Get Organized

I would say that I am organized, but unlike Aristotle I don't use logic and classification when organizing. After a week my bedroom and bathroom start to get very unorganized and messy. I decided to get organized, so for this project I chose to clean my bedroom. 

My bedroom has several dressers and shelves so I decided to clean them off and reorganize what was on them. For example, I put the books on my bookshelf in alphabetical order. On my dressers I grouped items together that I used daily and ones I rarely ever use. For the past few months since school started, my textbooks have been scattered on the floor, so I put them on my bookshelf. I also organized my clothes. I separated the dirty ones from the clean ones by throwing the dirty ones in the hamper and hung up my clean ones. It only took me about 30-35 minutes to straighten up my bedroom.

When I was cleaning up my room I started to get frustrated and bored because it seemed to be taking forever. So I plugged in my iPod and listened to my music. My music made the cleaning tolerable. I was able to finish quicker because I couldn't be disturbed by any other noises around me. After I finished cleaning I had such a feeling of relief. I was finally done. 

After finishing the project I had a big sense of relief knowing that my room was finally clean and organized. Before this project I had no idea that I was able to get even more organized than I already was. Even though I wasn't classifying my stuff in my bedroom everything had its own place. So overall I think that this project was an interesting way at looking at getting organized. 

Best of Week: Sophie's World

Throughout this last week in humanities we have been discussing the book Sophie's World. It can be difficult to understand so the discussions that we have in class help me understand the book better. Each philosopher that is mentioned in the book are all so different from each other so the discussions and worksheets that we do help me understand the differences between them. We discuss certain parts in each chapter and write down notes in the margins.

I can look back on both worksheets and book notes when I'm studying for the test over the entire book. We have done the same with the Shadow Catcher but I feel that these notes would be more helpful because Sophie's World is a little more complicated. But despite the book being complicated I find it very interesting.

I enjoy this book because I have never thought about all of the questions Sophie is asked. I have asked myself why the world is what it is but I never get an answer. Mostly because there isn't just one single answer. I never thought of the world as if it started out as nothing. The author does a great job using Sophie as a type of reflection process.

We discussed that several times this week. We also discussed Plato's world of ideas and senses. Plato has many theories which are hard to understand so we had worksheets and notes. And after discussing the notes I was able to get a better understanding of the differences of each of the worlds.

Discussions are a good way to hear everyone else's thoughts on the book, which also help the class with understanding the book. So overall, I believe that discussions have and will be very helpful in the process of reading this book.

Best of Today: Sophie's World

In class we discussed the book Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. The book is about a fourteen year old girl named Sophie who is like any normal teenager. But that changes once she gets these mysterious letters and lessons in the mail about philosophy. We started reading at the beginning of the week and by Thursday we are already five chapters into it.

The two chapters that were discussed in class today were mainly about philosophers from ancient times who had own thoughts about the world and how and why it's that way. The two chapters go on and on about which one was wrong and who believed in what. It almost seems as if the man or woman who is giving Sophie these lessons is just giving her the facts. And when Sophie is done with each lesson she reflects on it by asking herself questions and trying to make connections with reality.

We discussed that how Sophie reflects on each lesson is helping the reader understand the nature and basics of philosophy. Also the reflections give the readers the understanding that philosophy can't be learned but people can learn how to think philosophically.

I agree that philosophy is a concept that cannot be learned because it isn't just about one thing in the world, it's about everything that has to deal with the world. There are so many questions to be asked about the world and each question can receive all sorts of answers. No answer is correct and no answer is wrong. There are too many answers given, which is why only one won't suffice.

Can something really come from something? How did the world become like this? I can see myself asking these same questions because nobody really knows what stuff in the world comes from.  Nobody ever questioned why things were the way they were because that's how they have always been. Nobody truly knows how the world became what it is today.

What we discussed about Sophie's World really got me interested in thinking philosophically because there are so many questions about the world that not only myself, but what most people want to ask.