So I'm taking this philosophy of religion class and we've just finished covering Saint Anselm's proslogion, the book where he formulated the Ontological argument for the existence of God. And there's a problem. As far as I can tell and well uhh, reason, the entire argument doesn't make any sense at all to me.
First step of argument: God is that which nothing greater may be conceived
Second step: there are two possible forms of existence, the understanding and reality. It is better to exist in reality than in the understanding.
Third step: since it is better to exist in reality, God being that which nothing greater may be conceived must therefore exist in reality.
Conclusion: therefor God must exist
Am I the only one who sees the problem with that? If I've made a mistake representing it, will somebody please tell me because that's what I understand Anselm's argument to be, and I find it deeply problematic.
Would you like to meet my little friend. Don't try to shake his hand, he's just pretend, His name is Benjamin, thats his name. My momma says, 'your insane.' Boy you really are the end. You and your Imaginary friend.
Daddy drives the mobile library, He works peripatetically. He doesnt get much time, to play with us, So we just read, and make up stuff, And it drives him round the bend. Me and my Imaginary friend.
I.M.A.G.I.N.A.R.Y.F.R.I.E.N.D.
One day we're gonna play hide and seek, And then he'll be up the creek never to be seen again. He'll disappear the day that childhood ends, And reality descends, I'll never forget you, my Imaginary... friend
I have a 2-3 page response to St Augustine's 'On Free Choice of the Will' due tomorrow at 10.20, I've written 3 lines and have severe cases of thinking block and incoherence. Oh what to do, what to do......
Seraphine: ahh well, i kno u'll forget my birthday plus my present Jeremy: probably Seraphine: HENCE, i'm reminding u to get my present Seraphine: n i'll continue reminding you each time u come online Jeremy: sure sure, i'll get u like a leaf or something Seraphine: BAHH!! i want a macbook Seraphine: so get 1 for my present! XD Jeremy: how bout snow, snow any good? Seraphine: NO, MACBOOK! Jeremy: maybe spring water from niagra falls Jeremy: nah thats too far Seraphine: M-A-C-B-O-O-K Jeremy: will minnehaha creek work? Seraphine: -.- Jeremy: oh i know! Seraphine: MACBOOK!!! Jeremy: a sticker from an IVCF conference! Jeremy: wahaha Seraphine: BAHH!!!!! Seraphine: FINNY WANTS A MACBOOK, HENCE JEREMY TAN ZHI YI WILL GIVE HER ONE MACBOOK FOR HER BIRTHDAY ON 15 JUNE 2007 Seraphine: nyaa nyaa Jeremy, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band says: (insert 'not' between 'will' and 'give') Seraphine: BAHH Seraphine: insert not later at the end of the sentence Seraphine: hence jeremy tan zhi yi will not give her one macbook for her birthday on 15 june 2007, NOT =P Jeremy: its a double negative Jeremy, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band says: hence the entire sentence places no onus or burden on me to do what you ask Seraphine: NO, it's makes total sense Jeremy: tell that to a lawyer! :P Seraphine: lawyer 1: it is gramatically correct judge: i agree wif lawyer 1! judge: case closed! Jeremy: policeman: both of you are under arrest for impersonating lawyers and judges Seraphine: policeman 2: u are also arrested for impersonating a policeman! Jeremy: policeman: the same to you (whips out gun and shoots policeman 2) Seraphine: *policeman 2 wakes up frm the dead and possesses policeman* Seraphine: *policeman 2 [in policeman] walks into the prison and claims he's guilty for impersonating ppl of authoratha* Jeremy: (constantine exorcises dead policeman 2 and banishes him to the underworld, the policeman is exonerated) Seraphine: BAHH
the conversation went on for pretty long, but you can see where its going.
Its been a little over five months since I left. Its funny, this time last year, such a thing would have probably been inconceivable to me. I hardly talk to anyone back home anymore. I'm rarely online at the right times, given a 14 hour time difference, there are certain difficulties involved in that. I miss Sherman's jokes, Colin's foolery. I miss the big smiles of Evan and Yunxing, the lameness of Clarence. I miss my debaters, and Nabs and the rest of the gang. Believe it or not, I miss Ms Hia and Ms Wong, and talking circles around them having deep and meaningful discussions with them. I miss Luke's mischief, Hong Ghwee's easy going attitude, Youwei and Charmaine's beautiful music, Li Ling and Li Ping's shyness, Rachel's crazy laugh, and Jeanette laughing with her, Pastor's warm acceptance of it all. I miss Singapore...
yet, it feels... distant...
I'm not really into my classes this term. Mayhap, a little bit of the silver sheen of college has worn off. I wrote in the admission request that one of the reasons I applied was a thirst for knowledge, a desire to learn, to know, inspired by a witty line I read somewhere: "Knowledge is power, and I intend to be formidably armed" A little silly in retrospect. I am only a 16 year old, and as much as my mind likes the idea of single-mindedly pursuing knowledge for the idealistic goal of simply knowing 'the truth', I really miss home.
My parents got a nice house. Its got a big yard, a little tree platform in the back. A nice two car garage, a porch, a suite in the attic. We even put a table football table and a drum kit in the basement. It's everything a kid could want out of a house, bar a fast food outlet or something. Still, I find myself missing 6 Prince of Wales road. The house where I grew up; the people I grew up with. The street, the school, the hawker center, the bus stop, the canal, the people! Oh the people...
Its a drag being away, it really is and I wonder what was I sent here to do? What was I put on this continent to learn? Why did I come to America, to college, ripped away from the life I knew to this, so-called 'land of the free'!?
When do I get the answer?
Another kind of unease has also arisen in my mind. It's impossible not to change, impossible not to be unaffected by the people around you, at least for little mortal me. I feel like I'm making excuses, maybe I am. I've changed since coming here, and I'm not sure that it's for the better. I liked who I was, I cannot say the same for who I am. Before I left, Pastor Peter told me that I musn't become a liberal. I wonder whether I would be in his eyes now. Doubts and unease plague me. I know that when I finally go back, things will seem different. It's Singapore after all, where the constant is change. How much will it have changed, how much will I, have changed...
Novels were once deeply distrusted by critics. Just like the television and movies of today they were decried as evil influences that would corrupt the minds of the young and entrap them in worlds of fantasy and make-believe. Sometimes I think they were right, so much of our minds are taken with dreams and hopes of grand romance, dashing heroes and beautiful maidens, of epic adventures and rags to riches. Its nice to dream that everything would turn out the way you want it to. That maybe you'll get zapped by lightning and turn into a superhero, or maybe a little modest, just strike lucky and earn a ton of money in the stock market. Alas, the prospects of real life seem rather bleak. Not much in the way of fame and glory, or epic feats or undying glory. Time to change my thinking mayhap, revalue that which should be desired, get priorities straight, seek what really matters.
A hole in the shape of a certain someone that I need to fill...
I glaze over the blogs of my friends. O'level results just got out it appears. There is excitement, expectation, hope, anticipation. It comes through the words, an exuberance to life that I miss. I feel a little jaded, a little distant. Maybe it's the gloom of winter, the early darkness. Or maybe it's just the passing gloom of an angsty teenager who misses his friends...
I wanna be home, June 15th can't come soon enough...
Spring term has started, in the dead middle of winter. American's sure know how to time their terms.
I'm taking a coupla classes that look like they might take alot of work. Guess I'd better get my (insert Dad's) money worth out of it right? I'm also taking classical guitar, which looks like a ton of fun, I even get 2 credits out of it. It's great when you score points for doing what you enjoy :)
Despite what looks like a fun and insightful term ahead, I can't wait for June to get here. My flight's set at June 15th so I'll be back in Singapore on the 16th at the latest I think.
Just got back from a Christian conference organised by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. It was cool.
