Hw #8

1. The pamphlet says: “American life as depicted in television or in movies is not an accurate picture of what you will find”. List two things that an international student visiting IUP would find different than tv / movies. Why do you think that tv / movies portray these things different than reality?

            Not everyone is rich

            Not everyone is spoiled

I think the reason that movies and TV shows portray things differently is because it will not look as desirable if everyone was poor and a hard working person.

 

2. How does the pamphlet describe Americans view of time? Why do you think Americans view time in this manner?

They believe that Americans think as time as a tangible object. Americans think that time is precious because they are so involved in money they need more time to make money.

 

3.The pamphlet argues that Americans do not like interruptions – Why does it say that this is the case? In the groups that you are in (clubs, family, friends), are interruptions welcomed or thought of as negative? Why?

I believe interruptions are thought as negative for the most part, because it show a lack of  respect for the other person and what the other person is saying. It shows that you think whatever you have to say it more important then what the other person has to say.

 

4. Read the section “Status and Hierarchy” to the end of the pamphlet. Find a sentence that you find interesting or includes something you did not know. List the sentence and explain why you thought it was interesting. 

“A common habit of casually friendly Americans is the tendency to say things like “let’s get together sometime” or “Let’s do lunch” and then not follow through on the specific invitation.”

I thought this was interesting because I never thought of this as weird to someone who wasn’t from here. I just saw it as something nice to say and to look forward to doing, but I see now where people could see this as rude.

Hw #7

 

1. How has the introduction of a money-based economy distorted relationships between people and made them dependent on things they didn’t even know existed?

When money is introduced, the problem of greed is brought along with it. If people are able to charge people more for less then they will, which will put a strain on the relationships as well.

2.In your opinion, were the Ladakis better off before the introduction of money? Explain your answer.

I believe if they were able to live like people with money, without money, then they are better off without it. Bring money into play brings different things into play as well. Because the world is a money-based system, the Ladakis are behind because they can’t use money to buy new technology.

 

 

1.Choose one sentence in this essay that either is the most powerful or tells you something that you did not know. Why is this sentence important?

“Los Angeles famously teaches 82 different languages in its schools.” I think it’s crazy that  Low Angeles teaches that many languages, because I based it off of my school. We had 4 languages and they were cutting one of the languages the following year because it was said to not be relevant enough for students to want to take them. I think to have 82 different languages just shows how diverse the community is to have an interest in that many different languages.

2. Name two positives and two negatives of a multi-cultural / globalized world (either listed in the text or in your own opinion).

Positive

1)      America is very diverse and it is becoming a place where everyone wants to be because of the lack of discrimination.

2)      More than one culture can be brought into play with the internet

Negative

1)      Not only are we brain washing our youth with mindless shows, we are also brain washing other countries that tune into it

2)      Some countries rely to much on other countries

Homework #6

1. Write a paragraph describing what influences have shaped your views regarding body image.

 My roommate now has changed my views on body image. She is so concerned about being skinny she considered doing drug to help her. It has showed me that people will go to any length to be what they think is the “normal” person, where in reality most “normal” people are photo shopped and air brushed.

1. Do you think American culture has different expectations on men and women regarding body image? Why or why not? (Use an example or two to prove your point

Yes, I believe that woman much more pressure on them to be skinny. Men just kid around with one another if they are fat. If a girl is fat, other girls will isolate them by not talking to them and being their friend.

 

1. When you think of the term “masculine”, list the first three things that come to mind and why they are thought to be masculine.

-Weight lifting

-Chugging beer

-Getting all of the girls

They are thought as masculine because woman “can’t” do them.

1. List two ways that American males are pressured to act masculine. In each case, describe whether or not they are helpful or harmful to males and why.

            -If a male cannot be weak, if he is, he would be made fun of and would have to lift weights to be thought of as masculine. It could be dangerous if the man over does weight lifting.

            -Another way men fell masculine is drinking a lot of alcohol. This could be dangerous if the guy tries to drink more than he can handle.

 

 

Homework #4

1) The need to focus on money and to purchase things can cause isolation solely because of people’s obsession over the two. People because so focused on their goal to get money that they do not socialize about anything else which causes less people to be around them, which leads to the isolation of that person.

2) If average salaries increased, then it will just cause more people to spend more money. Though the obsession factor of making more money will go down a little, but the fact that people that want to make money so bad that they isolate themselves is still going to be present. I believe that they will still spend the same percentage o there income then what they did before the average salary was risen.

3) An example of competitive consumption is a smart phone. Though the smart phone has only been on the martet for a couple of years, the need for one is growing. The reason I got an iphone is because I felt behind the times. When everyone just whip out there phone in class and took a picture of the notes and emailed it to themselves, I was using a good old pen and paper writing as fast as I could to keep up. The same goes for any type of technology. Because scientists are making all of the things, we have better and better everyone is continuously buying the newest thing so they could “keep up with the Joneses.”

4)I feel as though competitive consumption makes everyone a lot more materialistic. Try to keep up with everyone else makes us focus on objects a lot more, but the more that people do this the more that other people do this and it creates an endless cycle.

Homework #3

1)      I think that a similar situation could occur because we expect our computer to be able to handle too many things. I think expecting a computer to recognize feelings if taking our technology too far. I believe if it ever got to the extremes as situation stated, that people would think it was the end of the world. There would be mass chaos everywhere.

2)      I believe if people continue to work on this as much as they have been so far, that it is possible. As far as human identity goes with the Artificial Intelligence being able to think and reasons on its own, I believe we are to ask ourselves how are we different from these things? This is a question I cannot answer myself because I don’t see where the line will be drawn to stop people from creating exact robot versions of humans.

3)      Negatives:

-           The movie I Robot shows my fears of robots taking over the world because they become smarter than us

-          Robots could malfunction

Positive:

-          Makes life easier

4)      It seems like every time I go to print a paper my printer is always broken. If it’s a paper jam or an ink outage, my printer always seems to fail me when I need it the most.

Homework #2

1)      I thought exactly what the article said at first, I thought Mother Teresa was the most admirable because Bill Gates is a nerd Billionaire and I had no idea who the other person was. When they explained things more I changed my mind. I thought all were equally admirable for sticking up and helping people who cannot help themselves, even though they all did it in a different way.

2)      If I had to pick two people that were admirable I would pick Opera and Michelle Obama. Both Woman use their influential power they have for good not evil. Opera uses her billions of dollars to help children in Africa, and Michelle Obama is trying to help obese children in America. This shows that I think helping child is the moral thing to do.

3)      I do not believe that mortality is universal. I believe that mortality is directly connected in the environment you grow up around. As children, your morals are the same as your parents because you have to learn then from someone, just like you learn how to walk and talk.

4)      Harm, fairness, community(or group loyalty), authority, and purity. I believe community is what Americans tend to rank first, because we tend to bond together when bad events happen to us.

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