I thought that video was pretty hilarious. However, although it is something I laugh at, it's completely true. When my previous phone broke, I was so excited to get the iPhone without even researching what other possibilities there were; I'm sure there were a million other better phones I could have chosen from, but regardless I stuck with the iPhone. The only reason to back up my decision was, "everyone has one!" If everyone had one then the iPhone MUST be amazing. Yeah I was obsessed with it and used it 24/7 the first week I got it, but within the month my friends got different smart phones that were far more efficient than mine.
The response above was to Ryan Brander's last post titled "iMedia:Consumerism." Basically, Ryan portrayed that in today's economy, high schoolers especially, people buy products based on how popular they are, using the iPhone as an example. Just by looking at a brand of a product, society buys the most well-known brands regardless of how crappy they are compared to other products with less popularity. Ryan's intention of his blog was to inform society not to buy products just based on their fame, but more for their quality.
I enjoyed reading this blog because of the reality of it. Today, people of this society long to become successful. However, they are too scared that their product or company would not meet the consumers' satisfaction; all this proves is the lack of creativity the people of today have.
The paragraph above is my response to Ronald Te's blog. In his blog, titled "iMedia: Authenticity," he posted a commercial by Burger King. Pretty much the commercial shows the "King" stealing McDonald's sausage McMuffin "blueprint." Ronald wanted to show the lack of creativity our society has come to. New businesses with CEO's trying to reach for success merely imitate products of other successful companies opposed to creating an original product since they are scared it will fail. However, if this game of "copycat" persists, consumers will have millions of companies to buy from. That may sound like a good thing, but how good is it when the millions of companies are selling the exact same product with a different logo?
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Change of Mind: Postmodernism
I always believed that postmodernism referred to the era after a community or environment was established. For some reason this is was the definition I stuck to. Chances are that I took the word literally opposed to actually finding out the definition. It wasn't until last week in class that I learned the real meaning of this term; I was embarassed to be quite honest after realizing how wrong I was.
Dictionary.com defines postmodernism as: any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism, especially a movement in architecture and the decorative arts running counter to the practice and influence of the International Style and encouraging the use of elements from historical vernacular styles and often playful illusion, decoration, and complexity.
Upon reading this definition, I was still a tad bit confused. The only basic understanding of postmodernism, even after learning about it in class, was an idea or something that cannot be fully grasped or explained as a whole. Regardless of the many examples presented in class, my mind was still jumbled up. I was starting to think that the process of studying postmodernism is postmodernism; I simply cannot grasp the concept as a whole.
Although I still have little understanding of what postmodernism actually is, with the little knowledge I have grasped, the meaning of postmodernism has taken a 180 flip. Because understanding postmodernism is so difficult for me, I am sure I will have many "changes of mind" towards this concept. If my definition of postmodernism went from interpreting it through a literal perspective to a completely different understanding, the more we focus on postmodernism, the more my perspectives will alter-continuously.
Dictionary.com defines postmodernism as: any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism, especially a movement in architecture and the decorative arts running counter to the practice and influence of the International Style and encouraging the use of elements from historical vernacular styles and often playful illusion, decoration, and complexity.
Upon reading this definition, I was still a tad bit confused. The only basic understanding of postmodernism, even after learning about it in class, was an idea or something that cannot be fully grasped or explained as a whole. Regardless of the many examples presented in class, my mind was still jumbled up. I was starting to think that the process of studying postmodernism is postmodernism; I simply cannot grasp the concept as a whole.
Although I still have little understanding of what postmodernism actually is, with the little knowledge I have grasped, the meaning of postmodernism has taken a 180 flip. Because understanding postmodernism is so difficult for me, I am sure I will have many "changes of mind" towards this concept. If my definition of postmodernism went from interpreting it through a literal perspective to a completely different understanding, the more we focus on postmodernism, the more my perspectives will alter-continuously.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Connection: Sophie and Alberto + Martin Luther King Jr.
One thing we began to discuss to kick off second semester was Martin Luther King Jr. and challenging the status quo and some of its criteria. By reading the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," we studied many different aspects of challenging the status quo. From annotating and pointing out these aspects, not only did I learn a lot from the activity, I began to draw a connection to "Sophie's World."
The main focus of "Sophie's World" was to discuss and inform the readers about the many famous and well known philosophers who impacted the world. What I did not discover till our activity in class with the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" activity was "Sophie's World" also focuses on challenging the status quo.
Fulfilling their role as fictional characters of Jostein Gaarder's book, Sophie and Alberto played along at first because, well, they had no idea they were mere ideas and thoughts of Knag. However, once they discovered the fact they were fiction, they began to challenge the status quo of the world, or Sophie's world at least.
The status quo of the characters were to fulfill their fictional roles and play along, however Sophie and Alberto could not just stand around and do nothing after they realized their so called life was nonexistent. They came up with many plots to bust their escape; they eventually did.
Yes, I do realize that in the end Sophie and Alberto were still mere fictional characters, but their determination and bravery was not any less real than Martin Luther King Jr's courage in my opinion. One might call this rather odd, but this is my belief. These three really motivate me to attempt to fight the trends and status quo of not only high school, but for the rest of my life. Sophie and Alberto, although fiction, motivate me just as much as MLK does; isn't that all that matters, fiction or non-fiction?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Blog 10:Steps to Learn
Throughout first semester, I have learned a lot about my old study habits and its flaws. Personally, I never had a problem with my study habits until this year when I discovered just reading over my notes over and over again wasn't going to cut it. Not only in Humanities, but also in my AP Psychology class, my old study habits has inhibited me to earn the grades I desired. I have been able to improve my study habits to learn more efficiently.
As Mr. Allen said today, you can't just "look it over" and expect to earn a good grade. Especially with the connect the dots assignments, I learned that the process of connecting the terms helps you understand the material on a whole new level. This process pushes you to genuinely understand the material, rather than just recognizing the terms. Thinking beyond the definition of the term or who the philosophers were enabled me to really dive into the material.
With my old study habits, I would only have been able to recite the definition of a term or what a philosopher was mainly known for. After practicing the connecting the dots assignments, I am able to fully explain the terms into deeper levels. I am able to compare and contrast two different philosophies and philosophers and dive into a full out philosophical conversation. I have gotten to really engage in the book after connecting the dots because it helped draw myself into the book to learn more and more.
However, in order to engage in the book, I had to take on Mr. Allen's optional assignment of annotating, especially the more efficient technique. In previous years, all I did for annotations were underline random sentences I assumed were significant; this was of no assistance.
Progressively, I learned how to annotate in a way that would best benefit me when it comes to remembering the information for future tests. I began to draw circles, boxes, arrows, and more. These symbols and margin notes eventually became an outline of the major events or information I needed to know. Although I may not be able to remember everything I annotated, the annotations enable me to find what I am looking for with great ease.This new skill of annotating has really enabled a more efficient way of processing the ocean of facts about philosophy rather than an unorganized, meaningless array of lines.
Overall, the process of analyzing Sophie's World with these two assignments has become a more manageable task. Not only was I able to understand the book more, I was able to set a stable foundation of skills for my future, such as college. These skills will continue to assist me beyond the class of Humanities.
As Mr. Allen said today, you can't just "look it over" and expect to earn a good grade. Especially with the connect the dots assignments, I learned that the process of connecting the terms helps you understand the material on a whole new level. This process pushes you to genuinely understand the material, rather than just recognizing the terms. Thinking beyond the definition of the term or who the philosophers were enabled me to really dive into the material.
With my old study habits, I would only have been able to recite the definition of a term or what a philosopher was mainly known for. After practicing the connecting the dots assignments, I am able to fully explain the terms into deeper levels. I am able to compare and contrast two different philosophies and philosophers and dive into a full out philosophical conversation. I have gotten to really engage in the book after connecting the dots because it helped draw myself into the book to learn more and more.
However, in order to engage in the book, I had to take on Mr. Allen's optional assignment of annotating, especially the more efficient technique. In previous years, all I did for annotations were underline random sentences I assumed were significant; this was of no assistance.
Progressively, I learned how to annotate in a way that would best benefit me when it comes to remembering the information for future tests. I began to draw circles, boxes, arrows, and more. These symbols and margin notes eventually became an outline of the major events or information I needed to know. Although I may not be able to remember everything I annotated, the annotations enable me to find what I am looking for with great ease.This new skill of annotating has really enabled a more efficient way of processing the ocean of facts about philosophy rather than an unorganized, meaningless array of lines.
Overall, the process of analyzing Sophie's World with these two assignments has become a more manageable task. Not only was I able to understand the book more, I was able to set a stable foundation of skills for my future, such as college. These skills will continue to assist me beyond the class of Humanities.
Monday, December 12, 2011
An Inconvenient Truth: I Am Not a Monkey
Ever since I was in elementary school, my science classes basically said that mankind came from monkeys. As a Christian, you can see where conflicts may occur when I learn about evolution. Thinking about the theory of evolution honestly makes me furious. I don't get angry at the fact that it sounds so bizarre as other people might think, I get annoyed at the fact that evolution can sometimes make so much sense to me, but that would disprove my belief in Christianity to a certain extent.
Some people simply tell me that there's no wrong in believing in both evolution and Christianity; I can't. Consciously I am convinced that I lean towards Christianity, but I don't know what happens subconsciously. All of the scientific evidence to prove the theory of evolution makes it more plausible and so much easier to believe. I think the idea of scientists making evolution more difficult to deny with all the evidence really infuriates me.
If I were to agree that evolution is true, then that indirectly means I am denying Christianity, because according to the bible, Adam and Eve were created, not from monkeys, but from God. Evolution toys with my faith in Christianity causing it to grow more and more unstable, which for some reason drives me crazy, even though I am not a very devout Christian. My mind just can't settle to accept that these two completely opposite ideas, both, may be true.
Another thing that bothers me about this topic is that non-Christians point out that the idea of believing a supreme being is completely unrealistic. I agree that it sounds a little iffy, but the idea that mankind came from monkeys is just as crazy. What's even worse is that I can't argue because I sometimes lean more towards evolution.
I have personally experienced phenomenons that proves, to me at least, that Christianity does exist. My own mother passed away, and re-obtained her life after praying! There has been incidents on the news where two kids who never met, both passed away and went to heaven, and came back to life. One of the kids drew an image of Jesus, and the other kid was able to pick out that exact, same picture from a collection of other pictures. The fact that evidence of Christianity does exist and people fail to believe these miracles, but believe that we came from monkeys drives me nuts.
Kind of like riding a seesaw, going back and forth, I find myself not being able to stick with one finite decision. The theory of evolution simply brings stress upon me due to all of the debate and "what if's" and "but's." The only way to come to terms with it in my opinion is to avoid heavy conversations or debates about this topic. If not, I get too angry and can't help but get too caught up with it and potentially blow up on someone.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Metacognition: Get Organized "Did I Always Have That?"
Everyday my mom would constantly nag me to organize my desk. I would subconsciously nod my head in agreement, but I would just continue with what I was doing at that moment. When we were assigned to organize something for homework, I figured I'd organize my desk to kill two birds with one stone.
As I scanned the things on my desk, I began to think of how I can organize all of the random items. Each individual items were completely different so I had no idea how to organize my desk. What's even worse is that almost every object I picked up, I asked myself, "did i always have that?" It seemed like there was no possible way to do this task.
Something I noticed about my thinking process was that, the second I was stumped, I would have a complete brain fart. My thinking process and mind would just stop and draw a blank. I realized that this isn't the first time this has happened to me. This project has made me realize that my thinking process is quite underdeveloped. My creativity and ability to go beyond and think outside of the box is extremely limited. As a direct consequence, in everything I do at school, I tend to be the last one to complete it compared to my peers.
Although I wish that my thinking process was a lot more efficient and quick, I do appreciate that I am able to work on a task for a long period of time without taking breaks. My mind simply would not let me take a break from organizing my desk, even though it took me quite a while. The hardworking ethic that has been engraved into my head has subconsciously helped me throughout all of high school in my academics.
After completing the project, something I didn't know before was that I am a total slob living in a pig pen. Before I started the project, I was dreading it. During the project, I was dreading it. But after I had finished and saw how clean my desk was, I was quite satisfied and proud and even flaunted my desk to my mom.
As I scanned the things on my desk, I began to think of how I can organize all of the random items. Each individual items were completely different so I had no idea how to organize my desk. What's even worse is that almost every object I picked up, I asked myself, "did i always have that?" It seemed like there was no possible way to do this task.
Something I noticed about my thinking process was that, the second I was stumped, I would have a complete brain fart. My thinking process and mind would just stop and draw a blank. I realized that this isn't the first time this has happened to me. This project has made me realize that my thinking process is quite underdeveloped. My creativity and ability to go beyond and think outside of the box is extremely limited. As a direct consequence, in everything I do at school, I tend to be the last one to complete it compared to my peers.
Although I wish that my thinking process was a lot more efficient and quick, I do appreciate that I am able to work on a task for a long period of time without taking breaks. My mind simply would not let me take a break from organizing my desk, even though it took me quite a while. The hardworking ethic that has been engraved into my head has subconsciously helped me throughout all of high school in my academics.
After completing the project, something I didn't know before was that I am a total slob living in a pig pen. Before I started the project, I was dreading it. During the project, I was dreading it. But after I had finished and saw how clean my desk was, I was quite satisfied and proud and even flaunted my desk to my mom.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
iMedia: Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror
In Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror," he talks about how he wants the world to change. One thing that is different from all of the other people that desire a better world is that Michael Jackson if he wants to see a difference in the world, he has to be start with himself. His lyrics really spoke to me and got me thinking.
Personally, I think this is a very humble and mature approach to creating a better world. When I think about all of the times I criticized the flaws and faults of this world, I realized that I completely disregarded the fact that I, too, have to change. If I continually watch as a spectator, I will receive no satisfaction because nothing will change; I'll have a better chance if I, myself, changed in the ways I want the world to change.
If everyone realized this idea and began to change themselves first, civilization on planet Earth would be a far better place, especially the United States of America. Foreign countries look down on America and its views and cultures. As a people, we are known to be selfish, stuck up, and full of pride.When each individual progressively changes their ways of life, America as a country would have such a far more popular and likable reputation.
One other aspect of this song I really appreciate is the verse "I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life. It's gonna feel real good." This verse really says not only could you make a difference in the world, but it will "feel real good." Giving the needy assistance has an outcome, a reward. That reward is feeling good for doing a good deed.
This song is very important to me, not only because the catchy tune, but because its deep meaning. I honestly feel that this song should and could be the revolution to how humanity should be. Rather than saving up money for that car or that iPod, use the money to help the needy. Give the money to the people who truly need our assistance opposed to showering ourselves with luxuries, which only provides for temporary satisfaction and feeds the greedy hunger within us. If you want to see change in the world, start with you.
Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror
Personally, I think this is a very humble and mature approach to creating a better world. When I think about all of the times I criticized the flaws and faults of this world, I realized that I completely disregarded the fact that I, too, have to change. If I continually watch as a spectator, I will receive no satisfaction because nothing will change; I'll have a better chance if I, myself, changed in the ways I want the world to change.
If everyone realized this idea and began to change themselves first, civilization on planet Earth would be a far better place, especially the United States of America. Foreign countries look down on America and its views and cultures. As a people, we are known to be selfish, stuck up, and full of pride.When each individual progressively changes their ways of life, America as a country would have such a far more popular and likable reputation.
One other aspect of this song I really appreciate is the verse "I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life. It's gonna feel real good." This verse really says not only could you make a difference in the world, but it will "feel real good." Giving the needy assistance has an outcome, a reward. That reward is feeling good for doing a good deed.
This song is very important to me, not only because the catchy tune, but because its deep meaning. I honestly feel that this song should and could be the revolution to how humanity should be. Rather than saving up money for that car or that iPod, use the money to help the needy. Give the money to the people who truly need our assistance opposed to showering ourselves with luxuries, which only provides for temporary satisfaction and feeds the greedy hunger within us. If you want to see change in the world, start with you.
Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror
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