I enjoy how, when discussing philosophical ideas, one topic trails you through a multitude of ideas.
We came up with some examples of "YUK" factors we witness in today's society and discussed our own thoughts on those factors. We summarized that false associations are relatively easy to make after enduring or witnessing bad experiences, as demonstrated by Julian Savulescu's bad experience with sausage. When the Colorado shooting took place, I refused to watch the movie until it came out on DVD. Some of us got uneasy during the shooting scene in the movie. All of these are false associations. An excellent point supports the idea that humans are likely to have "Yuk" reactions toward things that are disadvantageous to humans. That is, the disgust in blood. When in the presence of blood, many people get grossed out or uncomfortable. This is probably because blood is supposed to remain inside your body and this feeling of discomfort is your brain saying that something is not right. We discussed how cultural differences cause many to say "Yuk" at times, simply because they are different from us. Differences are feared and shunned. Obama as president has received a number of "yuk" responses simply because of his race and we agree that this is a false association, as is the association between any person from the middle east with the Al Qaeda. Other instances, such as abortion, incest, and the blood paranoia, are all biological "yuk" factors that are most likely instilled in us for our own advantage. It is important to make the division between "Yuk" factors due to lack of awareness and "Yuk" factors due to human genetics. A good question for discussion would be, "What things evoke feelings of disgust in humans due to lack of awareness and what things evoke feelings of disgust in humans due to human biology?" A good factual question would be, "According to Julian Savulesku, all 'yuk' factors are for the benefit of human beings and society as a whole. True or False?"
As well as discussing false associations, our group also briefly examined self-awareness and life examination. We examined that a life lacking self awareness is not a life worth living at all. If everyone knew their purpose in society as Aristotle philosophized, society would succeed as a whole and run much more smoothly. I liked how Amanda made the comment about the Beetles and their song, "Life is easy with eyes closed." We agreed that, yes it may be tough to encounter the scary journey of life, but it is very important to open your eyes to your self and your surroundings. A good question for discussion is, "What does it mean to close your eyes through life? What do we mean by self examination?"
I look forward to further discussion about these philosophers and their ideas in class on Thursday. See you all then!
Arielle Roides (PHIL 1030-013; Group 4)
I really liked everything we talked about on Tuesday,
ReplyDeleteespecially false associations and how big of an impact it can have.
A question for Thursday could be about Plato and how he said we we should just think on the object really hard to see a perfect image of it but he also said that seeing an imperfect object can mess up your perfect view, so my question is did he think it was better to never have been able to see at all?
I had never really thought about the "yuk" factor before or the prejudices it can form until I read Savulescu's section in Philosophy Bites. It's important to know the difference in being grossed out by something because it's different from what we're used to and being grossed out by something for legitimate, biological reasons. For example, most people in the United States would see men from the Middle East holding hands and think, "yuk!" But for them, it's simply something they're conditioned to. My question would be... what are some things that other countries would be grossed out by in our country simply because it's different from what they're used to? Also, for people who did "yuk" things hundreds and thousands of years ago (old men sleeping with teen girls), why are their actions still considered "yuk" today eventhough their society had completely different standards? (Not that I'm NOT grossed out by it, but...) when exactly did that particular "yuk" factor develop into what it is today?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the discussion about 'Yuk' on class day. As i listened to everyone's thoughts about it because i didn't think of saying "yuk" in so many odd ways. As Caleb said in his comment about Plato, I was fascinated and interested to the "perfect image" that Plato describes. What everyone did see the "Perfect Image"? How would it change the world today? As for Aristotle, his words are so true. I could understand everything that he mean about true happiness. My other question would be where do you seek your true happiness?
ReplyDeleteIt is really funny because after reading about the 'yuk!' factor, I have found myself in public actually analyzing and realizing things that make me go yuk! I was at taco bell with my boyfriend today and as I was eating my crispy potato soft taco I found that there was a brown hair in my mouth. Now don't get me wrong it could have been mine but at the time all I could think about was how grossed out I was, and how I didn't want to finish the taco. What is it about hair in my food that makes me so grossed out? Is it the fact that it could have come from someone else and if so why does that repulse me so bad? After all, we all have hair. The 'Yuk!' factor has a very strange effect on us as humans. I think it is very interesting to explore the reasons why we are totally disgusted by certain things. Was I destined to be grossed out by hair or was that something that I learned? Through a lot of thinking and analyzing I thought about maybe it is a normal reaction for our bodies to give us signals through our emotions. My question is what would it take for humans to overcome their 'Yuk!' reactions to certain things? Do you think that our emotions are stronger than our Biology? Will we one day be able to accept differences we see and live our lives without judging other people? If so, do you think that this world would be a better place or do you think that it would only contribute to more problems? I wonder this simply because of the passage that Savulescu stated about the Nazi's and overcoming their 'Yuk!' factors towards killing human beings. Not to stray from what I was talking about, but I really enjoyed our discussion on self awareness. I think it is very important for us as humans to become self aware in order to fulfill our full potential and purpose in life. Without self awareness and some form of personal values, I don't believe that we will ever be able to make ourselves prominent in the world. A question that came to my mind, because I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on the matter is what do you think it means to be self aware?
ReplyDeleteI found our conversation to be particularly engaging and thought provoking. We had a lot of commonly held “yuck” reactions. We spoke of different cultures and their preferences, namely eating bugs. I find these differences enriching and think we should explore them; we should go out of our comfort zone. My personal “yuck” factor pertains to meat; I will eat food of almost any kind, but I am incredibly picky about meat. (Therefore, I really stick to chicken and fish.) Here is an instance when I had to overcome that “yuck” reaction. I ate ribs that my grandmother made the other day. (I couldn’t just not eat my grandmother’s ribs that she worked so hard on.) My first bite led to what I had feared, fat. I wanted to quit eating right there, but I overcame that gut reaction and finished the ribs to avoid hurting her feelings. (Maybe that’s a lame story, but it illustrates the point right?)
ReplyDeleteIn reply to Arielle’s question “What does it mean to examine your life?” I would say the examined life is more than simply going through the motions. For me, I like to put passion into whatever I am doing. In addition, I often blog or journal about what is going on in my life in order to reflect. Oftentimes it may mean simply getting away from all the “stuff” that consumes our lives. We are in a rush so often that we can’t reflect.
I was thinking in class on Plato’s “forms.” Most of what we think up is based on what we already know; if nothing is perfect, then where do we get the idea of perfection? Also, isn’t perfection objective for each person? In my psychology class today, we discussed whether normalcy could be measured; we determined it couldn’t be because normalcy is subjective depending on the individual you are talking to. I think the whole idea of forms is pretty absurd; I would rather work and learn about what I have, as opposed to pondering on, what could and probably never will, be.
-Caitlyn Osborne, Section 13 Group 4