en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2397026 Comments by alittlesharp http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174512 Often, people of other races will pick-up the same characteristics we think of when we think of occupation. The engineer, the athlete, the lawyer, they all have stereotypes in our mind and since I know no race looks all alike, then I know that people look different. My friend from baghdad wants to be a dentist and he looks like a dentist. But, he doesn't look like the "typical" iraqi. In fact, I remember on many occasions, racist bigots would imply that he was mexican and that they didn't have trabaja for him. I wish he would have said something about what he thinks the average american person looks like. He said that he has spent eight (?) years surrounded by americans and so he couldn't answer. Even then, I would still like to know, because it would have given me more insight into how people think of us either from Iraq media or personal experience. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:54:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174512 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174496 Instead, it made me realize what he must think of college students and young people in America. We don't all think that they are all terrorists, we don't believe that the war was right and we don't all think that oil wasn't the reason for war. But I'm sure media over there is just as bad. A common idea is that thousands of Jewish people didn't show up to work on 2001, in order to avoid the attacks in new york and washington. The way I see it is that that information would be going around the "foxnews" of Iraq. That formed with the internet and that info will remain as long as some americans believe Obama wasn't born in Hawaii. So what Basum did by answering that "We're not all terrorists," only makes me doubt that the information being fed over in Iraq is as bad or worse as the info we receive here every day. To go back to Basum's appearance, he didn't surprise me at all. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:54:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174496 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174447 Was I surprised by any of Basum's responses or his appearance? No. I've met plenty of middle easterns and many of them didn't look like a muslim caricature. And his responses were definitely what I expected. What interested me was not what he said but how he phrased things. For the most part it reinforces my perseption that the country he is from is very similar to ours. That like us, they have issues with media and extremists disrupting rational communication. If anything it sounded like Basum had it worse than we did, or at least he didn't address things that would imply that their media has a little variety like ours. Not all of us watch Foxnews. When he said, "we're not all terrorists," it had almost no impact on my opinion of iraqi's. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:54:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/were-you-surprised-by-any-of-basums-responses-or-his-appearance-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145174447 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143203036 The Palestinian-Israeli conflict rages on a common defense of each side is that the land belongs to only one side. This is a very complicated conflict, but we can see how the conflict is not just our own and how complicated these things can get. When we look at the Native American groups we don't see a violent resistance, but a passive defeated culture. How can we accept that? As the greatest power in the world, and supposedly the "land of the free," a culture should never be treated like the Native Americans are. We need to celebrate their culture and bring the actual lives of these people away from the caricature of their lives and to real lives. Lives that the country can see and bring to our level and love like the country we are meant to be. What are my thoughts on everything we saw and heard? That we are a country that is supposed to be united and is instead just a pompous country held up by the indecencies it imposes on others. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:53:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143203036 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143203011 We can argue over what guilt really is or the Webster's definition, but guilt to me is the feeling that someone gets deep in their stomach when they see something terrible and when that person knows that their life is monumentally better than someone elses. I call it guilt, and guilt makes me feel empathetic and cry for change. To the young lady who said she knew her ancestors weren't responsible, she is correct, but we live in a country where the only way to above other people in society is to be resting on their shoulders. Somehow down the line, they are being exploited. Also, why can't we ask for forgiveness and treat them how we would want to be treated? In present day, the US is and will remain as a country of immigrants. But, can't we acknowledge the land we are on? Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:53:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143203011 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143202935 What are my thoughts on everything we saw and heard in the lecture about Native Americans? Honestly, leaving the lecture hall, I felt guilty. We had discussed the concept of guilt in our discussion group (report to the redundancy department of redundancy) and before I thought it silly to hold guilt. We aren't directly responsible for what our ancestors did, right? I remember a Jewish girl in our group said that she didn't feel responsible and she felt offended by the class blaming it on her. This is all true, in my life I haven't forced a Native American out of their home and taken it as my own. It's also true what the young lady said too. My ethnicity is probably more responsible than hers. But, after our class I realized that I did feel something, even if my ancestors did the harm or not, there is a problem with how our country has treated a culture and it doesn't sit right with me. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:52:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143202935 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103428 I hope that students really tried to do what Sam said and "be" Muslim. I hope that people put away their overzealous internalized voices and tried as hard as they could to be the enemy. I beg for people to really grasp the pain that can be done by either side, both Muslim and Christian, which can confuse and mislead us to act inhuman. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:24:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103428 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103411 When he said this it made me sick to my stomach and frozen because I was confronting what the media had told me was my enemy and he was in the skin of my friend. So I've come to contact with this issue and I've heard his story, so personally I think some of his other lectures, ones that the topic I wasn't familiar with, were better. But I do completely agree with Sam, not because it was the best lecture from my stand point but that it was the most important one and a topic that so many people can be completely turned around from. I know when Rafi, a friend from Baghdad, first put me in his shoes; my life that I had constructed from years of pressure was obliterated. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:23:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103411 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103299 When he said this it made me sick to my stomach and frozen because I was confronting what the media had told me was my enemy and he was in the skin of my friend. So I've come to contact with this issue and I've heard his story, so personally I think some of his other lectures, ones that the topic I wasn't familiar with, were better. But I do completely agree with Sam, not because it was the best lecture from my stand point but that it was the most important one and a topic that so many people can be completely turned around from. I know when Rafi, a friend from Baghdad, first put me in his shoes; my life that I had constructed from years of pressure was obliterated. I hope that students really tried to do what Sam said and "be" Muslim. I hope that people put away their overzealous internalized voices and tried as hard as they could to be the enemy. I beg for people to really grasp the pain that can be done by either side, both Muslim and Christian, which can confuse and mislead us to act inhuman. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:23:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103299 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103282 He might have also said this because of the topic of the lecture. The topic had a lot to do with our place in Iraq and I think that it is very important that we understand this lecture because it is such an important image of ourselves as a part of this country. The world looks on us in different ways and a lot of people see us as Christian invaders. This affects our lives even when we don't see it. Personally, I've thought of this a lot already and as I mentioned in my discussion group, I've come full-face to the other side of this conflict. When my roommate over the summer said with a sparkle in his eye, "the second day was when we really fought back, when we saw a chance of winning. We weren't taking prisoners; we were slitting throats on the streets." Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:23:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103282 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103241 I'm going to answer the two questions the young lady asked and not the one posted as the title of the video. The question she asked was "why do you think he made the point to say this and do you agree?" The point being that this lecture was the best one of the year. I think he said this obviously to bring out as many students as possible because he was proud of the lecture. He said prior to the lecture that it was the most original lecture he has ever done. He has pulled this lecture together from nothing and he believes full-heartedly in the affect it might have on the class. He thinks that it could have had a large impact on our lives as students. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 22:23:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141103241 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224883 Part1 of Blog: What was more enlightening, the information on your own sex or the opposite sex? I would probably have to answer that the information on the opposite sex was more enlightening. This isn't to say the other wasn't, I just think I picked up more from the information about women than men. For the information about the male gender I was interested by the how I am a product of the lecture. The talk about penetration as sex reminded me about a discussion in a Jay and Silent Bob movie where two lesbians argued about the meaning of sex. It is true that men think this way. It makes sense that we would think this way. Sex is to us the end goal. Vagina plus penis equals sex. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:31:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224883 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224843 Part 1 of blog: What was more enlightening, the information on your own sex or the opposite sex? I would probably have to answer that the information on the opposite sex was more enlightening. This isn't to say the other wasn't, I just think I picked up more from the information about women than men. For the information about the male gender I was interested by the how I am a product of the lecture. The talk about penetration as sex reminded me about a discussion in a Jay and Silent Bob movie where two lesbians argued about the meaning of sex. It is true that men think this way. It makes sense that we would think this way. Sex is to us the end goal. Vagina plus penis equals sex. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:31:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224843 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224043 Courtship, one of the things that separate other male animals from each other is courtship. Sex starts there. I’m sure everyone has heard of birds using mating calls, dancing, building elaborate gifts for female birds all in the idea of enticing the female of the group. This is just like when foreplay is done. It would make sense if that was part of our evolution because evolution above all else is about reproducing and if a female is more attractive to a male who does foreplay then that will spread the genes. So that was the biggest impact, is that both sides make complete sense that they are sexually different. Women will want a man who shows courtship and men want anything that will let them bone. If women dominated the world, I think sex would be courtship and not banging. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:28:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224043 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224034 I realize that sounds like I was being misogynistic, but it was certainly not intentional. If women were the princesses of the world and they dominated over mean in every facet of their lives, I imagine sex would be a very different thing. Men would still try to push it, but instead of seeing it as this masculine process it would be feminine. Information that we talked about how we are biologically different was the most thought provoking and gave me more insight to why we are different. I’ve mentioned already that evolution might take us to a strict banging sexual experience, but I forgot the most important part. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:28:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139224034 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139223918 I always thought that sex is at the core a drive to reproduce so that the actual action of reproduction, ejaculation, is the goal. I assumed that nature would make it work the same way for women. I'm not convinced that that isn't the way nature intends to take sex. If we are a product of evolution then that seems like the logical process that we should arrive at. But, I do realize we aren't there now. What amazes me is how oblivious I was to the idea of putting something so important in the perspective of a female. As I said before, I did learn a lot about men and their dominance of the idea of sex, but I learned more about women from the lecture. It isn't new to me that women will fake orgasms and I know shit is complicated down there (compared to pumping), but I never thought to put them in charge of the idea of sex. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:27:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139223918 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139223811 What was more enlightening, the information on your own sex or the opposite sex? I would probably have to answer that the information on the opposite sex was more enlightening. This isn't to say the other wasn't, I just think I picked up more from the information about women than men. For the information about the male gender I was interested by the how I am a product of the lecture. The talk about penetration as sex reminded me about a discussion in a Jay and Silent Bob movie where two lesbians argued about the meaning of sex. It is true that men think this way. It makes sense that we would think this way. Sex is to us the end goal. Vagina plus penis equals sex. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:27:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139223811 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536754 So just like everyone else, they were in the pre-awakening stage at one point. So if I had to answer I would say that no stage is better or worse than another. I do think that as a society we should encourage people who act out of compassion and stay away from those who act out of anger. We can have hope. We've developed from cavemen to who we are today and we can develop even more as a unified planet. I listened to Jane Goodall last night and although it got a little slow at times she had a very interesting message. All the negative things that we see in race, violence, segregation, all of it has a belonging within us that dates before we were even human. But, what was also there was an incredible bond within the community and a bond that would even against all odds accept individuals in as their own. They were capable of so much compassion. So I find it hard to believe that we as a human race can't evolve to bring our love to the world and above all else. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:55:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536754 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536734 "The goal" of human civilization are those stages. "The goal" of any individual can be different. The first question is a little more difficult to answer. Do I think any stage is worse or better to be in than another? I hesitate to answer, because I don't think that anyone should feel like they "should" be different. You are who you are and that's good enough. I do think, however, that there should be a move to change, out of love in your heart. I think that any one has the right to stay exactly where they're at though. If we focus too much on what every individual should be than we will force away the people who aren't there yet. The most important thing to remember is that know one is born a humanitarian. They become one. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:55:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536734 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536681 Is the goal to make it to the last stage? I think as a society, as the human race, and as an interconnected world the last stage is the goal. I have the feeling that a lot of the world is growing very uncomfortable with each other. We are seeing more differences in people than we can imagine. Being in the last two stages would help us reach a peaceful resolution and ultimately be more comfortable. We've got to evolve as a race to that point. I often think that we are breaking down barriers faster than we can adapt. The world is coming together and I don't think we are ready for it. The extreme example would be giving nuclear weapons to cave men. We know now that would have been a bad idea. Our technology developed with our civilization so that we didn't destroy ourselves. Now I think we've developed instantaneous communication with the globe and most people don't know how to handle it. I think that people in the last few stages do. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:55:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137536681