Comments on other final papers

~~~~~Mara R's Paper~~~~~

You say that no one will ever know the true meaning of life. I agree. I don't think that anyone has any better clue than the next person as to why the universe came to be, what was before it etc. The potential, origin etc. of us humans either. I think the common question "why are we here?" is an odd one. It assumes some sort of divine purpose which for some reason I think is silly.

On the other hand, I think that when a person creates their own definition of what life's meaning is it is legitimate enough for the individual. It's hard to imagine a "true" meaning of life.

Your last paragraph was very interesting. I believe it suggests that Americans don't really have a culture and because of this don't really know how to appreciate food - or else have a different understanding than that of cultured people. Well, any society has a culture, but I agree than the American one is pretty trashy when it comes to appreciating things like food. Of course, the American population is made up of people with all sorts of cultural backgrounds but children whom are born here, if they aren't lucky enough to have enough outer culture around them will only know what is fed to them by those who wish to make money. The food industry has cut every possible corner at this point.

I imagine it's wonderful to grow your own vegetables :] your garden sounds nice. The people in Italy giving homegrown vegetables to others that you described reminded me of things that I saw while I was in a small town in France. Nearly every day there was an area along a few streets that were lined with people selling and trading vegetables of their own - all home grown. It was most of the townspeople - not like, the few garden nuts, you know? I remember thinking how differently we seem to think of our food in the US.

~~~~~Kyle C's Paper~~~~~

I found your thoughts on knowledge being "poisonous" very interesting. You make a good point. I think that our desire as a species to answer all the questions may eventually be the end of us. And even on a smaller scale, most people do seem to have a relatively great deal of shit flying at them and it becomes difficult to separate important things from insignificant and material things that will die out.

Becoming Amish won't happen but if it could, you're right - in this day and age simplicity unfortunately won't cut it.

I agree that science is now the unspoken religion of choice for many people. In science we trust as it gives us explanations for once mysterious aspects of the universe.

You say that we've become too aware, and I have a similar opinion. I just also think that a certain level of awareness above what primates evidently have could help make for a better and more meaningful life. I wonder how aware we should be.