human values world view

Name

July 20, 2009

100

            I view the world as a place where people do what they need to do to survive. The world is survival of the fittest no matter where you are on this planet and what your struggles are if you cannot meet those challenges you don’t survive. If you are homeless or jobless this world doesn’t care about you. We aren’t much different from animals if you cannot compete then you don’t survive very long. There are people that go out of their way to help others but they are so few in number even fewer do it just because they feel it is the right thing to do many do it because it may help with their taxes or make them look good in the public eye or some other motivation that is based on themselves. I don’t believe in anything really at all except what is best for me, I focus on me and what is best for me no one else why should I think of others. I don’t know why I am only concerned with myself and I don’t know when this selfish thought process began but I know that it just feels right. It feels more natural to be concerned about myself then others.

            I am not at all religious I don’t believe in a god at all I don’t see the point I believe the idea of a god was thought up by people smart enough to know that most people are basically stupid and would believe what they were told. Those same people used the idea of a god to scare the masses and take control over the larger group of people. I think people hold onto religion because they are afraid to admit to them that this is all there is to life and no one cares about them. All they truly have in life is they and that scares people so they hold onto this idea of an all loving god. I don’t hold any values dear or close to me if it will suit my needs I will do what needs to be done. And I expect all people I deal will to react in the same way personal self interest isn’t a bad thing even though we are all taught that it is. I respect a person who is motivated by doing what is best for them.

            I think that I should have everything that I want in the world and I am willing to do what I have to to achieve it because I don’t believe anything should be handed out to anyone. But since I am motivated by self interest I am not adverse to taking a hand out either it is strange because I am a hypocrisy and I realize that and have no problem with it. Something I don’t think another person should be given I will take just as easily if offered to me because it benefits me. The world is an unforgiving thing if you fail no one will help you or even care. The world is a harsh place to live every corner or the world there are people that are struggling to survive they don’t have the very basic needs to survive food water shelter. And there are places that have these things in abundance and don’t even think of giving the people that need these things to them or at least not enough to survive on just enough to stave off death for a little while longer. This sounds horrible but that what people do we naturally care about ourselves more than others we are greedy and when we have we don’t want to give we want more more more and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that I believe it is actually more natural then helping another person survive.

            People are always competing with one and another we seem to have a natural drive to dominate another group or species, why is it strange or wrong to realize that we only do the things we do to benefit ourselves. Natural selection is a driving factor in evolution and it is in its basic form all about dominating in an ecosystem. The person that is most successful has best mating opportunities and best access to the basics of survival. Why do woman try to look more attractive and why do men try to show off their car of whatever else they have of value, I believe these actions are a basic instinct to dominate or compete with other members of our species in order to better survive and spread their DNA. My view of the world seems very negative and pessimistic but I don’t really see it that way I look at it in more of a realistic view. Life is not fair this is a fact in life but it is wrong or maybe unfair for me to admit that I do everything in my life for myself it just doesn’t make any sense to me. If the world is not fair then why should I be fair or care about other people doesn’t it make more sense to be concerned about only yourself in a world that is clearly not fair?

            I fully expect the people I come in contact with to do what is best for them and I know that this sometimes means that it won’t be what is best for me. So with everybody I meet I maintain a distance a certain level of distrust. I also maintain what could be considered a quick release from the relationship in the event that my needs to align themselves with the person I am associated with. It sounds bad but the truth of the matter is can you truly trust someone completely, no you can’t because people are capable of doing anything a person you have known and trusted your entire life could be a person to rob you if they felt the need to do so, or the person you love could turn out to have been cheating on you for as long as you have been together. Trust is something no one should ever give to someone completely a person should always stay on their toes about a person in their life.

            I would have to say that a lot of what I have been taught I have rejected. The idea that god loves you people are good and honesty is important I would have to say I do not believe any of that. The reality as I see it is that we are told things like that by the people who control the masses business leaders government officials and religious leaders all feed that stuff to us so they can maintain their place in power which I can’t be mad at them for it good for them, but I want to put myself into a powerful position so instead of being a follower I decided to do what is necessary to succeed and not care about other people. People are taught certain things at very young ages so young that they aren’t able to create an argument against it and so they grow up believing what they were told without questioning it that is why so many people still believe in god because they were told he was real. Our culture teaches that people should be good and help each other but we often do not practice what we preach, we talk about how good it is to help people and then tell the homeless person asking for food to get a job. Why teach that giving is good when it goes against our natural instincts to give to another person?

            People say they value justice or honesty but in reality they only like to say they do. When a person is accused of a crime they are instantly marked as guilty without a trial or anything justice isn’t important people are more concerned with revenge than anything else. People are only honest when it suits their needs people have no trouble lying if it benefits them. People are only concerned with what pleases them and we create this unrealistic view of what we humans beings truly care about because we don’t like being falsely accused or lied to but when it comes down to it we have no trouble accusing someone without evidence or lying to save our own ass. So all people are only truly concerned about themselves whether or not they admit it. I am just one of the few that will admit that I am more important than anyone else.

            I believe the world would be a better place if we would all just admit that the only concern we have is for ourselves. If we did this religion business and government would not be able to control the masses in the way that they do. What is right and wrong would cease to exist it would simply become what is best for me and even though that may sound like chaos there would be a natural order to things because people even today still do what is best for them. If you allow everyone to do what is best for themselves without any social consequences people would be able to reach their full potential.

           

           

            

side taking

Name

September 27, 2009

Taking Sides Paper

            I am not worried at all that Patrick Buchanan is right. Every mass immigration into America has had the same fears that Patrick has displayed toward the Mexicans entering our borders. America promotes a history based on accepting immigrants into America and they say that is what makes America strong, but our history of treatment of immigrants has never been accepting. Patrick Buchanan is a Republican and I have never known a Republican to ever be right on anything they are mostly white racist males that only want to reverse any kind of progress America has made in its history. Their entire goal is to end any government oversight and to allow discrimination to be openly accepted once again. They also want to create a Christian nation and force the beliefs on those who do not already follow them. I firmly believe the people that consider themselves conservative are a threat to American freedom. Patrick in his paper describes a brief history of America and Mexico and uses this history as a reason why Mexican immigrants are a threat to America. If Mexican-American history creates a valid reason for ending immigration of the Mexican population into America then the same could be said of the people of the United Kingdom. Our history with the U.K. was that they refused to give us our freedom as a sovereign nation which forced us into a war where they invaded our shores. Then after we won that war in 1812 the British used their superior navy to impede our trade with France, which lead to the war of 1812 in which the British invaded parts of the United States.

I pose the question that if Buchanan is right that Mexican immigration is a threat to our cultural integrity what right do we have to even oppose this invasion and forced conversion into the Mexican culture? The European influence that is so prevalent here in the United States is the effect of our invasion and forced conversion of the indigenous population of the American continent. The Native Americans were forced off their land and had their culture destroyed by us. This is a fact that cannot be denied so why is it right for us to destroy a groups way of life, but the idea of another group coming in and changing or destroying our way of life is somehow wrong?

Immigration is not a threat to American people I know this to be true because of my service in the United States Marine Corps. Many of the people I served with were either a first or second generation of an immigrant family. There were many Mexican immigrants that I lived and worked with for four years. These men and women went over to Iraq and Afghanistan when their country asked them too. Despite the view or usefulness of these wars these immigrants or children of immigrants volunteered to put their lives on the line for America. If Mexican immigrants are a threat to America why are they joining the military? Also Patrick Buchanan makes a claim that immigrants do not benefit the economy. Using my experience of my fellow Marines that are Mexican immigrants I see something very different because they are working collecting an income and paying taxes. Even if there are high numbers of immigrants on welfare their future generations would be able to work and pay taxes and contribute to our economy much more than their parents were able to.

Human values 100

Name

July 6, 2009

HUV 100

            I found it interesting that Frankl said even if he had known his wife was dead he would have still clung to the image of his wife. The fact that he needed to hold on to something so much that it didn’t matter to him what the fate of his wife was he needed her image to keep him going.

            It was strange to read that the memories the prisoners remembered and thought about most were the simple things we take for granted. Things like unlocking the door to their apartment or switching on the lights could move them to tears. Such simple events we do daily and not even think about it meant so much to them really show the horrible conditions that they had to endure. Yet even through we hear these stories and think how horrible it must have been. There were times when they had small and short events that caused happiness or some relief from what they were living with.

            It was interesting to hear the stories of the guards and foreman that were kinder then what they had to be and to hear that there were prisoners that were much worse then they needed to be. There seemed to be good and bad people in every group. The situation had the potential to bring out the best or worst in people. It is easier to hurt another person in order to better your own postion or to take advantage of someone there were still those few that didn’t resort to such acts.

            The fact that after being released the prisoners didn’t feel like they were free at first, like it was a dream or just wasn’t real at all. And you often hear of the prisoners as poor victims but Frankl seemed to show another side. It was a understandable side but I never saw it. The anger and violence that many of the prisoners wanted to do they wanted to hurt the ones that hurt them.

Soc paper

name

September 12, 2009

class

Issue paper # 1

            Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) showed that society effects the decision to take your own life; he showed people with the most freedoms (Wealthy, Whites, and Males) tended to have the highest rates of suicide. Durkheim used the term social integration to explain that people with stronger social ties had lower rates of suicide and people who were more individualistic had higher rates. (Macionis, 2009) The suicide rate for black youths has been rising and according to Durkheim this must be caused by younger blacks becoming more individualistic and less concerned with their social ties. Suicide among college students and some professions also have high rates of suicide and Durkheim’s theory helps to explain the cause.

            American society is focused on the individual you are expected to make it own your own. According to Durkheim this can lead to high rates of suicide. African-Americans even though they have lived in America for many generations were always pushed out of the American society by whites that dominated over every aspect of society. This forced the black community to create their own culture and way of life which was different because it focused more on working together to survive and to help defend each other because all they had was each other. During the civil rights movements the black community demanded to be treated equally and fought for their rights. Even through today blacks and whites are not treated equally there has been improvement made with the rising black middle class more blacks are attending college and now pop culture is full of black celebrities. It is a start of the black population of America assimilating its self into American society. With this assimilation into society comes with it the individualistic way of thinking that is so strong in our society. The strong social ties that helped to keep the black suicide rate far below whites have weakened and there are fewer blacks that have strong ties to their community. With more black people achieving success they tend to move away from their older communities and surround themselves with people of the same economic standing which takes them out of the community they grew up in and places them in a new unfamiliar community were they may stand out in part due to their race. (Div of Violence Prevention, 1998)

            The reason many people go to college is to receive the necessary education to get a decent job and improve their lifestyle. In today’s economy in order to get a good job you must be the very best and stand out from everyone else that has applied for the position this often means doing very well in school. Many college students may see their classmates as competition for future jobs which has the potential of students isolating themselves from others thinking it may give them an advantage. A college degree has become almost necessary in America if you want to ever get a job college students are under a lot of pressure to achieve a degree of some sort because without it they know they won’t be able to find any job that is capable of supporting themselves on. The stress level of higher level classes increases the rate of suicide nationally graduates are at a higher risk then undergraduate this could be caused by the larger work load that is placed on them reduces the amount of time they have to socialize making them feel like they’re whole life revolves around school. (James R. Oelschlager) The type of degree also increases the level of stress and work load nationally science and business students have higher rates of suicides compared to liberal arts students this could be due to a large work load that reduces the opportunity to socialize. (James R. Oelschlager)

            Certain occupations have higher rates of suicide then others this could be caused by how our society looks at different jobs. A teacher is seen as a vital part of American society which would increase the individual persons feeling of self worth and reducing the possibility of suicide. If they are going dealing with issues in their personal life they made find the courage to push forward because they have a job to do such as teach the future generations. Professional occupations such as dentists have to go through years of school after which they enter into a society that looks at members of its health care system as over paid. People in America go to the dentist or doctor but they don’t really like doing it. Since most Americans look at seeking medical advice or help in a negative way people who have made working in the medical field their profession may see themselves as not as good as a doctor as they had hoped they would become. Working in the medical profession is stressful long hours and dealing with death almost daily, this can lead to people keeping an emotional distance between themselves and their patients making the professional feeling isolated from society which can lead to a lonesome feeling and possible suicide.

            The shootings at Columbine high school and Virginia Tech were a result of people who felt out of place in society. They seemed to have felt that they were outcasts and they were probably treated as such. People who dress different or may lack social skills are often rejected by the popular culture. The trenchcoat mafia of the Columbine shooting didn’t fit into the social structure of the school, their parents seemed to have no idea what the kids were going through, most of the school faculty did not pay any attention to the mafia they had low grades and were likely seen as trouble makers not as people that felt like they were being victimized by the rest of the student body. The shooters of Columbine felt like they were all alone no one would listen to them they were isolated from everyone but themselves, they also felt that they were somehow entitled to revenge for their isolation. The Virginia Tech shooter felt like he was alone but It is also possible that the way he acted towards others might have influenced his isolation. He felt isolated because he pushed others away but he blamed others for his isolation.

Works Cited

Div of Violence Prevention, N. C. (1998, March 20). MMWR. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from www.cdc.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00051591.htm

James R. Oelschlager, P. &. (n.d.). Beyond the classroom. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from The Florida Institute of technology: http://www.fit.edu/caps/documents/3.pdf

Macionis, J. J. (2009). Society. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

values

Name

June 28, 2009

Class

            People value things like their family or the things they own. Values play a part in everyone’s life but people value the things they like things that make them happy or feel good. Human beings are much more self-centered then we even allow ourselves to believe. Doing what we believe is right is nothing more than an attempt to make ourselves feel good about ourselves and sometimes it is to use that event to benefit us in the future. The reality of life is that people really don’t care about one another they do nice things to make themselves feel good. This explains why it is so easy for us to make certain groups into enemies. If people really did value human life and not just their own then it would be nearly impossible to get people to hate another group because they believe something different but the reality is it is all too easy.

            I realize that I care about myself more than anyone else I keep people in my life that in some way benefit my wants and needs. My values are completely centered on me. I don’t see this as bad thing I view it as a natural occurrence in life. I feel like I’m being more honest with myself when I look at things in terms of how it can benefit me or make me feel good. People tend to look down on this mindset but I feel we all are like this but either are afraid or refuse to admit to ourselves that this is how we are.

Early American History Federalists and Republican-Democrats

Name

School

History 121

June 20, 2011

            American political parties were largely divided by whether or not the federal government should encourage economic development. The federalists felt that America needed to encourage greater manufacturing and build more of a diverse market economy. The Republican-Democrats believed government should not play a role in the economy they supported more of an agricultural based economy. Federalists felt that the educated and wealthy should be the leaders while Republican-Democrats felt that every male citizen should be play a part in the government.

            As America emerged as more of an industrial nation many of the people who supported an agricultural based economy saw the benefits of having the ability to send their goods to markets easier as well as the ability to sell to manufacturers nearby. The debate went from industry versus agriculture to how do we grow both. It also caused issues with slavery the largely industrial north saw slavery in the south as wrong. With more people in the north going to work in factories, they could have looked at slavery in the south as a threat to their jobs, why hire someone when you could make a slave do it.    The view of the southern slaveholders in the north also brought back images of British monarchs.

            The changes in America created changes in the American political landscape. The north and south were becoming more distant from each other in culture, this lead to the north and south competing for influence in new states. If one state was admitted as a slave state there would be a push for a free state. The political parties were largely separated by north and south or free and slave states. Because of this when a new state was added to the union there was a worry that one party would gain control of the federal government and solidify their view points in the American government.

            Slavery became a major issue between the north and south, with the north pushing for it to be ended. This meant that there would be a pro-slavery party as well as an anti-slavery party largely separated between north and south. These two parties would compete for more power in congress as new states are added and then try to force their view on the other group. Slavery was an important factor in the creation of the different parties during that time. Its role makes sense since it was such a clear cut either you are for or against slavery there really cannot be a middle ground. In the south slavery was such a major part of their lifestyle they couldn’t just give it up it was part of their economy, it had been a part of them since they were born. The people of the south would not accept the idea of people from outside of their society forcing them to change something that has defined their society for so long. The North saw slavery as wrong and as  anti-American. The parties clearly would have formed along the lines of slavery because of the passionate viewpoints on both sides of the issue.

           

PHY 111

Name

8/29/2011

PHS 111

Chapter 1

1.      (1.1) What is the celestial sphere? What are the celestial equator and the ecliptic?

The celestial sphere has no physical reality, but serves as a model a way of simplifying the arrangement and motions of celestial bodies so they are easier to visualize. The celestial equator is a sky marker used by astronomers. The ecliptic is the line that the Sun traces across the celestial sphere.

2.      (1.1) What is a constellation, and what is special about the zodiac constellations?

 A constellation is a fixed patterns on the celestial sphere formed by stars. The zodiac is 12 constellations that the ecliptic passes through.

3.      (1.2) What causes the seasons? The seasons are casued by the rotation axis it runs from the North Pole to the South Pole it is not perpendicular its tipped by 23.5 degrees. Some times of the year the Northern Hemisphere is pointed closer or farther from the Sun. The Northern and Southern Hemisphere have opposite seasons.

4.      (1.3) How long does it take the Moon to go through a cycle of phases? The cycles of phases lasts approximately 29.5 days.

5.      (1.3) How much later does the Moon rise each day? The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each night.

Chapter 2

1.      (2.1) What is meant by the phrase angular diameter?  It is an angle that you take on one edge and then the opposite end and when the distance is also known it can be used to calculate a bodies true diameter.

2.      (2.1) If you triple your distance from an object, what happens to its angular size?  The objects size should shrink by a third.

3.      (2.1) What is parallax and how is it measured?  Parallax is a shift in a star’s apparent position resulting from Earth’s motion. It is measured using a powerful telescope because it is too small to be detected by the naked-eye because the stars were so enormously far away.

4.      (2.2) If you see a bright “star” in the sky, how could you tell whether it is a star or instead, for example, Venus?  The motions of the planets relative to the stars are very slow, detectable only through observations over many nights. The motion of the planets through the zodiac can be seen by marking off the postion of a planet on the celestial sphere over a period of a week or more.

5.      (2.2) Where on the celestial sphere would you look for the planets?  You would always look close to the ecliptic within the constellations of the zodiac.