Joe Hoffmann

Journal 3

Reason

 

This week we talked about reason and how it relates to our lives.  First we discussed the process of reasoning, and then we got into the Five Steps to Critical Thinking and the Five Common Thinking Errors.  We also discussed the three kinds of knowledge and how reasoning helps us to better understand and utilize the knowledge we take in.

Three Key Ideas

We spent three days in class watching the movie/documentary “WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW!?”  For starters, it helped me better understand Quantum Physics and many of the claims behind it.  This movie was very helpful in that it showed us the views others had on the world and gave me many new ideas to think about.  Much of it I found hard to believe, but for the most part it made you think.  Their were many bizarre ideas they brought up such as the words on the water bottle can physically change the structure of the water.  This was one thing I found very hard to believe or understand.  One thing that is similar to this idea, but a little easier to believe is that your mood, emotions, and feelings can physically change your body and the cells within.  I find this believable because your body can release fluids into your bloodstream when you are in a certain mood that can change the structure of your cells.  Unlike this the words on the bottle of water have no connection to each other.  It is an idea, something not even tangible, that they say can effect the physical structure of water.  I like many ideas they mentioned such as we only hear what we want to hear, we block out the non self-serving ideas and let in the self-serving ideas.  There were other ludicrous things said such as all humans are god and that eventually all of us will reach the level of Jesus.  Though only some of the ideas they presented were in my mind possibilities, the movie definitely got me thinking.

Another thing we did and discussed that I would like to remember was Gary Brown’s best Homily.  He started out with having us, “imagine there’s a heaven.”  He gave us a new way to look at life and heaven that I have never heard before.  He compared humans in the womb preparing for life to life being a preparation for heaven.  The womb prepares us, helps us grow and be ready to enter the world.  Similarly, life in the world helps us to prepare for heaven. 

In class we watched an episode of 60 minutes on Victor Crawford.  Victor was a cigarette marketer and salesman who lied and deceived people about cigarettes and their effects on people.  Victor knew that cigarettes were harmful, addictive, and caused cancer, but he still denied it to the public.  Victor openly lied to the public for his own personal gain.  Because of his former position of power in the government many people believed him.  This really says something about humans and the way they act.  We will do virtually anything for our own personal gain and wealth.  Only after he himself got cancer did he tell the truth to the public.  He openly spoke out against the lies and false advertising of the cigarette companies.

No longterm effects?

Question

            If we believe that god will just forgive us of all of our sins then why do we try to live good lives when god will just forgive all of our sins anyway?