Right Before My Very Eyes
"I'll believe it when I see it:" is one of many common catch phrases included in our every day vernacular. A person who declares this is asserting that they will not be fooled by another's assumptions or perceptions of the world. This understanding raises a great sense of security within us, concerning the things that we do see, and inversely, an unavoidable sense of insecurity in those beliefs that are not supported by vision. Do you believe in Ghosts? Angels? Out of body experiences? Would you believe if you could see them? Maybe not. But it is possible to offer those who are withholding there stamp of approval on things that exist but cannot be seen, a better summary of evidence, which could make the inability to see something an invalid criteria for belief. Could a summary of evidence be compiled that would support this: Our vision is incomplete, incorrect, and can even be as misleading as to create something within the brain that does not exist at all, shedding light on a brain that is more of a visionary, and less of a reporter.
Human beings rarely contemplate the significance of their own blind spot, a place where processes of neurons join together and form the optic nerve; it is here that the brain receives no input from the eye about this particular part of the world. What I discovered while entertaining myself with a simple eye exam aimed at divulging the capabilities of the brain in the face of the eyes blind spots was fundamental in my exploration of the trust we place in vision, and so I will explain it briefly. Our brain can ignore a dot that exists on the page and "fill" the spot with the color of its surroundings, no matter what the color. However, it is not that our brain cannot conceive of an image or of a shape to fill this place. Continuing with the experiment leads you to find that the brain will continue the line that is obstructed with the black dot, covering the sides of the dot in the surrounding color, and transforming the image before you into a line within your brain. A line that is absolutely not there.
This reveals more than just a weakness in the eye, but an ability of the brain! (1)
Clifford’s claims. Clifford believes that everything must be believed only on the basis of sufficient evidence, including belief in God (Feinberg 139). Clark’s issue with this statement, is that Clifford emphasises that adequate evidence is necessary for all beliefs and in every circumstance (Feinberg 139). Personally, I do not think it is necessary to hold every belief to the same standard of evidence because of the existence of faith and the fact that not everything has to be seen to exist. In John 20:29 it says, “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (NIV Bible). In this passage, Jesus is saying that believing without the visual evidence is particularly harder than having the evidence, but more importantly, it is possible and blessed. Additionally, in 2 Corinthians 5:7 it reads, “For we live by faith, not by sight” (NIV Bible). It is important to notice that in this verse it does not say that we only live by faith and not by sight when it comes to belief in God, but instead we can in every area of life. One reason why we live by faith and not by sight or complete evidence is because it is more practical because as humans we have limited knowledge about the vastness of the universe and every individual thing. Furthermore, in conjunction with Clark’s example against Clifford, it would not
O'Neal, Michael. President Truman and the Atomic Bomb: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 1990. Print.
Sense Perception is a way of knowing in which a person can acquire knowledge using their five senses - taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. Sense perception is an important in our understanding of the world, and is a source of much of the pleasure in our lives. But, can we trust our senses to give us the truth? This may come out as an odd question to many because according to experience and history it is known that humans greatly rely on sense perception as a means of survival. However, like all ways of knowing, sense perception has its weakness; our senses can easily be deceived. In his TED Talk, “Are we in control of our decisions?” behavioral economist Dan Ariely uses examples and optical illusions to demonstrate the roles, strengths and limitations of sense perception as a way of knowing.
...nd a functional equeation for the zeta function. The main pupose of the equation was to give estimates for the number prime less than a given number. Many of his gathered results were later proven by Hadamard and Vallee Poussin. Riemann’s work affects our world today because he gave the foundation to geometry and when other mathmaticians tried to prove his theory they accidentally made other profound and significant contributions to math. Bernhard Riemann’s most influential assistors were his professors among them Gauss, Weber, Listing and Dirichlet. Perhaps of the four Gauss and Dirichlet had the most influence upon him, Gauss guided him as a mentor and Dirichlet’s work gave him the principle that his work was based on. Immortal are those who are forever remembered throughout history Bernhard Riemann past away in July 20, 1866 at the age of thirty-nine.
When most people hear about rapes, murders, and drugs they think about the news and movies. They never would have thought a book could express these controversial topics correctly. I was one of those people before I read “The Glass Castle” and “A Place to Stand. ““The Glass Castle” is about a girl that grows up with parent that shouldn’t have kids. She struggles with growing up poor and not getting the support she needs when awful things happened. “A Place to Stand” is about a boy who grows up without his parents around and eventually ends up in a maximum security prison for selling drugs. Most of the book is focused on him learning how to read and write in prison and all the awful things that happen there. These books were marvelous representations of the authors, Jeannette Walls and Jimmy Santiago Baca, lives. They had many negative things happen to them through out there life but they were able to persist and become the well-respected people they are today. They made their life relevant to us with their memoirs. I liked both of these books very much but there was one that I enjoyed a lot more than the other. “The Glass Castle” was a more superior book than “A Place to Stand.” I enjoyed the short story aspect of “The Glass Castle” compared the long narrative of “A Place to Stand.” It was a lot easier to put down Jeanette’s book without becoming confused the next time you read it. Also I love the whimsy Jeannette puts on topics that aren’t typically whimsical. Jimmy’s novel is completely serious throughout the whole book. Finally, every character in “The Glass Castle” seems to develop and grow throughout the book. Other than Jimmy most of the characters either die or are never seen again by the end of the books. These are bot...
In the spring of 1945 as the bomb neared completion, Leo Szilard, the main creator of the bomb, was becoming a worried man. Although America felt no pressure from Germany because we knew they were not far enough along in their research to build an atomic bomb before the war ended, “Szilard now began of think about the effect that the use of the bomb might have on international relations” (Isserman, 168). He tried to set up a meeting with Roosevelt to discuss his concern, but the President died before Szilard had a chance to go meet with him. Now, with a new President, Harry Truman, the pressure to use the bomb was too great to be denied.
The ideas presented in Outliers are surprisingly aligned with my own. It makes sense to me that a person’s success isn’t all about ability and his or her individual merit. In the past I have reflected upon my successes to find that I was not alone while achieving them. I have been given tremendous opportunities in life. I have always challenged my own definitions, and I like the spin Malcolm Gladwell puts on his.
Human beings’ belief systems don’t always work according to evidence. Belief is made up of
In today’s society many countries and even citizens of the United States question the U.S. government’s decision to get in involved in nuclear warfare. These people deemed it unnecessary and state that the U.S. is a hypocrite that preaches peace, but causes destruction and death. Before and during World War II the U.S. was presented with a difficult decision on whether or not to develop and use the atomic bomb.
In the book, groups of successful people are broken down and Gladwell compares their individual characteristics to see if there are any abnormal trends. He starts with talking about how the chance birthdates of a large number of professiona...
In Stephen Jay Gould’s essay, “Some close encounters of a mental kind,” Gould discussed about how certainty can be both blessing and dangerous. According to Gould, certainty can be blessing because it can provide warmth, comfort and secure. However, it can also be a danger because it can trick our mind with false information of what we see and remember in our mind. Gould also talked about the three levels of possible error in direct visual observation: misperception, retention and retrieval. According to Gould, our human mind is the greatest miracle of nature and the wicked of all frauds and tricksters mixed. To support his argument and statements, he used an example of an experiment that Elizabeth Loftus, a professor from University of California Irvine, did to her students and a personal experience of his childhood trip to the Devils Tower. I agree with Gould that sight and memory do not provide certainty because what we remember is not always true, our mind can be tricky and trick us into believing what we see/hear is real due to the three potential error of visual observation. Certainty is unreliable and tricky.
In an Army unit, where every individual must be willing to trust someone next to them, even with their life, the ability to do what is right at all times is a necessity. Without integrity, an Army unit will cease to function in a cohesive manner. How can any soldier be willing to look at a fellow soldier and trust they will help them in a time of need if the simple task of doing what is right is left out? At the same time, what is right? Can an amb...
Upon reading Will to Believe, there is no doubt we will all begin to question how we’ve gotten to our beliefs and why we believe what we do. William James argues against forced beliefs and expresses the importance of choice. The idea of choice is one I strongly agree with. Although we are easily influenced by others, when it comes to beliefs free will must come into play. As far as the science method, which I have discussed, a belief is just as valid whether there is evidence or not because most scientific methods will never be one hundred percent proven and they will change over
Life after death: a mystery to most, but unsolved to all. Scientists and ghost hunters dedicate years and years of their lives searching for proof of the dead still roaming earth. Some believe the presence of some dead linger, while others believe spirits haunt. What I believe to be true is the existence of ghosts and their link to their former life on earth; my belief can be confirmed by the abundance of video and picture proof, eye-witness accounts, cultures, and numerous belief systems. Oxford Dictionary defines ghosts as an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living.
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html