Metacognition:Frank Gehry Project Reflection

While working on the Frank Gehry architectural project I realized that there is not one single way to approach his style and his thought. Like Gehry, I tried to draw inspiration from things not only from class but from outside of class as well such as my house, and the environment. With that said, when i went outside over the weekend I found hints of Gehry's thinking throughout our enviornment. For instance, as I was walking to the park I noticed a very unique tree that really stood out to me. I really liked the shape and form of the tree and so our group decided to incorporate this aspect as a part of our Eaton Rapids Library. At first I was skeptical of this style of thinking because I figured that it is necessary to work in an ecademic environment. Boy was I wrong! With that said, i really appreciate what Frank Gehry has done in the architectural world, and i also envy the way that he thinks and the ways that he is able to draw inspiration from seemingly everyday objects.

360 Degree: Obama Presidency

There has been a sense of pandemonium for the last several months as a result of the historical occasion that that was the Obama Presidential Inauguration. With Obama president, it seems as if most people have become more optimistic about U.S. politics. But is it going to be all that gravy? I mean, look at our current state, our country is fighting two wars, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan; our economy is going down the drain, and it seems like we might have to go through another “Great Depression.” As much as I want to be optimistic, I can’t help but think of how to combat this monstrous burden bestowed upon President Obama. However, if there was ever a person better qualified for this job is our current president. Not only does he have the right mindset, but he is also trying to level the playing field by allowing both parties to discuss and share their points-of-view. Although President Obama has some tough tasks to combat, I feel like we are in good hands, knowing that our president will accept the best counter to these tough times not just what the Democrats agree upon. With quite a bit of determination and pride I feel like President Obama will be able to pull us through these tough economic times.

Connection: Obama & MLK Jr.

With the presidential inauguration over, the media has broadcasted many similarities between President Barack Obama with that of Martin Luther King Jr. King’s philosophy of life and liberty have influenced Obama tremendously as seen through his landmark inauguration speech. With that said, there are many more comparisons between MLK and Barack Obama. Obama’s speech itself was very similar to that of what MLK delivered in his famous I Have a Dream. Not to mention the fact that Obama also used many of MLK’s “catchphrases” such as “I have a dream” and Lincoln’s “Four scores and…” Aside from the actual speech, Obama also showed respect and a connection to MLK by choosing the same exact setting for the speech, the Lincoln Memorial. With that said, the major connection was evident through Obama’s speech in which Obama alludes to MLK’s dream for a coexistent species without any prejudice and racism.

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.