Tuesday, July 19, 2016

(R)- Philosophy 101

A view of the stairs in our lounge.
Noticed it when I fell asleep waiting
for curfew and opened my eyes to
this view.
My class has evolved into Philosophy 101.  All of our discussions turn into completely different topics. Today had a transition from abortion to gun rights.  We studied cases regarding contraceptives and abortion that left us all divided since we have two transgender students, a Texas native, Chinese students who have no open discussions like this in their schools, and some hardcore Christians.  As you can tell, this is an excellent breeding ground for heated debate.  Luckily, Mrs. Scott stopped it before everything blew up and we moved on to bakers' hours per week.  The stuff on abortion is intriguing because when it comes down to it, there has to be all or nothing.  Those that support the pro-life view except in cases of rape or incest are technically being hypocritical.  They claim that life begins at the moment of conception, yet those lives created by rape or incest are then being valued less than other embryos. That is constitutionally invalid because all people are equal in the eyes of the law. 

Conversely, pro-choice supporters claim that women should be able to abort at any point they see fit. (At least the most extreme pro-choice advocates, which we have in my class.)  This is also tricky because there is a possibility that an embryo could live if separated from the womb prematurely.  Technically, then, that embryo could be classified as living, and that could be considered murder. I support the middle ground because the only way to appease both sides is to compromise.

My route today for two miles.
Now we can move onto some less controversial items. After all, this is not a political blog.  I had a two-mile time trial today. Mauricio rode a bike next to me to keep me more or less on pace.  He was going to have to pay around $12, but we got lucky in finding a bike that someone had not returned correctly in the city-wide bike rental system, Divy.  We felt bad at first, but then we realized that if we had not used the bike and then put it back properly, the bike would have been out all night. That would cost the person who rented it, even more money, so we are kind people.  My time was satisfactory for early summer but still a lot of work to do.  

The campus is filling up, as well. New groups are arriving every day for some reason, and the dining hall is way overcrowded.  Since it is the only one open, the entire campus congregates in one building to eat. Complete mayhem. But at least the food is good.  Some people complain about it, but they must not have WCCUSD school lunch.  This is gourmet compared to that.

I had a lot of homework today and tomorrow I am going to the aquarium so that will be a lot of fun.  The aquarium is on my top ten list of must-sees, and there will be jazz music, too. A huge plus for half the price of a regular ticket.
A few minutes ago in the kitchen where we were eating
grapes with seeds (ew).  Kevin and Doris were there too.

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