HW#11 Question 2

“We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”

― Malcolm X

I chose this quote because I feel it represents my individuality the best; I have been trying the past few years to be acceptable to others when I haven’t quite yet proven myself to be acceptable to me. This quote makes me want to push past all my obstacles in life and show myself that I can be successful and ignore what others think. I believe that once I can do this, then I will be able to accept myself more than I do already. The two things I feel need to be changed to do this are my communication skills and my appearance. Just about everyone though doesn’t like something about their appearance and wants to change it, so it makes it that much easier to accept mine. There have been times though I would rather have a different hairline or a bulkier physique but I have begun to move past my care for my appearance; not saying that I am starting not to care, I am just not worried about it as much as I was in high school. My communication on the other hand, I would just like to be able to talk and hold conversations better. Overall, since high school, I have started to accept myself more and more with each passing day; as this happens, I too begin thinking myself to be more acceptable to others as well.

HW #11 Question 1

A few artifacts that could represent our culture are, Barbie, Money, and Sports. I picked these because I feel today’s society revolves around them the most; Barbie for shaping women’s outlook on their appearance and Money and Sports for occupying the minds of most Americans in the United States. They each affect people in similar ways, but may do so towards different groups of individuals.

Ever since Barbie was introduced to the public, young girls have marveled at the curves and the perfectness of the doll. Just about every girl in America has to have one and want to look just like it. For some, but not all, they look at Barbie as a role model; they feel as if they should look the same way and usually grow up believing it. Several may even take it to the extremes of anorexia. Barbie represents the young girls of our culture who strive to acquire the same looks of the manufactured doll; as well as the ones whom it doesn’t affect and just have the doll to play.

Most of our society today has their thoughts on money; just about everyone I know is trying to get their hands on more of it. Many people are employed somewhere and earn a steady paycheck after hours of constant working. Everyone is trying to get the one up on everyone else to increase their pay in order to have extra money to spend or pay off extra bills. If there were a survey in every city across America, which involved every working male and female, asking how important money is, the results would likely be above the ninety percent range. It would show that currency is essential in everyone’s lives. Money represents our culture very well because most people are always finding new ways to achieve it.

Homework #9

1. Three topics that Americans usually find rude to talk about are income, weight, and for women, age. regarding these questions are thought of For some people in today’s society, they earn an income that they aren’t very proud of  and are offended by any questions asking of what theirs is. As I grew up, I was always told that asking a women’s weight was rude. Most women do tend to be more self-conscious when asked their weight than men are. Also age is a big concern with females; women from all ages use creams and moisturizer in hopes of looking younger as the result. Questions of age towards men always seem to provide an answer where as ones questions towards women do not.
2. The care for the elderly in both Thailand and the United States differs more than what most people would think. For a grandparent in an American family today, they receive less attention than what they should be getting. If they get ill, they are usually put into a nursing home or taken care of by a hired helper. This is because families live on their own from other relatives and have their own lives. In the Thailand community, the people live as extended families. Whenever a grandparent gets ill, the family brings them into their home and takes care of them.
3. I live in a nuclear family which consists of myself, my parents and siblings. We all have our own lives but we often spend time with everyone in the family. When I’m home from college I either spend my time hanging out with my cousins or playing basketball with them and our friends. I see my grandma at least once every time while I am home and my nieces and nephews too, as well. I may not have the closest family but a family in Thailand would certainly see mine as strange because we live as a nuclear family and live on our own.

Homework #8

1. Media portrays life to be perfect in America, so an international student would have a different view of America from seeing it on TV than when they experience it for themselves. If they see a commercial with people living the “American Dream” they will soon realize that life in the States isn’t as easy as it seems. The economy is always fluctuating and you never know when something can change because anything can happen at any time. An international student would have to take time to adjust to what is different between the media’s view of life and the student’s actual reality of life.
2. The pamphlet says Americans view time as something that can be saved, spent, used wisely, or wasted. We view time this way because we are constantly watching the clock and evaluating how much time we have in order to complete everything that is needed to be done.If time runs out in the day, the activities that are not finished are pushed to the next day. Time is also viewed as a showing of respect or disrespect to others such as family, friends, or business members. Arriving on time shows respect, whereas arriving late is disrespectful. Americans weigh the costs and benefits when deciding which tasks to do, to ensure they have enough time for everything else.
3. When Americans are in a conversation, they are usually asking questions and/or talking about the news, weather, etc. Interrupting an individual is a sign of disrespect and may indicate a loss of interest in the conversation. I was always told to treat others the way I would expect to be treated and I feel that all Americans try to follow this way of thinking. Though when I’m with my friends I tend to interrupt whenever I want to be funny and irritate them. Interruptions among my friends are often welcomed because it’s a daily thing between us. On the other hand, back when I played high school basketball, interruptions of practice, also known as being late, were unacceptable and punishment of running would take place.
4. A sentence that I found interesting is, “As a member of the academic community, you will be expected to treat everyone with respect and can expect to be treated courteously by others.” I like this sentence because it goes with what I mention in question 3 of treating others the way I would want to be treated. I know I hate being treated negatively and despise others who have to make a person feel bad just to make themselves feel better. As I grew older I learned more and more about how others feel when they are disrespected because of my own experiences in life.

Homework #6

More and more people each day are changing the way they view their body’s image. They begin to look at themselves as imperfect and think that an appearance change is needed. Just about everyone cares about how they look on the outside and images of their idols make them all believe that they should look the same way. I myself would say that I do care about my image but I would never go to the point of not eating. Some influences I have on body image are from my friends and the people I look up to. I would really like to be built like some of my favorite athletes but it takes my friends to motivate me to do things in order to take the steps to get there. Say if I wanted to be more muscular I would need someone to motivate me to go to the gym and workout or else I would not go.

American culture does not have different expectations for men and women regarding body image in my opinion. Everyone that has a TV more than likely sees the same shows and commercials while they are watching it. Men and women who see the actors on TV all tend to want to look the same way. If a man sees a more fit individual than himself on TV he will probably start to work out more, as for a woman who sees a skinnier individual, she will maybe not eat as much or throw up after eating. Everyone is showed these “perfect” people on TV and they are all lead to think the same thing, “I want to be like them.”

The first three things that come to my mind when thinking about masculinity are; physical strength, body hair, and weight. When it comes to physical strength, guys are more likely to be stronger than women. Men are usually bigger than women and therefore they tend to be able to lift more weight. Weight also goes along with this, overall I think men are and should weigh more than females. Body hair is definitely more masculine in my opinion. Most guys are hairy all over their body and don’t care as much about it, whereas women are always looking for ways to get rid of their body hair.

Men are pressured to act more masculine as they grow from a little boy to a man. They are mostly taught by their fathers on how they should act tough and how to control their emotions. Things a father might say to their son when they get hurt or when they are playing a sport poorly are; “rub some dirt on it,” “you play ball like a girl,” or “you need to grow up.” Learning from a father or brother is helpful to men because they learn from a more positive point of view as they age. Guys will also learn if they are being bullied at school their school. They will build up anger over time and learn way in which to get revenge on the bullies. They may join a gang when they are older, start working out and/or take lessons on how to fight. In this case learning from a young age through being bullied and joining a gang is harmful to a man. They learn from a more negative perspective and may take their actions to a level that could be fatal to themselves and others around them.

Homework #4 The New Politics of Consumption

1. I agree with Schor that everyone is focused on buying things that they want and usually don’t need. When many people buy things with their money, they usually do not weigh the costs and benefits of their purchase. Some will even buy something they didn’t need and will later have no money left to buy what they do need, until their next paycheck. Spending too much as well can isolate you with debt which plenty of United States citizens today have. If people focused on buying what they need in life and slowed down on their material goods buying, they would have more money to spend.
2. If someones income had increased, then they may be able to help pay off their debt sooner than they could have before. Though a higher income would lead the person to believe that, since they have more money they will be able to buy better and more expensive things than they could before. Things including a bigger house, a new sports car, the latest Android phone, or the recently released music album they have been waiting months for. Being able to repay debt quicker is good, but in reality an increased income really wouldn’t seem to change the way a person spends their money.
3. I would say advertising commercials encourage competitive consumption. Everyday new commercials are being made and they each advertise their product in a specific way in which to further promote it. Companies that create similar beverages, such as Coke and Pepsi, compete using commercials to show their consumers that their product is better than their competitors. Another would be technology, if a new product comes out then people will tend to purchase the new one to replace their older one. Such as a new phone or Ipod that just came out on the market. For example, someone who had owned an Ipad probably bought an Ipad 2 just to have the new one.
4. Competitive consumption influences me in a few ways here and there. I will usually buy what I want, but a lot of the things I buy are things I like because my friends like them. If my friends are going to buy the new Call of Duty game then I will more than likely buy it too, since we all like the game then it will give me a greater incentive to buy it. I will also only buy a product if it is a brand that is well known and used by other people. If I go to buy something but I don’t recognize the brand, I will not buy it. Like if i’m ordering a pizza from two pizza restaurants I’ve never ate at before, I am more likely to call the number to Domino’s over Romeo’s because I have seen Domino’s advertised more on television.

Homework # 3 Moral Machines

I believe it is very likely that someday in my lifetime there will be a similar catastrophic event such as the one listed in the reading. I also believe that it will be several decades before something like this is to happen. Technology is advancing every day and there are plenty of industries making types of robots to date. Though to make machines able to make moral decisions themselves just seems a little too complex for our current generation.

If such an event was ever to occur, I think the public’s reaction would be chaotic. I can see the public losing control and panicking because they will not know what to do. If an AI were ever able to make their own decisions, I really do hope they have a good mentality and that they do not decide to attack citizens when they feel endangered.

I do not think it is very likely for an AI to be able to think and reason without human help. I think that any AI will always be programmed to do their specific tasks that they are to complete and will always be helped by humans. My thoughts are that, for an AI to think and reason by itself, scientists would first have to completely understand how the human body and mind work. I say this because I believe that if scientists do not understand, then there are no possible ways in which an independent AI can exist. They would need a mind and for that we would need to know how exactly our own minds work.

Positives of an AI would be the help they could provide us in building structures and buildings, help in everyday activities and/or chores around the house, and the possibility of an AI army to defend our country. Some negatives could be increased obesity to those owning a household AI, deaths if the AI revolt, and the loss of jobs to these robotic figures.

Like many others I myself have been a victim of a poorly working computer several times. Whether doing homework or browsing the web, my old computer would often freeze up and all my content would be lost. Time after time I had gone through this problem until I received the laptop I have today, though it does not always work the way it should I definitely prefer it over the old one.

Homework #2 Morality

At the beginning of the article I had found Bill Gates to be the most admirable because he is the richest man. Though after I learned of what Norman Borlaug had done, having save billions of people’s lives, I thought he was the most admirable.

           Two people that I admire most in my life today would be my Mom and friends. My mom because of all of the things she has ever done for me and what she has gone through to do them, and she is always trying to help out anyone that needs it. Then my friends and the rest of my family because they have also helped me through down times and have supported me to where I am today. This has told me how to make moral judgments.

            In my opinion, I believe that morality is universal. My beliefs are that we are born with a sense of what we are allowed and not allowed to do and how to go about with what or how we do things.

            The five elements of morality that Haidt lists are harm, fairness ,community, authority, and purity. I think Americans rank authority first, I feel that everyone tends to listen to whoever has higher authority over them. We have a President and we tend to follow the laws provided by the him and the rest of the government.