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We have all heard “dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum,” right? If you haven’t, and even if you have, take Mr. Nicholson’s Philosophy course. I took a full year—Ancient Philosophy in the fall, Modern in the spring—and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Let me tell you a bit about it.
We would explore Metaphysics daily, questioning whether or not God, the soul or the world exists. Puzzling over why there is being and not-non being drove us insane. Even A=A was not a given. My mental universe was shaken with questions demanding answers. But first I had to learn how to learn about learning.
Thus, we would turn to Epistemology, which deals with the way we know what we know. One problem arises called the Learner’s Paradox. If you’re looking for truth, how do you know when you have found it? If you already know what truth is, why are you looking for it? To answer this conundrum, Plato postulates the theory of the forms, where one has a previous existence in a realm full of true knowledge. Ripped from the realm of the forms, birthed into a body and brainwashed to forget what you knew, the process of learning would be that of remembering. Aristotle answers this enigma in a divergent manner. Take the class to find out how “The Philosopher” outthinks his teacher Plato.
Explaining that everybody thinks they know something, Socrates takes pleasure in bringing people through dialectic to the point of elenchus, where they realize they know nothing. Socrate’s wisdom came from the fact that he knew he knew nothing. That’s a wise guy if there ever was one.
Philosophy makes use of the original texts of the great men of renown. Don’t be surprised if you read the Crito, Meno, Phaedo, the Republic or all of the above. Mr. Nicholson said, “Everyone of these texts is a nut, and you have to crack it.”
Try splitting the following nutty sentence about Principles taken from Aristotle’s Physics.“Nor can they be innumerable, because, if so, Being will not be knowable: and in any one genus there is only one contrariety, and substance is one genus: also a finite number is sufficient, and a finite number, such as the principles of Empedocles, is better than an infinite multitude; for Empedocles professes to obtain from his principles all that Anaxagoras obtains from his innumerable principles.”
Even though that is only one piece of a much longer treatise, don’t let it scare you—your teacher can lecture on that one part for the whole hour.
Dear to my heart are certain unreproducible moments. From Andrea Slosser ‘07 hiding under the desk and tickling Mr. Nicholson’s toes and my turning on the T.V. numerous times through out the year, to Sean Nam ‘07 kung fu fighting and Amanda Haase ‘07 drawing creepy spiders above Mr. Nicholson’s head, the 06-07 philosophy class was “da bomb.”
The fact that each class is unique adds to the adventure of plucking peoples mind with paradoxes. After sitting in on this year’s class, my understanding of philosophy is shown to be knee high to a grasshopper. The well of Philosophy is so deep as to never be dry. Ask a philosopher how much they think about “The Good” and they well stare at you blankly. I encourage everyone to become a lover of wisdom.

Big quote:
“I warn you, philosophy is good for your brain.” —Mr. Nicholson

Quirky Quotes
Ask Mr. Nicholson about these phrases: “You have been drunk.” “I never leave my dreams untainted.” “Your mind is a bad neighborhood. Don’t venture into it alone.” “When you are willing to take the monad seriously, you want to know if it is true.” “You can pick your friends and your nose, but not your friend’s nose.”

Profound Poetry
A Reflection on the Republic: The Cave by Matt
The Sun, The GOOD, is blinding!
I stare, but know not.
I feel the heat, but can not understand.
Is there any hope for episteme?
Are all doomed to doxa?
Put me back in the cave!

Note: These are fake!

Titles: Faux Obits, Rigor Mortis, Nefarious Necrology, Pre-Mortem, Ante Mortem

Jacqueline Dawn Hill
Jackie was born in the back of a van, May 6th, 1992. Last Tuesday, Jackie died unexpectedly while dining on a steak with mushrooms at a Ritz Carlton Hotel. After an intense investigation into the cause of death, the chef revealed that the hotel had tried a new line of produce that accidentally included tainted mushrooms. Following the trail further, the farmer that grew the fungus admitted to using manure from a bovine with mad cow disease. Jackie’s favorite hobby was collecting rare rocks and garden gnomes. Left in a diary to be read at her funeral, Jackie revealed that she had an unfulfilled fetish for tackling people. Her family mourns the loss of a bright, caring, and crazy child.

Dezarae Monique Avalos
Born January 8th, 1992, Dezarae was brought into this world with a tail that was removed eight days after birth. The 1st of December, Dezarae broke her neck and died while sledding down Crystal Lake Hill. Dezarae was accompanied by Brooke Schumann, the only witness to the incident, who used her cell phone to call 911 at the time of the tragedy. At first, the police expected foul play, but later evidence revealed Brooke’s innocence. The body will be transported to Texas where a large cremation ceremony will take place. According to her wishes, Dezarae’s remains will be released into the Gulf of Mexico.

Natalie Brooke Guse
While her parent where staying at a Motel Six, Natalie was born September 23, 1991. Sadly, this Thanksgiving, Dick Cheney shot Naddy while she was taking a leisurely stroll through the woods. Wearing a brown coat with rabbit fur, Dick Cheney misinterpreted Naddy for a doe and fired three rounds. As to the reason for her presence in the forest, it was later revealed that she was running away from home. Her parents had threatened to lock her in the basement for a month if she did not improve her grades. Naddy will be sadly missed by her thirty three goldfish, three pet parrots and devoted family.

After a very valid comment by the webmaster of http://cogitatute.blogspot.com/ relating to the first A Creationist Responds post, I thought I would post some further information on the Bombardier Beetle for anyone that is interested. Below are links to Creationist and Evolutionist perspectives on the insect. Video is also included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/bombardier.html

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2985392003153442886

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/422599.stm

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v12/i1/bombardier.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpJ3asv3XMY

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/10/09/science/10eisner.beet.ready.html

http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2102

http://flickr.com/search/?q=bombardier+beetle

A Creationist Responds
Alex Korndorf, a critic of creation, cannot say the following without meriting a response: “[Intelligent design theory] is pure dogma with absolutely no basis in reality.” I disagree. The reality of creation is firmly founded. Korndorf also said, “Not only are the intelligent design lobby’s arguments against evolution void, but intelligent design is not science at all.” I beg to differ. Check out all the bibliographic information at the end of this article. There are serious arguments, facts and scientists supporting the creation science side.
Alex Korndorf asked for an example of an irreducibly complex organism that “ has absolutely no evolutionarily beneficial results unless it is fully evolved.” The Bombardier Beetle is one creature that fits the ticket:
“The bombardier does appear to be unique in the animal kingdom. Its defense system is extraordinarily intricate, a cross between tear gas and a tommy gun. When the beetle senses danger, it internally mixes enzymes contained in one body chamber with concentrated solutions of some rather harmless compounds, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinones, confined to a second chamber. This generates a noxious spray of caustic benzoquinones, which explode from its body at a boiling 212 degrees Fahrenheit. What is more, the fluid is pumped through twin rear nozzles, which can be rotated, like a B-17’s gun turret, to hit a hungry ant or frog with bull’s eye accuracy.” Quote from Natalie Angier reported by Rich Thompson/ San Francisco, Time Magazine (February 25, 1985), p. 70.
At the same time, how could the beetle evolve both the chemicals and the chambers? There would be no point to developing chambers if there were no chemicals to fill them, and if there were no control mechanisms, the bug would explode.
If one wants to explain the origins of the universe without God, one must elaborate on at least the five following areas: 1. Cosmic Evolution, 2. Chemical Evolution, 3. Stellar and Planetary Evolution, 4 Organic Evolution and 5. Macro-Evolution. One must first explain how all the matter of the universe arose from absolutely nothing. The evolutionist says that “In the beginning, there was nothing, then this nothingness formed an infinitely dense singularity that began spinning; this then exploded to form everything.”
One must next go on to explain how the elements formed. Evolutionist Harlow Shapely said, “In the very beginning, we say, were hydrogen atoms…” Some evolutionists claim there was also helium. The question of how all the other elements came about remains. Thus the miracle of the star comes in to harness the hydrogen and helium to produce all the other elements. But how does a star fuse past element number 22, Titanium?
Even more puzzling is what caused the planets of our solar system to have vast variation in their component elements. “The first two thirds of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and methane”(http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm) while “Iron makes up about 70% of Mercury’s total weight making” (http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu).
I think the last two definitions of evolution can be left for another article. One more comment of Kordorf’s deserves a response. Korndorf said, “…evolution supplies us with a fossil record in which not one single authentic fossil has ever been found outside of where the theory of evolution says it should be.” To clarify, evolution does not provide us with the fossil record. Evolution is merely a theory that tries to interpret the fossils that the earth provides. Evolution says that the fossils were laid down slowly over millions of years, while the Creationist theory says they were laid down quickly by a global flood. And fossils have been found outside of their postulated geologic column.
Walter T. Brown writes in 1989 book “In the Beginning” that “Practically nowhere on the earth can one find the so-called ‘geologic column.’ In fact, at most places on the continents, over half the ‘geologic periods’ are missing! Only 15-20 percent of the earth’s land surface has even one-third of these periods in the correct consecutive order. Even within the Grand Canyon, over 150 million years of this imaginary column are missing. Using the assumed geologic column to date fossils and rocks is fallacious.”
Will any responses to this article evolve out of nothing or will they be produced by intelligence?

Sources: Harlow Shapely, “On the Evolution of Atoms, Stars and Galaxies, ” in Adventures in Earth History (1970), p. 77; Walter T. Brown, In the Beginning (1989), p. 15.

An Examination of Finals

Do end of semester exams benefit students? Before a flurry of emotion responds, take time to look at both sides of the paper. It might only be a one page test.

The Pro-Exam Faction
Those in support of finals argue that the tests give students the chance to learn what they were supposed to have learned during the semester. Others say that exams encourage the student to retain information in his or her long-term memory. If a student knows s/he will be tested on materials learned over months, they will spend more time studying the material.
Exams also give students the opportunity to correct mistakes they made on tests. As a student reviews the work they did throughout the course, they can fine-tune their mastery of the material. If you get an answer wrong once, finals is the time to prove you now know the correct information.
If the teacher weighs finals heavily, students who have slacked off a wee bit during the year get a chance to boost their grade. If you have a “B” grade so far, and ace the final, a B+/A- is possible. On the other hand, if the teacher puts less gravity on the exams, one does not have to worry as much about a negative impact on their standing grades.
Teachers point out to students that exams in high school prepares one for standardized tests, college exams and other tests like the MCAT, LSAT, GRE and NBDE. Some people also think exams give a more accurate assessment of student knowledge than homework or regular tests. Regular work is easier to cheat on, they claim.

The Anti-Finals Faction
Because cramming only puts information in the short term memory, teachers feel the students are cheating themselves of long term knowledge, which is the whole point of education.
Furthermore, students complain that having to take finals can result in anxiety, sleeplessness, headaches and depression. The adolescent scholars thus suggest that teachers assign a final paper or project instead. Having longer than two hours to complete an assignment can ease the pressure a stressed student feels. Papers and projects also give students a better outlet for all the knowledge they do know, compared to an exam where knowing the answers can be a hit or miss game.
A creative project can be used to unify all the concepts learned over the semester. Multiple choice exams overemphasize rote memorization instead of exercising the more important goals of being able to analyze and synthesize concepts. Students and teachers alike can testify that failing a final exam can ruin the semester grade.
Some students feel that the weight placed on the end of term test is too large in comparison to all the work they did over the semester. Surely, the countless hours practicing math problems, reading chapters, and writing essays cannot compare to what one can output in two hours. Student athletes also point out that sports don’t have an ultimate test. The success of the team is progressive and contingent on past performance. If the team keeps winning, they advance higher and higher until they level out at their peak performance ability. This would thus be their “grade.” People also point out that paper tests can be an unfair judge of certain subjects. Someone in art can not be expected to complete a masterpiece in two hours even though they have created magnificent pieces throughout the year. Finally, students can cheat on a paper final exam whereas the teacher can more accurately access the oral responses of the student in class throughout the year. Anyone familiar with the ACT or SAT knows that test prep books have tricks and tactics that can increase your score without raising your knowledge of the given area. This same problem can happen on exams.

The English 2 Honors class starts the same as any other day with the sophomores chatting in their desks and the teacher upfront preparing his lesson. Unbeknownst to the class, dark machinations are brewing within the professor’s cranium. Suddenly, the teacher pulls a desk in front of the only door to the class; then his hand reaches up and slaps the light switch to cloak the classroom with blackness. We wait. Nothing happens.
We twiddle our fingers, but our teachers’ hands are still. Anxiety rises in our minds as we try to decide what to do. Someone provokes the teacher; the teacher responds by handing her a piece of paper with a scrawled message. She reads the note but does not share its contents with her classmates. The rest of us discuss these crytpic and wonder how to solve the conundrum.
Meanwhile, I busy myself with the mission of uncovering the meaning of the message. The singled-out student refuses to share; I become bitter and decide to get a message of my own. I walk up to the teacher, the infamous Mr. Gardner, of course, and kick the desk he is guarding. He scowls, scribbles, and hands me a note; I rejoice that I now have a clue to decode. There are two words on the scrap–”Strike One”–suggesting the well-known baseball rule “three strikes, and you’re out.”
I have a sudden insight that the events of our present reality in the classroom coincide with the plot of the book we are currently reading. In Ender’s Game, the solution is to attack the powerful master and weaken him into submission. After a heated debate, we all decide to overthrow the ’sleeping Cerebus’ guarding the door. I, with the help of my fellow English pupils, grab the legs of the Mr. Gardener’s desk. We strain to pull the weight of Mr. Gardner from his purported locus.
We succeed. We start to leave the classroom in triumph, but Mr. Gardner obstructs us again: NOW he is ready to start class. We had a lively discussion about the final chapters of Ender’s Game.
For a student at Wayland, the previous story is almost an ordinary event. I have tons of other fun classroom memories to recollect and share.
During a normal Monday morning Philosophy class, I experienced an overwhelming urge to hide under Mr. Nicholson’s desk before class and pop out while he was in the middle of a lecture. Crouching down underneath the picnic-sized-table, I knocked gently on the wood overhead to freak out the teacher above. No response. I then pushed on the top of the teacher’s shoe, was presently caught red-handed and then called a sicko; the class was giggling while the professor was unnerved. I then returned to my seat and tried to focus on a lecture about the Kant’s universal maxim of acting in a way that you would want the world to act.
At the moment, word quota restraints for this article are looming; I can only share a few more highlights. One day, I proffered a hefty Old Time Gospel Hour Bible to an atheist classmate and she accepted the Good Book; that made my day. Another time, I wandered into Wayland’s dusty, dishevelled archives to uncover the history behind our Alma Mater.
The nostalgia could continue on and on, but I must wrap up and pronounce a moral to this story. I thus proclaim: Make every ordinary day extraordinary. Never let tedium, monotony, or boredom set in, but instead, spice up your life with spontaneity, randomness, and
excitement. Never let the day end without howling at the moon. For example, discuss plumbing with your professor or practice acting with your dog. Or you can smile in the mirror when you wake up in the morning. Time is limited; don’t waste it, make it count. Carpe diem: Seize the day.