Free Journal #3: Am I lazy??

......Yes!

This one is that bonus assignment from the Friday before the break, which was supposed to double as a journal. Whooo got all 5 done, don't look at the dates, those are just Blogger's lies (technical error and such, happens ALL the time)

After I Saw 300 (And Wrote This Journal) I Felt Like Punching the Guy Next To Me In the Face

During Carissa and Adam’s Friday debate/presentation we questioned whether or not Humans were inherently violent or if outside factors can manipulate this. Many ideas were presented through PowerPoint, and a really cool short video, such as how religion, television, movies or video games can or can’t contribute to human violence. The media truly is one of the most powerful influences on people, especially for us as young adults. Many TV episodes, movies, or video games present very violent or gruesome images as well and after seeing so much, perhaps it’s possible to become desensitized to the violent acts we witness, making it honestly not affect us a second time. Could this mean the violence shown will continue to escalate?

In the grade 11 course we read an article about Lt. Col. Dave Grossman’s novel “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.” It was about how during his time in the military he saw how some of the soldiers became conditioned to becoming psychologically fit for killing other human beings. The methods described weren’t something extremely far out, it just involved overexposing the recruits to violent games and movies for an extended period of time. He argues that we really do become desensitized to the violence and can really take on the psychological mindset of a killer, if necessary. During our discussion in class however, many people disagreed with this. The general consensus was that video games can be considered simply entertainment or movies can be consciously pushed aside as not real and we can therefore use them to relax or relieve stress. For the most part I agree with this, considering there have been safety precautions set in place, such as on video games the ESRB ratings. These are to prevent people of a young and unfit age to gain access to the really violent pieces of software. I know this is stressed because the cute chick at EB games seems to like to ID me and look at my horrible driver’s license picture. Nonetheless, there are many ways to get around this and perhaps age itself doesn’t necessarily reflect a person’s true mental state. Also, things like TV shows can’t be as easily blocked off. Also it is pretty easy to see the violence in games increase. In prior generations, it was very easy to understand nothing was real, because nothing actually LOOKED remotely real and a lot was up to the imagination. Now everything is created with complete photo realism. When you are shooting a person in a game, there is almost no denying it could be a real person.

Another issue can be the image of reality the media portrays to us. It is important to realize just how much the media affects our lives. Just thinking on a daily level, we are all presented hundreds of advertisements, through TV, billboards, internet etc, so much though that it really does affect our outlook on many things. As humans, we have a strong pull towards conformity and the media can make that be whatever they so wish. Just looking at the news on any given day, there can be many horrific stories or images. On a general scale things aren’t truly that bad, however who would watch the news if they simply reminded us everything is alright. Media studies has taught me that ALL MEDIA ARE CONSTRUCTIONS, so even the news, being composed of all real life incidents is also constructed in order to make the public feel a certain way. In constantly seeing the outside world as a dangerous and violent place, something known as the “mean world syndrome” comes into place. People’s actions can completely reflect their thoughts and so if they see the world as something dark they can act accordingly. Another thing is that in the past, TV was much stricter on what was shown and what wasn’t to be ever even thought of being broadcasted. The perfect family image was always the most prominent, but now it is much more eased back. Although many networks will try and put a cap on the intensity of what is shown, it’s hard to deny that people are interested in the violence. Crime drama programs which build their stories off of a brutal murder or something along those lines are extremely popular. (But back in the day, people would go to see real life executions) Even though some may consider shows like Jerry Springer to be completely trashy, even more will continue to daily watch it. I have to admit, it is entertaining.

In conclusion, no matter whether or not humans are inherently violent, it is clear that the media does have a strong impact on bringing out those instincts. (Also, on a side note I would have to say it is very possible that we are inherently violent. In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies,” the poor innocent children had succumb to becoming completely savage due to the lack of order on the island and poor Piggy and Simon died. The powerful themes brought out in the novel always stuck in my mind and furthermore, if it’s in a book then it HAS to be true. ) From TV, to movies to video games, we are all exposed to a very understandable rise in the impact and quantity of violent images. Nevertheless, we still have the ability to distinguish what is real and what isn’t and therefore even if it takes a struggle, can maintain to be civilized. Parents should be extremely aware of what exactly their kids are being exposed to and help to further clarify that what they are witnessing isn’t real. Also they should never buy their child Grand Theft Auto 4.

Obama Bringin' Change! But so is Technology

Prior to the break, we were discussing the topics of how society functions as well as social change. Technology is a very significant factor of social change because of all its positive or beneficial uses as well as its potential consequences. It is clear that in the past, great inventions such as the Gutenberg printing press, the steam engine and the automobile have greatly changed past society. In addition, our present society is now constantly inventing, innovating and expanding on extremely sophisticated new technologies. So much so, that the past decade and a half is sometimes referred to as “The Technological Revolution.” But how has this impacted our present day society? Can there really be severe consequences?

I agree completely with the past examples of technology bringing widespread change (maybe even faster than Obama). The printing press allowed for the written word to spread to everyone, including the commoners, helping to spread both the Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance Humanist style of thinking, which lead to the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. The steam engine was so revolutionary it sparked the entire Industrial Revolution, allowing factories to be placed anywhere and allowing finished goods to be transported very quickly. This also allowed the populations to travel across entire continents. Finally, the automobile greatly shifted changed the lifestyle of the previous generations. Having a vehicle allowed people or families the freedom to live wherever they choose and still be able to travel to work or to any locations they want or need to reach. It caused suburbanization, which meant people would live outside of the big cities, in more cozy residential areas.

Present day, even more wonders have come into existence, that have created amazing and extensive changes. The most prevalent of these is the Computer and along with it the Internet. The rise of the internet has allowed any form of information to be accessed by any computer, anywhere in the world. People can share knowledge or communicate on an entirely global basis. What is even more amazing is that these inventions continue to grow and expand. It’s as though the technology we create inspires us to create even greater inventions. So much so that is has become a case of: what came first the chicken or the egg? I think it is still our own human remorsefulness that does most of the work, but there is no doubt technology will continue to play a huge role in changing and shaping our future society.

However, this will come with several consequences which are nonetheless quite interesting. The rate of change is an issue, since it really has moved to a rapid pace; those left behind can really get left behind. Furthermore economics also comes into play, since to constantly upgrade or replace devices it can be very costly. Some people also can become obsessed with all the new wonders and become slightly addicted. Others may still be using dial up internet or an old Mp3 player instead of the newest Ipods or even the Ipod Touch. Having the newest devices is almost like a status symbol. But trying to constantly keep up can lead to something known as “The amonie effect” or future shock. Another consequence is that when the devices don’t work as they are supposed to, people get really frustrated or feel anxiety.

Finally the issue I find most believable, is how the means to communicate have changed so drastically, that talking through means of Facebook or a text message can be more common than face to face. This can be a very tough obstacle to overcome for many, since a very large portion of meaning in communication comes from the non verbal parts, such as hand gestures or facial expression or the tone of voice can also play a role. These are replaced by emoticons, which although extremely fun to type, don’t really convey true emotion. Another issue is that the means to connect and stay connected with your circle of friends, or co-workers has expanded so much that sometimes it isn’t necessary to socialize with strangers or meet new people. So when you are out in the world in an unfamiliar setting, since it’s so easy to stay in contact with people you already know, why take the effort to try and talk to someone new? Mr. Sirianni mentioned this, through explaining his trip to England and how everyone on the train or plane was caught up in their own little word, their private network. I also saw this, when I was at driving lessons. Many people came from different schools or areas bringing at most 1 friend and for the most part very few people talked. Everyone, including me had their phones to talk to their other friends to kill the time rather than starting a conversation with the other people. (Although I added the cute chick who sat across from me to Facebook!) This means that in contradiction, even though sometimes real opportunities can be missed, however a whole world of new people to meet are closer than ever. Through the internet the whole world is united and a global community is created. I know I have met some interesting people online, whether fairly local or completely foreign I otherwise may never have gotten to know them.

In conclusion, technology is a very powerful agent of change in society that through the past has been proven to completely shape how people live and perceive the world around them. Even though our modern day society may be developing technology at an even more rapid pace, the awe inspiring benefits far surpass the negatives and the future is continuing to look even more amazing.

B.F. Skinner: Best Presentation Ever! (and his buddy Ivan Pavlov )

B.F. Skinner was a very influential psychologist in the 20th century, who also wrote many articles as books and interestingly enough created some unique inventions. After researching Skinner sufficiently in order to prepare a (serious) presentation, I have learned a great deal about Skinner’s life and his contributions to the field of psychology, specifically his theories in Behaviourism and Operant Conditioning. Furthermore, after listening listening to what everyone else had to say about other important social scientists, some clear connections can be made. B.F. Skinner is most relatable to another, arguably more famous behaviourist: Ivan Pavlov. Behaviourism is a branch of psychology that deals with trying to predict and modify human behaviour. Both Skinner and Pavlov went about this by experimenting on animals. Both experiments I would say are extremely brilliant and the results are very understandable and apply to many real life situations.

First, Skinners experiment is known as the Operant Conditioning Chamber, or the Skinner Box. Inside this box, he placed a rat (or pigeon) into a special cage, in which all of the necessities for the creature could be self obtained. There were very accessible levers controlling 4 distinct things. The first was to dispense the food, the second could pour water, the third did absolutely nothing at all, and finally the final one would offer the rat a mild shock. From this the rat learned to only press the levers with favourable results and not the other two. This demonstrated that different types of reinforcement can result in shaping behaviour, which is the basis of Operant Conditioning.

There are four major types of reinforcements: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment and finally negative punishment. Positive reinforcement involves introducing a positive stimulus in order to increase the frequency of a behaviour and positive punishment is its opposite, involving a decrease in the behaviour’s frequency and an aversive stimulus. Examples of these include getting candy for answering a question correctly or a severe punishment such as jail time for breaking the law. On the negative side, there is negative reinforcement, which involves an unpleasant stimulus in order to increase a behaviour, (such as receiving a detention in order to promote being on time) or the punishment of taking away a positive stimulus in order to decrease a behaviour. (not getting anything good from the grocery store because of being greedy and trying to throw lots of stuff into the cart) All of these things feel very natural, likely because they have been experienced in various forms. Skinner’s theory was very influential in the education system. If teachers could use operant conditioning, especially positive reinforcement well, the children could be trained to learn a lot better.

Next, Ivan Pavlov’s accomplishments are also very astounding. Pavlov used a salivating dog to demonstrate Classical Conditioning. Classical Conditioning is best explained as learning through association. For example, in Pavlov’s famous experiment he trained the dog to salivate just by ringing a bell. Each night he would ring the bell while presenting the dog with meat. The Unconditioned Response of salivating would be associated with the Unconditioned Stimulus of the food but also the Conditioned Stimulus the bell. In associating the two things, after a while all that was needed was the dog to hear the bell to realize food would be coming and would therefore begin to salivate. When this happened it is also referred to as the Conditioned Response. I first learned about this in a science class where as a group we wanted to train a rat to make it through a maze composed of only right turns. Marketers use this idea as a subtle way to promote their products. For example Mc Donald’s new commercial was about a father having a heartfelt moment with his daughter after a hockey game. Without even saying anything about the food or drinks, just associating this happy moment with the store in general will get parents to also want to go there.

In comparison, both theories deal with trying to understand how we learn. Each scientist used animals in very ingenious experiments in order to analyze this more carefully. More specifically, both results are very presentable and easy to understand. They really take the idea to its most basic form and it’s very difficult to try and disagree with them, as almost anyone can think of a past experience where they may have come into play. I know that I as a high school student realize that 1 bell means start thinking about heading to class, or maybe take one more lap and two bells means I should probably have been in class by then… But just a ringing bell wouldn’t naturally do that, it was associated with the time schedule. Another similarity is that Operant Conditioning is also in a way learning through association, since reinforcement is another object that your mind connects with the desired behaviour. The difference is that they are a lot more specific and have positives or negatives attached to them, whereas Classical Conditioning can associate completely separate Stimuli together.

To conclude, both famous Behaviourists Skinner and Pavlov’s fascinating experiments resulted in very impressive theories on how we as humans learn. There are many similarities and differences between their discoveries, however without doubt both are very influential innovations in the field of psychology. Also I think my presentation was way underrated, should have been at least A+

This blog needs more...

NEKO CASE!





but also....3 more journals? There whas just no whey!! wow this is gonna be tough. The bonus thing we did before the break was also supposed to count as a journal I think (I hope) Oh and this doesn't count as a journal, although if it was I bet it would be A+ ..

Is Studying Social Change "An Inconvenient Truth"?

Over the past month we have been studying the topic of social change, including different theories explaining the change and causes for it. But why is learning about social change so important? It seems at first glance somewhat useless, if we are to continue to progress forward then how can we continue to look to the past? After reading the article titled, "A Tale of Two Farms" and furthermore watching Al Gore’s inspirational documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” many extremely substantial reasons became clear.

First, understanding social change is crucial because patterns of change often repeat themselves, and learning from the past is an excellent way to ensure that an even better course of action can be taken for the future. In "A Tale of Two Farms", famous American Geologist and Anthropologist Jared Diamond wrote “The past offers us a rich database from which we can learn, in order that we may keep on succeeding.” This is because in the article Diamond compared and contrasted two farms: The Gardar Farm from Norse Greenland and the Huls Farm in the American State of Montana. The two farms faced very similar economic and environmental conditions, yet it failed and went under, whereas the American Farm is currently prospering. Diamond is an expert on social change, especially after his extremely solid Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel. In this novel he explores the factors dating back to the earliest forms of civilization that lead to the ultimate supremacy western civilization had compared to any other societies.

After introducing the article with the strongly thematic farm analysis, Jared Diamond writes about how and why societies from the past have collapsed and furthermore, contemplates whether or not it is possible or not in our modern and extremely technological society. He ties their tragic downfalls to environmental factors, such as running out of a crucial resource. All of these cases followed very similar sequences, which lead to a civilization with a massive population, rapidly decreasing. Diamond states, “Past peoples were neither ignorant, nor bad managers who deserved to be ex-terminated or dispossessed, nor all-knowing conscientious environmentalists who solved problems that we can’t solve today. They were people like us, facing problems that we can’t solve today.” I honestly would have doubted the last fact before seeing “An Inconvenient Truth”

Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States and active environmentalist’s passionate and shocking documentary brings up this very same issue. He describes in extremely clear and well thought out, relatable description the foreboding dangers of Global Warming and more importantly tries to provide plausible solutions. His many examples of effects of global warming and shocking graphs, especially some extremely off the chart bring his point into clear sight. When he showed the chart of how high the carbon in our atmosphere was in the past several decades and how massive a role it could play within the next 50 years (OUR lifetime) my eyes were definitely opened. Global Warming is a very real threat and will take a Global effort to stop. His warnings were extremely factually based, he took models of data in some cases dated back to prehistoric days and compared them with our own time, and the result was outrageous. Our society has changed so drastically from prior years that maybe we have come too far. Although there is no fighting the speed and influence of technology, we will definitely need to find an equilibrium with the environment if we are to continue to grow and expand as a society. The former Vice President also mentions that it is our own ignorance which is hindering the efforts to stop Global Warming. This also relates to the note about obstacles to social change (such as Mr. Sirianni’s dad)

In conclusion, understanding Social change is absolutely necessary in ensuring a sustainable future for our Canadian as well as our Global society. Jared Diamond’s "A Tale of Two Farms" article proved in his article that all societies can reach collapse due to factors that at the time seem completely out of their control. Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” has explained the extreme dangers, in which our society today is facing. Perhaps looking to the past and studying the accomplishments mistakes of our ancestors’ developing societies can help us make the acceptable decisions on ensuring our survival.