Blogging Around

After "blogging around" for quite some time, I decided to comment on Katy's post, "Metacognition: Jane Eyre Mashup." With her first sentence as "I wasn't looking forward to this project," I felt the urge to delve further into her thoughts about this project. Katy's post resonated with me because she discussed her shift in mindset after the mashup, something that I found out myself as well. She discussed how she went into the project with one mindset of love, but came out with a completely different understanding. The following is what I commented on Katy's blog:

Katy, 

Wonderful post! Your thoughts really resonated with me. What I love about your commentary is how you recognized that not only did the mash-up experience teach you about Jane Eyre, but also about yourself. It amazes me that a high school English project caused you to come to conclusions about such complex ideas like love and your individual mind. This is especially important considering you weren't even looking forward to this project! I believe that your blog post demonstrates the significance of learning in a different type of way. This mash-up was very unconventional. However, I believe it taught me much more than a single test could ever do. As you mentioned, it managed to "shift my convictions about one of the most important concepts on Earth: love." This single sentence is living proof that the mash-up was a very worthwhile and rewarding experience. I wish that we could have more of these assignments in school. Thank you for sharing!

The next blog that I commented on was Hannah's post, "Dialectics: Ignorance and Truth." Hannah examined the differences between these two ideas, as well as shared some insight regarding finding a happy medium between the two ideas. I enjoyed Hannah's post because it made me wonder which pill I would choose if I were in The Matrix. The following is my comment to Hannah:

Hey Hannah! Fantastic post. I love the question that you bring up towards the end of your blog post because I constantly wonder the same thing. It's challenging to tell whether or not knowledge is power or ignorance is bliss today. For example, I can recall plenty of moments in which I've withheld information solely because I knew that it would change my life at that moment. Yet, I can also say that in the back of my mind at that time, I was dying to find out the information. There's no way to tell which is better because both have pros and cons. Ultimately, the only thing we can do is act according based on whichever path we choose to take. Thanks for sharing! 

As always, I love hearing what my classmates have to say because they constantly bring up new, complex ideas that I never would have thought of previously. 

Dialectics: Reality and Imagination

Reality is the state of things that actually exist. They're not in our head, in our heart, or even on a television screen. Instead, they're things that we can physically interact with through actual existence. In other words, reality is not something that we imagine. This is because imagination forms ideas that are not perceived through our physical senses. Therefore, reality and imagination are two completely different ideas. However, from The Matrix, I've learned that reality and imagination might instead be one existing idea. 

Surely, this idea sounds crazy. I know that it goes against everything I've learned growing up in school. Over the years, I've been taught to separate my imagination from my reality. I've been taught that my dreams might not always come true. In fact, I've learned to stop dreaming and start thinking in reality. Yet, The Matrix completely changed the way I perceive my reality versus my imagination. It's challenging for me to separate the two from each other now. 

The Matrix opened the door for a new realm of possibilities. Instead of seeing reality and imagination as two separate ideas, the film led me to explore their relativity. It begs the question "to what degree is our reality actually imagination?" Morpheus makes the point that nothing is real within the Matrix. He states that everything is a figment of our imagination. In which case, our imagination makes us believe everything is reality. Complicated, right? Although I don't completely agree with Morpheus that nothing is real within my life, I can say that I question certain "realities." For example, whenever I have a difficult time telling what color an object like a shirt is, I question whether or not the color is part of my imagination. Although one of my friends may say the shirt is red, another may say it is orange. While writing this blog post, I'm even questioning whether or not I'm actually typing. 

Prior to viewing The Matrix, I kept these ideas completely separate within my life. My imagination was only to come out at night, on the pillow case, with my eyes closed. Whereas my reality was for the day, interacting with people and other objects. Never before was my reality in any way false. Well, at least I thought this was the case. However, now I'm beginning to recognize that these ideas coexist. I'm starting to question what is real and what is my imagination during the day, which I previously left only for reality. The Matrix opened these possibilities because it presented a new world, where everything was fiction. Through this idea, I've learned to relate reality and imagination.