Fallacies

One example of a camel's nose fallacy is the saying that goes as follows: 

Be careful what you think, because thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become character, and character becomes destiny. 

A Poem, A Manual For Life

Desiderata

By: Max Ehrmann

 

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

And remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

Be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

And listen to others,

Even the dull and the ignorant;

They too have their story.

 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

They are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

You may become vain and bitter;

For always there will be greater

And lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements

As well as your plans.

 

Keep interested in your own career,

However humble;

It is a real possession in the

Changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

For the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you

To what virtue there is ;

Many persons strive for high ideals;

And everywhere life is full of heroism.

 

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

For in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

It is as perennial as the grass.

 

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

Gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit

To shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

Be gentle with yourself.

 

You are a child of the universe,

No less than the trees and the stars;

You have a right to be here.

And whether or not is is clear to you,

No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

 

Therefore be at peace with God,

Whatever you conceive Him to be,

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

In the noisy confusion of life

Keep peace with your soul.

 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

It is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy. 

Odd Legos

I enjoy to construct Lego figures, and it often occurs that while I build it, I realize that the figure I’m building has no resemblance to the object I want to create. I begin to question the instructions, but then resolve to keep following them. I then laugh at myself at the way the thought of doubting the instructions could have even been upon me. I have learned that, as I must never doubt the instructions, we must never doubt God and his intentions, “For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.” (Job. 9.32) In this way, Job's punishment can be compared to the way people perceive the dreadful events that occur in their lives. 

Presently, people who have suffered a great loss, like the death of a loved one, for instance, tend to question God’s actions. This only makes the mourning so much harder to bear, for, as Max Ehrmann says in his poem, Desiderata, “…you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God… Keep peace with your soul.” By doubting God’s actions over our lives, we are only making the journey much more difficult than it really is.  

 

Obama, The Manipulator

Obama’s first argument utilizes pathos when he describes the possibility of the Kenyan couple to pursue their dream in America. He uses more pathos when he explains that “we are a better country than…”, during minute 7 of his speech. He further pushes with Pathos when he talks about the “Nation  of Whiners” during minute 12. It appears as if his main rhetorical method is pathos. Later, we see him use logos during minute 13 when he explains how McCain doesn’t understand the people’s feelings and needs. He uses this logos argument to adapt it to pathos. He talks about progress when he mentions the millions of jobs that were acquired during Clinton’s rule (min. 15). He keeps using pathos when he talks about his grandmother, who “poured everything she had” into Obama’s future (min. 17). During minute 19, he uses logos to describe the “American Promise”, and he implies that all he describes he can provide, evoking pathos. He uses logos when criticizing senator McCain during minute 22 when he describes his (McCain’s) need for obstructing the detoxification of the oil dependency from the middle east. I notice how Obama’s primary rhetorical method is pathos, which he supports with logical (Logos) statements. He reaches his public by understanding their wants. He knows they want health, money (enough for their child’s tuition…), liberty of time management (to be able to tend to their sick child without getting fired), and oil independence from the Middle East. He knows that each of the people present are against Bush’s government and will use the idea to his advantage. He explains the need for healthcare and education during minute 25, evoking pathos. Pathos is so heavily used that I’m starting to realize that it is probably the second most effective method, after Logos. He utilizes a bit of logos when he speaks during the effectiveness of the Iraqi war during minute 31. Near the end, he uses ethos to imply that the responsibility and need of the people is enough to vote for the American Promise. Either way, I felt greatly manipulated by his arguments that evoked pathos, for they were so full of meaning and complete with assurance, that anyone would have been moved, I know I was. (Until I realize what is really happening.)   

To Earn What Was Deserved

It is important to know that we are a race that does unto others what is done unto us. Although this is good in the sense that we are good to the people who are good to us, the downside is that to whoever is bad to us, we are bad. This is a reality. A few minutes ago, I went into the freezer to get some ice cream. I noticed that there was only one scoop left and decided to take it for myself. When my brother asked for some of mine and told me that the fair thing to do would be to split it, I told him that I wouldn't do it because I know that he wouldn't do it for me. My conscience overpowered my greed and I decided to split it, not because he would have done the same for me (because I'm sure he wouldn't have), but because it was the right thing to do. In this way, the lesson I learned is not to do unto others what others do to you, but do to others what you would LIKE to be done to you. 

In this way, David's morals are partially good and partially bad, for he does unto others what others do unto him, not what I said should be done previously. David's morals can be seen when he says that "I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me." (Sam. 2 10.2) We must all take our morals into consideration, including the magnificent King David.

The Battle Of The Judgments

Man's first impulse is to judge a person based on the feedback they receive first, which is appearance. To get to know a person's personality and heart takes much more time. The problem is that basing a judgment on appearances can be very inaccurate. This reality has to be taken into consideration when choosing friends in a new school. When I moved back to Colombia to live after living in the States for four and a half years, I had to acknowledge the fact that while making new friends, I had to keep an eye for people's actions and reactions to daily happenings to be able to observe each candidate's personality. In this way, when I approached someone with hopes of becoming their friend, I already had some type of knowledge regarding their personality. Befriending based only on appearances can be risky, because by spending time with the wrong person, can turn you into the person you tried so hard to avoid. 

God is the type of being who seeks someone to make his anointed based on their heart. Looks are only god to look at, but a noble heart has much greater potential. Our difference between God (one of many), is then that "the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (Sam. 1 16.7) We must all try to mimic God in his method for judgment so that we can become acquainted to the people we can learn good from.   

Please Be Human. Be Kind

Good morning fellow brothers. I will ask of you only one favor, which is to imagine yourself in my situation. I hold my dying son’s hand day by day, hearing breath shorter than the last. All I need is the money enough to save my son and have more experiences with him, to see him grow up and become a successful and happy man. Parents here with me today, what would you do to save your son’s life, to see his smile one day more. I have already collected 100 dollars. All I need is 10 dollars more. What are 50 cents from your pockets? To me, 50 cents is one step closer to having happiness from seeing my son live one day more. You will not become any poorer, but I shall become much happier. I know that all of you are nice and generous people who will be no poorer without the spare change I ask of you, the spare change you know is in you pocket in this moment.

Pathos, Ethos, and Logos

PATHOS: Argument that involves the manipulation and interpretation of your opponent’s feelings and emotions to use them in your favor.

ETHOS: Argument that involves control of the contender’s reputation, personality, and trustworthiness to convince the opponent.

LOGOS: Argument that is irrefutable to counter due to its logic. Faculty for reason.

Allegories of History

Exodus VS the Crusades


EXODUS_________________ CRUSADES
Moses___________________ Pope Urban II
The Red Sea_______________ The Crusades (Killing in God’s Name)
Hebrews_________________ Christians and Catholic Church
Pharaoh__________________ Saladin

The Ark Of The Covenant

The Cogen Gadol (Large or great Priest)

This is Aaron

Exodus

I think that the part where Moses discovers his people have given up on him and his god and returns to them and destroys the commandments is an interesting part because it shows how people can lose faith so easily. God was the one who took them out of Egypt, and when they get hungry, they forget the hardships they suffered during their slavery. This event means to teach us that if we are to follow someone, then we follow them in the good times, as well as the bad, or don’t follow them at all. It also shows us how ungratified man can be. Hope is the one thing that can and must never be lost. Without hope, all is lost. Forgiveness is also very important.

This part means that God is forgiving and kind and merciful, and that to doubt his power is to be deprived of it.

Convincing Arguments

I watched the third and final presidential debate in which domestic policies were addressed. I noticed that most of the rhetoric used was deliberative (Future tense). Obama utilizes mostly deliberative and demonstrative rhetoric, as does McCain. The rhetorical form that is almost never used is forensic rhetoric (past tense). Deliberative rhetoric is the one mostly used. 

Obama:

1. Future (deliberative): During the time 5 min to about 6 or seven min, Obama says that “Number one, let's focus on jobs. I want to end the tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for every company that's creating a job right here in America.

Number two, let's help families right away by providing them a tax cut -- a middle-class tax cut for people making less than $200,000, and let's allow them to access their IRA accounts without penalty if they're experiencing a crisis.” He later added that, (the) “Last point I want to make, though. We've got some long-term challenges in this economy that have to be dealt with. We've got to fix our energy policy that's giving our wealth away. We've got to fix our health care system and we've got to invest in our education system for every young person to be able to learn.

 

2. Present tense (Demonstrative): During the minute 7:50, Obama makes a separation between him and McCain by stating their difference in their intentions on the taxes the people must pay. The division can be seen when he says, “I think tax policy is a major difference between Senator McCain and myself. And we both want to cut taxes, the difference is who we want to cut taxes for.”

 

3. Future tense (deliberative): Obama says that “We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don't work. And I want to go through the federal budget line by line, page by page, programs that don't work, we should cut. Programs that we need, we should make them work better.” (Min 14)

 

4. Present tense (demontrative): Obama separated himself with McCain again when he says, “Now, what is true is that Senator McCain and I have a difference in terms of the need to invest in America and the American people. I mentioned health care earlier.” (min. 14:50)

 

5. Future tense (Deliberative): “If we make investments now so that people have coverage, that we are preventing diseases, that will save on Medicare and Medicaid in the future.

If we invest in a serious energy policy, that will save in the amount of money we're borrowing from China to send to Saudi Arabia.

If we invest now in our young people and their ability to go to college, that will allow them to drive this economy into the 21st century.” Obama says this during min. 15.

 

6. Past tense (forensic): Obama attacks McCain’s campaign when he states that “100 percent, John, of your ads -- 100 percent of them have been negative.” (min. 27)

 

McCain:

1.   Future tense (deliberative): During minute 7, he counters Obama’s rhetoric with some of his own when stating, “Now Senator Obama talks about the very, very rich. Joe, I want to tell you, I'll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and be able -- and I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees.”

2.   I believe McCain used the deliberative rhetoric, but put it in words of the past to prove that it was possible. In other words, he stated he could repeat something that had success in the past when he said, “And they went out and bought up these mortgages. And people were able to stay in their homes, and eventually the values of those homes went up, and they actually made money.” (Min. 17)

3.   McCain uses deliberative rhetoric when he confirms that “the point is that we become energy independent and we will create millions of jobs -- millions of jobs in America.” (Min. 17) he later says that (I) “would eliminate the tariff on imported sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil.”

4.   McCain also attacks Obama indirectly (Demonstrative) when he says that “I oppose subsidies for ethanol because I thought it distorted the market and created inflation; Senator Obama supported those subsidies.”

5.   Present (forensic) McCain also attacks Obama’s campaign when he says that “that's -- that's -- that's an unfortunate part. Now we have the highest spending by Senator Obama's campaign than any time since Watergate.” (min. 27)

I know this isn't part of the forms of rhetoric, but I want to say that I also noticed that the candidates uses many facts and statistics to support their arguments, as well as inspiring pity within us when they talked about the Joe the plumber, etc... 

Giving Up So Soon?

It happens often that when you start something with a negative attitude, the result is always negative. For instance, when I was about six years old, I decided I wanted to take violin lessons. During my first lesson, I learned two things: learning from a Russian teacher who barely spoke english (I was in the same linguistic state) and stank of pungent B.O. was going to be distracting, not to mention complicated because of the weak communication. I also learned that playing a violin was much more difficult than it seemed. From that very first lesson, I resolved to detest my violin class. This conclusion made failure very predictable. As you might have guessed, a couple of months later, I quit. What I must take into account is that my real giving up was done on that first lesson, not when I resolved to take action (by the way, I've been taking violin lessons for almost three years now). 

In this way, the hebrews didn't give up when they chose to build the golden idol, but instead gave up the second they started questioning God's power when they complained about their hunger and thirst during their journey towards the promised land. The tension sprang when "he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (Ex. 32.4) It is very important not to adopt quitting as a habit, because this is not one that is easy to unshackle oneself from. 

Jealousy: Good Or Bad?

Jealousy is an emotion I don't often experience, but when I do, I testify that it is one of the strong ones. When you're wrapped in jealousy, there's nothing else you can think about. You can't be happy for the other person. Instead, you're bitter and bad humored and it's also an emotion very hard to get rid of because to accomplish this, you first have to accept it, and this is not always a thing you're willing to do. Jealousy can be good only when it's very subtle, weak enough only to avoid the object or person of interest from being too free. In this case, it's not exactly called jealousy, but protection (jealousy, in turn, can also be called overprotection). 

When God accepted that "Thou shalt not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" (Ex. 20.5), I think that he said he was jealous only because he didn't want anyone who followed him to follow anyone else. This is probably one of many conditions (commandments) which God explains to his people. God's case of jealousy is not negative in this case, for all he wants is to be the sole idol for his worshipers. He is not jealous of other idols for having his followers, for if other idols have followers, then those aren't his. In other words, he can never be jealous of another god or figure because even if someone worships him and the idol, then that person isn't really worshipping the Lord, for he wouldn't be following one of his commandments.    

Secondary Intentions

You must be cunning to be able to teach some one a lesson while you help them in some other problem. I, for one, haven't been able to achieve this manipulative control over anybody... yet. God, however, was able to kindle faith on the Hebrews' hearts without them realizing it when he "hardened the heart of the Pharaoh, and he harkened not unto them" (Ex. 9.12). I believe he did this because he was sure he would be able to free the Hebrews from their slavery, but he had to make the feat appear difficult and he had to make the Hebrews think that the Pharaoh's stubbornness was no match for his power, to ensure his peoples' unconditional faith in his power. He had to make an image of himself that would inspire awe in the hearts of the slaves. 

Faithless Or Stubborn?

Like Moses, I can also be faithless at times. For instance, if my father gives me his opinion on an item I should buy, I have to listen to him, because if I don't, I usually end up regretting it. It's not that I'm stubborn or anything (In this case), but I simply have a small amount of faith in his opinion that is increasing with each day. Other times, I can be stubborn when my mother tells me to bush my teeth and I tell her "soon", or "I'll get right to it". Also, I can be stubborn when I have an opinion that concerns something that others disagree about, I don't usually give them an easy time convincing me. In this way, I think that Moses simply demonstrates an obvious sense of faithlessness with God's commands. He doesn't believe in the possibility of their success. I think that for this reason, God was enraged by his conversation in the cave when he was in the form of a burning, yet never consuming bush. God dislikes Moses's lack of faith in him and his power. For example, God reassured Moses when he stated, "Behold, the children of Israel have not harkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips.?" Ex. 6.12 This faithlessness is not something to be proud of, for he will one day, as did I, wind up regretting his doubt.  

An Honest Mistake

Whenever i'm punished and prohibited television, for instance, my attention tends to wander to other things, and I forget my punishment and watch TV after a while. Then, my mother returns to find me ignoring her ban. She then punished me harder, giving me two more days of no TV. Like Orpheus's and Lot's wife's mistakes (in Gen. 19. 26), they forgot their conditions as priviledged beings by which their exceptions would be granted. For this, they simply lost their immunity to natural fate. From this I can reflect that often you are punished for things that you do without meaning to. M personal belief is that this shouldn't be. You should be condemned for your actions which led to and effect you intended to occur.

Famished For Victory

It is always joyful, I have learned, to achieve something though one’s own effort. A hollow feeling is always subsequent when receiving credit by someone else’s feats. In a way, sometimes the feeling of accomplishment is greater than the joy from the accomplishment itself. This is why, you must not seek other’s accomplishments (because you would be lacking the moment of achievement), but you must aspire to the joy in the act of triumph as an alternative for being in quest for the happiness in the gain itself. For instance, an A+ on an exam is much sweeter if I know that I studied for it, than if I cheated to acquire it. Another example is that if I practice my instrument dedicatedly, then upon perfecting something simple like a scale would give me more happiness from the feeling of success than the scale does by itself. In this way, Abram was very wise when rejecting the riches offered to him, for he would rather attain it himself and acknowledge his triumph. He supported his choice when he said,
“That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:”. I believe he was the first man to overcome greed and predict how his choices would affect his future personality, and, in turn, his destiny.

A Divine Reflexion

We are here and they are not here.
As water’s reflections, drawn to
Our original, which seems near,
But not before we knew too,
That reality beat us in
A way which made us see our sin.

“Honor Thy Father And Thy Mother”, Or Else

The world abides by one main law: For every action, there is an equal reaction. For every cause, there is an effect, or a consequence, that evens out the event. I have learned that if I disobey my parents on a warning or an order, a I will experience the reaction, if it is a punishment or an uncomfortable situation. For instance, if my father warns me about peer pressure (in Adam and Eve’s case, the serpent) in school and how, if I give into it, would end up with a serious health dilemma. Since Adam and Eve didn’t heed to their father’s, God’s warning, they had to pay for their defiance by having to work the land and eat “from the sweat of their foreheads” and were banished from the garden of Eden as well. From this we can learn that almost all of the time, our parents know what’s best for us even though we think it’s not so.

An Emptied Shelf

It can be soul-shattering to have to sell your life’s passion in exchange for your life. I have never had to commit such a difficult trade, but I am sure that if I would have, then my gained life would be hollow and without meaning, much like Bois’s was after he had to sell his books in order to sustain his family. He didn’t precisely have to sell his passion as a whole, because his knowledge still remained with him, something priceless and unsellable. Nevertheless, Bois’s obligation did hurt him deeply and gave him a sense of defeat. I have seen cases of people who transform, or sell their personalities to be able to fit in. Their desire is so great, that they believe acceptance simply costs a personality. This is a greatly overpriced act of desperation which only leads to regret. The murder of Bois’s “darling” can be witnessed in the paragraph which states that “not so much imagination is needed to envisage the terrible scene in the Boxworth parsonage, the anger and resentment on both sides, the books being loaded into a cart to be taken back to the Cambridge booksellers, the dusty nothing left in the vacated shelves, the atmosphere in the house of failure and betrayal.” Pg. 206 Upon tossing your personality, all that is left is a dusty outline on an empty shelf.

Whatever Shall I Do?

It has often occurred to me that someone annoys me in a persistent and derogatory manner, bullying, one could say, and many spectators pretend they can’t hear. It is incredible the way people take the remark “Mind your own business” a little to seriously. I’m not sure if the situation affects their guilty conscience at all, but what I do know for a fact is that people’s will power in general, is crappy. It is not until the aggressor threatens the bystander, that he gets involved. This example can also be noticed in the Holocaust, where it wasn’t until Germany threatened the United States, that the nation got involved. Without this happening, the States would have continued to turn look away. This problem can also be seen in the narrow-mindedness of the English government when faced with the protestant purist orphans and widows. Adams describes this ego-centered attitude with the paragraph “This moving story of a small group of people, driven by a passionate belief in the strict purity of their devotion to the word of God and an equally passionate rejection of worldly authority in favour of a divinely sanctioned life, scarcely registered on the consciousness of England.” Pg. 179 This quote can be sadly recognized as an attitude many people use when faced with the burden of helping someone else.

An Impossible Solution

Many times have I been faced with a situation in which I must choose the lesser of two wrongs. It does not occur in every occurrence, that the solution is obvious. For instance, when choosing whether to help my siblings with their homework or to do my own so that I don’t fall behind, is a common happening in my life. I choose to help the homework get done properly, for the most part. It is not such a difficult decision, but it isn’t evident either. I simply base my reaction after analyzing the two consequences on both sides in the case of each scenario. It usually turns out all right. It was not so in Henry Garnet’s dilemma. He probably used the same method as I do, which is to ponder the repercussions of both choices, and decided on the one which he thought was less bad. I’m not so sure if I would have done the same as he did… choosing religion over state (and in turn, caused him torture, death sentence, and traitor sentence, among other punishments). I think, that in this way, Garnet was a true Catholic. He way loyal to his duty above his own self. It is difficult to make a decision as this one, more so if one side pressures your conflict as England did to Garnet. The effect can be much more profound if the rejected side convinces you of their correctness, but this isn’t the case. Adams states that “the conflict between his duty as a Catholic priest and his duty as an English citizen they considered no conflict at all.” Pg. 113 Other’s opinions on your decision makes it much more difficult to bear it, however, this is impossible to avoid because on way or another, he would have been judged by one side. It was a lose-lose situation which lead to his gruesome and rather painful execution. I really hope I never encounter a situation as complicated as this one in my entire life. I expect it would be much easier to bear if one had a companion to share the conflict.

"Corect Speling"

In dealing with students on the high-school level- that is, the second, third, and fourth year of high school- we must bare in mind that to some degree they are at a difficult psychological stage, generally called adolescence. Students at this level are likely to be confused mentally, to be subject to involuntary distractions and romantic dreaminess. They are basically timid or self-conscious, they lack frankness and are usually very sensitive but hate to admit it. They are motivated either by great ambition, probably out of all proportion to their capabilities, or by extreme laziness caused by the fear of not succeeding or attaining their objectives. Fundamentally they want to be kept busy but they refuse to admit it. They are frequently the victims of earlier poor training, and this makes every effort doubly hard. They are usually willing to work, but they hate to work without obtaining the results they think they should obtain. Their critical faculties are beginning to develop and they are critical of their instructors and of the materials they are given to learn. They are beginning to feel the pressure of time; and although they seldom say so, they really want to be consulted and given an opportunity to direct their own affairs, but they need considerable guidance. (From A Language Teacher's Guide by E. A. M?ras)