Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Metacognition?

“We go about our daily lives understanding almost nothing of the world. We give little thought to the machinery that generates the sunlight that makes life possible, to the gravity that glues us to an Earth that would otherwise send us spinning off into space, or to the atoms of which we are made and on whose stability we fundamentally depend. Except for children (who don’t know enough not to ask the important questions), few of us spend much time wondering why nature is the way it is; where the cosmos came from, or whether it is always here; if time will one day flow backward and effects precede causes; or whether there are ultimate limits to what humans can know.”
-Carl Sagan from an introduction to A Brief History of Time By Stephen Hawking

After hearing and reading your peer's reactions during Thursday's class about the listed quotation, what new insight can you add to this quotation analysis? Please respond. (Blog Response Due By Thurs. 8-25-11 at 2:30p.m.)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this quotation. The writer is trying to get across that this world is limitless, and in order to understand that fully we must question everything around us. Even if its the most simplest of things such as the sun or gravity, which forces surround us each and every day.

Anonymous said...

This quote is saying that each day ever person goes out and ignores the small things in life. I like this quote because to me it is saying I need to make time for me to have fun because each day I dont know if the next is the last day of my life.

Angel L 2012 said...

I believe that this quote portrays a perfect explanation of how we live our daily lives but never stop to think about things. We are taught to believe that things happen for reasons, but not to question why or how. They just simply are what they are. But there is nothing quite like stopping to think about these things. "We" as the population of the world need to think more about the big questions because that helps with the perspectives people will have of life.

KendallC2014 said...

I think that this quote is saying that humans are so wrapped up in their own tiny lives, that they don't take the time to think about the way the world works. They take things for granted, because they only think about themselves. We need to learn to be grateful for the little things, and take time to enjoy them. You never know how much you depend on something until it is gone, so be sure to enjoy the little things!

GrantK said...

I like this quote because it explains how people worry about things that dont matter yet dont take time to think of the simple things that happen daily. I think this quote shows us that we need to enjoy life for the simple things that we usually dont even think about.

tpetrie said...

This quote shows how selfish we are, or can be. Even the most perfect people take things for granted for themselves to make life happy. Life is a gift that we dont understand. Theres so much out there that we dont know about. As humans we only have so much time on this earth. Our days are numbered and before you know it only your legacies will carry on. For yourself and for others go out and be thankful for the things you have. learn about whats necessary, even if others think is worthless. no one has the right to take whats important to you away from you.

Brianc2012 said...

This quote, to me, shows that the world we make for ourselves is far more simple then all the power of the science of gravity and the universe. I believe that if we think about these outside forces more, and not just take them for granted, we will be able to discover more about the world and the universe. With this knowledge humans will be able to learn more about themselves also.

Adam L said...

This comment expresses the true ability of the human mind and how it is never truly reached. I personally do find these things such as gravity and atomic structure interesting and seek to find a career into some of these things. But truly, fundamentally, we as humans will never achieve or try to achieve a greater sort of knowledge. When you truly get to looking at things, life and our world is fascinating and full of intrigue. We as individuals, a nation, and a race should try to accomplish a greater knowledge.

Anonymous said...

I think this quote makes me realize that we should spend more of our lives thinking about all of the thing in the universe, because you might just think of something nobody has before.

JeremyD2013 said...

The qoute is bringing a new appreciation to the simpliest of things in life. I feel that the qoute directly connects with the things that society is starting to take for granite and no longer care about. He is making a great effort to have society take a step back and reappreciate the little things and move up while not forgetting the smaller finer items in life.

Anonymous said...

I think what this quote means is how we don't understand the nature of our world and tend to not question it. Also I think this connects to Greek myths because they didn't understand of the world worked so therefore they created gods to understand the world.

Anonymous said...

I think what this quote means is how we don't understand the nature of our world and tend to not question it. Also I think this connects to Greek myths because they didn't understand of the world worked so therefore they created gods to understand the world.

NgocN said...

This quote is really interesting to me because it really describes the world around us. Everyone doesn't pay attention to what happens in the world around us. We forget about the little things in life because we are busy with our own things. We also choose to not to ask questions because we feel like we shouldn't or embarrassed about what we ask. It shows me that I should slow down and look at the world around me instead of just being focused in one direction.

Anonymous said...

This quote is amazing. What i drew out of it was we tend to to question everything when we are older. We just do it just because it happens. The sun comes up and it goes down. The orange falls from the key. With questioning everything, it will expand our understanding of the world and overall improve our society.

kielyO said...

I really like this quote. I also have to admitt i dont think about most of the things that it talked baout such as why nature is the way it is, and where the cosmos came from. Its easy to see that everyday we take for granted the simplest things that make the world what it is. This quote is just eye opening about the little things that we often overlook on a daily basis. Very few people study the things mentioned here today, but back in the days of the ancient greeks many people were intrugued by these questions as proof through mythology, where they attempted to answer these questions based in story form. It is just sad to think about how we may have lost focus on some important and interesting anomalies over the past thousand years and turned more to technology. Our lives seem to be centered around just making it through the day at school or at work and we look forward to just sitting home and wactching TV or going on the internet or sleeping, and most of humanity today misses out on a lot in life, we should try and live more like the greeks in a sense that we need to enjoy the smaller things in life more as it tends to be the small things in life that give the most joy.

Anonymous said...

To me, this quote means that humanity should take the time to think of the big picture instead of worrying about our relatively small problems more often.

Anonymous said...

I like this quote.It told us that we ingore a lot of things in our lives, somethings that really small but related to us.Now,our life is full of all the technology things,we dont even care about how life form,how is the sun provide us...I think we need to learn,and just think about how life is amazing and what life brought us.Enjoy every moment in our life and keep thinking,asking question,find out the answers.

NoahT said...

This quote reflects how ignorant people are to the smalls things in life. Its trying to sway our daily thinking of why things are, the way they are. Everyday, our feet are planted on the ground and most people dont even think about it. This is the way we live, and the quote explains our thinking perfectly.

Kati A. said...

The most inspiring part of this quotation to me is the part about children. I think it says a lot about maturity and growing up. Although we are said to know more and be more mature as we age, this quote shows that sometimes children have a better understanding of what to ask even though they do lack a filter sometimes.

Maureen said...

This quote explains how in life, it easy to get lost in the norms of society. We go through a lot of actions on a daily bases without even regarding it as a choice. Society has conformed to a very small amount of originality, and a robotic life. I think people as individuals might be better off if they took more time questioning and analyzing the things we are "supposed to do" like school, work, sleep, relationships. Everything has very flexibility.

AllieB said...

This quotation says that there are no limits in this world. we need to enjoy what we have and we also need to start questioning about the little things in life instead of just accepting them the way they are.