In my opinion, I cannot say which kind of activity will make me happier, because if you carry the same kind of activity for a very long time continuously, you will get tired of it and will also feel bored. Most people think that having fun will make them happier than studying, but if you are asked to play games a have lots of fun continuously for a long time, I am sure that you will feel very tired and bored after only a few hours. Therefore, this shows that no matter how fun an activity can be, you will be sick of it after doing it repeatedly for a long time.
I have had such an experience before. When I was in Primary 5, during my December holidays, I thought I would have fun playing computer games the whole day. So I played and played. However, after playing for only about three hours, I started to get bored of the game. When I took a book to read, I felt that I was very interested in reading the book.
Here is a comparison between having fun and studying. To the most of us, we think that playing computer games or outdoor activities such as playing soccer is the best to have fun. However, although we are having fun playing computer games, playing for a long time is no fun for our eyes. On the surface, playing computer may seem to be harmless, but they are actually harming our eyes and other parts of our body. Not only that, some games are very violent and will cause us to have violent thoughts and ideas too. Studying may seem boring, but it can help us gain lots of knowledge through books and other reading materials. Studying is good, but it also has similar effects as computer games on our bodies. Reading a book while sitting in a same position continuously can also cause harm to our bodies. Eyes will also be hurt as eyes are being strained too much to read the books.
In conclusion, I cannot say which kind of activity, having fun or studying, can make me happier. All that can be concluded is that an activity can only be for a certain period of time, and not to the extremes.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Philosophy Blog Prompts: If many people think something is true, is it true?
In my opinion, I think that what others think is the truth may not always be true. Some people may not have heard clearly and they would end spreading the piece of information that is wrong and causing the truth to become the untruth. There is also another kind of "mistake" made by people. For example, when someone found out a piece of breaking news, they would immediately tell others about it even before checking if what he saw was the truth. Also when others ask the person if what she found out was true, the person would just tell them that what he had found out was definitely the truth. This will be when the misconception begins and everyone gets the wrong information.
Some people will also get influenced by others. When you have found out that what was spread around was not true and you tell the person, the person may think that you are the one who is lying and cheating him. Then, the person will tell others that you are telling lies and others would also not believe you. This happens when people do not check if what is spread around is the truth or not.
Hence, I think that before even telling others about something, the person should check about what he is going to say first before even spreading it.
Some people will also get influenced by others. When you have found out that what was spread around was not true and you tell the person, the person may think that you are the one who is lying and cheating him. Then, the person will tell others that you are telling lies and others would also not believe you. This happens when people do not check if what is spread around is the truth or not.
Hence, I think that before even telling others about something, the person should check about what he is going to say first before even spreading it.
Philosophy Blog Prompts: Should you be rewarded for your efforts in school?
For me, I think that we should be rewarded for efforts in school. However, not all efforts should be rewarded. I think that there should be rewards as sometimes rewards can push students on. For example, if there is an examination coming soon, but a student does not feel like studying. If he is told by his parents that he would be taken on a trip to Europe if he gets good results, surely the student would be pushed on and he himself would urge himself to study and work really hard in order to get the reward.
However, not all achievements should be given rewards. Rewards should not be given for minor events such as class tests. Instead, rewards should only be given for great achievements such as end-of-year examinations. Giving too many rewards would also cause harm. If a student is given rewards for all huge and little achievements by his parents, he would not try his best to do well if his parents do not give him a reward for getting good results.
Rewards should also be little ones, not huge one unless the student has done extremely well. For example, if a student is given huge and expensive rewards such as video games when he achieves something, he would also not want to do well if he is told that he would only get a little reward. Therefore, I think that rewards should be given only for the achievements that are really good or important.
However, not all achievements should be given rewards. Rewards should not be given for minor events such as class tests. Instead, rewards should only be given for great achievements such as end-of-year examinations. Giving too many rewards would also cause harm. If a student is given rewards for all huge and little achievements by his parents, he would not try his best to do well if his parents do not give him a reward for getting good results.
Rewards should also be little ones, not huge one unless the student has done extremely well. For example, if a student is given huge and expensive rewards such as video games when he achieves something, he would also not want to do well if he is told that he would only get a little reward. Therefore, I think that rewards should be given only for the achievements that are really good or important.
Philosophy Blog Prompts: Is it your duty to give to charity?
In my opinion, I think that it is not our duty to give to charity. It is the kindness in our hearts that gives us the desire to donate to charity. Although it is not our duty to give to charity, I think that giving to charity is important as are able to help the poor and the physically or the mentally disabled.
However, I think that sometimes when we donate to charity we may feel unsure whether the money that we donate are really going to help the poor, or disabled. A few years ago, the charity fund NKF was being found out that the money that the public mostly donated went to the people who were not supposed to get it, leaving a smaller sum of money for the kidney patients at NKF. Recently, there have also been news of money in charity funds being embezzled by the management of the charity fund.
Because of this, nowadays, charity concerts or performances receive less donations from the public. I think that the public should not judge all charities because of one that did something wrongly. This would be very unfair to those charities which have done nothing wrong.
To conclude, I think that donating to charities is not a duty that we must carry out but a act of kindness and compassion for others.
However, I think that sometimes when we donate to charity we may feel unsure whether the money that we donate are really going to help the poor, or disabled. A few years ago, the charity fund NKF was being found out that the money that the public mostly donated went to the people who were not supposed to get it, leaving a smaller sum of money for the kidney patients at NKF. Recently, there have also been news of money in charity funds being embezzled by the management of the charity fund.
Because of this, nowadays, charity concerts or performances receive less donations from the public. I think that the public should not judge all charities because of one that did something wrongly. This would be very unfair to those charities which have done nothing wrong.
To conclude, I think that donating to charities is not a duty that we must carry out but a act of kindness and compassion for others.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Philosophy Blog Prompts: If you could eliminate one emotion from the world, would you? Which one? Why?
If I were given a choice, I would eliminate hate from everyone in this world. Many people commit evil deeds because of their hate for something or somebody in their hearts. Sometimes, when someone feels angry or has hate in his or her heart, they may not vent their anger on the person that they hate. Instead, they may vent their anger on others such as their family, friends or even strangers whom they do not know!
Not only this, hate does not only go one way. For example, if A is extremely angry with B and hates B, A might vent his anger on someone else which is C. Because of this, C will also hate A because of A action's. C will then also vent his anger on either A or some one else. And therefore, this vicious cycle will continue on and on.
If someone can just forget about the hate in himself, the vicious cycle would stop. However, humans are selfish. Most of us would also want to take "revenge" on the person whom we hate. If we are asked to stop, most of us would think "Since that person did something that hurt me and made me hate him, why can't I return him what he did to me? " Because of this mindset in most of us, the vicious cycle can never stop.
Hence, I think that hate is the emotion that should be the first to be removed from our world.
Not only this, hate does not only go one way. For example, if A is extremely angry with B and hates B, A might vent his anger on someone else which is C. Because of this, C will also hate A because of A action's. C will then also vent his anger on either A or some one else. And therefore, this vicious cycle will continue on and on.
If someone can just forget about the hate in himself, the vicious cycle would stop. However, humans are selfish. Most of us would also want to take "revenge" on the person whom we hate. If we are asked to stop, most of us would think "Since that person did something that hurt me and made me hate him, why can't I return him what he did to me? " Because of this mindset in most of us, the vicious cycle can never stop.
Hence, I think that hate is the emotion that should be the first to be removed from our world.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Casinos
In my opinion, although building new casinoes in Singapore can help create more jobs for retrenched workers and help boost Singapore's economy, I think that ultimately the casino would cause more hardships than its benefits to Singapore.
Some people in Singapore have the mindset that they have good luck and would be able to strike it rich by going to casinoes and gamble. However, most of these people end up losing all their money in the casino. There are some people, after losing all their money, still think that they have luck and would borrow money from loan sharks and go gamble. This is where most of the problems come from. These people would continue losing more and more money and be heavily in debt. Being unable to pay the loan sharks, they would start to spend their lives hiding from loan sharks before they get enough money to repay them. This is a quote from the YouTube video I watched " Often, the people who really suffer from problem gambling aren't the gamblers. " . This Youtube video can be found at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chbjc-XDKLw . I agree with this statement. When these addicted gamblers run out of money to gamble, they often turn to their family members for money. Sometimes, when a family member refuses to lend the gambler money, the gambler might even resort to stealing from his own family members.
There is also a Chinese saying " Out of ten bets, you would lose nine of them." . Therefore, I strongly disagree that people should gamble in casinoes as the bets that are placed are mostly huge bets and money can either be won, or all lost. Even if casinoes are built in Singapore, I think that casinoes are only suitable for people who have a rather huge amount of capital money.
Some people in Singapore have the mindset that they have good luck and would be able to strike it rich by going to casinoes and gamble. However, most of these people end up losing all their money in the casino. There are some people, after losing all their money, still think that they have luck and would borrow money from loan sharks and go gamble. This is where most of the problems come from. These people would continue losing more and more money and be heavily in debt. Being unable to pay the loan sharks, they would start to spend their lives hiding from loan sharks before they get enough money to repay them. This is a quote from the YouTube video I watched " Often, the people who really suffer from problem gambling aren't the gamblers. " . This Youtube video can be found at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chbjc-XDKLw . I agree with this statement. When these addicted gamblers run out of money to gamble, they often turn to their family members for money. Sometimes, when a family member refuses to lend the gambler money, the gambler might even resort to stealing from his own family members.
There is also a Chinese saying " Out of ten bets, you would lose nine of them." . Therefore, I strongly disagree that people should gamble in casinoes as the bets that are placed are mostly huge bets and money can either be won, or all lost. Even if casinoes are built in Singapore, I think that casinoes are only suitable for people who have a rather huge amount of capital money.
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