Prompt 5

Jasmyn Burks

Mrs. Welhelmus

AP English Language

13 August 2013

Playing it Safe

      When reading Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder made my head spin with new ideas and topics I never imagined to know before. There were many philosophers and belief systems that I disagreed with. Though, in a way, I understood where they were coming from. When reading, I got a good insight on the mind set of these philosophers during different periods throughout time. Whether the philosopher was right or wrong, they used their curious minds to figure out some reason in this bizarre world, and I admire that.

     One of the philosophers I disagreed with was Aristotle. His views on women were unintelligent. I understand he was influenced by the era he was born in. It was almost normal to disrespect women and to treat them like objects instead of human beings, so it is only expected of Aristotle to think that women were “unfinished”. Aristotle was a bright man, but he did not look to much into the reproductive system and how genes work. He thought that all the characteristics were in the male sperm, and that is incorrect.

      Another philosopher that I did not necessary agree with, but did not disagree with either, was the Big Bang theory. This topic is confusing to think about, but it is also the only proof we have with reason and science. I am a Christian and believe that God created everything and everyone. I strongly believe in my religion but science could be right with the theory that the Universe started with a big bang. Though, I believe that God made all this happen.

     I believe that I am climbing up the rabbits fur, trying to find a way out of this habitual world. I know that I am used to the world that I live in and sometimes try not to think about confusing topics before that were talked about in this book. Though, that is not very easy and I find that I do think like the philosophers. Though, by the time I get to the top of the rabbits fur, I usually climb right back down. You could say that I am stuck in between. I want to learn about new things and explore the philosophical way of the world, but then I get confused and scared about the topics that are being discussed. I guess I like playing it safe, and do not want to think about those kind of questions that the philosophers were bringing up. So for now, I will just climb right back up the rabbits fur and hope and pray that I stay there.