Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What do you think of the troll and the farmer?



The troll and farmer were opposite.
The farmer was more good and the troll was horrible.
I disagree that he farmer was good the farmer planted what he liked.
The farmer was the one that made the deal.
They both made the deal.

The farmer was smart - the troll was dumb.



Was it a fair deal?

The farmer was trying to trick the troll into the worse deal. The troll didn't recognise.
If the troll didn't like the farmer he would have killed him - (savage)
The troll got the wrong side of the deal. 
The farmer just wanted to plant. 
If the troll didn't mind he might have liked carrot tops.
A fair deal is getting half each.
A fair deal is marking the land boundaries.
A deal should be about who's land is above and underneath.
They could have had  vote.




This week we looked at a Danish folk tale about a troll and a farmer asking what is a fair deal?

The farmer had a hill among his fields, which he did not want to leave idle. So he plowed it, but the troll who lived under the hill came out and asked him:

"How dare you plow my roof?"

"I didn't know it was your roof," the farmer said, "but it is neither to your advantage nor to mine for us to allow the land to lie idle. Let me plow and plant . the first year you may take what is growing above the ground, and I shall reap what grows in the earth. The next year we will change around."

The deal was made, and the first year the farmer planted carrots. the second year he sowed wheat. The troll got the tops of the carrots and the roots of the wheat. In this way they lived in harmony. 

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Our discussion was...

I think a fly has a mind as it is alive and can move. 
A fly knows where it's going and can get away from fly swatters. 

I think a sheep has no mind as sheep are silly.
A sheep has a mind as they avoid humans and know what they are doing. 
A dolphin has a mind as it is smarter than a human.

I think a robot has no mind as it doesn't know what is going to happen.




Does a fly have a mind?
Does a robot have a mind?

These are some of the questions asked by our philosophy class today.

We came up with statements/definitions over what we think a mind really is and designed them in kid pix.