en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2410116 Comments by ashley1629 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145281712 Yesterday in class we watched a video about the guy who helped immigrants by bringing them one meal every single day. I think it said that he makes over thirty meals a day and I find that to be absolutely heroic and admirable. This man has absolutely no responsibility to do this; he has no obligation to do this, yet he does it every single day without complaining. Most people would not do this because it would be “too much work” or they would say that they are exhausted after a long day at work. But this man has a job AND he still takes hours out of his day to do this for people that he does not even know. These people are not even his friends, they are just people that are in similar situations as to the one that he was in when he first arrived in the United States. I find it very heroic what this man does. I can honestly say that I do not know if I would do the same thing if I was in a similar situation. I would love to say that I have the heart to do this, but in the end, I would probably be too lazy to actually help. It is really hard to say though what I would actually do because I have never been in the situation that they are in. I have never been an immigrant so I have absolutely no idea how bad these people have it. If I was like the guy in the video and had actually gone through something like this, then the situation would be completely different and I would probably feel as if it is my responsibility to help them. Seeing people in bad situations that are similar to ones that you yourself have overcome is something that really hits a spot in your heart. It makes you want to help out because you just want them to overcome their hard times like you once did. I definitely would not turn away immigrants that need help, but I probably would not go to the extremes of making over thirty dinners each day. I would try to do anything that would help them out even if it would only help them out slightly, but making that many meals is just too time consuming. I think that it is really dumb for people to “hate” immigrants and want them to leave. These people are just people who are trying to make a better life for themselves and there is nothing wrong with that. We should all try to be more supportive about the fact that they are just trying to make a better life. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 03:18:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145281712 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment142858941 Today in class Sam talked a lot about Native Americans and the struggles that they go through. I am actually glad that he brought up this topic because I have noticed before just how clueless the average person is about the true struggles that Native Americans go through every day. These struggles, I believe, are definitely our fault. We came and took their land, and now we are not even decent enough people to actually make sure that they are living at least somewhat decently? We should all be ashamed of ourselves for not helping the Native people of the land that we live on. I think one reason that people seem to overlook the struggles of Native Americans is because they do not want to even think about the lives that their ancestors ruined. Yes, it was our very own ancestors that came and forced the native Americans out of their very own land. It was our ancestors that forced them to abandon their homes and to start over new lives that were very different from their original ones. It was, all in all, our ancestors fault for giving the native Americans the hardships that they must live with today. Another reason that I think Americans seem to overlook the hardships of native Americans is because we just simply do not see them. Ever hear the phrase “out of sight, out of mind”? Since we do not see native Americans and their struggles, we just do not think about them. It is not like we see on the news that they are constantly the targets of violent crimes, or the victims of alcoholism. We do not see any of this because it is not broadcasted. Because of this lack of visual evidence, we simply do not go about our days thinking about the lives of these people. I can not exactly say that it is, therefore, not our fault that we are so blind to their struggles, because we should still take it as our own responsibilities to inform ourselves about the world, including the people who were native to this very country. I believe that we all really need to change the lives of native Americans by helping to rid them of their hardships and their struggles. To start this, we must first educate the people of this country about their hardships. We should start teaching about them in school. After all, we are taught all about poverty and how it affects so many countries in the world, but we are not actually taught about the very people in our own country that are struggling from it. If we at least were educated about this, then I know that a lot more people would take it as their responsibilities to try to help the native Americans. Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:17:28 +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/#IDComment142858941 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124598 After doing the activity in class the other day, my views on the war in Iraq have changed dramatically. I have always heard the expression “put yourself in your enemy’s shoes”, but I must say that that is usually easier said then done. People tend to say that they have tried to understand why their enemy acts the way they do, but usually they do not really know the full story. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is the best way to get over hatreds for other people. Understanding why an enemy might be the way they are is extremely hard to do unless you completely and 100% put yourself in their shoes. People act the way they do for certain reasons, and this was definitely demonstrated during the activity in class. Sam asked us to pretend that we are middle easterners, and he told us to imagine what we would feel if Americans were coming into our country. It would be strange and frightening, and obviously this would make them hate Americans for invading their home land. Also, just the environment that the middle easterners have to live in is terrifying and definitely a reason for them to be untrusting of foreign people. If I really was an inhabitant of the middle east, I would probably hate America for trying to send its people into my land and trying to take over our homes. Along the lines of putting yourself in your enemies shoes, I think that the best way to adequately understand your enemies actions is to not only put yourself in their shoes, but to also make an effort to reach out to them in order to understand them. It is not very hard for Americans to simply make an effort to talk to middle easterners to figure out what their views are and why they act the way they do. This would get rid of a lot of problems and misunderstandings between the two different groups of people. One of the biggest things that the activity taught me was to not put a whole group of people into one category. Even though a few of the middle easterners may have participated in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, it does not mean that we Americans should hate every single person that lives in the middle east. It is stereotyping if we honestly act as if every single Middle Easterner has the tendency to perform terrorist attacks. That is like saying that every single American likes pizza or football. Stereotypes are sometimes what lead to people having enemies. They form a false image in their head of a person or of a group of people, and this is what causes us to never fully stop having an enemy or enemies. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:26:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124598 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124457 After doing the activity in class the other day, my views on the war in Iraq have changed dramatically. I have always heard the expression “put yourself in your enemy’s shoes”, but I must say that that is usually easier said then done. People tend to say that they have tried to understand why their enemy acts the way they do, but usually they do not really know the full story. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is the best way to get over hatreds for other people. Understanding why an enemy might be the way they are is extremely hard to do unless you completely and 100% put yourself in their shoes. People act the way they do for certain reasons, and this was definitely demonstrated during the activity in class. Sam asked us to pretend that we are middle easterners, and he told us to imagine what we would feel if Americans were coming into our country. It would be strange and frightening, and obviously this would make them hate Americans for invading their home land. Also, just the environment that the middle easterners have to live in is terrifying and definitely a reason for them to be untrusting of foreign people. If I really was an inhabitant of the middle east, I would probably hate America for trying to send its people into my land and trying to take over our homes. Along the lines of putting yourself in your enemies shoes, I think that the best way to adequately understand your enemies actions is to not only put yourself in their shoes, but to also make an effort to reach out to them in order to understand them. It is not very hard for Americans to simply make an effort to talk to middle easterners to figure out what their views are and why they act the way they do. This would get rid of a lot of problems and misunderstandings between the two different groups of people. One of the biggest things that the activity taught me was to not put a whole group of people into one category. Even though a few of the middle easterners may have participated in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, it does not mean that we Americans should hate every single person that lives in the middle east. It is stereotyping if we honestly act as if every single Middle Easterner has the tendency to perform terrorist attacks. That is like saying that every single American likes pizza or football. Stereotypes are sometimes what lead to people having enemies. They form a false image in their head of a person or of a group of people, and this is what causes us to never fully stop having an enemy or enemies. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:25:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124457 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124099 After doing the activity in class the other day, my views on the war in Iraq have changed dramatically. I have always heard the expression “put yourself in your enemy’s shoes”, but I must say that that is usually easier said then done. People tend to say that they have tried to understand why their enemy acts the way they do, but usually they do not really know the full story. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is the best way to get over hatreds for other people. Understanding why an enemy might be the way they are is extremely hard to do unless you completely and 100% put yourself in their shoes. People act the way they do for certain reasons, and this was definitely demonstrated during the activity in class. Sam asked us to pretend that we are middle easterners, and he told us to imagine what we would feel if Americans were coming into our country. It would be strange and frightening, and obviously this would make them hate Americans for invading their home land. Also, just the environment that the middle easterners have to live in is terrifying and definitely a reason for them to be untrusting of foreign people. If I really was an inhabitant of the middle east, I would probably hate America for trying to send its people into my land and trying to take over our homes. Along the lines of putting yourself in your enemies shoes, I think that the best way to adequately understand your enemies actions is to not only put yourself in their shoes, but to also make an effort to reach out to them in order to understand them. It is not very hard for Americans to simply make an effort to talk to middle easterners to figure out what their views are and why they act the way they do. This would get rid of a lot of problems and misunderstandings between the two different groups of people. One of the biggest things that the activity taught me was to not put a whole group of people into one category. Even though a few of the middle easterners may have participated in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, it does not mean that we Americans should hate every single person that lives in the middle east. It is stereotyping if we honestly act as if every single Middle Easterner has the tendency to perform terrorist attacks. That is like saying that every single American likes pizza or football. Stereotypes are sometimes what lead to people having enemies. They form a false image in their head of a person or of a group of people, and this is what causes us to never fully stop having an enemy or enemies. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:23:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment141124099 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139262958 I thought that it was interesting how Laurie pointed out the fact that girls always feel the need to get completely dressed up to go out while boys can wear basically what they wore to class that day. We are almost required to wear short skirts, high heels, tons of makeup, and with our hair done. I sometimes get annoyed with how much time it takes to get ready to go out, but I have always just accepted it as something that is necessary and normal. When you go your whole life seeing girls acting like this, you do not question it since it is such a learned behavior. When Laurie said that we actually do not really want to dress up and that we just do because it was always what we were taught was very eye opening. Learned behaviors such as this one really do shape our lives in a huge way. We are taught things in a way that makes us just accept that as part of the norm and it leads us to never question these ways. If girls started to actually question why we get all dressed up to go out, it may or may not even have a difference. I feel like, mainly, it would not change anything because we are still so used to doing it that we would not change it even if we had the choice. It is something that runs so deep within us that it would be really hard to change this way of thinking. I definitely do find it unfair though that girls have to try so hard to impress the guys while the guys can look like complete slobs and still be considered “cool” and “attractive”. If you see a girl out in jeans and a tee-shirt you would probably assume she was going to the grocery store instead of going out to a party, because it is not acceptable for a girl to ever dress like that for a party. We are required to be completely dressed up when we attend a party or get-together, not dressed down. In contrast to what I have said so far, I actually think that, even though it is a pain to get dressed up, girls actually like the process of getting “prettier”. You constantly hear girls saying that they are not pretty until they put on their makeup and their nice clothes and do their hair. Getting ready to these extremes just gives girls an opportunity to almost change their physical appearances in order to grab a guy’s attention. Most girls are extremely insecure, so dressing up gives them an opportunity to feel better about themselves and to feel less self-conscious. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 02:06:15 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139262958 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137539619 I think that interracial relationships are completely and 100% acceptable. Our world is constantly trying to make itself into a judge-free and non-racist place, so why not start by being in an interracial relationship? People need to just relax with their insecurities about race differences. I see absolutely no big deal in dating someone of a different race, because at this point everyone should just be looking for someone who they can love and who can love them back. An interracial relationship is something that should not be a big deal to anyone. If there are gay people who can go out of the norm and date someone who is not of the typical sex, then why cant people just go out of the norm and date someone of a different race? Love is something that is not supposed to judge based on looks (race). Love is something that happens when two people fall in love with each other’s personalities and qualities, not their looks. Therefore, why would we even dare to put boundaries on who a person can and cannot love? A person can be with absolutely whomever they want to. Sometimes people will say that they would never date someone of the opposite race because of fear of how their own family would react. But a family is supposed to be understanding. A family is not supposed to pass judgments on their relatives, or make them feel bad for who they fall in love with. Because of this, I think that no person should hold back from dating a person of another race in fear of what his or her family will say. If their family really loves them, then they will understand and accept that person. If not, I would not even worry about it because it is the family who is being the unreasonable ones. Yet another reason that prevents people from partaking in interracial relationships is the fear of what anyone will think of them. If I (a white girl) dated a black man, I know that if we were to walk down the streets or through the mall that we would receive many looks from people thinking “what are they doing?!” But that is just something that I would have to accept if I was with someone who I loved. People need to stop worrying about what others will think, or they will go their whole lives living a life that is clearly not their own. It actually does seem like nowadays more and more people are partaking in interracial relationships. Our world is advancing in this aspect, because more and more people are realizing that it really does not matter who they fall in love with, as long as that person is who they love. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:12:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137539619 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/where-do-the-messages-come-from-119-blog/#IDComment135933961 The video that we watched yesterday in class was kind of disturbing. I never really thought about the influence that parents can have on their children about race until I saw that video. Overall, I do think that parents play the most part in teaching a child about the racial differences and what color is better. If black parents are constantly telling their children that lighter skin is better and more attractive, than these children are going to grow up thinking that they are not good enough. They will grow up and not be able to appreciate their natural beauty because they will constantly be thinking that they could be better if they only had lighter skin. White parents can also tell their children that they are lucky to be white, therefore making them think they are better than others. When I was growing up, I never had to worry about my parents teaching me wrongly about the differences in skin color. They always taught me that everyone was created equal and that everyone should have a fair chance in the world (no matter what their skin color may be). I never realized that I was lucky to have parents like that. I did not have parents who raised me to think that white people are superior to blacks, which I am extremely thankful for. Children with parents like that grow up to have biases and prejudices towards others, and that is why racism continues to exist in the world today. Along with parents teaching children this, I also know that media plays a large part. Mostly, little kids watch cartoons and in these cartoons they see mainly white children as the main characters. These white children are cool and fun, so children start to associate white people as the better race. If media could only better disperse the different races amongst their tv shows, children would better be able to see that all races are equal and that no one race is better than another. The third and last group that has a contribution on the way that children see the differences in color may just be from the people around them on a daily basis. This does not necessarily mean parents, but also the people that they see outside of their houses. When children go to school, they might hear friends talk about skin color as if it means a lot. For example, one child may come in to school and say that his/her parent told him/her that white people will always be better and that black people will never be equal to them. This child will then have a huge effect on the other children at the school. Biases and prejudices can be passed so easily amongst children because they so easily absorb what is around them and what other people are saying. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:30:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/where-do-the-messages-come-from-119-blog/#IDComment135933961 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment134345210 While affirmative action is a great stance taken by the United States, it actually may be taking things too far. If the government is telling companies that they need to hire a certain amount of minorities, than the non-minorities (white people) may actually be cheated out of a job that they rightfully earned and that they are fully qualified for. I personally think that, nowadays, the government should not continue to press the importance of affirmative action. Racism has been very quickly diminishing over the years and I highly doubt that companies would still not hire someone just because they are a minority. Affirmative action can be extremely helpful but I honestly think that it is simply causing racism to still exist in our society. For example, imagine that two candidates are applying for the same job and that one was white and one was black. Now imagine that the black person gets the job. The white candidate may, in fact, think that the he/she did not get the job simply because the employer had to fill some sort of “quota” imposed by the government saying that they had to have a similar ratio of whites to blacks. This would, therefore, cause the white person to have a sort of resentment towards the black person, which may eventually escalate and turn into a prejudice towards all black people. This example is just one way in which affirmative action may be taking things too far in our world, by creating prejudices and racism rather than getting rid of them. Basically, what I am trying to say is that I agree with the people who say that affirmative action is somewhat “reverse discrimination”. You cannot deny someone a job because they are white, just like you cannot deny someone a job because they are black. These laws that establish quotas and rules that companies must follow are just causing the system to be more out of whack. I understand that the government is trying to create a place where differences in race do not mean anything, but by trying to do this they are just causing our society to be even more prejudiced and unequal. Mainly, I think that affirmative action is taking things too far because racism is something that, for the most part, needs to be eliminated on its own. I understand that certain laws are necessary, such as the very first laws establishing no segregation, etc, but other laws just seem as if they might be intruding too much. Racism is an issue so sensitive and likely to change depending on so many factors. Because of that, I believe that creating too many laws (such as affirmative action) will just make racism into even more of an issue than it already is. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:45:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment134345210 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130803989 I have never really been conscious about who I sit next to in class or of who I sit next to on the bus, or anywhere. Obviously I notice what the person sitting next to me looks like but I do not make my decision based on this. If I see two people, one white and one black, sitting in two different rows, I honestly would probably choose my seat based on which row was closer or which person looks the friendliest. Usually, I try not to sit next to someone who looks grumpy or mad because then I just feel like I am bothering them. But, I never would choose my seat based on the fact that one person is white while the other is black. After we had the class with the “experiment” about who sits next to whom, I could not help but think that the experiment was not very accurate. I do know that some people tend to sit next to a person of their race, but in this case that obviously would not happen considering the fact that the whole entire class was watching these people choose where to sit. They should have conducted this experiment in a much better way. They should have had those four people sit in the front of class before the class started. Then, as people were entering class, Sam should have told four random people to go join the people up front and THEN we could have seen their real decisions. If the experiment had been conducted this way, the people would not have known at all what the experiment was about so their choices would most likely be more accurate to what they would be if these were seats on a bus. Even though I did not think that the experiment was very accurate, I did find it quite interesting and it opened my mind to things I had never really considered before. I never thought of how people might choose what seat to sit in on the bus. I never stopped to consider that maybe people are not as free of racism as I had begun to believe. Lately, I have made a point to watch people more closely when they get on a bus or when they enter the classroom, to see where they choose to sit. Unfortunately, these observations are not always quite useful. It is hard to tell if a person chose a certain seat because it was the closest seat to the door, or because the person occupying the adjacent seat was of their same race, etc. However, I do still find it interesting to make these observations because it is interesting to imagine the idea that racism and prejudices are still hiding everywhere around us. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:52:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130803989 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-can-we-make-people-more-aware-of-the-slavery-that-is-still-going-on-119-blog/#IDComment128974558 I think that almost every person around the world is unaware of the issue of slavery because most people are only concerned about themselves and the issues in their everyday lives. They go through their lives trying to be successful and, therefore, do not think about other people around the world and the issues that they might be going through. This is an extremely important issue that needs to be addressed since people are constantly ignoring it. Slavery is a topic that people choose not to think about. It is something so serious and so immoral that people will go out of their way to pretend as if it does not exist. Also, why would someone worry themselves about the issue of slavery when they believe that they cannot do anything about it. In order to beat slavery, many powerful people need to be involved in the process of getting rid of it. So average people think that no matter what they do they will have no effect on this issue. They think that it does not matter if they donate money or go to the places where slavery exists because they think that no matter what, they have no say in the issue of slavery. Most people have the idea in their head that one voice will not make a difference in huge issues such as this. They think that any actions they take will have no effect on slavery and other issues. But, in reality, every single person who makes an effort to change the world all add up and eventually make a huge difference that can actually completely eliminate slavery and its effects. I think that one way to make this issue more known around the world is to simply advertise it more. Television companies can choose to spend a little bit of money to create a thirty second commercial about the realities of slavery. These commercials can be simple and not too in-depth; all they need is to simply show people about how bad slavery is to the people involved. Also, magazines and billboard advertisements can easily show people and inform them about this issue. They can, once again, be simple. The point is just to open peoples eyes about issues that they normally do not think about. We go about our lives every day and do not think about any other issue besides the ones that we confront on a daily basis. When we are buying products, we do not stop to think that maybe that product was produced by slaves. People are so self-absorbed that they choose to ignore anything that does not directly affect themselves. It is almost expected that this might happen. With a world centered around finding success, can we really expect people to go out of their way to help eliminate slavery? Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:04:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-can-we-make-people-more-aware-of-the-slavery-that-is-still-going-on-119-blog/#IDComment128974558 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/do-we-have-a-responsibility-to-fix-inequality-119-blog/#IDComment127438712 I think that it is up to every individual person to do his/her very best to eliminate inequalities in order to make our world into a much better place. We are constantly surrounded by people telling us that certain people are better than others, that certain people will go farther than others because they are white and so on. There are so many inequalities in the world that are confining us and telling us what we can and cannot do. This should not exist because all that inequality is doing is preventing the world from progressing at the rate that it should be. If people would learn how to work better together than we would be able to move forward in a more quick and efficient manner. Inequality is something that seems easy to fix but is not. How do you go about changing something that has been so deeply rooted into us for hundreds of years? I actually think that one way to beat the evils of inequality is for everyone to try to ignore it and to pretend as if it did not exist. It seems like a silly thing to do but if everyone pretended that there was no such thing as inequality than maybe it would slowly start to disappear. Sometimes people go into certain situations thinking that they will not be treated fairly because of inequality. This may, in actuality, cause them to hinder their own potential by having low confidence in themselves due to the ever-constant thought of inequality that they cannot get out of their minds. If, instead, they went into the situation believing that they had an equal shot as everyone else than this would most likely cause them to do better in whatever situation that may be. I think that if inequality could eventually be completely eliminated, than everyone would altogether be happier as a whole. Different races would stop having hatred towards others because they would believe that they were all equal. Also, a lack of inequality would cause so much more interactions amongst different races. Have you ever noticed in high school how the whites stick together, and the blacks stick together, and there is not always too much mingling amongst the different racial groups? I have noticed this and it has always really bothered me. I believe that the sole reason for this separation is because of the inequalities that are thrown on us from the moment we are born. Different racial groups know that they may be superior or inferior to others in certain areas so they do not try as hard to mingle with those other groups. If inequality would simply stop, than everyone would come together as one group instead of remaining in many different groups. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:30:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/do-we-have-a-responsibility-to-fix-inequality-119-blog/#IDComment127438712 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126034552 The video that we watched titled “We Are All a Bunch of Monkey’s” was such an interesting video in my opinion. The question that this person asked about that video is also very interesting and makes me wonder. It really makes me wonder just how much things would be different if we had evolved like monkeys instead of humans. If we had evolved like monkeys our lives would be tremendously different and possibly even unrecognizable. I think it is good that humans have evolved into how we are today for many reasons. If we lived just for the sake of living, then this world would be a boring place and important discoveries would have never been made. We would go about life with the sole purpose of surviving instead of enjoying life. I think that might be the biggest difference between humans and monkeys. Monkeys go about life with the goal of surviving and living for the sake of living. They may have some fun, but not nearly as much as we do as humans. On the other hand, us humans are able to not only get by in life but to have a great time while doing it. We work hard to get good jobs so that we can make enough money to live comfortably and enjoyably. Humans, as opposed to monkeys, were given the brain capacity that we have for a reason: to explore what is around us and to make important discoveries. Curiosity is what drives us throughout the day and it is what makes our lives so interesting and unique. We are constantly questioning what is around us so that we can answer these questions and so that we can keep searching for answers. We have scientists and researchers and doctors who make discoveries daily that will only change our lives for the better. These discoveries allow us to keep progressing as a race and to never reach a standstill. If we did not keep progressing on such a consistent basis, we would be just like monkeys and, therefore, we would be living for the sake of living instead of living in a way that will eventually make our lives better. The world would be so much different if we did not question and explore what is around us. If we simply lived for the sake of living, we would be fighting others for goods and land. The world would be a completely disorganized and somewhat dangerous place to live in. People most likely would not form the bonds that we see today. We may not even have friendships because we might not have the brain capacity to form such a bond with another human being. Overall, it is so excellent that we are able to think for ourselves because it has allowed so much progress in the world and has allowed us to evolve into what we are today. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:37:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126034552 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/21/body-image-issues-119-blog/#IDComment124396877 I think that even if everyone realized that all aspects of their body are hereditary they would still feel self conscious about themselves. We are constantly being told what is right and what is wrong when it comes to how our bodies are supposed to look. Television, magazines, ads, everything around us are telling us that you have to be skinny, that we have to have clear skin, that our eyes have to be just the right shade of blue or brown, that our lips cannot be too thin or too thick. With all of these restrictions on what “perfect” is, how can anyone consider himself or herself to be perfect? Certain traits are passed down from generation to generation amongst families. This could be the length of our noses, the width of our hips, or the curliness of our hair. Whichever trait it may be, people do not appreciate these traits. Some children are guaranteed to obtain beautiful curly hair from their parents, yet these kids are unsatisfied because television shows are telling them that silky straight hair is the type of hair that is beautiful. Hereditary traits need to be appreciated because they are what make each and every person unique. Being unique is what causes our world to be so diverse and interesting. If everyone were the same, then families could not have interesting traits to boast about. Children would not somewhat resemble their parents if traits were not hereditary and what would be the fun in that? People need to understand that when it comes to the fundamentals of our body, we have absolutely no control over what traits we get. Everyone needs to learn to be happy about the traits that they are given because those traits link these people to their families. Furthermore, if a person is not happy about some traits, such as a little bit of fat or unclear skin, they can take small steps such as working out or using acne wash to better boost their self-esteem. These small steps are beneficial because they are completely healthy for your body and they will only make a person feel better about themselves. On a different note, people should never go to extreme measures just to ensure that their body looks “better”, such as resulting to plastic surgery. I think that the only way to fix peoples negative images of their bodies is to properly educate them on why certain people obtain certain traits. They should learn to take advantage of the traits they are given and they should learn how to have more confidence when it comes to their body. Also, I think that the media should try harder to show people of all body types as “popular” or “pretty”. They need to stop making people so self-conscious because of the never-ending television shows that depict typical gorgeous people as the average person. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:50:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/21/body-image-issues-119-blog/#IDComment124396877 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122383165 Stereotypes are still around for a variety of reasons. I think that the main reason that people choose to judge other groups with stereotypes is to make them feel better about themselves. Stereotypes provide a way for people to poke fun at different racial groups without actually seeming mean because they think that they are simply stating an obvious fact, an obvious stereotype. For example, a white person might complain about the fact that so many black people are committing crimes because they know that a stereotype of blacks is that they tend to end up being criminals. This stereotype is obviously false; anyone can turn out to be a criminal. But if a white person believes that he/she is not part of the race that turns out to be criminals then they are able to hold themselves on a much higher pedestal than others. They may have more determination to go to college and get a job because they know that they do not fall into the stereotype of being “bad” and “prone to break laws”. This simple reason for why stereotypes still exist is a huge one. Stereotypes are also still around because once a stereotype is given and talked about for years, it is hard for people to change the way that they think about them. Some stereotypes are so completely wrong that it is hard to believe that people go along with them, yet people still do because they cannot help it. This is simply because they might have grown up hearing these judgments day in and day out. If a little girl grows up hearing her parents talking about how the Asian in their work environment is so unbelievably smart and good at math because “all” Asians are, they are basically forced to grow up thinking the same exact thing. So even if that little girl encounters countless Asians who are not good at math she still might believe the stereotype because she has heard it for most of her life. The last reason that I believe that people still fall into using stereotypes is because they are constantly being exposed to them via television, magazines, music, etc. By being exposed to so many types of media, people are basically forcing themselves to start believing in silly prejudices and stereotypes. They may even realize how silly they are, but they still believe in them because they almost do not know any better. Before they know it, they are talking to their friends about average topics and begin to discuss the latest television show that exposes a variety of stereotypes. Unfortunately, I do not think that television will change anytime soon so I believe that stereotypes will be around for a while longer. Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:15:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122383165 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cm%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121186634 soc119 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:26:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cm%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121186634