Inquiry and Critical Thinking
Reflection
This piece was a response to reading from the book Forbidden knowledge by Robert Shattuck. This was an assignment for my freshman inquiry mentor session. By writing this piece I wanted to express my ideas and thought on the subject of forbidden knowledge and on the book itself. I wanted to show that I had an understanding of the topic and because of that I could form my own opinion and ideas on it. The response does not deal with what the book says directly but it deals with the topic of the book and the main point, forbidden knowledge. So you know why I wrote this now you wonder to whom it is addressed and who might be interested in it.
The audience for this piece of writing is mainly my peer mentor, Teresa Bair and the professor, Philip Jenks. Maybe anyone might be interested in this piece of my writing because it shows how I feel about forbidden knowledge. It also deals with current and controversial topics. Now that I have read it and seen the result would I change anything?
If I changed something on this piece it would be the length and I would get more into the topic and show more evidence and facts. While writing the piece I really felt strongly about the fact that there was forbidden knowledge as an ultimate whole. But I remember that my opinion changed through out the trimester. What I realized is that the re is no such thing as true forbidden knowledge. What I considered true forbidden knowledge would be the apple from the Garden of Eden. Besides that there is only forbidden knowledge for individuals. This type of knowledge cannot be agreed upon since it is individual and it is only forbidden for some people and not others.
After writing similar responses and journals I noticed that I made contradictions but they were justified because they never really went backwards, just forwards. So what did I get out of this and what category would it fall under.
Well this piece of writing would best fit under Inquiry and Critical Thinking because I presented a well thought out statement and introduced my radical ideas on it. I posed a problem; I investigated it and conceptualized what I thought about it. This response was helpful in making me self motivated and in starting my way to being an empowered learner by making me think.
Free write response to the reading
Responding to what I read I agree with the general argument that there is such a thing as forbidden knowledge. Part of the influence for my opinion belongs to the discovery channel. I love the discovery channel and so I keep up with scientific discoveries. I have seen a lot about cloning and genetic tampering. I have heard that other countries are having their try at cloning and at making new species of creatures by combining two genetic make ups of old creatures. I think that in a way that is forbidden knowledge because we cannot foresee the outcome and the results of those actions now. No one knows if it is for the best or for the worst. I know there is a want to clone human beings, but think of it this way. If we clone people, in a way we become gods in own way. Unlike true god we cannot promise nor provide true eternal life, happiness and love to the clones. They will simply exist like all other people but they will not be exactly the same. What happens when they die? They will have no soul because god did not create them. And also, will the clones learn human ethics and fear evil. What is to stop them from doing unspeakable things if there is no religion and ethics within their world? I don’t see how you would be able to force religion on them since they do not belong to god. They would be like animals, living and then dying without meaning. That is all that the will be, animals in a world were humans rule over animals. On the other hand I do have curiosity to see new species of animals and cloning, but not of human beings.
OTHER INQUIRY WORKS
Journal Entry
The way that I formed my ideas about sexuality, family and religion is very personal to me. The one that I can really pinpoint on how I gained insight and ideas on is religion. Religion is a major component of Mexican families. I learned about religion through my parents and grand parents. As a little child back in Mexico I learned many myths and stories about angels, demons and Christ. Every night before I went to bed my mom and I would say a prayer. I don’t know the word for when you make the sign of the cross with your hands and move it around your head and chest. Well that’s what we also did every night. I remember my mom would always tell me to tighten the hole between my thumb and index finger while making the cross symbol. She said that if the gap were to big the devil would stick his tail through it and make the prayer worthless. So that’s one way of how a learned about the devil and how he struggles with god. Another thing that my mother and my grandparents would tell me was that I should not fidget around the table or get up to much, and never move to another seat because my guardian angel would be sad if I left him standing alone behind the chair. That’s why everyone in my family sat in the same chair every time, and if we did move we would stay there until we finished eating. So with that I learned about angels. Every year before Christmas my grandma would make a nativity scene with about 300 miniature dolls and animal. It also included houses and stables, all which would be in Jerusalem where Christ was born. But there was always one figurine that was never placed on the nativity until Christmas. And that was baby Jesus. Our tradition was that all the family who was there celebrating would have their chance to kiss the baby Jesus and that one special person would rest him on his tiny hay bed. So I gained more insight into Christ, his father (god), and his life. Also, when I was a child in Mexico I had never heard or even conceived the idea of a fat man coming down my chimney and leaving me presents. What we believe in was the three wise men. They are the ones who would bring me presents, just like they did for baby Jesus. After all Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. In order to get gifts you had to be good little boy and not be a menace. The date when you would get presents was not on Christmas Eve but after that. I'm not positive anymore but I think it was in the 16th day of the next month. The day before you would honor your best shoe by picking it to be the signal that you lived where you lived in order to get presents. You would wash your small shoe with delicacy and then you would lace it perfectly. Then you would shine it and make it as pristine as possible. That night just before you went to bed you would open your window and place your shoe to be illuminated by the moonlight. I would always peep from under my covers and state at my shiny shoe for hours. If you were to walk outside during that time you would probably see that everywhere you looked there was a house with its window open. And there in the moonlight rested a tiny old, but clean little shoe waiting for the three wise men. The strange thing was that your shoe or your house was never burglarized. All the people had enough respect for tradition and for baby Jesus that they would leave it alone and hope that when the small child that went to that window in the morning would gasp at his toys. And sure enough, the next day you would see happy little boys and girls playing with their simple, but new toys. And that was the way that I learned about the characters in the bible and in Jesus' life. And as time passed you would gain more and more information and faith. By the time you where about 10 you had religion and faith forged in your bones and you treasured it above all.
Now the way that I formed my ideas about family was through religion and family itself. The bible teaches you to respect your father and mother and all of your elders. Family is what life was all about back in Mexico. That is all you had and to let go of that or to sabotage your relationships was suicide. The way I learned about family was much the same way that I learned about religion, through time. I really didn’t form my own ideas about family because to Mexicans there is only one type of family. That is a religious, close knit and respected family. Family is family and you cant see it nay other way or it isn't family anymore. Most Mexican parents emphasize to their kids that when you have nowhere else to go, or no one else to turn to, they will always be there for you. That’s why the Hispanic family is a nuclear family. It is believed that the further away you are from the family, the greater the chance that you wont ever see or be a family again.
The way that I formed my ideas about sex was through curiosity. I mostly learned everything through friends, television and magazines. My religion doesn’t really deal with the issue much and because of that the family doesn’t either. What it does do is tell you that it is wrong to have premarital sex but in the end it doesn’t tell you what sex is. School has also done a good job of letting me know enough as to not be so curious all the time. it gets rid of some of the doubts and incorrect assumptions. A great influence that has helped me with my ideas and speculations has been the radio show love line. I have gained the most insight through that sort of media. Usually when your parent sit you down and stutter fragments of words and scenarios you already know more then they do. So what has influenced me in creating my ideas about sex is school, the media, and friends.
I know that this entry is probably a little too long but I think that it is the only way in which I can give you a sample of my thoughts on the subject. This is but a taste of all my thoughts on these specific topics. They are very interesting and they make think hard about things in my past and present. The thing is that I didn’t really form ideas on things of this sort, what I did was gain knowledge about these things. You can't really form ideas about things like this because what you need is facts that make up the truth. What good are your ideas (concerning these topics), if they are wrong. I better stop typing. Hope this is enough.