I double dog dare you

Everyone is performs contra-normative behaviors in their lives, and even if one did not that in itself would be contra-normative. It is inevitable for everyone to be deviant, so why is it so frowned upon?

 

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur

One of my friends is the number one WOD player in the world and she says that everyone tries to start things with her over nothing and I have seen people verbally assault her and try to start stuff with her for when she is just trying to help her other friends out. It is similar to the concept that those with presumably poor judgement who pick fights with the biggest person in a bar to prove how tough they are all to get smashed. Why do people do such silly things?

Dora the Explorer

Are all knowledge issues worth exploring?

True Story

Don't worry everyone my hair is back to normal, well back to the way it was before it was straightened.

How will we survive 2012 without Twinkies?

Words are words, you are you, and I am me.

Magikarp Splash one-shots level 100 Shuckle. What what?? o.0'

The phrase "playing God" irks the hell out of me, I mean how can you say that when you cannot prove the existence of such a entity?

Narwhal, nuff said

So while working this child wanted to put a heavy object into the cart to help their parent. I said to them to be careful, and the parent said, "oh they can handle it." Welp, they couldn't handle it and the object bonked them on the head, there were tears, I was irked, I knew it was going to happen. Should I have done something more? I probably should have mentioned that I told them that I would put it in the cart for them at the end of the transaction or I would get someone to bring it to their car for them while I rang other people up, but they were like, nah 'tis k.

To read this, or not to read this...?

If language fails and it is comprised of arbitrary signifiers, why do we not just change the language or develop  more arbitrary signifiers to describe the things that our language is missing?

SnarffSnarff

In sociology we talked about how language perpetuates structures, I know I talked about how language predetermines gender role but now I am referring to societal structures in general. What I want to discuss if anyone would like to join me is, if language perpetuates structures then would structures change if language changed?

Sky diving into the ocean

In my opinion it seems like societies generally focus on the positive affects of a group being in power (in regards to that group and not what it does to others), and the negative affects of being a group that is not in power? But, just because we generally talk about those sides does not mean there are not others. For example, what are negative affects of a group being in power? What are positive affects of a group not being in power? If this was recognized by both types of groups would it change anything? Just some stuff to think about.

First ever 37 on the ACT!!

I noticed that I don't get a lot of comments or page views anymore, which kind of stinks, but it is what it is. So, in hopes of changing things I want to try an experiment. On my following posts I am going to use titles that are either crazy, impossible, stupid, ridiculous, funny, fascinating, or whatever to see if it will make people want to see what is up. I feel that this is probably a tad unethical in that I am going to be intentionally misleading but I want to see what happens, I am also thinking about adding interesting pictures that have nothing to do with what I am talking about, and I may also change the names to something that actually indicates what I am talking about.

Does anyone think that these ideas will work?

Poorly Done Advertisements

If an advertisement is poorly done, or if anything is poorly done, people talk about it and bash it. But, by talking about it isn't the advertisement effective? Does that make it good (in some regards, other than at being bad)?

Tutorials in AVID

AVID tutorials are very tedious. I understand that we do them so we can ask questions and get help from our class mates but most of us dread having to come up with questions and then write them down, I feel like it should be on a desire basis, but I know that won't be the case. So I try to ask philosophical questions to make the process fun but even then it is still a dreadful process before the discussion starts, during it can be pretty fun but the before just, well sucks.

Darn Society

We moved this weekend, and while on packing my dad came across my mother's eyelash curler. I have no clue why such a device would ever have existed, well I know why but I feel like it is an extremely frivolous tool. I mean aren't eyelashes already "curled". Anyway what I am getting at is society has issues.

A Socratic seminar, this blog post could be

Mary Wollstonecraft came up with the philosophy, "mind has no gender." I want to talk about what this means if anyone would care to join me. I would also enjoy discovering what implications the acceptance of this philosophy could have on society.

Do ethics hinder the ability to obtain results?

Do ethics hinder the ability to obtain results? One harsh example is with world hunger, if we stopped trying to help the problem would fix itself by those who are starving dying, but that is deemed to be unethical. But, does this hinder results?

Defenestration of the Stratification of Gender

     I get a lot of the ideas for the things that I blog from my sociology class that I am taking through PSEO. I find sociology to a very strange 'science'. Anyway the chapter we are on is titled Stratification of Gender. I find it interesting that sociologists use both the term sex and the term gender, but what is interesting about this, in my opinion, is that sociologists do not truly consider the terms to be synonyms. When sociologists use the term sex they talk about the biological aspects of a person that determines whether one is a male or female. But, when sociologists use the term gender they talk about the socially learned behaviers, attitudes, and expectations that we equate with being male or female. So someone could be male in terms of sex and be more female in terms of gender, in terms of sociology, or that is the way that the professor described it. I find this to be quite an interesting notion, for if the barriers that create the stratification between sex and gender were broken down so many social constructs would also be broken down.
     Gender identity, the awareness of being male or female, could be altered, or eliminated, and then gender roles could potentially be eliminated as a result. And, if gender roles were eliminated a set of microagressions and prejudice would be eliminated and women would be equals in society and their ideas would be valued as much as everyone elses (the valued ideas part sounds bad but I am talking about what we have been talking about in IB English, like marginalization). Plus this could affect the way in which children are raised, since the relationships between mother and daughter, mother and son, father and daught, and father and son all vary based on many variables, and studies have been done that show that even the wording of cards regarding the arrival of a new born vary based on gender but also things like what parents say to their children and how much attention and the way in which they raise their children vary based on gender. So if this difference was removed there would be the potential for mroe similarities between males and females in terms of actions and as a result there could be more understanding, although it might not necessarily be the case. But then people would find somehting else to separate people most likely. Also this would change media significantly and product as well. I feel like I am rambling at this point but it I find this really interesting, and I will probably add more or change it, who knows, but yeah thanks for reading this if you do.

Blogging

I feel like blogging is more of a hassle than anything. Because it isn't really structured there isn't anything that makes us have discussion. And, it isn't really stress release it is a stressor because it is just one more thing that we  have to worry about, even though I think it is easy points. I think that it is easy but I don't really see the point. I mean it doesn't hold a flame to seminars which were tons of fun an really intellectually stimulating, at least in the class I was in. But, I know we have to do it and we might as well get an A. But, why?

Political Parties

Why is it that moderates generally don't get elected for presidency? I mean they have values from both groups, and I don't personally know anyone that agrees with all of the values of either party. Os why are the major political parties so appealing?

Question

Which has more positive implications? Negative events in life? or positive events? I don't mean like extremes, like death or winning the lottery but more like getting a bad grade or getting a good grade.

Also I think that saying implications might sway the thinking so after see if it makes any difference if you switch positive for useful, it made a difference in my AVID group.

Question

Are the emotions we feel solely our own?

TV

We notice more of the "adult" jokes in TV shows now, even the ones that we watched as a kid, perhaps even especially in those. But, the joke were always there, some offensive, some not, And, we laughed and perhaps still do. The content may have changed to us but it didn't really change.

Question

What determines whether or not someone is a peer?

Diety Stuff

One can deny the existence of a diety but I feel they would have a difficult time arguing that the concept of a diety does not serve a purpose regardless of whether or not one exists.

Knowledge Issue

Is it ethical to groom/manipulate/pick the genetics of your children?

Knowledge Issue

Is it possible not to manipulate others?

League of Legends Honor Points

This plays into the Hauthorne effect thing in a way. In a video game I play, they introduced an 'honor system' where you reward people for good sportsmanship instead of just being able to report them unsporting conduct. At first this made a big difference, now it is starting to slow down. I wonder what they will do now.

Hauthorne Effect

The Hauthorne effect is when people react to being observed. I notice this at work. People start doing more start zoning like they were supposed to be just because the manager walks by. I find it interesting that they don't care to zone when the manager isn't right by them even though there are a plethora of cameras. So if they really are reacting because they are worried about getting in trouble they should know that regardless of whether or not a manager is there if the company really wanted to get on their case that they could.

Media

I feel that media is a playing field for competing interest groups to evolve and adapt to better distribute their beliefs.

Language Fails Post5

My sociology teacher mentioned that many languages have words for emotions that would not translate into another language. Then she posed the question: "does that mean others can't feel those emotions?" I want to know what others think about this.

Older Languages

Older languages seem to have very different words, they seem to be a lot more specific (like they have multiple words for one thing, like love) in my opinion. Why do you think this is? Do you agree or disagree? And, do you think they fail to a lesser degree, or to a greater degree?

Language Fails Post3

Many cultures do not have a word for orange. In sociology we talked about a culture that recently stopped eating people, I don't recall the name of the culture but if anyone wants to know it I can find out tomorrow, but they only have two words in terms of colors which are black and white. So, what would they call the color orange (or any color other than black and white, which I know technically are a shade and a tint)? Well the names are signs which are arbitrary forms that the signified concepts take to become the signifiers, so really the names of colors can be whatever you want, yellow might as well be rock, I mean why not?

Language Fails Post2

Language predetermines gender roles, and is often used incorrectly. For example Sarah Palin is not the governor of Alaska but she is the governess of Alaska. Also a master is a superior person, but is male specific, however the female equivalent is mistress, which is a "women on the side". There are other really lame examples, but why do they continue to exist? And, how did the difference between governor and governess come to be when it is a position of power? did females want the differentiation?

Language Troll says get irked.
"Oh I am." -.-'

Teaching Culture

A major characteristic of culture is that we teach our culture. If we were born with our culture groups of people with that culture would be the same. This could make solving issues easier as meeting the needs of one would meet the needs of many. But, it would also mean that problems could become severe more rapidly as if something affected one it would affect many. So there are positives and negative to the characteristic of us teaching our culture but since the largest social group a sociologist studies is a society it is hard to imagine the number of cultures and sub-cultures that can exist in a given society and then what about all of the societies collectively? This could mean that there could be many more specific issues that a given group would focus on instead say a political party having many focuses so this could have a more conflict based approach in regards to sociology as in there would be more distinct divisions among societies because they may only have one large issue to focus on so if you don't relate to that you are a total outsider. Where if there were multiple concerns one might be related to some of them, not necessarily all of them, so there would be more wiggle room when it came to beliefs. I find this concept very interesting and a good topic to debate.

Iron Cage

Max Weber said that rationalization states that interactions now occur because of efficiency and calculation instead of tradition and custom. He continues to say that if you go down this road that life because like an iron cage. Your life will be rule based and become disenchanted which will lead to a crisis of life and eventually you will feel void. Like C.W. Mills, Weber said that this can be avoided by becoming aware of your link to society. I should mention died before Mills was born. I find it interesting that what Weber said remained a belief among sociologists for so long, which means it must have been a social fact, pretty cool stuff.

Trap

The sociologist C.W. Mills calls the belief that we are in control of our lives a trap because we forget that we are not the only factors in our lives. And, he says that ti avoid falling victim to that trap  is to recognize trends and drifts which will lead you to recognize structures and see how you are influenced by others. He says this is important because if you can see how you are linked to others in the community you will become more aware and you can start questioning things and gain more knowledge and try to make change.

Identity

I feel that identity is not only defined by us but by society.

Breast Cancer and Tumors

A new study regarding breast cancer has been done that shows that just because you have a cancerous tumor in your breast does not necessarily mean that it originated there. This is a significant find because this could mean that doctors can more effectively make treatment plans for each individual. This is because if the tumor originated in a different area treatments that they use to treat cancer in that area, which may differ from the treatments used to treat breast cancer. So doctors might be able to use those treatments to treat your breast cancer and have a higher chance of  success. I found this interesting, I heard about in on Kare 11.

Post Modernism

Baudrillard said that in our time and age we are being run by the media and we don't have grand narratives. He continued to say that the reason we don't have any grand narratives anymore is because we now we are just being exposed to sound bytes and pictures which don't have the same depth as the great works that have been produced. He also said that we have fleeting media images which give us a chaotic empty world. I found this very interesting. I think this is a latent consequence of the constant and rapid improvement upon technology which in a way is an amazing thing but also it is a tragedy.

PACs

I think the way PACs advertise is rather odd. PACs are funded by political parties to promote their candidates. But, when an advertisement is made by a PAC and is say pro-Obama they attack the other candidate to promote Obama, for example a pro-Obama advertisement is the same as an anti-Romney advertisement. Also, the candidate it is promoting can claim that they had nothing to do with it because the PAC made the advertisement. I think it is just a sneaky way to be a jerk, but it must work otherwise political parties wouldn't spend so much money to fund them.

Dang Media

The way media is used in political advertisements largely affects what we think of the content. From the placement of words on the screen to the angle of the camera. We are constantly being manipulated. But, what would happen if we started to question things? Would the media adapt further? And, would that be a positive thing?

Transgenic Disease Models

Ruppy was the first transgenic dog. He is a cloned beagle puppy in South Korea that had fibroblasts from an anemone transplanted into its DNA so it now glows red under ultraviolet lights just like anenomes. Scientists want to just transgenic dogs as models for human diseases. Is this ethical?

Perfection

I feel that perfection is a mental limitation. Why would one strive for something that might be considered perfection in one culture but might but means absolutely nothing in a different culture? And, achieving perfection mean that there is no more possible improvement and there is nothing left to do, no advancement, no possible wisdom, no talent, just knowledge of a certain thing. And, what must be sacrificed to achieve such a thing? And, is being better than all that came before not sufficient, why must one deem perfection? Or why not strive to surpass perfection (in ways such as extra credit). And, the only absolute is time, perfection will change just as we must.

Photos without Words

Roland Barthes said that photos without words make us traumatized because we wonder what is happening and we try to reason what is happening in the photos but we can't confirm our ideas. He also said that because there are so many possible meanings that the photos are almost meaningless. I just thought that was interesting.

Emil Durkheim and Suicide

Emil Durkheim posed the question: "is suicide a private act?" He collected data for seven years from which he established many trends pertaining to suicide. One of which was that suicide is more common in those whose social ties are either too strong or too weak. Another was that suicide is more common in times of peace. I think these trends are interesting to think about especially why they are that way.

Language Fails Post1

In AVID/IB English today we talked about language failing, and I know we have done it in TOK but today in AVID/IB English it seemed like we went deeper into it than we have in TOK this year. And, I say that it is the post 1 because I really like to think about the concept of why/how language fails so I will probably blog about it more than just this once. Anyway, I feel that language fails because so many things transcend our ability to communicate things with each other and the ways that we currently have to communicate, so I feel that language fails where knowledge is incomplete.

Sociology

In the sociology call I am taking we talked about how we have freedoms, but also how society and societal forces affect our freedoms and can sometimes limit them. I just think it is something interesting to think about.

Election Campaign

   There are many election campaign advertisements and debates going on. They are everywhere, the radio, television, bill boards, etc., we can't get away from them. And, I remember last year Ms. Garofano told the class I was in, I don't recall if it was AVID/IB English or TOK I, but she told us that the more cruel debates and advertisements are not shown in Minnesota because statistics show that Minnesotan voters especially do not like to see that and it may lead them to not vote. So I got to thinking about how much Minnesotan voters might be missing out on, and the information we are not getting (although we could access it but if we are not told this truth we would not know to look for it) could change an election, which is the point. I just found it interesting and was reminded of that tidbit, so yeah.