Let's Talk Sports

Okay so in this post I am just going to talk about a bunch of different things corresponding to a bunch of different sports, because I love sports. If you don't, then you should reconsider because there are countless sports and they are fun to play and fun to watch. You can start with sportscenter. On ESPN, channel 25 on comcast and channel 206 on direcTV, sportscenter is on every morning and I watch it every week day while I am eating breakfast before I go to school. It if a basic recap of the sporting events of the prior day and it only includes the most exciting, important, or entertaining parts so it is perfect for someone who isn't super into sports.

Football is an awesome sport. It is one of the few times that you can run around like a madman and hit someone else as hard as possible and have people cheer about it. This weekend everyone's favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings, achieved a nice victory over the St. Louis Rams 36-22. Adrian Peterson rushed for over 200 yards, including an 82 yard touchdown run. That brings his season total within 300 yards of the all time single season rushing record. Peterson now has two weeks to rush for 300 yards and he can break the record. Fingers crossed.

Now baseball. The biggest news in baseball recently has had to do with the Los Angeles Angels. They recently picked up Josh Hamilton to add to their already killer lineup. Their lineup is stacked with sluggers Josh Hamilton, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Trumbo, Morales, and Kendrick to name a few. The Minnesota Twins have also made some questionable moves recently, getting rid of both of their center fielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, so they now have a pretty big hole to fill.

In recent basketball news around Minnesota, the Timberwolves are having a good start to their season at 12 wins and 9 losses. Their starting point guard Ricky Rubio has also just returned from a torn ACl suffered last season. He had a great first game back last night as the T-wolves beat the Dallas Mavericks and Rubio had a top ten play on sportscenter today.

That's a good amount for today, maybe in a few weeks I will have another post about sports, and next time we will add in some stuff about hockey if the NHL decides to make up and end the lockout.

What is Forgiveness?

Definition:

Forgiveness is not something that only finds its way into those of us with the best of hearts. It isn’t something that comes easily. Forgiveness is the way that you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes and take yourself completely out of your own in order to understand what the other person was thinking and what you would want if you were in their shoes. It is believing in the goodness of mankind even when every bone in your body is screaming at you to rip the head off of the person across from you. You understand the bigger picture.

Narration:

Forgiveness is not easy by any means. It is going against your first instincts and looking further. When my brother took my gameboy advance to a friend’s house and lost it, you can bet I was in no mood to give him a hug and go watch a movie. I was pissed. That gameboy was my go-to for any car ride and now what would I do. Just wait and think about the game that I could be beating but now couldn’t. I was mad but the more I thought about it I realized there was no way that he tried to lose it because I could tell in his voice that he knew he messed up. Even though I would have to save up my money to buy another one I forgave him because I knew he didn’t do it on purpose and he knew he was in the wrong.

Description:

A woman lays dead on the ground in a pool of her own blood, her life stolen from her by a man who would do anything for a few bucks to buy even one meal for his family of five. Her husband stands over the killer with a menacing look in his eyes, there is no reason in the world why he shouldn’t even the score, why this man didn’t deserve the same fate as his wife. He killed her, but did he mean to? Why did he need the money? Could those tears really come from a cold blooded killer. As the husband uncocks the gun and reaches out his hand, he knows that the pain will be great, but his nightmares will be shrouded with one less crime.

Example:

My grandma has never even touched a grudge in her life let alone hold one. Everything that happens to her, good or bad, happens for a reason and even if someone hurts her, it must have been for a reason larger than her understanding. She believes that everyone is good on the inside, that even the worst of people could be turned around. We just need to give them a chance she says.

Comparison/Contrast:

Forgiveness and trust are not as different as they may seem. Many people associate trust with being able to count on someone no matter what, and forgiveness is not staying mad at people who wrong you. Forgiveness could also be counting on someone to not wrong you again. It can be trusting someone to understand their mistake and learn from it. Trust can be overlooking some actions of those you care about because you believe that they are being done for a good reason because you give them the benefit of the doubt. To forgive someone you have to trust at least part of them, and to trust someone you will be willing to forgive them if they make a mistake.

Process analysis:

The process for forgiveness isn’t all that complicated. First you have to expect something from someone, expect someone to do something or for them to not do something. Then they have to fail you. They have to disappoint you, cross you, or just plain hurt you. When your anger builds up inside of you until you can’t hold it any longer, forgiveness is when you filter the pain out of your body rather than release it on the person. You find a way to understand their actions or overlook them because you know that or you hope that they won’t do it again.

Division of Analysis:

Forgiveness involves the conflict of many different emotions. It is the point when love, hate, fear, happiness, anger, disgust, confidence, and a combination of others. The only difference between revenge and forgiveness is which emotions win out. It is when your love and confidence for the other person or humankind in general topples your hate and anger, and allows you to see past the obvious and look at things from every point of view. It is a constant battle, but forgiveness depends on who wins out.

Classification:

When you think of forgiveness you think of many different things. Many people think of religion and the forgiveness of God and Jesus and how Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. Many people think of repenting criminals who are forgiven by the people who they have wronged. You could think of the wife who forgives her husband for cheating, or for the father who forgives his son for crashing his car. Forgiveness comes in all shapes and sizes and can be found in our daily lives as well as our large events. It is a choice that we make, whether to forgive someone or not, depending on who the person is, what the crime is, but most of all what kind of person you are.

Cause and Effect:

Forgiveness is the renunciation of resentment or anger instead of demanding punishment or restitution. All humans are born compassionate. Forgiveness occurs after you are wronged, after someone does something that makes you angry, hurt, or disappointed. When your compassion bubbles up from deep within and overcomes the anger that has been thrust upon you, that is when you have forgiveness.

Argumentative/Persuasive:

Forgiveness is not easy by any means. It is hard. Even so, most people have an equal number of situations in which they will be the forgiver or in which they will be the forgiven. That is why forgiveness is so necessary in our lives because if you want to be forgiven you must forgive others. Everyone  makes mistakes, and yes there are times when forgiveness seems to be out of the picture, but when you are debating whether or not you are going to forgive someone, think about if you were in their shoes. Don’t say you would never be in that position because you can’t say that. Just think if you think you would deserve forgiveness in their position. Then decide.

What's so great about knowing things?

It was December 24th around 11:59 and there was no way I was going to get any sleep that night. I was about 9 years old at the time and I knew Santa was going to bring me exactly what I wanted for Christmas this year because he could read everything on my list wherever it happened to be. I couldn't wait. What did he get me? Will it be right? It'll be the best present I have ever received ever in my whole life and probably would receive for the rest of my life. The clock turned and it was Christmas but it wouldn't really be Christmas for another seven hours when I was allowed to break free from the barless cage that was normally a fantastic sanctuary but tonight was a mocking space filled with everything that I could care less about. It was all about what sat beneath the seven foot tall fake pine tree downstairs coated in shiny objects reflecting the also shiny lightbulbs wrapped around it. I couldn't possibly have been more excited, more anxious, and simply more happy than I had been at that moment.
Sometime before one in the morning I managed to dream about what my presents would be but it was cut short because the strength of my mind willed my body to arouse at exactly 7:00. I raced downstairs with my two younger brothers who of course also had the same ability to wake up at the exact right time, either that or they had been impatiently waiting for the clock to turn. Anyway, we raced downstairs to open anything we could before our parents shuffled down the stairs, our stockings were the only things that were free game. The stocking was full, you could see it. I could only imagine what was inside of it. A video game, a movie, a bucket of ice cream, a remote control car. I quickly dumped it out and found a pack of mike and ikes, a pack of reese's pieces, baseball cards, and a 3-pack of 5 gum. It was my favorite flavor of gum though so for the moment my stocking was acceptable considering I had fives of presents to open under the tree.
Finally my parents finished their mile long trek to the living room and we already had the presents divided up by person, and I already had mine in opening order. The first present I was going to open was big, I could feel something amazing in their. Maybe a remote control air hogs fighter jet, or would it be an xbox, I couldn't wait any longer so I ripped off the paper and saw an old navy box. Maybe it was just a cover up. I opened up the box and the sweatshirt inside was quickly tossed aside to make way for another gift after I searched the contents for something that was any real value to me. It didn't matter, get the worst ones out of the way first. That was from grandma anyway.
The next relative presents went next and they were okay, good, and cool, but it was finally time for Santa's present, the granddaddy. The wrapping paper was off before the box was in my hands, a little small but I knew the contents would make up for it. As I began to open up the box I noticed something on it, but it wasn't important, I opened it up and found a sheet of paper with four different bikes on it with writing that said pick one. I immediately pointed to the one I wanted and my dad said okay I will let Santa know and he will deliver it in a few days. I was ecstatic, a new bike was number one on my list and Santa always comes through. That was the last gift so I had to pick up the paper now, but I decided to take another look at the box. Bad idea. I knew the writing on the box and I knew the name too, it said "Lynnelle Sorenson" which was my stepmom's maiden name. How did Santa get her box.? Then it all hit me like a ninety five mile an hour fastball. My parents wrapped this gift, not Santa. My parents were going to get me the bike, not Santa.
As one of the biggest childhood fantasies waved goodbye to me I knew Christmas would never be the same. I could never go back to envisioning my gifts being assembled at the north pole, because after you know, you know. Part of my imagination was forced through a funnel that day. Now when Christmas rolls around I get excited for getting off school, seeing my family, going on vacation, and I guess a little bit about the presents. I will always remember the way I felt waking up that Christmas morning, but no matter how much I have thought about it, and hoped for it to come, and hoped to be able to unremember that box, life moves on, no matter what is lost along the way.

Pictures really are worth a Thousand Words

Well, for this video, my visual argument, I wanted to choose a topic that I believe in, because that always makes the argument much more real and valid. I chose the topic of stem cells because it is a current issue both scientifically and politically. I also think many people have misconceptions about stem cells and I wanted to create an argument that supported stem cell research in our society.

When I started looking for images I had an idea of the way I wanted my project to be organized. I wanted to introduce my topic at the beginning and briefly show what stem cell research consists of. I showed a woman doing stem cell research, and then I showed a picture of stem cells under a microscope to make it seem like the viewer was looking in the microscope as well. Then I showed three different types of somatic cells (blood cells, bone cells, and neurons) to give the viewers an idea of what the products of stem cell research and development can be. I also placed neurons last because those are the most important, they only regenerate every 75 years, and I wanted to leave that image with the audience.

Next I showed a picture of hands reaching out to proceed into talking about who can be helped if we utilize stem cells in our medical practices. I showed pictures of children in need of organ transplants, children with diabetes, children with birth defects, and a picture relating a cirrhosis liver to  a healthy liver. I chose to focus largely on children because children generally evoke the most emotions among an audience and makes them more likely to agree with my argument to utilize the research. I also showed the two livers because the cirrhosis is most often caused by alcohol poisoning and many people may know someone in their lives who struggles with alcohol.

Then I showed a picture of a breast cancer symbol and an old man recovering from a stroke to coincide with the part in the song where it says, “Tell my mother, tell my father” because breast cancer usually affects older women and strokes usually affect older men. This also helps connect with the viewers because many may relate to having sick parents and wanting to help them. Finally in the segment of who the research can help, I put in a picture of Jack Jablonski to show that it can help spinal cord victims, but I more specifically put it in because my target audience is very familiar with the terrible events last year that paralyzed Jablonski.

From there I put in a picture that says changes ahead to show that we have the potential to help these people if we simply make use of the technology and resources available to us. The next picture says “wasting time” because we have the ability to help these people through research but are currently in a political stalemate as to whether we want to use it or not.

Then I segued into showing babies in a dumpster because that is the picture many people have in their mind when they think of abortions. I then showed a crossed out trash can to illustrate that with stem cell research we can make use of aborted fetuses and not let them go to waste. Stem cell research can be done on these fetuses, and the next picture saying “never going back” highlights the technological progress we have made medicinally in abortion and in making use of the fetuses that were previously going to waste, but instead could be used to save lives.

In the final section I showed stem cells again just to point out that this was wrapping up the presentation. Then I showed a picture of a heart in someone’s hands to show not only that you can generate a fully functioning heart through stem cell research, but also the more figurative sense that the “hearts” of many potential patients are in our hands, and that those patients may only survive if we develop new medical processes through stem cell research. Finally I showed two hands holding another hand to wrap up the video and show that we have the ability to take care of our fellow people, and one way to do that is by allowing the use of stem cell research.

The song I chose for the video is “Second Chance” by Shinedown. I chose this song because the overall title highlights one of the ideas of the presentation, which is that we can give many people another chance at life that previously would not have had one. The lyrics also relate. “My eyes are open wide” tells how we as a society know that stem cell research is a real possibility, and that we just have to make the choice to use it. “Even the man in the moon disappeared” illustrates that the times are changing in our world, and we need to adapt to the changes around us, and one of the adaptations we can make is supporting stem cell research.

My Argument in Toulmin Terms

Toulmin structured his arguments as claims and reasons, with warrants underlying both. The claim of my argument is that stem cell research should be fully allowed in our society. The reasons behind my claim are that stem cell research can benefit large amounts of people and that scientists have linked stem cells with every aspect of human development up until birth, which means they can be used to improve the health of humans with nearly any condition. The warrant, or assumptions holding up the argument are: humans are innately compassionate, helping people is good, research leads to progress, scientists are smart, being healthy is good, doing a lot is better than doing a little.

My analysis of this was about 1000 words.

Everything's a Lesson

Now if I have to describe one of my relatives, it would definitely have to be my Grandpa Rob. In some ways he is the prototypical grandpa but in other ways he is so not. Just looking at him you would never be able to guess his age. He is approaching 80 but still looks like he is in his late 60's because he is physically fit and eats well. Before he broke his shoulder a few years ago he even competed in roller blading marathons in his 70's. He wears glasses, stands about five feet ten inches, and has pretty much no hair. He was in the military for a little while after college, and then he spent his life as a social studies teacher and swimming coach.
Now he is unlike most old people in that he travels the world. A few years ago he and my grandma went to Tunisia in Africa. The next year they toured Europe. The next year they went to Costa Rica. The next year they went to the southernmost tip of South America. My grandpa is always in search of a new adventure but sometimes I think it is all because he wants to tell his family about it when he gets home, and pull a deeper meaning out of it. My grandpa, forever a teacher, always has a story to tell and something to teach you. For any subject you are talking about he will search for something you don't know about it and then tell you about that thing. Trust me, he is really smart so he will find something you don't know. Good thing I like learning new things so I enjoy talking with my grandpa. Even today I had dinner with him and I was talking to him about the math team meet tonight. I said that I got a perfect score and Wayzata won the meet, and that St. Louis Park did poorly among other schools. He told me that St. Louis Park used to always win so I said "oh that's interesting". I then proceeded to learn about Russian immigration patterns and Jewish camps in Europe holding refugees before import quotas were lifted and about how the Russian families moved into St. Louis Park and highland and how the Russian families were in outrage that math and science wasn't taught until age 6 and how they dominated the math and science communities. Interesting right?
My grandpa is a very observant and confident person. He is easily the head of the family, and his decision is final on where we go to eat, who does what, anything, it has to be cleared with my grandpa if he is there. He is also one of those people who when you do something wrong he won't yell at you or punish you he will just acknowledge you, or say your name and be very calm about it but you know he is disappointed. For anybody who hasn't experienced that, it's the worst. But it impacts you much more than getting screamed at.
He also knows everyone's potential and knows how to pull it out of them. One example is how every time he asks me how something went, and I give my go to response, "good", he will say "Jordan, that is not an answer. Give me more." He has always been an intellectual person and he expects it from me, for me to reflect on the things I have done or have experienced rather than just experiencing them. My grandpa somehow understands what is best for everybody and is not afraid to let everyone know that he knows that, which I love about him. I love how he breaks off onto tangents and teaches me new things every time I am with him. I am thankful for my grandpa, the way he looks at life, everything he has taught me, and everything he has yet to teach me.

The Last Turkey Day: 2012, but not actually

Oh Thanksgiving. What a great holiday. Family, Friends, Food, and Football. That's what life is really about isn't it? It's interesting in itself, a purely American tradition, gathering with the people we love to pig out and lounge around all day. There are also many interesting spins on tradition for each family and  ways that Thanksgiving brings us together.
My thanksgivings are always awesome to say the least. My family has a system where every other year we have thanksgiving with our normal extended family (grandpa and grandma, aunts and uncles, cousins) and the other years we have it with the whole family (add second cousins, great aunts, third cousins, you name it, anyone related is there). This year happened to be a normal family year which is a little less exciting but also nice because you know everyone really well. It also happened to be at my stepdad's house this year.
Side note: My parents were divorced when I was young and I always spend thanksgiving with my mom's family, who I will be referring to as my family. My mom also passed away two summers ago which is why I won't be mentioning her in my observations.
So, I woke up around 10:30 or so, got ready and went downstairs. My grandparents arrived at about the same time and went to work on the inner workings of the meal. The turkey was roasting in the crock pot, a new attempt at cooking the turkey which turned out very well I may add, the potatoes, mashed and sweet, were cooking, the green beans were cooking, the pita chips with cream cheese and jelly (delicious) were being laid out on the counter for pre-meal snackery, and the rolls were baking. While this was going on, my task was to entertain my seven year old brother, and yes we did play video games. We were locked in a timeless battle of Super Smash Brothers when the first of the two other families attending arrived.
Of course that meant we had to go upstairs and leave our game, but it would be finished later. My uncle Brent, oldest of my grandparents three kids, my aunt Katie, my cousin Alex, taking a gap year before going to medical school next year, and my cousin Ryan, in his second year at Denver University, all walked in the door. They actually would only stay for a half hour or so because they were hosting Katie's family for dinner, but they wanted to stop by and see everyone anyway. It was then that my cousins, Kaeden (my brother), Tony (my stepdad), and I began to play Apples to Apples, a fantastic game if I have ever played one. I think I probably played that for a total of 3 hours with Kaeden on Thanksgiving but it was still fun. It's interesting how the game plays out because for every group of cards played, the sexual answer always gets the biggest laugh, but it never wins because nobody wants to be "that guy" who picks it.
We continued to play that until the next family arrived. My uncle Chad, youngest of my grandparents' three kids, my aunt Kirsten, my cousin Kaj, 15, my cousin Tait, 13, and my cousin Ava, 7, walked in. Yes I know they have odd names. Then Brent, Katie, Alex, and Ryan said their hellos and goodbyes and left.
Chad brought in the corn, cranberries, rolls, and sparkling apple cider and the spread was complete. Then once the food was done we all gathered around and read an excerpt on being thankful, gathered our plates, and dug in. It was delicious and I ate so much! Then we also had ice cream and pumpkin pie afterward, but I don't like pumpkin pie after a vomiting episode a few years ago so I just ate ice cream. Then the kids retreated to the game room and the adults stayed in the kitchen and talked.

So for my family observations now.
Well my grandpa is clearly the head of the family and he makes all the decisions and runs the show. When someone wants to do something with the food, the furniture, the TV channel, they have to clear it by him first, and he is the one who calls the family together when everything is done. He is also a very smart man though so nobody questions the decisions he makes because they are pretty much always right.
Now my grandma is second in command and she does a lot of the cooking and organizing. She is also the one that spoke to the family and I remember what she said, it went something like this, "This Thanksgiving as we gather here let us not be thankful for the things that we have, but for the things we have lost." As she said this everyone in my family was thinking about my mother who was not with us, and how much we missed her. My grandma is very good with things like that, saying just the right amount to get everyone's minds and hearts in the right place.
My uncle Chad is very relaxed about everything and goes with the flow. Kind of funny considering that he is a swimming instructor, but he is very nice and helps out wherever he is needed.
Kirsten is also very nice, and she usually travels around talking to everyone and seeing how their day is going and seeing where any help is needed.
Tony is probably the nicest man I have ever met, and he always takes care of others before he takes care of himself. He is normally pretty passive but can be assertive when he needs to be and he always knows what to do to make someone else feel good.

I really like my family and everyone gets along well. We don't really have any characters, or clowns who are looking for a laugh or attention. Everyone is very nice and they are exactly the kind of family I want and I am very thankful to have them.

Comics aren't as funny when I analyze them

This comic is very humorous but also very true. It's arguing that these days our society is so obsessed with technology and caught up in being connected all the time that they can be completely oblivious to things going on around them. It's humorous because there should be no way that this could ever happen, but in a way I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen. People are very careless these days and almost every day I see someone on their phone walking and bumping into people or miss something exciting or important because they are too busy checking their messages. The comic is trying to argue that our society is too caught up with being eternally connected and that it is preventing them from actually knowing what is going on around them other than what their friends are posting online or sending them. It is a very similar argument to The Dumbest Generation, but instead of people overusing technology, getting dumb, and not being good citizens; the people are overusing technology, getting dumb, and making it ten times easier for criminals to steal things from them (physically or over the internet nowadays).


Now this comic was also hilarious but had a much lighter argument and tone toward it. In this comic the main character is trying to figure out something a girl said to him, but then just completely blows it off because it was a woman who said it to him and women and men are never on the same page. This takes it a little far but not overly far because it is actually very true. At least the part about how men will never understand women, and vice versa, is true. That is the argument that the author is trying to make, that women and men don't understand each other, but that men don't really care at all. The comic makes it humorous because in this case the woman is correct in judging the tie, but the man just treats it as any situation when a woman tells him something that he doesn't understand or agree with and just ignores it. I think this comic does a great job playing with the relationship between genders in our society, because "women!" pretty much sums up the way that many guys reflect on their interactions with the other sex.

Some People Like Progress...

-         

     Well, I am finally finished with reading "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein who basically spent 236 pages telling me that I am dumb. He does make a pretty interesting argument though that is extremely relevant to my generation and me.

      Bauerlein is arguing that the newest generation in America is drastically underachieving when it comes to their massive potential. He says that the powerful and helpful technology that we have today that has the potential to drive learning and knowledge gaining to a whole new level is simply serving to shorten our attention spans and sour our minds with instant  gratification. With everything available to us at the push of a button the youth today have no incentive to work or gain knowledge because if they really needed to know something it can be found in two seconds, and the social aspects of always being connected control the focus of kids that could be spent on building intelligence and becoming cultured. Bauerlein argues this by utilizing a vast number of statistics and polls to show how kids are reading less, spending more time “connected”, and not fulfilling their role in becoming a cultured citizen to further our society. During this however he also touches on how teachers are somewhat responsible for this trend, embracing the children’s attitude and going along with the decline in true learning. Bauerlein repeatedly argues that America’s youth are on the decline when it comes to intelligence and capabilities, and that with this lack of progress in intelligence to correspond to progress in technology, the future for America and its future leaders looks dim.

     

     One passage that I thought was really interesting was when Bauerlein explained some new data on the reading styles of youth:

   “A similar study of Web reading came out of Nielsen’s ‘Alertbox’ in April 2006 with the title ‘F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content.’ Here the eyetracker picked up a curious movement in user scanning. ‘F for Fast,’ it opened. ‘That’s how users read your precious content. In a few seconds, their eyes move at amazing speeds across your website’s words in a pattern that’s very different from what you learned in school.’ The pattern looks like the capital letter F. At the top of the page, users read all the way across, but as they proceed their descent quickens and horizontal movement shortens, with a slowdown around the middle of the page. Near the bottom of the page, the eyes move almost vertically, forming the lower stem of the F shape.”

-pg 144

This passage was interesting to me because I had never really thought about it that much before, but I realized that it is completely true. Sometimes I find myself reading an article that I soon get bored with and begin scanning less and less across as I go down. I don't do this with school assignments but in the newspaper, definitely. Most of the things Bauerlein highlights in this book about students intellectual habits don't apply to me but this one did.

Another passage that I like from Bauerlein came toward the end as he was wrapping up his argument:

                         

“It isn’t funny anymore. The Dumbest Generation cares little for history books, civic principles, foreign affairs, comparative religions, and serious media and art, and it knows less. Careening through their formative years, they don’t catch the knowledge bug, and tradition might as well be a foreign word. Other things monopolize their attention—the allure of screens, peer absorption, career goals. They are latter-day Rip Van Winkles, sleeping through the movements of culture and events of history, preferring the company of peers to great books and powerful ideas and momentous happenings (. . .) Adolescence is always going to be more or less anti-intellectual (. . .) but the battle has never proven so uphill. Youth culture and youth society, fabulously autonomized by digital technology, swamp the intellectual pockets holding on against waves of pop culture and teen mores, and the Boomer mentors have lowered the bulwarks to surmountable heights (. . .) Books can’t hold their own with screen images,”

-pg 234

I thought this excerpt was very compelling because he stops showering the readers with statistics and gives the message to them straightforward. I also agreed with what he is saying because I see the trends in many of my peers. This passage was one of the most effective in getting me to agree with the author's argument.

There were some passages that I didn't really agree with such as one relating to rates in reading:

“As digital natives dive daily into three visual media and two sound sources as a matter of disposition, of deep mental compatibility, not just taste, ordinary reading, slow and uniform, strikes them as imcompatible, alien. It isn’t just boring and obsolete. It’s irritating. A Raymond Chandler novel takes too long, an Emily Dickinson poem wears them down. A history book requires too much contextual knowledge, and science facts come quicker through the Web than through A Brief History of Time. Bibliophobia is the syndrome. Technophiles cast the young media-savvy sensibility as open and flexible, and it is, as long as the media come through a screen or a speaker. But faced with 100 paper pages, the digital mind turns away. The bearers of e-literacy reject books the way eBay addicts reject bricks-and-mortar stores.”

-pg 95

I don't agree with the argument he is making in this section that my generation is worse off because we don't read as many books as previous generations. I think that the decision to look up something online in ten seconds rather than read a book searching for it is a very rational decision that is time efficient in our ever so valuable time. At least for me, as I am getting older I have been reading less and less not because reading isn't appealing to me, but because there is simply not enough time in the day.

Another passage that I didn't agree with had to do with what we can get out of technological advances:

"They do not pause to consider that screen experience may contain factors that cannot be overcome by better tools and better implementation. This is the possibility that digital enthusiasts must face before they peddle any more books on screen intelligence or commit $15 million to another classroom initiative (. . .) Digital natives are a restless group, and like all teens and young adults they are self-assertive and insecure, living in the moment but worrying over their future (. . .) It is time to examine clear-sightedly how their worse dispositions play out online, or in a game, or on a blog, or with the remote, the cell phone, or the handheld, and to recognize that their engagement with technology actually aggravates a few key and troubling tendencies."

-pg 126

I think that Bauerlein is trying to implicitly say that technological advancement is detrimental to our learning and I do not agree with that. I think that having so many more resources available to us enhances our learning experience if we choose to use them. Even if many people choose not to utilize them, it doesn't make them useless, it is the fault of the users and not the fault of the technology if intelligence gains to match the technological gains are not seen.

-          Overall, I think that Bauerlein makes a valid argument and his method of reasoning and explaining his argument is done relatively well, but his ways of persuading were not very appealing. At many times he just rambled on listing facts and cherrypicking statistics that are very real, but that only support his viewpoint and at some points overshadow the argument that he is actually trying to make. I did like the anecdote about Rip Van Winkle and the comparison to the youth today. He should have included more analogies like that to create a better understanding for the audience of what his argument is rather than just listing of pages and pages of facts that at many points the audience must analyze themselves. His argument is very valid and he uses credible data and logic to support his claims, but I think his method of arguing was not very effective because he relied much too heavily on cherrypicking statistics and outright criticizing the effects of technology on our society rather than truly analyzing the data provided and looking at the various perspectives surrounding it. Bauerlein makes a reasonable argument that may be true for the majority of my generation, but it is not for me so I can't buy into it. I also think he is unfair to the technological progress made in our society because he treats it like a bad thing, when I think it's exactly the opposite, and many people would agree.

     I remembered watching a video a few years ago on technological advancement in our society and the information age that is relevant to this topic so I decided to include it. It includes many statistics, some that could be used to support Bauerlein's argument and some that couldn't be, but the argument that it is making is simply that our society and its technology is advancing at an astounding rate that is only going to increase.

      

    I was also looking around at some websites that completely backup Bauerleins arguments of the stupidity and ignorance our my generation. I found a site with some RIDICULOUS facebook posts and they are hilarious. Check it out:

        Stupid Facebook Posts

Well, even though I am doing one of the things that is exactly what Bauerlein says is the bane of my generation, blogging on the internet, I know that I am one of the exceptions of my generation and I am going to continue to learn, to work hard, and to prove him wrong.

Fear, and the Science behind it

There are some questions that seem to cross everyone's mind at least once:
Why do we get scared?
Why do we like watching horror movies?
Why is violence appealing to us?

Well fear is a natural emotion, such as joy or anger, and it is induced by a perceived threat. Fear is the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (fight or flight response). In extreme cases of fear a freeze or paralysis response is also possible.

Why does this happen?

Fear is actually a very good thing, and believe it or not evolved in humans through natural selection over time. The ability to recognize and fear dangerous situations is helpful, and being careful is generally a good way to go about handling situations.

How does it work?

Fear is a natural response by the body and is produced by the amygdala, a region behind the pituitary gland, in the brain. In response to a threatening stimulus the amygdala generates the secretion of hormones that influence fear and aggression, and they put the body in a state of alertness leading to teh fight or flight response. The hormones associated are epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol which all are secreted by the adrenal glands and are commonly referred to as adrenaline After the fear producing situation the amygdala and hippocampus record the event through synaptic plasticity by activating neurons in the region. This plasticity is what generates fear conditioning and promotes a more efficient and effective fear response the next time the body is faced with a similar situation. 

Interestingly, according to Glenn Sparks, a professor at Purdue University, the fear you feel when watching someone being chased by an axe-wielding murderer is no different than the fear you would experience when actually being chased. When people watch horrific images their heartbeat increases as much as 15 beats per minute, their palms sweat, their skin temperature drops several degrees, their muscles tense, and their blood pressure spikes.

But why would we enjoy this feeling?

This question has been asked by many people for many years but the answer lies in the composition of the brain and its response to stimulus. The amygdala is responsible for processing both pleasure and fear in the brain. The beginning of the processes being the same for love, pleasure and fear. As the amygdala begins pumping, the sensory information is sent to the prefrontal cortex where the brain begins to process the situation and determine the relative danger. This means that until your brain makes an evaluation, you are experiencing both pleasant and unpleasant emotions at the same time in response to the stimulus. In the case of watching a horror movie, the apparent danger observed from the screen starts the amygdala working and emotions begin flowing, but as the prefrontal cortex determines that no danger to the body is present in the situation, the spillover from the amygdala is rewarding and not frightening. The pleasant emotions win out and the adrenaline response of the body becomes a positive experience.

So as you can see, even while we are watching a fellow human succumbing to a horrible fate, we are experiencing pleasure and a sort of adrenaline high as a result of an evolutionary undertaking that produced an association between the fear and pleasure responses in the brain. Thank you Evolution! Now I have scientific reasoning for going to see Paranormal Activity!

 

3 Brothers, 2 Football Players, 1 Ninja

As you can see in the lower left hand corner of the image, this is a picture from halloween 2006 of my stepbrothers and I sitting right inside our front door getting ready to go out and collect our insane amount of sugary goods, the leftovers of which that will end up sitting in the cupboard for months before getting thrown away.
I always thought this was a pretty good picture but I have the feeling that I will never look at it the same, and probably not like it as much, after analyzing it for rhetoric. Well first of all, our costumes make the argument that it is cold out as we are all wearing a sweatshirt under our outfits and Drew, left, is wearing gloves. Me, middle, and Ty, left, are dressed up as football players which makes the argument that we like football and dream of being football players. I guess some would argue that football players aren't frightening, but I would beg to differ after playing and watching the game for eight years and more that there are.
You could also say that by dressing up as football players Ty and I are arguing that we play football, but actually only I do. Ty would play football but he can't because he has hemophilia, a blood disease that I am not going to go into at this time. Our costumes make the argument that we are tough and ferocious, a good portrayal for two kids trying to harvest as much candy as possible from strangers.
Now Drew on the other hand is dressed up as a ninja which makes the argument that he is quick, speedy, small, and tough. The first three of those are true but he was also seven years old at the time so we can give him a break.
By looking at this picture you can see how even costumes thrown together the day of halloween can have rhetoric and make an argument if you take the time to search for hidden meaning and pick out the details. Now i'm probably going to end up doing that for my costume this year too...

A Weekend in Ann Arbor

This weekend I drove to Ann Arbor with my dad to visit the University of Michigan. I really liked the school and the atmosphere of Ann Arbor. The whole town revolves around the college and the three campuses spread across basically the whole city. It was also the weekend of the Michigan and Michigan State football game so the town and campus were hopping. The Michigan football stadium is absolutely gigantic, holding more than 100,000 people. It’s incredible how they can draw such a large crowd, but Ann Arbor isn't very close to any other large towns so it’s the main event in the area.

              

  After my trip there I could definitely see myself going to the University. It has really good academic programs all around and there is so much stuff going on all the time being bored is out of the question. My dad and I also ate at Blimpy Burger on campus which was featured on Man v Food on the travel channel. It was insanely good but it was interesting because the workers there were very pushy and kind of rude. It was successful though because the long line moved really fast and according to the locals the workers always act like that.

   

  I also walked past a frat house on my tour in full swing pumping 99 problems on Saturday before the football game but I won't go into the details on the happenings in the yard.

 It was definitely worth the trip and I am definitely going to apply to the University of Michigan, among other schools, because it was a great college atmosphere with great opportunities.

Time For the Jeopardy!

This video is a clip from SNL and it's hilarious. I couldn't find it on youtube so this link is to hulu. Hulu doesn't allow you to convert their videos so I just set up a link to the video.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/12768

This video clip is extremely funny for a number of reasons. It is filmed in an exact replica of the normal jeopardy studio which creates the feeling that it is going to be just like the real show. The similarities stop right about there.

The "contestants" on the show are famous actors who are playing the role of other famous actors and their back and forth banter is comical because they model everything that they say using mannerisms and speech that is eerily similar to the celebrities they are trying to portray. They also try to portray the most humorous parts of each celebrity, keying in on embarrassing or stereotypical doings of the person. They are also celebrities that are generally liked by the intended audience, adults who enjoy adult humor, which appeals to the people watching it.

In addition to playing the role of a celebrity, the contestants are completely clueless toward everything going on around them which is ironic because usually contestants on jeopardy are incredibly smart, and  it is appealing because everyone likes portraying celebrities as unintelligent because it dampens their jealousy of the celebrities lives in a way.

The categories and questions are very humorous also because they have completely obvious answers that the "contestants" can never seem to get. Also, in every episode of celebrity jeopardy Sean Connery "misreads" one of the categories toward a sexual reference and sticks with it which is funny because sexual references in general have no place on a show like jeopardy.

I think that Alex Trebeck (Will Ferrell) makes the show though because the entire time he keeps a straight face and acts like a professional host on a TV show. His monotone voice and condescending remarks toward the contestants and the audience are ironic because it makes it seem like his expectations for the show have fallen so far short and he is dumbfounded by the complete stupidity and obliviousness of the players.

People Watching at Noodles

What better of a place to watch people than their natural habitat, eating food. At Noodles.

Person 1
I saw a white woman who appeared to be in her mid 30s sit down across from a small elderly lady with gray hair. The woman had her hair up in a tight bun, wore an outfit composed entirely of black, gray and white including a black coat, wore black high heels, and had black earrings. Everything about her said uptight business woman. She got up repeatedly to walk out and grab something from her car, or to go to the bathroom, all the meanwhile checking her phone every 10 seconds. She seemed very anxious and chose her phone over talking with her company, the elderly woman across from her. Her face looks quite sullen and very often she takes a long look out the window with a longing look in her eyes. Perhaps something has happened in her life that has made her insecure or saddened and she is trying desperately to hide her feelings. Her mood quickly picks up when the food comes and her muscles loosen with the comfort of her bowl of noodles to snack on.

Person 2
I saw a white woman with blond hair and glasses who appeared to be in her early 40s sit down at a table with two boys who looked like they would fit in well at a middle school. Her hair was messy and frazzled and she couldn't decide whether to pay more attention to her food or to the two boys who only  seemed to care about their food and ignoring her even with her continued attempts to start conversation. She was wearing a peach vest under a green jacket, a bland outfit that could be thrown on very quickly. The wrinkles on her face and bags under her eyes hint of a worn out mother, with a wedding ring, who is trying to make the most out of this relaxing time with her sons as she chews each bite very slowly and often stares into the distance or down at her food. All she can think about is the next time when she will get more than 6 hours of sleep.

Person 3
The last person that I observed at noodles was an asian man in what appeared to be his late 30s with a young boy in grade school. Both wore glasses and the man wore a long sleeve black shirt with a bright yellow vest over the top and faded jeans. He finished his food quicker than anyone I had ever seen and couldn't wait ten seconds without poking at his sons food while the son's focus was elsewhere before he finally decided to just finish it for him. He expects obedience from his son as he makes the decision to leave and puts his arm around the boy before he can get distracted by the colorful menu on the wall. As they leave he stands tapping his foot while holding the door as his son stops to tie his shoe, then puts his arm around him once more as they briskly head towards their car.

In just a snipet of time you can infer many things about a person, and whether they turn out to be true or not, it's always entertaining.

Does being cold give you a cold?

The age old conception that being outside in cold weather will give you a cold is completely false. Even though it used to be a commonly held idea, colds are not caused in any way by temperature. 

Here are a few reasons for the misconceptions and why they are false:

1. Colds are caused by viruses which are not living and circulate equally well in warm and cold weather equally.

2.  Colds are more common in the winter because people spend more time indoors and are in closer contact which increases virus transmission.

3. Cold weather stimulates the body's immune system by stimulating the increase of norepinephrine which is a hormone that acts as a natural decongestant.

4. Being outside will generally lower your contact with other humans, thereby decreasing your chances of receiving a virus by contact with someone else.

While being in severe cold for long periods of time can cause hypothermia, being cold does not in any way give you a cold. The next time your grandmother tells you to put your coat on before you go outside so that you don't catch a cold, you can tell her that you are preventing a cold by not wearing your jacket.

Animal Rights?

What rights should animals be given? Where do we draw the line between abuse, caring, pampering, and neglect? This question is ongoing and has been answered in many different ways throughout history. 

In Peter Singer's point of view....

Animal Mistreatment = Slavery

Animal Rights = Human Rights

Human Rights = Equal opportunity + No cruel or unusual punishment + Care and Attention

Human Suffering = Animal Suffering

Proper Animal Treatment = No Unnecessary Suffering

Therefore....

Animals = Humans 

Eating Animals = Eating Humans

Eating Animals = Wrong = Eating Humans

Vegetarianism = Good

Animal Testing = Human Testing

Animal Pets = Human Pets

Euthanasia  = Capital Punishment

Humans eating animals = Animals eating humans

Human progress = Evil

In Vicki Hearne's point of view....

Relationship = Mutual Trust

Animal  + Human = Relationship

Happiness = Good

Relationship = Good

Suffering = Not Important

Therefore....

Pets = Good

Humans Treat Animals = Animals Treat Humans

Relationship = Happiness

Human Happiness = Animal Happiness

Different Relationship = Different Rights

Different Animal = Different Relationship

Animal Rights = ?

Both Author's ideas of animal rights are very odd. Singer's view is extreme and very impractical but Hearne's is very ambiguous and not very relevant when it comes to the rights of animals. 

In my opinion, animals have rights but they are very different than the rights of humans. Humans should be able to consume animals as much as they like, but our methods of raising animals should be more natural and less manipulative. Also, animal testing should be allowed because if we weren't to test on animals, who would we test on, humans? Even though animals may suffer in the process, it is our nature as humans to protect our own species. In the wild animals generally protect and foster the growth of their own species without nearly as much regard to others, so who is to say humans shouldn't be the same way? Our first responsibility is to ourselves, but when it comes to animal treatment, we should be a little more conscious of our actions and reduce suffering as much as possible and use as few animals as possible.

Why Mental Pictures SHOULD Sway Your Moral Judgement

I thought the NPR segement "Why Mental Pictures Can Sway Your Moral Judgement" was very interesting and very true. They spoke about the two main ways that we make decisions in our lives. Either we use moral judgement and decide logically, or our emotions take over and control our decision. This wasn't new information, but what made it interesting is how they related the decision on which type of judgement to use to a battle within our brain, with the determining factor being the images evoked by the situation.

Without a picture of the situation in our minds, of course we are going to base our judgement off of the only things we know, the facts. This will lead to a logical conclusion and most likely the more rational conclusion of the two.

But when we produce a clear and vivid picture in our minds, we place ourselves directly into the situation and develop different ideas. The way that we picture things dramatically influences the way we think about them, and this is very interesting to me. Our brain determines all of this and more before we even have time to consider it fully. That is hard to believe and awesome at the same time.

Thinking about the examples in the talk as well as examples from my own life, I can't help but agree with the point they are making. When pictures come into play, emotions come into play. Emotions are what overwhelm us and can carry more weight in our decisions than anything else. Logical thinking will produce the best decision, but emotional thinking overrides our rationality.

While I do agree with this, I don't think it changes our moral judgement. I think the way our emotions impact our thinking is part of our morals, and is part of who we are. Yes we may not always make the best choices when our emotions take control, but our emotions are what make us who we are and we would be completely different without them. When I make decisions based on how I feel, it is my instinctual decision. Logic may produce the correct response, but not necessarily the right response.