Random Thoughts.

I have figured out the problem with taking night classes. I go to class, come home, and my mind is buzzing so hard I can't shut it off!! So forgive me if this is rambling and disjointed folks, I'm a little tired here.

I had my first Philosophy class last night. Surprisingly, I think I'm going to like it! The teacher is *very* animated. I'm so glad, because it is always much more fun to sit through a 2 1/2 hour class with a teacher who is excited about his material. Now if I can manage to wrap my pregnant, hormone ridden brain around what he is saying I should enjoy it. I almost wish I had waited until I came back in the spring to take this class. As I have told both my husband and mother many times, pregnancy makes me dumb. This blog also might be changing it's face relatively soon. We are able to choose one of two options for grading in this class. The first is more traditional. You have a couple of papers, midterm, final. The second is by journaling. We can choose to do this by various means, one of which is blogging. The only drawback I can see to the second option is that it would constitute 75% of my grade. It makes me nervous to put 'all my eggs in one basket.' On the other hand, I would have plenty opportunity for feedback (blog being submitted weekly, many more chances for the teacher to tell me I'm screwing up!) Both my DH and my mom think I should choose the second option. I think it's because they both think I'm this tremendous writer waiting to burst out. I think they both are predispositioned to unwarrented flattery seeing as how one gave birth to me, and the other married me. I think I'm going to try it, just because I like my thoughts to be more free flowing, and I think this option will provide that. (let's hope the teacher doesn't have a problem with babbling :) ) If you don't want to read my thoughts on Philosophy, the class ends at the beginning of August. We'll be back to my regularly scheduled whining then! Then again this all might be hypothetical seeing as how I don't know if he will let me use an existing blog, or if he would like me to start a new one :) In any case I think I will muse for a little bit on something he wrote in his blog...

"There is a difference between appearence and reality." This statement is deceptively simple. Unfortunately for me I have the suspicion that a majority of Philosophy is deceptively simple. The teacher brought up an interesting point in class. If you stick something in water (he used the example of a spear) it looks bent. Obviously, it is not. When you stick your arm in water it does not bend. So there, appearance and reality are two totally different things. That could also be said about the internet. Many of us have blogged or discussed how much of the internet is real. For all you know, I could be a 400 lb trucker named Bubba who gets kicks out of pretending to be a 25 year old pregnant woman. I guess the point that gets me is how do I know what is reality and what is just appearance? Is reality subjective? For instance, the September 11th attacks. I was living in Michigan at the time, no where near them. I have only seen what happened on T.V. I didn't lose anyone I knew personally. I had family in the military that I feared for, but they are both fine. So are the attacks less 'real' for me, than someone that experienced them directly? Or for that matter, how do I know that they ever happened? Television is as bad as the internet in that it is so easy to just fall into believing everything you see without actually having proof (Don't get your shorts in a knot people, I do believe they happened, I do believe they were horrible. This is hypothetical.) Think about the movie Wag The Dog info here It would be completely possible to do this in the television age! Not saying it would be easy, but possible. So where is the line between appearance and reality, and who is to say that your reality is any more valid than mine. I don't think I have any of the answers yet. Of course I've only had one night of class :)