Free Will

Today was SUCH a great day in class! Mr. Summers left the classroom to go help another teacher; we were all given tasks to do while he was gone. So, after watching a clip from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" about the "Bridge of Death" (clip is posted above), we briefly discussed in small groups what it could represent and why we were asked to watch it. Not surprisingly, our philosophical discussion soon dissolved into various forms of gossip, friendly chatter, and unrelated laughter. I believe it was Emma who first suggested we get the whole class to discuss together Sophie's World and the possible philosophers that Monty Python was playing off of. Anyway, to make a long story even longer(!), someone started the idea that maybe Mr. Summers was actually testing us and spying on us from Mr. Vogel's room across the courtyard... :) In response to this dreadful thought, and the idea that if it was true we would currently be failing, our class agreed to sit in a circle on the floor (because that's how we interact best) and discuss the Sophie's World.

In my small group, I had brought up the fact that I thought part of Monty Python's message in killing the Keeper of the Bridge of Death and two of the knights, was that we must:

1. Understand the questions we ask and know what we are looking for, even if we do not claim to know the answer (failure of the keeper)

2. Never ingenuinely adopt the views of other people; only strive to be yourself (failure of Sir Galahad of Camelot)

I think it's actually very applicable to my life, and I'm sure, to the lives of others. Every day, people copy the actions of those they aspire to be like. For example, some people try to dress or behave like the popular people at school hoping they will receive the same kind of attention and live the same kind of life. However, this is not truthful and it is not real. Just as Sir Galahad said that his favorite color was blue when it was really yellow, and was punished for his foolishness, we too will have these types of mimicking behavior backfire. 

I also think it is really important that when I doubt or question something, I understand what exactly I am questioning or what type of answer I'm looking for, even if I know it is not the best approach. Sometimes it is the shameful questions we ask that reveal what we are really thinking and what we are really looking for. In this case, I am thinking of how someone may address the bad qualities they seem in themself (like selfishness, greed, disloyalty, deception, phoniness, etc.). It can be really difficult and painful to judge oneself, but if you probe in your heart long enough, you may be able to achieve truth or gain knowledge about yourself. 

When Mr. Summers did come back into the room, and we told him how we thought he may have been testing us, he said he had not doubted our capability of listening to instruction. We were. But did he imagine us to succeed in that way? It gets a little complicated when the result is the same, but the cause or process is different. Mr. Summers imagined that we would have no problem organizing ourselves and staying on task, but it was actually the thought of being tested that drove us to act. Was this inevitable? Were we destined to obey Mr. Summers? Could we have done anything else? It seems that every possible/available process would have ended with the same result. I'm not really sure how to think about this subject yet.

Finally, we talked about the concept of free will. Do we have it? To what extent are humans in control of their actions and decisions? If we don't have free will, does that change our reality? What is reality? To Alex it is a combination of impulses sent to our brain (look at the clip from "The Matrix" below...we also watched this in class). I go back and forth from believing that this is true to believing that it is no way to live. I don't quite know how to make sense of reality...if it even exists.

thanks -j