(Awkward) Silences II

I know we discussed awkward silences a long time ago on the first day of the semester, but I didn't really fully understand why we were talking about them until yesterday. I drive my friend home every day and yesterday was no different. We got into my car and started to leave school, and I don't know about him but I was feeling pretty spent after a week of studying for AP Exams so I just wanted to sit there and relax. Neither of us said anything for about three minutes, but then he starts asking about the most random things. For example, he asks if I've seen certain movies, to which I just responded with a 'yes' or a 'no', not bothering to elaborate any further. Then when I didn't expand upon my answer he asks different questions. Finally, after the barrage of questions seemed to be over, he asked why I was in a bad mood and if something happened at school. Then it hit me that most people really are uncomfortable with silence. I don't understand why he felt the need to constantly say something just to avoid the silence that I was trying to achieve. It was very obvious that I didn't feeling like talking, but I guess he just didn't pick up on that. And what bothers me also was that he thought I was in a bad mood. So just because someone doesn't feel like saying anything then they automatically must be in a bad mood, right?

Bowling for Columbine

When I walked into class and saw that we were going to watch a Michael Moore documentary, I immediately had some preconceived notions about what the movie was going to be like. I had just finished watching his documentary on George Bush, Fahrenheit 911, and I realized how biased he was towards political issues. However, I was glad to see that Bowling for Columbine was much more straight-forward, presenting facts from both sides of the argument of gun control. The one thing that stood out to me the most was the statistic that Moore gave about the relationship between actual gun murders and the amount that is covered by the media. I forget the exact number, but basically he stated that there has been a decline in the number of gun-related deaths over the years, but the media's coverage has gone up by like 3,000%. I think this really speaks to the way we are evolving as a society. Forty years ago, people turned on the news mostly to hear stories about political events, war, and other stories that actually effected the lives of every day citizens. Today, the majority of our news is made up homicides, robberies, and mass murders on the loose when, in reality, they only directly effect a very small group of people. It seems like the news is attempting to cater to our desire as a society to hear shocking news stories. In media class, we learned about this theory called "mean world syndrome." Basically, it stated that the more TV one watches, the more fear they are likely to have of the world around them and the more they are likely to believe they are in immediate danger of falling victim to one of these crimes. Maybe if people all watched less network news, we could learn to not be controlled by our own fear. I mean hey, it's working for Canada...

Nature vs. Nurture

Although most scientific evidence points to the idea that nature and nurture share equal roles in the upbringing of the individual, I tend to somewhat disagree. I don't doubt that both play some role in shaping one's persona, but I believe nature has a larger impact than nurture. This idea can be supported by the numerous success stories you always hear about someone coming from a broken home and growing up to make something of themselves. Growing up in a loveless home can certainly have a profound affect on one's future, but often that can push that individual even further to strive for success. This converse of this also works. There are plenty of people who grow up in a privileged lifestyle, taught values from their parents such as loyalty, hard work, and persistence. Yet despite this upbringing, some people are simply unable to make anything of themselves. They grow up to experience little success and can often lead a life that is seemingly unfit for someone who was raised in such an environment. The way you're nurtured may instill you with a specific set of morals, but it's ultimately the environment that plays the largest role in the future.

Morrie and death

Most Americans are afraid of death for the simple reason that it is unknown territory and we are often afraid of what we can't completely understand. Some believe in a place that you go to after death i.e. heaven (or hell), some believe that you are reborn as another being, and some just don't believe in any sort of life after death at all. For this same reason I believe there is a certain stigma assosciated with talking about death in any way. From a young age we are taught never to talk about money, politics, or religion in a group of people because everyone has their own beliefs about each topic and it's very easy to accuse others of being wrong. I think the topic of death should be added to this list because it is such a taboo. The possibilites of what happens after you die are endless and mind-boggling to even contemplate, and it is for that exact reason that nobody does so.

A Bronx Tale: Groups

The whole point of the story is to show the various groups that C does belong to as he ages, and how they vary accordingly. As a child, he belongs to many of the same groups that we belonged to at his age: his own group of friends, a part of e neighborhood, a family, and school. However, this all changes when he witnesses Sonny commit murder. Sonny immediately takes interest in the boy since he feels there's something "special" about him (besides not ratting on him for homicide?). Anyways, C begins to stray from his initial groups as he becomes more involved with the mob, and by the time he turns seventeen his affiliation with that mob essentially becomes his master status. This is showcased by his willingness to accept Sonny as a father figure and his growing disrespect for his father and the "common man." He lives his life according to the things he witnesses from Sonny, even though Sonny explicitly states not to do so. This remains stagnant until a pivotal point in the movie, when he is silently called upon to participate in a habitual beating of a rival gang. Instead of joining in and kicking some biker ass, he ducks in the corner, trying to hide his cowardice. He never really does recover from that scene, as he grows more confused up until he witnesses the murder of his idol, Sonny. By the end of the movie, I think his master status changes back to the son of his father. I say this because of his interaction with Joe Peschi's character: he tells C to contact him if he ever needs anything, and C basically tells him that that won't be necessary. It's an interesting character study and the film does a good job of showing the influence that one's surroundings can have on his/her actions.

When am I gonna need this?

You know when you're sitting in math class and you actually stop for a moment to think about what you're doing and why you're doing it? I had one of those moments today and I just looked at the worksheet in front of me and though to myself "why am I doing this?" I had just finished a problem that took a good fifteen minutes of following numerous intricate formulas, only to arrive at an answer that was utterly meaningless to me. I think I calculated the amount of time that it would take for a bacteria population to grow over time...but how does that affect me? That bacteria could be wiped out by the Black Plague and I wouldn't miss a beat because, simply put, it just doesn't affect me. But at the same rate, if I am so disconnected from this information then why did I just spend the past fifteen minutes of my life figuring out the problem? I'm not going to wine and say that math is useless, because I don't think that. I believe that doing problems like this promotes logical thinking and allows promotes fluency with complex ideas and concepts. But I will say that I begin to question certain subjects, especially the relevance that those subjects have to my life and life in general. Odds are that in my future profession, I will never have to calculate anything remotely like this problem. I guess I'm just really confused...
I think it's also interesting to note the strong dislike that many of the social studies teachers share for math. I think this is due to two very, very different outlooks on life. On the one hand, a math person would see the world in terms of numbers and equations. They would notice patterns and try to draw disscernable mathematical conclusions based on these observations...after all, isn't that what a math equation is? It's simply an observed pattern that never fails. On the other hand, you've got the outlook of someone who's not neccessarily a math person. I'm not really sure how someone who falls under this category would view things, but I can say with confidence that I will be one of these people.

Oddyssey

So Oddyssey was this week, and I didn't have very high hopes going into it due to a very bad experience two years ago (the only class I remember was Music Therapy which involved everyone closing their eyes and listening to a lady play the harp...little strange). But my first day of this Oddyssey this year actually wasn't too bad. I got to play some handbells which was pretty fun, and I also got to watch the faculty rock band which was defintely the highlight of the two days. Watching Mr. Wilms rip a solo to Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll" made those two days totally worth it. As for the sociological point of view, I guess the main purpose of Oddyssey is to broaden the learing of students and acknowledge that there are important things to be learned that are not taught inside of a classroom. It's a shame that so many kids have an unpleasant experience with this because I really do think that Oddyssey could be a great thing. If the classes were tailored more to student's interests (last time I checked I was not planning on becoming a Hawaiin dancer when I graduated, not that there's anything wrong with that) then we would all enjoy Oddyssey much more. For example, I really wanted to hear one guy speak who spent some time as a radio DJ. Unfortunately I didn't get that class, but that would have been something that I had a genuine interest in. I commend Stevenson for the idea and orginzaition of Oddyssey since I do believe it's intentions are good, but I would like to see classes that are of more interest to the students.

The Awkwardness of Silence

Everyone seems to get really uncomfortable during prolonged periods of silences. Alot of people mention that it's awkward but that it's usually short lived because someone will say something stupid that breaks the awkwardness. I'm usually the person who says something stupid and I guess it's just because I don't feel awkward in silence, I just think it's funny. Even on the first day of class when Sal walked in and didn't say anything, everyone just sat there and looked around the room to see what other people were doing, and I'm sitting there laughing. Then we talked about the idea that, as a culture, we're taught that moments of silences are supposed to be uncomfortable and that you should just fill the silence with random talking. I disagree with that. The whole day is filled with people talking to you and you talking back to them. Moments of prolonged silence are rare, so why ruin them with pointless conversation?

Me on blogging

I've never had a class before where we were supposed to keep some sort of journal or, in this case, an online blog. I think it's pretty cool but I don't really know much about what to write. The only blogs I've ever seen are the ones that we looked at in media class and those were by authors that were always angry at someone or something and saw fit to cuss for page after page. I never really saw the point of reading someone else complain about life, but I definetely got a few cheap laughs in. I've actually read about people who get really involved in online blogging and they met thousands of people through their blogs. That's cool and all, but I think that if you can honestly tell other people that you have more than one thousand friends then you probably need to do a little re-evaluting on life. But this won't turn in to one of those obsessive blogs since it's just for school, so it's all good.