Religion as a source of morality

The core moral base of Judaism is: Justice and individual liberty. This is based on the good of the community and it arises from and is based on the Torah.
The core moral base of Christianity is:the 10 commandments, based on the bible.
The core moral base of Islam is: acts of love and justice and legalistic preformances. This is based on the Koran.
the core moral teachings of Buddhism are: the five precepts (do not kill, do not steal, do not have illicit sex, no wrong speech, and do not drink or do drugs.) This is based on Thervada and Mahayana teachings.
the core moral teachings of Hinduism are: Spiritual development and renouncing the fruits of your labors. Comes from the vedas and Upanishads.
the concepts of morality in these religions have implications for a life after death, such as in Judaism where if you follow this moral code the punishment or the reward is recieved in life, not much focus in put on life after death, the emphasis is on the present moment. In Christianity there is heaven which is a paradise that rewards you for not sinning, whilst if you do sin you are condemned and go to hell. In islam the deeds done in life are beared on the spirit after death where the spirit must suffer for the wrong deeds and be rewarded for the good deeds. In Buddhism the ideal is to achieve nirvana, until then reincarnation will take place. Meanwhile in Hinduism the ideal is to stop reincarnating to become a part of the whole of existence.
All of this is based on faith.

Eating meat

b. due to advancements in technology and medicine it has been possible to raise people's life expectancies and has caused our human population to increase to 7 billion. For thousands of years mankind has hunted as a way to survive, specifically in areas where crops have more difficulty in growing. Nevertheless hunting and large scale animal farming is not enough to supply the global demand for meat. Consequently meat has become a large product of production for large industries. It is a well known fact that all industries seek a large and increasing profit. To comply with these demands from both industry and consumers the global market has resorted to using cruel and inhumane methods to raise meat. The main meat that is consumed globally is chicken, beef, pork, and fish. To begin with let me just state that although we as humans believe we own everything, even our life partners, we do NOT own animals, they do not belong to us to chew up. Their life is in their hands, not ours. These animals are confined to extreamly tight spaces that are filthy and do not resemble in the slightest bit their natural green, sunfilled, rainfilled, beautyfilled enviornment. Needless to say these animals in factory farms do not experience the reality of life, a natural life, where they get to be born, raised, excersise, and reproduce to their will, and survival is their main task to keep them going. Besides cramming many animals are fed genetically modified crops or given drugs which have a cheaper quality and less nutrients that are actually needed for a healthy life. If their food is not modified then their genetics are modified to speed up their growth process so that production can increase at a faster rate. This can lead to several mutations and deficits in their bodies that can leave them crippled or with organ failures. Their veterinary care is poor and most animals are just left to suffer the consequences of their illness. Their slaughter involves cruel methods that no human would ever think ethically correct if done on humans. Clearly living under these conditions makes these animals stressed. When you eat meat you are also consuming all of their stress, therfore you aswell are introducing negative energy into your body which affects how you preform in your everyday life. The water and land used for the crops to keep these animals alive also constributes greatly to deforestation and a waste of resources therfore causing enviornmental damage. If you live in an area where vegetables and fruits grow, why eat meat? Why kill another animal for the sake of a taste in your diet? Would you eat your child? no. so why on earth would you eat a cow? just because a cow does not look like you doesnt mean a cow is not just as worthy. -.-

To what extent is knowledge gained in Mathematics similar and/or different to knowledge gained in History?

In history you have to memorize dates and events tie them together, make sense of a story line. in math you do the same you memorize forumales, you tie them together, and you make sense of them to form a solution :)

Is mathematics discovered or invented?

Personally i believe its both, one cannot exist without the other, both need to coexist to exist individually. Math is an invention due to the fact that it's symbols, formulaes, and perfect ideals that do not need to exist in our physical space came out from human minds for people to interpret the math. A person can invent a lie and through inventing that lie that person has discovered its existence. The same rule applies to math. Math in theory exists in nature, it can be applied to simply counting the rings inside of a tree trunk to figure out its age, to figureing out the formulae that shapes the reasoning behind gravity or electricity. A concept can exist even though noone has thought of it ...it is also equally invented as it is discovered once it is invented. Just as words are sounds given to the life around us for us to understand it math stands under the same principle. right? yeahhh its ok, today is a lovely day its a bit chilly and wonderful, but aaaaaahh theres a field trip and weve got 3 weeks left !!!! *insert f bomb here~!*

TOK K.I.'S hissssssssssss story

To what extent does history reflect our modern day reasoning?
To what extent is photography a more reliable source than a written document?
To what extent does a reliable source depend on objectivity?

i just finished a pack of cheesy crackers and went all over my room searching for the last once before i remembered that i had ate it. that is just terrrible... i mean ok its kinda funny cause i forgot and you could catagorize me as a pig for forgetting but also i mean hell, do i not pay enough attention to my food? like every bite of it? i mustve been eating too fast , not actually enjoying it enough, and that my friends, is very upsetting.

11 48.

thought.
tripping on acid cascades
dooming penguins and polar bears
with ur tv's electricity cable connected pumping out the blood as images flash through
losing you. creating you
from ur word.
magnified photonic being of fake light
cracks a nameless woman onto stone.
so you get stonned.
but it feels good because ur not in iran.
but maybe getting stonned in iran is beautiful too?
iam chitchatting random pointless crap
its deff late.
11 48.
sailor's gate
now iam rhyming to escape
just like you.

crashed expectations.

i like that.

Toooooooook a book over its head and smashed it against the dead

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing?
Knowledge Issue: To what extent is reason's strengths and weaknesses capable of influencing our lives? Why is it easier to discard nonsense more so than it is to discard reason?
main point: When it comes to how our system functions (where its base is science, technology, math, due to its reliance on supply and demand, ecnonomics, wealth, etc) it is vital reason's strengths AND WEAKNESSES influence every aspect of it. however when it comes to human relationships and interactions, dreams, creating, etc it can be missleading and lead to an epic failure.
main point 2: its easier to discard nonsense because it requires you to become indepenedant of the constricting boundries set up by reason however both need to coexist.
hi
bye
i tried.

Tok hw chart thing.

Level Example
1.good To what extent does reason influence our
belief on paranormal cliams.

intermediate Why should or shounldn't we believe paranormal
claims?

poor Does the paranormal exist?


not a knowledge issue What is the 6th sense?


real life situation a film on haunting.



2.Good What would be the outcome on our emotions if the flu killed millios?


Intermediate How would Swine flu influence our sanitary habits?


Poor Is swine flu likley to kill millions?


not a knowledge issue What do we mean by an epidemic?


real life situation A new report on a new Swine Flu


3.Good To what extent does Miss Anne's reason/ authority influence our behavior in school torwards wearing jeans?


Intermediate Why should we wear jeans in school?


Poor Is it mandetory to wear jeans in school?


Not a knowledge issue Wearing jeans in school


Real life situation An interview with Miss Anne


4.Good To what extent are emotion and reason nonsense?


Intermediate What makes nonsense irrational?


Poor What is the effect of nonsense on our rational perceptions


not a knowledge issue nonsense


Real life situation A painting of flys that appear to be huge elephants

gshkfshdjkfs

Soo because i totally f***ed up saying my poem. here it is :P

VOICES
Crawling out from Young vocal cords
With stretched hands that beg to grip onto something more
Than cracked down media pressed convictions
Try to hit the loudest pitch in hopes of slashing through stone
Stones shaped like the cocks in between the legs of rapists let lose by authority
Shaped hollow like the stomachs of the common people
Shaped like the invisible thread sewed onto each citizens lips by force to keep their mouths shut
Shaped like force-fed crescent moons, racism branded foreheads, and clown faced democracy
VOICES
Suppressed by f16s and mig21s
Their outcry is for a change in government a change in laws, economics, and human rights
what is going on?
Egypt is among nations like
Sudan
Ecuador
Venezuela
Tunisia
The United States
Pakistan
Colombia
Nicaragua
And many more
But when will it be understood that a government no matter how self proclaimed liberal
will trade you, temporary security if you let them encroach your freedom
have you all tied up in chains you can’t even see anymore
So the left and right fight
And big performances on stage are made
But because they last so long they ask the audience to join in on the theatrics
So you play part in society
Become a well integrated limb of the system
You forget about the bankers
And the bills being put into international trade
Color gone hard gone blind
Stupidly inclined to producing massive wastes
Intoxicated tastes
Get sick from your food and give in to meds
You become numb to violence because the media works like the melanin in your skin
The more you have of it, the less sunburned you are
So you don’t peel at the sight of massacres and genocides
Diseases and famine
You’re entertained and sensitive to propaganda
Shopping sprees and chainless work slit the throat of your energy
So you go to bed
Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite my child
I don’t just want to dream of getting lost in a forest searching for food
And finding magic beneath the moss on trees
Living in one of many self sustained communities
With the sound of drums
And paint dripping in the back
A smile a laugh
A dance or two between
The moon and you
I want to sculpt it into life
See it bloom like sex turned into creation
Remember how our naked backs resembled mountains?
Yeah something like that.
Passion overruling ambition
Awake even in my sleep
Now dreaming of the rhythm of silence.

Group Project

... skidly dee and skidly doo. i see me and four of you!

So! For tok Mateo, Daniela, and myself worked on an animation to explain the way we see language.
Daniela has a wacom tablet therfore we got to draw in a stop motion like way a black and white (with a bit of red) animation. First we made a draft to see how the story line would work out and then we recorded our voices to narrate the happenings. It was a very long and tireing process, specially for the chief animator Daniela, but we got through it. it will be posted soon, along with the draft :)
umm so to take up space... here are some awesome lyrics!

How low
are you willing to go
before you reach all
your selfish goals.
Punch line after punch line
leaving us sore,
leaving us sore.

Absorbed
in your ill hustling
you're feeding a monster,
just feeding a monster.

Invasion
after invasian,
this means war,
this means war.

Someday you'll be up to your knees
in the shit you seed.
All the gullible
that you mislead
won't be up or it.

Where to
will you relocate
now that it's war.
Now that it's war

A lovley question for the day.

In english Emma asked (among a series of other "child like" questions) :  Why do people want to be moved?

Isn't that just beautiful?
ah. lovley thought for the day :)
haha this would be a great rwj question xD
:)
so tell me forum ...? hehe

Kewl links :)

i love these things :) you should check em out. they are beautiful :)

Ted Talks

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/spa/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/phil_borges_on_endangered_cultures.html

http://savedarfur.org/pages/creative-community-naomi-natale

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

youtube ted talk cool talk about education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCbdS4hSa0s

It smelled nice today :)

Civilized men : refuse to adapt themselves to their environment so instead he adapted his environment to suit him.   Didn’t know when to stop the more he improved his surroundings to make his life easier the more complicated he made it. So now his children are sentenced to 10-15 years of school just to learn how to survive in this complex and hazardous habitat he was born in.

this is just a quote i really like. um i like many quotes. and i like this story. maybe you will too :)

---

Ship Of Fools

By Ted Kaczynski

Once upon a time, the captain and the mates of a ship grew so vain of their seamanship, so full of hubris and so impressed with themselves, that they went mad. They turned the ship north and sailed until they met with icebergs and dangerous floes, and they kept sailing north into more and more perilous waters, solely in order to give themselves opportunities to perform ever-more-brilliant feats of seamanship.

As the ship reached higher and higher latitudes, the passengers and crew became increasingly uncomfortable. They began quarreling among themselves and complaining of the conditions under which they lived.

"Shiver me timbers," said an able seaman, "if this ain't the worst voyage I've ever been on. The deck is slick with ice; when I'm on lookout the wind cuts through me jacket like a knife; every time I reef the foresail I blamed-near freeze me fingers; and all I get for it is a miserable five shillings a month!"

"You think you have it bad!" said a lady passenger. "I can't sleep at night for the cold. Ladies on this ship don't get as many blankets as the men. It isn't fair!"

A Mexican sailor chimed in: "¡Chingado! I'm only getting half the wages of the Anglo seamen. We need plenty of food to keep us warm in this climate, and I'm not getting my share; the Anglos get more. And the worst of it is that the mates always give me orders in English instead of Spanish."

"I have more reason to complain than anybody," said an American Indian sailor. "If the palefaces hadn't robbed me of my ancestral lands, I wouldn't even be on this ship, here among the icebergs and arctic winds. I would just be paddling a canoe on a nice, placid lake. I deserve compensation. At the very least, the captain should let me run a crap game so that I can make some money."

The bosun spoke up: "Yesterday the first mate called me a 'fruit' just because I suck cocks. I have a right to suck cocks without being called names for it!"

It's not only humans who are mistreated on this ship," interjected an animal-lover among the passengers, her voice quivering with indignation. "Why, last week I saw the second mate kick the ship's dog twice!"

One of the passengers was a college professor. Wringing his hands he exclaimed, "All this is just awful! It's immoral! It's racism, sexism, speciesism, homophobia, and exploitation of the working class! It's discrimination! We must have social justice: Equal wages for the Mexican sailor, higher wages for all sailors, compensation for the Indian, equal blankets for the ladies, a guaranteed right to suck cocks, and no more kicking the dog!"

"Yes, yes!" shouted the passengers. "Aye-aye!" shouted the crew. "It's discrimination! We have to demand our rights!" The cabin boy cleared his throat.

"Ahem. You all have good reasons to complain. But it seems to me that what we really have to do is get this ship turned around and headed back south, because if we keep going north we're sure to be wrecked sooner or later, and then your wages, your blankets, and your right to suck cocks won't do you any good, because we'll all drown."

But no one paid any attention to him, because he was only the cabin boy.

The captain and the mates, from their station on the poop deck, had been watching and listening.

Now they smiled and winked at one another, and at a gesture from the captain the third mate came down from the poop deck, sauntered over to where the passengers and crew were gathered, and shouldered his way in amongst them. He put a very serious expression on his face and spoke thusly:

"We officers have to admit that some really inexcusable things have been happening on this ship. We hadn't realized how bad the situation was until we heard your complaints. We are men of good will and want to do right by you. But – well – the captain is rather conservative and set in his ways, and may have to be prodded a bit before he'll make any substantial changes. My personal opinion is that if you protest vigorously – but always peacefully and without violating any of the ship's rules – you would shake the captain out of his inertia and force him to address the problems of which you so justly complain."

Having said this, the third mate headed back toward the poop deck. As he went, the passengers and crew called after him, "Moderate! Reformer! Goody-liberal! Captain's stooge!" But they nevertheless did as he said. They gathered in a body before the poop deck, shouted insults at the officers, and demanded their rights: "I want higher wages and better working conditions," cried the able seaman.

"Equal blankets for women," cried the lady passenger. "I want to receive my orders in Spanish," cried the Mexican sailor. "I want the right to run a crap game," cried the Indian sailor. "I don't want to be called a fruit," cried the bosun. "No more kicking the dog," cried the animal lover. "Revolution now," cried the professor.

The captain and the mates huddled together and conferred for several minutes, winking, nodding and smiling at one another all the while. Then the captain stepped to the front of the poop deck and, with a great show of benevolence, announced that the able seaman's wages would be raised to six shillings a month; the Mexican sailor's wages would be raised to two-thirds the wages of an Anglo seaman, and the order to reef the foresail would be given in Spanish; lady passengers would receive one more blanket; the Indian sailor would be allowed to run a crap game on Saturday nights; the bosun wouldn't be called a fruit as long as he kept his cocksucking strictly private; and the dog wouldn't be kicked unless he did something really naughty, such as stealing food from the galley.

The passengers and crew celebrated these concessions as a great victory, but the next morning, they were again feeling dissatisfied.

"Six shillings a month is a pittance, and I still freeze me fingers when I reef the foresail," grumbled the able seaman. "I'm still not getting the same wages as the Anglos, or enough food for this climate," said the Mexican sailor. "We women still don't have enough blankets to keep us warm," said the lady passenger. The other crewmen and passengers voiced similar complaints, and the professor egged them on.

When they were done, the cabin boy spoke up – louder this time so that the others could not easily ignore him: "It's really terrible that the dog gets kicked for stealing a bit of bread from the galley, and that women don't have equal blankets, and that the able seaman gets his fingers frozen; and I don't see why the bosun shouldn't suck cocks if he wants to. But look how thick the icebergs are now, and how the wind blows harder and harder! We've got to turn this ship back toward the south, because if we keep going north we'll be wrecked and drowned."

"Oh yes," said the bosun, "It's just so awful that we keep heading north. But why should I have to keep cocksucking in the closet? Why should I be called a fruit? Ain't I as good as everyone else?"

"Sailing north is terrible," said the lady passenger. "But don't you see? That's exactly why women need more blankets to keep them warm. I demand equal blankets for women now!"

"It's quite true," said the professor, "that sailing to the north imposes great hardships on all of us. But changing course toward the south would be unrealistic. You can't turn back the clock. We must find a mature way of dealing with the situation."

"Look," said the cabin boy, "If we let those four madmen up on the poop deck have their way, we'll all be drowned. If we ever get the ship out of danger, then we can worry about working conditions, blankets for women, and the right to suck cocks. But first we've got to get this vessel turned around. If a few of us get together, make a plan, and show some courage, we can save ourselves. It wouldn't take many of us – six or eight would do. We could charge the poop, chuck those lunatics overboard, and turn the ship to the south."

The professor elevated his nose and said sternly, "I don't believe in violence. It's immoral."

"It's unethical ever to use violence," said the bosun.

"I'm terrified of violence," said the lady passenger.

The captain and the mates had been watching and listening all the while. At a signal from the captain, the third mate stepped down to the main deck. He went about among the passengers and crew, telling them that there were still many problems on the ship.

"We have made much progress," he said, "But much remains to be done. Working conditions for the able seaman are still hard, the Mexican still isn't getting the same wages as the Anglos, the women still don't have quite as many blankets as the men, the Indian's Saturday-night crap game is a paltry compensation for his lost lands, it's unfair to the bosun that he has to keep his cocksucking in the closet, and the dog still gets kicked at times.

"I think the captain needs to be prodded again. It would help if you all would put on another protest – as long as it remains nonviolent."

As the third mate walked back toward the stern, the passengers and the crew shouted insults after him, but they nevertheless did what he said and gathered in front of the poop deck for another protest. They ranted and raved and brandished their fists, and they even threw a rotten egg at the captain (which he skillfully dodged).

After hearing their complaints, the captain and the mates huddled for a conference, during which they winked and grinned broadly at one another. Then the captain stepped to the front of the poop deck and announced that the able seaman would be given gloves to keep his fingers warm, the Mexican sailor would receive wages equal to three-fourths the wages of an Anglo seaman, the women would receive yet another blanket, the Indian sailor could run a crap game on Saturday and Sunday nights, the bosun would be allowed to suck cocks publicly after dark, and no one could kick the dog without special permission from the captain.

The passengers and crew were ecstatic over this great revolutionary victory, but by the next morning they were again feeling dissatisfied and began grumbling about the same old hardships.

The cabin boy this time was getting angry.

"You damn fools!" he shouted. "Don't you see what the captain and the mates are doing? They're keeping you occupied with your trivial grievances about blankets and wages and the dog being kicked so that you won't think about what is really wrong with this ship —- that it's getting farther and farther to the north and we're all going to be drowned. If just a few of you would come to your senses, get together, and charge the poop deck, we could turn this ship around and save ourselves.

But all you do is whine about petty little issues like working conditions and crap games and the right to suck cocks."

The passengers and the crew were incensed.

"Petty!!" cried the Mexican, "Do you think it's reasonable that I get only three-fourths the wages of an Anglo sailor? Is that petty?

"How can you call my grievance trivial? shouted the bosun. "Don't you know how humiliating it is to be called a fruit?"

"Kicking the dog is not a 'petty little issue!'" screamed the animal-lover.

"It's heartless, cruel, and brutal!"

"Alright then," answered the cabin boy. "These issues are not petty and trivial. Kicking the dog is cruel and brutal and it is humiliating to be called a fruit. But in comparison to our real problem – in comparison to the fact that the ship is still heading north – your grievances are petty and trivial, because if we don't get this ship turned around soon, we're all going to drown."

"Fascist!" said the professor.

"Counterrevolutionary!" said the lady passenger. And all of the passengers and crew chimed in one after another, calling the cabin boy a fascist and a counterrevolutionary.

They pushed him away and went back to grumbling about wages, and about blankets for women, and about the right to suck cocks, and about how the dog was treated. The ship kept sailing north, and after a while it was crushed between two icebergs and everyone drowned.

De Ja vu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuiaT0nX9ls

This might interest some of you, and i believe its appropriate for TOK.   
written by one of the 300.
recomended by a friend.
and i now recomend it to you.

side note: Mr. David you really should see this :)

On language

It is scary what language has become capable of in our modern society, its power has risen to a point that most mainstream flow of information can brainwash millions simply because it is a code that can be understood by the masses and controlled by the elite minorities. Many countries claim to have freedom of press yet Theodore Kaczynski needs to threaten the New York Times with a bomb in their building to have his manifesto published for all to see. Language has the ability to lie, to destroy, to spill the truth, and to create depending on the person using it, thus it is fragile. The question is, is it worth that risk? And to be honest i really don't know if it is. I do know that a diversity of languages is beautiful, and it helps preserve culture, sounds and vibrations comming out in different ways ends up creating gateways to endless music genres just because the sounds emmited from each language are so different and beautiful. Language can dictate that lust is sin yet the words lust and sin are sensual and captivating on their own, when put together they have sex in a sentence and it's beautiful, contradictory, it reveals the hypocricy and complexity of language a great reflection of human life. Language can seperate or unite a people, yet we all have our language, our codes, our habits. There might not be a set code for communication between the human specie and other species of living beings yet we can communicate, we can communicate how we feel just through a look, or an energy wave we send to one another, its beautiful uncontrolled with no set pattern, something more primitive and i mean that in the best of ways. Yet words may tend to lose their meaning and are subject to change constantly, when you tell someone you love them, they might not really believe you do because the frase "i love you" is said often and thrown around carelessly. So either they will say "oh i love you too" or give in a giggle and let the acward statement melt away. It can be quite sad, i truly mean i love you when i say it to people (although i may say it a lot but its true) , but its not sad aswell, it calls for my imagination to run off and take charge of the situation, see how i can bend and twist new words to mean the same thing as i couldve said with 3 words but use 20 instead and have it leave a more profound effect on someone. I'am not sure if this paragraph has any coherance, buts its a blog, for tok, and thats that. :)