Chapter Two: The Top Hat

Geez.  This book just gets better.  First of all, I learned in this chapter that questions are easier to ask than they are to answer.  Many questions have multiple possible solutions, and in this chapter, the philosopher claimes that maybe that is the problem.  What if that IS the problem?  What if there really are simple, beautiful answers to all the questions we ask?  What if nothing is as complicated as we make it out to be?  Are we simply thinking too hard about the science of things? 

The idea presented in the book is that once a question has been solved by science, it is much harder for us to see it in any other light than the one we are constantly exposed to.  For example, when people had accepted the idea that Earth was the center of the universe, many of them quit wondering.  Why should they wonder when science had supposedly found an answer?  But then, Copernicus declared that it was actually the sun at the center of the universe, and Earth revolved around it.  It took forever for that theory to be adapted, even though now, we could never think of it another way.  That is because we have accepted the theory.  We would be completely shocked if anyone were ever to present a new idea because we simply are not open to the wonder of the question any longer.  We have found our answer, and that is good enough for us.  But wait!

What happens when someone disagrees with our answer?  What happens when there are multiple theories out there, and in the space of our minds, everything becomes jumbled?  What should we believe, what should we not?  Why must there be so many different ideas out there?  The basis of conflict is the disagreement of ideas.  What if we could all find one solid thing to believe in?  One solid answer.  Maybe the answer to solving conflict is finding an answer that everyone can accept.

But that’s just it! We can’t all accept an idea.  It just doesn’t happen.  I imagine that somewhere out in the world, some person is trying to prove that the moon is actually the center of our revolution, or that Mars is the center of the universe.  It sounds crazy, but so did the sun being at the center.  Someone out there disagrees with the accepted “truth” and someone always will. 

Maybe that’s the way it was supposed to be.  One of the ideas strongly expressed in this book is the word HABIT.  When we are in the habit of believing something, we lose our sense of wonder for it.  To keep the excitement alive, we must continue to change our thinking, to see things in different light.  Why settle for believing one thing?  Life is a journey, and I personally believe that we are meant to change.  And we are meant to question the things we believe because otherwise, we might take it for granted.  If you believe in God, I don’t think he will condemn you for questioning him, because everytime you do, you are renewing your wonder in him.  Questioning is a part of growth and change, and when we believe we’ve found an answer and we stop questioning, then we stop growing.  We stop moving forward and we are stuck in a rut, strapped into the routine of our lives.  And what’s the point in that?

So basically, what I’m getting at is that we shouldn’t lose our sense of wonder, and we should never let ourselves run out of questions.

Chapter One: Garden Of Eden

Wow.  I can already tell that this book is going to be an adventure.  In just the first nine pages, I already feel like I’ve been through a roller coaster of thinking.  The questions presented are incredibly hard to wrap your head around, but I can see I’m going to have an awesome time trying. 

The first thing I realized from reading this chapter is that the main point of philosophy is questioning.  I almost think the words should be synonyms.  If you have a question, and a reason to find an answer, then you have a philosophy.  Philosophy is also a journey.  You can learn the history of philosophy, but you cannot truly learn what it is unless you take your mind on a journey and explore the questions you have.

Some of the notes I took while reading include the idea that the human brain is simply like an advanced computer.  Sophie’s reaction is that surely the human brain must be more than hardware.  In reality, what if we are just a computer, doing the tasks that we are programmed to do?   But then, what about the things that change within us all the time?  The ideas, the process of learning, the growth, the feelings.  Are all those things simply programmed into our being?  Another question that Sophie addresses is what a human being really is?  If the human brain is just an advanced computer, then are human beings just vessels?  Are our bodies just the carriers of the computer in our brains?  The thing is computers can only do as they’re told.  So, if we are computers, what is free will?  We couldn’t have free will because if we are computers, then we would only do as we are told.  And I often find myself questioning why I am doing things.  Why am I going to school?  Why am I eating lunch?  Am I doing those things because of free will, or because I was told to?  If I am doing them because they’ve been ordered, then maybe I am like a computer.  But then again, could a computer question the things it does?  Doesn’t it just do as it’s told, without the capability to ask why?  If philosophy is the ability to wonder, to question, and if that is an ability that humans have, might it be right to say that human beings are philosophers?  Maybe that is what we are.  Maybe that’s the answer. 

And that’s not even the biggest question asked in this chapter!  Who are you?  Now that’s a huge one.  Sophie claims at first that she is Sophie.  She is her name.  Therefore, I am Kyla.  But then Sophie wonders would she be someone different if she were named something else.  Is our name the defining quality, or just a label?  What does it have to do with who we are?  If I had a different name, would I still think and act like me?  Would I still be sitting here typing the words I am?  Or would I be doing something completely different, thinking something completely different?  What factors into determining who we are?  Is the clothes we wear, the things we study, or the food we eat?  Or is it deeper, like the way we accept criticism, the way we deal with heartbreak, or the way we love?  What determines who a person is? 

Do you see what I mean?  Philosophy is a continuum of questions, with seemingly impossible, or incomprehensible answers.  Maybe in all truth, we aren’t meant to know the answers.  But since we’ve been created with the ability to ask questions and wonder about these things, then it seems like those answers are just waiting to be found.  Why have the ability to ask questions when you don’t have the ability to answer them? 

Let me remind you, this is after reading nine pages… only the first chapter! As Sophie takes me through her thinking process, it triggers my own questions, and my own curiosity.  My mind is already spinning, and I absolutely love it. 

Prologue

So, last year as we were registering for classes, I had a huge gap in my schedule, and I had no idea how to fill it.  None of the classes I wanted would fit there, so I finally decided to make up my own and do a directed study.  I tried to think of something I found interesting that I didn't know much about, and what did I come up with? Philosophy. 
I met with our shortest, most enthusiastic English teacher, Mrs. Brixey and she agreed to be my "teacher."  She told me about this really interesting book called Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, and thought I might enjoy it. As I begin to read this story, my philosophical journey begins.
And as part of my "curriculum" for this study, I will be exposing all those great philosophical moments in this blog.  Enjoy :)