en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2395776 Comments by gracie_wallace http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144608233 I also thought it was interesting to see where civilizations were appearing as time went on. In the beginning of the video, almost all the explosions were in Europe. As time passed you could see random explosions in the Middle East, eastern Asia, and even the Americas. It gave a good sense of the time period that different empires emerged. Something I found quite disturbing however is the lack of explosions in America. When the time periods of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War came around, I was expecting huge explosions in the United States. However, these explosions were very small in comparison to huge explosions over Europe during the time of World War I and World War II. Also, after talking in class about how the American military accounts for nearly half of the world’s military spending, it is hard to believe how little combat has taken place on American soil. I guess I always knew that we haven’t fought wars here in many years, but putting it in this perspective was a very interesting realization. (sent in two comments) Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:11:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144608233 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144608170 I think this video is a very interesting way of illustrating the history of wars around the world. It gave me a better insight on this part of history. Of course we all know that wars have occurred around the world for a very very long time. However, I never really knew how this was distributed over time. I found it quite interesting and rather depressing that there really hasn’t been any significant amount of time in history where there wasn’t some sort of conflict somewhere around the world. I think it’s sad that the somehow people always find something to fight and kill each other over. As time went on in this video, it was obvious that the battles got more frequent and more deadly. I thought it was a nice touch that the more deadly the battle, the larger the explosion. It was very evident that the explosions got more deadly as time went on. But I guess you could say this makes sense because more people lived on the planet as time progressed. (sent in two comments) Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:11:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/18/war-through-the-ages/#IDComment144608170 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142346993 I think that this plays into this article because the question is asked, “What is a man?” I think that intersexes make this question much more difficult to answer that it is if we limit ourselves to the concept of only two sexes. But is it necessary to punish and discriminate against these transgenders and or intersexes just because of their lifestyle. And in the case of the intersexes, this lifestyle isn’t really much of a choice. I think this argument has a lot of the same supporters as the gay rights controversy that is still very much being debated. I think that the same type of people oppose transgender rights as oppose gay rights as well. But this isn’t too hard to assume because of the nature of these lifestyles. So the question is, are any of these discriminations actually ligament? In my opinion, no it is not. But I guess that is the question that everyone has and no one can answer. I guess only time will tell us that. (sent in two comments) Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:47:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142346993 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142346829 This article reminds me of a reading from the Intersections book, The Five Sexes: Why male and female are not enough. Basically the same general finding in that article holds true for this article. People do not accept people that claim to be something other than the two traditional sexes. I think that the acceptance of transgender people has improved greatly in recent years but obviously it has a long way to go. This article shows that well. He talks about how everyone who has known him has always thought of him as a male. By this it is obvious that some people are warming up to this idea. But because of discrimination at his job, we can see that there is still some hostility to this idea of an alternate lifestyle. What wasn’t really mentioned in this article but was in the book reading was the term intersex. Intersexes are people that are not completely male or female. They are a mix of the two. And obviously many people in today’s society are not exactly accepting of this. (sent in two comments) Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:46:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142346829 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment140055367 Even when exposed to the other side, I still think that the rich deserve to be rich. But I think that policy makers and politicians should be more unbiased when it comes to making tax cuts and things like that. However, we don’t live in that kind of a world. I don’t think that the wealthy should be punished for being wealthy by being forced to pay extremely high taxes. However, I don’t think they should be rewarded by being given tax breaks. I think that everyone should pay the same percentage of taxes regardless of their income. That’s what seems fair to me. don’t think that the more money you have means the more percentage of your money you have to give up. However, I don’t think that tax cuts for the rich means not tax cuts for the poor. That doesn’t seem fair now does it? I guess what bothers me the most about what I’ve learned from this is how much the upper class income has escalated in recent years compared to how much lower class income has plateaued. Tue, 5 Apr 2011 02:51:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment140055367 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment140055322 I guess I’ve always had the impression that you get what you deserve. The wealthy deserve to be wealthy has always been my opinion. They work hard and they get rewarded. However, I don’t think I have been adequately exposed to both sides. The fact that the people that control the wealth make all the decisions causes come controversy in the motives of some people. But as we talked about in class, of course you are going to do what benefits you. It’s just human nature. So how do we deal with this inequality? Well I agree with Sam when he says that we are never going to get rid of it. That would be impossible. I guess the question is, how important is it to close the gap between the rich and the poor? I think how you answer this question depends on where you fall in society. Of course the rich think everything is fine. In the meantime, the poor insist something has to be done. Obviously, there needs to be some middle ground. (sent in two comments) Tue, 5 Apr 2011 02:50:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment140055322 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/managing-crowds/#IDComment138678249 When it comes to trying to organize large groups of people to do one thing, I feel like everyone is inclined to look out for themselves and their own best interests. And can you really blame people? When it comes to evacuating hundreds of thousands of people out of a town because of a natural disaster, aren’t we most concerned that we can get out safely? I don’t think that people should be blamed for this however. It’s just natural to look out for your own safety. This becomes a problem however when it comes to these large scale evacuations running smoothly. Because everyone looks out for only themselves, they may not think about the best way to go about it. As mentioned in the article, the evacuations for Hurricane Rita resulted in huge traffic jams of people trying to get to safety. I think this is caused because people rush to get out to save themselves and it might run more smoothly if some people considered the needs of others. (sent in two comments) Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:54:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/managing-crowds/#IDComment138678249 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/managing-crowds/#IDComment138678181 I think that it is very difficult to get large groups of people organized for a specific cause. I think this has to do with the fact that people have different interests. Let’s consider the proposed budget cut. Sure there are many people that would be negatively affected by it. But there are also many students that will continue to go here whether the tuition rises substantially or not. Some student’s parents are paying for their education and have no problem affording it. And others are on scholarship, so regardless the cost of tuition they are taken care of. But even with the large number of people that would suffer from this, I think that some people rely on others to make a difference. I believe there are many students that would be devastated by the tuition hike that are waiting for all the other students to go out there and do something about it. But what happens when everyone has this mentality? Nothing gets done. I think this becomes a problem with many issues involving large groups of people. (sent in two comments) Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:54:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/23/managing-crowds/#IDComment138678181 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment136870371 But I feel like these fears hold a whole new meaning for this man who will spend the rest of his life in prison. And I think we can all see this if we look at some of the other fears he expresses. He mentions fears such as; facing the reality of his situation; not having enough time to spend with his family, and never having a normal life. Can you imagine what it would be like to fear these things? Can you imagine what it would be like to know that in forty years you will be in the exact same place that you are today? Even though it is obvious that most of these lifers deserve the situation they are in, it is hard not to feel for all of these fears that these people face. We talked in class about how almost all of these lifers feel like they should not be let out of prison. However, through these blogs it is obvious to see that many of them have learned their lesson. So I guess we can say that these “correctional farcicalities” are in fact doing their job. Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:27:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment136870371 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment136870313 I think that reading these blogs about lifers really gives me a different perspective. It is so interesting to see how these people think. I think we all realize that getting sentenced to life in prison will change how you feel about things, but I don’t think that any of us that aren’t going through that can really understand what its like. And really, I don’t think many people think much about it or even care about it. I know that for the most part I just accept these people as criminals now and assume that they will continue on with that demeanor even if they spend life in prison. But by reading these blogs you can clearly see that this is not always the case. It seems to me that people spending life in prison really causes a person to reflect on what they have, and what they now don’t have because of their predicament. Some of the fears that this inmate expresses seem to be things that most of us fear. Like turning out to be someone we don’t want to be, being lonely, or not succeeding. (sent in two comments) Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:27:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/fear/#IDComment136870313 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135196923 Also, they may argue that the homosexual lifestyle does not promote the replacement of generations. And if everyone were gay, there would be no replacement of generations. However, a rebuttal to this could be simply the fact that more and more gay couples are finding ways to raise children and therefore they are “replacing generations”. And I think it is safe to say that no gay couple hopes that one day all people will be gay. I think the mentality of homosexuals is that everyone should simply be allowed to be with the one they love, regardless of their gender. With the issue of the family, I think that gays just want the rights that straight people have when it comes to raising a family. I think that issues like this in our society all take time to be worked out. But I think it is obvious that there are more supporters of gay rights than there were thirty years ago. Just like there are more supporters of racial equality than there were 100 years ago. I think it is impossible to say that one day everyone will support gay families but I think that as time goes on, more and more people will be open to the idea. (sent in two comments) Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:54:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135196923 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135196836 When we talked about this issue in class, I think it was clear that if you put your opinions about homosexuality aside you can see that a gay couple can provide the functions of a family just as well as a straight couple. Some of the functions of a family that we talked about in class were; socialization of the young, status and wealth transmission, teaching morals, providing shelter, and replacing generations. If you think outside your opinion it is clear that a gay couple can provide all of this. Obviously, the people that believe that this is not true are those who do not believe in gay rights. So what would be a non-gay rights supporter’s argument against this way of life? Well, if you don’t believe in gay rights you would not agree with the moral codes that gay parents would teach their children. They may argue that gay parents would influence their children to be gay themselves. Although this has been shown to not be true in most cases as most gay parents would prefer their children to grow up to be straight. (sent in two comments) Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:54:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135196836 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment133387067 But let’s consider the trouble we might get our children into by having them not talk to strangers. If your child gets lost on the street and doesn’t know how to get home, chances are most adults around them will help them get home. But they aren’t allowed to talk to strangers. So the child is forced to find his own way home. And what are the chances of him finding that way? Well I guess it depends on how old the child is and how far away from home he is lost. However, if he were to just ask an adult that he didn’t know on the street he would have a much better chance of getting home. But how do we decide what is ok and what isn’t? Should we tell our kids to not talk to suspicious strangers? That wouldn’t work very well. Should we allow them to talk to strangers because of the odds? If we are looking out for the safety of our children then letting them ask strangers for help is probably the best way of doing so. But the fact is, parents aren’t willing to risk their child being kidnapped by the one percent of untrustworthy strangers out there. (sent in two comments) Tue, 8 Mar 2011 16:47:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment133387067 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment133386981 When it comes to protecting your children, I don’t think maybe people are thinking about the 99 percent of strangers that will help their child. They are most likely thinking about that one percent that would possibly do harm to them. Even though the odds are very slim, I think parents always have that “better safe than sorry” attitude. And if you think about it, can you blame them? How would a parent feel if they told their children that most strangers will help you if you are in trouble and something bad happened to them? I think it is safe to say that most parents aren’t willing to take that chance. Besides the fact that all parents want to keep their kids safe, how would other parents judge you if you told your kids to talk to strangers? Everyone wants to be regarded as a good parent. I don’t think that any parent would risk this status just because, odds are strangers are not going to hurt your child. (sent in two comments) Tue, 8 Mar 2011 16:46:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/stranger-kidnapping/#IDComment133386981 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130409063 Of course people from similar backgrounds fall in love with each other, they have similarities. Some people say that opposites attract but I really feel like you have to have a lot in common with a person to have a successful relationship, even just friendships. I feel like these sociological trends just show that opposites not really attract one another. On another note, I’m sure that there are some people in the world that feel as if they have found the “one”. They may be madly in love and feel like there isn’t another soul on earth they would ever want to be with. How do we argue with them that they couldn’t have possibly found that perfect person? To explain this issue maybe we just need to accept that “soul-mates” do not exist. However, it is possible to feel perfectly happy and in love with an individual even if you both weren’t put on this earth for the sole purpose of finding each other. Also, this explanation would help the people that feel like they haven’t found “the one” feel better about themselves because “the one” doesn’t really exist. (sent in two comments) Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:37:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130409063 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130408983 I think this song gives us all the harsh reality that we don’t want to believe. Everyone has the dream that they will someday find their “soul-mate”. We are socialized to believe that there is one person out in the world that is especially made to end up with us. But if you think about this idea rationally you realize how incredibly unlikely it is that everyone can find their perfect match. With the billions of people that live in the world how do we expect to find that perfect one? It seems virtually impossible when you actually think about it. In this video, Tim Minchin basically gives off the impression that he feels that one person can satisfy someone just as much as anyone else. Although this may be proven to be somewhat sociological y true, I feel as if this isn’t always the case. We talked in class about how there are trends in the type of people that end up together, that people of similar age, race, or religion are most likely to form relationships. However, I don’t feel like this takes away from the phenomena of “love”. (sent in two comments) Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:37:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/13/whats-the-sociological-message-here/#IDComment130408983 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128645082 It is interesting, and almost sad, to realize that in this culture a women almost needs multiple husbands to make a good living for herself and her family. Because we live in a culture where that is never necessary for survival, of course we have opposing views to in. I also never realized that it could be a method of population control, which is also a big problem for communities in this area of the world. I almost feel lucky that I do not have to worry about things like this so I can have a so called “normal” marriage at some point in my life. However, if I lived in this part of the world, polyandry would be “normal”. Or if I was part of a religion that supported polygamy, that would be “normal”. So basically what you realize from this is that we are largely influenced by our society on our views of everything. We feel that the way our culture does things is the best way. But sometimes we need to open our eyes and see what else is out there. (sent in two parts) Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:17:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128645082 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128644978 I think I had the same reaction as most Americans, or anyone with monogamous marriage views would have. It really is a “culture shock”. I think especially as Americans we are somewhat sheltered to other many other culture’s customs. I have heard of polygamy. But before I read this article and watched this video I had no idea that polyandry existed. It seems very strange to me, but that’s only because I have never been exposed to such a thing. I feel like an example like this really shows us how our views and outlooks on life are inevitably affected by the society we live in. The people in this culture see polyandry as a way of life. And after watching this video I realized that the reason behind living life this way is mostly because it’s the way they need to do things to survive. Its seems to me that people that have opposing views to polyandry and polygamy, including myself, automatically look down on people that live their life this way and feel like it is the wrong way to do things. But after seeing the reasons behind it I think we can all better understand and become more accepting. (sent in two parts) Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:17:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/15/social-structure-shapes-free-will/#IDComment128644978 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127179907 However, it is obvious that some Americans do not buy into this “I can experience all of the things I want to see right here in America” mentality. This is obvious because there are many Americans that love to travel the world, maybe just not a large percentage. I would categorize myself in this category. But I feel that there are sociological reasons that I put myself here. We have talked about how almost all of our choices are influenced by forces outside of our control. And the fact that I love to travel to places beyond the United States is a result of one of these forces. It comes from the influence of my family. All of my family loves to travel and they have instilled that into me my entire life. And really, I didn’t really have much choice in the matter. It is just the way things ended up because of what I was exposed to. Just like the many Americans who are exposed to this mentality of American superiority and security that causes us not to want to leave our country. (sent in two parts) Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:08:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127179907 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127179857 I agree with what is said in the intro to this article. This idea is not particularly off the wall but it isn't really something a lot of people realize. But I think it makes complete sense. As Americans there are some structures formed by society that we can't very well escape being influenced by. After all, we are taught in an American setting and American values are instilled in us. However, this is true in any other country. But what I think makes us less apt to travel as Americans is because of the pride and loyalty that we are instilled to feel for our country. We are taught about how great America is. So why would we ever want to leave it? I agree that it is very true that Americans to not think this is a reason why more American people don’t travel the world. But when you actually think about it, you realize that it is completely true. And I guess that that’s what sociology is about in the first place, forces that you don’t realize control you. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:08:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/04/the-not-so-invisible-structure-that-shapes-us/#IDComment127179857