Up@dawn 2.0

Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Highlanders 9-12-13

What our group focused mostly on was Epicurus and his ideas on death. Someone mentioned that the fear of death that may be possible is the fear for untapped potential because if you are "secure" in your beliefs Christians, for example have heaven which is not to fear. Epicureans, Dr. Phil noted, were secure in their beliefs, secure that the gods were indifferent to mortal's affairs. Fear we also said is seen to be so negative, but if it is channeled correctly it can be a positive thing. Lastly, we touched a bit on Pyrrho, and everyone agreed he was ridiculous. (There is no cliff... Seriously?!)

14 comments:

  1. I agree that fear can be a positive thing. Most people are afraid of the "unknown", but if no one ever ventured there, it would always remain a mystery source of fear. We have to be willing to take risks sometimes, and it's completely fine to be afraid when those times arise. (H3)

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    1. You're definitely right. Courage has to exist to solve the "unknown."

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  2. I agree that I am not fearing death because of some beliefs that I have its very calming so you don't have to worry about that going through out life

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  3. Anonymous10:16 PM CDT

    Damon McCook 16-1

    If Pyrrho actually lived like he preached, how did he live to be 95? I find it hard to believe that he went through life testing everything, especially in that time period, and lived to be 95. He is either the luckiest man to ever live or his stories were exaggerated.

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    1. He was said to have had people watching over him, but even still, the whole thing seems exaggerated.

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    2. I wonder if he really did question everything and risk his life for the discovery of what is already known, or if it was all for show. It said he still jumped back when the dog snapped at him.

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  4. Christians definitely have a little security in death with the thought that they will be welcomed into heaven and maybe continue some sort of life after death. As an "agnostic atheist" my views on death are different. When I'm on my death bed at 100, if that's the case, I won't want to continue, whether my condition would improve in heaven. I will have lived a meaningful life and can leave it. I find security in thinking that death is just a peaceful sleep that lasts an eternity. My group discussed a fear of the concept of not existing anymore, but it's not too scary. I believe whenever you die, your soul just slips away. In other words, the chemicals in your brain stop, your heart stops transporting oxygen into your blood, your heart stops pumping, everything just stops. That's all life is anyway.

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  5. Factual Question: Which Stoic philosopher began life as a slave? (Epictetus)

    Discussion Question: How do you feel about things that you cannot change? What are your thoughts on life's inevitabilities, like old age and death?

    I actually really enjoyed our discussion on the fallacies of Pyrrho's philosophy. I've always thought extreme skepticism was a little implausible as a philosophy. To live your life assuming that nothing can BE assumed seems to me nigh on impossible. And taking into consideration a lot of the other points made about how, were he truly to practice what he preached, he wouldn't have lived a very long life. After all, what would be to say the horse and cart were really barreling towards him? Or that he really needed to eat or drink? Or that, using their own analogy from the book, the cliff was really there at all. In truth, I find the whole thing to be very hypocritical.

    A link to some fun quotes about skepticism: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/skepticism.html

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  6. Well, fear of death is part of what makes us love living. Hence, fear of death is a good thing.

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  7. Olivia (The Highlanders)9:24 PM CDT

    Factual question: What views were the Stoics most famous for? A: mental control

    Discussion question: Do you think removing emotion from all decisions you make would be a generally good thing?

    Comment: I, also, enjoyed our conversation over Pyrrho's ridiculous ideas. I liked how we touched on the fact that his friends must not have had the same ideas as him and other skeptics seeing as how he lived for an extended period of time.

    Link: I always appreciate a good mean girls reference... even when dealing with philosophy :)

    http://25.media.tumblr.com/cb1eb23492762386556b9068fcc496e9/tumblr_mqhkxwWghQ1s77vujo1_500.png

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  8. We also discussed death in our group. Everyone in our group mentioned that they did not fear death, just how they would die. I do agree that Christians, like myself, do not fear death as much because they know what awaits them; however, everyone in our group, whether Christian or not, said that they don't fear death because if there is no Heaven then it will be peaceful. Someone said that we won't even know we are dead.

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  9. Factual Question: Which stoic started out as a slave? Epictetus

    Discussion Question: Do you think emotions are good or bad for you? Obviously extremes in either are unhealthy but should your life be ruled by emotion or by reason? What defines the perfect mix between the two?

    Comment: Death has always been a fascinatingly ironic subject for me. A huge portion of people are scared of death, yet, everyone person that has ever lived has died. Death is one of the most common things, but people still fear it. I think this is with good reason, like our group was saying: life carries value. You have dreams and hopes and goals and everything you hope to succeed in. If you just die without achieving that then it would be disappointing.

    Link: http://www.statisticbrain.com/fear-phobia-statistics/

    Interesting... Fear of death runs at about 68% among americans, only beaten by public speaking at 74%. Like Jerry Seinfeld used to say: "People would rather be in the coffin at a funeral then giving the eulogy."

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  10. I agree that being secure in one's beliefs can eliminate the fear of death, or at least what comes after.

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  11. Factual question:Who argued that the fear of death was a waste of time and based on bad logic? Epicurus
    Discussion Question: Which is the greater folly: to blindly trust everything, or to be completely skeptical of all things?
    Comments: We talked a little about fear in general (but mostly fear of death). Fear ('nervous energy' is another good term in some situations) can definitely be a good thing, or it can be used as a good thing. Fear can be channeled to lead someone to do better at a task...fear of failure. Athletes and performers talk about butterflies...they are nervous and scared of doing poorly, but these butterflies also show that they care. If they were not scared of messing up, then they would not be as motivated to perform excellently. Without that fear to overcome, then it would not be worth the effort. It would not be as fulfilling...at least that is my opinion. And I believe this same philosophy can be applicable in dealing with death. You must overcome your fear to lead a successful and fulfilling life.

    Link: Here is a link to a quote by Epicurus on death (Also a pretty cool wallpaper)
    http://i.imgur.com/TN2fZ.jpg

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