Your Life on Earth: Philosophizing Purpose and Place in the 21st Century
For the philosophy project, we learned about philosophy and where it originated, how it’s formed, and what our own is. We read Into the Wild, which is the story of a young man named Chris McCandless who left his home to live on his own throughout the country, living his life to the fullest. We studied how his personal philosophy drove him to leave his family behind and experience life on his own and found where our’s comes into play throughout our lives.
As I went through this project, I began to look at my place on this earth, I started to ask what my purpose is and how that betters the world going round. At first, I thought I knew where my place was. I was just going to be one of the many that was nothing special, that blended in. I quickly learned how wrong I was. I was born to stand out. I was born for something special. I learned that that doesn’t necessarily mean I need to make a difference to the entire world. I can just make a difference in someone’s life, and that will be enough. I can make someone’s day better, and it can make all the difference in the world. Chris McCandless said that “Happiness is only real when shared.” and I believe that 100%. I think that everyone needs someone.
Now that I have a philosophy, I want to know more about why it is the way it is. I’ve always been interested in psychology, so I want to know why we need people to be happy? Why do our brains crave human connection? That is what I will dive into further later in life.
Written Piece
Everyone has a different reason for living. Something that tells your brain to continue not only surviving, But to truly live. I believe that we need core values to be able to live. We need something to ground ourselves in. For me, I find peace in my life when I am in nature, With family or friends, In music, Or when I am traveling to a whole new world. In all of that, I have found love. I think that love for anything is what makes life worth living. It changes us, Gives us the courage to jump off of that ledge into the water, To stand up for ourselves, To show compassion and understanding. I believe we all need love for the world and everything in it. We need to appreciate the little things, And allow ourselves the time to let people know our gratitude. My personal philosophy is love, just love.
The Ethics and Chemistry of Food and Cooking
For the food project, we combined humanities and chemistry. In chemistry, we cooked food and modified it depending on what we were wanting to get out of it. For example, I tried to find the fluffiest bread by changing the kneading time. For humanities, we took a look at the ethics of food in America and how it’s made. We watched movies on topics such as obesity and food production, and read the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. After we had gathered information and facts about the food industry, we began to form our own opinions on it.
Going through this project, I had a really hard time refraining information. I just didn’t want to hear it. I was learning about things that I put into my body every day, and I chose to change a lot of my lifestyle, which isn’t easy. I had to tell my brain to focus so that I could learn because no matter how appalling it is, it’s important. As I said, this project changed how I eat. I am more conscious about what I put into my body, and I’m trying to be more eco-friendly and not waste. My mom and I are starting a garden, and I only get small amounts on my plate, because I know I can always go back and get more. I am much more knowledgable about food and food waste, and so I am also able to have conversations with people and inform them.
Chemistry
How did your cooking process transform your food macroscopically and affect the food’s overall characteristics? My cooking process transformed my food by making it more fluffy. I used different kneading times to test what would make the most fluffy biscuits. Overall, it affected the fluffiness most, and not many things changed other than that. For a little bit of background, when you combust something (or add heat to it), the product will always have CO2 in it. So, when gluten is activated, it releases carbon dioxide (CO2) which then, in turn, allows it to rise.
In what way(s) are cooking and doing science similar and in what way(s) are they different? How are a cook and a food scientist similar or different? Cooking and science are similar in the sense that you are taking ingredients (or the reactants in science terms), and getting the end result (or the product in science terms). They are different because sometimes in science things blow up, and hopefully in cooking that doesn’t happen to you. A cook and a food scientist are similar because they are using different measurements, and they are different because they work with different materials.