Week 5 Reading Response 3

Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words, other times a picture doesn't need to say anything at all. Pictures can convey meaning, purpose, or even an idea, and when coupled with the right words they can send a message. "The Anti-Drug Media Campaign" used vivid, sometimes seemingly contradictory pictures in their anti-drug campaign coupled with just a few sentences to convey a message to the youth of America. Each of these pictures were tied to a theme, "courage the anti-drug", "regret the anti-drug" and "I am the anti-drug".

Each of these themes has a different appeal. The "Courage" poster shows a stereotyped couple, "urban clothes", setting and attitude gives the impression that these kids are from the streets. We are given a small handwritten text box up at the top of the picture full of hypothicals, what if this… what if that… These all stem from the action of the girl confronting her boyfriend about his drug use. This appeal showcases that despite stereotypes and seemingly negative repercussions, you can stand up for yourself, regardless of who you have to confront. This appeal is quite similar to the "I am the anti-drug" posters which show teen stereotypes who have already stood up against the lure of drugs in their own way, despite being labeled or already branded as potential or current drug users. All of the "I am the anti-drug" speak out to people who may feel that they are already defined by their lifestyle or "look". These advertisements say that one doesn't have to live up to the label at all, that being drug free isn't about looks or appeals in any way, shape or form.

Week 5 Reading Response 2

Deborah Tannen knows a thing or two about interpersonal communication. She is a sociolinguist at Georgetown University and is author of several bestselling personal communication books. Deborah knows that communication between people and just because there is a strong bond shared between two people doesn't mean that the communication will be any easier, in fact as she describes in "Can we talk?" an essay about difficulties in communication between mothers and daughters sometimes that bond can lead to more complex and emotional forms of understanding which transcend mere speech. Tannen explains much of this complex behavior through excerpts of conversations between mothers and daughters, then she analyzes what was actually said and then the intent. She reinforces the idea that as people are unable to be direct with each other at times their true meanings tend to disappear into subtle meanings and hidden connotation. Tannen explains this due to the duality of being a mother, the ability to watch your daughter grow and experience the trials and tribulations she herself had, as well as the motherly instinct to protect her daughter from making those same mistakes or rather the need to shelter them from harsh experiences in their own pasts. It's definitely a delicate balance. I believe that this is true for all close relationships between any mentor or parent and child. Tannen examines the mother daughter relationship most explicitly because she feels most connected to that particular dynamic. I do not believe that this dynamic is any less intimate between mother and son or father and daughter; however the shared experiences due to physiological differences and social discrepancies between male and female may let parents of the same sex bond more easily with offspring of the same gender.

Week 5 reading response 1

In the article “Skin-Deep: What Polls of Minorities Miss” David Bositis takes us into the, recently, all to familiar world of opinion polling. Since the presidential and before that the primaries, elections tens of thousands of Americans have been asked inundated with opinion polls. Polling has become a “must have” tool for everyone from news pundits and cable news networks to lobbyists’ and other groups. David Bositis brings us into this world but with an all too jarring perspective, that of the minority poller. Bositis makes the point that often time’s minorities are misrepresented demographics in many pools and generally are subject to small sample sizes. He states numerous examples where even in the best of situations (for the minority group to be well represented) often other factors such as language barrier arise to skew the results. Bositis makes the argument that not focusing on minority groups appropriately, for any motive or circumstance is not only unethical but also very misleading as minorities tend to have different viewpoints compared to the majority “Caucasian” voters.

Bositis arguments come through crystal clear; he feels that because these groups are often misrepresented their views and interests are being behind upheld by the public at large. It’s obvious from these views that Bositis is an activist for minority rights; however, this also polarizes the issue he’s trying to protect. The reader of this article isn’t offered any other statistics about what percentage these minorities in each study represent in each of their home demographics. While it’s true that this may be a legitimate issue Bositis fails by not providing a background for any of his examples, “what percentage of the population sampled in that region was a minority?” Perhaps these samples were taken fairly as a statics formula. Regardless, his intent is clear, he feels that misrepresentation of minority group can only serve to continue to hold back the interests and opinions of all underrepresented groups. 

Essay 1 Final Draft

 

What are you doing right now? You are probably sitting in a chair reading this essay, but why did you decide to do that? Assuming that no one is forcing you to read this at gunpoint you consciously made a decision to read this essay. This seemingly simple process of choice serves as the basis for many cognitive neuroscience principals and it is how we, as humans, distinguish ourselves as sentient life-forms. Learning about neuroscience may seem like a daunting task at first. It is an extremely large fields with little a no over-reaching framework. This means that despite an almost overwhelming amount of data, techniques and researchers, the scientific community does not yet have a focused idea how it all works together. But don’t despair! One need not understand how everything works in perfect detail to benefit. It’s the same analogy as a car, you do not need to be a mechanic in order to use a car, but understanding how a car works can make you better at operating it. Understanding how the human mind operates follows the same principal. Being educated about these concepts allows us to accept some not so noticeable imperfections with our own brain. Although learning about cognition is difficult, learning about basic cognitive properties, such as choice, is definitely beneficial for anyone because learning about how we think allows us to better evaluate our past decisions, learn tools to interact better with other people and to plan better for the future.

 All of one’s actions are governed by our brain. From the time that each of us arrived on this earth our brains have been collecting, deciphering and storing information from a wide array of stimuli that dominate our conscious and subconscious landscape. In order to catalog and make sense of all of the random bits of data the brain does something that even the best computers have yet to accomplish, it creates memories. Even though one cannot always choose what one remembers the processes of learning is essentially forced remembering. Learning and memory are important processes that the scientific community it just starting to understand. Naturally, something so complicated that even the best scientists in the world have yet to understand may seem out of reach for the average person. However, it's possible to unravel some of the mysteries of learning and memory by investigating simplified models of their mechanism. Learning and memory are concepts which are especially difficult to grasp because there isn't a natural model for how they operate. The best comparison to human memory is the computer. The computer while being the best analogy to how the brain processes information is still a far cry from the brain and infinitely less complex on many levels, most of which will not be discussed. What can be learned by comparing the human brain to a computer are several key distinctions in operation. These differences give one not only an appreciation for how the brain works but also a good starting place for understanding memory. A computer, whether it is a super computer or a home PC operates in consistent logical manner; data comes in, is processed or saved and an output is given. Compared to a computer the human brain seems chaotic. This is because the brain is forced to deal with whatever stimulus is in the environment and decide whether it's crucial for survival, i.e. if it needs to be saved or is unimportant. It is possible to apply this basic understanding in order to be more efficient learners. Recall that learning is just a forced memory. Memories are not like files in a computer as discussed above; memories are formed by a large collection of information about a place, time or idea, which is quantized, then condensed into an invariant representation of that thought. Retrieving a memory is more than just clicking on a file. There are large amounts of data that constitute a memory. Remembering small bits and pieces of that memory, even those that may seem irrelevant at first, may help one to recall the complete memory due to the fact that memories are simply an ordered collection of quantized pieces of information. Techniques such as this can be used proactively instead of retroactively. When actively forging a memory, possibly while studying taking in environmental and sensation based information can make details of the past event easier to recall. Even at the subconscious level, information from your environment become pulled together to form a memory.  This has been shown effective in several studies using music as a stimulus. This is just one example of how understanding cognition can benefit us with just a small amount of applied knowledge.

 Understanding how the mind works has benefits that can affect more than just ones self. Applying knowledge from cognition can help us understand the way that people think in a general way. Understanding how cognition affects our communication greatly increases the quality of interactions with other people. The importance of cognition may be discounted when investigating interpersonal relationships, however, the truth is that all relationships require an understanding of how other people think, by taking Communication requires assumptions on both the part of the speaker and the listener. On the surface, communication appears to be a simple two way exchange of information but in truth there are many levels of information exchange. Even if the two parties involved in communication speak the same language understanding and correctly interpret certain elements of speech, such as inflections, or the natural tonal rise at the end of a sentence all augment and give context for the information exchanged. Humans are able to recognize these signals because we have been "wired" to associate meaning with them after years and years of practice. These aspects of communication may seem trivial at first but they are key fundamentals of human development. Learning how to breakdown visual and auditory clues to comprehend what someone’s intentions are key aspects of negotiation as well as conflict resolution. All of the perceived assumptions and expectations are a result of years of social cognitive development that is broadcast to us from the time we are able to talk. Everything from language to cultural mannerisms all stems from differences in these mental assumptions and expectations that are generated from our upbringing. Improve our interactions with others by consciously evaluating these assumptions when communicating or negotiating is an obtainable goal.  By taking the time to consciously consider these differences in perspective instead of relying on the automatic assumptions can allow one to engage in more productive communication.

 

Understanding oneself means understanding ones brain.  In principal this means that the better we can understand what drives our thoughts and opinions the better decisions we can make which in turn allows better decisions to be made in the future. There are two different types of goals short time and long term. Short term goals affect the here and now like deciding between red socks or green socks, or should I eat that last piece of pizza? These types of goals are easy for us to strive for as they often lead to an immediate, tangible reward or benefit. Long term goals generally compete with short term goals. Long term goals, on the other hand, require energy and effort that doesn’t immediately show any progress; learning a foreign language is a good example. Progress in learning a language doesn’t manifest itself immediately, progress is slow and it’s not until the speaker is fairly skilled that significant gains can be seen. Yet every hour spent learning and practicing is necessary. It is typical human nature to defer long term goals for short term goals. One must continue to reinforce the idea that even though the payoff phase isn’t evident yet, the long term goal offers a far greater reward than the short term goal. Will power is the only cure for overcoming the shortcoming of one’s own biology so to speak. Actively differing long term goals for short term goals are a difficult endeavor! Talk is cheap so to speak, the way your brain is setup is counter to accomplishing long term goals.

 What has been discussed so far merely serves as the tip of the iceberg. Understanding how the brain really works is a task that is still being worked on as we speak and we are far from reaching any definite conclusions. As a result it is impossible to predict how much more we stand to gain both by applying the principals behind cognition have yet to be realized.  It has been shown that the human mind is responsible for what we know, our memories and our learned knowledge, who we know and how we communicate with others and finally with the decisions that we make every day. By learning the why and how of what we think the way we can only benefit ourselves in the future.

 

 

Week 4 reading response

The New Yorker has over the years provided an insight into the psyches and personalities of all New Yorkers. In these selected panels the interpersonal dynamics between men and women are displayed, often with humorous in mind.  Most of the selections focus on the cultural mantra that men and women have fundamental communication differences which manifests itself as “two languages” the male and female language. All of the comics except for the “Men are from Belgium women are from New Brunswick” and the “Look, all I’m saying is…” panels reinforce this idea. Most of the comics depict these interpersonal communication problems between spouses. This is a typical dynamic but it only shows one aspect of male/female interaction. This idea is selected because it’s so ubiquitous and familiar to most people. It’s unfortunate that they don’t expand this dynamic a bit more to show different types of interactions in this segment, but the authors focus is kept intact by limiting the extent of the material. In both panels, “Men are from Belgium…” and “And do you, Deborah Tannen, think they…” an amount of intertextuality is required to properly appreciate their message. “Men are from Belgium” is a parody of the popular male/female self help book entitiled, “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus” and Deborah Tannen is a famous writer on linguistics and interpersonal communication. These inferences are not crucial to understand the basic message of the panel but their context helps to orient the reader and add a sense of familiarity to the scene. This is indicative of the typical reader of the New Yorker who is generally an urbanite, with a typical family structure.  

America may be one of the largest importers in the world, but in some ways America is in fact one of the greatest exporters of all time. While the United States exports goods and technology their main export over the last 50 years has been one of culture. American culture is the most prevalent culture in the world, from its cooperate logos to its way of life the prosperity of our nation has been transformed into a symbol of both consumerism and democracy. While the ideals that Americans hold steadfast like democracy may not translate over into other cultures products and consumerism flows to all reaches of the world, even to countries seen as closed off from the influence of capitalism such as China indulge into the consumerist trance like the rest of the earth. While this can be seen as good or bad depending on one’s political views it’s still undeniable that America’s influence is absolute in the area of consumerism. It’s unlikely that the entire world supports this move of “westernization” or “Americanifcation” if you will. With every great movement there is always a degree of backlash or resentment. Especially in countries like China where the United States has been vilified by the government for many years, this sudden policy change is most likely watched over very carefully by the ruling administration. With all analysis of geopolitical issues pictures may tell a thousand words but it’s the words of the people living in these developing countries that will tell the final tale on whether these actions are truly supported by the local people.  

Better late than never week 3 reading response

Anne Lamott  describes in her book from "Bird by Bird" that first drafts are like so many other things in life, they aren't perfect and nor should they be. Anne reminds us in her section "Shitty first drafts “that even the most seasoned veteran of writing doesn't get there by putting pen to paper exactly the way it appears in the final copy. The drafting processes as she explains is a sometimes painful but necessary part of the writing procedure; that, even at its best a rough draft isn't meant to represent the final product. Anne proves to be witty and insightful by using her own personal experience to show that, yes even people like her struggle with this even mundane seeming task. This excerpt serves as a perspective check to all writers, both professional and novice that the only way to write anything is to start writing! It's a wonderful lesson that definitely has helped me start my rough draft of essay number 1! It’s refreshing to know that even those who write for a living still go through the process of drafting and that like anyone else it’s a tool of writing that like anything else takes time to develop. The message Anne Lamott describes through her paper is clear, don’t be ashamed of your first draft.  This is a powerful message and I believe it’s very important for us to keep in mind as we continue to write both in this class and in the future.  In South Korea there is an old proverb that perfectly embodies the spirit and tone of Anne’s except, Shi jakii pan imnida, which translates to “Starting is half the battle”.

 

Essay 1 Rough Draft

What are you doing right now? You are probably sitting in a chair reading this essay, but why did you decide to do that? Assuming that no one is forcing you to read this at gunpoint you consciously made a decision to read this essay. This seemingly simple process of choice serves as the basis for many cognitive neuroscience principals and it is how we, as humans, distinguish ourselves as sentient life-forms. Learning about neuroscience may seem like a daunting task at first. It is an extremely large fields with little a no over-reaching framework. This means that despite an almost overwhelming amount of data, techniques and researchers, the scientific community does not yet have a focused idea how it all works together. But don’t despair! One need not understand how everything works in perfect detail to benefit. It’s the same analogy as a car, you do not need to be a mechanic in order to use a car, but understanding how a car works can make you better at operating it. Understanding how your brain operates follows the same principal. Although learning about cognition is difficult, learning about basic cognitive properties, such as choice, is definitely beneficial for anyone because learning about how we think allows us to better evaluate our past decisions, learn tools to interact better with other people and to plan better for the future.

 

All of our actions are governed by our brain. Since the time that each of us arrived on this earth our brains have been collecting, deciphering and storing information from the multitude of stimuli that dominate our conscious and subconscious landscape. In order to catalog and make sense of all of the random bits of data the brain does something remarkable, it creates memories. Even though one cannot always choose what one remembers the processes of learning is essentially forced remembering. Learning and memory are important processes that the scientific community it just starting to understand. This area of neuroscience is especially difficult to grasp because there isn't a model for how the brain works. The closest model to human memory is the computer. The computer is, while being the closest model actually a poor analogy to how the brain works on many levels, many of which will not be discussed. What can be obtained by comparing the human brain to a computer are several key distinctions. A computer, whether it be a super computer in a government building or a home PC operates in consistent logical manner; data comes in, is processed or saved and an output is given. Compared to a computer the human brain seems quite chaotic. This is because the brain is forced to deal with whatever stimulus is in the environment and decide whether it's crucial for survival, i.e. if it needs to be saved or is unimportant.

 It is possible to apply this basic understanding in order to be more efficient learners. Recall that learning is just a forced memory. Memories are not like files in a computer as discussed above; memories are formed by a large collection of information about a place, time or idea, which is condensed into a uniform thought. Retrieving a memory is more than just clicking on a file. There are large amounts of data that constitute a memory. Remembering small bits and pieces of that memory, even those that may seem irrelevant at first, may help one to recall the complete memory. Techniques such as this can be used proactively instead of retroactively. When trying to forge a memory, possibly while studying taking in environmental and sensation based information can make details of the past event easier to recall. This has been shown effective in several studies using music as a stimulus. This is just one example of how understanding cognition can benefit us with just a small amount of knowledge.

 

One does not define one self within their own mind, instead, human interaction a key to survival. Understanding how cognition affects our communication greatly increases the frequency of positive interactions with other people. It may be easy to dismiss the importance of cognition when interpreting interpersonal relationships however; the truth is that all communication is governed by rules and expectations that are generated on the personal level. When communication occurs many assumptions are placed onto our conversation partner. It is assumed that both parties speak the same language, that they understand inflections in speech such as the natural rise of tone at the end of a question, or even something as simple as a shared vocabulary. These aspects of communication may seem trivial at first but they are key fundamentals of cognition. Learning how to breakdown visual and auditory clues to comprehend what someone’s intentions are key aspects of negotiation as well as conflict resolution. All of the perceived assumptions and expectations are a result of years of social cognitive development that is broadcast to us from the time we are able to talk. Differences in cultures and mannerisms are all based in neurodevelopment. It is possible to improve our interactions with others by consciously evaluating these assumptions when communicating or negotiating with others.

 

Understanding yourself means understanding your brain. This principal means that the better we can understand our own cognitive state the better decisions we can make and the better we can plan for the future. The human mind is programmed to make two different types of goals, short time and long term.

Short term goals affect the here and now. It’s as simple as deciding between red socks or green socks, or should I eat that last piece of pizza? These types of goals are easy for us to comply with as they often lead to a short term plausible reward. Long term goals generally compete with short term goals. Short term goals are often more attractive because long term goals require energy and effort that doesn’t immediately show any progress. A good example of this is learning a foreign language. Progress learning a language doesn’t manifest itself until the speaker is fairly skilled, yet every hour spent learning is important and necessary. It is typical human nature to defer long term goals for short term goals. The ability to control that part of the human mind which governs choice in order to make more beneficial long term plans is valuable as long term goals usually ensure more stability and potential.

 

What has been discussed so far merely serves as the tip of the iceberg for understanding how the brain really works. As a result it is impossible to predict how much more we stand to gain both by applying the principals behind cognition have yet to be realized. It is at this time possible to apply small nuggets of knowledge in our everyday lives as science races forward for broader applications for advancements in neuroscience. It has been shown that the human mind is responsible for what we know, in our memories and our learned knowledge, who we know and how we communicate with others and finally with the decisions that we make every day. By learning why, and how we all think the way we do can only benefit us in the future.