Homework #11

There are many cultural artifacts that represent American culture.  I think that a college would be a good artifact to represent America.  A college shows that Americans are educated and have the opportunity to go to college after high school if we choose to do so.  Education is very important in America.  If an American doesn’t have a college degree they have a little chance at getting a high paying job.

Another artifact that represents American culture is music.  There are so many different varieties of music listened to all across the U.S.  Most American teens like pop and rap types of music.  My parents like disco music along with other genres such as classical and jazz.  It all depends on the generation that you grew up in.  Music is a very big thing in America.  Millions of dollars are spent on concerts to see the most popular artists.  American music is a lot different than other countries.  It sets our culture apart from another.

Give It Our All

Let’s never give in,
to complaints nor fear.
With our eyes on our goals,
the right direction we steer.

No matter the circumstances,
with great effort we should always try.
We must pick ourselves up,
when we get bruised and we cry.

Opportunities are plentiful,
let’s just open our eyes.
Our dreams we shall nurture,
as we stare to the skies.

The trick is to create value,
that’s honest and real.
By following our passions,
in our hearts, we shall feel.

If we never hold back,
and just give it our all.
No challenge or obstacle,
shall ever be tall.

 

The poem above is very meaningful to me.  It explains life and how you ought to live.  We always need to try our hardest and do everything to the best of our ability.  The only way to succeed in life is to put your best foot forward and I believe that this is what the poem is saying.  We have to conquer our fears and live each and everyday to the fullest.  Not everything in life goes exactly as we plan and bad things happen to everyone but this poem really inspires me to never give up.  This poem is how I try to live each and everyday.

Homework #10

Every different culture has a set of beliefs or customs that set it apart from another.  Whether it be religion, food or language, all countries across the world differ in some ways.  American culture is different than Chinese culture and so on and so forth.  Some cultures can be similar is some ways but, overall cultures vary from country to country.

American culture is very unique in several different ways.  It seems that people in America live a very free type of lifestyle.  Americans like to be trend setters and they tend to come up with many new ideas and styles.  I think that the uniqueness of American individuals exemplifies American culture.  All Americans like to be different, whether it be the type of music we listen to or the type of gender that we are interested in.

My family and friends have a lot to do with the way I act as an American.  I am a Catholic and I try to always act that way.  I grew up around a family that always went to church and I went to a Catholic grade school.  I was apart of the varsity girls basketball team all throughout high school and I consider myself a leader because of that.  I work well with others and always treat others the way that I want to be treated.  I would not consider myself unique in the type of clothing I wear or the type of food that I eat.  I know that other Americans try very hard to be different but that has never been very important to me.  I don’t do things that would upset my parents or make myself stick out in any way.

The only thing that I would consider unique about me is the type of music that I listen to.  I will listen to everything and anything to at least give it a shot.  It seems that I like almost all of the music that I hear.  From rap to jazz and anything in between.  I like to listen to music from other countries so that I can diversify myself and get a taste of another cultures music.  My taste in music is very individualistic.  I like to listen to things that aren’t very popular or played on the radia 24/7 and in this way I am very different than the majority of Americans.

American culture is very unique in comparison to other countries across the world.  We live in a free nation and therefore like to do things that aren’t typical to the norm.  Most Americans consider themselves to be very unique and we like to explore new things.  The bottom line is that Americans like to have fun.  Tattoes and piercings among Americans are more common than not.  All countries are different but I believe that American culture is one of the most unique cultures across the world.  Why else would so many immigrants want to come here?

 

 

 

 

Homework #9

1.  Americans find it rude to talk about how much money a person makes, religion and relationship status.  It is rude to get involved in another person’s financial situation because it does not involve you.  Talking about religion or asking someone why they believe what they believe can very much offend that person.  Relationship status is rude to talk about because if you ask someone why they are single, that can hurt the other person’s feelings even if you don’t realize it at the time.

2.  In Thailand they do not find the same things rude that we do in the United States.  All countries are different and therefore have different idea’s about what is rude and what isn’t.  The way we live is also different in the U.S. compared to Thailand.

3.  In American culture being an individual is very important.  Americans like to be able to express themselves openly and they want to be accepted.  An example could be homosexuality.  In other countries it is punishable to act on a homosexual way of life but in the U.S. gay marriage is legal in some states.  This is just one example of how our culture differs from other countries.

Homework #6 Macho Men

1. The first three things that come to my mind when I think of the word “masculine” are: a sports car, a harley davidsen motorcycle and timberline boots.  These three things are very masculine in my opinion.  Men love cars, motorcyles and boots.  I automatically think of these three things because they are thought to be masculine because they are things that men like.

2. Males are pressured to be masculine and it is seen as feminine when a man cries.  I do not personally think that a man crying is feminine but some Americans do believe this to be true.  Males are also pressured to keep their feelings bottled up inside because when a man complains about something or gets upset it is not very “masculine” of them.  Men are suppose to act tough and therefore, keep their emotions bottled up inside.

Homework #6

1.  I’d say that the media has the biggest influence on my views regarding body image.  On commercials they always seem to have the most skinny and beautiful people using their product.  Even the Barbie doll that I played with when I was a little girl had an influence on what I thought the average body should look like.  Nobody in my immediate family is over weight and I think that has an influence on my views regarding body image, also.  It is not healthy to be over weight.  I enjoy working out so even if I am not the most healthy eater I always try to work out and maintain an average weight.  Companies don’t have over weight people in their commercials because being skinny is what most people strive to be.  Some of the models that we find in magazines, though, are under weight.  That is not a healthy body image that anyone should be looking up to.  It is not healthy to be under weight or over weight so you have to find a medium in between them both.  You can’t let the media alter what you think the ideal body should look like.

2.  I think that American culture has different expectations on men and women regarding body image.  Men should have muscles and be tall.  Women should be tiny and skinny.  I think in American culture it is more expected of a woman to be skinny than it is of men to be skinny.  Our culture believes that men shouldn’t be too scrony and women shouldn’t be fat.  At least in my opinion that is what most people expect.  I don’t think that it is healthy to be very over or under weight.  In a perfect world, men and women would be accepted for the type of person that they are and not by their size.  But, it isn’t a perfect world and I think people will always be judged by their appearance.

 

Homework #4

1. Schor argues that our consumer culture creates alienation.  Schor is probably right because in today’s culture it seems like people care more about the things that they have and not as much about their values.  People tend to compete to have the best things and care a lot about money.  This is where the alienation comes in.  People who only care about the things that they have are alienating themselves from what is really important in life which is your values and the people that you share those values with.

2. If the average salaries were to increase it would definitely not solve any of the problems listed in my 1st answer.  It would probably only make things worse.  It seems like the people who have less money seem to value what little things they have and the people who have “everything” don’t appreciate it.  If people made more money a year I don’t think it would make them appreciate anything anymore than they already do.

3. It is definitely true that people try to keep up with the norms of their social group or those in a higher social group than their own.  For example, my uncle is always trying to compete with my dad even in little ways.  When we got a new car he went out and bought a new car.  When we got a dog, he got a dog.  It might just be by chance but I think people are always competing with one another to have the best things.  This happens between family members, friends and co-workers.  I feel as though people think that there is some sort of standard that they have to live up to.  If people would just worry about themselves and not about what everyone else has I think we would be a lot better off.

4. It seems like all people want to have the best things.  I can admit that in middle school and high school when my friends got things that were “cool” I wanted to get them too.  “Competitive consumption” affects everyone.  It is really hard to not worry about what other people have and to just focus on yourself.  It would be a lot better if everyone just did that.  “Competitive consumption” is good for the economy but that is about the only thing that it is good for.  I feel like as people get older they don’t worry about other people and what they have as much.  We learn to appreciate the finer things in life with age.

Homework #3

1. I don’t think an incident as described in the text will happen in our lifetimes.  I can’t imagine living in a world where robots basically have the same power that humans do.  If such a disaster as described in the text were to happen I feel as though the public would panic.  I know that I would not be able to relax knowing that robots were in some control over the world that I live in.

2. I think that it is very likely that an Artificial Intelligence will be created that can reason and think without human help.  But, I do not think that a robot would have the same moral beliefs that all humans have.  If a robot were to have a malfunction it could potentially take the lives of several or even hundreds of humans.  That is not a risk that I think should be taken even though I feel as though that will eventually happen.  Humans will not feel that their lives are as meaningful if a robot is created that has the same power as we do.

3. In my opinion, there are more negatives to positives in creating an artificial intelligence.  The only benefit of having these robots would be that they could have the potential to help many humans and create a more advance world.  But, a robot could malfunction at any time.  It could end up hurting more lives than it helps in that case.  I do not like that the world is becoming this technologically advance.  It is only good if it can help people but when I think back to the old days people got along just fine without this form of technological advancement.  I don’t think it is something that we need especially if it has the potential to hurt innocent people because of something going wrong.

4. My computer broke during finals week last semester.  It randomly decided that it wasn’t going to turn on and all the documents that I had saved on my computer I could not get back.  In comparison to a robot having a malfunction that takes the lives of humans this computer malfunction does not seem so bad.