Meaning in My Life

Something that I find meaningful in my life has been being a junior counselor at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp for the past 3 summers. As a camper I would always look up to my counselors, and I thought it would be really fun to do myself. My first year as an SDP (thats what the junior counselors are called) I had a first year camper that on one night when there was a huge thunderstorm, got really scared. I helped comfort him until it was over and he eventually fell asleep.  At the end of that week, he told me he really wanted to come back the next year, and was looking forward to see me. This was the first time I really experienced and felt that my actions had an influence on campers, and how just like I looked up to my counselors, they looked up to me too.

Are Candides Punishments Fair?

I think that when Candide has to be punished as a deserter, technically his punishment is fair as by the millitary rules.  Desertion is not allowed in any army, and if caught is a pinishable crime, so as his punishment he "runs the gauntlet." Although Candide was forcefully conscripted to the army by the two soldier he meets, the millitary law still technically applies and candide has to face punishment for his action. These are the laws of the military and of his country. Candide is ignorant to millitary laws and to being in the army because of his sheltered life, but the fact that he is now a member of the army still means he must follow millitary regulation and law. On the other hand, we see that Candide is naive and mostly a sheltered and innocent person. He was also forced into the millitary against his will, and doesn't want anything to do with it, so Candide deserts.  If one looks at this perpective, one would say he is unfairly punished and mistreated.  I think that someones opinion on Candide's punishment is up for discussion, can be viewed in either of these scenarios, and we can't really decide which one is more correct as both arguments are equally valid and true.

How do I know what I know?

I know the things I know basically from what has been taught to me or things I have experienced firsthand.  If we don't see things or witness things for ourselves, I guess we don't really know anything but as humans we assume and trust other humans to what they say or know, even though we may not know for certain.  I think that if humans only believed things they have experienced, then the world we know would most likely be a completely different place.  For all we know, if people didn't take leaps of faith in trusting other people, the world could be centuries behind in technology or advancement, or if more people trusted others, we could be centuries ahead of our time.  This is a very speculative discussion that many may have trouble understanding, but I think that as humans, the majority are wise enough to decipher and figure out what is real and what isn't