I red the 3 questions and i decided to write about the first alternative; The Perfect World.
In my humble opinion, the world we live in is far from perfect. It is actually quite the opposite . Truman lived in what many may call ’heaven on earth’, his neighbors where friendly and his wife was a stereotype of a perfect woman. He had a job he enjoyed, a beautiful house and the streets in the city where so clean they almost looked unreal. If we just compare my life to his on paper, he would knock me down in the first round. But I have something he did not; A Choice.
I consider myself to be quite a creative person. I enjoy art, fashion, music & my main interest is photography. I choose to go to school to improve my skills in photography because that was really the only thing I could see my self working with. The downside of choosing such a career is that you have to struggle twice as hard to reach half as far. I would love to just be able to snap my fingers and voila; I am living my dream.
The thing about choice and free will is that it often comes back and bites you. Cause choices are often based on sudden emotions & impulses. I for one would love to have someone stop me before I am about to, once again do something stupid.
For example; Once I made up my mind that I wanted to become a photographer I decided that the first thing I would need is a brand new camera. The problem however was that i did not have any money to afford the camera I wanted. But thanks to modern society & the payment plans I was able to pay monthly. I was great the first month, until I actually had to start paying. It is catch 22. I have to buy equipment for my career, but my career are not making me that much, not until I become that big successful photographer. Sometimes I am selfish, wishing life could be easier even though it is not really that bad. But comparing to Truman's, he had everything planned out for him.
So if I had to pick a world I would definitely live in Seahaven. Just think about it; being born into success without all the blood, sweat and tears. Now that is really heaven on earth, even with the cardboard walls and fake smiles.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Blog 8
After reading Cornell and Malcolmson’s article "Is Ignorance Bliss?" where they refer to John Stuart Mill's idea; that humans rather know the truth then to live happily unknowing, without asking any questions.
I disagree with Mill, If you don not know the truth you will continue asking questions and I believe that knowing the truth will kill your dreams and aspirations. Since our time on earth is limited I would rather spend it living happy in my own reality than miserable knowing.
If people knew the absolute truth then there would not be any dreams or aspirations. If you knew that you would never succeed with that goal of becoming the next great singer, you would never try it and you would certainly never dare to dream about it. Aspirations is what keeps us going, and dreams is what keep the spark alive. If we knew everything we would never seek any answers. For example; if you where to wake up right now, in a mental facility strapped with a straitjacket with no ability to get better. Everything you have ever believed to be real turns out to be an illusion. If you had to choose to live in the real reality you just woke up to or go back to your dreamworld, what would you choose? I would with out a question choose to go back.
Not long ago I lost someone close to me to cancer. We found out years ago and his health was pending up and down from day to day. One thing that made him so very special was that even though his illness was slowly killing his young soul, the thought of surviving was always there. He could get the most difficult prognoses but would always keep going with his head held up high. Imagine if we knew the truth, if we would have been given a date. I do feel that Cornell and Malcolmson’s titel of the text is so true, Ignorance is a bliss. Not knowing is a tool made for us to be able to survive trough the most difficult times of our lives. Uncertainty makes us think, hope and dream. Maybe we will never get our questions answered but at least it made us rest a little from the thought of losing him. It made us enjoy our lives to the fullest, I even followed my goal and went here, to the United states still hoping he would get better.
I believe that not knowing the truth is a gift that we should be very grateful for. Maybe it is not easy to understand how helpful it is for you until you have to go trough a challenging time in you life. Perhaps it will at least make you ask questions and if you do not know if your dreams will come trough or not, you will dream forever.
I disagree with Mill, If you don not know the truth you will continue asking questions and I believe that knowing the truth will kill your dreams and aspirations. Since our time on earth is limited I would rather spend it living happy in my own reality than miserable knowing.
If people knew the absolute truth then there would not be any dreams or aspirations. If you knew that you would never succeed with that goal of becoming the next great singer, you would never try it and you would certainly never dare to dream about it. Aspirations is what keeps us going, and dreams is what keep the spark alive. If we knew everything we would never seek any answers. For example; if you where to wake up right now, in a mental facility strapped with a straitjacket with no ability to get better. Everything you have ever believed to be real turns out to be an illusion. If you had to choose to live in the real reality you just woke up to or go back to your dreamworld, what would you choose? I would with out a question choose to go back.
Not long ago I lost someone close to me to cancer. We found out years ago and his health was pending up and down from day to day. One thing that made him so very special was that even though his illness was slowly killing his young soul, the thought of surviving was always there. He could get the most difficult prognoses but would always keep going with his head held up high. Imagine if we knew the truth, if we would have been given a date. I do feel that Cornell and Malcolmson’s titel of the text is so true, Ignorance is a bliss. Not knowing is a tool made for us to be able to survive trough the most difficult times of our lives. Uncertainty makes us think, hope and dream. Maybe we will never get our questions answered but at least it made us rest a little from the thought of losing him. It made us enjoy our lives to the fullest, I even followed my goal and went here, to the United states still hoping he would get better.
I believe that not knowing the truth is a gift that we should be very grateful for. Maybe it is not easy to understand how helpful it is for you until you have to go trough a challenging time in you life. Perhaps it will at least make you ask questions and if you do not know if your dreams will come trough or not, you will dream forever.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
blog 5
After analyzing the class readings and watching The Truman Show, I think that my reality depends a bit on the media. For instance I feel that television is almost like my personal therapist.
Television is a tempting world filled with signs of opportunities, dreams and drama. A click on the remote and you have the freedom to sway away for a minute, the chance to escape from reality or maybe even face your reality. You have the chance to either watch something that triggers your dreams, make you laugh, make you emotional or something that you can relate to at that time in your life. Television can also be so outrageous that it helps you to get to that level where you can just breath and simply feel human.
I was born in the 90's so I have always been surrounded by media my entire life, it is a part of my world. I realize that a lot of things that I see on TV is not real but at the same time it is just as real as it is not. By saying that I mean that I might get that the film I am watching is just made up by script, but it still leaves you with a certain feeling and a feeling is always real. To me television is something beautiful, it is like a box where I can ventilate my feelings. If I feel sad I watch a film that really get to me and make me tear up. If I feel excited I want to embrace that feeling by watching a fun movie that cracks me up. It is like having a good balance between reality and another world. If I feel that I need to have a sneak peak into a life that is far away from mine, I can choose to look at that kind of show just to make myself feel good. It is reality to me just because of the feelings that it leaves with me.
I know you probably going to think that I am weird now that I am not reflecting whether or not how controlled we are by the media in reality on other parts like commercials and reality shows. But just as the prisoner in the cave, I feel like I am the one who is still in the darkness not willing to explore my opinion any further than this.
Television is a tempting world filled with signs of opportunities, dreams and drama. A click on the remote and you have the freedom to sway away for a minute, the chance to escape from reality or maybe even face your reality. You have the chance to either watch something that triggers your dreams, make you laugh, make you emotional or something that you can relate to at that time in your life. Television can also be so outrageous that it helps you to get to that level where you can just breath and simply feel human.
I was born in the 90's so I have always been surrounded by media my entire life, it is a part of my world. I realize that a lot of things that I see on TV is not real but at the same time it is just as real as it is not. By saying that I mean that I might get that the film I am watching is just made up by script, but it still leaves you with a certain feeling and a feeling is always real. To me television is something beautiful, it is like a box where I can ventilate my feelings. If I feel sad I watch a film that really get to me and make me tear up. If I feel excited I want to embrace that feeling by watching a fun movie that cracks me up. It is like having a good balance between reality and another world. If I feel that I need to have a sneak peak into a life that is far away from mine, I can choose to look at that kind of show just to make myself feel good. It is reality to me just because of the feelings that it leaves with me.
I know you probably going to think that I am weird now that I am not reflecting whether or not how controlled we are by the media in reality on other parts like commercials and reality shows. But just as the prisoner in the cave, I feel like I am the one who is still in the darkness not willing to explore my opinion any further than this.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Blog 7
"Among the dangerous messages that reality TV sends out are the importance of competition, the value of image over ability, and the obsolescence of education"
I agree with Timothy Sexton, I am scared that teens could get lazy and instead of aiming for good grades and really work hard in school they think that they can get the easy way out by auditioning for fame and success in the latest reality show. Young women who think they got the looks might get the idea that ability does not matter since the people in the reality TV shows make it seem like that is all that you need to become successful in life.
Sexton are very concern about the signals reality shows are sending out to young people and so am I. I agree that it is very dangerous, actually more dangerous than most people think. I am scared that young people who are a little disorientated and do not really know what they want to do with their life's, might just get lazy and put their pens on their desks in school. This is after they have watched how easy it is to become famous in TV shows like "Jersey Shore" where they compete by who can make the biggest fool out of them self in national TV. Just show your tits or if not, sleep with the most chicks or drink the most tequila shoots out of everyone in the "Jersey shore house".
I feel that the luxury s lifestyle that the producers are sending out in shows like "The hills" are very tempting for young girls. The women in "the Hills" are all extremely good looking, skinny and wear the latest fashion. They are always invited to the most exclusive parties in Hollywood. What young girl would say no to that? my concern is that the outside are overshadowing other amazing sides of our youngsters, like that they are actually very smart, have good hearts and are good at other things than just shopping Prada bags. Media are promoting the importance of the shell of us humans, the perfect eyes, lips and shoes. They are giving people the impression that education is old fashioned and for that reason something we should not value.
The producers of reality TV should try to find a way how to make the shows as interesting as people think they are today. I think it is fine that they are showing a luxurious or crazy lifestyle but they should also try to give the viewers the whole picture of who these reality character really are, what else is there? what are they good at? are they well educated? give the kids of our future someone to look up to who are not all about the outside or just crazy.
I agree with Timothy Sexton, I am scared that teens could get lazy and instead of aiming for good grades and really work hard in school they think that they can get the easy way out by auditioning for fame and success in the latest reality show. Young women who think they got the looks might get the idea that ability does not matter since the people in the reality TV shows make it seem like that is all that you need to become successful in life.
Sexton are very concern about the signals reality shows are sending out to young people and so am I. I agree that it is very dangerous, actually more dangerous than most people think. I am scared that young people who are a little disorientated and do not really know what they want to do with their life's, might just get lazy and put their pens on their desks in school. This is after they have watched how easy it is to become famous in TV shows like "Jersey Shore" where they compete by who can make the biggest fool out of them self in national TV. Just show your tits or if not, sleep with the most chicks or drink the most tequila shoots out of everyone in the "Jersey shore house".
I feel that the luxury s lifestyle that the producers are sending out in shows like "The hills" are very tempting for young girls. The women in "the Hills" are all extremely good looking, skinny and wear the latest fashion. They are always invited to the most exclusive parties in Hollywood. What young girl would say no to that? my concern is that the outside are overshadowing other amazing sides of our youngsters, like that they are actually very smart, have good hearts and are good at other things than just shopping Prada bags. Media are promoting the importance of the shell of us humans, the perfect eyes, lips and shoes. They are giving people the impression that education is old fashioned and for that reason something we should not value.
The producers of reality TV should try to find a way how to make the shows as interesting as people think they are today. I think it is fine that they are showing a luxurious or crazy lifestyle but they should also try to give the viewers the whole picture of who these reality character really are, what else is there? what are they good at? are they well educated? give the kids of our future someone to look up to who are not all about the outside or just crazy.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
blog 4
In order to become a successful writer I think it is extremely important to learn how to structure a text well to create an certain balance for the reader. In this class we are learning this step by step. I have To be honest, I have never really learned how to do that before because I was thought to write in another way, very poetic and structure was never really that important. Now when I am learning to compose a text this way, I feel like it makes more sense to me.
In the first class we discussed annotation with the class, then we worked in pairs to learn how to actually annotate. I thought it was helpful because I really enjoy working with other people. You get ideas from each other. Since English is not my native language I thought it was perfect that I could ask them about words that I did not understand. I know how to annotate now, the hardest thing I think is to find the "main idea" of the text.
In the second class we continued to practice our writing skills by learning how to make a nice summary. I loved that you thought us that we could put numbers by every paragraph and summary them one by one so that by the time you have finish them all you will have a great summary. When I do that I feel more organized and do not have to get all confused and stressed out about where to start. The summary part I think I feel pretty confident about doing.
My third class was a little challenging for me because I felt that my head was not all there because of personal reasons, but I tried. We learned how to use thesis in your writing. This is what i learned; the first you do is staring with presenting the significant idea of the text you are writing about, then argue whether or not you support that idea and then give 2 or 3 reasons (not examples) why you think that and then the thesis is when you combine the claim and the reason together. I have to practice on writing thesis a lot though, I think it is so hard but when I get the hang of it I am sure it will help me in my future writing.
My fourth class was great because I have always had problems with writing longer essays, even in Swedish. So today I learned how to make longer paragraphs by decorating my sentences with beautiful details. Before I use to keep it simple. In this class we also worked in groups and as always when you work with others you discuss the assignment and your machine starts working, you start developing creative thoughts. I still feel I need to work on this because it is new for me but I like it a lot and it will make my essays better since they will be more detailed and longer. In one way I feel more confident in my writing after this four lessons because now I know what I should practice on, but on the other hand I still feel insecure because of my lack of words, my slow writing speed and my problems with finding the main idea of the text. The only way I can prove for you that I have become a better writer is to keep writing and show you that in the texts.
In the first class we discussed annotation with the class, then we worked in pairs to learn how to actually annotate. I thought it was helpful because I really enjoy working with other people. You get ideas from each other. Since English is not my native language I thought it was perfect that I could ask them about words that I did not understand. I know how to annotate now, the hardest thing I think is to find the "main idea" of the text.
In the second class we continued to practice our writing skills by learning how to make a nice summary. I loved that you thought us that we could put numbers by every paragraph and summary them one by one so that by the time you have finish them all you will have a great summary. When I do that I feel more organized and do not have to get all confused and stressed out about where to start. The summary part I think I feel pretty confident about doing.
My third class was a little challenging for me because I felt that my head was not all there because of personal reasons, but I tried. We learned how to use thesis in your writing. This is what i learned; the first you do is staring with presenting the significant idea of the text you are writing about, then argue whether or not you support that idea and then give 2 or 3 reasons (not examples) why you think that and then the thesis is when you combine the claim and the reason together. I have to practice on writing thesis a lot though, I think it is so hard but when I get the hang of it I am sure it will help me in my future writing.
My fourth class was great because I have always had problems with writing longer essays, even in Swedish. So today I learned how to make longer paragraphs by decorating my sentences with beautiful details. Before I use to keep it simple. In this class we also worked in groups and as always when you work with others you discuss the assignment and your machine starts working, you start developing creative thoughts. I still feel I need to work on this because it is new for me but I like it a lot and it will make my essays better since they will be more detailed and longer. In one way I feel more confident in my writing after this four lessons because now I know what I should practice on, but on the other hand I still feel insecure because of my lack of words, my slow writing speed and my problems with finding the main idea of the text. The only way I can prove for you that I have become a better writer is to keep writing and show you that in the texts.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Allegory of the Cave
In ”The Allegory of the Cave” Plato is trying to illustrate to his student Galucon how the world changes with the knowledge you gain. The story is about prisoners that has been chained in a cave since birth with no ability to turn their heads.
The more knowledge you gain, the more the world will change for you, and you will find yourself looking at things in a completely different way. In Socrates story he is using shadows to describe the world of what you know today, and when the prisoner is realized into the real whorl that represent tomorrow.
When the prisoner returns to the cave eager to tell everyone about his adventure they make fun of him and even threaten to kill him. This part of the story represent how hard it is to describe something to someone who is so rapped up in his own reality that he can not understand or vision anything that you are saying. It is hard to tell someone about the world out there when they have only seen their own backyard.
The more knowledge you gain, the more the world will change for you, and you will find yourself looking at things in a completely different way. In Socrates story he is using shadows to describe the world of what you know today, and when the prisoner is realized into the real whorl that represent tomorrow.
When the prisoner returns to the cave eager to tell everyone about his adventure they make fun of him and even threaten to kill him. This part of the story represent how hard it is to describe something to someone who is so rapped up in his own reality that he can not understand or vision anything that you are saying. It is hard to tell someone about the world out there when they have only seen their own backyard.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Blog 2
Zandra
Prof: Gallardo
Eng099
People has been easily fooled by rumors and they tend to believe in every little chunky news they hear without knowing its facts. In the text " I know the truth, so don't bother me with facts" by Jeffery Kluger he gives an example of people arguing about a mosque that is planned to be build at ground zero, which he states is "not really a mosque". researchers at Ohio State University wanted to see if they could make up peoples minds after presenting them the truth about the rumors. In order to be successful they though about the best way to present the truth. Two assistant professors of communication, R.Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet asked 750 people if they believed in the rumors about the mosque being built, every single one of them believed in at least one of the rumors related to the Islamic spiritual center. Less than a third of the people were willing to change their opinions even though they presented them with strong evidence proving them the opposite. Garrett believes that one of the reasons why people are so stubborn to hold on to their beliefs when someone contradict them, can be their self-inportance, the fear of being wrong. Other investigators researching to see if it can have something to do with the brain, how we react when we get confronted. Jeffery ends his paper by saying that we should base our decisions on what we believe by fact and not only with what we read or hear.
"I know the truth so don't bother me with facts" is the headline of Jeffery kluges passage, it pretty much describes his thoughts about how humans react to gossip. He tags us of being gullible and ignorant of the truth. Not because we want to, because we do not know any better, we do not care what the truth tells us. I must say I agree with mr Kluger because I do not know much better myself, I love to believe the hot gossip and news that I read in the papers, I trust the writer to know better than me. It is scary for most people to admit that they are wrong when someone contradicts them with proofs that proves them the opposite. Jeffery is right, we are excited about rumors and want to accept them right away as a fact without having any profs or what so ever. Facts does not matter, we are to scared of being told that we are wrong.
Let me start by saying that I love gossip, I believe in them as soon as I put my fingers on the remote to switch on the TV and hear the words coming out from the anchors mouth. I am excited to hear things about celebrities that I think I know (but I do not know at all) and when a sad or more serious news hit me, I expect the man who is telling me this to be educated enough to give me the right information. The scary part Is that I want to believe in it because it gives me some kind of reaction and satisfaction. The whole world is reacting wether it is with tears, joy or frustration.
People in general make up their minds on what their ego tells them is right. For example; Children believe that their parents are the source of all knowledge and will take anything they say as pure 100 pro cent facts. You can not argue with them because they wont allow you to prove their parents wrong. When the children grows up and form a mind of their own, that very same ego stays with them. It is hard for people to accept the thought of being wrong. Not because they are bad people or that they want to look good, just because they are used to it.
In conclusion, we are all a little ignorant and unfortunately often fools by thousands of rumors. I think we need to find a way to make the facts more relevant, maybe try to teach kids from an early age that it is very important to look at the facts before they make their opinions.
ps. I made spaces between my paragraphs because it did not work to make (I think it is called indentations in the text).
Prof: Gallardo
Eng099
People has been easily fooled by rumors and they tend to believe in every little chunky news they hear without knowing its facts. In the text " I know the truth, so don't bother me with facts" by Jeffery Kluger he gives an example of people arguing about a mosque that is planned to be build at ground zero, which he states is "not really a mosque". researchers at Ohio State University wanted to see if they could make up peoples minds after presenting them the truth about the rumors. In order to be successful they though about the best way to present the truth. Two assistant professors of communication, R.Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet asked 750 people if they believed in the rumors about the mosque being built, every single one of them believed in at least one of the rumors related to the Islamic spiritual center. Less than a third of the people were willing to change their opinions even though they presented them with strong evidence proving them the opposite. Garrett believes that one of the reasons why people are so stubborn to hold on to their beliefs when someone contradict them, can be their self-inportance, the fear of being wrong. Other investigators researching to see if it can have something to do with the brain, how we react when we get confronted. Jeffery ends his paper by saying that we should base our decisions on what we believe by fact and not only with what we read or hear.
"I know the truth so don't bother me with facts" is the headline of Jeffery kluges passage, it pretty much describes his thoughts about how humans react to gossip. He tags us of being gullible and ignorant of the truth. Not because we want to, because we do not know any better, we do not care what the truth tells us. I must say I agree with mr Kluger because I do not know much better myself, I love to believe the hot gossip and news that I read in the papers, I trust the writer to know better than me. It is scary for most people to admit that they are wrong when someone contradicts them with proofs that proves them the opposite. Jeffery is right, we are excited about rumors and want to accept them right away as a fact without having any profs or what so ever. Facts does not matter, we are to scared of being told that we are wrong.
Let me start by saying that I love gossip, I believe in them as soon as I put my fingers on the remote to switch on the TV and hear the words coming out from the anchors mouth. I am excited to hear things about celebrities that I think I know (but I do not know at all) and when a sad or more serious news hit me, I expect the man who is telling me this to be educated enough to give me the right information. The scary part Is that I want to believe in it because it gives me some kind of reaction and satisfaction. The whole world is reacting wether it is with tears, joy or frustration.
People in general make up their minds on what their ego tells them is right. For example; Children believe that their parents are the source of all knowledge and will take anything they say as pure 100 pro cent facts. You can not argue with them because they wont allow you to prove their parents wrong. When the children grows up and form a mind of their own, that very same ego stays with them. It is hard for people to accept the thought of being wrong. Not because they are bad people or that they want to look good, just because they are used to it.
In conclusion, we are all a little ignorant and unfortunately often fools by thousands of rumors. I think we need to find a way to make the facts more relevant, maybe try to teach kids from an early age that it is very important to look at the facts before they make their opinions.
ps. I made spaces between my paragraphs because it did not work to make (I think it is called indentations in the text).
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