Linguistic Determinism and Free Will and Determinism

Earlier in the semester I suggested that we had free will before language. I continued by saying that we now have our lives determined because of language. This connects directly with the idea of linguistic determinism. This is the theory that language shapes thought. I just thought that i would point out these connections because it has made me realize that all of the things that we talk about in this class are connected somehow. So, don't lament when a topic is over,I'm sure that somehow we will come back to it later!!

tying up of loose ends

David Lee Rice is ALIVE. But only by a technicality. I really do feel that that man needs help.

I found the other famous movies that William Broyles wrote the screenplay for: Flags of Our Fathers, The Polar Express, and the newest version of Planet of the Apes.

Ok, I just thought that I would tie up those loos ends for now.

grrrr

for some reason, one word got highlighted during spell check and would not unighlight. if anyone knows how to fix this, please tell me.

Rethinking My Opinion On the Death Penalty

After watching Faces of the Enemy, I have changed my views on the death penalty.

You're probably thinking: Wait....wasn't that about war?

It was, but it also did a case study on murderer, David Lee Rice. He had gotten informatiton from somewhere that a family of four were communists. From what I understand, he had intended only to get information out of them, but in a panic brutally murdered them. He thought that he was a soldier in the US army, fighting the communists in our country. He was sadly delusional, and I do not think that he knew exactly what was going on. I think that putting him to death would not be a good idea. Keeping him in an institution for life would be better.

I feel that people that are that delusional should just be put into criminal mental institutions. I am not saying though that every person who claims insanity for reason of murder should go there though. there are many people who will claim temporary insanity. This is just a way for them to get out of being sentenced. I think that people who genuinely are delusional should get help.

I really would like to know what happened to Rice after his interview on the movie. I have been trying to search for information but cannot find any. If any of my classmates can find anything, please post it for me.

hmmm

i just realized that it puts the wrong time down for my posts. i hope that that didnt confuse anyone

Please Excuse Me While I Rant

Before watching Faces of the Enemy, we were warned that there would be disturbing images in the movie. I found something far more disturbing than the gore we were warned about: crazy delusional people. There was one lady who was giving a speech on how things were better when we lived by the law of God. She discussed the old days. She discussed a time when murderers were put to death. It sounds alright, but there is something wrong, it is not known yet what is wrong, the realization has not yet hit that this lady is crazy. Her next statement asserts any suspicions that the viewer has on her insanity. She says that in the good old days, when God ruled all, we executed the homosexuals. Now, it is obvious that she is anti-gay. I am sure that she is horrified by the gay rights movement. I would really like to point out to her that in those good old days, when gays had no rights, she probably wouldn't either. In the good old days, when God ruled all, men ruled all. She would not be making a speech, she would be at home cooking dinner for the man. Seriously, these people make no sense (and I hope as I am typing this that I make sense).

I apologize that this was a rant not on the topic of torture or anything that we have been talking about, it was just something that caught my attention. i felt everyone else should see it too. Thank you for enduring this rant to the end. :)

i'm sorry for the mess, but my brain has exploded

well, thanks to all of the talk on torture my brain has exploded. i am very confused. i had been very set in my idea that it was definitely ok in certain circumstances. then i heard about water boarding. i had never really thought that in today's world that anything other than beatings were used. now that i see that there are other horrible things, i think that only certain torture is ok in certain cases. but what cases, and what torture? thinking about this is what caused my brain to explode. in the dialogue, erica points out that maybe the person doesn't really have the information. what if that happened? and now i'm questioning myself too. i had always thought that i had been apart from the reach of television's desensitization. but the fact that i think that beatings aren't as bad as other forms of torture shows that i must not have been. so now that i have a headache from all of this (or is it from the stale gum i've been chewing?) i think i will end here. and, i promise that i will eventually get around to cleaning up the mess that i made when my brain exploded.

more on torture

the first thing that i would like to say on the subject of torture is a reaction to something that Betsy said today. she brought up the fact that she doesn't like it that animals are never included in the topic of legalized torture. personally i think that there is a reason for it. my understanding of the debate over legalizing torture has nothing to do with animals. legalizing torture has to do with being allowed to torture criminals into giving information. this really doesn't have anything to do with animals.

the next thing that i would like to discuss is the concept of nonintervention in the wild. personally i think that we should leave nature alone. animals are sometimes violent. this is just the way that the world is. it is hard to be this way, but i think that it is important to be this way.

The Ticking Bomb

Ok, you are an officer of the law. you have in custody a terrorist. Said terrorist has put a bomb somewhere in the city. it will go off and kill many innocent people. the Terrorist will not talk. Do you torture him for information?

YES

In my eyes, terrorists, murderers and rapists have no rights. it does not matter how much pain you cause them, they have caused a lot more to innocent people. In the instance where torture will save innocent lives, it is, in my mind, perfectly alright. Those people are more important than the scum that sits before you with his mouth shut.

BUT

I have a question: What kind of mental effect does all of this have on the torturer? You are just a law enforcement agent doing your job. How do you feel after seeing someone writhing in pain. No matter how horrible they are, it has got to do something to you mentally and emotionally. I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to handle it.

I would like it very much if the people in my class would tell me what they think the effect is on the torturer. I'm very curious about this.

To Love Or To Kill: Man Against the Animals

We watched a movie today in class with the same title as this blog entry. it was discussing the way that we treat animals. And "we" was not just Americans. It was everyone in the world.

The movie opened with talking about using animals to help the criminally insane. The animals help to calm them and there are less suicides and such when there are animals present. this makes sense, animals do have a very calming effect on people. This is why we love them so much.

Later in the movie, they were discussing a pet cemetery. Many people I know would say that this is a crazy idea and it is a ridiculous waste of time. But, I feel that it is not. I for one know that a pet often becomes a family member and is very much loved. My cat recently died, and I had a hard time functioning for a few weeks afterwards. She was more than a pet to me, I got her shortly after my uncle died and if not for her I am not sure how messed up I would have been. After showing the pet cemetery and such, they talked about dressing your pets up. I think that is ridiculous, but now I think I am a hypocrite: when my family went on vacation this summer, we had our dog stay in a dog hotel and spa. This is overboard, but it is because we love our pets as if they were family.

Shortly after this I had to stop watching the movie and plug my ears. From what I gathered, the movie was talking about how they eat cats and dogs in the east. I find this disgusting and horrifying. But, then I have to stop and think about it. There are places in the world where it is horrifying to eat a cow. They would probably be appalled at seeing a video where people are eating such creatures. In the east, it is normal to eat cat and dog meat. This is mainly based on custom. This means that the moral status of an animal is not constant throughout the world. This creates a bit of a problem. if we as humans are supposed to be responsible for moral patients, shouldn't the moral status of these moral patients be constant throughout the world?

Just a little side note: I almost threw up, because I could still hear the screaming of the dying animals, and would absolutely prefer to not watch the rest of the video. it was quite sickening.

More on Animals and Morals

I don't really have all that much new to say on this topic. but, i do know that we had talked in class about beings that were merely alive, and the point was brought up about plants responding better when you talk nicely to them. I think that things that are merely alive should not even come into the conversation about morals.

I do think, though that we do need to look at the sentient beings that we are not sure if they can feel pain and pleasure or not. This means things like oysters. I thing that since it is a sentient being, we should give it the moral respect. Since we do not know if it can feel pain or pleasure, we should give it the benefit of the doubt, and try our best to not inflict pain upon it.

Animals and Morals

Ok, I first have to set everyone straight: I am probably thebiggest animal lover in the world. I do believe that animals are capapble of intelligent thoguht and of loving someone. I also feel that there are instances when animals "know" you and "know" how to make you happy. What I don't believe, however, is that they are capable of metacognition, or of moral thought. They do not reflect upon their actions, and wonder later if they did the right thing. They do what they think of at that moment, and then it's done. It's over, on to the next thing. Saying that they are not capaable of this reflection is not saying that we should love them any less. They are no less to us because of this, if anything, this may be part of why we love them so much. I mean, who doesn't want to spill their secrets to someone who will love them no less, no matter what it is they have done?