Expectations, Assignments, and Merriments Unit One and You Expectations, Assignments, and Merriments

…tear down this wall!... As we continue further into the 21st century we are faced with new horizons and possibilities even as we confront old prejudices and limits. What issues face us this century? What skills or knowledge will allow us to survive? How do we gain those skills? What even makes us human? What separates us from the artificial or digital? "Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlinsince 1961.

Humans are curious creatures, at times rational and others irrational… But, regardless the challenge, we survive. Humans adapt, improvise, and overcome! We break past our limits… but what are our limits? Sometimes its not just physical but mental limits or moral limits we must consider…

Knights and Knaves (A thought experiment by Raymond Smullyan) Think of a fairy tale land inhabited by two kinds of people: Knights who only tell the truth and knaves who only tell lies. Lets consider a couple of puzzles in this land we will call Britonnia… Two people, Red and Blue, stand before you. Red says, “We are both knaves.” What are they really? Two people again. Red says, “We are both the same type of people,” and Blue says, “We are each different types of people.” What are their identities?

Knights and Knaves cont’d As you journey through Britonnia you become lost. You need help but realize if you ask a knave for help you can get killed. You see three people sitting on a fence, we will call them A, B, and C. You approach them and ask the first, A, if he is a knight or a knave. Unfortunately you don’t hear his answer as a car races past you! B then says "A said that he is a knave" and C says "Don't believe B; he is lying!“ Who can you ask for help and directions?

The Trolley Problem (A Thought Experiment from Phillipa Foot) Imagine that you’re at the controls of a railway switch and there’s an out- of-control trolley coming. The tracks branch into two, one track that leads to a group of five people, and the other to one person. If you do nothing, the trolley will smash into the five people. But if you flip the switch, it’ll change tracks and strike the lone person. What do you do? Discuss! Examples of what to discuss: What do you do? What option is most moral? Least? What if you do nothing? Is this less or more Moral? Philippa Ruth Foot was a British philosopher, most notable for her works in ethics. This problem first appeared in The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect in Virtues and Vices (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978) (originally appeared in the Oxford Review, Number 5, 1967.) Utilitarians, who seek to maximize happiness, say that the single person should be killed. Kantians, because they see people as ends and not means, would argue that you can’t treat the single person as a means for the benefit of the five. So you should do nothing. A second variation of the problem involves a “fat man” and no second track — a man so large that, if you were to push him onto the tracks, his body would prevent the trolley from smashing into the group of five. So what do you do? Nothing? Or push him onto the tracks? This thought experiment reveals the complexity of morality by distinguishing between killing a person and letting them die — a problem with implications to our laws, behavior, science, policing, and war. “Right” and “wrong” is not as simple as it’s often made out to be.

…our realization of tomorrow… To address any questions we must seek, explore, & research! But what is the question? What are we working toward? "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." Line from a speech for Franklin Delano Roosevelt prepared for April 13, 1945

Unit One, First Step: Research “Pushing Limits” and the AAI Using a series of case studies (articles, videos, stories etc.) you and your team will be asked to pitch an idea to Google for a prototype that must be able to “push the limits” the way some humans do. Using a series of case studies into the physical, emotional and intellectual realms of pushing limits as well as your expertise in the areas of human motivation, success and happiness through challenge you’ll need to present BOTH your findings and your proposal. Research is available online! http://www.mrarenasclassroom.com/unit-1/project-a-i/ (bookmark it, you’ll need it) You will be working on projects concurrently, btw

Unit One, First Step: Writing Application Essay You will conduct research to find a scholarship that requires an essay for submission. A lab day will be provided to you but responsibility for completion is always on you, the student. You will be expected to compose a rough draft and polished final copy that is typed and follows MLA formatting.