How Many Things can Change in a Year?

I have gone through a lot of changes in the past year. Part of the transition from a college student to a young professional is that changes don't come cycles. They occur randomly, quickly and sometimes you don't even notice them.

With working so much now, I haven't had time to reflect on how my life has changed. Here is a summary of the changes:

Philosophy
1. Thomas Aquinas "solves" the mind-body problem.
-Okay, not really but what I'm reading right now is doing a lot of good for me in thinking through this problem.
2. It's hard being a philosopher around people who don't know much about philosophy.
-Sometimes you say things that are taken as "you're using reason vs. the Bible so you're a bad person." Though is probably a poor generalization.
3. Education has no good philosophical foundation outside of pragmatism.
-Western education was based on Christianity supplement by Plato and Aristotle. Since that foundation was removed in the early 20th century, pragmatism is the foundation. I really don't like pragmatism because it doesn't answer some very important questions confronting educators today.

Education 
1. It's really hard to be a teacher.
-I mean really hard, and I'm at a good school that supports my work.
2. I don't know history like I thought I did.
-I stink at pronouncing names of dead people.
3. Educators who use data and measurable outcomes are awesome.
-Because they change the lives of students for the better.

Politics 
1. President Obama was elected again.
2. The Republican Party is now crippled like the Democrats were after the Civil War. (though, I think I'm wrong on this point.)
3. I continue to dislike the Tea Party. (not much of a change...)

Triathlons 
1. I qualified for the 2013 Olympic Distance Triathlon National Championship in August.
-Pretty exited.
2. I got a friend to do a triathlon.
3. I am having knee problems. My knee won't stop hurting!

Life 
1. I moved out of my parents place and into my own place.
2. I am living without the internet. (Hence, I'm at a coffee shop right now.)
3. I am starting to like Shakespeare.
4. Last semester I lead two Bible studies, was the assistant XC coach at school, was in a book club and was discipling a young man.
-So I got really tired.
5. I got really tired.

Theology 
1. Reading Thomas Aquinas is awesome.

2. Reading 10 chapters of the Bible every day is very awesome.

3. I really look forward to Sundays. (Not just because I don't have school.) 

The Problem of Personal Identity - Why it Matters (with a note on Descartes)

In Philosophy of Mind, there is a problem called "the problem of personal identity." How is it that "I" am the same person through time though every seven years, my body is made up of completely different matter? Descartes (and probably all/most of dualists) says that personal identity is found in the unchanging non-extended, indestructible mind/soul/spirit. This thinking thing is ontologically (ontology has to do with being of the nature of a thing) distinct from body and are radically different substances.

The problem with Descartes attempt to solve the problem of identity is "the interaction problem." How does the body and mind interact with each other if they are causally distinct. Other philosophers have given numerous answers from answering yes, no and maybe to trying to redefine the problem and/or becoming monists (the belief that human beings are composed of only one substance. Hegel, Berkeley, Leibniz, Spinoza, Dawkins, Hitchens, Nagel are some monists.) A second problem for Descartes is that it makes personal identity irrelevent to the body. This can be understood as a sub-problem of the interaction problem. If the mind and body are distinct from each other, isn't personal identity then irrelevent for the body? What is the connection? Hence: the interaction problem.

Why does this matter? 1. Descartes brought about David Hume who brought Kant and Hegel who brought about Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Marx who brought communism, socialism, existentialism and a bunch of other fun things that cause problems and solve problems. 2. I am being tested over this is about 2 hours. 3. It shows how finite we are. Whatever answer we give, it automatically restricts us to a certain view which seems to inevitably brings about problems.

In conclusion, do you agree with the picture?