en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2437739 Comments by malumn33 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141154889 After watching the video in class and reading the article on PTSD I have found myself incredibly fearful. It seems our military is destroying itself. The military seems to have the idea that soldiers are not people, simply parts of a machine. This type of thinking must end or our entire Department of Defense will fall to pieces. It's quite obvious that the military runs on dehumanization. This forces soldiers to push their emotions away, surrender their beliefs and move away from their individuality. All of these things define parts of a person, it makes them who they are. But the military forces into their heads that they are simply soldiers. If they are simply soldiers and are taught that soldiers die and that is necessary for the survival of the military than of course life will become unsubstantial to a soldier. The prime military unit would be a group of emotionally detached men or women with a gestalt, hive mind. But this is not the nature of humans. Humans must feel to live and they must therefore be individuals. Thus forcing what they do upon these soldiers will break them. This is only the first half of the problem. The rest falls to the way in which the military plans to fix the problem. it is the one part that I found most intriguing in the article. At the end the military stated that they plan to create mental barriers to prevent suicides. This is quite obviously like putting up some flood gates. The problem still lies withing even if the most devastating possibility is moved out of the equation. The military must create barriers against depression. No person can fully combat depression on their own. They need to fully understand that they are not alone. It might also be important for them to realize that they are not alone in their situation. Like Sam taught us: the situation we are in or the experience we've had is not our own. It is never unique except in the finer details. That knowledge could teach the general that yells at his underling for being a f***ing pussy can realize that he has experienced the same thing. All in all they must create perfectly formed soldiers mentally, physically and emotionally. Emotional training is the most difficult kind, but in the end will bring the most powerful of soldiers. That should be the ultimate goal as that is as close to perfection war can ever be. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:20:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/war-vets-and-ptsd/#IDComment141154889 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139235165 Many believe that using unfair advantages or cheating creates an unfair society in which the rich can stay rich and keep the poor down with the poor. When tackling this discussion I believe the first step should be to understand cheating. Most people believe that cheating is wrong as this article and so many of these responses point out but isn't that belief just another creation of the mind. Shouldn't cheating be counted as just another skill. Some people are really fast or incredibly strong and they become powerful because of these skills. Shouldn't a person that is excellent at cheating be rewarded even if it is only through that power that they find success. Perhaps they don't even need to cheat they simply need to usurp their birthrights. It is obvious that some people are born into more opulent life styles and they use the advantages inherent in that luck to maintain said lifestyle. Therefor wouldn't it be fair for a person born to nearly nothing this world holds dear like money or status to find these things through manipulation and cheating. This is how the world works then perhaps people should just get out of their own ways, stop complaining and just cheat. Perhaps this world in which the upper class stays where it is has cause government positions to be filled with those not best suited for the job. This might also mean that if a lower class or middle class person was to cheat their way in they may make things even worse. But to be honest our government is horrible and having someone from below take power could turn the world upside down. Pretty much anyone could beat George W. Bush's time in office. It seems pretty evident that change is truly necessary. But not the kind of change President Obama was and/or is talking about. We need true change starting with the system that runs our world. But if it turns out that cheating is the only way for this to happen then some good people have to free their minds from the invisible strings that are telling them that cheating is wrong because we definitely don't want our government run by some crazy person that thinks internment camps are good. Just because one thing that is deemed a skill instead of a sin doesn't mean the same thing holds true for the ability to torture, kill and maim. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:23:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139235165 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137603971 This article is a bit frightening in my opinion. I was born and raised Catholic. But due to a variety of traumas my previous religion put me through via my mother, my peer and my high school I felt it necessary to seek out my own religion. On my search I was inspired by a variety of texts on Wicca. I felt the idea of believing that all Gods to ever have been believed in were just variations of a prime divinity that was incomprehensible was an incredibly novel idea. Therefor I adopted this faith because I could not live as an atheist or agnostic because personally, I needed something to grasp onto. This is why this article frightens me. It is in my belief that every person needs something to grasp onto. I understand that most people are inclined to follow the crowd but what will a depressed person with no family have to find hope and love in if they have no faith in a higher power. Perhaps Fight Club was right and by all means God hates us but I'd rather think that he loves me even if that makes me a fool. People may say that religion just controls a persons thoughts, manipulating them. But that is true of everything. No one action does manipulate us. I completely understand that I pursued my religion because of my love of television show such as Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I am completely fine with that. That may be the truest and most freeing thought I've ever had because I see those strings and simply don't care. I feel I am very unbiased person when it comes to this subject. My mother told me that gay people go to hell when I was but six years old. I asked her because I was wondering about myself. I can see perfectly how wrong religion can go and why people stray from their faith. But many agnostics and atheists feel perfectly comfortable denying the existence of God because they felt betrayed by God or that he must not be real for whatever reason when their is no proof either way. They don't understand that losing that part of yourself is because of your parents is just as bad as what they did to you. I don't believe you have to go to church or pray every night to be affiliated with a religion. Many times the people who do that are very much like my mother. I just hope that people keep in their hearts a desire for something more than just eventual fertilization. I'd like to think most people think more of themselves than that. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:43:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/religion-in-the-future/#IDComment137603971 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135918717 Zach Wahls is an incredible speaker. He could teach Obama a thing or two about oration (without a teleprompter). He is the best proof of his argument. Many people believe that two women could not be able to teach a boy how to be a man. But on that stand I see the perfect example of a man. He is strong, bold, brave and an incredible orator at only nineteen. Heterosexual parents clearly have their work cut out for them to become anywhere near as good of parents as Zach's lesbian mothers. In his speech, Zach Whals shows us that his family is exactly like any heterosexual-parented family. It is quite obvious that if I were raised by two men or two women I would not have had to suffer the abuse I faced as a homosexual raised by a religious fanatic that believes gay people go to hell. I feel very much that my own heterosexually run family is not truly a family. We are not bound together by love and our ability to make it through hard time. We are bound by resentment and the idea of "unconditional love." People against homosexual marriages and homosexual families are bound by the ideas of those of the majority. Throughout time heterosexuality has dominated the world. In no places has homosexuality outnumbered heterosexuality. Thus the heterosexuals are given the ability to write the laws of man and therefore tilt them heavily in their own favor. This is the way of the world. It is so much that homosexuals have been pushed into a corner for so long, fighting our way our is nearly impossible. Our society has come a long way but still uses the word "gay" to describe something that is bad or ugly. What's worse is that when one tries to correct such a mistake a person usually says "well you know what I mean." This is sending a message of inequality so large it appears homosexuals may be stuck in the dark corner we have been forced into for centuries. Homosexuality is already a hard enough thing to come to terms with when the majority of those around use are heterosexuals, we do not need the laws to burden us any more than we already are. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:58:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135918717 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128958821 It's true that governmental control can get out of hand. But when it comes to health and nutrition, if it's to promote one's well being then it can only help. Someone might get incredibly huffy if the government say put an incredibly large tax on Big Mac's. But that problem is within the mind of those people. Fast food quite obviously unhealthy. If the government made it more difficult for people to access such an unhealthy thing then that is a great thing. If the government can help make people healthier than we should thank them, not attack them for their efforts to stop a variety of illnesses. On the contrary, if the government only began with these legislations and became out of control then they must be restricted. Say the government increased taxes on meat products because there is a lower obesity rate in vegetarians. Although this might decrease obesity rates, eating meat is a part of nearly all diet's around the world. Eating meat has been a part of human beings since their inception. Now as a vegetarian I would love to see more people adopt this lifestyle I would prefer they come to this lifestyle on there own not by means of forced monetary restrictions. On another note, political backlash is far out of control. Many times it seems political parties fight against each other simply for the scandal of it. If these people simply looked at the issues and analyzed every view they might realizes they are simply fighting for the sake of fighting. Perhaps the world could be perfected if these people could look at themselves and decide to aline themselves with their opposition and make themselves better. But political parties are very much like cults. One loses themselves in the voice of incredible charismatic people and the ideas they were raised to believe. They stop thinking for themselves and enter the hive mind. The hive mind is a dangerous place. Many people become so entrapped in the thoughts of their political party they lose all reason. Like Sam said a person could look at a clear contradiction but not see it simply because their political party made it. But will be completely critical of another parties contradiction. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:08:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-government-do-we-need/#IDComment128958821 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126077520 This video just goes to show how much individuality is frowned upon in our society. People are constantly being pressured to act and be as normal as they possibly can. Most people accept this and are comfortable being normal. The problem is that normalcy is a subjective term. Ask any person what normal is and they will be initially stumped, have a difficult time trying to articulate what they mean and eventually stumble upon the most bland television character the world has ever seen. But without individuation the world be much more similar to the dystopian world described in the novel "The Giver." The world would be just as black and white as the one in this video. This idea would be even more ever-present if other factors were brought in. Say if the test subject was more of a rebel, a person who would love to be put in that situation normally. Perhaps they would conform if say the people looked like them or if they were incredibly attractive. Such factors are critical in our youth and beauty obsessed culture. This video is very telling. It may explain the reason many people are homophobic. A rebellious person may be manipulated like this man was even though they enjoy rejecting social norms. Many people who are friends of gay people and say that they love them or "don't care" they are gay would say that they think it's gross when they see two men or two girls kissing. This is incredibly hypocritical and most of these people would reject the idea that they were being contradictory. Such as the demonstration Sam showed in his soc 001 in class. Many people will lie to themselves about such major things. As a gay person I find this incredibly difficult to deal with. Many of my friends would be tell me such a contradictory thing and think it was okay. But they would also feel completely comfortable kissing their opposite sex partner in front of me. How can such hypocrisy be dealt with. Society must change. Acceptance is not enough. To say you accept homosexuality is to say that there is something wrong with it in the first place. Anyone who says they accept society, social norms, the way our world works is an impossible person. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 05:00:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/30/conformity-rules-the-day/#IDComment126077520 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124458767 In the world today teen pregnancy has become something of a phenomenon. To say that teen pregnancy is an "issue" is akin to saying homosexuality is wrong especially in adolescents. Teen pregnancy is simply labeled a problem because societies gestalt beliefs manipulate people into calling a pregnancy wrong if your a teenager. In the past women were expected to have children in their teenage years. But these pregnant students would be attached to our societies current view of teen pregnancy. Therefore some phenomenon must be underway. As many know television heavily influences all of us. It creates thousands of "invisible strings" including what to wear, how to act and even how to think. In popular culture, a variety of television shows display teen pregnancies. This maybe normalizing teen pregnancy. Young girls have role models like Amy Juergens from "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and Quinn Fabray of "Glee." Both characters are beautiful, intelligent, talented young women any girl would look up to. With such characters populating television, is it any wonder there has been a noticeable increase in teen pregnancies. Perhaps these heavily publicized pregnancies are paving the way for a new age where teen pregnancies are once again normal. This is the true sex education in todays world. Television is a heavy hitter when it comes to manipulation. In nearly all televisions with a demographic encompassing teenagers shows involve sex. Sex is rarely looked down upon and is usually portrayed in a way separated from love. In popular culture sex is usually separated from love and usually comes mostly out of lust. Such sex promotes loveless sex for mostly those under eighteen. These teenagers are bombarded with sexual content. With the surge of hormones coursing through their bodies, they become slaves to the rhythm. Also, schools accept that their students will be having sex and give them all the necessary knowledge of sex. Rarely do informative classes promote abstinence, they simply teach about how to have sex safely. Thus teenagers experiencing the emotions of youth and newly adult bodies are nearly incapable of controlling themselves. On the bright side, it seems abortion is on its way out of style. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:39:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/23/how-free-are-these-90-students/#IDComment124458767 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cg%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123808830 SOC 001 Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:51:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cg%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123808830 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment122902224 "The Suicide Forest" has become a paradise for the lone and desperate. The sociological world in Japan has created a mist that clouds the minds of people. They are lost, forced to believe that their life is their occupation. Without there job, these people have an extreme identity crisis. Their world tells them that they are worthless without a job that is meaningless to the powers that be. The social pressures these people face is incredible. In the end the feelings these people face could be healed if they could see beyond their perspective. They must learn to see that their job was holding them back. That job defined everything wrong in their life. Without their job they are free from the largest wall they had ever encountered. They must also realize that killing themselves is not the answer to the problem. The world controls these people, urging them to kill themselves. We all face it. Every single person will be told at one point or another that death is the better option. This is because we are all destined to fail every once in a while and some of these will be major failures according to social norms. A Japanese person killing themselves because they lost their job is akin to a person killing themselves because they are a teenage loner. Perhaps a thirty year old business man would see that as silly. He may not understand the social pressures or demands of being a teenager in high school, in america. That teenager must walk alone everyday because he lacks the qualities American society deems appropriate for a high school student. But this student may not be in control of these aspects he apparently lacks. Perhaps he is "ugly," "over-weight" or gay. In many high schools these characteristics could make him an outcast. These characteristics are parallel to being unemployed in Japan. So these people must embrace the freedom they acquire from their social standings. The further one is from the social norms that surround them, the more free they are. In the simplest of terms, these business men must stop feeling unemployed and deem themselves “men of leisure.” Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:37:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/suicide-in-japan/#IDComment122902224