Midterm

1. Your name

Zhenyu Jia

2. How much of the reading have you done? Be transparent as it helps me to gauge how the class as a whole is doing.

I have finished all the reading.

3. How many of the films have you watched? Again, be transparent.

I have finished almost all the required films.

4. LIST ALL OF YOUR REQUIRED WEEKLY ESSAYS here for review.

1. Why was Socrates sentenced to death?

The great wisdom of Socrates ultimately led to his tragedy. He was killed for being a great philosopher at that time. Philosophy requires Socrates to constantly interrogate the systems and religions that are held up as truth. Once he questioned the validity of the gods “And do you really believe that the gods, fought with one another, and had dire quarrels, battles, and the like, as the poets say, and as you may see represented in the works of great artists?” (Lane, pg.10). As a citizen, Socrates was called upon to uphold what he saw as illusory imagery to unite the city-state as a community. The contradiction between the philosophical imperative and the civic duty led to “two charges were brought against Socrates- one that he did not believe in the gods recognized by the state, the other that he had corrupted the Athenian youth by his teaching” (Lane, pg.2). When Socrates began to teach his ideas, a young man named Metellus thought he was corrupting his young friend, even though he had never met Socrates. His students wanted to help him escape and convince him that his charges were unjust. However, Socrates ”neither denies nor confesses the first accusation but shows that in several instances he conformed to the religion of his country and believes in god more than he fears man. The second charge he meets by cross – examination of his accuser… charging him with corrupting the youth “(Lane, pg2). He spent his last day having a conversation with his friends, having a speech about “the soul is immortal” (Lane, pg.78). Socrates implied that the moral arguments followed throughout his life told him that it was wrong to run away. Socrates implied that the moral arguments followed throughout his life told him that it was wrong to run away. Socrates considered his death to be insignificant. He has lived his whole life in self-examination and helping others to examine themselves. Then Socrates chose to drink the poison and face death.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “The Socratic Quest” August 28, 2016

2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?

The conflict between science and religion is a conflict between practice and authority. Religion interprets the world through the Bible, claiming to be the absolute truth and believing in an eternal, omnipotent and omniscient God. Meanwhile, Science seeks universal laws in nature through observation and experimentation, and uses these laws to explain the world. Science does not require absolute correctness; on the contrary, it develops out of countless mistakes.

In short, religion requires people to understand the divine will of the Creator and obey his will; Science allows people to think freely and to approach the truth through continuous research. Thus, the conflict between science and religion is also a conflict between freedom and order. The book Just Odd explains how miracles happen. In the eyes of religious people, miracles in life are the will of God and the proof of his existence. On the contrary, certain magical chants work because they are small probability events that follow Littlewood’s Law of Miracles (Lane, Just Odd, pg.4). It indicates that the conflict between science and religion is caused by different views of looking at the world. This also shows that both science and religion are trying to explain this world in their own ways. “However, no matter how you define it, slice it, categorize it, blend it, intuit it, the fact remains that Reality is a Mystery, and nobody apparently (not me, not you, not Einstein) knows what that Reality is”(Lane, On Being Unknowing, pg.39). Unfortunately until today people are unable to understand the whole of this world.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Just Odd” January 14, 2018

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “On Being Unknowing” February 8, 2019

1. Why is understanding physics and the general rules of the universe so important in doing philosophy?

To understand the nature of the world, it is necessary to understand how the world works through the laws of physics. The development of science has broken through the limitations of human cognition in the past and has provided a more comprehensive understanding of the world we live in, which is what philosophy needs. Philosophy and physics sometimes discuss the same objects, such as time and space, the basic composition of matter, etc., but the methods and ideas are very different. In order to ensure the correctness of the research, the philosophical theory must be consistent with the correct scientific theory. Likewise, some problems that cannot be explained by physics (such as quantum phenomena) need to be thought about through a philosophical lens. “In other words, quantum mechanics is a statement about reality itself and what it is saying is that there is no world “out there” apart from our observations of it. Our observations, in other words, are part and parcel of what we observe” (Lane, pg.13). If the act of observation can change the state of the object being observed, this shows that we have never been able to recognize things as they originally were. Quantum physics is derived from the summary of experimental phenomena, and this process has impacted many people's worldviews. The famous quantum physicist Bohr once said that "it does not make sense to operate with a conception of reality other than one that can be described in sentences concerning our empirical knowledge" (Lane, pg.21). In general, the relationship between philosophy and physics is complementary. The two of them are indispensable in the pursuit of truth.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Quantum Weirdness: Einstein vs. Bohr.” May 15, 2014

2. What is eliminative materialism?

Eliminative materialism argues that every phenomenon can be explained by physics, biology, and other rational approaches. Through scientific advances, we are able to replace outdated concepts with more advanced and accurate terminology. It will go on and on and will not meet the end. There are several examples that are mentioned in the video eliminative materialism. Almost everyone now realizes that electricity exists and knows how to use it. Yet long ago, people believed that lightning came from Thor. During the time of the Black Death, Europeans generally believed that the disease was a punishment sent by God. But as biology continued to advance, viruses and bacteria were discovered. It was the understanding of the cause of disease that led to a remarkable improvement in human health. In addition, a group of eliminative materialists believe that the world of mind does not exist. For example, they hold the view that all thoughts come from electrochemical reactions in the brain. In this extremely materialistic worldview, physics is dominant, followed by the other natural sciences, and psychology is ignored. The biggest problem with this is that humans don't really understand the brain because of the limitations of science. Many eliminative materialists also ignore the fact that a concept, even if it does not refer to a specific thing, is difficult to abolish as long as it is widely used in our daily lives.

References:

NeuralSurfer, Eliminative Materialism: God Did It? PART ONE OF A THREE PART SERIES. Nov 8, 2011.

1. Why is the theory of evolution so important in understanding how human beings behave?

Evolution is currently the best explanation of human origins. fourteen thousand years ago, Homo sapiens, our ancestors, were teetering on the brink of extinction. But humans rose from humble beginnings like other species, eventually displacing other ancient human populations that already existed, such as Neanderthals. In the long years only human beings can spread throughout the Earth, go to the moon, and later to Mars. Unbelievable as it may be, human history is a miracle that can be explained by the theory of evolution. Extreme climate and environmental changes fuel our creativity, which in turn leads to technological advances. All of the great talents of humans today were etched in our genes tens of thousands of years ago.

Likewise, a strong capacity for adaptation is another gift that humans have acquired in their evolution. "organisms evolve over time due to differential reproductive successes and how such advances, preserved over time, tend on average to convey an adaptive character fitted for longer survival and thus suitable for increased fecundity" (Lane, Pg. 8). This means that no matter what happens in the world, we have the means to adapt. This will become part of our culture and will be passed on to our children and grandchildren like a gene from one generation to the next. The continuation of human civilization is also a miracle. In the cruelty of nature, “Over 90% of all creatures that have ever lived died childless, but not a single one of your ancestors suffered that fate.” (The Magic of Evolution). It also reflects the strength of human creativity and adaptability.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Evolutionary Limits: The Darwin-Wallace Debate” February 12, 2016

Lane, David, The Magic of Evolution: Daniel Dennett's Card Trick Analogy, 2013

2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?

Evolutionary theory is still a hypothesis and not a complete theorem. The biggest problem is that mankind has not found decisive evidence so far, such as fossils in a transitional state in human evolution. “In general, in order to document transitions between species, you specimens separated by only tens of thousands of years (e.g. every 20,000-80,000 years). If you have only one specimen for hundreds of thousands of years (e.g. every 500,000 years), you can usually determine the order of species, but not the transitions between species. If you have a specimen every million years, you can get the order of genera, but not which species were involved. And so on” (Lane, p.g164). Transitional fossils are fossil organisms that retain the life forms of both their ancestors and their evolved descendants. Their absence has led to the inability of evolutionary theory to show us the full picture of human evolution. Even though evolutionary theory has sound arguments for the existence of natural selection and evolutionary processes, the current state of knowledge about consciousness and spiritual consciousness still has some limitations that cannot be explained by science. Warwin-Wallace once confused and “felt that human consciousness was of such a high order of organization that natural selection was inefficient to explain it” (The Darwin-Wallace Debate). In Addition, evolution attempts to explain the fundamental question of the development of the existence of life, then the question about the origin of life is unavoidable. If evolution does not point to the ultimate question: the origin of life, then all arguments are only sketchy and without foundation.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Darwin 101: Evolution, Consciousness, and Reflections” February 19, 2016

Lane, David, The Darwin-Wallace Debate on the Mind of Man / How Far Does Natural Selection Extend? 2013

5. Explain Nietzsche’s myth of eternal recurrence and what are its implications for how to live one’s life.

Nietzsche's myth of eternal reincarnation shares a similar view with Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddhism believes that there is reincarnation in the universe and that all people are in the cycle of reincarnation. After death, the human soul comes back into the world and begins a new life. Likewise, Nietzsche holded the view that “The eternal hourglass of existence will be turned again and again and you with it you dust of dust” (Lane, 2015).

Nietzsche’s myth of eternal recurrence points out that we all live in great pain. It is because life is finite that it has meaning; if it is not finite, it is meaningless. All the joys, sorrows and surprises will turn into curses when repeated over and over again. Although it lacks theoretical and scientific support, I would re-examine my life and try to do only what pleases me if Nietzsche’s myth of eternal recurrence is shown to be true.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, (2008). Nietzsche’s Myth of Eternal Recurrence. August 1, 2015.

6. Why does your professor believe there is a conflict between religion and science? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Back up your answers.

The conflict between science and religion is caused by different views of looking at the world. According to the video “The Limits of Science: Illuminated Ideas in 56 seconds” it is stated that the limits to understanding some scientific matters is limited to our skull. Human cognition is limited, which leads to different perspectives on our understanding of the world. Religion and science have different perspectives on the world, resulting in a conflict between them. For example, the film “Is The Universe Really Made Out of Rubber Bands? A Kid's Exploration of String Theory” states that scientists believe that the world began with a big bang about 13 billion years ago, on the contrary, religious believe the world is created by the eternal and almighty God.

I agree that there is a conflict between religion and science. In my opinion, religion requires people to understand the divine will of the Creator and obey his will. But science allows people to think freely and to approach the truth through continuous research. Thus, the conflict between science and religion is also a conflict between freedom and order. On the one hand, science believes that truth is hidden in nature, waiting to be discovered by humans. On the other hand, Religious believe that the truth only falls in the bible that is unquestionable. Different approaches to truth are also a cause of conflict between science and religion.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, The Limits of Science: Illuminated Ideas in 56 seconds. Nov 5, 2011.

NeuralSurfer, Is The Universe Really Made Out of Rubber Bands? A Kid's Exploration of String Theory. May 20, 2012.

7. Why was Socrates considered so wise? How do his ideas dovetail with the book ON BEING UNKNOWING? Provide key quotes to shore up your response.

The book On Being Unknowing argues that we can not truly understand this world. Science can help mankind understand the objective laws of this world, but cannot explain the nature of this world. Mankind is ignorant because“We are born into a Mystery; we live in a Mystery; and we die in a Mystery. Although we may learn about things, achieving various levels of technical proficiency, we apparently can never know what a single thing is” (Lane, p.g33). For example, we can explain how mass curves spacetime, but we cannot understand the nature of mass and spacetime; We can explain that positive and negative charges create electric fields and thus currents, but we cannot understand why particles are charged. Although our brains are more developed than other animals, we could only peep through tiny holes, it is difficult to reach the true nature of the universe. It is roughly estimated that we access less than .0035 percent of the total electromagnetic spectrum. We are mostly blind creatures acting as if we are fully sighted” (Lane, p.g18).

Socrates was considered wise because he realized the ignorance and stupidity of human beings. “The truth is o men of athens, that god only is wise. and in this article he means to say tha the wisdom of men is little or nothing” (Lane, p.g 10). It is only after realizing that we know nothing that we can enter the path of finding the truth.

Work Cited:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “On Being Unknowing: The Enlightenment of Limits” February 8, 2019

8. What is Littlewood’s law of miracles (or large numbers) and how can it change how one views extraordinary coincidences? Elaborate and give examples.

Littlewood’s Law of Miracles points out that a person will see a so-called "miracle" roughly once a month. The law believes that a person can hear or see an event every second while being awake for about eight hours a day. This works out to a one-in-a-million event roughly every 35 days. In other words, as long as the sample size is sufficient, any outrageous event can occur, and the unexplainable situation becomes commonplace.

Certain magical chants work because they are small probability events that follow Littlewood’s Law of Miracles. Occasionally, wondrous things happen in nature that are so rare that we call them miracles. They are not supernatural events and have no connection to religion. On the contrary, they can be explained in the simplest of mathematical terms: possibilities. People feel lucky when random events are associated with wishes, and they often only remember the number of successes and ignore the number of misses. For example, it's a miracle when you see a license plate with the number of your birthday on it. In fact, you see a large number of license plates every day and ignore the meaningless numbers.

9. What is the theme of the little movie, Either/Or? Name two of your favorite quotes from it.

The theme of the movie Either/Or? is existentialism. People don't come with any purpose, meaning, mission, or value, but they are here all at once. First there is you and me, and then everyone starts to think: I want to do something. The world is also purposeless and illogical.

“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations – one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it – you will regret both” (Soren Kierkegaard) is one of my favorite quotes. This statement points out that the world is absurd and that one does not have a task with which one is born. Nothing is absolutely right. What’s more, “Everything has been figured out, except how to live” (Jean Paul Sartre) is also my favorite quote. It states that we need to find meaning for our existence.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, Either/Or?: a primer on existentialism. Nov 25, 2008.

10. Who do you think won the debate over the implications of quantum mechanics––Einstein or Bohr? Be sure to explain your response.

I believe that Bohr won the debate on quantum mechanics. Einstein and Poe were both great physicists, but they had very different views on quantum mechanics. Einstein once wrote to Bohr that says “You believe in the God who plays dice, and I in complete law and order in a world which objectively exists, and which I, in a wildly speculative way, am trying to capture. I hope that someone will discover a more realistic way, or rather a more tangible basis than it has been my lot to find. Even the great initial success of the Quantum Theory does not make me believe in the fundamental dice-game....” (Lane, p.g1). Obviously, Einstein did not like Bohr's idea that the universe was full of uncertainties. He believes that the world is objective and rational, or that God does not run the world by throwing dice.

After a lot of theories and experiments, quantum mechanics has made decent progress today. The non-negligible experimental data illustrate that Ball won the debate on quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, Einstein’s contribution to this world is immeasurable. This debate between Einstein and Bohr opened the door to quantum mechanics and brought people one step closer to the truth. Perhaps one day in the future there will be evidence that Einstein was right. Their debate is not over, and quantum mechanics has only just begun “The most interesting feature of the Einstein-Bohr debate is that even though both physicists have been dead for over nearly a half-century (Einstein in 1955 and Niels Bohr in 1962), the debate they starred in the 1920s is still continuing” (Lane, p.g35).

Works Cited:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Quantum Weirdness: Einstein vs. Bohr” May 15, 2014

11. Why has Bruno considered a heretic? Why was he considered so dangerous?

Bruno was considered a heretic for his view because his ideas and beliefs challenged the authority of the society of his time. Roman Catholicism had a great influence before the Renaissance, and the whole society was full of religious ideas.

In an era when independent thinking was forbidden, “Those who questioned or doubted the Catholic faith were regarded as heretics and because of their contrarian views would end up suffering in the afterlife for their apostasy” (Bruno’s Multiverse).

On the scientific side, Bruno “expounded the system of Copernicus, and talked to his pupils with enthusiasm about the movement of the earth and of the plurality of worlds” (Bruno’s Multiverse, p.g7). “He spoke of the universe, of the infinite worlds in infinite space, of the divinity in all things, of the unity of all things” (Bruno’s Multiverse, p.g43). These theories, which now seem commonplace, became very dangerous at the time because they contradicted the teachings of religions. In terms of faith, Bruno was tried as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition for denying several core Catholic teachings. He didn’t believe in eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and transubstantiation. In short, Burno was considered so dangerous because he was a free thinker that was ahead of his time.

Work Cited:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Giordano Bruno's Multiverse: A Glimpse of His Many Worlds” April 22, 2018

12. What is eliminative materialism? Give examples of how it works.

Eliminative materialism argues that every phenomenon can be explained by physics, biology, and other rational approaches. Through scientific advances, we are able to replace outdated concepts with more advanced and accurate terminology. It will go on and on and will not meet the end. There are several examples that are mentioned in the video eliminative materialism. Almost everyone now realizes that electricity exists and knows how to use it. Yet long ago, people believed that lightning came from Thor. During the time of the Black Death, Europeans generally believed that the disease was a punishment sent by God. But as biology continued to advance, viruses and bacteria were discovered. It was the understanding of the cause of disease that led to a remarkable improvement in human health.

In addition, a group of eliminative materialists believe that the world of mind does not exist. For example, they hold the view that all thoughts come from electrochemical reactions in the brain. In this extremely materialistic worldview, physics is dominant, followed by the other natural sciences, and psychology is ignored. The biggest problem with this is that humans don't really understand the brain because of the limitations of science. Many eliminative materialists also ignore the fact that a concept, even if it does not refer to a specific thing, is difficult to abolish as long as it is widely used in our daily lives.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, Eliminative Materialism: God Did It? PART ONE OF A THREE PART SERIES. Nov 8, 2011.

13. What is the mystery of matter? Detail your response by looking closely at the film What is Matter?

In physical terms, mass is the amount of matter, a measure consisting of density and volume together. More specifically the macroscopic objects that we see everyday are made up of the most fundamental microscopic particles. Everything is made of atoms, which are composed of electrons and nuclei, which in turn are composed of neutrons and protons. The electron is a fundamental particle and cannot be further divided; there are no smaller structural units below the electron. Protons and neutrons, on the other hand, are composed of even smaller structural units: quarks. Both quarks and electrons are elementary particles. Both protons and neutrons consist of three quarks, protons consist of two up quarks and one down quark, and neutrons consist of two down quarks and one up quark. Thererfor, famous physicist Feynman summarized it as “Things are made of little things that jiggle” (What is Matter).

After thousands of years of exploring mass, our understanding of matter is still ambiguous. Whenever we get close to the core of matter, we can always find the next layer. In quantum mechanics, which we cannot understand, “something unknown is doing what we don’t know” (What is Matter). Therefore, matter is a mystery. Perhaps the moment when we fully understand matter is when we get the truth of everything.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, What is Matter? The Magic of Physics. Jan 6, 2015.

14. Explain how the acronym V.I.S.I.T.E.D. can help explain evolutionary theory and why it doesn’t necessitate a designer. Be systematic in your analysis.

“V” represents the variation of the species, the error of the DNA in the process of self-replication; “I” stands for inheritance, where DNA preserves critical information in self-replication and gives it to future generations.

15. How can evolution by natural selection help explain consciousness? Detail your answer; “S” is for Selection that the creatures with weak survival ability will be eliminated by nature; “T” stands for time and “E” stands for equal.

In conclusion, over the long period of time, countless mutations in DNA and inheritance have long ago made different species. And changes in the environment determine which species stay on the stage. “D” stands for design, which is the illusion of cruel nature. The great discovery of evolutionary theory shows that “The rich complexity can arise naturally without any intelligent guidance whatsoever” (Evolution Explained in Four Minutes).

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, Evolution Explained in Four Minutes. May 31, 2013.

16. Why did Darwin and Wallace disagree over human consciousness?

Darwin and Wallace, who initially agreed on the general view of evolution, eventually diverged because of their differing views on human consciousness. Darwin firmly believed that natural selection was the most important aspect of evolution and that the emergence of consciousness was the inevitable result of natural selection. He explained that “The rich complexity can arise naturally without any intelligent guidance whatsoever” (Evolution Explained in Four Minutes). Nature chooses conscious creatures because they can think and act in their best advantage. Darwin believed that natural selection could explain this because consciousness facilitates survival.

On the other hand, Wallace argues that natural selection cannot fully explain human consciousness. He believes that consciousness is so subtle and complex that there must be some force that helps shape the human mind. Wallace “felt that human consciousness specifically was such a high order of organization that natural selection was insufficient to explain it” (The Darwin-Wallace Debate). Therefore, he opposed Darwin's idea that everything is the end result of the process formed by evolution.

Works Cited:

NeuralSurfer, Evolution Explained in Four Minutes. May 31, 2013.

NeuralSurfer, The Darwin-Wallace Debate on the Mind of Man. Jun 14, 2013.

17. What is the most surprising thing you have learned so far?

Littlewood’s law of miracles would be the most surprising thing I have ever learned so far. It points out that a person will see a so-called "miracle" roughly once a month. I've never thought of miracles in mathematical terms. Certain magical chants work because they are small probability events that follow Littlewood’s Law of Miracles. Occasionally, wondrous things happen in nature that are so rare that we call them miracles. They are not supernatural events and have no connection to religion. On the contrary, they can be explained in the simplest of mathematical terms: possibilities.

18. What was your favorite film so far? Your favorite book?

My favorite movie is The Myth of Eternal Recurrence. It was a very short movie, but the concept was really interesting to me and stayed with me long after I watched it. The soundtrack of that movie was very attractive. And various pictures flashed quickly, and this editing technique created a tense atmosphere to catch the audience's eyes.

Quantum Weirdness is my favorite book. Einstein and Bohr were theoretical physicists whom I respect very much. This book shows the world how a leading science masters thinks and it encourages me to rethink physics from a new perspective. And I really like physics. This book not only teaches me the history of quantum mechanics but also a lot of knowledge I didn't know.

19. ANY QUESTIONS?

No.

20. For extra credit, write a 150-word analysis of what you read/viewed. Do that for each extra credit you chose.