(First Essay of College) Believe to See
Written August 22, 2009
English 1101
I won’t see it until I believe it, which is the opposite of I won’t believe it until I see it. Basically, if you want to see something really badly, you have to believe that you will see it. Just look at faith, the belief in a higher power. Believers of this are able to see the miracles and divine interventions happening all around them simply because they believe. Even though, is just believing in something enough to see it? Or does it take something more than just believing?
If you look at how America was changed after 9/11, you can see something “miracordinary” (miraculous and extraordinary). People all over the world began to see that there was something more than just what could be seen. They could see that there was something behind ‘the curtain of life’. Statistics support that by showing that more people began to go to church after 9/11 than were going before 9/11. Something made these people want to change their lives, so perhaps they believed and saw something.
The curriculum in schools was also effected, as parents and students began to demand that a prayer time be allowed. Some schools even started teaching about the Bible. There was even a riot in Detroit to allow students to bring a Bible to school without getting shot. So what had happened to these people? They simply believed that there was something more, and thus, began to see it. This rise in faith didn’t last, as soon people in Detroit began shooting each other again. However, in the end, it took a catstophe to get people to believe. That catastrophe was something more than just believing.
There is also a saying that people believe what they want to see (or hear). If someone truly believes in something, then it exists, even if only to themselves. For example, if someone believes that witches exist, then to them, it is true. Evidence shows that if the person believes super hard, then it will actually manifest itself in our reality. One example of this happening is ufos. Since so many people super believed it, it actually happened (as far as we know).
Sometimes though, a person believes something but it just doesn’t happen. This person may then feel the need to convince other people that is exists. Sometimes, they are successful and they create the item or thing in reality. This is how calculus was born. Someone believed in imaginary numbers and convinced people that non-existent numbers were actually existent.
Of course, there is another way to see things that you believe in. This is called a hallucinogenic drug. While on these drugs, you can see all sorts of shit. Scientists refuse to believe any of it, and since their word goes against the seer, it doesn’t exist. So you can see what you believe, but you have to either really believe it or be on drugs.
However, sometimes no matter how hard you believe or no matter how many drugs you are on, it just isn’t going to happen. Just look at the legalization of marijuana. You can believe it will happen all you want, but it won’t. The idea is simply too ridiculous and doesn’t have any meritable value. The evidence against the arguments for reasons why it should be legal is too overwhelming. The only exception to this ‘rule’ is the state of California. By now you should already know that California is dead.
You can also look at a certain president who promised plenty of “chope” (the false promises of hope and change). Plenty of people believe that he will change America and bring hope to the hopeless, but they are wrong. He hasn’t come through on any of his promises even though he has over 9000 percent of the people believing that he will. The statistics show that the hope and change to belief ratio is at an all time low due to certain events. This may likely account for nothing happening, but then again, we can’t know for sure. Another example is pop stars. Plenty of people believe that they are good singers but it just isn’t so. In the end, there are times that believing doesn’t work and there is nothing that can be done.
Sometimes, to see something, you have to really believe that you will see it. One way is to have faith that is exists, and it isn’t just smoke and mirrors. An alternative is to believe with all your heart and soul, which requires a lot of determination. Then again, sometimes it just isn’t possible. So ask yourself; are you the “faither” (person who uses faith to see), a “superliever” (person who believes with all they have), or a person in denial.
(Second Essay of College)Impossible? Never. Unless.
Written September 8th 2009
English 1101
Comparing and Contrasting “Impossible”
According to dictionary.com, impossible is something that is “incapable of being true” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impossible). Therefore, if there is no way to prove something exists, then it is impossible. For example, if this definition is followed, then it is impossible for the Loch Ness Monster to exist. However, this definition does not explicitly state the confines of the words meaning. This definition allows no limits to what can or cannot be impossible, but others give a concise literal boundary. There are two ways of looking at impossible; personally and universally.
One way of looking at impossible is personally. Something may be personally impossible because of physical limitations. If something is impossible personally, it is something that someone themselves cannot do but others can. One impossible idea is human flight. Michael Jordan believes he can fly, but that is impossible. The reason for this is that the human body is not capable of aerodynamic properties like a birds body is. Something may be impossible personally because of mental limitations. If something is impossible personally, it may be something that a person will not allow themselves to do. They may be afraid of doing it, therefore putting a limitation on themselves. A person may be unable to fly because they are afraid of airplanes, which does not allow them to fly. Impossibility can be personal due to mental and physical incapability.
Another way of looking at impossible is universally. If something is impossible universally and physically, no one can do it because it is theoretically impossible. Some things are theoretically impossible because the laws of physics do not allow it. It is theoretically impossible to grow gills, hereby allowing no one (universally) to have them. If something is impossible universally and mentally, it could mea that no one can comprehend it. Some things are so large and vast that the human brain cannot understand them. It is mentally impossible to truly comprehend the concept of infinity. According to Dina Gohar “Take the number 10100, also known as a googol: we know exactly what it is, and can even list the million natural numbers which are its closest neighbors-yet, the human mind cannot actually visualize 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 of something” (http://www.trottermath.net/personal/infinity.html). Impossibility can be universal because no one in the world can do or comprehend it.\
Impossible is something that cannot happen because it is not possible. Things can be personally impossible because of personal limitations or a comparison to someone else’s abilities. Things can be universally impossible because nobody is able to do it. Impossible can be both universal and personal, it all depends on how the definition is viewed.
This is one from first semester on Rape. It was done in letter form:
Dear Elliot Stabler,
In Margaret Atwood’s essay “Rape Fantasies”, a woman discusses rape and how it is becoming the popular topic in magazines. She theorizes that every woman at one time or another fantasizes about being raped. In these fantasies, the rapist is always handsome and polite, being gentle and kind.
However, in reality, (most) rapists are not handsome and polite, and are actually violent and ugly. Rape is a frequent crime (though I find it to be a guilty fetish of mine,I would never commit the act myself), and most rapists are repeat offenders that cannot be cured by conventional means. If these methods do not work, a new method, brainwashing, could be used.
The first method is the ‘Science Fiction-type machine’ method. In this version of brainwashing, a machine is placed on the offenders head and rewrites the person’s brain, effectively creating a new mind, or mind-set. An example of this would be like the movie “A Clockwork Orange”. In the movie, the person wearing the machine gets a shock every time he has any sexual thought. Though this isn’t ‘true’ brainwashing’ in the ‘mind rewrite’ sense of the term. Another example is the movie “Disturbing Behavior”. In this movie, the machine completely changes the mind of the person wearing said machine, turning them into a perfectly polite person. These methods are infallible, but only in theory. In the case of “Disturbing Behavior”, the high pitched squeak of a mouse causes the brain to revert to it’s original state (if I remember correctly). If the “A Clockwork Orange” method were used, it could have deadly side effects Both methods, though very effective, have major weaknesses that make them vulnerable to failure. If one were to chose to use either of these, they would need to be extra careful that the experiments were conducted correctly.
