Choose ONE of the following 2 questions and answer it on the blog:
1) On p. 21, Socrates says, “your feelings and reactions, Dan, are automatic and predictable; mine are not. I create life spontaneously; yours is determined by your thoughts, your emotions, your past.” Explain the meaning of this quote. Connect your explanation to a summary of the important ideas in this chapter. Focus on the ideas rather than the story. Also answer this question: Do you ‘create life spontaneously,’ or do you allow your ‘thoughts’ and your ‘past’ to determine your life? Explain.
2) On p. 28, Socrates tells a story about a construction worker. After the story he says to Dan: We all make our own sand sandwiches.” What does Socrates mean by that? How is this story related to the other ideas in the novel? Can you think of an example of how you make your own sandwiches (past or present)? What advice would Socrates give you if he heard your example?
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12 comments:
p21 when socraets said "your feelings and reactions, Dan, are automatic ...."
he meant that Dan is struggling with his life and emotiones because there is nothing clear or came in after thinking or planing, and hes mind full of unnecssaey knowledg thats controling his moves and reactions in his life, however socreates life's is more stable and scure because he planed almost every thing in his life.
and we can see that clearly in p17, for example when socreates asked Dan"where are you ?
Dan,what do you mean where am i?
socreates again, where are you ?
Dan, i'm here ...etc
that show us in an obivos way that socreates qustions were much deeper than Dan was expected or even his thghts.
for my self i think this book is going to change the my way of thinking in diffrent things,mostly i'm not reliyang in planning my life, eccept in a couple of extremlye important things other than that i belive in fate alot but i really started to think deeper than that.
2) On p. 28, Socrates tells a story about a construction worker. After the story he says to Dan: We all make our own sand sandwiches.” What does Socrates mean by that? How is this story related to the other ideas in the novel? Can you think of an example of how you make your own sandwiches (past or present)? What advice would Socrates give you if he heard your example?
Socrates has meant, that all of us are responsible to make our own future, to take our own decisions and how we behave when we´re in front of other people, but we can´t be blaming others about things that they did or didn’t do. He also explains that we all have freedom of choice in our lives and when that comes into, we have to do it responsible and then we can live the life we want to, and sometimes we have to fit on others shoes, to realize what we are doing wrong.
The words that Socrates said are related in some way, because, pages ahead after the trip that Dan took with Socrates, where Dan had realized that he was a human with feelings, he had a dream that took him from his childhood until the he died alone without knowing about his son. He observed a possible future of his life that was not good. Socrates said to him, that the only way to change that future in changing his behavior, his life, his temper.
If I am right with the definition of “We all make our sandwiches”. From my childhood until now my parents have given to me so many good advises in how I should confront the different situations that we can find in our life. I have taken a lot of decisions some well done others not, but I never escape from its results, I always face my decision (well at the beginning I’ve felt a little afraid, but I think it’s normal), because, from those results I can take a good experience that probably in the future will help me. I can give you an example. When I was at college, just ending my career, my girlfriend in that moment got pregnant, I was so afraid about that I was 21 years old, without a stable job, only my scholarship but it wasn’t enough, well, I had done something and must take responsibility about that, so we took some decisions, and faced up. Now, my daughter is 11 years old, she is beautiful, she is at school and growing up. Otherwise, If I had not taken part, I mean, that I had left my girlfriend alone in that situation, I couldn´t see my daughter in this moments or probably she could hate me.
Well, at the end I think we all have to learn about our experiences and not blaming other people, we are responsible about all the things we do and how we act, nobody else.
On page28, Socrates said “We all make our own sandwiches.” means everybody make our own character. In the story of a construction worker, he always made sandwiches which ingredients is his dislike. Same as this, Socrates's words mean we all make a character that we don't want to be. We don't live as just ourselves. Sometime we have to hide real feeling and pretend to suit for the situation.
For example, when I have a meeting with my friends and all of the people agree with the idea except me, I can't say my opinion and I will pretend agree with the idea. In this situation, I make my own sandwiches because I make a character who agree with the idea and I hide my own character.
As this example, we make our own sandwiches, a character, to make a smoothly relationship with other people especially with friends or at the company. It is because if I live always act what I want to do and always say what I want to say, relationship will broke and I will be alone. Everybody don't want to be that, so we have to make a character to live in a society.
Socrates want to tell Dan about how he make his own characters and how it is meaningless to live like him. He doesn't care about what he is thought from people around him and he lives as his own character. That is important in his lecture. So he tell Dan the story about a construction worker to realize him about that. Also he will give me an advise that to live my own character. As my case, I can't tell my opinion and bear the idea that I can't agree with but it is so ridiculous for Socrates. So maybe he call me a jackass.
Question No.1
The meaning of this quote is that Dan have made his life by his preconceptions, very narrow point of view, and less experiences.
And, the important ideas of this chapter are these. First, what lead us to real achievement are only experiences. Second, we can get realization more than understanding from experiences. And, realization is not just to know about something, but to know about how to handle something. Third, if we want to experience something, we have to act with great and constant energy. And, experiences can make knowledge alive more. Forth, we have to be aware and have responsibility that we made our knowledge and experiences by ourselves.
So, in my opinion, Dan has not experienced a lot and he has relied his dicisions on a tide at every important point and crossroad in his life.
In my case, I am creating my life by both ways. I am going to think about the reason why I dicided to come to the U.S.. On the one hand, it could be said that this decision is spontaneous. That is because I have not lived in international environment and I do not all that want to work at the workplace where English would be useful. Ans, I would like to study about world wide business at Walt Disney World. Plus, no one recommended and also objected me to study about that. On the other hand, it could be said that this decision is from the result that I allowed my preconception to determine. That is because I had a vague image that I could find what I want to do if I lived abroad. This thought is common for young Japanese students. And, I might just follow this thought.
So, I do not know exactly whether I came here because of my spontaneous mind or thoughts and path. Maybe, I used both ways.
On p. 21, Socrates says, “your feelings and reactions, Dan, are automatic and predictable; mine are not. I create life spontaneously; yours is determined by your thoughts, your emotions, your past.” Explain the meaning of this quote. Connect your explanation to a summary of the important ideas in this chapter. Focus on the ideas rather than the story. Also answer this question: Do you ‘create life spontaneously,’ or do you allow your ‘thoughts’ and your ‘past’ to determine your life? Explain.
I think Socrates want to make Dan understand that he should pay more attention on his future, because at present, Dan just paid attention on his thoughts, emotions and his past. But these things are not important and the most important is the future, because people have to live in future and not past. We have to know the past thing can’t come back. If he doesn’t pay more attention his future will be bad like he saw when he sat down on the chair. I think writer want to tell readers that ourselves master own fates and we can change our fates, we just should find out how to do that. If your life is bad now, just change it and everyone can change yourself fate, but most people don’t aware this point.
I think sometimes I allow my thoughts and my past and I think it’s very difficult to do that totally create life spontaneously and totally don’t care thoughts and past. But sometimes or most time I can do this. For example, I have got 3 years diploma in my country, so there are many choices such as find job, found own shop and so on and I have to choose, but the problem is that which choice I should choose and nobody know the result. Most classmates chose to find a job, of course I can choose this and I think it’s easy for us. But I think this choice is not good. I know my achievement of academic is not good, but I don’t think this is the finally result of my academic. I want to change and the 3 years diploma is the past. I have to change, because if I don’t change, now I can express my future. It’s boring. So I chose go abroad to study. Most people tell me it’s very difficult and there is no necessary. But I know if I chose this and my future will be different from that way. And I believe this is better choice for me. As a result, I do this. Now, I study in USA and I have learned more difference experience. I feel I have changed my fate. If I chose working in my country, maybe now I can’t find where is my way and maybe I would continue confused.
This book make me understand something more clearly and my favorite sentence in chapter one is that the life is the only real teacher. Excatly!
With the sentence “ We all make our own sandwiches” Socrates means that we really can decide what to do, if only we want to. In the same page (lines 7-10) he explains very well what he means: he says that every circumstance of our life had been arranged by us, either consciously or not. And he says also that we haven’t to blame others or circumstances for what our life is. Instead we have to take responsibility of our existence as it is, because life is like we have let it to be.
The same topic is also present on p.47, when he says “there are different interpretations of the past and many ways to change the present, there are any number of possible future”. Here the idea is ever expanded in the past: the different ways to interpret our past depend on the cause-effect relationship we choose. It is important not to give all the whole responsibility of what had happened only to one or more causes, because we had been able to interact with them and to make together the result.
It is request lots of training and will to learn how to build our lives, and Socrates refers to this idea on p.24 when he tells about the ninja and their ability to jump. It is necessary to start from the little things of life to be able to determine the big ones. First you have to decide how to spend your days, what to eat, how to dress,… and then you should be able to decide what job do you like, where do you want to live and so on. And you have to interact with the things around you and hardly to fight for they become real. Socrates says (p.26): “eventually, there was no stalk that the young ninja could not leap over”.
The worker of the story is complaining for his unhappiness too. This seems to be the problem of all the people on the Earth (p.42): they can’t see clearly, they are looking for happiness and they can’t find it, but it is “just around the corner”.
Every day I am interacting with all is around me in order to determine the little things that together build my life. For example, here at Interlink I can decide how many people I want to speak to, and so I can set the speedy of my language improving. And if now I don’t make a hard work, in the future I can’t blame the teachers for my poor learning.
Socrates would tell me that no one of the circumstances are going in the wrong way and that how much I learn depends only on my will to do it.
2)
The meaning of Socrates’ word quoted in question is that there is a definitive difference from a life determined by one’s thoughts, emotions, and past, and a life independent of them. Then, Daniel’s life is dependent on them as if they let him move automatically, so he can’t lead a life on his own creating. It is the instance that when Socrates went up on the roof in an instant, Daniel can’t think a method except so real reason.
Additionally, Socrates means life requires intense feeling and constant energy, so his life determined by his real emotion from his own experiment can let him say that he create life spontaneously. However, Daniel was full of unnecessary thing like knowledge. As Socrates says to Daniel, knowledge alone is not sufficient and no amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain Daniel’s sprits, so he lives shallower life than he expected to think. That’s why, if Daniel releases his thoughts and listen to his own body intuition, he will create a deeper life.
In my case, I think I led a life determined by my past and thoughts, on the other hand, I believe I live on my own creating, so both Socrates’ and Daniel’s life apply to me. For example, when I made a decision to come here to study English and work at Walt Disney World as an intern, I thought what I was not enough and what I need for my future by looking back on my past experience. I have worked at the café and the prep school as an intern, and there, I realized I was not enough to make a customer or students happy completely, so I needed to learn about hospitality more and more at Disney which is famous for the quality of their customer’s content. This is the reason and referred to p.23 “I speak to you from my own experience; I am not relating abstract theories.” On the other hand, that I decided it by the Disney fame that I didn’t feel or realize but heard secondhand for people is related with Daniel’s one. As I mentioned above, my case applies both. Now, I am not exactly sure whether it is good or bad to be determined by my past, thoughts, but reading this chapter and touching Socrates’ thought made me want to create my life spontaneously if I can lead a much deeper life.
No.1
Socrate meaned : the way which they solved,felt,thought about their life is different.
+ Socrate : do not depend on the past , thoughts , emotions and he creates his life spotaneously.
+ meanwhile : Dan is on the contrary. ex: when Socrate disapppear and appear immediately . He thought Socrate has a twin...
i think that this conception is not new because i watched a lot programs like this on vietnamese TV . the human always thinks about their life following a path which is called experiences that's the reason why they lose their inventiveness.
i also like Dan ,i can't create life spontaneously because of my thought , past , emotion , experiences .and i think that there is seldom a person who can control his life without thinking about the past , experiences....
for example: i wanna be a good girl ,,, and in my country , a good girl is mature , original hair (do not dye hair), not sex before wedding....
On p. 21, frankly, the only thing that I know about Socrates is his name. Unfortunately, I didn’t read any books for him. What a shame! I really don’t know if the author of way of the peaceful meant by Socrates the person which I know his name or not. However, I consider Socrates as a soul’s father of philosophy. I think he meant that Dan works as a machine. Dan works very HARD, but not SMART. Dan’s reaction is not volitive. In fact, most of his feeling and reaction are not rely on consciousness. He had better work on something which is called consciousness-raising. Most of Dan’s life is without perception. Plus, when he wants to behave himself, he often does it in a way that you expect, but Socrates doesn’t. In my opinion, you could create life spontaneously, but you shouldn’t be as a spontaneous person. In my understanding, nobody would disown his past as well as her/his present and future because the past is as a part of the present as well as the future. We could consider our past as a part of our present and future, but we shouldn’t consider our present and future as a part of our past and this is the real difference. I think that Socrates meant by the past, the negative pages of our past. We cannot forget everything of our past. When Socrates said that he creates life spontaneously, he meant his present and future. I believe that every single person has a lot of things in her/his which s/he loves. We have to have the positive things of our past to support and encourage our path. I believe that Socrates divided the human being into two parts. The first one is the mind and the second one is the heart. Actually, we cannot separate them because they are working together. The evidence of that when Socrates said to Dan “your thoughts which are in the mind and your emotions which are in the heart. In my opinion, if you use one of them, you should consider yourself as a half person. According to your question if I create life spontaneously or if I allow my thoughts and my past to determine my life, I would say that I am trying to be as Socrates rather than as a part of his soul. Because where there is a will, there is a way, I would say that I already have a will of my life, but I am still researching for its way.
This quote is pretty self-explanatory in that Dan’s actions, thoughts, and feelings are all a reaction to other’s actions, thoughts, and feelings. Dan does not do as such on his own accord and needs others to function. Socrates claims that he, on the other hand, does not base his actions, thoughts, and feelings on reactions. He is perfectly capable of living without depending on what others do. This is an important theme in the book because Socrates is trying to teach Dan to break out of the shell that he has been stuck in for so long in order to be able to think freely and independent of other’s ideas. Socrates’ statement about Dan being only able to react is a small lesson in his overall goal.
My past will always affect the decisions I make. For me, my past and experiences are what have shaped me into what I am today. Because of this, I cannot get away from my past when it comes to my actions and choices in everyday life. When I make important decisions, particularly involving the relationships around me, I think of my past experience and how I may have been affected in similar circumstances. On the other hand, I am also able to make spontaneous decisions. I know that there will always be some circumstances where I will have to jump out of my shell and take a risk even though my past experiences have shown that it is likely I will be harmfully affected.
On p. 21, Socrates says, “your feelings and reactions, Dan, are automatic and predictable; mine are not. I create life spontaneously; yours is determined by your thoughts, your emotions, your past.” Explain the meaning of this quote. Connect your explanation to a summary of the important ideas in this chapter. Focus on the ideas rather than the story. Also answer this question: Do you ‘create life spontaneously,’ or do you allow your ‘thoughts’ and your ‘past’ to determine your life? Explain.
According to Socrates, a warrior must act with his or her feelings using his knowledge. On page 19 Soc. says, “Use whatever knowledge you have but see its limitations. Knowledge alone does not suffice; it has no heart. No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your sprit; it can never bring you ultimate happiness or peace. Life requires more than knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.” Actually this quote explains our questions wonderfully. Dan is not a warrior right now so he behaves automatically. He shapes his life using his past and his emotions. For example Dan thinks that he is a college student but Socrates service cars so, Socrates doesn’t help Dan because Dan is educated better than Socrates. This is general idea or knowledge. However this is not correct for Socrates. In this situation, Dan thinks with his past knowledge.
Do I create my life spontaneously? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Actually past is important for us. We should experience from our past life. But, we should not focus our past. This is the fact of happiness. I know but it is not easy for me. I can’t give up thinking past. A Turkish philosopher says “yesterday is yesterday, it is in the past; tomorrow is future, we don’t do anything about that; then, live your time!”.
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