en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2391305 Comments by Ilium http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145256755 Wow, that was a really cool and interesting video. My first thought, and after reading some other posts the thought of others, is how lucky the America is. And by America I mean the geographical region. Obviously Americans are lucky too, AMERICA!! But being serious again, the amount that Europe and the Middle East are in that video is amazing. Like really amazing, it was just crazy how much conflict there has been in those regions. It is also amazing to see just how much conflict rose since the time in the beginning of the video. It seems to me like the conflicts come in spurts but in our day and age these spurts became more frequent. Going off what Sam said in class, I guess it is because resources were much more plentiful in the beginning and they also didn’t know about all the capabilities that came with these resources as we do now. Now the resources play such a vital role in just about everything and that they are coming to an end it makes sense that there will be more conflict. This video just reinforces that idea that there can never be total peace, there was always conflict and there will always be conflict. With that being said, we could do the most to minimize conflict and decrease the amount to an amount that is more like the beginning of the video than the end of the video. The amount of conflict we have these days is just crazy, in my opinion. I obviously think that everyone, not just America, has to be more diplomatic. I feel that these conflicts will be to ruin of us in the end. I know that isn’t a very original or complex idea but I believe it will be true. More conflict gives more opportunities to use there crazy destructive weapons that can could unforeseeable amounts of damage. You se see through out the video how the explosion keep getting bigger and bigger. Only one thing is going to happen is that they will get even bigger which is never good for anybody, especially the innocent civilians that get the worst end of the bargain. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:50:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment145256755 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment142846924 This video was very interesting as were the discussions we have had in class about this subject of the amount of money that America spends on defense and our military. There are always two sides to the story. Is it good that America spends almost one fourth the amount on defense if we look at the total of what every country spends combined? Well yes and no. We are a country that prides ourselves with keeping our civilians safe and keeping the innocent civilians of other countries safe too if possible. It seems like quite the humanitarian thing to do. Doesn’t it? We are also looked at very negatively by other countries, for good and bad reasons. So that fuels us to have this gigantic sum of money spent on defense. We need to protect our interest, thus another reason to spend on defense. As bad as it sounds we, the people call for more and more oil each day. And we complain if the oil, well in the form of gasoline, prices rise. So what do we do? We invade a country to insure we can protect and guarantee our interest. These interests are the things, we the people demand. Then on a hypocritical note we start to talk trash on the war we started. Well we demand the oil; we have to get it somehow. So this whole cycle of want and war is hypocritical. We want more, but sometimes without war we can’t have more. But all of sudden we go to war for what the people want, the war isn’t ok. The truth is we could easily cut the defense budget a measly ten percent and do more amazing things with that money then build tanks and guns whatever else is needed, or should I say wanted. That money could easily go toward reducing the poverty in our own country. Hell with the money we spend on defense we could easily stop poverty in America completely. But that isn’t want we want. We would rather have gas prices be a dollar than stop childhood poverty. You not think that but it’s true. How many times a day do you think, I bet there are a lot of children hungry today. I would say hardly ever. But I bet you think about how expensive gas is getting whenever you drive by a gas station. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:25:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/the-cost-of-empire-soc-001-blog/#IDComment142846924 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment140761081 First off she is a very powerful speaker. She has a way to make me have a deeper feeling of what she is talking about. The fear of losing your life is something she hits on very well. She might only speak of it for a minute or two but you get the sense of fear that she conveys even in that short time. You can tell she is very passionate about what she does and how effects people, especially women and children war. The meaning of her words are deep and from her heart. There are some things I disagree with but it still doesn’t take away from the powerful speech she gave. Being a man, I feel she kinds of takes a shot at us. I feel that we don’t just care about the men of war; it’s just who we hear about the most because we are the ones that are mostly fighting these wars. Yes I will say children and women don’t get enough coverage after war, but saying men is just all about war during war isn’t fair. Not all men go to war. Characterizing men as the ones that only go to war or cause war and conflict isn’t fair. Most men don’t choose to fight in a war; we do so out of necessity to protect what should be protected. So singling out men and saying we are the side of war isn’t fair, at least in my mind. Also saying women is the side of society isn’t fair either. A lot goes into keeping the society together during the time of war. Saying that if we understand the women’s side is to understand the sense of peace is a crazy idea. I agree including women in negotiating would be beneficial but it would cause peace. As we just learned that there will never be peace because we have finite resources and everyone wants and needs these resources. To end this I will say we do need to invest in women more. It isn’t fair that we don’t invest in them as much as men. But I disagree that investing in women will magically make everything better. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 15:51:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/03/women-and-war/#IDComment140761081 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment138872300 Good letter, really good letter. Being a crime law justice student, we are usually told people are in prison because they deserve to be and it is for the good of our society and all the stuff that come along with it. I’m not saying I disagree, I would say I agree half the time if not more but we never really get to look the people in prison that really embrace it. I’m not talking about embrace prison the way we see it on TV as in gang violence all over the place and men being forced into having sex with another man. What I mean is like the person that is writing the letter. It is sad that the contact with his family has dwindled because even criminals need a family. That strong net to catch you, or at least attempt to, when something happens. But the way he talks about have he still has high school teachers writing him. That’s amazing to me. I don’t even see or talk to any of my high school teachers and I have the opportunity to see them any time I want. With the exception I saw one tailgating last year and we ended up getting drunk together, he was my favorite teacher in high school. Now I know why. The way this person appreciate these bonds to people that he has is amazing. But the biggest part that surprised me is how he made the prison his family. I guess I was never shown this side of prison or thought about it that way. I always taught of it the way it is shown in the media, that the only family you have in prison is a gang or something gang or religious related. And that the fact that he is only 28 is crazy. He feels the need to encourage the younger people. I would expect this from an older person, but 28. Wow. It seems like this person genuinely cares about the people that becomes part of his family in prison with is what I think people in prison need. They need a family, people to support that. Let them know the past is the past and the future can be great if you want it to be. Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:56:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/27/family/#IDComment138872300 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137562561 I’m not entiliely sure what to think. As part of the unaffiliated segment, I tend to believe that religion will become less important. I don’t think it will ever go away completely, I just think that would happen. I don’t know what it couldn’t happen but they to think of a situation where there is no religion just feels odd to me. I guess it just the way things are around me, always seeing religions and their worshippers. Like I said before I could see it becoming less important, less of a major part of people’s lives. Instead of providing people with their moral code maybe it’s just grandeur thought people still hold on too. To be exactly honest, I really don’t know. I mean math doesn’t lie; 2+2 is going to equal 4. So if what they are saying is true I don’t see why it “couldn’t” happen. Talking on a personal lie, I see people cling to a religion but don’t follow it what so ever. It’s like a backup plan, which is messed up. And the way the majority of people are, including myself, we look out for number one. So going off this, I could see how this could happen also. Religion is about the beliefs of whatever it is based off, like I don’t I care much about religion so I don’t know a whole lot about them. The beliefs are strengthen in the group, groups makes things more powerful. That’s just how it is. If the groups start breaking down religions re bond to get weaker, and our attitude of putting ourselves first reinforce this idea that religion is taking a backseat to whatever we need to in live to get ahead. If that mean becoming unaffiliated, then most people are going to do that I think. Unfortunately I won’t be alive to see how this really affects society but it’s interesting to think about how it could affect it. How would some people identify with one another if there weren’t religion? Would be finally getting the idea that we are all basically the same and identify with that, because officially it can’t happen now. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:15:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137562561 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135636549 I can from what seems to be the standard family of America, well I guess standard. By this I mean I was raised catholic. But further beyond that I went to a private catholic grade and high school where they tried to reinforce their values onto me. One of those values is that same sex marriage is wrong. They had many reasons why this was wrong, all of them having their faults but it was just wrong. Being older now and actually growing to dislike catholicism, you can only take so much of it being pushed on you until you push back, I feel that same sex marriage is just something that people don’t want to allow because it goes against their personal values, by this I mean there isn’t any logical reason it shouldn’t be legal, but a bunch of bullshit opinions that being with power have that don’t want to allow people to be happy. I agree with pretty much everything this person said in his very powerful speech. The family isn’t based on the sexual orientation of their parents, but of the relationship and bond that is built with their parents. If anything children of gay couples probably less judgmental than children of heterosexual couples. And for the people that say that gay couples tend to make their children also be gay is just ridiculous. I quite honestly don’t understand the fear of LGBT families. Families with two parents are almost always better than single parent families. Two parents mean more resources, more income and a better opportunity for the children in the family to develop to their fullest. Taking that away doesn’t do anything but hurt family development. But due to peoples morals it is just fine to take that away. LGBT families are the same as heterosexual families in what they provide in a family aspect, the only difference is with how people’s opinions came into effect. As for people commenting on this and saying we can’t consider outliers because it doesn’t correctly relate to the correlation, how we know that this person’s family is an outlier. I bet the family that is negative toward heterosexuality is the outlier but that is what seems to be a very common view that people have toward LGBT families. Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:53:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135636549 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment132170859 It is hard for me to say that winning the lottery is a bad thing, period. I can easily say how the lottery works is bad but I still can’t come to bring myself to say that is bad to WIN the lottery. The way the lottery feeds off of the poor people because they are the people that buy into that they need to win the lottery I order to have a life of wealth. This is just horrible. I honestly feel that the good outweighs the bad if you win the lottery. It is more about the people decisions people after they win. But for the purpose of the questions I will come up with some way it could be bad. First off, winning that much money would probably give you a euphoric feeling. Think that you can spend it on whatever you want without repercussion. This is wrong. Even when you win you still have to be smart. You don’t have to power to buy anything you want because it just isn’t logical. You’re not used to managing that much money, it in the end could and probably would end up ruining you. Trying to be more than what you actually are is a bad thing. Live your lives as if you didn’t win this huge amount of money, just use it as a safety net or a fall back later on in life. I honestly feel the biggest downside of winning the lottery is the attention you get from other people. This could mean people trying to get money from you or people even physically attacking you. People change when you get money, you can’t help that. I know if my best friend won a million dollars I would be hitting him up for money in a second. You can control your own actions but you can’t control the actions of others. You just need to make sure you surround yourself with people you can trust. Like I said in the beginning I believe WINNING the lottery is more of a blessing than a curse, it all depends on how the person that won decides to deal with it. Thu, 3 Mar 2011 19:34:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/the-lottery-as-a-blessing-or-a-curse/#IDComment132170859 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130477905 Wow, that was another sweet video. This guy is good. I find myself agreeing with mostly everything he said. A thing I very strongly agree on, and no offense to people that have it, is that kids these days and my fellow peers are being overly diagnosed at an absurd rate. I don’t saying ADHD is a fake made up disordered but not nearly as many people really have it. I feel like it is the parents fault first of all and our educational system fault secondly. Parents want to take the easy way out. Their kid isn’t performing how they should be in school, ohhh they much have ADHD. Let’s gives my kid some drugs to make them “feel” better and “perform” at a higher level. The educational system backs up these parents decision because it doesn’t want to look it is to blame. So I fully agree when he calls it a false epidemic. Of course kids are going to be distracted, we are surround by so much stuff, so much possibility that we can’t help to wonder and drift off. The whole divergent thinking idea came as a shock to me. It really surprised me. The more we learn the stupider we become in some sense. It seems like the more education we get, the more we learn the more the creativity we once had just starts to fade away. We are taught to think in strict ways. To get B you have to do A. when we should be allowed to say, well I can get B that ways but there are other way too so we shouldn’t limit ourselves and try everything. After being a college student for three years there is one thing I know that is difficult, and I feel that most other people feel the same ways and that is group work. But he says collaboration is stuff of growth and this is where most great learning happens. That is crazy. Group work is so painful, everyone is on different pages, some people want to take over the group, some do nothing, some people get all pissed off but this is where most great learning happens. Crazy. I feel like we are always taught you need to do this yourself, learn yourself, figure out yourself that we are condition to most be our most effective is group situations and that is a shame is this is where great learning happens. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:41:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130477905 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128627219 As a whole this video doesn’t shock me. I have always thought about if there was the reverse of the polygamy that is known of in America and this just proved it to me. I didn’t come to any type of shock. One wife and three husbands, one husband and three wives, one husband and one wife, what’s the difference anyway. It all comes down to the norms of the society that influences you. In this case it made the most sense for one woman to take on multiple husbands. In their society they keep their families close, really close and that is what they are used to. It was kind of weird to me when they talked about jealousy and that to avoid jealousy the women should sleep with each man in the same night, but I guess that is a common thing to them and shouldn’t be judged by an outsider like myself. I actually think that it is a really good point that is brought up when Sam said that we might see this more in more in China. With a population like they have and the “one child rule” and their focus on sons instead of daughters, it seems to me that something has to give at sometime. This just provides an insightful explanation to what could happen. If it starts happening in China I could see it becoming a lot more relevant to people that haven’t ever heard of it. I mean relevant in the terms of people knowing about it, not necessarily practicing it. And it would also probably gain a lot of criticism because for some reason people (religious groups, hardheaded people) like to think they know the situations that other people come from and cast judgment their way. If this does happen, the thing that I’m most interested in seeing is how the Chinese Government will deep with it. It seems to me that their government is a very harden government that doesn’t relent on issues it take a problem to. Would they allow this polygamy or would they take some sort of action to stop it. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:54:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128627219 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127183362 Wow, first off that video is awesome and I haven’t even started to talk about what was said in the video. That dude is a good artist, I’m jealous. Awesome. Well the video as a whole just blew my mind. The way that guy thinks is brilliant. I’m fine with saying that probably seventy percent of the things he said flew over my head but damnit that thirty percent that I realized and connected to was sweet. Everything he says seems so right, so accurate but then after the video I look around and still realize we don’t live in a world that is anything like what he says it should be like and I come back to reality. I agree with him when he says that we are driven by empathy and the way it worked up from tribes to religion to country and all that. The more we become connected the more we all empathize with one another, that is evident or it was made evident to me because of this video. So why haven’t we all done this? I’m confident with saying that we as a whole (earth) are pretty well connected with all the technologies we have and the internet, with the except of a few places that are less connected, places like North Korea. So back to the question of why it has happened yet. I feel like there has been such a strong move toward be individualistic and a move away from being a group as a whole. I know this goes against the whole conformity article that was posted last week but I think it complex. We look out for ourselves way too much these days. We conform by coming to college because that is the normal thing to do, but our motive behind coming to college is so we can be successful and make money and all the good stuff. The thinking is all placed on ourselves. I want to be successful, I want to make money when the way it should be is that everyone should have to same chance and that everyone so try and connect with everyone else. If I truly listen to this man, thing would change for sure. I would stop thinking of myself as a white American and start thing of myself at the most basic level, a thing. He evens says we have empathy with animals so thinking of yourself as a human is to high, I guess might of missed his concept. In the end we would all be more connected and I feel like if we are all connected and have empathy for one another than this “invisible strings” won’t have much of a control since we agree we are all the same. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:29:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127183362 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125760536 As I watched the video the first time I couldn’t help myself but laugh then I thought about what really happened and I had to watch it again. As much as I loved to take joy in the awkward looks on the faces of the people in the video, I thought about myself and what I was likely to do. I know I wouldn’t want to the only one facing the opposite way, but for some reason I don’t know why I feel that way. There is no “right” direction to stand in an elevator. So this just shows the power the people around you have. We all want to feel like we are a part of something even if it is just standing in an elevator with people. The thing I like the most is the guy who tries really hard to be unique but just can’t hold on to his uniqueness all the way and finds subtle ways to conform like it wasn’t his fault. I guess we all want to be unique up to a certain point then something just switches. Out of nowhere. If you actually open your eyes and look around you will see conformity everywhere. People that follow trends in fashion are just conforming to what people agreed on is the “it” thing for the season. All clothing is are fabrics or materials or everything else it is made of, but just because some editor of a magazine says tickle me pink is the new hot color it makes it fashionable. And in two weeks we will be swarmed by pink clothing everywhere. The whole “American Dream” is conformity. From birth most of us have already conformed how to live our live. I mean it’s the American Dream, it’s the goal, and we need to attain it, right? The American Dream seems nice, hell I’m trying to attain it as I write this. But should we really conform how we live? Well I really don’t know. In one aspect it brings uniformity to how we go about life, decreases the surprises that are thrown at us, makes us feel safe, and makes us feel a part of something bigger, a part of a whole. But on the other hand, think of the experiences you could have if you didn’t conform or if you had to ability to realize you are starting to conform. The problem is we can’t think of the experiences that would bring in a conformed state of mind, it just over our head. So as much as I would like to say I’m not going to conform as much and I’m going to live freely, that’s bullshit. I’m going to graduate get a job and die at some point. Sounds fun. Thu, 3 Feb 2011 21:02:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment125760536 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124445827 This could be one of the most stupid things I have even had to chance to read about. Arresting a 5 year old is just plain wrong. This kid is not at fault at all I feel, you can blame the parents, the school or just about anything else that could have an influence on him but to put the blame on this child is wrong. Bring a gun into school is wrong but I feel that the school and police or whoever that might judge this child should that a deeper look and not just throw blame at the kid. I know in class Sam said this wont is on the kids record and that is great but there are some many other adverse reactions that could happen because of this. The reputation of the child and the family would be horrible. Adults could think the family as a whole isn’t responsible and that they don’t know how to raise a child and all other things that go along with parenting. On the other hand the child could now be looked at as a loose cannon, he brought a gun into school when he was 5 what is he going to do when he is 10. He might bring a rocket launcher into school then, well probably not but I hope you get the point. He is for sure going to be under more supervision at school, if anything he does is out of the norm it will be a big problem. Getting into fights at schools will happen, especially when your older, it happens to the best of us, but what would get a regular kid suspended it would probably get this kid expelled. Like I said I don’t know exactly how this is going to affect his future but its not going to affect in a positive way. The part of the article that actually made me laugh, which isn’t good, is when the police say they are going to look for evidence and its going to take “anywhere from weeks to months”. That cracked me up. Ill make it simple for the police and save all of us some money in taxes. The kid is 5, he found the gun and he thought it was a toy, boom case is over. With my detective skills I should be make an honorary detective or something. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:07:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124445827 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122560208 You never really understand how much freedom you have, even after that letter I still probaly have no idea how much freedom I truly have. I can say I take most thing in life for granted that this person in prison would love and truly charish to have but I just can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t know if it’s a hard concept or if its because it the way I thought for the long. When I choose to wake up and eat before I shower instead of showering before I eat I understand I make a choice but the freedom behind that choice never really catches me. There is freedom in everything we do, no matter how small the action is, there is freedom there. Then if you try to think of the freedom behind everything you do it would probably be painful, just too much to think of. I don’t even want to think about it. But in the end of the letter the prisoner surpirses me and said he is freer than he has ever been. Think of that concept, a prsioner freer than the rest of us. It probably not true for the majority of priosners because they are so caught up denining acts of crime that they know they commited but this prisoner is freer. The crazy thing is I believe him. I certain he is freer than me. While I’m thinking about going to class and reading exetreme boring text that I will be tested on and most likely forget the moment I walk out of the test, he is thinking about life and who he is. I wouldn’t say I want to trade places for him because I do love the freedom to go to Taco Bell whenever I want, But I sure would love to be able to think like he does. To have to ability to actually think about who I am and what life is about. So this bring us all to what is freedom? Is it being able to go to Taco Bell or discovering who we are? Well the easy I believe is freedom is everything, but I feel some things are more free than others. I sure so love crunchwrap surpreme but in the end I would for sure like to know who I am as a person more. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:20:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122560208 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cr%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120773983 Soc 001 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:46:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cr%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment120773983