American Dream Essay Discussion

We were debating the merits of our positions on the discussion topic posed by the American Dream Unit Essay we wrote earlier this week.

Steve on the one hand theorized that the "American Dream" is to a degree an exercise in hypocrisy, depending on the degree of imbalance of self-interest and materialism evident in the contemporary experience. Arvind postulated that education and technology maintained the American Dream's legitimacy by supplying many citizens with the tools to become successful.

What are your responses on the merits of our positions?

(Arvind and Steve)

What is Reality?

Although we briefly touched upon this topic already, I was so intrigued by the question that I thought it might need further emphasis.

How do we know what is real? Rather, if we perceive something in the extensional world, how do we know that it actually exists there and is not an addition inserted in by our intensional world?

We never can be too sure of what is real and what is not. Our intensional world inevitably colors our perceptions of the extensional world, and so sometimes we may unconsciously add elements to our view of the extensional world. For example, if I were terrified and alone in a dark dank forest, my mind would soon play tricks upon me and I would be hearing and seeing things that did not really exist in the extensional world. My fear has blurred my vision of the extensional world.
But then in the "real world," how would we even be able to tell if something did exist or not? People hallucinating are probably not aware of their condition and may believe their visions to be real.

And when we are dreaming, are we aware during our dreams that we are not in the extensional territory but are lost within our intensional maps? Many times it is only after we wake up panting and shaking do we understand that "it was only a dream." After all, how many times in real life have you told a friend, "Pinch me. I must be dreaming"? Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher, once dreamed that he was a butterfly. After he woke up, he asked himself, "Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man."

How do we know that what we are experiencing right now is real, and not just a dream that we will soon wake up from?

Just a few idle musings. Thoughts are greatly appreciated.
(Eric Wei)