Death Penalty

• is moral because my family welcomed the revenge and closure after the murder of my brother

This argument in my opinion is justifiable because it has a more personal approach. Criminals in our society always have a punishment, and when they take somebody elses life, the punishment is stronger or worse. Perhaps a harsh punishment such as a death penalty can help reduce the murder rate as it creates fear.
If the murder had no reason at all, then the desire for revenge is stronger, as it was something unfair to do. Maybe it did have a reason, maybe the person that was murdered had hurt the other person or something. Im not saying that the murder is entirely justified, because i dont think someone has the right to take somebody else's life for whatever reason. Maybe the family will feel relieved knowing that the criminal's life was ended too.

Source of morality

I think that the source of morality is social because society has created moral values over time for us to follow. Our families teach us these values and we decide wether to follow them or not. For example, my parents have always told me to stay away from certain things, to not do them because they are wrong. Morality is also political, where "leaders" communicate to us what is right or wrong, and expect us to follow their moral values, for example Hitler in WW2. The same happens with religion, where leaders also communicate and tell people to do or not do certain things, for example the Catholic church with abortion or homosexual relationships.  

:)

Is Mathematics discovered or invented?

I think that mathematics is invented and is something abstract. First of all, we do not find such thing as "2" concretely in nature. We cannot touch it, see it, it doesnt exist. Numbers and formulae are abstract symbols that we have created. Although you see "two" flowers, the concept of two individuals together was invented by us humans.

Hist. Paragraph

• The study of history is so important that it should be a compulsory IB subject.'  To what extent do you think this is true?

I dont think it should be. Yes, it is important for general knowledge, but we students have recieved history during all our academic life. In my opinion, some of the history I was taught in great detail is not so useful to me today. On the other hand, I do like history, but not if it is taught in great great detail. For example last year we learned about Spanish history, and a year later...I dont remember it. So how did it help me in my life? On the other hand, I also think that history is important, because it teaches us lessons from the past mistakes that others did, and it also teaches about culture. Therefore, I disagree with this statement to an extent. It should not be a compulsory subject in IB, but it should not be forgotten.

History KIs

1. To what extent is history used as evidence to shape your opinion on an ethnic group?
2. To what extent can history be objective?
3. To what extent  can the historian be influenced by factors to make them chose "facts"?

good music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2XBoxtcUA&feature=related

Essay

Question: When should we trust our senses to give us truth?
KI: To what extent is our reasoning reliable when facing a given truth
Main Point: What is true to someone may not be true to someone else, we interpret things differently.
Example: I reason about something and determine if its true or not, and come to a conclusion. My reasoning can be wrong under certain circumstances.