Whether 'tis nobler for the mind to suffer....

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche 

The definition of insanity is widely up for debate; people call statistically anomalous people insane, people who are mentally ill are often the normal definition of insanity, but I’ve heard poems and people say love is insanity.

My quote above shows Nietzsche’s views, that insanity is rare in people, very few people are actually declared clinically insane. But as a nation or group of people our choices can be insane, people voting in Big Brother in “1984” by George Orwell, spring to mind. Who would ever think a political party that said “ignorance is power” would ever in any parallel universe be a good idea. But then again people voted in Hitler, I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

But seriously, it’s easy to sit here and say I make wise choices that will not lead to a madman in power, but have you ever sat there being bombed? Hell, I can’t make a decision if someone’s speaking to me at the same time, let alone a war happening.

This led me to the conclusion that no one can classify anyone as insane, unless you have been in the exact same state of mind or position and done something better.  

Ellen xxx

WHAT IS THE SELF?! and ARE WE ROBOTS OR ZOMBIES?!

Okay, so before I begin this next post, I would like to start by saying something very important.

Last Friday I wrote a blog post about the Borrowers and kindly asked them to return my music. As it happens, they did and now I must officially thank them, they even put it into my music folder for me. Given, it was my old music folder. BUT A MUSIC FOLDER NONETHELESS.



So, Thank you Borrowers. Much Appreciated. <3



Annnndddd, back to business:



As we were sitting in Philosophy today, we were discussing the problem of humanity. What defines a human? Is it behaviour? Or consciousness? Or self awareness?

This lead us to the question: What if a robot is programmed to have these characteristics? If it behaves in the correct way, is able to answer questions, learn from its mistakes and take a step back from certain situations? Does this make it a human? Because if any of these features are what make a human being, then surely an animal could also be seen as human?



Just at this moment, my brain imploded. And then Louisa and I had an epiphany. WE ARE ROBOTS. We have been programmed to think in a certain way. You can't disprove that we're robots, so therefore we are robots. If you think like Rene Descartes. And if we say that the definition of a robot is that it is a machine built by someone, then surely all those religious people are complying with this belief, because a God made us?


Another important question was brought up during these Philosophical times, what if Louisa and I were to build a robot, cover it with real skin cells, hair cells etc, give it characteristics and a consciousness, and self awareness, would it be a robot, or would it be a zombie?

And what is a zombie? Are we zombies? Or are we robots? Or are we humans?

Let me know in the comments, and give reasons to support the statement you make!



Georgie :Dxx



[I had so much fun looking for pictures to accompany this article xD ]



Our Philosophy notes and debates.



What a Pigeon and Aristotle Have in Common

Something lots of people seem to have forgotten…as they run around with homework and planning for the future.

 

Aristotle’s key ideas can be summarized to;

Pleasure is good.

Pain is bad.

Seek pleasure.

Avoid pain.

And that’s all you need to do to lead a good, and moral life. Of course this gets a little more complicated when you factor in other people, as you have to allow for causing them pain or joy. But the principle remains the same even after all these years, in modern life its more about compromise than the two extremes but Aristotle’s theories can’t be denied.

Walking across the park the other day, thinking of all the things on my list of stuff to do, we saw a pigeon snuggled up on the grass, in the sun. Doing nothing. I think we’ve forgotten how to do that, if you see someone staring into space you wave your hand in front of their face. And teachers will yell at you for wasting study periods by sitting doing nothing that appears to be constructive.

I think we all need a little time set aside to do nothing but think, to concentrate on what makes us happy, and separate ourselves from all that other stuff we had to do.

We’re not pigeons, and life is certainly a little more complicated than it was in ancient Greece, but why not give it a try? Make a little time for the basics.

Louisa xx

Make like a pigeon and you’re halfway there.

Penguins

"Its practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry" 

 -Joe Moore

The Case Of The Disappearing Music

Okay, so I'm not the tidiest of people in this World, i'll admit, but today a strange and horrifying event took place...
I got home from school and attempted to gather my things together for my weekly singing lesson. I looked and looked, but the sheet music was nowhere to be found. I searched through all the places in the living room/dining room/ my bedroom, and it appears to have actually vanished. In the end I had to go to my singing lesson without, which caused many inconveniences.
My first thoughts were that a foolish family member had moved it, but upon interrogation, all four of them deny touching it!
So, this has led me to the conclusion that THE BORROWERS really exist.



As I am fairly certain that i didn't move my stuff, and my family definitely didn't, the only other option is the race of The Borrowers. This very popular book series/ film captured the hearts of many, but we still consider it to be a child's story. With no other explanation for the disappearance of my things, ask yourself 'What have I lost recently?' and the answer, without a doubt will be: The Borrowers.

[Please let me know if they return my stuff to the wrong house!]
Georgie
xx

The Hamster Exorcism

Following up from yesterdays post about sentient melons, I have conclusive evidence hamsters can think. My one, expertly named Dumbledore, is trying to kill me.

I once read a story about how a hamster burnt down a house by causing a spark with its little wheel. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that my furry friend is not only trying to drive me insane with lack of sleep, from the squeaking wheel, its trying to create a fiendfyre. 

If it was a demon I could just hire a priest to exorcise it, or to pretend to and charge me extortionate amounts of money. But it’s a hamster who the deuce is going to take me seriously? I mean it’s cute with its little furry ears and midget paws.

What I really want to know is can pets take therapy, if I wanted to kill someone I know I’d be shipped off to a counsellor. Maybe there’s a hamster whisperer out there who can solve the problem.

Now, people with actually scary pets must have real problems. Like the lady whose python was sizing her up to eat her? You must have heard this story its folk legend; a woman has a snake and she notices its growing horrifically fast and not eating so she takes it to the vet, who tells her its preparing itself to eat her. Not what you wanted to here about your beloved snake Fluffy is it?

Doesn't it strike terror into the cockles of your heart?

Someone should seriously start a helpline for this kind of pet related killings.

Lots of ice lollies,

Ellen xxx

Why my new friend Melon Face is sentient.

Strange as it seems, the cause of today’s existential crisis was a melon. More specifically, Melon face- a half water melon with seeds for eyes and a mouth carved in. My dad after cutting himself while carving the melon demanded revenge, but we quickly pointed out to him that the melon wasn’t sentient and therefore revenge would be pointless.

Or would it? We know melons don’t have a brain. We know they don’t think in the same way we do, their cells may not even be the same as animals. But what is to say somewhere in that fleshy mush of seeds and pink goo there isn’t a soul mixed in, one screaming in pain every time we take a bite?

Those Roald Dahl fans out there may have read a short story in one of his books ‘Skin and other stories- The sound machine’ about a guy who found out plants could be heard on certain frequencies, and that every time we cut down a tree you could hear them scream, if you just tried hard enough.

So, whilst I don’t believe we just have to find the right frequency in order to converse with carrots, I think until we can actually establish if and how souls exist we cannot rule out other sentient beings. Philosophers have been arguing about the mind body dilemma for years, but every one of them seems to have missed out on an important question- how do we know a rock can’t think?

Similarly this whole crisis reminded me of a story I once heard about a women speaking to Richard Dawkins. She told him she knew the world was balanced on top of a stack of pink elephants. Bemused he looked at her and asked her what she thought was underneath the elephants. And she replied “Why Mr Dawkins, it’s elephants all the way down”.

Long story short, we know what science tells us? But do we? Maybe we are just one melon in the great melon vines of the cosmos waiting to eating by some giant bigger than our imagination.

Louisa and Melon face xx

PS please end cruelty to carrots, follow us on facebook.