I realized that read.cash will be a good medium for this, not other blog sites. I can just send the link to my instructor.
And I'm still happy that I'm able to write even it was schoolworks. And I can still share them with you.
On October 16, we had our first meeting and class in the subject 'Understanding the Self'. Over all the class still felt like what first day of class I used to since the time of face to face classes. I learned a lot, not just on the lesson but also more about my classmates and instructor. It seems like Understanding the Self is also understanding everyone. I also learned that there are things I haven't learned yet about myself.
Even it was not part of the lesson, I want to highlight the introduction made in the beginning of the class. It's good to see my classmates' face and to know whether they are single or not, just kidding. Joking aside, I enjoyed knowing more about them, not just their name, but also a glimpse of their perspective, experience and life through the one question we answered when introducing ourselves.
The question given by Ma'am was 'Would you rather return to the past or go to the future?". I agreed with most of my classmates answers even though theirs was different from mine. I can see their point. I answered that I will return to the past not to fix my failures and mistakes but to spend more time with people especially childhood friends because I was always transferring and moving since childhood. Another reason was the fear of the unknown future. I wasn't confident with my answer and the way I answered because I am not really good at expressing my thoughts through spoken words.
The instructor also asked about our idea and prior knowledge about the subject. Most of my classmates shared their thoughts and I wasn't one of them. I wa not confident with my answer and I got regrets the moment lesson started. My answer in mind tackles Philosophy, I'm right but I didn't recite.
When the instructor was discussing the lesson, there were blurry memories uncovered and information recalled from the back of my mind. Names such as Socrates, Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Rene Descartes was very familiar because these philosophers including their philosophies were already taught in Philosophy class in Grade 11. While others are pretty new to my ears.
I easily understood Socrates' and Plato's perspective on the self not just because I already learned about them, but also that their perspective were not too complicated to my understanding. These includes perspectives from St. Augustine, David Hume and Gilbert Rule too.
On other philosophers' perspective on the self, I had hard time understanding by just listening. Plus my attention was divided because I'm doing something else. But after reading the instructional materials, I easily comprehended the lesson.
It's not exactly what I believe in but Gilbert Ryle's perspective on the self is my favorite one. According to him, the body and the mind are not separated and the self is the behavior including the emotions and actions shown by the person.
Most people define a person or one's 'self' by just one's actions and emotions, especially in these times. Behavior tells a lot about someone but it can't be the only basis if a glimpse was only seen to define a person. But still, I somehow agree with Ryle.
Anyway, this is my favorite because I remember a lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Daylight' from this perspective:
"I wanna defined by the things I love/ Not the things I hate/ Not the things I'm afraid of/ Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night."
It's kind of irrelevant but I connect the two given that love is an emotion and action. With Ryle's perspective together with Swift's be lyrical prowess, I can and want to be defined by my love for good friends, night, coffee, music, anime and writing. Not the failures and experiences I'm afraid of. Not the feelings and thoughts that haunt me in the middle of the night.
During and after discussing the lessons, the instructor asked some questions. One of these is "What will happen to yourself after you die?". It was answered by my classmate with a biblical statement that our soul will go to either heaven or hell. I have my answer in mind and I don't want to share it with everyone. Even though there will be no wrong answer, I don't want to recite with fear of people judging me.
Other questions were "How would you characterized yourself?" and "What makes you stand out from the rest?What makes you special?". I'm happy for my classmates that were able to answer these. I keep thinking and thinking for answers. Until now, I'm not able to answer these. I hope that what I have learned and I will learn in this subject will help me to formulate my answers. I'm not even sure if I'm standing out from the rest or am I special.
To conclude everything,I learned a lot from the lesson, learned things about my classmates, and I learned that there are things I need to learn from my self. I haven't completely understood my 'self' but I know that time will come.
