Happy Holidays?

What ever happened to being happy and joyful during the holidays? My friend and I were discussing this yesterday at D-Hall during lunch and I was just dumfounded by how uptight and enraged people get around this type of year. By this type of year, I mean Black Friday and Cyber Monday in particular. Every year it seems to get worse and worse with the amount of injuries and fights that break out over merchandise that is meant to be given to someone as a happy gift. Scenes such as this black friday video make me question the civility of some people. During the holidays, everyone is wanting to spread Christmas cheer or holiday spirit and be happy, but in order to do that you have to create a mob and violently retrieve the best deals? I do not think so. This type of behavior is so hypocritical and it's embarrassing to think that I am the same species as the people that commit these crimes. To think that people have actually died over the last couple of years from this "holiday" is just ridiculous. This induced stress that we put on ourselves to buy the best deals and get the best presents for the lowest prices is unnecessary. Maybe I am old fashioned by saying that the holidays are meant to be more about just being giving and generous to others but that is what I feel is true. Whether you are giving a brand new car to your spouse or giving your time to volunteer at a local food pantry it is all the same in hindsight view. So, in the end, just think about how you prepare for the holidays this December and remember that we are a civil people or at least supposed to be.

Social Media's Insecurity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a9El93UhEw&feature=endscreen&NR=1

This PSA is definitely a great one that is applicable to my generation and all generations to come because it is about the internet. The internet creates this false sense of belief that you can make any information you put on it is secure, but it is not. Anything that is posted or downloaded or somehow put online can be accessed by billions of people and that makes it necessary to be careful with what people especially teens post on it. Social media has a lot of great benefits to it and if used properly can be a great way to keep in touch with people or gain knowledge about anything. However, when it is misused, it can create some serious consequences. In this PSA, the audience can see that Sara is shocked by how many random people knew stuff about her. But, this is the case for anyone who is not safe when it comes to social media. Facebook and Twitter and any other major social media site can be manipulated and used against a person so you must be careful. Like my father always told me, "If you do not want whatever you are posting on the internet put on the headlines of the press, don't post it." It may seem radical, but it is true. So use the media properly and don't seem surprised like Sara when people bring up what you post online.

Eatin' Your Vegies

After watching the documentary "Forks over Knives", I was thoroughly shocked with the type of research that was done over analyzing our modern day diet. The documentary, primarily focusing on Dr. Essyslten (received his B.A. from Yale University and his M.D. from Western Reserve University) and Dr. Campbell (the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University and Project Director of the acclaimed China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project), talks about the terrible diet that many of the people across the world, especially Americans, consume on a daily basis. They say that the best and healthiest way to eat is by eating a plant based diet with no animal based products at all. Their research has proven that all of the essential nutrients/vitamins/minerals/whatever can be obtained by eating a variety of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. There has been much research done by these two doctors that prove that meat products, dairy products, and any other food from animals lead to many health hazards including diabetes (type 2), heart disease, and any other health problem that relates to eating too much processed foods or fats or oils. 

The documentary “Forks over Knives” is quite an interesting insight on how blinded most of the public of not only the US but also the world by how our diet should be. Personally, I was raised where you needed to drink milk every morning and get your protein from meats from beef, chicken, or fish. Yes, eating vegetables was very important too but not as important as stressed in this research. I could not imagine that one could get all essential vitamins and minerals and other important aspects of food solely from plant based foods. The modern day society of the US has become so accustomed to eating meat and dairy products that seeing that this research was done and done a fairly long time ago is quite astounding. I feel as if it is almost too late for this research to be shown because the meat/dairy industry has been so ingrained in our diet that it is almost too radical of a change to ask people to make. I know personally that after watching this video I noticed that I am a cliché example of a person who is the targeted audience for this movie (an avid meat/dairy consumer). It would be nearly impossible for me to cut out all of the meat and dairy I consume because it makes up such a big part of my original diet, however I do agree with the researchers when they say we should at least utilize this study and moderate the amount of animal based foods we consume.

            Now the research is very shocking and new to me, however the more important evidence that I see in this movie is how much our government promotes animal based foods to be consumed. After seeing this research done by Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Campbell, that the government would stop promoting diary and meat consumption, but it didn’t stop. The lobby men that are funded by the American meat industry or the representatives for the big dairy and meat corporations have seemingly corrupted our government to still push for this unhealthy diet we have adopted. As an American citizen, I am outraged that my own government is not making decisions that will better everyone’s homeostasis. The government has a very simple job in protecting the American people and by hiding this research or not promoting it just proves how poorly run our government currently is. This movie got me thinking about how ludicrous it is that our government still promotes animal based products and it makes me think even more on what else the government could be promoting that is truly not good. I don’t know who to believe in the government and I am almost too disappointed to have faith in our government anymore.

Evolution of Thought

After reading Nancy Sommer's "Between the Drafts", I am fully convinced that I found the reason or goal of receiving a college education. In this essay, Sommer addresses the problem that seems to be more prevalent in today's society. One of the most important points that I feel is made is this essay is when Sommer exposes that everything does not have to be an "either/or" proposition. There should be more than two solutions to a problem. In fact, there is. This mentality of only having two solutions to a problem is actually a stage of thinking that college students go through, according to William Perry. His "Perry scheme" is based on a study of Harvard students and this longitudinal study points out that college students have the potential to go through the four stages of thinking that leads to the ultimate goal that Sommer says by "having authority over what you say." These four stages include dualistic thinking (which is the "either/or" propositions), multiplistic thinking (which is the realization that there could be more than two solutions to a problem), relativistic thinking (the discovery of what the solutions to a certain problem actually are), and commitment to relativism (the "authority" that one declares for oneself). I feel that Nancy Sommer, throughout this essay, is bringing notice to this transformation through the Perry scheme that she and her students are going through. I feel that this transformation is key in order to become a fully functional member of society.

This is not the first class that has brought this point up to me in a lesson or article and that fact is the reason I feel that I realize why people receive a college education. Three of my professors, so far, have preached this evolution of thought from a dualistic thinker to an unconventional, independent thinker. Many problems with our society these days include the fact that many people are still stuck as dualistic thinkers where we cannot meet a middle ground and this leads to major conflict among people. Our government is a great example of dualistic thinkers. Just think about the candidates that we have running for our government positions, Republican or Democratic. That's it. There are some middle ground candidates, but very few get recognized by enough people to make them influential. We as a society need to step back from this type of thinking and start noticing that there are more than two sides to a story. Approaching any problem can include loads of solutions that all can be the "correct" solution. Nancy Sommer is also right when she points out that her past experiences has given her a unique authority to declare her opinion to people. This is a universal concept and it should be taken into consideration whenever there is a problem that needs to be solved. We need to stop being so close minded as a society and start giving the benefit of the doubt to any person who voices his/her opinion about a problem.