Reality

The three articles (The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, Why Women Smile, and Against Love) that we discussed in class today all shared the common purpose of exposing things for what they really are. Each of these articles looked at things for their actual value, stripped of all the ideas and images that people/society tend to wrap them with. Marriage, happiness, and society’s expectation for women to always present a smiling face are really not the nice things that we’re taught they are. Happiness never lasts, being stuck with one person till death do you part is not eternally romantic, and expecting women to hide their true emotions behind a submissive smile seems sick and sadistic. These things are what they are because of the ideas, expectations and emotions that we attach to them. The articles we discussed presented these things with the ideas that society attaches to them removed.

Seeing things for what they are can be unsettling because it causes us to question and reexamine our beliefs and ideas about these things. Admittedly these illusions serve to make the world seem like a prettier place and keep people moving the right direction (but whose direction is the “right” direction? Are they perhaps a tool for social control?).

What do you think? Do the ideas we associate with certain things enhance life? Or do they just serve to numb reality?

Peer-reviewing, eh?

First of, my sincerest apologies about the late post. Apparently I did not correctly submit this...

If I have counted correctly, this Tuesday was the third time we did peer-reviews in class. Personally I find that this seems to be helping me a lot. My peers usually point out awkwardly phrased sentences (I swear they look fine to me...) and arguments that I need to explain to a greater extent.
Yesterday, one of my peers asked me to define the word 'crux'. Here's what the dictionary says:

crux (krks, krks)
n. pl. crux·es or cru·ces (krsz)
1. The basic, central, or critical point or feature: the crux of the matter; the crux of an argument.
2. A puzzling or apparently insoluble problem.

Me being from a different country I automatically assume that each and every classmate that grew up in a english speaking country will know more words than me.
This simple example is something that I learned through the peer-reviews: don't just assume your audience knows everything, make sure to explain it thoroughly.

In which way has the peer-reviewing helped you? What did you folks learn?

Beacon Heights round 2

Sorry this post is sort of late I just barely figured out how to do this. Anyway, the other day we returned to Beacon Heights to speak with our kids about the book Three Cups of Tea. I love going to this school for so many reasons but one of this biggest is obviously my buddy, Anthony. Anthony is impressive. I don't know how many people were impressed by their kid but I was seriously taken back by some of the things he was saying for his presentation. After asking what he thought the book's meaning was, and what he thought were the most important ideas, Anthony's responses were fantastic.
Points that I had to dig up in the back of my mind were coming out like crazy! The kid knew exactly what he was talking about. Ideas like realizing what you have in front of you, helping others, etc but also why they are important. I did not even have to explain what the theme meant, he just kept going. Though he was a little anxious to do something else, Anthony wrote down a wonderful presentation and we discussed the book more after that. His main idea in his presentation was knowing that he, his classmates, and basically everyone he knows has more than they need. Others obviously don't have what he and his peers consider basic necessity.
The main thing he and I talked about was education. The children in this book, across the world in third world countries, etc do not have even a little bit of what he has. Anthony fully grasps that he is incredibly fortunate and I found this to be really impressive. Most children would say "School sucks" etc, but he seems to cherish the fact that he is in a great community, with great parents, and will continue to receive great education. I love the fact that he is grateful for what he has at such a young age. So thank you Leslie and Barb, Anthony, and all of the kids. I loved this school, my buddy, and learning with him as well.
-Pete

Selflessness

While I was not able to attend the presentation at BYU, I have have been thinking about Greg Mortenson, the Pennies for Peace program and altruism in general. Some people, like Mortenson, can dedicate there lives to helping others or trying to make a better world. What makes these people different? Is there something different about thier personalities, upbringing, cercumstance, or are most people able to rise to similar (in intent, if not scale) levels of selflessness if given enough motivation, or seeing a great enough plite first hand?

Greg Mortenson

According to my calendar It's my turn to do the post for the blog. I want to begin by saying that I didn't go to the Greg Mortenson event at BYU mainly because I was late and the bus had left by then. I went back home and at about 11:45 It accurred to me that maybe I could watch him on TV and there he was on channel 11. From what I saw I believe he is a very inspiring person, I only got to see the part were he tells students that faculty are always there to help you and that education is good. then the lady got up and started praying and all that. He was wearing a suit and a red tie if you don't believe me a saw him on TV. I read the book so I suppose he talked about the schools in pakistan and he showed you guys some pictures. So, since I missed most of the show all I can do is ask the people who went there, what was your favorite part? did you learn anything? Did he inspire you to help out people in need a little bit more? As for me when I read the book I realized that there are always people who are willing to lend a hand when you need help and that people will try to help you anyway they can no matter how hard it is, like in Greg's case, he needed help to build the school and he got it and the people of korphe asked him for help to build a new school and he helped them out.

Beacon Heights Book club

When I saw Chloe, my first impression was that she was prepared and ready to go with her copy of the book and notebook in hand. Initially, she was not willing to talk and when I asked her a question she would reply with a 'mmm' or 'umm'. Eventually. I coaxed and encouraged her to talk and get more involved in the discussion. This took some time but she started to open up and talk . I assumed that she was perhaps too shy to talk.
I asked her what part of the story was her favorite and she said that her favorite part was when Greg Mortenson married Tara Bishop just after ten days of knowing her. This was her favorite because she thought that it is strange to marry someone after ten days of meeting the person. To me, that is an interesting perspective from a nine year old girl. We both learnt about generosity, perseverance and sacrifice. I helped her write her statement based on our discussion and views gathered. The book helped her realize how privileged she was to have an education and also understand the needs of other less privileged people. The book club was beneficial because I got to share ideas with my buddy and see her point of view on the book.
I guess others had similar or different experiences with their buddies. What was your experience and did you learn something new?

Pop Press

Pop press articles seem to have become a mockery in our class. We can easily bash Newsweek and Parade for a few extra brownie points with Barb and Leslie, and nod our heads whenever a peer reviewed journal is mentioned. But before this class, I loved pop press. I still do, actually. I’m easily sold on the glossy covers and artistic layouts of the articles, and I automatically flip to pieces with sensationalized titles like “The Boy Crisis” or “Working Out Can Make You Fat” (both of which were Newsweek covers). So when we seemed to discover the “un-truth” of pop press, I wondered not if, but how much, I had been told faulty information in all of those articles I’d read before. This leads me to an uncomfortable situation. I want to be accurately informed on issues in our society, but reading pop press is the only outlet I am comfortable with to find information. Because to be honest, going onto GriffinSearch or Google Scholar to see what’s going on in the world would be ridiculous. Instead, I think the only healthy way for me to continue being informed is to keep reading TIME and Newsweek. Double checking the facts pop press articles present by researching the actual studies they cite is a good safety net to make sure they aren’t horribly skewing the facts, but it doesn’t always seem plausible (mostly because I want to have a life). So my question is, how do you guys stay informed? Do you read pop press like me? Or do you browse through peer reviewed journals in your spare time? Have you found an in-between?