English Scholarship Pathway: What have I learnt?

Hi there!

Today I participated in an English Scholarship Pathway, or ESP. We learnt about Narratology Theory, Rhetoric Theory, Philosophy, and Shakespeare.

The class I enjoyed the most was Philosophy, although the other classes follow extremely closely!

I liked Philosophy because it made me think and question my morals and ethical beliefs and try to open my eyes to how others viewed things. I enjoyed asking 'Why?' to statements such as 'I bought food from the supermarket' and 'Lollies are good'. You would say your statement and other people would ask "Why did you buy food from the supermarket?", then you would answer. This would continue until there was no knowledge left at all which humans know about or until you ran out of knowledge. 

This activity made me think very deeply and it led well into the next portion of the class: Metaphysics. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy which asks questions like the following:

- Are we living in a simulation? What even is reality?

- Are you dreaming right now? Is your consciousness the only one to exist? 

- How did everything come into being? Why?

- What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?

I found it fascinating that people ponder these questions for life, but each person will have a different answer and view, which can change over time too. 

After Metaphysics, we moved onto Ethics, specifically 'The Trolley Problem'. We looked at different perspectives of the trolley problem too, such as if there was a person large enough to push onto tracks. Our original ethical beliefs changed with each different scenario. 

Lastly, we focused on being human. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be a person? 

We watched a video of a robot being constructed as an introductory trailer for a PlayStation 3 game. In the video, we see a robot being constructed and being tested for tasks it needs to complete and gets named Kara. 

Kara passes her testing, but after being told she will be sold she says "I thought I was alive". After saying this she is disassembled, as she isn't supposed to think. She is able to convince the tester to stop and let her go and the video fades out. 

Personally, this video encouraged me to think about being alive and all the things people can experience, good or bad and how it can shape them. 

If the teachers who taught us are reading this post, THANK YOU! It was an amazing experience and I really appreciate everything you shared with us and the time you took out of your spare time!

Thanks for reading!