en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2409796 Comments by paddlerslife http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-respond-similarly-to-basum-when-learning-about-the-ratio-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment145282762 I honestly don’t know how I would react, but I feel like my reaction would be similar to Basum’s. I know that I would be frustrated, terrified, demoralized and a bit angry. The Idea that another country can indiscriminately fire on targets and kill 29 innocent civilians, I’m sure they did surveys to find the best number. Enough people, to make sure it’s easier to kill targets. Yet it can’t raise the eyebrows of American voters. We have the power to stop the war but not enough people are pissed off. Basum amazed me in his reaction. The fact that he could calmly say that we (as Americans) don’t value his life, was astounding. I understand that expressing a lot of anger in that situation would taint the experience. I believe that in that given situation I would feel very remorseful and slightly helpless. It’s crazy to think that we truly value resources over human life. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 03:25:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-respond-similarly-to-basum-when-learning-about-the-ratio-why-or-why-not-119-blog/#IDComment145282762 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139193710 The “Needy Penis” lecture blew my mind. At first, I was uncomfortable because it’s a topic we as a culture never talk about. We see things in the media, even tough we realize the absurdity, we still strive to emulate what we see. It has gotten to the point that people start to “obey” with out question causing them to think in a way that either contradicts themselves or degrade others. We are so invested in our lives and yet we don’t really know our own bodies. How are we supposed to empathies and level with another person when we focus on when we can’t understand ourselves. During the lecture I heard many surprising things about both sexes. Sam and his wife definitely taught me some new things and reaffirmed some of my stances on the subject. All in all I found the talk about the male gender enlightening because it covered things I do with out a second thought. I found it humbling to really take a look at all the points I have never considered. One example in particular was the idea of hooking up from a male’s perspective vs. a female’s perspective. Males have this idea that it’s going quick and easy. Go to a party chat and dance with a girl that you just met and an hour later your doing the romp in the dude’s place. Where as the females are looking for something a bit deeper than what most guys are willing to offer. The previous version of hooking up is in a countless number of movies about college. It plants the idea, if you’re a male, your not living up to your potential if your not having one night stands. Another point that I thought was interesting, was that males get aroused much faster than women. I wish some one would have told me that years ago. Over all I thought the lecture was well thought out and it was executed perfectly. I was laughing and contemplating my place in the gender differences at the same time. The stories were what made the whole lecture. Sam has some big cohunes to sand up in front of 700 people and tell very intimate stories about himself and his wife. It shows that he is willing to go the extra mile to make sure he approaches the subject as it should be. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 20:43:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment139193710 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134362413 In today’s world there are approximately 140 million babies born every year. That number would not be too significant considering that there are nearly 7 billion people in the world today. The main issue is that the death rate is around 80 million people annually. That means that there is an annual increase of 60 million people. The question then becomes, how can we offer these new humans the best possible life? In 2005, the estimate of people living below the world poverty line was around 1.5 billion. One year after the recession began; private capitol going to impoverished countries will fell from $1 trillion dollars to $165 billion. Attributing to the 65 million people that fell below the $2 a day poverty line in 2009 (article 19 from the text) Fast forward to 2011, after three years of major economic decline the number of people under the poverty line has exploded. With less foreign aid flowing to these countries millions of people per year are becoming malnourished. How do we expect to feed the 60 million/year newcomers if we can’t feed ourselves? There are several countries that have begun to address this problem with campaigns limiting the number of children per family to one. Currently, china is the only country that has implemented laws stating that coupled that meet certain requirements are only allowed to have one child. In India, there is a strong movement created by the government that encourages couples to only have one child. These campaigns were created because of concerns of overpopulation and the overtaxing of natural resources. By only having one child a couple ensures that after two generations their decedents’ impact on the world will be extremely reduced. Western countries are not ready to embrace these practices. As a population, we see nothing wrong with having a large family even though it creates a lasting impact for generations to come. We are so absorbed about having the right to do whatever we please regardless of the environmental and world impact. We put such an emphasis on having a family with several kids, that each of our kids will more than likely have a family with several kids so on and so forth. Creating a chain reaction that accounts for the population growth that the world sees today. I seriously hope that we can recognize this trend and create social standards to help curb the population growth before it is too late. There are many ways to have families without bringing more and more people into this world. For example, instead of going through artificial insemination adopt a child that needs a home. Raising an adopted child is less painful for the mother, in the short run, and it is equally as rewarding. Without some form of social movement this uncontrolled growth will ravage our natural resources and cause a massive amount of people to die. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:42:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/how-can-we-save-our-scarce-resources-119-blog/#IDComment134362413 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130671784 I arrive to class about 4:15 every class. Whenever I get there are only a hand full of seats open, creating the anxiety of finding a seat next to someone who is going to be respectful. Where does this fear come from? I’m going to sit between to stranger s no matter what, now the question is, who will I sit next to? Personally, I look for someone who looks pleasant. There’s no need to sit next to someone who’s going to be rude, that will just create unnecessary strife. People’s body language clues you in, if someone starts getting tense a person’s natural reaction will be to move on and find another seat. On the other hand if the person’s body language is open then it reduces the anxiety of sitting amongst new people. I have no problem sitting amongst a group of people another race than myself. I begin to get uncomfortable when other people’s body language shows that they are on edge or they portray anxiety. Those feelings are contagious and it makes me, the new comer, on edge and possibly defensive. It is difficult to approach a group of people especially if the group puts on an unwelcome face. This fact can help to explain why people choose to sit by others that are similar to themselves. People believe that because they have a similarity with the group they will be welcomed more so, than a group that has fewer similarities. People just want to feel welcomed, so the majority of the time they will avoid the anxiety of being the odd one out in a group. When it’s just a few individual people in, say a waiting room, it doesn’t matter who I sit next to. The Biggest part for me is if I perceive people sitting around a vacant seat as a part of a group I’ll avoid the seat. I would feel more comfortable joining a number of unassociated individuals. That way my comfort level is about the same as those around me. The race of the people around me doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable. There have been days where I make it a point to sit next to people of another race to possibly gain some insight about how he or she perceives the lectures. The only time I get uncomfortable is when the people that are sitting around me are carrying on in conversation and it seems like I’m on another planet. It seems impossible that I could join the group surrounding me. It’s stressful because it’s a natural human need to be accepted within a group. It takes open minds on both sides of the fence to overcome the issue. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:08:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130671784 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127396209 For me the King of the mountain example was a great way to express the oppression upon others by the dominant group. Dominant groups enjoy their status and they are constantly worried that if another group share’s their resources, they won’t be able to use the resources without opposition. If there are two or more groups sharing a resource, there has to be a certain amount of compromise and cooperation. This can lead to one of the groups feeling controlled and create resentment in the group members. This resentment can spread to create fear and hatred causing the group to take control of the resource. It also is seen as a matter of survival. If the dominate group keeps a strong hold on the resources, then their future generations will continue to have unlimited access to those resources, feasibly ensuring the prosperity of the group. The entire world is interconnected so the dominate groups relies in some small part on the groups they control. The submissive groups have the power to rally together and overthrow the dominate group. In fear the dominate group creates an ideology that makes them superior thereby rationalizing why they deserve to control the resources. This ideology spreads through the ranks of the dominate group to the point that individual members begin to take actions that represent that ideology. Such as the increased interest rates of home and car loans for black people. With enough people acting in this manor, the dominate group begins to cement its hold on the resources. After a while the submissive groups begin to believe the propaganda and they accept their place instead of challenging the idea that they are inferior. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:14:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment127396209 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126068262 I believe that we can rise above racial problems. if we educate the younger generations then we can begin to break the cycles of stereotypes. By teaching kids that we are all human and we all worry about the same things, we could foster a feeling of brotherhood and respect. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 04:04:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126068262 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-characteristics-would-you-give-your-race-blog-2/#IDComment122383834 I concider myself to be Caucasian. From what have found out about my heritage I am a fourth generation immigrant; my ancestors are from Germany and Ireland. I am red headed with translucent skin unless i have been in the sun then I turn pink. If I were to define the characteristics of my race for the first time I wouldn't have too many kind words. I would have to start with egotistical, for years and years white people have held them selves in a higher regard. Intolerant, I know there are examples of this throughout the world but it seems it is becoming more prevalent, we seek out to destroy what does not conform. Greedy, as with the law of toddlers "If I see it it's mine, if I want it it's mine, if your playing with it it's mine." Unreasonably stubborn the white republican is one of the most stubborn animals in the world. Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:20:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-characteristics-would-you-give-your-race-blog-2/#IDComment122383834 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cg%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121178561 SOC119 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:31:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cg%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121178561