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.