Macbeth Hamartia

     I think that Macbeth's hamartia is his lack of patience. Right after the witches gave their prophecy, Macbeth himself said that maybe if he just waited it out he could become king. Why, then, did he kill all these people to expedite this process? It could be argued that this is because of his wife's pressure for him to take action, but I believe it is because Macbeth doesn't have any patience. It seems he had faith in the fact that the witches prophecies would come true, but yet he still couldn't just sit around and wait for people to crown him king. This tragic flaw makes sense looking at Macbeth's background. He is a warrior, and warriors don't tend to wait around during the heat of battle. They're supposed to take action immediately, without forethought. I believe that this kind of way of dealing with problems reflects on the way Shakespeare has Macbeth act during the play. He doesn't really spend much time to stop and think, he just goes for his goal. This unwillingness to wait, among other things, could be the reason that some people see Macbeth as dim-witted.

English- Macbeth

     I believe that Lady Macbeth uses a baby in her argument because she may have already had a husband. Perhaps Macbeth was not Lady Macbeth's first husband, and she had a baby with the original. I believe this because if she had had a baby with Macbeth (which they clearly no longer have), then it would not be a guilt trip for Macbeth for her to mention it. It almost seems to me like Macbeth somehow took the baby from his wife, as she seems to imply that it is his fault she no longer has one. It could either be this, or she is trying to say that she has been through just as much hardship as Macbeth has, perhaps more. This brings me back to the other husband theory. It could be that the child died before it could grow up (this happened often in those days), something Lady Macbeth would have had to deal with but Macbeth hadn't. This could be how Macbeth's wife is trying to guilt-trip him into killing Duncan. She's saying, "You think you're having a hard time with this decision? I lost a child!" This could be wrong, but overall I have a strong feeling that this baby (which is not even confirmed to have existed) is a tragedy that Lady Macbeth went through, but Macbeth did not, or was somehow the cause of.  

Excersises to Reduce Craving

This is the edited version of another paper written for religion class:

9-14- Exercises to Reduce Craving Tyler 
     I really love unhealthy foods. Specifically, foods with ridiculous amounts of butter, oil, or salt. I know that this is unhealthy, and even though I don’t think I have an addiction to it, I figured I’d probably be better off if I at least tried to stop eating it so much. So to eliminate craving for salt and butter, I decided to try out exercise number 5: Indulge your Craving.

      My breakfast started out with a nice and greasy ham and cheese omelet, with some melted butter brushed on top. While eating it, I examined what I felt. I thought it was delicious, and couldn’t see how I could ever get tired of the taste. Lunch arrived, and I had two nice slices of oily pizza. Again, I did not feel any displeasure as I rapidly took bite after bite. But then, dinner came. We were having chicken and mashed potatoes. I grabbed all of the fatty dark meat I could find, and poured salt on it. Then, I put some potatoes on my plate and put a large chunk of butter on top of it, along with some more salt. Again I ate happily, but perhaps, I thought, I had put on way too much butter. As soon as I finished eating the Grand Finale of my salt-and-butter pig-out day, I began to feel sick. I felt bloated and unhealthy, and had a headache similar to one you get when you stare at a computer screen too long. I realized that this uncomfortable feeling of nausea was a result of all of the junk I had eaten throughout the day. The total change in feeling from pleasure to pain was surprising.

      From this day of indulging my craving for fatty, oily foods, I learned firsthand that too much of anything is bad for you. I felt so unhealthy after the experiment, and even now I certainly don’t see myself ingesting anything salty soon. Even though this method of getting rid of cravings seems illogical, it certainly works for many kinds of attachments.

Science and Religion

This is a revised version of a paper written for my religion class:        

9-4 Religion Assignment: Science and Religion Tyler

     In short, I agree that spirituality and science can get along. While I am not a very religious person myself, I have heard of many scientists who dedicate themselves to spiritual as well as scientific knowledge. In my opinion, religion and spirituality can sometimes be very different. Spirituality is what helps us relate better to people and ourselves. It gives us peace of mind and body, calms us. Religion encompasses spirituality, but also involves other information that has sparked conflict over the centuries. What I mean is, I believe spirituality and science can co-exist, but I’m not sure about religion itself. As of now, most religions are teaching things that science wouldn’t agree with (such as the creation of the universe), and vice versa. However, like Walsh said, nothing spirituality is teaching goes up against what science says. In fact, the two agree about the benefits of meditation. Also, Walsh mentioned that both science and spirituality test their claims through experimentation.

     While I try and stay out of the whole Science vs. Religion debate, it can be clearly seen that neither is willing to budge on their methods of finding knowledge. Religion calls for leaps of faith, while science experiments and takes little steps toward answers. Both methods have stood up to the test of time, lasting through the thousands of years. Overall, though, I believe over time religion will evolve so that it is less in conflict with science. The belief of a spiritual world, of a supernatural realm, will be around for a while, but as for all of the stories in the bible and other religious texts, I’m not sure they will be taken so literally in the future. Even now, more and more people are becoming nonreligious or converting to the eastern religions that have less do with stories but more about finding inner peace.

     Overall, I do not think religion itself and science can get along. However, I do believe that the “spirituality” Walsh writes about in his book can be followed by religious people and scientists alike.