On Monday, we began our discussion on nature vs. nurture. Nikki said that she thought it was a mix between both nature and nurture which I agree. I thought that I would be the only person who was indecisive with this issue, but I was wrong.
Also, we talked about the language determinant. Does it have an effect or not? When reading the readings we were given, I thought language was not a very important determinant. Although after our discussion, I am starting to think otherwise. The example of a "Happy Meal" swayed my opinion. To Americans and other countries we think McDonald's. However, countries that do not have McDonalds just think a meal that was happy/good.
I believe that to an extent language has an influence. Different languages have different interpretations of words. In fact, even some Spanish dialects have different meanings for the same words. I am looking forward to continuing our discussion today.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Primary Determinant Factor
What is our primary determinant factor? Well, I am not exactly sure. I cannot just choose one primary determinant. To me, each of the determinants alone does not have enough evidence to make it the primary determinant. However, I believe that nature and nurture are both the primary determinants of human nature.
I believe that nurture has validity because parents do shape who we become. Each of us has a personality trait from each of our parents; it is a given. They are the one's that raise up and help us to become the best people we can be. Also, I believe that nurture has its validity because science proves that. In the article from Wikipedia, "Nature vs. Nurture" it states that, "In many cases it has been found that genes may have a substantial contribution, including psychological traits such as intelligence and personality." ("Nature vs. Nurture 2). This statement proves to me that to an extent, nurture does influence us and that is why it should I believe it is part of the primary determinant of human nature.
Also, I believe that nature has equal validity. First of all, I believe that nature helps us become the individuals we are. Without nature, we would be carbon copies of our parents. Nature helps us explore and find ourselves. Nature is our "escape" for the mold our parents gave us. It helps form our "final mold" that helps us define ourselves. Nature is inevitability going to influence who we become. This is why I believe it is part of the primary determinant factor.
I look forward to hearing other people's views on this issue tomorrow.
I believe that nurture has validity because parents do shape who we become. Each of us has a personality trait from each of our parents; it is a given. They are the one's that raise up and help us to become the best people we can be. Also, I believe that nurture has its validity because science proves that. In the article from Wikipedia, "Nature vs. Nurture" it states that, "In many cases it has been found that genes may have a substantial contribution, including psychological traits such as intelligence and personality." ("Nature vs. Nurture 2). This statement proves to me that to an extent, nurture does influence us and that is why it should I believe it is part of the primary determinant of human nature.
Also, I believe that nature has equal validity. First of all, I believe that nature helps us become the individuals we are. Without nature, we would be carbon copies of our parents. Nature helps us explore and find ourselves. Nature is our "escape" for the mold our parents gave us. It helps form our "final mold" that helps us define ourselves. Nature is inevitability going to influence who we become. This is why I believe it is part of the primary determinant factor.
I look forward to hearing other people's views on this issue tomorrow.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Where are they now? (Faces of the Enemy version) and Questions
Yesterday, we discussed what the interviewees of "Faces of the Enemy" did after the documentary. It was very interesting to here what happened.
I was very surprised, yet relieved in a strange way that David Rice had not died. It was nice to hear that his sentencing was dropped for the death penalty to a life sentence without parole. I felt relieved because it made David Rice have to suffer with the consequences of killing innocent people for the rest of his life. Also, I felt relieved because of his psychological state. He was not in the right mental state to do this. It is to make him suffer the consequences rather than dying and not reliving the event in his mind for the rest of his life.
The real hero in the movie was the Vietnam Veteran. I love the fact that he used his previous life experiences in Vietnam to write great movies. In fact, I recently saw one of the movies he wrote, Flags of Our Fathers. I did not even realize he wrote that screenplay until I saw it on Nikki's blog. I had to watch the movie for another class and have been analyzing it. I love how he used the psychological turmoils he faced during the war to show the psychological states that the other Vietnam Veterans faced. It showed that a traumatic situation can be used to make a great movie.
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After, we finally (as in the sense we kept saying we would end it but didn't) concluded our discussion on torture by discussing the dialogue. I understand how readers could sympathize with Aaron's position since it is a commoner like us. I still like his view the most because it is not either extreme. I am a very indecisive person myself so I usually pick the middle ground as my position.
Then, we talked about wire-tapping. Wire-tapping is a concept that I do not quite understand the purpose of. I believe that it is useful, but the government is using it in the wrong way. Listening to random people's conversations does not same right to me. Sometimes I wonder if I saw in jokingly way, "I'm going to kill them" on the phone if the CIA is on the other line. It is taking our privacy away from us and is not right.
Overall, we discussed a lot, and I learned a lot from the class. Torture was a topic that needed to be talked about for a long period of time and liked that we explored many different areas of it.
I was very surprised, yet relieved in a strange way that David Rice had not died. It was nice to hear that his sentencing was dropped for the death penalty to a life sentence without parole. I felt relieved because it made David Rice have to suffer with the consequences of killing innocent people for the rest of his life. Also, I felt relieved because of his psychological state. He was not in the right mental state to do this. It is to make him suffer the consequences rather than dying and not reliving the event in his mind for the rest of his life.
The real hero in the movie was the Vietnam Veteran. I love the fact that he used his previous life experiences in Vietnam to write great movies. In fact, I recently saw one of the movies he wrote, Flags of Our Fathers. I did not even realize he wrote that screenplay until I saw it on Nikki's blog. I had to watch the movie for another class and have been analyzing it. I love how he used the psychological turmoils he faced during the war to show the psychological states that the other Vietnam Veterans faced. It showed that a traumatic situation can be used to make a great movie.
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After, we finally (as in the sense we kept saying we would end it but didn't) concluded our discussion on torture by discussing the dialogue. I understand how readers could sympathize with Aaron's position since it is a commoner like us. I still like his view the most because it is not either extreme. I am a very indecisive person myself so I usually pick the middle ground as my position.
Then, we talked about wire-tapping. Wire-tapping is a concept that I do not quite understand the purpose of. I believe that it is useful, but the government is using it in the wrong way. Listening to random people's conversations does not same right to me. Sometimes I wonder if I saw in jokingly way, "I'm going to kill them" on the phone if the CIA is on the other line. It is taking our privacy away from us and is not right.
Overall, we discussed a lot, and I learned a lot from the class. Torture was a topic that needed to be talked about for a long period of time and liked that we explored many different areas of it.
Faces of the Enemy continued
Watching the rest of "Faces of the Enemy" was very interesting. One thing that especially interested me was that the radical Christians said they were being "attacked" and that the other religions were the enemies. This was interesting because I believe that they are being hypocrites. In actuality, they are the enemies because they are attacking other religions and holding a grudge against the because they do not believe the same things. It showed that the enemies can actually be God's own people--the people who are so wrapped up into Christianity and do not accept others who are not. It shows me how in a sense categorizing yourself as a Christian can sometimes make you be categorized as an enemy. It shows that religious beliefs can cause some people to say some pretty ridiculous things.
Another interesting part of the movie was how David Rice drew his self portrait. It surprised me how he drew himself in a soldier outfit at war. It shows the psychological state he was in. This and other reasons lead people to draw the conclusion that he is schizophrenic. It shows how he was probably not in the right state of mind when killing those people. He believed he was fighting the war against communism and protecting himself by killing those people.
Another interesting part of the movie was how David Rice drew his self portrait. It surprised me how he drew himself in a soldier outfit at war. It shows the psychological state he was in. This and other reasons lead people to draw the conclusion that he is schizophrenic. It shows how he was probably not in the right state of mind when killing those people. He believed he was fighting the war against communism and protecting himself by killing those people.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Faces of the Enemy
The movie Faces of the Enemy shows what people view enemies to be. The part of the movie we saw yesterday showed enemies as murders and people who are against your religion.
The view of a murderer as an enemy was very interesting to me. This interested me because he talked about his victims being enemies since he believed the were communists (even though they were not.) This showed that the murderer has one view of who is the enemy while the jury of the case has a different view. It shows how open the term enemy is. An enemy could be someone who has physically or mentally hurt someone while it can be someone who has different beliefs than you. Furthermore, people believe that enemies can be someone who has different religious beliefs.
When the radical Christians stated that Jews, Muslim, and other religious groups were their enemies, I was disgusted. I do not understand why the qualify as an enemy. Yes they do have different beliefs, but they do believe in a God. Shouldn't that be the only thing that matters? By the Christians stating that, they are the true enemies. They are the ones that are "pin-pointing" people out and having issues with them for no good reason. This made me understand why people are so against organized relgion, and why people believe they are enemies. It is a lot easier to attack people who come from a different background or religion because there is no connection between you and the other person. However, I do not believe this attacking is right.
Hopefully, I will gain more insight while we watch the rest of the movie.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Government and Torture
The government and torture-- a question of great debate. With Bush nominating a new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, people are wondering if he will make the same mistakes as Alberto Gonzales. As of right now, both Gonzales and Mukasey do not have good reputations concering torture. Gonzales made the mistake of approving of the torture while Mukasey stated his views on torture they wrong way (as Professor Johnson stated in class).
Questions that were brought up were is waterbording torture or not? I would have to say yes. This could cause sometime to die and is torturing them by not letting them breathe air. Another important issue was discussed mental torture vs. physical torture. Which one is worse--the one that leaves permanent scares in the mind or the one that leaves temporary scares? I believe that mental torture is worse because it is longer lasting. Victims of mental torture have to remember for the rest of their lives the incident that occurred. This is where I think the Standford Dictionary of Philosophy goes wrong. Torture should not just be defined as physical torture. It should contain all aspects-- both mental and physical. I look forward to talking about this more tomorrow.
Questions that were brought up were is waterbording torture or not? I would have to say yes. This could cause sometime to die and is torturing them by not letting them breathe air. Another important issue was discussed mental torture vs. physical torture. Which one is worse--the one that leaves permanent scares in the mind or the one that leaves temporary scares? I believe that mental torture is worse because it is longer lasting. Victims of mental torture have to remember for the rest of their lives the incident that occurred. This is where I think the Standford Dictionary of Philosophy goes wrong. Torture should not just be defined as physical torture. It should contain all aspects-- both mental and physical. I look forward to talking about this more tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Death Penalty
Today when we tried to begin our discussion on torture, we talked about the death penalty, a particular type of torture. Throughout the whole class we discussed the question of whether there death penalty should still exist or not. It was interesting to see the views that each of my classmates had.
Nicole stated how flawed the system was. I agree with her completely. Rapists and murders should have the same punishment.
One of the biggest problems with the death penalty is that many innocent people who are found guilty are killed through the death penalty. Why should someones life be cut so short if they did not commit the crime? The movie that Hannah talked about seemed to address this problem to. In order for the death penalty to work, innocent people should not be killed. The government needs to make sure that they are absolutely certain that each person on death row committed the crimes they were accused from.
Another major problem is racism. It still exists today and affects the judicial system greatly. Many minorities are put on death row solely because people believe they committed the crimes because of their racial backgrounds. Race should not be an issue on deciding who goes on death row or not. In fact, minorities are the majority of people who are killed on death row each year.
I believe these two issues need to be resolved before the decision to stop the death penalty for good.
Nicole stated how flawed the system was. I agree with her completely. Rapists and murders should have the same punishment.
One of the biggest problems with the death penalty is that many innocent people who are found guilty are killed through the death penalty. Why should someones life be cut so short if they did not commit the crime? The movie that Hannah talked about seemed to address this problem to. In order for the death penalty to work, innocent people should not be killed. The government needs to make sure that they are absolutely certain that each person on death row committed the crimes they were accused from.
Another major problem is racism. It still exists today and affects the judicial system greatly. Many minorities are put on death row solely because people believe they committed the crimes because of their racial backgrounds. Race should not be an issue on deciding who goes on death row or not. In fact, minorities are the majority of people who are killed on death row each year.
I believe these two issues need to be resolved before the decision to stop the death penalty for good.
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