Final exam- Experiences of Being Human

Experiences of Being human

Exploring the culture over periods of time showed the way humans have learned to face different types of experiences. Human experiences gives us the lessons and knowledge in life we need for survival. We are faced to come together to create a society of humans with different individual opinions and thoughts that we have formed throughout the human experience. In Humanities with Mrs.Levin, we learn how the human experience is taught by our inner selves and our connection to the outside world.

In the Indroductionary Unit we learn about the human brain and and how it creates our way of thinking and our characteristics. In The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain, Leonard discusses that the brain’s function is split into two; the right and the left. Leonard talks about how the right hemisphere is non-logical and expresses our being(Shlain 19). He talks about how it helps us appreciate music, comprehends speech, controls our memory, gives us intuition, controls our creativity, and controls our emotions that can make us impulsive(Shlain 18-19). This is the part of our brain that explains how we react impulsively to experiences, like sadness when we see death, happiness when we fall in love, or laughter when we experience humor. The left hemisphere of the brain controls our act of willing, logic, speech, abstraction, and numbers(Shlain 22). This gives us the ability to think before we act or speak and make rational decisions. It gives humans the ability to think of consequences before we act on impulse and the decision on how we react to different experiences, like the ability to maintain our anger to prevent violence. Metaphors are what connect the left and the right aspect of the brain because it has different levels of meaning and can be perceived many different ways. Our brain is what makes human who they are and explain why they react to certain experiences and situations differently, and some people tend to use more of one side of the brain than the other. In Question on God:A Brief History by John Bowker we learn the meaning of symbol, music, rituals, myths, and art. The meaning of a symbol is a conventional sign with an agreed meaning. Bowker discusses that symbols are a form of common language that are universal. He talks about how they appear in all religions and are a visible expression of human thought and feeling. This give humans the ability to communicate and encourage people to connect with god. Bowker explains the importance of music and how it allows one to enter into a trance or ecstasy. Trance is a state of which the brain and body are altered and entered into another world, that is caused by the sound of music. Music helps the social approval and endorsement of the behaviors leading to the trance. Music gives the ability to connect with god and emotions that are from the experiences that we have faced. Bowker talks about the importance of rituals and how it is understood on the deepest levels of the brain. Rituals are practices that can be religious or nonreligious that come naturally. Rituals are practiced from our own reasoning and experience. It connect people who have a common thought process and allows expression of feeling to god or the meaning of life.Bowker talks about how allows myths allow to record and analysis the past. The give us the ability to questions all aspects of human life. Bowker also talks about how art is an expression of emotions and the human experience on which we can communicate in a religious or nonreligious way. We also studied The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram that talk about the written and oral language, and the importance of storytelling.Abraham talks about how writing first began with the tracking down of animal footprints for hunters. As the alphabet evolves, he talks about how is disconnects humans from nature. He talks about how oral language connects human with nature and its landscape through singing and chanting. Songs and stories give codes of behavior in a society. Stories that are told through oral language connect humans with the nature and gives more meaning and emotion to their story, unlike the written language, that lacks the experience and emotion. The written language, however, does prove facts, unlike oral storytelling can be false. Stories that are written begin to lose their dreaming power. The dreamtime stories gave a connection to the landscape through the visual landscape helps one to remember the experience. The written language helps us gain knowledge of facts through experience, while the oral language helps us emotionally connect to the outside world through our experiences of life. Storytelling helps us gain knowledge through past experiences that helps us survive in life.

Our second Unit focused on how Humans, Nature, and sacred space played a role in the human experience. We read The Tempest by William Shakespeare that focused on how human relations played in the human experience. The Tempest is about a king named Prospero who seeks revenge on Alonso and Antonio who left him and his daughter to die stranded on a raft. After Antonio, Alonso, and their crew get into a ship wreckage, which leaves them to Prospero’s island, where they are separated and tricked against each other by Prospero’s servant, Ariel. Caliban, Prospero’s servant who is thrown into prison for trying to rape Miranda, joins the crew on the attempt to murder Prospero. Meanwhile, Prospero’s Daughter, Miranda, falls in love with Ferdinand. Prospero then forgives them, and they forgive Prospero. The power of humans in The Tempest comes from the social class and knowledge. Nature is portrayed as a tool for humans that is controlled. Caliban represents nature and the indigenous people and Prospero is shown as civilization. The meaning of this is to show that society treats nature poorly. It also shows how human relations affect the human experience, through impulsive of emotion like Prospero’s anger and seek for revenge. The book also questions the nature of humans, and can a person that has a bad nature change. The Tempest shows that people of bad nature can change and forgiveness is important. The play demonstrates how human relationship affects the human experience by causing emotions. We watched a documentary named Grizzly Man that was narrated by Werner Herzog, that was about a man named Timothy Treadwell who lived with the Alaskan grizzly bears and creatures of the wilderness. Timothy Treadwell lived amongst the bears and ended up being brutally killed by the bears, along with his companion named Amie Huguenard. Herzog and Treadwell had a very different view of nature. Treadwell’s view of nature was that is was all good and harmony, and he considered nature to be his sacred space. Where he was at peace and harmony, away from society. He thought himself as a protector of the bears and nature, because the Alaskan wilderness was so special and important to him, he spent his life protecting against hunters.He considered nature as a site of meaning. Herzog’s view of nature was that is full of disharmony and cruelty. He lacks sympathy for Treadwell and states that he can’t face “the harsh reality of wild nature”. He sound that there should be a boundary between humans and nature, and that humans imposing on nature is disrespectful. Herzog's thought of nature was a sense that it should be controlled or tamed. This connects with the human experience because it show the effect of the outside world and environment to the human life. We also read Of Cannibals by Montaigne defend the indigenous people who connect with nature. He defends the cannibals of surviving off their enemies, leaving nothing wasted, compared to the europeans torturing them until their death. Montaigne says that the indigenous reason for war, due to rivalry, is more respectful than the European’s ways that use war for the abundance and greed of wealth and power. He claims the laws of nature command the cannibals, but the lack of nature makes the Europeans barbarous. His argument explains the impact with and without nature to the human experience, and it affects our morals.

The third unit we studied was Love, Beauty, and Art and it’s impact on the human experience. We watched a film called Tous les Matins Du Monde(All the Morning of the World), Love, and Art, that was about a musician who wrote his music based on his emotion of his diseased wife, name Sainte-Colombe. His sadness from the death of his wife, made him create famous songs like Tombs of Sorrows. The film showed his love for the art of music and his wife and how it affected his life. The films showed that art is an expression of music. Many Philosophers would react differently to his art. Plato would disagree with his art because it expresses the emotion from death. On the other hand Ficino and Augustine would say his art had order, which made it beautiful. His art was a way of expression of emotion for the human experiences. In this unit we also read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde that was about a artist name Basil who painted a portrait of a young, beautiful man named Dorian. He became obsessed with his beauty and seeked for immortality that drove the ones who love him, like sibyl away. Lord Henry introduces the beautiful man to a life of sin and corruption. It shows the Human Experience of falling in love, and how beauty plays a key role in that. In Humanities we also read and discuss Egyptian Love Poetry. The Poetry gives imagery of how the feeling of love is described. This first comparison is love is described as a beautiful landscape or the beauty in nature. The poem says “Her love flow back across the water, Turning waves to solid earth.” Love is also compared as being in an altered state of mind or ill, it’s compared to being light headed and drunk. Love is also compared as a servant of another person, he says “If I were her Laundryman.” In Pleasant of the Sweetheart who meets you in the Field, Love is compared to a fish that has been captured in a net. Love is also compared to foods and drinks in the line “Without your love, sweet cakes seem only salt”. It is said the only result in heartbreak is death and illness from the sadness. Poetry is an art that allows humans to express emotions like love and sadness that they have experienced throughout their lifetime.

In the fourth unit, we learn about the connection of the human experience to Laws, Ethics, and Human Frailty. We read The Ten Commandments that state how to avoid sinning, that is under God’s law and how to go to heaven. Some of the commands are universal laws like “Thou shalt not murder” and  “Thou shalt not steal” are for the best for the happiness within society. Some of the commandments focus on the religious devotion to God. Religions and laws help give order in a community and avoid of conflict. Laws and commandments help control the impulsive part of your brain that wants to act based on the emotions caused by experiences. We also read Basic Teaching of Buddhist Ethics that explain ethics that are based on a religion. The main goal from the practice is the freedom from suffering by coming to see how the world is and abandoning the distorted projections that our thought and emotion create. Their goal towards others is to act loving and compassionate, and to stop the actions that harm others. They follow these ethics and morals to avoid the hells and the karmic consequences. The rebirth of human come from following the five precepts which are don’t kill, don't steal, no sexual misconduct, don't lie, and no drunkenness which are pretty universal. Ten Non-Virtues include no divisive speech, idle chitchat, and harsh speech which differs from The Ten Commandments. When we confront experience that strengths ourself we are attracted to it, but when it is threatening, we tend to react with aversion or pushing it away. Having ethics try to end the how humans act with aversion toward experience to create a better society. Ethics and law try to convince humans not to go under temptation and human frailty. We also read Guests of the Nation by Frank O'Connor that is a story that questions on what is more important; law or morals? The story is about prisoner guards who are told to execute prisoners of wars that they have created a friendship with. After the execution, the main character, Bonaparte, hopes his loyalty to his country was worth going against his ethics. Human frailty is shown because Bonaparte goes against his morals and ethics and sins. He experiences sadness from the death of his friends and from going against his morals.

The last unit we learn about is the Inner Journey and the Reality of the Human Experience. We read The Allegory of the Cave by Plato that is about men in a cave that just saw shadows because they couldn’t move their heads. The men wanted the truth from the objects, but how could they when they couldn’t move their head? Once released, the prisoners quicky look to see the truth of the objects, he is now faced with these new realities that can’t go back. Once the light is seen, one can only see things beautiful and right. When humans experience life, they gain knowledge by finding new realities of to find enlightenment. We read Hamlet by Shakespeare that is about a man named hamlet who seeks revenge for the murder of his father and questions his sanity during the process. Hamlet kill his father's brother, but in the fight, he also in announced dead. He is faced with thoughts of suicide, depression, and anger that causes him to act impulsively. Hamlet inner journey is to seek revenge for the death of his father that gives him his purpose. Hamlet experiences many emotions along his journey that teaches him lessons along the ways. We also read The Epic of Gilgamesh which is about a king named Gilgamesh that is part god who befriends Enkidu who is just as magnificent. The go on journeys to kill evils like Humbaba and the bull. He experiences sadness from the death Enkidu and he begins the search for immortality. He find the immortality for mankind, but not with himself but he is still satisfied. Gilgamesh has many experiences in his inner journey and learns many lessons like to appreciate your life and don’t be greedy and search for immortality. Inner Journeys give humans a set goal to continue in life and take them on a journey that gives them knowledge and new realities from different experiences. We read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, that was about a boy named Siddhartha who follows the Brahim ways and rituals, but hasn't found enlightenment. He joins a group called the Samanas who starve themselves and reject all desires to be one with god and true to themselves to find enlightenment. Siddhartha goes on a inner journey to find enlightenment and to be in touch spiritually. He finds love, which causes him to fall into his desires, but also gives him happiness. He uses The human experience of emotions to interfere with his inner journey, but realizes that what he was looking for. He studies the meaning of life and death through the nature of a river and end up finding true happiness and his journey of life is fulfilled.

Experiences in life, whether they're good or bad gives us the knowledge in life that we need for survival. Humanities teaches us of these human experiences that gives perspective on the way a human thinks based on their actions. Through these five units we learn the basic experience that a human faces in a lifetime. It's what makes individuals who they are and their characteristic. It is was gives a community culture and the order that is created based on their thought process and belief. These experiences teach humans how to continue on gives us the strength we need.