https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29 Take a moment to reflect and then comment on what you feel you might know for certain. Is it possible to know anything for certain? Explain. en-us 2016-12-06 14:21:57 UTC 2016-12-08 03:59:23 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142046235 I know for certain that I can find an answer to a question or a solution to a problem. In this course it is mentioned that math/mathematical thinking may be the closest we get to knowing something is real for certain. If we are trying to find an answer to a math problem we know for certain there is a specific method to be used to solve it and I'm using real logic to find it. I know for certain I'm alive and that means I must be breathing and my heart must be beating. I know for certain that up until this point all people are born and all people die. It's a hard question though because it can always be argued that everything you know is an illusion which makes it easy to believe nothing is certain or nothing is real. I think math and logic can prove that it is possible to know something is certain. I don't think anything else can.]]> 2016-12-06 15:38:04 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142046235 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142114326 I feel that because human beings need a sense of security we need to feel like we know things for certain, but thinking deeply do we really? Surely we know that the earth is round, but in order for one to know for certain, one would have to have experienced seeing the whole earth firsthand, and many of us haven't. Our names, are our names but they aren't certain. I could live majority of my life as Bianca and then one day change my name to Jade, so our names can't be certain. Our beliefs, we hold no doubt against. However, are they our beliefs because we're certain of them, or because we believe we are certain of them? One may believe that aliens exist, and another may believe that there's no such thing. Both people believe they're certain of this, but neither of them know for a fact if aliens do/don't exist because they've never experienced an encounter with an alien themselves, or if they had, how would they know? I personally think there are few things we know for certain, especially when relying on our senses and some knowledge due to the fact that as Descartes said, senses can be deceiving, as well as the fact that many of our knowledge has been passed down to us and it's not until we discover everything this world has to offer for ourselves that we will know what is certain. ]]> 2016-12-06 18:33:38 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142114326 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142127378 I know that for somethings in life, I am able to find a answer that I know is certain but for other situations I might not know the answer for certain for example, for a a simple math question I am able to know what the exact answer is, but if I tried to find what the meaning of life was, I wouldn't be able to know for certain. I find that you can know something for certain when there is a logical, scientific and mathematical explanation for the question, but when you are considering something that is open to interpretation it is hard to be certain of the answer. ]]> 2016-12-06 19:08:25 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142127378 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142148565 I can be certain for the fact that I am alive. I can be certain that there is world  where people animals exist. I can be certain of this because I have pinched myself in situations where I felt something wasn't real. Now how does a pinch relate to certainty? A pinch can be painful, which is a feeling. Feeling indicates certainty. ]]> 2016-12-06 20:15:17 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142148565 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142188268 After being in this philosophy course, I have learned that the only thing I know for certain is that I exist. I do not know in what form I exist in nor where I exist in, however the fact that I can think means that I exist. I do not think anything we see can be considered to exist for certain or be real because our senses can trick us. This means that it is not possible to know anything for certain. We may believe some things are real because they physically feel real and in front of you but everything may just be an illusion. Just like dreams, sometimes we are able to feel the intensity of it and cry or sweat in "real life" because it feels so real. However we know that once we wake up, everything is where it supposedly was before you fell asleep. ]]> 2016-12-07 01:16:26 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142188268 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142194985 If i didn't take this course i would certainly say that, yes, i am certain i do exist and everything around me is real. But now that i have some knowledge passed on from the famous philosophers such as Plato and Rene Decartes i am skeptical about a lot of things in life. It's not that i question reality but how can we be 100% certain that we are not living a simulation in an elaborate world whose species is far more superior than us. Sure it sounds crazy but, is there proof opposing that argument? It can also be true that it's just a good idea for a sci-fi movie and this world is as real as anything in it. Media and history has made us believe that we are real and certain because of how we've been living. All the knowledge told to us by media and books are things that supposedly happened, i mean i wasn't there to witness a lot of historical event so how can i be certain that they even happened. If i am not certain about what happened in the past on the planet i live then how can i be certain about reality itself. I'm not even sure if death is the final stop or just another chapter so it's really hard to know if anything is real. ]]> 2016-12-07 02:46:02 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142194985 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142201554 The thing that I am certain of is that I am here right now experiencing what I'm experiencing and feeling what I am feeling right now. I know that I am thinking right in the moment and whatever I encounter is real, I know that somewhere in my mind, I experienced it in some way because I'm thinking of it. I'm certain that knowledge is the power of certainty. I can't be certain that I'm actually interacting with other people or other beings, but I know in my mind that I am experiencing that. I think you are only certain about something if you experienced it by yourself. I just know that I am thinking right now and I am also certain that you can't be certain for everything. You may be thinking something but it doesn't make it real although it is certain that you're thinking of it.]]> 2016-12-07 04:41:59 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142201554 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142337073 I never really thought about stuff like this before being in this class, but now that i am i have realized the only thing i 100% know is that i exist an d i am real. You can't find an answer to every problem or question you have been asked in your life. If i was asked to answer a math question there will always be a answer even if its not a solid number there will be one. But the question of someone asking m what time is I wouldn't be able to answer because time isn't real to me just a concept.All i know is my thoughts and feelings because that is all i can know about what is existing.

]]> 2016-12-07 16:31:03 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142337073 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142370817 Throughout this philosophy course, we have reflected that the only thing any given individual can know for certainty is that they exist as thinking entities. Though this does not provide any reassurance of what form we exist in, what realm of reality we are experiencing and how much of the real "world" is being presented to us. The second thing we have learned is that the closest form of an absolute answer we can find is a mathematical proof. By such information, we can use mathematical knowledge to prove why we BELIEVE something should be attributed certain reality but this does not provide any confirmation that anything, other than our thinking minds, exist for 100% inarguable certainty. But it can be lastly argued that anything our thinking entities seem to be experiencing or feeling is real enough for each individual life. 

]]> 2016-12-07 18:01:14 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142370817 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142457947 Thought this course I have learned to think in many ways that I have not been use to thinking before. In the past I assumed that everything that happened to me and everything that I did was always real and true. But thinking philosophically that may not be the case. For all I know I could be hooked up to a computer and this computer could be creating all my thoughts, memories, and actions. Before this course I never had any thoughts like that before. Something I also don't know for sure and that other many people don't know for sure is whether any god in any religion exists. There is no proof that there is stronger force watching over us and everything we do. On the other something I may not for certain is how to do certain skills. I guess if I can do a certain skill and another person can not this may show that it is real and not fabricated since not many people can do it. Now that I truly think about it there are not many things that I know for sure to be real or fake in the world.]]> 2016-12-08 02:46:18 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142457947 https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142462119 Along with many people, I can say I also agree with the fact that I know for certain my thoughts are real. I am capable of thinking on my own as it's not an algorithm. At first, I would think that my body was also real but how can I know for certain? What makes a body real or fake? Another reason of why I think only my thoughts are real because I don't know if this is the after life, before life, the present, or this could all be one long dream! The only thing I am certain is that I am thinking and making choices, but how can I know even if I am even living? That, I cannot know for certain. ]]> 2016-12-08 03:55:13 UTC https://padlet.com/elan_umholtz/956zqhvare29/wish/142462119