blog 3 (10-27-11)

The link for the reading connected with moodle would not work...

In Ancient Mesopotamia before there was a currency system, they traded primarily with barley. It is surreal to think how much a thin piece of paper (money) can represent. A green rectangle that weighs way less than a pound can be worth a lot, even a deciding factor in a life or death situation. How did mathematics figure out math and numbers, let alone words? It is fascinating to ponder what subjects we learn in school are “most important.” History is important because it gives us an opportunity to view patters, figure out what did and did not work, and learn about our ancestors in order to ready ourselves for the future. Math is extremely essential because it correlates with science and art as well. Math is a skill that will be used a lot considering all of life’s “transactions” that are thrown at us. Math is integrated into art because of the measurements and the mathematic mind set that is needed for some steps of an art project as well as graphs, statistics, and numbers that we use for science. Language is both hard to learn, but is also considered a leisure activity. Language is vital to learn because of the business department, but also because we need to expand our cultural knowledge and we should ideally have the ability to communicate with people unlike us who have different native tongues. Science is key because the world we live in is almost like one giant science experiment. In other words, we should truly know why certain things happen in the environment which we are surrounded and enraptured in everyday. Humans interact with the environment on a daily basis and we help sustain each other, which is why science is a very pertinent and useful thing to study. One might argue that a student will study super hard and devote all of their time and effort for an algebra test, then ace it, and forget it a week later. This makes me wonder which subjects are really important and will benefit me in the long run. Humans are ever changing and the world in which we live in is ever changing. Who can control that?

blog 2 (10-25-11)

In any "civilization" there are ways in which you can sustain the civilization so it last for a long period of time. The given categories which pretty much determine the organization of the communities are growth of territories, daily life, interactions among citizens and outsiders, distribution of jobs, economics, and religion. In order to have an organized civilization, each of these categories needs to be organized as well. To me, growth of the territories means how populated the area is, and also physically how large the living environment is. There should be a continuing growth of people in the civilization because you cannot have a civilization without lots of people, and also the territory in which those citizens live needs to be healthy. Daily life means how the individuals go about their daily life from when they wake up to when they drop to sleep. If their daily lives are constantly hectic, than the environment displays disorganization. If the members of the civilization cannot work and benefit from one another in their daily lives in order to accomplish tasks, you can be sure the civilization will not last long. Interactions among citizens and outsiders is slightly similar to daily life, however interactions among citizens and outsiders also involves trading because that is interaction with people outside of the civilization, which is important and essential because if you never know life outside of your own, you would not have as much knowledge and experience. Distribution of jobs refers to how the people of the civilization work and how fairly work is distributed. If only the rich people were offered jobs, and none were available to the poor, than the rich would only get richer and the poor would only get poorer, therefor the civilization would crash eventually. Economics deals with the currency system of a civilization and how the leaders choose to deal with the economy. An organized economic system is the basis to a sustainable and well-run civilization. Religion is a major component to civilizations as well. Religion is super important because the individuals often rely on religion in order to create values and beliefs for themselves which helps them maneuver and make decisions during their every day lives. Religion is something people lean on, and it brings people together due to common interests, yet also defines the differences in one another.  Each one of these categories relate in some way, and they are all in the interest of benefitting and helping protect a civilization. One example of how the Mesopotamian civilization existed for longer than the Indus valley civilization is that in the Indus Valley there was a lot of controversy over politics and religion. This was apparent partially because Alexander the Great came into the valley and left a major impact, mostly a negative one, on all of the citizens. And when a ruler and an authority like that storms in on a civilization and makes some major decisions, the civilization is effected in the long run and because of him and his leadership, lots of things were unorganized. On the other hand, in Mesopotamia, political centralization started, city states were formed, and there were intelligent and structured leaders. This one aspect of the civilization affected many things, just like a food web in science. Once one animal is taken out of a food web some become over populated and some die out, in other words one slight change can make all the difference.

blog 1 (10-24-11)

There are several labels placed in our society, some in which I do not understand. It is true that we live in America, but does that make up a part of who we are? When I think of America I think of a map, but what if we did not have that a map to categorize the United States? What would I think of then? Americans and Chinese should not be viewed differently, because we are all part of the world, the earth that we live on, and the different countries should not mean anything. For example, two people were invited to a party and they did not let the American in but they let the Asian person. It is like Asians think they are superior to Americans and they are on two different levels, however we are on one level, or at least that is how it should be. I can categorize myself into countless different labels- American, Caucasian, Jewish, feminine, etc. If there was never all of these categorizations, society would be completely different. If we did not have religion, or money, or different countries, would life be easier or harder? It seems like everyone would be much more similar because we would not divide ourselves from others. Yet we derive many of our beliefs and we base some of our decisions based on how much money we have or what religion we are a part of. One would argue that being a part of America gives them a sense of belonging and a sense of pride. When we sing the national anthem at a sports event, it proves that there is a sense of pride to be an American. Just because we sing it, does not mean that it carries meaning for everyone there, and we might be doing it just because everyone around us is doing it. For others, it might be a time to reflect on the community and civilization that we are a part of. If I did not view myself as American, I would not become depressed and think, "Now I have no reason to live." If everyone was completely equal meaning there was no currency system, no religion, and no geographic divisions life would be different. It would be less complicated, but at the same time it could potentially create more problems. Are these divisions healthy and do we need to be separated from others in order to live civilly? The answer will not be deteremined becuase we will never be able to go back in time. Our past generations have pretty much determined how life and society would run today, and we are born into a country and born into the way of life in which we are almost forced to live in. For example, why is it that guys are supposed to be into action figures and love the color blue and girls are supposed to love dolls and adore the color pink? These stereotypes were created somehow... The decisions we make now are imporant for the generations to come and if simply a few people made slightly different decisions, our everyday lives would not be how they are today. This brings me to the point of arguning the past. Arguing the past actually wont help anything. Hence why I wonder why we learn histroy if it already happened, and we can't change anything about it, why study it? There is always a history class in curriculums at school, and hardly ever a current events/issues class. Initially I would presume that we should dicuss issues that we are facing in our lives now, and how we can make them better rather than debating the past. History is a complicated thing...

blog 3 (10-20-11)

           The pyramid we studied in class is a hierarchy that applies in all the societies I can think of. Without the Physiological part of the pyramid we would not have the necessities we need to survive, therefore it is first on the pyramid. Humans require food, water, oxygen, sleep, and shelter to survive. After this category comes safety, meaning self respect and respect towards and from others. Then there is the sense of belonging in communities whether that be a friend group, a family, a team, a religion, etc.  Being in a community can really make one feel a sense of belonging, and it helps them to find those who have things in common with them. In this category is love as well; intimacy and feelings towards another. After this section there is esteem which is similar to the last two categories because esteem basically means confidence and respect. After this is self-actualization which means finding your values and morals. 
             I slightly disagree with this pyramid because I think it is a bit repetitive. There should only be three categories in my opinion, one called necessities, one called self confidence and self respect, and another called values. Without the things you need to survive you would be able to have self confidence and respect because you would not be alive and able to think. Without self respect and confidence you would not be able to have individual values because you would not have your own true identity. In other words, each of these categories help sustain the next- they all connect. This pyramid relates a lot to my life because obviously I survive off the necessities needed in order to live, but I also build relationships and create my own values for my every day life. Without my own identity and personal confidence, my life would not be the same. I think that in order for a civilization to run, those three categories need to apply to the citizens. While every one has their differences, at the end of the day we can come together and create communities and civilizations.

blog 2 (10-19-11)

The idea of community is essential in order to sustain a living environment. After creating an "imaginary" environment I think it was more than simply a civilization, it was more of a community. To begin, the people that come before the current generation of people in a community are useful. They set the tone and supply things for future generations, which is one great aspect of community. Also, without working with one another, not nearly as much would be as organized and efficient. With bare necessities as all you have to live, you need to rely on one another for support. By definition, a community is a group of any size who share a similar belief, or rather have anything in common. An ecosystem by scientific definition is living and non living things interacting. These two definitions combined, I think, make up a community. Like the type of community that we invented in class. The biotic factors, those who are living, use the abiotic factors, non living, to sustain each other. The humans living in the community eat the animals, and use the soil, dirt, trees, leaves, water, etc. Without the knives and tools we have today, the citizens of the community needed each other to complete tasks and get things done. To prepare a meal required several people, therefor the idea of community came into play. Some people would create tools, then others would work to hunt the animals, and others would start preparing a fire and boiling water- each person added something different to the job. A community is more than a civilization because a civilization is a particulate type of society and/or it is a broad cultural pattern in a specific area (source of definitions, http://bit.ly/90QFJh)- this does not imply one another enhancing or benefiting each other. I think that in future generations the idea of community will play a role in every day life, just like it has in the past.

blog one (10-18-11)

A blog unrelated to material in class today, but rather regarding a current event:

What is ones life worth? An Israeli man by the name of Gilad Shalit was released in exchange for letting nearly one thousand Palestinians free. Those Palestinians included hundreds who were accused of murder and charged for life sentences, yet are now free. Gilad, this young man, was unexpectedly captured nearly five years ago, and immediately restricted from talking to anyone. No one, as in not his parents, not his friends, no one. With these deprivations comes mental damage for good; Gilad was slightly less capable of making important and smart decisions because of all that he went through. He (the victim) did not have a say in the outcome of this ongoing dilemma, which was a good and bad thing. Through these five vague and harsh years, not only the people of Israel, (but especially them), were anxious. During a controversy like that, peoples initial feeling is most likely anxiety because they have their own opinions and hopes, yet they do not know how everything will turn out. Throughout history, how could people have a say in what they wanted? What can you do in the moment to share your ideas and get the result you want? Besides a democracy, it is hard to make a difference, but at the same time it is easy... The good thing is that he would not have to carry that guilt or burden on himself if he made the decision himself. In other words, since he did not have to decide, no one could blame him personally and he would not have to deal with regretting a final decision. On the other hand, the bad component to this is that if he had the opportunity to make the decision he could have sacrificed himself. He could have said "You know what, maybe my life is not worth thousands of dangerous people released and freed into the world." Maybe he would have taken his life in order to save his people and to save others; to show a sign of courage, bravery,  and loyalty. "1=1,027. "This is a meaningful "equation" that makes you stop and think... Additionally, Israel was extremely happy about the news of Gilad coming home, because it was almost like an accomplishment and a reward for Israel as a country. An accomplishment like this, especially for a country like Israel is strictly a time for happiness, unity, and celebration, (plus this occurred right near the holiday of Sukkot.) Either way, when they made a decision about this topic, it still would have been a big deal and there would still be people that disagree. After five years of being held captive by Hamas, Gilad finally returned to his family. Life will probably never be the same for Gilad Shalit. He is damaged in the brain because of the torture he went through and all the pressure, as well as physically because he did not eat as much and his life style rapidly shifted. History is complicated. Decisions are complicated. War is complicated. People are completed. Life is complicated.The fate of what lies ahead because of this decision is unsure. For now we know that Israel is celebrating, meanwhile some people out there are concered about the violent freed Palestinians...What is one life worth...

blog 3

Although many of the hospitals were overloaded, the government had a responsibility to help organize that problem, along with other as well. It was unrealistic to create more hospitals at the time because there were other dilemmas simultaneously occurring, but the government did the right thing by helping to organize the overflowing of hospitals. The Haitian government also exported homeless people on a fairy out of the capital, Port Au-Prince. It must have been difficult to select which issues to tend for and at which times with all the commotion going on. Another major problem was with the burials and the countless amount of deaths. There were thousands of people dead in the streets, in houses, missing, etc and who was responsible for all those people? The government assisted to take those people and either burn them or burry them, yet that was not all. The government handled situations where people reported missing as well as found bodies, which is a hard and intense job. The controversy of how people should morally and how people preferred to be buried was prevalent. Since there were such a large number of deaths, it was hard to care respectfully for each body; therefore the government was partly blamed. The government was accused of not providing enough medical services and water throughout the streets and wherever else people needed helped. Many say the after affects of the earthquake would have been less severe in the moment and long term if the government were more efficient and more organized. For example, streetlights were broken down which resulted in major backed up traffic. The security and police scene was not as strong as it needed to be, and it was almost like other countries governments helped more than the Haitian government itself. The United States was helping Haiti in various categories such as food, water, evacuation, security, airports, medically, and overall international coordination. How could the Haitian government been better? At the end of the day, the Haitian government had several responsibilities during the earthquake in Haiti.