en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2389828 Comments by lordseth23 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139228930 The only motivation behind ever acquiring money unethically is the prospect of providing happiness to one’s life, but do the people that engage in this process actually acquire this happiness? According to the recently acquired data, there is strong evidence to suggest they are not. Because the graphs indicate that the rich keep getting richer, it is obvious that most of the extremely wealthy people in the country are primarily focused on getting wealthier in any way they possibly can. Because of this, they are obviously not satisfied with living in extremely comfortable circumstances, so it is clear that they have not found true happiness in life yet, and are continuously in pursuit of more money in hope of finding it. Eventually, as technology is rapidly increasing the life span of people, there will be one generation of wealthy people that will realize what makes them happy in life and will not feel the urge to keep getting richer. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:46:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139228930 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139228793 It is true that there will always be people who will take an unethical approach into getting money, but I do not think that it will be a huge problem in the future. The reason for anybody to ever acquire money illegally is of course the thought that it will bring greater happiness into their lives by being able to satisfy all of their material desires. People who do this probably feel compelled to do it, and are unable to see any other way to live their life than to live it with avarice. They feel more compelled than other people would to acquire large sums of money in any way possible. When they are successful in doing this, they are bound to feel that they are worth more now as people than they ever were before in their lives, and are sure to bask in the glory of the good life that they now find themselves in. The problem with this way of acquiring money is that these people were so wrapped up in the process of getting it that they probably do not know how to spend it in order to make them truly happy. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:46:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139228793 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137595955 Looking back through history, I believe that it is fairly obvious that there are more atheists and casual religious people than ever before. Changing political and social structure had much to do with it, but there is no reason to think that the trend will cease here. People are becoming less fearful of the creator because they are becoming less fearful in general, as they know more about natural phenomena than ever before due to scientific research. And as more and more research is being done, there will be more knowledge known about the things that were unexplainable at some point in history. This type of learning will continue on in the future, so it is only natural to think that religion will decrease along with it. As people become more knowledgeable, they become less afraid, thus leading to a decrease in religion. As more and more people become less religious, it will lead people that are more religious to rethink their beliefs once they see a vast quantity of people that do not rely on religion to survive. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:48:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137595955 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137595916 There is some definite truth in these predictions. As the world becomes more and more educated, more and more people are going to be able to think for themselves rather than accept the beliefs that they shared as a child with their parents into their adult lives. With more educated people, there is more critical thinking being done about whether or not religion is right for them or how much time they should devote to it. In a world that expanding its technological limits every day, there is simply more things that people can devote their attention to, and spend less of their time focusing on the unanswerable questions that would lead them to religion in the first place. I think that science also plays a major role in this too, because more and more questions about the natural world are being answered through it. As people become more and more educated about their surroundings, they are less likely to dismiss the unexplainable as the creator’s will. This emphasis on technology and science will undoubtedly make religion less prevalent in the future. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:47:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137595916 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135952632 If there should ever come a time when the judicial system wasn’t corrupt and every individual case could be evaluated in a rational manner to determine who would be guilty and innocent, then there is still the matter of locking up people for life that remains absurd. I think that, if not now then in the near future, there will be a way of evaluating prisoners to determine if they can reenter society or not. The idea of a life sentence is a rather ridiculous idea in general, because people tend to get weaker and weaker as far as health is concerned as they age, so it can be assumed that a old lifer who is just like any other old person who is too weak to walk would not be physically able to commit a crime if let out. A person that has been in prison for 40+ years and would commit a similar crime if they were released would have obvious mental issues and should be in an insane asylum and not a prison. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:31:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135952632 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135952586 This article has plenty of valid arguments for showing how wrong this is. Like we talked about in class, I believe the source of the problem all relates back to the unnecessary fear of the typical person living in Pennsylvania. I think that because the majority of people in Pennsylvania feel that they live in safe communities, they are more likely to be paranoid when it comes to viewing criminal activity here, which in turn leads to the prosecution of more juvenile lifers than anywhere in the world. Growing up here, I know a lot of people that would take a very conservative viewpoint when it comes to viewing crime and various court cases. They would just want people locked up if they were accused of a crime, like a guilty until proven innocent type of mindset, only there would never be a chance to prove they were innocent. I think this is the reason why there are so many lifers in the US in general, because this seems to be the common American thought process. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:30:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/14/kids-getting-life-how-is-this-serving-us-really/#IDComment135952586 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130737605 I think the video does a good job of pointing out the fact that many people do not have a lot of interest in the subject matter they are taught in school, which leads to a lifelong disregard for learning. Hopefully there will be some new technological breakthrough to completely revolutionize learning, because it is not going in a good direction as the video suggested. It is so standardized now that the idea of a perfect student is not the one that is able to think of many questions and collaborate with other people, but one that can remember the information in the classroom the best for an exam. Having a 4.0 GPA is all well and good when it comes to looking for a job in today’s economy, but in the future it will not be as promising as you would like it to be. Every day we see stuff from science fiction become a reality, so it is safe to assume that one day there will be Artificial Intelligence that will make the “perfect student” of today obsolete. When artificial intelligence reaches a point where it can process and retain information much better than any human mind could, it will completely eliminate the need for any of the material that is taught in education today. What would be the jobs of specialists today will be run by computers, so where will all the jobs be for people? It will probably reach a point where a lot of the work we do today will be done automatically for us, and if this was so then there would be no need for an economy anymore, because all anyone would be responsible for is maintaining the robotic entities that would take care of everything else for them. With no regular occupations, people will be more free than ever before, but the price of this will be a need for better communication skills and a more cohesive society since human interaction, in whatever form that may be, will also be greater than ever before. This is the course that education needs to be headed on in order for a prosperous future. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:21:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130737605 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130735608 I think the video does a good job of pointing out the fact that many people do not have a lot of interest in the subject matter they are taught in school, which leads to a lifelong disregard for learning. Hopefully there will be some new technological breakthrough to completely revolutionize learning, because it is not going in a good direction as the video suggested. It is so standardized now that the idea of a perfect student is not the one that is able to think of many questions and collaborate with other people, but one that can remember the information in the classroom the best for an exam. Having a 4.0 GPA is all well and good when it comes to looking for a job in today’s economy, but in the future it will not be as promising as you would like it to be. Every day we see stuff from science fiction become a reality, so it is safe to assume that one day there will be Artificial Intelligence that will make the “perfect student” of today obsolete. When artificial intelligence reaches a point where it can process and retain information much better than any human mind could, it will completely eliminate the need for any of the material that is taught in education today. What would be the jobs of specialists today will be run by computers, so where will all the jobs be for people? It will probably reach a point where a lot of the work we do today will be done automatically for us, and if this was so then there would be no need for an economy anymore, because all anyone would be responsible for is maintaining the robotic entities that would take care of everything else for them. With no regular occupations, people will be more free than ever before, but the price of this will be a need for better communication skills and a more cohesive society since human interaction, in whatever form that may be, will also be greater than ever before. This is the course that education needs to be headed on in order for a prosperous future. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:06:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130735608 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130734548 When artificial intelligence reaches a point where it can process and retain information much better than any human mind could, it will completely eliminate the need for any of the material that is taught in education today. What would be the jobs of specialists today will be run by computers, so where will all the jobs be for people? It will probably reach a point where a lot of the work we do today will be done automatically for us, and if this was so then there would be no need for an economy anymore, because all anyone would be responsible for is maintaining the robotic entities that would take care of everything else for them. With no regular occupations, people will be more free than ever before, but the price of this will be a need for better communication skills and a more cohesive society since human interaction, in whatever form that may be, will also be greater than ever before. This is the course that education needs to be headed on in order for a prosperous future. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:59:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/21/rethinking-education/#IDComment130734548 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128962168 This entire issue is very much a fear issue more than anything else. When people hear the word “government”, they are inclined to think of intervention into their lives, thus the governing body of this nation will forever be cursed by the negative ideas that people associate with it. As people become flooded constantly with more and more information about the happenings in the social and political realms, there is going to be an increase in this type of paranoia because people are going to eventually see the people in high positions of government for who they really are, normal people that are prone to mistakes just like they are. Until this happens, however, people will continue to expect that the president, or anyone else in political office for that matter, will be a sort of supernatural figure that will be able to accommodate everyone’s wants and needs. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:20:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128962168 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128962033 I find it quite amusing with people that make these sorts of claims about the government and how it needs to stay out of their lives. They are up in arms about all these governmental decisions that supposedly control their lives and say that they want to make freer choices when it comes to these types of things. I think it would do them much good to look at these situations in a sociological perspective and see how free they really are and if their solutions to their current stance on the issue are really the right choice that benefits them in the long run. What makes them think that the president, or this case his wife, are not doing it out of the best interest for them in the grand scheme of things? I do not think they took the time to consider that maybe, just maybe, they are more knowledgeable on the subject than they are. The government is trying its best to solve all the problems of the nation, including the obesity issue, so if there is a possible way to eliminate the problem, than they should be able to recommend a possible solution and not have to put up with the complaints of political know-it-alls. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:20:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128962033 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127440330 After viewing the video, I think another valid explanation for this is that people generally tend to disassociate themselves from people in other groups and think that they do not have a mindset that suits their best interest, in this case it would be complaints made against governments. If there was more empathy in our society today, than the people who insist on complaining about certain issues where blame is put on someone else to think about the situation from this certain blamed persons perspective and realize that they are not doing it in spite of them but are actually acting on their most reasonable judgment that they believe is in the best interests of all. We would be able to respect every decision that President Obama makes because we would be able to see that all the of those disputed decisions that he makes are going to affect some people negatively no matter which choice he decides on in the given circumstances. If people were more accepting of others in the other political party, then politics would be that much better. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:41:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127440330 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127440293 This video brings up good points about how we are naturally inclined to think of ourselves as being a part of groups that divide the human race. These groups that separate us, whether it is religion, nationalism, or the like, are the basis for a lot of the social issues that occur in the world today. We are naturally inclined to see others that are outside of the groups that we are in differently than those that are with us in the group. A lot of the feelings that are expressed towards these people that are different from us are negative, as can be seen by all of the different kinds of prejudices that continue to exist in this global society of ours that continues to increase its intellectual foundations. People continue to blame those that are in greater political power than they are for the national and global problems, and it could be categorized as human nature to not take such responsibility. But is this really a proper explanation for it? Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:41:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/06/empathy-might-be-our-natural-drive/#IDComment127440293 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126034397 There is no question that decisions to conform to the group like the ones we see here are made very rapidly and leave very little room for thinking out the situation in a clear and logical. Yet, it is probably a characteristic that can be improved upon if there is significant effort made towards it. By not worrying so much about what other people might say or think about one’s self, then that opens up the door towards becoming more of an individual that is not so easily afraid of the burden that is social conformity. It is in these individualistic efforts that light is shed on this concept of why people feel the urge to conform to a particular group that they may be in. Everyone can improve on their ability to understand what drives society into a particular course of action, and once significant knowledge is obtained on this subject it becomes much more easier to think about different social situations in terms of what the actual consequences of each particular action in these situations could produce, and not just the obvious ones. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:36:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126034397 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126034359 What occurs in the video is definitely an interesting psychological phenomenon that begs the question of why we feel the need to conform to a particular group that we are a part of. Without even thinking about it, we try to be like everybody else in these types of situations because we cannot comprehend the situation to the best of our abilities and therefore are not able to think for ourselves in these cases. In these situations, since we are dealing with factors and forces unknown to us, it is fair to say that the one emotion that could accurately describe these behaviors would be fear. This of course would be on a much smaller scale than what is generally thought of as a fear of a severe consequence, but nonetheless it is rightly categorized as such because it is something where we are unable to act upon in a reasonable manner. This type of fear can generally be avoided if one is able to restrain some of the self-conscious motives that are prevalent in society today. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:36:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126034359 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124439101 There would be many complaints against this type of law, but the fact of the matter is that only a few of them would be coming from people who are trustworthy enough to actually have them in the first place. These would be the people who actually use handguns for the sake of sport, and while it might be bad for them, the law would probably save many lives by keeping these guns out of the hands of criminals and the other people who just want handguns just to have them. It would definitely eliminate a policeman’s need for having to arrest a five year old child for possession of a firearm in a pre-kindergarten classroom, at any rate. I guess since he is a “suspect”, we should interrogate the boy and if he says anything remotely close to gun, we should send him to juvenile detention for being a threat to an entire pre-kindergarten class, while the whole stepfather leaving a gun accessible to the child is still under investigation. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:17:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124439101 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124439067 It is absolutely ridiculous to even think of this five year old child as “initially a suspect”, according to Mr. Assistant Police Chief James Griffith. I would like to know if this high and mighty assistant police chief can actually think of a way in which a five year old child would be motivated to resort to this kind of violence at such a young age. Even so, the whole hand gun thing is way out of control in this country, and there should be stricter laws in place for obtaining them. Their only ethical use is for the leisurely activity of shooting at designated ranges and, in rare cases, hunting. But since we live in a society where people who engage in those activities are undoubtedly a minority to less trustable people owning handguns, it is time that laws are put in place that limit the area in which a handgun can be. If handguns were kept in safes at these shooting ranges, then we would not have idiotic people leaving them in their cars for children to pick up and handle. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:16:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124439067 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122817518 If they joined it right out of high school with no reason other than as a job, then they might still be left with questions as to what their purpose in life is if it did not go as they planned. They would still feel lost in society because they never really thought about who they truly were inside and how to lead a life into the future that would nourish these thoughts and feelings about themselves. The direct result of this would be either drugs to lessen the psychological pain or to end their life completely as was stated in the video. These supposed preexisting conditions could go a long way in determining what is causing this catastrophic rise in these suicide rates. The other forces that may play a part in this could be located in the National Guard itself, and it is nice to hear that the department is taking more steps to solve this problem. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:10:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122817518 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122817470 I believe that the rise of suicides in the National Guard and Reserve is the direct result of social factors that are taking their toll on these service members in such a way that may reveal what kind of people they really are. If they see no point in living after they come back from overseas, then they may have enrolled in the first place just to have some sort of purpose in life that they were unable to see before. They may not have known what career direction to take and decided that the National Guard was the easiest way to make a living. They could have also wanted to do this their whole life, and if it wasn’t what they expected then it could easily lead to them feeling depressed, and furthermore a sort of letdown that makes it difficult to really explore who they truly are and where to go from there. If they had a dreadful experience in the National Guard then it is easy to see how their mindset might change to feeling lost and rejected in a world that did not stop from the time that they left it. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:10:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/19/rise-in-national-guard-and-reserve-suicides-whats-it-all-about-soc-001-blog/#IDComment122817470 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-z-intense-debate/#IDComment120580565 Soc 001 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:12:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-z-intense-debate/#IDComment120580565