Self "Re-minding"

The mind and consciousness are probably the biggest enigma that the human race has ever faced.
We can ask questions, examine and philosophize, but it is more likely that we will never completely understand this phenomenon.

But although we are aware of its importance for us (obviously) and its unique structure and "methods", it seems that we forget that it is nothing but another organ. A very developed and essential one, but still an organ. And as one, we need to give it the respect and care it deserves - both mental and physical.

We need to remember to let it rest, to take breaks when working hard and to "gaze at the air" every now and then.
But on the other hand, we need to "feed" it with knowledge, and challenge it. For if we don't, it will slowly become numb. (Not mentioning the philosophical idea of gaining as much knowledge as possible in order to be a better being and understand the world better (=both society and cosmos)).

The idea of meditation is brilliant in my opinion. It is the only time we really try to understand our mind. To put it first- before our need to learn or to amuse ourselves. And as the "Sitting Meditation" reading suggests - it is not a complicated thing to do.
The main problem with this process is having the effort and will to stop the world; having the understanding that it is essential.
As I see it, it's like therapy - If only we could stop everything for one hour once/twice a week, and speak loudly to ourselves, about our problems and thoughts and desires, therapy would have a much smaller part in our world. If we could be honest to ourselves more often, and accept ourselves and our needs, without trying to suppress them (for many different reasons), our lives would be much better.

Understanding our minds better, will allow us to understand the world better, what makes us what we are, and what makes dogs or trees, and our need of religion and culture, etc.

All of this combine to my belief that we only use our "woks" as much as we allow them, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In order to really use our different optional ways of thinking, we need to understand our point of view. Then we have to devote ourself to the learning process on a daily basis. We can only do it this way.

It's like that saying - that you cannot really love someone if you don't love yourself. My home-class teacher told me this when I was a Junior in high school, about 8 years ago. I didn't agree with him then. But I do now. This understanding was a big part of my journey to get to know myself better, and it allowed me to live much more easily, and to understand others much better.

Now I know that when ever I feel lost, I have the capability of seeking deep and understand what's wrong. And it all starts with a simple self-"Re-minding".

"The Way of Science"

Science's effect on my worldview

Science has always been a big and important part of my worldview, but it's especially been that way in the last couple of years.
I'd say that more than science, it has been my need to understand things to the depth.

Nowadays we are a smarter specie. We know so much more about the world than we'd ever known. Nowadays it feels to me that it is ignorant to not ask the science questions about the world. To not use its help.

About a year ago I explored the idea of the Big Bang theory for the first time. It blew my mind away.
First of all, I was ashamed of not having read about it before. I think it should be mandatory for people to know what it means, or at least have any interest in the subject.
Second, being exposed to this new information, made me question a lot of things I'd taken for granted. It has changed and shaped my worldview regarding death, religion and god but mostly it assured me that my assumptions about the huge part that coincidence has in our world, were true.

I now know that everything we do is affected by absolute randomness, that is life.
I am sure of my philosophical assumption thanks to science.

An Israeli professor called Mishka Ben-David, published a book a few years ago called "Life, Love, Death" in which he decided to examine the effect science have on philosophy. In other words, his claim was that most philosophical approaches are based on ancient ideas, and that it is important to try and develop a "New Philosophy" that is based on scientific discoveries from the last 150 years.

Although trying to prove a point about the importance of accepting death throughout the book, Ben-David also points out that science must be a fundamental part of any question asked- whether it's empiric or philosophical.

Since I believe that you can never know "too much" and that it is important to examine everything, in order to try and have a better understanding of life, I also believe that any knowledge we have as individuals or as a specie should be shared and should influence our lives in order that we could be more informed and more connected-to-the-world beings.

My lenses

Basically I see the world as something that is too big to be understandable.
My conception of what the world means or what it means to "be", has changed a lot over the last couple of years, since I started asking questions that I had never asked before.
At the end of the day I try to do whatever I can to learn as much as I can about myself and about as many aspects of the world as I can.

I can say that on the "SSC" scale I think that the "Self" represents all human beings, the "Society" represents earth, and the "Cosmos" represents all that exists.
The cosmos is not a part of our lives, but we are apart of it. We got here only due to coincidence. The same coincidence that moves our world at any given moment.

I wish it was easy for me to accept it and see the world as a natural place where things come and go, and last as much as they last.
But unfortunately, this understanding of the mysterious cosmos only leads me to despair.

As an artist and an "asker"(my name for an aspiring philosopher) I fight every day for my right to know more. I know that I will never really know a thing, but I cannot stop from trying to. It's a basic need for me as breathing and eating, and I think most of the students in our school can relate to that.

I use art(mostly film and music) to explore myself as a part of the world I live in.
I use art to comfort myself and make me feel.
I wish that my art would make as many people as possible feel something- pleasure or pain. Because I believe that feeling is the one thing that makes us "exist" the most. We are better people when we feel, and even better when we try to understand what we're feeling.

Most people are not capable of taking there masks off anymore. I know it's difficult for me most of the time. But as honest as we are, the better we are, the more we know and the more we exist in this world.

And since our time as a part of the cosmos is so limited, it is important that we try to be honest and feel, so we would make our experience in this world, and the experience of our surroundings, much more fulfilling.

First class, first post

"Self, Society and Cosmos"- Probably the most ambiguous name for a class. It contains everything, therefore doesn't really contain anything. It can go anywhere and relate to anything, and that might be the reason it could be one of the most interesting classes I will ever have taken here.

Most of the first class we had, was a conversation between the students. Each one of us talked about his/her summer vacation. Some said more and some less. Some asked questions, some pondered to themselves. Some learned something, some taught.
When the class is based on a personal conversation, it must be a better studying environment. Instead of just reading and accepting new information, we have the opportunity of "negotiating"- asking questions in order to have a better understanding, and also influencing on the way others see or think of different things.
It is a great platform for us to understand different points of view on life.

In addition, the conversations are personal, as mentioned, since the subject of the class is personal. It has to be- No conversation about the Cosmos, could be held without being based on one(or more) society, and no conversation about any society, could be held without being based on a subjective consciousness of one "self." And in this class we start all of our conversations, as well as our final project from the "self," from the basic "selfish" point of view on life, through the "society", the understanding of our surroundings and similar beings, to the "Cosmos", our big projects in which we try to use our knowledge to understand our connection to the world.

I hope that by sharing our thoughts and emotions with each other, we could find our own personal way of experiencing this class, that would allow us to have a better grasp of this interesting broad (yet personal) subject.