Thursday, November 29, 2007
Comments on News Media
Comments on Spending Habits
The majority of what we spend our money on is not necessary. In countries like
However, even if we were to remove credit people would still be in some form of debt. This relates back to the psychological aspects of money as we buy for emotional reasons. We enjoy buying new things as this can oftentimes be tied to our feeling of self-worth. To some of us, what we have makes us who we are and as a result they can never hold on their money for long. This can even be seen on campus with people that wear only designer clothing and live off of their credit cards. These people graduate thousands of dollars in debt and with a shoddy foothold on financial solvency. It is vital to make the distinction between what you own and who you are because the two will never be equal.
Comments on Video Games
Video games are censored using various methods, the most prevalent being the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Their main function of assigning content ratings breaks games down into categories based on the age of those who should play them, and also who can buy them. This limits what content can be added to games as designers must follow the criticisms of this board of their games will not be sold. Games are also censored removing or altering content. Some games, suffer an even worse fate by not being allowed to enter this country.
Overall the majority of video game censorship is in relation to its contents and how it will be viewed by its target audiences. It has been shown that even violent games inspire friendliness in gamers. The attacks on videogames are based on a select few individuals who commit hate crimes. The opinion that video games influence these crimes is common, but is statistically incorrect as over half of the gaming population is female and hate crimes are virtually almost always committed by men.
Arguments for and against video games are often based on faulty logic and personal morals, instead of proven evidence. There will continue to be debates on videogames until we are honest enough to realize that we can not blame a product for our problems. We must see hate crimes and other issues as calls for help from those that commit them.
Comments on American Language
Where a person grows up normally will determine how they speak. Normally a person born in
Comments on Do Words Matter?
The saying that the pen is mightier than the sword is correct. How we communicate can influence the world. Take the word famous for example. If we insert the letters ‘in’ in the word become infamous and now has a different meaning. Words are powerful and misusing them often leads to negative results. Spelling is commonly accepted to be how we put words together correctly to bring about a meaning or context. Originally, however, the word referred to spelling or spell casting as it was believed that what one said bound earth and heaven. Another example is when someone says something that can negatively affect someone. In these situations we say that the person who spoke the words jinxed the other. If our words are enough to cause us to doubt outcomes, that should be all the more reason to watch what we say. We should not take what we say lightly as words can have a power all their own.
Comments on Gender
This presentation was very interesting as I enjoy hearing thoughts on gender because it is commonly viewed as such a restrictive thing. People tend to be bipolar in their understandings and the way we approach gender as shows this. Generally, when a child is born we consider it either a boy or girl. This is simply not the case scientifically speaking. Most of us do fall into one of these categories but as much as 1 in 5 children can be born unisex or in any state contrary to our normal definitions. The way we handle such people is appalling at best as the arguments used in the justification of sexism for men and women pale in comparison.
To be honest, what makes us who we are is at best a personal choice. There are men who believe they are women and vice versa. The traditional confines of gender no longer apply and the restrictions we place on ourselves are being lifted with new technology and forms of support. Our conceptions of gender show how willingly we accept things without understanding them fully and how in doing so we ostracize and limit ourselves. We need to remove our outdated thought patterns and to begin taking the world for what it is. If we are able to this we will then find the world to be exceedingly interesting.
Comments on Genetics
It has been proven that we genetically all share over 90% of the same materials. If one were to make the argument about DNA they could make this the basis of their argument. But they would also have to take into account the fact that we also share over 90% of our DNA with monkeys. Discussions on genetics and diversity among what we consider to be different races of human are bunk. Someone said in class that we should all just recognize each other as people and move on with out lives. I concur wholeheartedly with that sentiment.