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Thank you Dr. Ben Lukey,

University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa

Uehiro Academy & Philosophy

Thank you for coming to see us today and for the years that you visited us at Waikiki School. I enjoyed hearing your story today and doing p4c with you. It was really interesting and fun learning from you!

-Kaila

Dear Dr Ben,

Thank you so much for visiting us. It was awesome to meet you.. I loved every second of it, and I learned so much. Thanks again!

To Dr. Ben,

Thank you for doing p4c with us! It was fun hearing your story and doing p4c with you! You really made me think!

Mahalo,

Yuna

Thank you for seeing us today Dr. Lukey! It was fun and that was very nice of you!

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Thank you Dr. Ben Lukey,

University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa

Uehiro Academy & Philosophy

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

-Leah

Thank you so much Dr. Ben for coming in to talk to us. I found it really interesting to hear your story for the first time, and I really enjoyed our p4c discussion afterwards. Your story about being uncertain was really interesting and in a way reassuring. Once again, thank you for coming to visit us.

~ Drew

Dear Dr. Ben,

Thank you for the time and knowledge you gave us. We really appreciate the effort you made to educate us. It was nice seeing you today. I enjoyed thinking about uncertainty.

Thank you,

Emilia

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Thank you Dr. Ben Lukey,

University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa

Uehiro Academy & Philosophy

Dear Dr. Ben,

Thank you so much for being a part of our P4C today! It was super interesting listening to your story about uncertainty, not to mention, we brought up uncertainty a whole lot in our discussion today! You made our conversation extra special, hope to have more P4C discussions with you in the future!

-Kaila

Dear Doctor Ben, thank you so so much for coming to visit us. I really had a lot of fun hearing you talk about your life. I also had a ton of fun in p4c after wards. Thank you again!!!

Kaiyu

Dr. Ben,

Thanks so much for coming and visiting us today. I had a lot of fun in our p4c discussion and hearing you talk earlier. Your story was really intriguing and I am really grateful that you came and shared it with us. Thank you so much for coming.

-Mari

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Thank you Dr. Ben Lukey,

University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa

Uehiro Academy & Philosophy

Dear Dr. Ben,

Our conversation was very eye opening. I think it’s not often that you can get a social group that can talk about death in a way that is not awkward or “wrong.”

Thank you for your presentation as well. It really made me reflect on my own life.

-Leia

Dear Dr. Ben,

Thank you so much taking the time out of your schedule to speak to us. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on how uncertainty shaped you into who you are today. It was very thought provoking to think about how uncertainty plays a powerful part in all of our lives, and is often actually what keeps life worth living. I also loved our p4c discussion about death. I believe it’s a very important topic to talk about and hear others peoples’ perspectives on, even if it’s hard. I really appreciate you coming to see us!

Mahalo,

Samantha

Dear Dr. Lukey,

Thank you for taking time out of your day to educate us about the importance of uncertainty. It was really interesting to think about! We really appreciate and enjoyed your presentation. :)

-Sophia

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Day 9: June 16 (Fortifications of Québec Historical Site, Québec City, Canada)

Guests: Park Warden Eric

Fortifications of Québec Historic Site,

Québec City, Canada

Dr. Ben Lukey

UH p4c

8 of 17

Today we had a busy day! First we had a visit from Park Warden Eric (unfortunately without Bobby the Cat). Then we had a visit from Dr. Ben who shared his life experience, his thoughts about the value of uncertainty, and joined us for p4c. Finally, we went to FETCH with Uncle Norman where we harvested the microgreens we planted the previous week.

Rob

9 of 17

Daily Reflection, Day 9!

Today was extra special because we got to learn a bit about Dr. Ben’s life and we got to do P4C with him! Learning about uncertainty from his point of view really changed how I see things. Our conversation about “why is death so scary,” turned out to be a really interesting one. In the sense that we talked about the fears we have generally related to the topic.

Later the in the day, we walked to the farm and got to clean out one of the hydroponic beds. We also got to take our microgreens home, assuming that’s what it’s called. Plus, we got some more key limes and tomatoes! Before going home, we had a small P4C for about half an hour. We did pretty good with the time we had, considering that’s only a third of what we usually get. I had a lot of fun, and can’t wait for tomorrow!

-Kaila

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Reflection - Yuna

Today, we went to Quebec and Park Warden Eric showed us and taught us about winter in Quebec. Sadly, Bobby was doing his cat business and couldn’t join us. My favorite picture was when the snow went all the way up to the roofs. It looked fun, but at the same time, horrifying. How did people get food?

Then Dr. Ben came and talked to us about uncertainty. I was thinking about if it was a good or bad thing. I think it can be good in some ways, but bad in others.

After our lunch break, we went to the farm and we emptied out the hydroponics. There were so many rocks. We also taught Uncle Norman about p4c. My favorite parts about the farm are the part where we harvested the food like limes and tomatoes.

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Today we visited with Dr. Ben. He told us about uncertainty in his life. There were a lot of times when he wasn’t sure what to do. But this was OK because usually he got lucky and things turned out well.

This made me think about something that I’m uncertain about. In p4c we talked about “Why is death so scary?” This is a question that I think about. It was nice to talk about this question in our p4c circle. It was good to hear other people’s views.

In the afternoon we went to the farm and worked on our aquaponics. We also did a second p4c. Because we were still thinking about our earlier questions we wondered “Does anything go on forever?” This was a great discussion. It connected to our morning question.

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Sam’s Reflection (Day 9)

Today was our third day in-person! We met with Dr. Ben from UH p4c. He taught us about the power of uncertainty. It was really interesting to learn about how uncertainty can give us more opportunities in life, and can guide us to what we’re truly driven to do in life. After he shared his story, we had a p4c discussion about, “Why is life so scary?” I really enjoyed hearing other people's’ perspective on the topic, and it differently changed how it see it as well.

In the afternoon we headed over to FETCH. There, we met with Uncle Norman who taught us about hydroponics and worms. We also had a p4c conversation about “Can anything go on forever?” It was a really interesting to see how the p4c discussion tied into the one we had earlier in the day. It was a great day, and I can’t wait until tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who made this fantastic day possible!!!

13 of 17

We met with Dr. Ben and he talked about his life with its turns and uncertainties. It was really eye-opening especially since I am a hesitant person who has worries about life and his talk made me think that sometimes uncertainty is okay. We then talked about death and why it’s so scary.

In the afternoon, we learned about hydroponics and worms. In the sweet Hawaii sun, we worked on the farm. Everyone was really sweaty but since I’m not like the other guys, I was cool and fine 🍓. To end, we did a p4c about whether any thing can go on forever. I bet I could though 😉. It was a nice day, I did a photo shoot afterwards. My nose looked great 🥵.

~🌹 I’m so excited for tomorrow! 🌹~

Liam Steve Lenny jr. 💕💋

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Drew - Day 9 Reflection

Today we were visited by Dr. Ben and heard him talk about uncertainties. He talked about his path in life and how uncertainty effected it. I found it very interesting and helpful to hear him talk about how a lot of his life had some amount of uncertainty to it. After we heard Dr. Ben talk we had a p4c discussion about death and why we fear it. During the discussion we also talked about why we fear things in general, I really enjoyed having such a deep conversation with everyone and hope to do it again.

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Reflection – Day 9

We started our day by Zooming in with our friend Park Warden Eric from Québec City, Canada. He showed us pictures of his city in the winter. There is so much snow!

Then Dr. Ben visited us and gave an interesting talk from his life about the power of uncertainty. This led to two good p4c talks about death and whether or not everything goes on forever.

We ended the day at the FETCH farm with Uncle Norman. We cleaned out the hydroponics and harvested our microgreens. It was a another great day!

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Today’s 1st p4c Wondering: Why is death so scary?

Dr. Ben Lukey’s talk on uncertainty led us to reflect on one of life’s great uncertainties: death. We wondered: “Why is death so scary?” The question, we realized, is a “Qq.” It is a question within a question; that is a question that assumes the truth of another question. Is death so scary? We found that some of us were more afraid of death than others.

We considered a number of reasons why we thought that death was scary. Death is scary because it does, indeed, involve so much uncertainty. We really don’t know what happens after we die. Not knowing what’s next is scary. Death is also scary because it forces you to let go of things. Death forces you to let go of things that you love about life and of your connections with family and friends. Another scary thing, some of us thought, wasn’t so much death but the experience of dying. Afterall, we thought death may not be so bad because it is simply the absence of life. But dying a painful death; that’s scary.

While all of us thought that death was somewhat scary, some of us didn’t think it was as scary. Someone pointed out that death might simply be the universe’s way of letting us know that we’ve accomplished all that we need to accomplish. (But, she later wondered, what if your own personal appraisal of whether or not you’ve accomplished enough is at odds with the universe’s appraisal? Which standard do you use in order to decide if you’ve accomplished enough?) We also appreciated that perhaps life wouldn’t have any meaning without death. The finiteness that death imposes upon life is what makes it special.

All in all, we felt like this was a pretty good p4c discussion. Maybe our best one so far this summer. Our participation was quite good; a lot of people shared their thoughts. Despite the topic we felt safe in our community. And we scratched pretty far beneath the surface.

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Today’s 2nd p4c Wondering: Does anything go on forever?

We ended our day with a short 30 minute p4c at the FETCH Hale Tauhine farm. We demonstrated our p4c practice for Uncle Norman from FETCH. This is one of our ways of thanking Uncle Norman for teaching us about nature and farming. Maybe p4c might help him when he works with other kids and with families.

The wondering that we voted on was “Does anything go on forever?” The beginning of our p4c discussion flowed out of the day’s earlier p4c on death. We talked about whether or not we would want to live forever. Many people said that they wouldn’t want that. Then we got thinking about the meaning of “live.” Yes, “live” could refer to a human being’s life span. But it could also be used more broadly. Something or someone can “live on” or “go on” in the sense that it can have a continuing impact on the future. Someone could live on in the memories of others or insofar as they have done something that has made an impact others and the world. Even one’s decaying body can live on; it decomposes, provides nutrients for plants and bugs, and creates soil. Thinking even more broadly, we can think of our “self” as being part of an interconnected whole. In this sense, maybe something can go on forever because it is always exists, in some form, as part of this whole. It is like the water in the water cycle. It can change and take different forms, but it always part of the water cycle.

We felt like this was a pretty good discussion. It didn’t scratch beneath the surface too deeply because we didn’t have a lot of time. But we did a good job showing Uncle Norman our practice and answering his questions.