"The mind being every day informed, by the senses, of the alteration of those simple ideas it observes in things without, and take notice how one comes to an end and ceases to be, and another begins to exist which was not before"
In this paragraph Locke talks about how the mind has the power to take in new information without knowing it. the mind is so powerful that it creates new ideas from a variety of things that it sees and perceives to be important on a regular basis. He says that everyday your senses are working together as one to create and recreate simple and new ideas. But what is this power called and how does it work? this question is unclear to me. If there is a "power" that helps us to manage, create, and change our ideas then where is the proof that it actually exist? I think this power is just our brain at work doing what it was made to do. I think our mind is suppose to help us manage and understand human interaction and the thoughts that surround life. This power that Locke talks about to me is nothing but a mere cry for help to draw attention to the fact that this power has consumed his mind and he does not know how to maintain his thoughts in a orderly fashion.
Locke goes on to say that there are two powers, will and understanding. he believes that the power that we are born with or that we begin with is will. But if we are born with this power dont we have the power also to refuse this will and/or these powers? People have the ability to chose what they want to do and what they do not want to do and what they want to think and not to think. If that is the case then people have the power to disagree with the thoughts and ideas that they are born with. I think that a person is born with certain ideas based on how they perceive the things around them not because they are born to believe them. The second power which is understanding is said to be how a person perceives the ideas in the mind, the significance of signs, and the connexion or repugancy, agreement or disagreement, that there is between any of our ideas. Everyone has their own way of perceiving certain things. People are going to have certain opinions about things regardless of how another looks at it. The mind helps people to look at things a specific way and everyones mind does not work the same way. I do not think that people will ever perceive the same thing the exact same way. people will always have the power to chose what the want to believe. In my opinion I think
that the mind has a lot of room to ponder life's many aspects and that the mind does have power but it is unknown to what extent the power is taken depending upon the person.
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2 comments:
I agree with what you've said about how everyone has their own way of perceiving things. I may look at something and see it from a totally different perspective than you. Does that mean one of us is correct? No, we just have different views. I feel like Locke contradicts himself when he says there are no innate ideas but like you've said he feels like we are all born with the powers of will and understanding. We may be born with these ideas but as we experience life we figure out how to use them. We definitely don't all use them in the same way.
I agree with you when you say that locke contradicts himself. He says that people are born to think certain things. But if this is true then why do so many people have so many different views and opinions about the same things. I think that people do learn to use their will and understanding and some people just do not use it well.
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