My answer to the first question of the first
assignment
I have asked myself
those questions and more in many intervals of my life, sometimes I came with
mind relieving answers and many times, I just got more confused. "It
shouldn’t be that hard," I often told myself. I first thought of my nature
as a human when I looked in the mirror. Of course, we look at ourselves
everyday in the mirror, but that one time was different for me. When I smiled,
I asked myself "is this the way others perceive me". I even started
to talk to see how I look; it seemed like meeting another guy for the first
time. After that I started to ask myself more questions; "why are we
different from each other?", "what does it mean to have a perception
of reality?", even more "what's reality?" what if the bullet
didn’t miss my father's head by just inches in the war of 1967?"(as he
told me) would I be existed?!!"
What about the poor
sheep we buy every year for scarification. "What makes me more special
than it to be slaughtered!!!?" is it merely luck?" ,"why should
we obey the king?" "Why didn’t I become the king myself? "Don’t
get me wrong "", "Is it enough to be a son of a king to become
one?" my father is an electrician and I came up to be a teacher!!!.
More than that, I
often thought that we are naturally bad, coz we do sins; even worse we love to
do them. Bad things are easy to do and they seem less restricting than good
ones, but most important, they seem natural, for instance: we were born naked,
why is nudity prohibited?
I used my logic and
all my senses to answer those questions. Unfortunately, questions that are more
sophisticated came to the surface, Questions like: what is the meaning of being existed? Why did
God create us? What is the nature of God? I even asked myself "not
atheistically" If God existed at all.
Addressing such
questions needs lots of thinking. But lets just cut to the chase!. People have
been thinking about it all the time, some said that we are good in nature coz
babies are born innocent (tabula rasa theory), others examined criminals brains
to provide evidence that criminals have a lower level of communication between
the two hemispheres of the brain which is inferred that some are born bad. While others claimed
that the things we perceive exist others disagreed. Some are (believers) others
aren't. Many people defend animals claiming that they have feelings and a
certain level of thinking, those people might favor their pets over his own
flesh and blood, and others torture animals just for the fun of it.
When I think of such
problematic issues, whether I like it or not, I end up where I should have
started the first place " GOD". The first thought the might come to
ones mind that God Existence contradicts with mere logic, since we "know"
that it's a law of nature that matter is not created from nothing. But is God a
matter? If not, what's the nature of God. Since my tools are my senses and
logic I started to use them. So I've carried out probability calculations: what
are the odds of God's existence and ours as well?
1. Big bang theory.
"Where did the thing that banged came from?!!
2. Merely coincident.
"No comment"
3. God has created us
and his almighty is the first and the last "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; [1]
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; [2] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; [3] And
there is none like unto Him". [4] ( 112 Monotheism surah) and he is the creator of all things and all matter, thus it would be
complete unjust to subdue the creator to his creation (mind and senses, our
earthy laws and someone's law of matter).
":Who created the seven heavens
one above another; you see no incongruity in the creation of the Beneficent
Allah; then look again, can you see any non-uniqueness? (Qur’an 67:03)
And
Furthermore, I believe that no matter how
humans glorify the power of their brains, it still short to get the meaning of
life, existence, truth of reality and the purpose of life as a whole. The first
two contradict with our logic and senses since we attribute the virtue of
creation to nothing or we deny attributing it to Almighty Allah. Everything in
this Universe is a manifestation of God's creation; everything is unique for a
purpose that only God overwhelm the ULTIMATE truth and reality about. "Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that
ye would not be brought back to Us (for account)?"(23:115)
The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:
"Each one of you will find it
easy to do what he was created for."
That is the context I
understand my existence, everyone's existence and the universe's as well. We
are here to worship God, that is to do good for others and ourselves and the
universe as a whole. It is with purpose that God has created animals, stones,
plants, volcanoes, seas, planets, and certainly humanity. Everything is
integrated in this universe in an accurate equilibrium based on needs
and the ultimate need one must seek is God's satisfaction. I certainly have an
effect on my environment and vice versa. I am a part of all that I have
met. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson
Based on the
above-mentioned argument, I can see clearly that the existence of my students
is out of purpose and they certainly have needs. My job is to dig deep into
their other needs (playing, acceptance, comfort, humor and many others) in
order to enhance the need which I am mostly concerned about; which is,
"their need to learn". It is my job and purpose in this context to be
familiar with social, psychological, cultural background of my students. It is
also my responsibility to have my eyes quite open to distinguish special needs
among them and to give suitable guidance that flow smoothly with their age
needs. My existence as a teacher is all about providing the appropriate
learning tools for students to discover the world and choose what best suits them.
Sultan Awwad
very interesting answer sultan
ReplyDeletei really like the citation from the Holy Qra'n
i'll read ur answer again to discuss some issues
good luck
Tahani
good postulation and argumentation ,Sultan.You are reminding me of the story of Hayy bin Yaqdan contemplating ,wondering and pondering about himself and all that is around .I myself still ask questions like Why people speak different languages? What is the first language in the world? What is LAD(language acquisition device)that Chomsky brags about?In fact,Sultan ,there are questions that we can answer, but there are many others that still boggle our minds. Inquisitiveness and exploration led Edison to come up with over athousand inventions,and Newton to come up with the Gravity theory.
ReplyDeleteInteresting!I'm impressed,Sultan !
Psychology is the study of the mind, partly via the study of behavior, grounded in science.[1][2] Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases.[3][4] For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society.[5][6] In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can be classified as a social scientist, behavioral scientist, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain functions and behaviors.
ReplyDeletePsychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Some, especially depth psychologists, also consider the unconscious mind.a Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or in opposition, to employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especially clinical and counseling psychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques. Psychology incorporates research from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, such as philosophy.
While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also applied to understanding and solving problems in many different spheres of human activity. The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Many do scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior, and typically work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings. Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, or in other areas[7] such as human development and aging, sports, health, and the media, as well as in criminal justice and other aspects of law.
Osama and Tahani thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteI never realized that this article resembled "Hayy bin Yaqdan"!! However, I guess your right in every sense of the word. I like your approximation of the issue!!
I guess all of us resemble this character in a way or another, yet in different versions!!
Asking questions and trying to answer them an innate human need, but to consider human mind is the ultimate source of knowledge is a ludicrous of hyperbole.
Can't wait to have a discussion with you Tahani!!