Dear Mr. Decker and Mr. Thompson, (I don't know Mr. Thompson's email)
Hello and how is APL/G (Why isn't it APS/G anymore? APL/G doesn't roll off the tongue very well..)? Since I already emailed another teacher I decided that I might as well email my old aps/g teachers. I'm doing well. This semester I'm taking up philosophy research and next semester I'm doing physics research. I tested out of basic philosophy, so now I'm taking elementary logic, which is just really simple deductive reasoning. I'm also in honors calculus, but since I took tutoring in calculus over the summer to develop a deeper understanding for electromagnetic radiation, all I end up doing with my schedule is sleeping, playing lacrosse, researching, and partying avidly. I have already received some phone calls that have asked for my help, so
I decided to suggest some advice to your students to help them succeed in APL/G.
1. Normal people don't write philosophical papers/works. If they did everyone would have no problem discussing the meaning of life. Before reading anything philosophical it's hard to ask oneself why anyone normal would study it, so I developed an acronym: WWRS being Why Would Russ Study it? Philosophers do actually have something meaningful to say whether it is to advance our knowledge in logic, apply an atheist existential approach to a known concept, or to argue for Afrocentric feminist epistemological thought. So if you ask yourself WWRS and come up with a fairly decent answer, you will increase your comprehension just because you will know what the philosopher is trying to get at.
2. Make APL/G more fun. A 2 hour class pretty much sucks if you don't make it entertaining. You can make it more fun by dressing up like Socrates, boycotting discussions, or even just getting into the task at hand. By doing so APL/G won't become a sleep fest and you will actually learn something while having fun.
3. No matter what Mr. Decker and Mr. Thompson say Section 7 of the Republic (namely the Allegory of the Cave) is not about paradigms. It is about Plato's theory of forms (the inspatial nature of any specific thing) and how we can never fully know or understand the truth because people are ignorant. Of course the concept of paradigms can be derived from this. If Mr. Thompson or Mr. Decker fail to comply boycott them. It worked for the colonists.
4. Work hard in Government. You will keep building on your understanding of it and if you don't get it initially and slack off you will end up like me and study for an entire day before the final.
Well hope you two are doing fine and I hope I could be of help to your class.
Take care,
Russ
"By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." --Socrates
Comments welcome.
"I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live." --Socrates
