My English Journey ENRIQUE ARROBBA VÉLEZ YACHAY TECH UNIVERSITY ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM URCUQUÍ, ECUADOR
Credits My English Journey Enrique Arrobba English Language Program Yachay Tech University Level 6-005 Teacher: Daniel Beall January 9, 2017 Ur
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Portfolio letter Response essay Interpretation essay Argumentation essay Final research project essay Additional materials (pictures/videos/other works) Thank you letter
Portfolio letter
Kelvin Enrique Arrobba Vélez kelvin.arrobba@yachaytech.edu.ec December 14, 2016 Dear Portfolio reader: “Leave your fears, English is easy and beautiful”. This letter will explain you my experience and development across the Level 06. Before the course, I felt so insecure when I had to understand what an American speaking is saying. Also, I had too problems with my pronunciation and speaking skills. Now, thanks to the methodology used by the teacher I learned to speak fluently and improvise in the English class, something that before of this course I really couldn’t do. Also, I improved my capacity to understand to an American speaker and I´m very impressed for that. Then, I learned and improve a variety of things across this level and I’m grateful with the professor because all his advices will serve for my professional future. My strength in English Language had been writing skills and reading comprehension. For example, when the topic is interesting I really enjoy writing essays using the correct format given by the teachers. In this course, I learned the use of transitional phrases for improving the quality of redaction in an essay. Also, for responding essays and the elaboration of my research I had to read a lot of articles of scientist and excellent writers. This fact really improved my reading comprehension, because the practice make you better in any activity. Another important thing I learned in this course was describing a piece of art in a called interpretation essay, something that I’ve never done before. In this assignment, we students chose a famous piece of art, be it a song, painting, poem, etc. We chose the famous Queen’s song “Bohemian Rhapsody” and we interpreted the meaning of the lyrics. Being honest, this was very difficult because there were a lot of possible interpretations for this song. Also, we
had to identify signs, symbols and devices encrusted in this beautiful artwork. I really enjoyed this activity. My weakness in English had always been the listening. Before of this course, I’ve never had and American Professor, so I was not accustomed to the American accent. It was very difficult for me trying to understand them. But now, my ability in listening improved in an amazing way. I had to concentrate a lot to understand to the teacher, and that brought very satisfactory consequences. Now, when I listen a song in English I can understand in a moderate way the lyrics, before I couldn’t do that. Another interesting thing I learned in level 06 was the types of fallacies. Honestly, I didn’t knew that were so many kinds of fallacies and before I wasn’t aware of the fallacies in any argument that I defended. This learning served me well for the elaboration of my essays and to be able to refute the counterargument of my research paper. In the course, we had a debate about the legalization of some drugs, and in this activity I was aware of all the fallacies that I used. For example, I thought “Carl Sagan smoke weed” and then I learned that this is the authority fallacy. In conclusion, my experience in Level 06 had been very enriching, because I greatly increased my learning and enjoyed the level too. As a recommendation for those who will go to this level, I think they should start thinking in English and not try to translate things into Spanish, since in this way the brain better assimilates learning a foreign language and gets better results. Besides, you should go to all classes. Sincerely, Kelvin Enrique Arrobba Vélez
RESPONSE ESSAY
Response to Essay “The Ethics of Human Enhancement” Enrique Arrobba Yachay Tech
“With great power comes great responsibility” is a line often repeated in the comics of Spiderman, but now the superpowered beings are us humans, with the capacity to modify our brains at our convenience. In the Andy Miah article “The Ethics of Human Enhancement” the author explains that recent scientific advancements allow humans to improve everything from memory to appearance, through changes in the brain. Benefits might also include living for much longer. But what responsibilities come with genetic modification? And who should take over these responsibilities? In general, I agree with Miah’s article, but I believe the main ethical problem is that the benefits of human enhancements should be used to improve the quality of life of all society, not just a select and small group of individuals. In the article, the author says that biology is treated as something to be manipulated at will, depending on one’s lifestyle interests rather than health needs (Miah, 2016). I totally agree with that. Science has its interests because it is funded by governments or big private institutions, and they are not interested in improving the health of everybody, but they look for ways to make more money and gain power over other people. Miah writes that humans have always sought to improve themselves, using methods like education, exercise or a good diet. But, when the method to improve is something related with drugs or genetic modification, people look at it with disfavor. I think this is because society has deeply rooted traditions and it can be suspicious of new ways of thinking. These dilemmas of uses of drugs or genetic modification are just reduced to moral issues. According to Miah, one argument commonly used to challenge the value of human enhancement is this: the means by which people achieve their goals in life matter (Miah, 2016). I disagree with this point, because the important thing is to achieve the goals that you've proposed. For example, Miah
writes an example about an mountaineer that uses an helicopter to reach the top of a mountain, then the value of the achievement is undermined. But, what really was the purpose of the mountaineer? If his purpose was feeling the adrenaline of climbing, definitely the use of the helicopter is a bad idea. On the other hand, if the mountaineer wanted to climb the mountain because there is a treasure in the top, I think the use of an helicopter is the best choice. Miah claims that another reason for caution regarding human enhancement is that human enhancement may narrow a person's prospects, because some enhancements might promote success early in life, but lead to serious disability later (Miah, 2016). I totally agree with that. I think a brainenhancing drug should not be launched on the market if it causes long-term health complications. That's very obvious. And if someone decide to use it, he must to face the consequences. According to Miah, a further societal concern is that enhancements, for example the biotechnological changes, undermine some essential quality of our human nature because we are “playing God”. Sincerely, this concern strikes me as something childish. If science and technology are used for improving the quality of life of humanity, would God be upset about it? These fears about “playing God” maybe exist because religion tell us stories like Babel’s tower for scaring us. But if we have the capacity of make brain modifications to increase our brain capacities, and then we use them for thinking new ways for improving the quality of life of societies (designing a economic system better than capitalism, for example), I believe God should be very proud of us. Making numerous enhancements available will require having a range of decision makers charged with developing policies for their use and implies the need for social systems ensuring that everyone has affordable access to them (Miah,2016). I totally agree with the author’s point of view. In the question of governance, it is very important that leaders socialize with people about the policies of human enhancement, because all people are entitled to know these policies.
Finally, according to Miah, perhaps the most pressing issue is the degree to which the use of human enhancements requires a global response, rather than just domestic policy. I disagree with this. I don’t believe the main problem of human enhancement is its management and its governance policies. I believe the main issue with human enhancement is how to use it for improving the lifestyle of the human race, that is the real challenge. In conclusion, I think Miah’s article is good, but the ethical problems that he writes are not transcendentals, because those problems are based on simple moral issues and unnecessary fears of society. Rather, I believe the true challenge of human enhancement is to find ways to improve the quality of life of all society, not just a select and small group of individuals. For example, making use of biochemistry, synthesize an antibiotic to increase resilience to the environment and distribute it to the most vulnerable people. In this way, we are using science and technology in service of humanity, and we will creating a better world for everything us and for our children.
References Miah, A. (2016, September 8). The ethics of human enhancement. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602342/the-ethics-of-human-enhancement/
Interpretation Essay
Interpretation essay Group members: Carlos Lopez Enrique Arrobba John Goyes Marlon Puma
Yachay Tech
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY “Rhapsody is one of those songs that has a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then decide for themselves what it means to them” said Freddie Mercury about his creation, one of the best songs in the history of modern music. Being a combination of several musical styles, “Bohemian Rhapsody” marked a clear differentiation between the songs of the time and it placed in the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks. After the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991, the song returned to the first place in the UK Singles Chart, with a total of 2 176 000 copies and becoming the third best-selling single of all time. This epic song was written entirely by Freddie Mercury in 1975 in the album A Night at the Opera. According to the guitarist Brian May, much of Queen's material was written in the studio, but this song "was all in Freddie's mind" before they started. The lyrics of this song are shrouded in mystery, since Mercury refused to explain its composition, saying only that it dealt with relationships. Although the lyrics of this song are very ambiguous and in general this song is complex and confused, we could see that Bohemian Rhapsody represents an irreverence for following the rules of a typical song with a single rhythm, breaking the schemas of the musical tradition of the time. The song consists of six sections: introduction to acapella, ballad, guitar solo, opera, rock and coda or final. This format, with abrupt changes of style, tone and tempo is unusual in rock music. The introduction is a superposition of four tapes with the voice of Freddie Mercury. Then the piano starts the ballad section in Bb major tone with the powerful voice of the vocalist. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the guitar solo of Bohemian Rhapsody has been considered one of the best in the history of the rock, due to creativity and energy of Brian May. After May's solo, the song becomes a piece of opera, which is quite unexpected in a 70's rock song. For the final part, the rock style starts and the electric guitar begins to carry the baton of the musical piece. In this way the beautiful bohemian rhapsody is composed, which marked a point of inflection in the music of the seventies.
When Freddie Mercury released his song, he never gave declarations about the meaning or symbolism of the song, however we can see some of them. In the final part of the opera section, the vocalist says: “Mama mia let me go”, which is a symbolism of a call for freedom towards his couple Marie; so in this line Mercury is saying something like “Marie let me go” Hence, let's consider first the opinion of some fans that describe the song as the symbol of his bisexuality but other says that the song symbolizes his childhood frustrations. Also, we can not forget about the lyrics because the lyrics is another controversy of this song because sometimes it does not follow the same meaning throughout the song or sometimes it is not obvious for the people but obviously the author want to symbolize something that could be freedom, madness or repulsion by the rules; nobody knows because he never talks about this. Hence, the meaning and symbolism of this song could be interpreted in many ways by people but always the lyrics and the mix of some rhythms in this song will be a good combination no matter what it may represent. However, this song is a little bit hard to understand what it is trying to say specifically, because the song contains a mix of rhythms as we mentioned but also the lyrics could be hard to interpret too. Therefore, I will put to the reader some points for which the song is hard to understand. Firstly, at the beginning of the song if we advance for the first lines to give a meaning to the whole song, we could say that the song relates the regrets of a son before a crime that he did; in this way, during the song he is telling about the crime to her mom and also he gave a farewell to his friends but this happen only in 2:07 min after that the song takes other way. In the next minutes we can hear opera in which we could interpret that in the lyrics he still keeping the guilt but at this time he is expressing his guilt to a group of people that probably are judging him; accordingly, we can hear in the song “no,we will not let you go” and others saying “ let him go” for this we can interpret that he is looking to be forgiven. Since the minute 3:12 we can hear that the song takes an unbridled and erratic rhythm in which anyone can feel an electricity around the body caused by the guitar solo which is consider as the 20th best of all time (Blackett, 2012); hence, in the lyrics a man opposes a certain humiliation on the part of a woman and
asks euphorically for freedom from this. Moreover, in the last minutes the song takes a rhombus with rhythm of ballad in its letter describes the total relevance of the situations of the life and in his last phrase "anyway the wind blows" we interpret that it means that in any way the course of life continues, it does not matter what you do. Hence, if we analyze this song very carefully we can have a lot of interpretations because I think that's the work of the song. In conclusion, for sure Bohemian Rhapsody represents an irreverent song because Freddie Mercury with this rhythm broke the schemas of the music at there time. In only one song we can find a few different type of music as rock or ballad without forget the opera that appears there. The interpretations that people can bring to this song are a lot and everyone could be right but the only certainty thing is that this song was created at all in the head of Mercury by his imagination. So too, there are many symbolism in the meaning of phrases or the story that the song told to us. These symbolisms can represents freedom, madness or repulsion depending from who is listen to the song. But because of Mercury never explain the song we never going to know what is the really intention of the author. However and finally no doubt that this song marked a point in musical history because this song breaks all the music schemas known at these time. References Blackett, M. (16 de April de 2012). Guitar Player . Obtenido de http://www.guitarplayer.com/miscellaneous/1139/brian-may-still-reigns-as-the-king-oftone/21990
Final Research Project Essay
Sciences such as Physics and Neuroscience are discovering universal truths that were already known by ancient spiritual masters. Colleges should make these connections known to students and teach selfknowledge techniques for the awakening of consciousness.
Enrique Arrobba Yachay Tech
Abstract This research explains the point of convergence between the latest discoveries in science and the arcane teachings of spiritual masters such as Buddha. In the first three sections of this essay, the reader is aware of the latest scientific discoveries that coincide with the cosmology and teachings of Buddhism. These are: no duality between the observed and the observer; the physical body obeys the thought; the observable universe is a hologram. Since science and spirituality converges in the concept of consciousness, the fourth section of this research explores the question of what consciousness is based on the research of Dr. Rick Strassman. In addition, this essay makes a critical to the current educational system because it takes children away from spiritual knowledge, which is a key element to the selfrealization of the individual. Keywords: Science, spirituality, consciousness, education, self-realization.
Science and Spirituality: the Awakening of Consciousness Science and spirituality have always been two very different concepts that today seem to point to the same thing. Each of them interprets the Universe under its own terms, the main difference is that science seeks answers in the outside, the observable Universe; while spirituality guarantees that to understand the universe at a deeper level, it is absolutely necessary to know oneself. The relationship between spirit and matter has already been investigated by the greatest philosophers of humanity. The scientist and philosopher Rene Descartes proposed that reality is made up of two completely different substances, the objective Universe which is all observable (falling into the field of Science), and something non-physical, subjective which he called the soul, which is subject of study of the Religion. Now, starting from the idea that Science explores the outer Universe (the observed) and Spirituality explores the inner Universe (the observer) and under the premise that the observed and the observer are part of the same (proven by Quantum Physics), then it is inevitable that science and spirituality converge at a certain point. The twentieth century proved the relationship between matter and energy. Can the twenty-first century open the door to a deeper understanding of reality, incorporating two concepts that have been totally opposed until now: science and spirituality? Based on the evidence, we can say that this is very possible. Even now, sciences such as Physics and Neuroscience are discovering universal truths that were already known by ancient spiritual masters. Physics Encounters Consciousness One of the ways in which science and spirituality connect is when investigating the nature of consciousness. Quantum physics has discovered that a single electron appears in a particular place if it is measured. In other words, an electron is extended by many places at the same time until a conscious observer decides to look at it. The act of measuring and observing creates the whole of the Universe (AlKhalili, 2016). Only conscious beings can be observers, then, we are intimately interconnected with the very existence of reality (Dobyns, 2010). This leads us to infer that without the presence of the conscious being, just there would be an overlapping of probabilities without nothing being material and objective never. And looking further, this discovery leads to the idea that the human being is not a
passive element in the Universe. The human being is an active entity of the material Universe with the "gift" of, according to its intention, manifesting a reality. Buddha taught "what you think is what you become, the mind is everything" Was Buddha right about it? According to quantum physics, yes. This discovery is truly transcendent to begin to understand the nature of reality and change our paradigm about the Universe.
A Thin shit of Reality: the Universe is a Hologram In order to describe the nature of reality, the physicians Leonard Susskind and Gerardus Hooft (Nobel Prize in 1999) postulated a revolutionary theory of the structure of the Universe. The Universe is composed of 4% of visible matter, and all the science we have today tries to describe only that 4%. What we call reality are simple energy stimuli belonging to that 4% that reach one of our five senses. Now, the Holographic Principle postulates that everything we see is actually a hologram of a reality that keeps us hidden to our limited senses. It means the observable Universe is an illusion or projection of something. Try to explain this Principle in physics terms is very complex, but there is strong evidence that the area of any surface limits the information content of adjacent spacetime regions, at 1.4Ă—1069 bits per square meter (Bousso, 2002). In other words, the entire universe can be seen as a twodimensional information structure "painted" on the cosmological horizon. Universe is a gigantic hologram, a three-dimensional projection that our mind is in charge to recreate (Talbot, 2007). Then, if we really live in an illusion, it is important to give all our efforts to get out of the illusion and to understand the true reality. Now, Buddha already knew that the reality we experience is an illusion. He taught that if we want to find the origin of the illusion, we should not look outside (in the observable Universe), but we have to awaken the consciousness.
Physical body obeys the Thought Dr. Joe Dispenza expert in Brain Biochemistry explains the mechanism behind the spontaneous cure of diseases that was studied in a group of patients in the United States. Every time we think, the brain produces a chemical substance. If thoughts are good or happy, the brain makes chemicals that make us feel good and happy. If our thoughts are bad or unhappy, we make chemicals that make us feel exactly as we think (Dispenza, 2002). In this way, thought secretes a substance and this is literally a message that tells the physical body how to feel. When we begin to feel as we think something amazing happens, the brain consults with the body and begins to think the way we feel, which in turn generates more chemicals that allow us to feel as we think and think as we feel (Dispenza, 2002). According to Dr. Dispenza, people who managed to heal themselves miraculously were those who got their brain to start thinking differently, asking questions such as: how would it feel to be a happy person? Who do I know in my life to be happy? What do I have to do to make a change in my life? It is unbelievable that when these patients plunged into their thoughts to change their present situation, they completely lost the notion of time (Dispenza, 2002). These patients managed to change their cycle of thinking-feeling in an amazing way. They achieved that the physical body finally obeyed the thought and miraculously healed of lethal diseases such as cancer and diabetes. In this way, science witnessed how the intention of thought alters the result, giving once again reason to Buddha.
No more machines. Use the brain to better understand reality According to the models of the current physics, the Universe is constituted by 4% of atomic matter (or normal matter). To the remaining 96% is matter and dark energy, something really unknown for science. In other words, we lack 96% to get to fully understand the reality in which, whether coincidence or not, we exist. Such is the case, that in order to prove the veracity of the scientific theory more elaborate and complex today, String Theory, it is necessary to build an accelerator of particles of the size of the solar system. Definitely, that is something humanity cannot do. Then, if we want to get to the bottom of this whole thing, it may be necessary to turn to "alternative" sources. We are referring to
the most unknown piece of matter in the entire Universe: the brain. That is the statement of the specialist in Psychiatry Rick Strassman, who has done studies on this very mysterious organ and the meaning of consciousness. It is possible that the most advanced Physics and Neuroscience have repeatedly encountered the same enigma: the human consciousness. What is consciousness? What it means to be aware? For answering this questions, we have to know DMT, the substance that helps us understand what consciousness really is and opens the dialogue between science and spirituality. Dimethyltrytamine or DMT, is a simple compound founded in plants, animals and humans. Theorically, every living being on earth can synthesize this molecule (Hancock, 2010. It makes sense to think that DMT is the common basis of a molecular language among all living beings on this planet (Standish, 2010). According to the Ph.D. in Naturopathic Physics Leanna Standish, DMT is the most powerful tool for explore the profound question of what is consciousness. The experiences produced by the DMT were controlled by medical specialists, and basically, after the patients took DMT they began to feel that they were no longer a human being. They acceded to a higher or “spiritual” plane, and they describe that there is no time in that place. "I am nothing that I can identify with, I am everything" is the message that the DMT left to patients. Definitely, that means being in a higher state of consciousness. The theory of this author is that human being can understand the true nature of reality ONLY when it produces high amounts of dimethyltryptamine. According to Strassman, meditation makes it possible for the organism to segregate a sufficient quantity of dimethyltryptamine and access certain “dimensions” that are hidden from our limited five senses. Perhaps that explains why the cosmology described by Buddhism two thousand years ago is so similar to the cosmology described by modern physics today. It is simple: meditation, DMT production, understanding the illusion, reaching the truth and understanding the Universe. It’s exactly the same thing that Buda taught.
Counterargument: Quantum Quackery The thesis of the article “Quantum Quackery” is that an objective reality, with no special role for consciousness, human or cosmic, is consistent with all observations (Stenger, 1997). Basically, the author writes that consciousness is a factor that does not have any influenza in the called objective reality. To conclude his article, the author writes that Quantum mechanics, the centerpiece of modern physics, is misinterpreted as implying that the human mind controls reality and that the universe is one connected whole that cannot be understood by the usual reduction to parts (Stenger, 1997). Is important to understand that science cannot explain all the mysteries of the Universe. However, Paul Dirac, the first scientist who related general relativity to quantum mechanics and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics said “pick a flower on earth and you move the farthest star”. With this phrase the physician try to explain us the imminent connection between absolutely all the objects in the Universe, which seems to be very difficult for many people to understand. Now, the thesis of Victor Stenger is easily refutable. It is true there is no a mathematical basis that supports the relationship between matter-energy and human consciousness. However, there are a variety of experiments in which the observed (objective reality) depends on the observer (consciousness). The most famous experiment is the called double-slit experiment, in which the electron behaves as a particle when it is observed, but when anybody observe the electron, it behaves as a wave. This is just the first indication in science that shows the relationship between consciousness and nature. Finally, it is true that there are many charlatans who, for profit, sell the idea that the mind creates reality by inventing reasons that certainly fall into pseudoscience; the mysteries of human consciousness have not been deciphered yet. But it is clear that the paradigm of science today is beginning to be questioned. Two hundred years ago it was absurd to believe that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin, today we know that this is so. Then, the relationship between consciousness and nature is not perfectly understood today but not for that we have denied. The relation between the exterior (objective reality) and the interior (conscience of an observer) strongly implies that
if we want to know more about the reality in which we live, we must investigate from Science what exactly consciousness means. Colleges should teach both science and spirituality “From a very early age, I’ve had to interrupt my education to go to school” - George Bernard
It is clear that for Western education, self-knowledge and spirituality are things that do not matter at all. All education focuses on the training of professionals who defend themselves in a field of work and in producing money. In addition, the educational system teaches students the study of the outer universe, ignoring everything related to self-knowledge, which, according to spiritual teachers, is a key and transcendental in understanding the purpose of existence. What education really does is to keep students away from these truly transcendent issues, filling their brains with facts and mathematical formulas that inhibit creativity and delay the awakening of consciousness. For this reason, it is of prime importance to teach in schools technical such as meditation and self-knowledge. And if we add to this the teaching of science, we will be forming awake human beings who really have the necessary tools to transform the world. In conclusion, the latest scientific discoveries in Physics and Neuroscience are revealing truths that were already known and taught by spiritual teachers, and for this reason schools should teach the value of spirituality and techniques of self-knowledge. It is clear that science does not have all the answers to really fundamental questions. For this reason, it is indispensable to take knowledge of East which have been there for thousands of years, knowledge regarding the inner Universe. Only in this way we can take the next leap towards a deeper understanding of reality and of existence itself, which is a prior step to the awakening of the consciousness of humanity.
REFERENCES
·
Rosenblum, K; Kuttner, F. (2006). Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters
Consciousness. Oxford University Press. Oxford
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Bousso, Raphael (2002). "The Holographic Principle". Reviews of Modern
Physics. 74 (3): 825–874
· Strassman, R. (2001). “DMT: The Spirit Molecule”. Park Street Press. Rochester, Vermont · Percheron, M. (1985). BUDA. Salvat editores. México DF
· Aquarius Libra (2014, January 7). Your Immortal Brain - Mastering the Art of Observation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqdS08eThT0
·
Stenger, V. (1997) Quantum Quackery. Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/quantum_quackery
Additional materials I recommend this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7eaf9NRpN8
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this portfolio and learn from it. Love and Peace bro‌ Sincerely Enrique Arrobba VÊlez