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.

hw

Real life situation: working out

Not a knowledge issue: what does it mean to work out?

Poor: Does working out benefit you?

Intermediate: What are the risks or working out?

Good: How can working out affect the perception of yourself, and blur your reasoning?

knowledge issues

Level	Examples
Good	How does wearing jeans makes us behave differently?	To what extent can we trust our sense perception to explain the paranormal?	Does the idea of an epidemic affect our sense perception?
Intermediate	How is wearing jeans better than wearing other types of pants?	Should we believe paranormal claims?	Should we be worried about the effects of swine flu?
Poor	Why do we wear jeans in school?	Does the paranormal exist?	Is swine flu likely to kill millions?
Not a Knowledge Issue	Wearing jeans in school	What is the sixth sense	What do we mean by epidemic?
Real life	An interview with Miss Anne	A film on haunting	A new report on a new swine flu

Language

Let's see..what can I say about language...
The English word LANGUAGE derives from Latin lingua, "language, tongue."
LANGUAGE for me involves all the possible ways of communicating something to somebody else. Not only words, but body language, signs, etc. I find it very interesting the way that my dog and I communicate. I think it can be "called" body language, and sounds. Sometimes she reacts to my actions with a particular noise that tells me she's angry or unconfortable, or she may run in circles when she wants to go out. Its interesting to see how I understand her without any words, and how she understands some of the things I tell her.
I find it very impressive as well the thousands of languages that we humans have created over time, and their complexity. The miiiilions of letters, pronunciations, words..  Language is so important to us humans because without it we could not communicate, and as a very social specie communication is essential to us. 


Brenda :)