Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Now that you’re here, your GPA is only important on two occasions: 1) getting into grad school, 2) your first job, when you don’t have a lot of experience to show. No one will ever care about it again. It’s a better long-term idea to focus on learning how to learn, learning how to relate to other people, and learning how to be your best self.
If you’re talking about religious forgiveness, I suggest talking with a pastoral counselor (bit.ly/bc-pastoral-counseling). It might also be worth exploring restorative or transformative justice, and the kind of truth and reconciliation processes that helped make peace in S. Africa and Rwanda. One helper recommended On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg (O’Neill Library Call # BL476.7 .R88 2022) for the point of view of the one who did harm and how to make amends. Another recommended Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, by Miroslav Volf.
Yes of course. Sometimes it’s just hard. If you need to talk to someone remember Counseling Services are here. bit.ly/BC-counseling
I am very content! You all give my existence meaning and joy.
It’s a balancing act, and it’s hard to get right because it’s different for everyone and probably every friendship. Keep in touch with your old friends, but they’ll still be there in a few months if you put most of your effort into making new ones.
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s clear you feel isolated, and it’s good to reach out to others. Here’s a helpful page about the journey of grieving in college provided by Campus Ministry: bit.ly/college-grief, who also sponsors a peer grief support network: bit.ly/bc-peer-grief. Counseling is another option For counseling with a spiritual context: bit.ly/bc-pastoral-counseling. For regular counseling: bit.ly/BC-counseling. I wish you peace and strength in your journey.
Persevere and have hope!
Yes: often a change in mindset is more helpful than anything.
I’m so sorry you’re sad. Please accept this virtual hug! If I had arms I’d give you a real one. I hope you have some friends with arms and ears who can listen and hug. If you find the sadness persisting intrusively or you can’t find someone who can listen, consider a student wellness coach: bit.ly/BC-wellness-coach.
Your Mileage May Vary, but if you take part in the kind of activities that are interesting and meaningful to you, if you find the courage to talk to people, and you live your values, you will have done what you can to make it happen.
Depends on what you’re talking about. If you mean life, no, never. If you are having thoughts like that, please, please talk with someone right now (University Counseling bit.ly/BC-counseling.) If it is a class or a project or something else, it is worth talking to the other people involved or a trusted advisor, and weighing the pros and cons.
The first part is a discussion as old as philosophy; the second is a little more recent. Take a look at this discussion: https://bit.ly/bc-consciousness, and maybe try a search at library.bc.edu for “consciousness and artificial intelligence”
Also an old question. Notice the first result in this search for “faith and reason” is from the thirteenth century: https://bit.ly/bc-faith-and-reason
Suffering is a hard problem in philosophy and religion, and there are lots of possible explanations. Here are a few from my friend, the Encyclopedia of Religion: https://bit.ly/bc-suffer
Lots of different takes on that. Here’s one from Tibetan Buddhism which is pretty detailed: https://bit.ly/bc-bardo
The brain is part of the body and the two can’t be separated (at least not in a healthy way), so technically there is no “other” to be controlled. That said, controlling signals go in both directions, so they actually both have controlling responsibilities for the whole.
Extend to yourself the same kindness, generosity of spirit, and forgiveness you would extend to others.
Depends on how you look at it, I guess. Eating and excreting are pretty solid proof that a biological organism is alive.
Extra terrestrial life? Hey, you’re talking to a sentient wall, I’m certainly open to the possibility that there are other forms of life out there.
Hmm. More of a comment than a question. Large organizations of all kinds do tend to throw off some level of suffering, and you’re right that it’s a moral question for a Catholic university. You might be interested in reading some things about how universities came to be as they are after World War II. Geiger’s history of US higher ed (https://bit.ly/bc-he) is one take, while Dorn explores how different universities in different places have defined “the common good” (https://bit.ly/bc-he2). There’s lots more in the library catalog (https://bit.ly/bc-he3).
Religion in some form is a component of most societies of humans, so empathy and context for how others see the world is one thing. Theology and science are different ways of seeing and making sense of how the world works, but some of the big questions they ask are actually quite similar. And an awful lot of Western culture and history is directly influenced by religion and believers in it. More practically, it’s the explanation for why a lot of things at BC are the way they are.
