Reflection #2

The book is getting extremely trippy and the whole thing with the mirror is really haunting and freaks me out. Alberto is a weirdo for calling Sophie Hilde and the fact that he's so secretive. I don't think its right for him to keep Sophie in the dark about everything. I find that to be quite rude. The suggestion of reincarnation is ridiculous to me because that argument doesn't make sense because how would Hildes father know who Sophie and obviously who Hilde is. Also HOW is all of Hilde's belongings appearing in Sophie's room? Is she becoming Hilde or something? Also as a side note about religion I was thinking like what if there isn't one right religion since the majority of religions have different types of proof like miracles etc. what if whatever religion you choose is the one you need to live out following its rules and there's heaven and Nirvana and everything for all of the religious groups. I feel like something like that would be very very interesting to think about like we always wonder 'which religion is correct' but what if it's all correct like if I'm Christian and I decide that then I had better be the best Christian possible but if I'm a Satanist or something I had better worship the devil like no other. I don't know that's just what all of this religion talk made me think of.

Application #2
I don't think that what I read in the book Sophie's world over break can be very well connected with my life. Honestly, this book is just really starting to creep me out. I guess the only connection that sort of resonated with me was the reference to a lightbulb going off above a cartoon character's head as an indication of understanding. I'm really interested in etymology so Alberto's break down of the word "idea" really did fascinate me. It reminded me of how my advanced placement French teacher, Mr. McMullan, always goes through word origins when we learn new vocabulary to help us understand the true meaning of the word and how it came about. This portion of the book also made me think about languages in general because there really are tons and tons of languages out there in the world; there are probably more languages than I think there are! Anywho the book is just getting much further away from reality and harder to connect my own life with, but I do believe what Alberto was saying about God and nature because I feel like nature is proof of God's existence. Nothing can be this beautiful and terrifying and well structured without some high power and that's just it.

Philosophy connects with my life in countless ways. First and foremost it relates to me religiously. I'm Christian an I definitely beleive that I was born for a reason and through following Gods word I can achieve my destiny or whatever he has planned for me. Philosophy also connects with my life all the time when I close a door. I always wonder if rooms just disappear when they're out of sight. Or when I close a paint can what color the paint is. I'm excited about this class because it's great that we can talk about these paradoxes all the time. A lot of times thinking about philosophical business makes my brain hurt, but I feel like this class will be a good chance to set aside some time to think where I'm not the only one who is confused. I guess there's some comfort infighting things out with other people who are going through the same struggle as me.Take outer space for example; I hate thinking about it because the planet and furthermore the whole universe is entirely too big for me to wrap my head around. If I'm just a a tiny speck of dust, what right do I have to worry about my purpose?

Reflection #1

Sophie's world is an immensely complex book. The philosophical theories and questions are mind boggling and every new question from her 'teacher' is thought provoking. The first two questions were dumb to me because if someone had asked me who I was I would be annoyed because clearly I'm Ariel Boston. I think I would be more freaked out that some random stranger was sending me mail and enrolling me in a class that I didn't sign up for. On top of that I really just would like to know who Hilde is and what her personal belongings are doing in Sophie's home. Alberto is very odd to me and I don't understand the secrecy of it all like I doubt that Sophie is about to hurt an old man. I would really like to get to the bottom of the thing with Hilde. I feel like Hilde is Sophie reincarnated or something like that and Alberto knows about it and is her father. Or Sophie's mom lied to her about her identity and she was adopted and rename and Alberto wants to be in touch with his daughter. Or this man is just a creep.

The one philosophical thing that the book has made me think about a lot is whether whatever higher power wants mankind to be contained in the area we've been to, like in space astronauts can only go so far and underwater we can only go so deep without being crushed and even on land we can't drill anywhere near the core of the Earth. It makes me feel like God or whoever doesn't want us to see what's out further than his set limits or something. Either that or we just need to have limitations. The chapter about what everything is made of made me think of that because too much heat, no air, or too much water, 'the substances' that make up everything according to Empedocles are the very substances that hold us back.