence can actually mean something?
It now brings me to the questions that I usually ask myself, “Why am I here? Why do I have to exist in this world? What is my purpose in life? Do I even have a purpose in life?” Basically, it questions my own existence. But it also brings about new questions like “Do people still want me here? Am I actually affecting some other life or none at all?” These questions now connect to other people. In a way, it makes me think about the people around me and whether my existence is important enough. Other people say that we exist to affect another person’s life whether big or small. It actually reminds me of the Butterfly Theory. In this theory, it explains that even a small butterfly can affect the world by its choice of flying to the left or the right. If only the existence and choices of a mere butterfly affect the world, does it mean that even my existence and choices can affect the world? I hope so.
David Wong said, "There are two ways to dehumanize someone: by dismissing them, and by idolizing them." It's easy to forget that even people who have greatly affected the course of human history are also human beings who have felt "happiness, loneliness, anger and guilt", as Corrine put it.
ReplyDeleteThe example she made of Mahatma Gandhi also reminded me of another point. As an introduction to Gandhi's doctrine of non-violence, our Indian Philosophy professor had us watch the movie "Gandhi", with Ben Kingsley in the titular role. I enjoyed the film as much as I did because apart from highlighting the greatness of what Gandhi was able to achieve in India, it also showed his weaknesses, his moments of doubt, his indecision, his awkwardness as a speaker in his youth. In short, it portrayed Gandhi as an actual human being, who in spite of his mistakes, liberated a country through nothing but his ethics.
I have no illusions of grandeur, but I do believe that human choices matter, that one person's decision can and does affect the lives of many others. The decisions of other people have affected my life, at least, for better and for worse.
- Veronica Jereza (C)
Relating how you questioned yourself in your last paragraph to our lesson today (sept 17) I just want to say that what you just wrote about is a good example of what philosophy is all about, which is pondering the How's and Why's of everything around us and in us. I'm also sure that your existence has affected the world already, well at least mine and Veronica's. Thank you for this! - Fern Tensuan (C)
ReplyDeleteThis book may interest you: "The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Matters"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/The-Butterfly-Effect-Your-Matters/dp/1404187804
I haven't read it in it's entirety. I just found it on one of the bookshelves of Cool Beans Cafe located in Maginhawa. Come check it out, if you want. The gist of the book tells us how a single decision of a man who lived over a hundred years ago affect the lives of the people of today.
Actually, this reminds me of a quote: (I read it in one of the articles found in the NASA website)
"When a small pebble drops into a serene pool of water, it causes a ripple in the water in every direction, even disturbing distant still waters."
Our actions and decisions, significant or not, will always have some effect on someone and/or something which in turn, will cause that someone and/or something to act which will, again, have some sort of effect. This cycle of events can possibly turn into something much larger than the initial action which moved everything into effect. I'm not saying it will eventually become into something that can change the world or something on that scale. Actions can breed both good and bad outcomes. The point here is, we do create some effect or 'disturbance' in the world even if our actions seem like a ripple in a vast lake.
The fact is, you did not choose to be, you just are. I guess what's important is the question of how you act, what kind of actions are you making, or what kind of impact do you want to leave in the world. Just basically, "How am I living out my existence?"
Alec Abarro (A)
This actually reminds me of the movie Pay it Forward wherein a boy does a good deed to I think, 3 people and in turn, these 3 people will do a good deed to 3 people each and the cycle continues. So yes, our choices and actions will indeed have some effect in this world no matter how small it is. The most important thing is, we do something and we try our best to "create some effect." In the end, we just hope that it turns to something larger. As for the film I just mentioned, what a small boy started turned into something that hundreds of people participated in.
DeleteMarika King - PH101 - A
I think what you posted here is very relatable to our lesson today about how all human beings are different in their own way. That's why they're called "weird" but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, this aptly represents how we coexist today, we are different but in the end, we are still the same because we are all human beings.
ReplyDeleteDiane Cheng (C)
Refer to the last line of your post, I am sure that each one of us do have an impact in this world. At the moment that we are born, we have become the center of our parents' life, perhaps we have changed their life 360 degrees. As we grow older and become intellectual enough, we start to question our own existence; we start to question the meaning and purpose of our life. We start to seek approval and affect others so that we can feel our existence. What I want to say is every action of each one of us do have an impact to others and to this world, because we are all relational beings. We are all being chained by humanity. What unites us in this world is our existence, but we exist differently in some weird ways that we can't explain it fully.
ReplyDeleteSo, Wai Yiu (A)
I really relate to your question why am I here? Sometimes I don't think I deserve to be in the situation I am now. I live a life full of family and friends and yet I still sometimes take all of them for granted. I tend to ask what if some poverty-striken kid was in my position? Would he appreciate the life I live mire?
ReplyDeleteStephen Vera Cruz (A)
I think that we are all interconnected somehow. It can happen that the same water that was in the Nile River was drunk by me. The air that Alexander the Great may have been the air the I am breathing in now. We are all interconnected in the sense that what we do affects other people, even though we cannot see the impact from where we are. As we exist as beings-with-others, what we do impacts the people around us. Philosophy is about realizing this and therefore making the most out of your experience with other people, treating them well and spreading happiness to the world. Like a butterfly effect, this may lead to good things in the future.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Co (A)
I believe that our actions do affect the people around us as we are living simultaneously with others as well. As said in class on how one's actions are like ripples in a pond, all our actions do have consequences beyond us as we all exist in harmony in this world, we are interconnected human beings. I think this is the very beauty of existence, that we are not alone and we do share something in common with that of others. Have you ever felt that feeling where you are able to relate your own experiences with that of others? It gives you a feeling of belonging, that you are not alone, and that someone actually understands you. In high school, we had this thing called "Days with the Lord" and it was some kind of retreat where you spend 3 days with your classmates in school. This experience taught me that despite the many problems I may face, I always have to be aware that I will never alone as God will never leave me. However, in this experience, I also came to realize that the people around me, my classmates, also share somewhat the same experiences I have and that we all come to a common understanding of ourselves and others as well; That we are actually one family and we, too, will always be there for each other. This is precisely what it means to exist to recognize others in our lives and to know that not only we affect them but they also affect us as well.
ReplyDeleteFrenchi Baluyot (A)
Everything comes in full circle once we realize that we are not alone in this world. Once we surpass the stage of just looking the world only in the context of OUR eyes, life begins. Life begins because we are able to apply the thought on real co-existence with others. As many of you mentioned, it is about connection. It is all about our paths intertwining.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, like the butterfly theory, I always believed that we are purposed to create a dent in a universe (no matter what size the dent may be or what dent that is), but the point remains that we are all created to put a dent into the universe. Like the butterfly theory, i believe that we are able to leave a part of ourselves in the world, a part of ourselves that could change and affect the world as a whole.
Denise Tan (A)