Bacon and Darwin

1.) In his writing, Sir Francis Bacon sees idols as misconceptions, a fault, or something to be misleading. He views it at a negative point of view and refers to some idols as troublesome. It sounds to me like we could relate this in our society as negative influences from culture and media. Today, we idolize certain people and things that are not the best examples. This leads to body shaming, eating disorders, substance abuse, and doing things that we think are "cool". I think using the word idol in this sense is fine because we idolize certain things and people whether they are good or bad.

2.) In total there are four classes of idols according to Bacon. The idols of the Tribe I believe show basic human error. We do not see the world for how it truly is and we go off of what others tell us, what we want to believe, what we wish to see, instead of facing reality. The idols of the Cave explain how we ignore the big picture and instead focus on details that are not always relevant. We tend to ignore the things we should be paying attention to. The idols of the Marketplace can be interpreted as gossip. People spread lies, rumors, and untruths that lead to another and another and end up hurting themselves and others. The idols of the Theater explains how we tend to make comments or statements without having proper knowledge or evidence. So many people do this and when they cannot stand to be wrong, they do everything as far as compulsive lying to make it seem like they're right. I think the most severe are the idols of the Marketplace or the Theater. Both can be deceptive and similar in that the truth is hidden and things are being said without the proper knowledge. I think this can hide the real truth because everything being told is a lie.

3.) The idols resulting from social intercourse are the idols of the Marketplace and the Tribe while the idols resulting from individual reflection are those of the Theater and the Cave. If someone were restricted to society, I do not think they could escape the tyranny of the idols. Society plays such heavy role in the idols. That is where many of the misconceptions and misunderstandings come from. I believe that if a hermit were to withdraw from society, we would not be completely free. They would be missing out in the world around them. They would not gain knowledge or receive the fulfillment of human connection.

1.) Survival of the fittest is when only the strong are able to survive. Those who are weak and cannot adapt to a new environment or circumstance won't make it because they provide no use. An example is how deer mice who migrate to Nebraska change their fur and color from dark to light or vice versa to blend in and avoid being hunted by predators.

2.) Natural selection is a more natural process that allows the offspring to have a better chance at survival when it is grown. Selective breeding occurs when you pick the traits and characteristics you want to be passed down to the offspring. Selective breeding is more directed since you directly choose the traits while natural selection is a more spontaneous process and dominated by chance. I think natural selection is more important and beneficial because the offspring have a far better chance at survival.

3.) I think cloning can be beneficial if Darwin found an offspring that inherited the best suitable traits for its environment and then it could be cloned. However, it undoes the natural part of the selection which Darwin might not agree to.

4.) Darwin believed the human social policy was cruel and unjust because it led to imperialism. Certain people benefit and some don't, and those who don't have to adapt to a poor environment but this takes away from survival of the fittest. I would not say the current day medicine and social welfare agencies are causing humans to be less fit because ultimately, taking those medicines is human choice. While I do not think we take the time to see the effects of medicine and what is contained in them, I believe some medicine is beneficial however I prefer more natural remedies not including artificial tablets.

Discoveries and the Mind

1.) Personally, I rely on sensory knowledge quite often. I rely on my "gut feeling" when making big decisions and if it feels right then I act upon it. I think it depends on everybody but I think Plato diminishes sensory knowledge and its importance. I feel like in certain situations, everyone can get certain feelings or vibes but the difference is whether or not they act upon them and some people have more keen senses. Ultimately, I believe sensory knowledge is important and significant if you decide to act upon what your senses are telling you.

2.) I do not see sensory knowledge as materialistic. It is very much a bodily and intuitive process rather than other alternatives. These can include more logical and analytical thinking, physical research and planning, scientific research, etc.

3.) If we did not use our senses at all to recognize and live in the world, I think it would be plain, bland, or not adaptable. If we could not see we could not recognize people, sights, or anything it would just be dark like a black hole. If we could not taste or smell we might eat or drink something harmful. If we could not touch we would not know what we are holding or grabbing. If we could not hear we would not know if people were talking to us. Ultimately, we would not know what is going on and it would not be adaptable.

4.)  Like mentioned before, my sixth sense is sort of like my gut feeling or intuition. It is like when a mother can sense if something bad is going to happen, particularly involving their child. When I make decisions I rely on how my gut feels and if it is a good gut feeling or a bad one. The same thing goes if I am going somewhere or might be in a bad situation, I can feel if something bad is going to happen.



1.) I think dreams are useful because many of them show events that have yet to come. That deja vu moment is so fascinating because we are dreaming about something that has not even happened yet. I also think they are important to interpret because they often have hidden meanings and underlying fears you are dealing with.

2.) The dreams that mystify me the most are the ones that have hidden meanings in them. For example, if you are worried about your appearance then you might have a dream about all of your teeth falling out. Another type of dream that mystifies me is a reoccurring dream that you might progress through each time you have it.

3.) For me, terrifying dreams are when it deals with something that scares you or makes you uncomfortable and you may wake up sweating or out of breath. The last terrifying dream I had was when I was surviving a zombie apocalypse and it was reoccurring. People died in front of me, I had many close calls, and I think it was just the adrenaline and heat of the moment feeling that got to me. I later looked up that the meaning behind this dream is due to feelings of hopelessness or loss of control.

4.) I believe people forget their dreams if they were not significant or maybe they were too scary or harmful to remember that their brain "erases" them.

5.) I do not think dreaming is a mental activity but more so a mental process.

Woolf vs. Mead

1.) In her tale of Shakespeare's Sister, Virginia Woolf mentions women's roles in Shakespeare's time which allows me to infer that she knew who her audience would be. The main reason for this is that she talks about how women were under minded and were intellectually inferior to men and not encouraged to participate in the arts. I think she mentions things like this to entice a female audience and show how far we've come in the way of women's rights.

2.) Historians do not really mention or give credit to women and only mention the cruelty they faced and beatings they suffered. Women did not really have control of their lives or choices back then and I think historians do not want to pay attention to women in that time period. 

3.) Back then, regardless of talent or ability, women were not given the opportunity or encouraged to act on their talents. They weren't encouraged to perform in the arts, they were often discredited and talked down to, and their intelligence was put down. Men were also taught to act superior towards women in arts and politics as well. Ultimately, Woolf agreed that we need to change men's and people's attitudes towards women in general and against their abilities. This would allow more confidence and give women more chances to embrace their talents.

1.) Mead has explained that there are not temperamental traits of men and women. Traits like dominance, bravery, aggressiveness, or objectivity are not seen as masculine or feminine and instead are considered to be variations of human behavior. This is something society struggles to understand because we try to generalize and stereotype certain behaviors to certain genders when we need to understand how fluidity works.

2.) In today's society we still place certain feelings and behavior to basic male and female genders. However, because people identify as other genders or sexualities, we restrict and disregard how those people feel and are not being inclusive. This makes society and community struggle as a whole because of close minded people who do not agree with the world changing in this sense.

3.) If there were a man with more "feminine" qualities or a woman with "masculine" qualities, and someone were to point out their flaws and how they should be acting, that person would feel rejected and unloved. This would cause them to not truly embrace who they are and cause insecurities in their life. Ultimately, the opposite gender could feel outcasted or that they don't fit a certain role which can become a major issue.

4.) Like mentioned before, our society remains to be very close minded and disagreeable to change. We should be more respectful and inclusive to people's gender and sexuality and accept people for who they really are. This also applies to minorities who are discriminated for their color, race, age, disabilities, religion, or ethnicity. We need to be more accepting so we can avoid stereotyping and generalizing primitive traits.