Pushing Our Brains to the LIMITS

By Luke Langlois

Editor James landed on “Philosophy” as his weekly Theme. James says philosophy makes him see the world “more clearly.” Luke asks, “Does it make it more clear? or more cloudy?” This is Luke’s response to the subject of Philosophy.

Over the years, humanity has risen to the occasion time and time again to push limits. Whether it be physical limits, technological limits, scientific limits, or academic limits, we always find a way to take it further. But, before we make many of these leaps, we have to push the boundaries of our thoughts. And, then, we have to push the boundaries of the definition of boundaries. How would I know that “I am” if Descartes never said “I think, therefore I am.” I would not! That is why philosophy, the study of knowledge, thinking, morals, values, etc, is critical to our humanity. Where would we be without forward thinking? With that being said, the following is a list of questions that probably will not push our society forward, but they should provoke some thinking.

1. Is free will a reality or a mere illusion?
2. If freedom is just being able to “do whatever you want,” are animals more “free” than humans?
3. Referring to the quote of Descartes (“I think, therefore I am”), if an AI were able to “think,” would it be considered sentient?  
4. Are there extraterrestrials out there? Are they simply avoiding us?
5. If extraterrestrials were to visit our planet, what should our response be? What would we actually end up doing?
6. Are we living in a simulation? Are the “others” in our lives engineered to answer this question to keep us naive?
7. Do other people see color in the same way that we see color?  Is our blue someone else’s red?
8. On the same note, how would you describe a color?
9. Is time real? Is there truly a past, present, and future?
10. We often deal with deadlines. Our life revolves around beginnings and ends. But, does time have a beginning and end?  
11. Perhaps there is no physical embodiment of Santa Claus, but the tales of his existence provide children with a lifelong holiday spirit. Does this make him “real” in a sense?
12. Would you end the life of ten people, unknown to you, for ten million dollars?
13. Similarly, would you end the life of ten to save your best friend?
14. You are the leader of your nation and your largest city has just been struck with a nuclear weapon. How do you respond?
15. Is anything truly experienced objectively?
16. You have two options: you can go back in history and prevent every major war that has occurred. Or, you can stay in your current life and let history play itself out. What do you do?
17. With the snap of your fingers, you can eliminate half the life in the universe. After this, resources are plentiful. Do you do it?

So, there are some questions. Some of them are obviously a bit more serious than others, but none of them have an easy answer. Or do they? Human brains have achieved incredible feats over the years, but there are some questions that simply elude the capability of our thoughts. Perhaps YOU can provide us with answers and be the next great philosopher.  

Editor: James Zheng