Metacognition: 1st Semester

Over the course of the 1st semester i utilized visualization as a really great method of remebering things as well as thinking things through. When i visualize i'm able to forsee the future in a way. At least get my mind aware of whats happening. For instance, when i'm reading a novel, I try and visualize what is going on in the book to really get a good sense of what is going on in the novel. With that said, I've also realized that looking at from different perspectives allows me to get a better sense of the same situation. I think that has also forced me to think a lot harder at regular things such as the pipe picture. At first, I simply thought it was a pipe, but lookign at it from a different perspective, you notice that it is also in fact a picture of a pipe. That little deal, helped me realize that there is many more ways to look at things than I have perceived. Moreover, when thinking in different perspectives, I'm able to become a lot more creative, because I simply understand things better from viewing things in different situations. All in all, I feel like this semester was a great experience because I learned a lot of valuable tidbits and lessons that will be helpful later in life.

Blogging Around

Jason:
I completely agree with your article on iMedia, about David Sides and how his music is expanding the range of music to the youth. Personally, I felt the same way that you did. I originally hated the song " Buy you a drank" because it sounded cheezy and the singer's voice was altered but after hearing David Sides' cover of the song, I really appreciated the song a lot more since I could fully hear the notes and the melody playing without and disruption.

George:
I agree that the media plays an important part of our lives, and it even regulates it at times. I learned about the "Quiz Show Scandal" after Mr. Ferguson showed us a clip about it, and I feel like it really opens my mind, and now i begin to question certain aspects of media such as the validity and truth behind these types of shows.

Research: Creation of the World

Reading Sophie’s World I’ve come to realize that one of the major philosophical questions that seems to stem from every topic is, how the world got created. After doing some research, I noticed that there were several different theories of how the world got created, but the leading theory is that of the Big Bang. Most scientists are beginning to accept the notion that the Big Bang created everything. But that seems very peculiar. How can something come from nothing? According to the Big Bang model, the universe used to be a hot dense initial condition at some finite time in the past. After the Big Bang, the hot and dense initial condition continues to expand forming the universe. Now you might ask yourself, how is that possible, you are just speculating? Well, somewhat. Scientists have proven that are universe is expanding by noticing that star parallax, and studying cosmology. However, for now the Big Bang is just a theory, but the scientists at Cern, in Switzerland are trying to find the “God particle” that would permanently prove the theory of the Big Bang. All in all, I personally seem to believe in the Big Bang theory partly because it has some scientific reasoning, but also because it makes the most sense to me. However, I will not discredit other theories because I feel like they also have some pros and some cons dealing with the creation of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang

Change of Mind: Sophie's World Philosophy

When I realized that our class was going to read Sophie’s World in was disgruntled to say the least. My impressions of philosophy were not quite enthusiastic to say the least. At first I thought that philosophy was just something older people do as a hobby in their free time. All in all, I thought that it was a boring subject filled with hard questions, and “outside of the box thinking.” However, after reading the first few chapters I was really moved by what I was reading. I realized that philosophy wasn’t just a worthless subject; I found it to be quite interesting even though the tough questions were still there. Now as we continue to read Sophie’s World I have found more appreciation to the matter of philosophy and its roots. It was really interesting to read about philosophies beginnings and how it ties into almost every aspect of our lives, from nature to how we got to living on this planet that we call Earth. I also realized that philosophy is much more than just reading, it’s different from all the other social studies courses. Like Socrates pointed out, discourse and conversations point at the heart of philosophy. All in all, I found Sophie’s World a pleasant gateway to a subject that I was never really interested in due to the fact that my perception of philosophy was quite negative, and when I think about it, I never really gave it a chance to interest me.

iMedia: MGMT's "Time to Pretend"

"Time to Pretend" by MGMT is a great expression of our current generation. MGMT incorporates all the trials and tribulations of our culture and has created a masterpiece reflection of the current youth. The first few lines in “Time to Pretend,” “I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life. Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives” addresses the teen mind and really does a good job of stating what most teenagers think of themselves and their future. Moreover, MGMT tries to express the feeling of invincibility that teens tend to think that they have. After the first few lines, “Time to Pretend” addresses the drug culture that is also prevalent in our society. I’m not saying that this is the 70’s but I’m also not going to say that there are no drugs whatsoever in the teen world. Furthermore, the next few lines tend to reflect on the senior in high school. The song notes about ho teens start to think of their future, their majors, and their professions. Afterward, the song incorporates a more relaxed type of feel as opposed to the stressful days of a teenager. The song notes of the reminiscence process of the early adults and how they look back to their youth and remember their fond childhood memories. Afterwards, “Time to Pretend” goes along a more stoic path which incorporates the overcoming of these memories by continuing to live your life. It seems as if the band is trying to convey a sense of resilience towards the youth by stating that even though things get tough and stuff happens that you did not intend to happen, you must continue to fight and you must continue to overcome otherwise you will just be another lost soul. The ending to “Time to Pretend” is very gloomy because the band almost makes it seem like whatever happens in your life is just destiny and that you have to deal with it no matter what. All in all, “Time to Pretend” is a song that tries to convey the meaning of living. Its best if you live each day at a time, otherwise life will fly by and you will miss a lot of memorable events that occur during your youth years and I think this song is just trying to reinstall that notion.

LINK: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mgmt/time_to_pretend.html
(This link provides the lyrics as well as the music video from Youtube)

Blogging Around: Jason Lee and J.T. Kim

Jason Lee:

I liked how you used the dialectic between immigrants preventing Americans from getting jobs or are immigrants the ones that keep our economy flowing. Furthermore, I liked how you asked follow up questions. I think that they were very helpful and thought provoking. All in all, I felt like your blog was very informative and I was able to see the immigrant issue thru another perspective.

J.T. Kim:

I really agree with what you had to say about the whole car point of view.I liked how you went so in depth with the whole idea that cars have evolved from primarily transportation utilities to more comfortable,more personal objects. I also liked how you compared life with no cars. I totally agree that life would be a lot more complicated and normal,everyday tasks like going to the supermarket would be a lot more time consuming.

360 Degree Thinking: Cellphones

It was sunday night around 10P.M. and i was in a bit of a pickle. I knew I had to complete some homework for some classes but I just could not remember from which classes and what the actual assignment was. Needless to say I was in "desperation mode." I realized that my only option was this small rectangular like object called a cellphone. I sent out some texts to various friends who are in some of my classes and within minutes I knew what the homework was. I finished my homework and just then, I realized what big of a blow I had dodged. I realized that without my cellphone I would have been left to contemplate what my homework was and needless to say that would have been helpless. I noticed that my cellphone really saved me in my perdicament, and i started to think more deeply on how life would be like without a cellphone. What would I have done if I had no cellphone? What would other people do? I came to the conclusion that a cellphone is more than an object used to keep in touch with friends and family. No. It can be way, way more than that. Cellphones can be used to aid others and to keep you company, while on the other hand cellphones in more drastic situations cellphones can be used as lifesavers. I realized that a lot of us take our cellphones for granted since we are really fortunate but that little dilemma that I was stuck with forced me to think about the "what if's" in my situation. Aside from that, cellphones can also be used for business. It amazing how many buisnessman and woman own Blackberry's now-a-days. Thye make business a lot more practical and a lot more efficient. In general, cellphones have completely revolutionzed the world that we live in and I think that in the future cellphones will be used for more tasks and functions and who knows what they will be able to do. Soon, I think we will be asking ourselves, what cant our cellphones do?