Homework 10

1. An example of a social interaction that I have witnessed and taken a part of that exemplifies American culture is how people greet each other. Usually in passing people will just ask “How are you?”, when they do not necessarily mean it. Often times people say that just to be polite when they really just do not want to spend time to interact. People will just say it in passing to be polite and converse. Usually people just respond by saying that they are good and then they ask the same question back. No matter if they are having a great day or a terrible day, the question is usually answered in the same way. It exemplifies our culture of being self-centered and lazy. If we really cared about each person we asked that to, we would stop and actually listen to what they had to say about their lives. Usually we care more about ourselves, and how we feel, or where we need to be, that we just play it off and say it in passing. Other cultures value conversation and will stop everything to have discussions, but we are usually always on the go and tight with time, that we do not make other people a priority.

2. An interaction that exemplifies a group’s culture I am a part of is at my church. I am really involved with my congregation. Everyone goes out of their way to know you. They make sure to spend time talking to you and getting to know you. They ask about your life and actually remember it. They will ask follow up questions later weeks of church. Each church is also different in the way they present themselves. The way they do music, worship, and events are all different. Our church is unique because we do a lot of events that are not focused on worshipping. We have events like going to a shooting range, snowboarding, and tea parties. Other churches and people who do not go to church may think that the way we do things is different just because they do not do it the same way, but that is why there are different groups. If everyone liked the same thing there would not be anything that makes the different groups unique.

 

 3. One thing that I do that shows individuality is how I am a leader at my church. A lot of people would not want to spend time with kids in elementary, middle, and high school. I love spending time with them and getting to know them. I like being a role model to them and trying to do my best so I can show them the way you should act. I do not always do or say the right thing, but I try my best. It shows individuality because a lot of people would not want to spend time worrying about other people. They would just be worried about themselves, especially once you move away to college. I spend a lot of time on the phone or video messaging the girls I mentor from home. If they have a problem, I focus on it and try to help them get through it. Not everyone would want to do things like this because it takes a lot of work. I would never stop doing it, though. I love helping other people as much as I can.

Homework 8

1. Two things people could find that are different is that college is not all about partying. Many students spend a lot of time in study rooms and the library. Another thing that is different is that students do not just have money to spend on random things. In movies and tv it seems like college kids go out all of the time, but typically funds are tight. I think it is depicted like this because students do go out to parties, and spend money on fun things sometimes, but it’s not an everyday thing. They highlight the positives on Tv.

2. Americans have the mindset that time is money. Time is the main focus of the day because there is a schedule for everything, school, work, etc. I think that we view time in this manner simple for organization and structure throughout the day. If we didn’t have time how would we know how long we spent at work, or what time to be at class? It is a convince factor.

3.Interruptions are thought of as a negative thing. People focus on time and like to make sure that they are sticking to a schedule that they make. If there is an interruption it makes it so that the plan is not on schedule anymore. There is only so much time in the day and people fill it with as much as they can and when one thing runs longer than planned, it can affect the whole day.

4. I found it interesting when it said as a member of the academic community, you will be expected to treat everyone with respect and can expect to be treated courteously by others. I think that is a true statement and it should be followed. If you want to be professional and academic, you need to treat people the way you would like to be treated by them.

Homework 7

1. Money creates less of a social environment. It creates a gap between rich people and poor people, and people are focused on buying things and having things that are not important. Once money is introduced, people do not need to interact with people because trading pretty much becomes obsolete when you just have paper that you can give for all of your wants and needs. It just becomes a simple transaction.

2. I think that they were better off before money. People started to become greedy and impersonal. They also depended on themselves more. They needed to make a living on their own and depend on things that they did to trade with other things. Once they had money they started to become greedy and dependent on currency. It also made it harder to keep certain jobs like farming.

3. The sentence that stuck out to me is the one that simply said “Relationships change”. I think it is very true about everything. Things are constantly changing with people. Each person is constantly changing, which leads to constantly changing relationships. I think that can apply to anything in life.

4. Two positives would be that People are accepted for who they are, and it makes people go outside their own world and embrace other people. Two negatives could be that culture can be lost and people do not have their own identity anymore.

The New Politics of Consumption

1.  A societal focus on buying material items could create alienation or isolation for many reasons. If people are constantly worried about material items, they would spend all of their time working to make money. If people are constantly wanting things, they will never be satisfied. When will they draw the line and decide that they have enough stuff? It just becomes a downward spiral of working harder to make more money to buy more things. They will lose the interest in just being with other people. People focus on consuming and producing and pretend people do not exist. Who needs love and relationships when you have money…? That seems to be the choice of many people.

2. If average salaries were to increase to a more reasonable income I do not think it would solve any problems. I had said that a focus on materials creates a never ending cycle, and i think that a higher income would not change that fact. If people have more money, they will just want more expensive things. There is an unlimited amount of products that people have access to; how much of that is actually attained is just a matter of how much money they have. If households have higher salaries I also think some people will take money for granted. If they have an abundance and can buy anything they want, it will not have as much value.

3. Three societal factors that encourage competitive consumption are commercials, Hollywood,  and name brands. People in cliques tend to be interested in the same things and have similar tastes and items. If one person in a clique has something name brand, other people feel like they need to have it too, so they can be included. Commercials also make people feel like they need more because it encourages and advertises newer and better products. Hollywood also encourages competitive consumption because celebrities are idolized in our society. People compare themselves to other people, so they keep buying things that they see other people buy to imitate their lifestyle.

4.  Competitive consumption shapes my identity differently than i feel it does most people. I do not like name brands or “mainstream” clothing. So it may seem to other people that I am laid back. I was not exactly sure how to answer this question at first, so I asked a friend what they thought about this for me. They said i am not worried about fitting in with clothes or style, so it makes it easy for me to approach or fit in with a variety styles. I do not pay too much attention to what other people are buying or wearing, so people do not pay that much attention to what I am wearing, or so my friends say. I do not like a specific style, I choose individual things i like.

Moral Machines

1. I think an incident like the catastrophic one in the reading is possible. People often rely on technology and machines to do work. I think people are so eager to have and use new technology that it is very possible for it to get out of hand. I think that some people depend a little too much on machines to the point of laziness. People could trust them very easily, and it could backfire. I do not think that a situation like this is likey to happen, but i do think it is possible.

2. I think that if robots are actually able to be created and function like humans, it will not be during our lifetimes. I think that it will negatively influence human identities. If they could think and function like humans, what would make us any better or different than a machine?

3. Positives could be  accuracy and efficiency with whatever the machines are created for, and less work that people would have to do. Negatives could be malfunctioning. Any form of technology fails at some point. If we are relying on machines, and they fail to work, we may not be able to get certain things done that need to be done.

4. Last semester i was taking a 10 point quiz on moodle with my laptop. My screen shut out and closed me out of the quiz. I tried to talk to my teacher and explain what happened, but she did not believe me. It caused me to get a 0 out of 10 on a quiz that I did not even get to finish.

Morality

1. My first reaction to the list of people was to say that Mother Theresa is the most admirable. However, I have read what the author has to say; and I have thought about it more. My answer has changed to thinking that all three of them are equally admirable. Everyone is different and has different things available to them. They all have helped different people in different ways. All three of them have their own personalities, resources, and people supporting them. Naturally they would not all be taking the same route to help people. I think it is admirable that they have changed lives and helped people to the best of their abilities.

2. Two people that I find admirable are my mother and my grandmother. I know they are not worldly figures, but they are still the two people that I find the most admirable. I chose both of them because I have learned almost everything from them. They have raised me and shaped me to become the person I am today. I think they have both made outstanding decisions in life and have really been positive influences on many people. I admire all they have done for everyone, from my family to strangers they have just met. They are constantly considerate towards other people, and they truly care about everyone. What this says about they way I view morality is that I base it on my surroundings and how i was raised. The way I make moral judgments is the was i was raised to make them.

3. I think that there is a universal morality. Like it said in the reading, even little kids will tell you what is right and wrong. I would say that there are some grey areas where some people would say something is okay, when others would say otherwise. I would say that overall, people know and generally agree on what is right and wrong.

4. The five elements of morality are fairness, community, harm, authority and purity. I think Americans tend to rank community first. People are always worried about their social circle, their family, their church, etc. When tragedies strike, people come together and form groups. People also look to others for comfort if they need it.