Aphorisms

"Hell, there are no rules here -- we're trying to accomplish something".
-Thomas Alva Edison
WARNING: I am trying to accomplish a four in this homework, things can get messy. 
As I was searching aphorisms for this assignment I read this quote and I though it was perfect for me. The thing that was a catch for me was that I loved Machiavelli's philosophy of "the end justifies the means". I do follow this philosophy but not to its extremes, by extremes I mean illegal stuff, but sometimes a little autocratic is fine for me. I also follow this quote by never giving up. I am the type of chess player that when he only has the king vs. the guy that has every single pawn, doesn't give up. I will try to win, even though by that moment I know the greatest thing I can achieve is a tie. This quote is also very interesting if you see it from the point of view of the author, Thomas Alva Edison, the creator of the light bulb. We know he was a great inventor but we also know he played dirty. Nikola Tesla was his greatest competitor and we always see him doing nasty things to him. I would not call myself nasty, I would call myself autocratic. Did I get a 4? If not I will stay to opportunity days to improve my grade. If I still dont get a four I will go and have a godfather style talk with my teacher.

Questions3

1. Who are Baucis and Philemon?
Baucis and Philemon are two poor people who receive two homeless guys without hesitating but with the biggest pleasure then they realize they are goods.
2. How do they differ from other people?
They are modest and they care for others, they took care to homeless people without them even asking.
3. Why do Zeus and Hermes reward them?
Because they helped them when they were acting as homeless.
4. Describe their wish.
Their wish was to die at the same time because they didn't want to weep on each others graves.
5. What does this story suggest? What is its didactic message?
This story suggest that you need to help the needed, and that if you don't stop loving you don't die. The didactic message is to love and help the needed to be truly happy.
6. Do you agree with this idea of love? Why? Why not?
Yes I agree because you see old single people and their life is a rutine they are machines, they are sad but the loving old are really happy.

Questions

1. Who are Hades, Fates, Tantalus and Sisyphus?
1. Hade is the god of the underworld. 
2. The fates are three women who determine fate
3. Tantalus is a guy in the tartarus that stole ambrosia so he is always thirsty.
4. Sisyphus is the king of Ephyra he was punished to roll a rock up a hill and then see it roll infinite times.
2.  How can Orpheus get Eurydice back?
1.     While they are leaving the underworld Eurydice will be behind Orpheus and he must not look back.
3.  List the ways we are invited to interpret the story.
1. 3 ways which are the story of love, the story of time and the artistic way.
4.  Which interpretation do you most agree with?
1.  Is this story a story of an artist, and the loss that comes from sudden self-consciousness or impatience?
5. Is this a love story?  Why?  Why not? If so, what kind of love does this seem to be?
1.      It seems to be a story of appearance love and pleasure love because he turned around to see her beauty. 

Siddhartha Sec 4

                   This section of Siddhartha is very similar the the tv series The Last Airbender. In this chapter we can see the strongest era of change and reflection of Siddhartha. Just like in The Last Airbender where Ang starts being an immature Avatar but then he goes through a era of change and becomes a very strong Avatar.

                 During the era of change, Siddhartha and Ang have a very similar event that will change their lives forever, that someone touches them and they are enlightened. In the case of Ang its this ,big giant lion/turtle/island, which is also a mythological creature, enlightens him by touching his forehead. In the case of Siddhartha is the ferryman that touches him and then enlightens him. Siddhartha also reflects on how rebellious he was with his father when he left. Ang is pretty much the same he was treated with so much care that he left bored of his life. During Ang´s path he has many encounters with this guru. The guru is very similar to the ferryman because both talk about inner peace and give the example of rivers.
              At the end they both have very similar fortune. Siddhartha becomes one of the most important spiritual leaders of all time. Ang is the same he ends up being the best Avatar, a spiritual leader, of all time.

Section 3

Questions
Why do you think Siddhartha went back to the ferry man?
Why do you think Siddhartha's relationship with Kamala faded?
Do you think Siddhartha will take care of his son?
What might be the motives of the author to show govinda again in the story?
What does the gambling represent in the story?
Why do you think is the reason that Siddhartha tried to kill himself?
How would Kamala´s pregnancy affect siddhrthas decisions?
Who will be the next buddha?
What is the importance of Vasudeva?
What came first the Tao or the Buddhists?

Part 2 pgs 31-60

             In this section of Siddhartha the author talks about how you have to enjoy everything and stay focused to be successful,  that you need to learn from every opportunity and that love is the key of happiness. I have seen the same elements in a movie called Peaceful Warrior.
               This movie is about an athlete that wants to do an Olympic record. During his journey he meets this trainer that teaches him ho to achieve his goals. He says unto him that he needs to live the moment and not think about anything else that might distract him. He also teaches him the importance of love in achieving his goals and that he needs to learn from his mistakes. With siddhartha is very similar and different at the same time because he finds love, but he cannot love. Meanwhile he is a merchant that discovers that he has to live in the present to be successful just like the peaceful warrior. In both the movie and the book we can see clear examples of the tao. Like flow with the stream a live the moment.
            At the end of the movie the main character achieved what he wasted  Lets hope Siddhartha can also achieve his goals by living the moment, finding love and learning from mistakes

SECTION 1 pgs 1-30

Questions
What does Siddhartha wish to achieve with this protest against his father?
What motivated Siddhartha to go with the sammans?
What made Siddhartha unhappy?
Where will his quest take him?
What is his objective?
What does he wish to find?
Doesn't e regret becoming a samman?
What does he think about buddah?
What does he think about govinda leaving him?
why was he happy tha govinda abandoned him?

The Tao of Inception

1. The first example of the Tao in inception is how everybody is absent minded. They concentrate on pursuing the money, so they don't notice the damage that the dreams are causing them. But there´s this girl called Ariadne she doesn't care about money, so she is present in the moment. She pays attention to every detail and is the only character that cares about Cobb´s past. Just like the Tao says a person that is not absent minded is present in the moment. This is one of the ways that the Tao criticizes Confucianism, he says all Confucius followers are absent minded.

2. The next is the Tao of Shawshank Redemption. Andy arrives to Shawshank like all the other inmates hes sad, and wants to go out but only because he has a taste of freedom. But many of the old inmates like Brooks don't want to go out of jail because they forgot what freedom was. They don't have the base to the argument. And that´s what the Ying-Yang says, that to know good you need to know bad.

3. The last example is the Tao of The Prestige. In the prestige there is this magician that wants to create a teleporting machine, so he goes to Tesla and Tesla tells him some things are beyond our understanding. But Mr. Anger doesn't understand this because he is absent minded. Tesla believes in Tao ideas that nature is beyond human understanding.

Paradox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhdL_oAHtdc
These are two awesome paradoxes in inception (I know they only count as one). These are the famous Penrose steps. I know I could just have posted a picture but its inception so this post will be awesome. The Penrose steps are stairs that go in a cycle. The ladders are always going upwards, or downwards, and somehow the beginning is connected to the end, or the other way around. If you think about it's impossible because to be able to connect the beginning to the end the staircase has to go up and then down, or down and then up. That's why it is a paradox it is logical and illogical.

This is a cube, but it's actually impossible. A normal cube would have the third leg (from left to right) on the back of the cube. But its not and the cube doesn't seem distorted or anything, its normal. But still not normal. A very logical, illogical cube. It's impossible but possible in this picture. 

Take a closer look Mr Ferrebe this is not a normal elephant, it seems to be normal but it has five legs and the legs have no feet and the feet appear from no where. It's a very illogical picture even though when you see it it seems normal. Its a paradox possible but impossible a contradictory statement.

Confucius Analect Reading Blog

Analect 4-12: The Master said, "If in your affairs you abandon yourself to the pursuit of profit, you will arouse much resentment."

           This analect means that when you stop being yourself to strive for money you are going to be hated by many people. This happens because you become a selfish person. This happens with many stockbrokers today, and in many movies, that they never get married, without children, because everybody hates them.

          This analect I can connect it strongly to the book a Christmas Carol. This book talks about a guy that was super rich, and one day 3 spirits visited him, they represented the past, the present and the future. The spirits show him how everybody hates him and resent him. How he will die alone, and how he screwed up in his social life. That is exactly what Confucius is telling us with this analect. That money can make you a hated person just like Scrooge, who lives alone and is hated by everybody. 

           This is one of the many analects that Confucius made. They all have a significant meaning and lesson.