No matter if its because of a worry of embarrassment, pain, or any other negative feeling, many tasks can be daunting. From something as simple as a job interview, to a life threatening journey such as Frodo's quest to destroy the One ring, any task labeled "daunting" places a certain amount of fear in a person. One might argue that if the task gives great angst to someone and it is failed, it has no value and would have been better if it had never been attempted. However, even if failed, daunting tasks possess great value.
When asked about his failure while creating the light bulb, Thomas Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work". Whether utilized or not, every failure presents to someone a lesson. This lesson can be used to correct the previous problem in order to be successful the next time. Even if there happens to be 10000 "next times". While it can be simple to see the value in a failed task, it can be much harder to see the value in a task which appears to have no end or final destination. Especially in today's world, these tasks have become more and more evident as the technical world, in particular, continues to improve. As Winston Churchill said, there is an "ever improving" society and world. This could be translated as an endless task as nobody will ever be content with the way society is no matter how much it improves. Does that mean a person should simply not attempt to do anything in the world because it is ever changing? Obviously not. While other examples may not be quite as obvious, the value in each task is still based on the same principle.
Though a final destination may never be reached, attempting to complete the endless task possesses value because through failures lessons are taught and through lessons improvements are made.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
The Value in Popular Entertainment
The argument has been made that popular entertainment is just a way to escape everyday life. Also, people have claimed that popular entertainment provides nothing of value. However, these arguments and claims could not be further from the truth. Popular entertainment offers value through its presentation of cultural ideas, its ability to train skills needed for the future, and the real experience it gives people even through an almost intangible world.
Popular entertainment, or technology, can provide users with cultural knowledge every time its used. It can provide knowledge and information that translate to reality. Watching television channels like the news provide current events and social networking can keep people up to date with the latest trends so they can then survive in the real world. Along with providing knowledge about cultural ideas, popular entertainment can train skills needed for the future. In today's world, "real world" experience can cut it anymore. Knowing how to do blue collar work isn't what will get a person far in life these days. Today's culture is rapidly switching to technology leaving anyone who does not, or cannot, make the switch behind. As people say, nerds run the world. This is why it is valuable to at least be familiar with technology in today's digital world. People have argued that technology and popular entertainment provides a way for people to evade important realities. However, what important realities cannot be gained through popular entertainment? If the argument is that it can be detrimental to relationships, technology and things like social networking prove to actually be helpful. How can someone expect to build a relationship with someone out of reasonable driving distance? Technology is the answer. People use Skype to communicate across the world, or other online social networks to talk to each other.
Whether it is used to gain knowledge of the culture and become more "in the loop" socially, acquire skills important for the future, or even build relationships, popular entertainment, or technology, is much more than just a useless way to waste time.
Popular entertainment, or technology, can provide users with cultural knowledge every time its used. It can provide knowledge and information that translate to reality. Watching television channels like the news provide current events and social networking can keep people up to date with the latest trends so they can then survive in the real world. Along with providing knowledge about cultural ideas, popular entertainment can train skills needed for the future. In today's world, "real world" experience can cut it anymore. Knowing how to do blue collar work isn't what will get a person far in life these days. Today's culture is rapidly switching to technology leaving anyone who does not, or cannot, make the switch behind. As people say, nerds run the world. This is why it is valuable to at least be familiar with technology in today's digital world. People have argued that technology and popular entertainment provides a way for people to evade important realities. However, what important realities cannot be gained through popular entertainment? If the argument is that it can be detrimental to relationships, technology and things like social networking prove to actually be helpful. How can someone expect to build a relationship with someone out of reasonable driving distance? Technology is the answer. People use Skype to communicate across the world, or other online social networks to talk to each other.
Whether it is used to gain knowledge of the culture and become more "in the loop" socially, acquire skills important for the future, or even build relationships, popular entertainment, or technology, is much more than just a useless way to waste time.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
A Generation of Wimps
Everyone wants what's best for their child, and rightfully so. However, society's view on what's "right" seems to have become tainted. What society has become accustomed to viewing as favorable for a child, has proven to be more detrimental. This perspective of what is best for a child is that of protection. Unfortunately, there is such a fine line between showing excessive amounts of protection and not showing enough protection. While it is crucial that parents and guardians take care of their children, if they are not cautious, society's future is one full of wimps.
The argument is not about who can win a fist fight, but more of who proves to have more maturity and who can survive on their own. A child graduates high school and goes off to college at a fairly young age. Well, it at least seems like a young age through the eyes of today's world. However, could that be because by the time a kid goes to college, he is still impotent to performing even the easiest of tasks? Will college students in the future even know how to get food? After all, there are countless numbers of high school students who still have their moms make their lunches, make phone calls for them, or even come to job interviews with them. Even at young ages, parents can show excessive overprotection of their children. In a Boston middle school, students attended a party over the weekend and came to school the next week wearing t-shirts specifically from that party. Clearly, not all kids were invited to the party and, as a result, feelings were hurt and parents reacted. The school went on to ban the t-shirts from the school because it excluded the kids who did not have the shirts. How will any of this behavior create a generation able to succeed on its own without feelings being "hurt"?
New rules and laws made to "protect" children have only taken away any common sense parents and other leaders have on the topic of raising children. It seems as if abducting children and wearing t-shirts that not all kids possess have fallen under far too similar categories. Yes, parents need to respond to matters such as child abuse, however, if their kid scrapes his knee, there is no need to rush to the Emergency Room. If America continues practically wrapping its kids in bubble wrap and a helmet just to go somewhere such as school, it will find itself in the midst of a truly helpless generation.
The argument is not about who can win a fist fight, but more of who proves to have more maturity and who can survive on their own. A child graduates high school and goes off to college at a fairly young age. Well, it at least seems like a young age through the eyes of today's world. However, could that be because by the time a kid goes to college, he is still impotent to performing even the easiest of tasks? Will college students in the future even know how to get food? After all, there are countless numbers of high school students who still have their moms make their lunches, make phone calls for them, or even come to job interviews with them. Even at young ages, parents can show excessive overprotection of their children. In a Boston middle school, students attended a party over the weekend and came to school the next week wearing t-shirts specifically from that party. Clearly, not all kids were invited to the party and, as a result, feelings were hurt and parents reacted. The school went on to ban the t-shirts from the school because it excluded the kids who did not have the shirts. How will any of this behavior create a generation able to succeed on its own without feelings being "hurt"?
New rules and laws made to "protect" children have only taken away any common sense parents and other leaders have on the topic of raising children. It seems as if abducting children and wearing t-shirts that not all kids possess have fallen under far too similar categories. Yes, parents need to respond to matters such as child abuse, however, if their kid scrapes his knee, there is no need to rush to the Emergency Room. If America continues practically wrapping its kids in bubble wrap and a helmet just to go somewhere such as school, it will find itself in the midst of a truly helpless generation.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Photo Blog
Monday, February 24, 2014
Is College Really Worth It?
To this day, it has been widely accepted that going to college results in a career with great pay and benefits. Almost anyone would also agree that skipping out on college will not get a person very far in life and may result in the stereotypical McDonald's burger flipping. However, arguments have recently been made as to whether or not going to college really pays itself off in the long run. It is no secret to anyone that the tuition prices of colleges have skyrocketed. This raises the question, "Is college a bad investment for a young adult?"
In a report "Trends in College Pricing 2011", college prices for an in state public four year college were reported to be over eight thousand dollars, and nearly three thousand dollars for an in state public two year college. Not to mention the books, parking, and other expenses payed by college students. Why would anyone want to pay these ridiculous prices that will only put him into a profusion of debt? The U.S. Department of labor gives the exact answer to that question. In their quarterly report, "Usual weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers," they found that College graduates with a Bachelor's degree make nearly twenty seven thousand dollars per year more than employees with only a high school diploma. After only a few years of work, an employee with a Bachelor's degree would surely pay off his debt and begin progressing far beyond someone who only possesses a high school diploma.
Georgetown's "Help Wanted" report concluded that by the year 2018 "about two-thirds of all employment will require some college education or better." Even if employment is found by someone with only a high school diploma, it is almost certain to be a great deal worse than the employment that can be found by someone with a Bachelor's degree. So, unless you believe your calling from God was to flip burgers at the local McDonald's, College has proved to continue to be the preeminent choice.
In a report "Trends in College Pricing 2011", college prices for an in state public four year college were reported to be over eight thousand dollars, and nearly three thousand dollars for an in state public two year college. Not to mention the books, parking, and other expenses payed by college students. Why would anyone want to pay these ridiculous prices that will only put him into a profusion of debt? The U.S. Department of labor gives the exact answer to that question. In their quarterly report, "Usual weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers," they found that College graduates with a Bachelor's degree make nearly twenty seven thousand dollars per year more than employees with only a high school diploma. After only a few years of work, an employee with a Bachelor's degree would surely pay off his debt and begin progressing far beyond someone who only possesses a high school diploma.
Georgetown's "Help Wanted" report concluded that by the year 2018 "about two-thirds of all employment will require some college education or better." Even if employment is found by someone with only a high school diploma, it is almost certain to be a great deal worse than the employment that can be found by someone with a Bachelor's degree. So, unless you believe your calling from God was to flip burgers at the local McDonald's, College has proved to continue to be the preeminent choice.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
California's History
In chapter 19 of The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck vividly expresses his view of large scale American government. Steinbeck uses the example of the acquisition of California, to illustrate the situation of the "Okies" or farmers. Chapter 19 talks about how California was forcefully taken from Mexico by America because of vain purposes. Steinbeck then mentions that the descendants of these Americans are the wealthy farmers who pay their workers low wages in order to protect their land. To establish his view of the industrialization of farming, Steinbeck uses the metaphor of California's history as well as despondent diction.
There is no doubt that Steinbeck opposes the government and the movement of industrializing farming. He effectively communicates this through his metaphor of California's history. In this chapter, Steinbeck compares the money hungry Americans who took California from Mexico to the big name farm owners making lots of money. John Steinbeck gives chapter 19 a depressing and hopeless tone.
To help portray this tone, Steinbeck uses despondent diction through words such as "tattered", "frantic", and "wretched". These words assist Steinbeck in persuading the reader of his opinion. By putting in such negative words, the reader has no choice but to view the situation as bad or dejected.
There is no doubt that Steinbeck opposes the government and the movement of industrializing farming. He effectively communicates this through his metaphor of California's history. In this chapter, Steinbeck compares the money hungry Americans who took California from Mexico to the big name farm owners making lots of money. John Steinbeck gives chapter 19 a depressing and hopeless tone.
To help portray this tone, Steinbeck uses despondent diction through words such as "tattered", "frantic", and "wretched". These words assist Steinbeck in persuading the reader of his opinion. By putting in such negative words, the reader has no choice but to view the situation as bad or dejected.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
The People In My Life
Have you ever had one of those impetuous moments when you say something like "I hate people"? We all have those moments when we get so fed up with people in our lives that we often say things we don't mean. It has always been easier to focus on the bad things and "view the glass as half empty". Thanksgiving is an easy time to focus on the things worth being thankful for. From the hundreds of social media posts seen throughout the week of thanksgiving to the typical "what are you thankful for?" asked during this time. However, it seems that immediately after the holiday, people forget how greatful they were for the good things in their lives and, once again, begin focusing on the negatives.
Before looking too far ahead into 2014, I have thought about the things for which I have been thankful in 2013. These are the things I want to keep in my life. The foremost thing in my life for which I am greatful is the people that surround me. Over the past year, I have met many great friends but have also lost a number of friends. In losing the friends I did, I learned many things about myself and about life. I am greatful for this experience because of the lessons it taught me. I learned even more lessons about life through the friends I have made. These friends I surround myself with are friends who will always help me when I fall. They have proven to be an essential part of my life and exceptional role models as I try to figure life out. So, when asked "What are you thankful for?", without a doubt in my mind, I will answer by saying I'm thankful for the people in my life because of the way they treat me and the things they have shown me about myself and life.
Before looking too far ahead into 2014, I have thought about the things for which I have been thankful in 2013. These are the things I want to keep in my life. The foremost thing in my life for which I am greatful is the people that surround me. Over the past year, I have met many great friends but have also lost a number of friends. In losing the friends I did, I learned many things about myself and about life. I am greatful for this experience because of the lessons it taught me. I learned even more lessons about life through the friends I have made. These friends I surround myself with are friends who will always help me when I fall. They have proven to be an essential part of my life and exceptional role models as I try to figure life out. So, when asked "What are you thankful for?", without a doubt in my mind, I will answer by saying I'm thankful for the people in my life because of the way they treat me and the things they have shown me about myself and life.
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