Emotion V Reason

1. Question on npr piece, "The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet": How do teen brains work differently, ie, what is the role of myelin in the frontal lobe and decision-making?
2. Question on Frontline segment, "You Just Don't Understand": What is the role of the cerebellum in decision-making?
3. Question on NYTimes article, "The Moral Life of Babies": What is the role of socialization in the moral development of children?  What are the implications of socialization on the possbility of a universal moral code?
4. When making a decision and taking action, how do you know the benefits outweigh the costs?  And, to what extent does it matter? Support with concrete examples.

1. Nerves need Myelin for nerve signals to flow freely and teenagers don't have as much of it as adults do. Teenage brains aren't fully developed yet, the art of their brain that controls the decision making isn't fully functional. The frontal lobe of the brain is accessed much more slowly on a teenager. Myelin doesn't develop fully until the teenager is in their mid twenties. Teenagers can still use their frontal lobe the part that determines decision making, they just access it slower so it isn't as effective. 

2. Teenagers use a different part of the brain to asses the emotions they see. The Cerebellum is located in the back of the brain and is the part of the teenage brain that changes most when they're growing up. Like the frontal lobe, this part of the brain also hasn't finished growing until the early twenties of the childs life. it not only is in charge of helping the coordination of our muscles but also the coordination of our thinking process. But since it's still developing and growing it has a hard time sorting out important things that the teenager is being told, from the unimportant things. Almost like it has trouble directing thinking traffic which is why most teenagers choose the unimportant things to remember over the important things like, taking out the trash, or walking the dog.

3.The role of socialization in the moral development of children is very important. Basic interactions will teach the baby what they are, even if they do not know what they are called or why they happen. For instance, babies can tell objects from people. If an object stops moving they lose interest in it but if a persons face stops moving the baby becomes distressed. This shows that socialization is very important to a childs understanding of the world around them because of the things that they see and how they see other people interact with them. 

4.When making a decision and taking action based on that decision I think it's hard to tell if the benefits outweigh the costs. It depends on how hard you think about the decision and if you really give the time to think about the costs and the benefits. A common example that I experience at least once a week, is whether to put off certain homework assignments. The benefits of holding off some assignments is usually that I have more time to do art assignments or more time to spend reading a book or blogging on the computer. The costs can be that if I had done that homework when it was first assigned then I wouldn't have so much homework the following night. Most of the time I don't think about possible costs of not doing my homework that night, and I just deal with the stress of having a large load of sudden assignments the next day. This process could also apply to more long term things like... getting a new haircut. I think that it's important to know if the costs outweigh the benefits but I also think it's important to keep in mind how bad you want it. If you know that there could be a high chance of the decision not benefiting you in the end, but you're willing to take that risk any way because there is a chance that it'll work out, then I don't think it's important to keep reminding yourself of all the possible costs. 

The 16th Man

The video I watched was called, "The 16th Man" which was about 1:27 seconds long. I was unable to find the links to the other two videos.
3. Knowledge issue question: How did the rugby games represent more than just two sports teams?

Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. 
- Nelson Mandela

One activity that I participate in this year for CAS is Relay for Life. This activity covers Creativity Action and Service and it relates to Nelson Mandela's quote because Relay for Life is about uniting together for one mutual cause. In Relay for Life we raise money to help people battling cancer which is inspiring for the people who raise the money to feel like they're making a difference and it's inspiring to everyone who wants to join and for the people who are going through cancer. The volunteer group effort does unite kids in a special way because we're not together because of race or dislikes or interests, we're there because of one goal. Nelson Mandela says that sport creates hope, Relay for Life in itself creates hope because we're raising money to help extend someone's life and prevent others from dying. 

Blog Reflection Assignment

1. Emotion and memory are co-dependent on one another. A person's memory might be triggered by a certain and sudden emotion or an emotion may be in result of a remembered memory. Emotion can almost always associate with memory, even in the case of not being able to remember something, the emotion of frustration or absence is present. For example, an emotion can be brought to your senses when you remember a special event like going to the concert of your favorite band. The memory can make you happy or sad. An example for memory brought on by an emotion is feeling sadness and remembering all the other times you were sad and why. 

2. High reason is the ability to make decisions without letting emotion get in the way. The somatic hypothesis is that when we are faced with decision making that involves a lot of reasoning and hard-core thinking, our emotions take over because we want to choose the best option for ourselves. The way that I go about doing this is that I don't think too much about doing them. If I don't want to do something then I won't do it and If i want to do something I'll do it and not think too much about the consequences. I guess my way of thinking is strongly based on emotion maybe? Since I go about doing homework and planning things when it's convenient for me and not when it's the best overall time to do them.

Languages

1. Name the country, language chosen & current status of that language
2. Briefly research & summarize the people and culture of this language; citation as needed [give at least the source link so the quality may be evaluated]
3. Describe & evaluate some evidence (e.g., historical, cultural, aesthetic) that you feel supports efforts to save the language. Give one link to evidence you find.
4. Upload one image that reflects the language and culture; include or write a caption

1. Australia, Dhargari, 8a (Moribund) nearly extinct

2. I couldn't find anything about the culture of the people that speak the language but I found this book. http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp/aspbooks/languageculture.html

3.Well since I can't find anything about the language I don't really know what to say here. I think that it should be saved because only 6 people speak it. In my opinion every language holds and connects to culture so if it dies, a lot of culture will die with it. I already have a hard time finding anything about the language pertaining to its culture but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be saved as a language. 

4.  this is a picture of Australia since I couldn't find anything that really depicts Dhargari. Dhargari is an Australian language. 

Symbol

1. What is(are) the cultural origin(s) of the symbol? 
2. Describe the knowledge portrayed by the symbol.
3. Is the symbol emotive, ambiguous or vague? 
4. What are the problems of knowledge you identify for the symbol?
5. Find one or more additional symbols that seem similar to you  (the symbols are 'grouped' at the symbols.com website)

 triskelion

1. This symbol originates from the Celts

2. The symbol stands for moving forward, progress, competition, past present and future. The meaning can differentate based on the person. The three spirals are meant to represent some form of equality. 

3. The symbol is abiguous because it has more than one interpretation. Especially since it spanned from different cultures and has developed overall through time. The main meaning is equality, such as past present and future, but it can be interpreted in several other ways. 

4. The problems of knowledge that I see in this symbol for one is emotion. I see a problem with emotion being communicated from this symbol but at the same time the meaning behind it could carry emotion. 

5.

 Greek triskelion

WOK language - global views

"...learning additional languages enhances the learning of the 'mother tongue' as well as broadening a student's worldview."

From a personal view I do agree with this statement and I think it's important for kids to learn different languages. If everyone is accustomed to one language then there would be no traveling and no discovering new things. Language is the one thing that everyone can agree that really connects us no matter where we come from or where we live. Some people could say that language does the opposite and pushes people and culture farther apart by creating a barrier that isn't easy to get over. While this is true, learning different languages keeps a culture alive and helps us to communicate and evolve. If we don't learn other languages and have interest in learning them then that is just one more 'difference' in humans, one more thing for people to start wars over. It's one more excuse for people to use when arguing that we're not all the same. 

2. "Essentially it has to be about speaking and knowing rather than reading and writing."

"They have a neurological hardware that responds to the world, that's fed by the world, that is suited to a pattern that is recognition-heavy, sound-heavy and memory-heavy - that is very structured, and also very sociable."They have an ability to switch between languages very easily, and that involves cognitive skills which are often heritable," he adds.

Birth people are very studious and started learning languages at a very young age. Ray has traveled around the world seemingly for work and such and that's how he got introduced to the languages and got his first real taste. He is self taught and seems to have a really big interest in speaking different languages. He says that all of these languages has given him a better grasp of the world and of culture, by learning another countries language you're opening yourself up to endless culture and knowledge by being able to communicate with the people in their native tongue. I have a friend like this, her name is Meredith and she knows a couple languages. She is fluent in French and of course English and she knows enough Swedish to have a conversation with our other Science teacher. She knows Italian and a little bit of basic Chinese. But those are only the languages she's told me about when I last asked her which was the beginning of Sophomore year. She says that languages interest her, I think it's the thought process and the discipline that goes into learning a new language. I don't really understand it, I would love to learn a couple languages and be able to teach myself and have the diligence to sit down and memorize words and things but I'm not a good language learner at all, and my memory isn't that good. I think with Meredith she can sit down and memorize things with no trouble whereas I have to memorize things through activities or something that I really focus in on and am doing physically.

What sort of language learner do you identify yourself with?  In what ways have your language class learning experiences suited your best way of learning languages

I think that I am a visual learner but not a visual memorizer and a kinaesthetic learner. If I visually learn I can write down words and phrases one hundred times to get them down for tests but I'll forget them shortly afterwards, things like that don't stay in my head. If i learn with a group or do a project or do something creatively or even write an essay i'll remember things beyond a few days. In my language class we don't do anything like this other than auditory learning which I cannot learn by. Honestly I haven't had the best experience with languages ever in my entire life here at Sturgis. I loved Latin but I wasn't good at it where as I do not like French and I'm not good at it. I traveled to France and was interested and inspired to learn the language further but the learning tactics in the classroom really aren't connecting for me. I am taking Chinese classes and i'm very interested in that, and i've been benefiting by Kinaesthetic learning, but I only take the lessons once a week and i've been taking them for years so I should be getting somewhere  but unfortunately I'm not improving at all really since the lessons only happen once a week- maybe. I want to really sit down and learn Chinese and go over the notes I've learned and everything but I can't seem to make any time. But, I think i'm going to start setting time aside to do flashcards or look at a website or something. 

Logical Fallacy

Non Sequitur - This logical fallacy is when an argument doesn't add up or is invalid.

This is a good example because it implies that in order to 'not give up' you have to keep spending money. This is an ad from a drug store, they're trying to sell you their product by telling you that by spending money, you're not giving up. This could imply that you're weak or that you give up if you don't shop. Which clearly does not make sense in any way. In a word, it implies failure.
An example that I thought of on my own would be like a local pet store advertising something along the lines of: You should buy puppies, but don't beat your children.

This is Appeal to Tradition as a fallacy. appeal to tradition means that an assumption is made based off of the knowledge that older is better. It's what we've always known and therefore it's better and we should stick with it.
This example relates to appeal to tradition because it has two panels, both showing dates and both showing the same assumption that certain people shouldn't get married. What ever the reason was in 1960, the man in 2000 uses the same reasoning based off of the older generation to back up his claim that gay people shouldn't be able to get married. This implies that it's simply because marriage of other kinds wasn't allowed in the past and therefore it shouldn't be in the present.

An example of appeal to tradition that advertises a Nokia and tells the viewer something like, "Who needs all the apps on a smart phone" and it shows an older photo of people using Nokia.