Basic Philosophical-religious Questions: What Is The Nature Of Man? (Research Paper Sample)

Basic Philosophical-Religious Questions (BPRQs) Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction On philosophy, there are three main questions that form the basis of the entire subject. These questions are: what is the nature of the universe; what is the nature of man; and what must we do to be happy? These questions have been answered in a unique manner in a Ted video. The video is titled Our Loss of Wisdom. The video speaks on several issues affecting the people today. The speaker has provided relatable examples showing how people have ended up losing their wisdom because they are focused on attaining profits through incentives. In fact, the speaker bemoans the fact that companies especially in medicine pursue projects based on the profit prospect of a project rather than whether it is the right thing to do. 1) What is the nature of the universe? From the Ted video, the main focus is on loss of wisdom. The speaker, Barry Schwartz, notes that the complicated, intricate world we live in today has made incentives to do the right thing a normal thing. This is the nature of the universe that the speaker has described. He has clearly noted that the world we are living in today is built on incentives. It has reached a point where people who only want to do the right thing only when it is profitable to them as individuals or as companies. The speaker quoted the Former U.S. president Obama before he was inaugurated saying that, “We should ask ourselves not only is it profitable – but also is it right?” (Schwartz, 2018). This is a clear indication of the loss of wisdom that currently exists. People no longer want to do the right thing. They are instead focused on doing what is profitable rather than what is right. That is the nature of the universe. 2) What is the nature of man? On the nature of man, the speaker has explained that the act of incentivizing everything is not widespread or ubiquitous. An example has been given in Switzerland. The example notes that the citizens were once asked to indicate whether or not they would be willing to have a Nuclear dump site in their community since it has to go somewhere. Shockingly, 50% of the citizens agreed. When the same question was asked with a twist, the answer was different. The question was asked whether the citizens would agree to have the waste site in their community and also receive payment packages. The answers were 25% yes, a reduction from 50% (Schwartz, 2018). This example showed that though the world is today structured around incentives, this does not represent the nature of man (Schneider, Wang & Plank, 2018). People still have good morals in them in a world that is incessantly pushing them to lose those morals. 3) Therefore, what must we do to be happy? To be happy, the speaker notes that people must follow their morals. To do this, it is important for them to ensure that they are not limited by the financial world. Not everything should be done just because there is a payment package attached to it. The speaker asks the audience that the U.S. curricula as an example limits how teachers teach because the system does not trust them to prevent certain teaching disasters. What can be done, the speaker notes, is allowing teachers to teach morals as thy understand them so that they can teach them to the students (Schneider, Wang & Plank, 2018). This is because teaching something one believes in is easier and more effective than teac...