I have learned that race is relative that it doesn’t really exist; it’s just the consequence of the geographical location of our birth if some people’s ancestors migrated to a cold environment then they developed light skin, while if they stayed in hotter environments their skin became darker just because evolution was protecting the folic acid that mothers need when they are pregnant. Its because of this that race is relative it doesn’t matter and the only reason that we even consider it important today its because people in power loves to divide us, so that we stayed busy killing each other and we don’t focus our attention on them.
Its ironic that the country that calls itself the nation of freedom, was one of the most racist countries on earth until recent history, only a few decades ago if your skin tone varied just a little bit from that of a white person you couldn’t use the same public facilities, or you couldn’t sit on the front of the bus. That is why I believe that there is a lot of work to be done on the topic of tolerance and integration, more work should also be done in schools to educate kids on the different types of intolerant behavior that they can experience of be part of, one great way of getting to understand the fact that we are all equal is to teach the scientific fact that we all come from Africa, we all are part of a small family that migrated to the middle east and later to Europe, Asia, and America.
So if we are all related why can we act like what we are, which is a large human family that should only astride to the betterment of civilization and making this experience called life a more positive one, the bad thing is that there is a lot of special interest in between who have benefited for many years in our differences, peace is not convenient to the big powers who strive in war and in the exploitation of poor countries and their natural resources, not until we realize who the leading elite is, and until we stop allowing them getting away with all these crimes we will stay in the same situation for ever.
So what is the right way to act? The best thing that we can do is promote peace and understanding, peace is big and is something that the ruling groups don’t know about, if we act violently we will get violence, it’s the rule of the universe, so all we should do is stop allowing this type of behavior from our leaders and from ourselves, because the most important struggles should always start from within us, only then we will reach tolerance in a mass scale.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Holocaust
The holocaust is probably the worst genocide that has occurred in the history of humanity, it all started in Germany during the late 30’s it first started by just the harassment, then the German Jewish community were the target of attacks, boycotts and violence. Jews in Europe were being accused of all the problems in Germany, things like the capitulation of Germany during WW1 and the signing of the treaty of Versailles were attributed to the Jewish community, Hitler’s speeches were full of hateful messages toward the European Jewish community adding to the hate speech there was a full propaganda machinery targeting all aspects of German society.
This type of constant persuasion led to the perpetration of a great crime against humanity, in my opinion all crimes are crimes against humanity I don’t like to put crimes into certain categories all crimes are bad, all crimes are inexcusable and all governments have blood in their hands, during world war two, fifty million human beings were killed, many in the hands of the Nazis others on the hands of the Russians and Japanese some also died form our regular and atomic bombs used against humanity, when somebody tells me that we are all conscious beings I can always find many historical events that contradict that notion.
What I think about people who deny the Holocaust? Well I don’t agree with them but I don’t think that its right to incarcerate them for their opinion like it has been the case some European countries, we might not agree with their opinion but if we are going to put people in jail just because their opinions are full of ignorant or hateful expressions then we shouldn’t call ourselves the countries of freedom of speech, if we did this then the jails would be full of politicians and journalists that say stupid things all the time.
In order to prevent another holocaust to occur all of humanity should have to evolve to a higher state in understanding and integration, for this to happen we have to concentrate on the younger generations in which hand is the future of humanity.
This type of constant persuasion led to the perpetration of a great crime against humanity, in my opinion all crimes are crimes against humanity I don’t like to put crimes into certain categories all crimes are bad, all crimes are inexcusable and all governments have blood in their hands, during world war two, fifty million human beings were killed, many in the hands of the Nazis others on the hands of the Russians and Japanese some also died form our regular and atomic bombs used against humanity, when somebody tells me that we are all conscious beings I can always find many historical events that contradict that notion.
What I think about people who deny the Holocaust? Well I don’t agree with them but I don’t think that its right to incarcerate them for their opinion like it has been the case some European countries, we might not agree with their opinion but if we are going to put people in jail just because their opinions are full of ignorant or hateful expressions then we shouldn’t call ourselves the countries of freedom of speech, if we did this then the jails would be full of politicians and journalists that say stupid things all the time.
In order to prevent another holocaust to occur all of humanity should have to evolve to a higher state in understanding and integration, for this to happen we have to concentrate on the younger generations in which hand is the future of humanity.
Education
I have learned that education is not only conformed of the rudimentary and repetitive techniques that I experienced as a child in my country, but there has been a lot of research on the matter of education throughout the years, two different approaches emerged from the research the constructivist and behaviorist approach, both plans aim to deliver a better learning experience and both take advantage of the modern technology to provide better more interesting lessons to its students.
Many important advances in technology have contributed to education and learning most noticeable the invention of the internet, the internet has brought a new era of communication and learning, in my opinion it’s the equivalent to the invention of the printing press, the same invention that took the world from the darkness of the dark ages, to the modern era of inventions and ideas called the renaissance, during the dark ages the catholic church ruled the western world, and they had a monopoly on knowledge, most of their power was gone because of information, the same thing its happening today with the invention of the internet, we are living in a crucial stage of humanity it could be called a crossroad, we are experiencing a modern renaissance but this time it’s in a much larger scale.
Education has had to adapt itself to the ever changing world of technology, because of the unlimited amount of information that the internet provides the tasks in a class are going to be different, today students have an infinite amount of research material for their projects so more it’s going to be expected from them, technology has also introduced students with new tools for them to present their assignments, we have programs like power point that students can use to present their lessons in a fun and creative way.
The use of technology has changed the face of the modern world; things that were unheard of a few years ago are now part of our daily life, there is no doubt that the world has changed and why shouldn’t education change as well, with the ongoing improvement of technology the next few years are going to be very interesting for teachers.
Many important advances in technology have contributed to education and learning most noticeable the invention of the internet, the internet has brought a new era of communication and learning, in my opinion it’s the equivalent to the invention of the printing press, the same invention that took the world from the darkness of the dark ages, to the modern era of inventions and ideas called the renaissance, during the dark ages the catholic church ruled the western world, and they had a monopoly on knowledge, most of their power was gone because of information, the same thing its happening today with the invention of the internet, we are living in a crucial stage of humanity it could be called a crossroad, we are experiencing a modern renaissance but this time it’s in a much larger scale.
Education has had to adapt itself to the ever changing world of technology, because of the unlimited amount of information that the internet provides the tasks in a class are going to be different, today students have an infinite amount of research material for their projects so more it’s going to be expected from them, technology has also introduced students with new tools for them to present their assignments, we have programs like power point that students can use to present their lessons in a fun and creative way.
The use of technology has changed the face of the modern world; things that were unheard of a few years ago are now part of our daily life, there is no doubt that the world has changed and why shouldn’t education change as well, with the ongoing improvement of technology the next few years are going to be very interesting for teachers.
Racism
Cultural chauvinism is when people act like if their culture is the only one in the world they don't seem to acknowledge that there are many other different cultures, most of the time the chauvinism comes from ignorance like in the case of the United States people act very immaturely toward other cultures but this is only the result from ignorance and a lack of understanding of the world we live in.
the lack of knowledge about other peoples culture can come from a lack of interest in world events to a poor education at home or school, there is some people who travel to other countries expecting to behave the same way they do on their country, and many times this type of behavior is viewed with antipathy on the eyes of the locals, for example when an American travels to a place like japan, place were the culture has a deep respectful tone to it, there is going to be a clash of cultures, but most of the time the Americans don't even have a clue that there is going to be such a thing.
Cultural pride is when you are proud about your heritage sometimes race or nationality, the dangerous thing is when it becomes extreme, Nationalism is a term used that has a lot in common with cultural pride but there have been many cases in history when nationalism will turn dangerous unfortunately we have too many examples in our history, from the nazis to the serbians who believed that because of their Cultural pride they could get away with horrible crimes all in the name of the fatherland.
Cultural degradation is when a cultural group will claim superiority against another the most common historical example is the holocaust In which nazis claimed not only cultural superiority but also racial superiority and they ended up killing millions of people in their concentration camps, we can see other examples in history like the genocides in Africa that take place because of tribal or political differences, they might not be the same but they share the same basic factor which is the claim that their ideas are superior to that of others.
Finally the world has gone through a lot of horrible crimes because of ideologies and superiority complexes, its about time for humanity to reach a level of maturity that will allow us to move on to the next stage in our evolution, a stage of integration for a common goal, the advancement of humanity to a higher level of tolerance and acceptance.
the lack of knowledge about other peoples culture can come from a lack of interest in world events to a poor education at home or school, there is some people who travel to other countries expecting to behave the same way they do on their country, and many times this type of behavior is viewed with antipathy on the eyes of the locals, for example when an American travels to a place like japan, place were the culture has a deep respectful tone to it, there is going to be a clash of cultures, but most of the time the Americans don't even have a clue that there is going to be such a thing.
Cultural pride is when you are proud about your heritage sometimes race or nationality, the dangerous thing is when it becomes extreme, Nationalism is a term used that has a lot in common with cultural pride but there have been many cases in history when nationalism will turn dangerous unfortunately we have too many examples in our history, from the nazis to the serbians who believed that because of their Cultural pride they could get away with horrible crimes all in the name of the fatherland.
Cultural degradation is when a cultural group will claim superiority against another the most common historical example is the holocaust In which nazis claimed not only cultural superiority but also racial superiority and they ended up killing millions of people in their concentration camps, we can see other examples in history like the genocides in Africa that take place because of tribal or political differences, they might not be the same but they share the same basic factor which is the claim that their ideas are superior to that of others.
Finally the world has gone through a lot of horrible crimes because of ideologies and superiority complexes, its about time for humanity to reach a level of maturity that will allow us to move on to the next stage in our evolution, a stage of integration for a common goal, the advancement of humanity to a higher level of tolerance and acceptance.
Prejudices
The article talks about prejudices and how they start, most prejudices come from childhood and this type of prejudice is the most common around people since we are children our minds are filled with culture and with the views of other people, in a country were there is many different ethnic groups there is always going to exist a friction between them, and each culture will enforce their beliefs on their children, because of this many people grow up with the first type of indirect prejudice, all prejudice is bad but when it is indirect rather than direct it doesn't play an active role on the person's life.
When the prejudices are passive or indirect they don't play a big role in a persons live, these prejudices only come up to light when a person is involved in a certain type of situation in which he will use these prejudices in order to justify their anger or insecurity, all types of prejudices are negative and all of them can be changed, when our prejudices are not active they are easier to overcome, many different methods can be used to overcome them but it all starts with awareness of the problem, another step is recognizing that there is a problem and by talking about it our guilt will diminish and we can maturely approach the problem to its core.
The other type of prejudice its a more dangerous kind, when prejudices start taking an active part on a persons live the they become extremely negative, most of the people that is active in this type of racist behavior have experienced a negative childhood, many times they have been victims of abuse and have had a very rough upbringing, most of the time people who are actively racist will associate themselves with political movements that reflect their racist views, this type of prejudices are very hard to eliminate, because of their involvement with the persons live, but still can be overcomed if the individual becomes whiling to deal with it, by the use of therapy, by acquiring self awareness and by starting to create relations with the people that they direct their prejudices to.
Any type of prejudice its bad no matter if it takes a passive or an active role in our lives, but the responsibility of all adults is to move their lives to an state of acceptance and tolerance, so that this experience called life becomes one that is full of joy and acceptance toward others.
When the prejudices are passive or indirect they don't play a big role in a persons live, these prejudices only come up to light when a person is involved in a certain type of situation in which he will use these prejudices in order to justify their anger or insecurity, all types of prejudices are negative and all of them can be changed, when our prejudices are not active they are easier to overcome, many different methods can be used to overcome them but it all starts with awareness of the problem, another step is recognizing that there is a problem and by talking about it our guilt will diminish and we can maturely approach the problem to its core.
The other type of prejudice its a more dangerous kind, when prejudices start taking an active part on a persons live the they become extremely negative, most of the people that is active in this type of racist behavior have experienced a negative childhood, many times they have been victims of abuse and have had a very rough upbringing, most of the time people who are actively racist will associate themselves with political movements that reflect their racist views, this type of prejudices are very hard to eliminate, because of their involvement with the persons live, but still can be overcomed if the individual becomes whiling to deal with it, by the use of therapy, by acquiring self awareness and by starting to create relations with the people that they direct their prejudices to.
Any type of prejudice its bad no matter if it takes a passive or an active role in our lives, but the responsibility of all adults is to move their lives to an state of acceptance and tolerance, so that this experience called life becomes one that is full of joy and acceptance toward others.
Beliefs
The most important thing that I have learned, is the power of beliefs, most people underestimate the power of their mind, the mind specially the subconscious is in charge of performing the most complex functions of the body, its in charge of regulating blood pressure, the creation of skin, the regeneration of cells, the beating of the hearth, among many other things, if we would try to do all of these activities consciously we would go crazy, that is why many negative beliefs are so hard to let go, they are wired to our subconscious mind, and that is why becoming aware of our beliefs systems its probably the most important task of our lives.
In my opinion all beliefs are negative to an extent, because the way they act is by taking over our mind and body, their only purpose is to prove themselves right, and they do this by looking for justifications for their existence in our environment, if we have a negative belief he would see reflected in all aspects of our lives, on the other hand if the belief is positive he will do the same but with a different outcome nevertheless I still think that when a belief either good or bad takes full control of you life it becomes a problem, because if it is negative you will have a miserable experience, but even if it is positive someday he will be challenged and once its challenged the most probable thing is that it will change, more often to a negative one.
So the best way to deal with beliefs is not letting them take control of our lives but instead use them as tools to help us live better lives, and whenever these beliefs are challenged we can easily give them up with other positive beliefs, that way we take over control of our lives and we can apply what we have learned to the classroom to let kids know that they are the masters of their beliefs and that they have the power to choose the ones that are going to help them become better persons and have better lives all by using their beliefs as tools.
The teaching of beliefs should start early on in life, I just wander where would I be if I had known the power of beliefs when I was a child, most people have an idea about the power of beliefs, they always say that the mind is powerful when what they really mean is that beliefs are powerful, I don't know if it is a big conspiracy or if it is because of the new era of communications that the power of beliefs is becoming a popular topic anyway its for the better of humanity and of teachers that the topic of beliefs its being discussed so much fervor.
In my opinion all beliefs are negative to an extent, because the way they act is by taking over our mind and body, their only purpose is to prove themselves right, and they do this by looking for justifications for their existence in our environment, if we have a negative belief he would see reflected in all aspects of our lives, on the other hand if the belief is positive he will do the same but with a different outcome nevertheless I still think that when a belief either good or bad takes full control of you life it becomes a problem, because if it is negative you will have a miserable experience, but even if it is positive someday he will be challenged and once its challenged the most probable thing is that it will change, more often to a negative one.
So the best way to deal with beliefs is not letting them take control of our lives but instead use them as tools to help us live better lives, and whenever these beliefs are challenged we can easily give them up with other positive beliefs, that way we take over control of our lives and we can apply what we have learned to the classroom to let kids know that they are the masters of their beliefs and that they have the power to choose the ones that are going to help them become better persons and have better lives all by using their beliefs as tools.
The teaching of beliefs should start early on in life, I just wander where would I be if I had known the power of beliefs when I was a child, most people have an idea about the power of beliefs, they always say that the mind is powerful when what they really mean is that beliefs are powerful, I don't know if it is a big conspiracy or if it is because of the new era of communications that the power of beliefs is becoming a popular topic anyway its for the better of humanity and of teachers that the topic of beliefs its being discussed so much fervor.
Senses and Stimuli
Articles 5 and 6 are both about the senses and our interpretations of the stimuli that we receive from our different senses, article 5 The miracle of sensation talks about how our senses work, from our vision to our kinesthesis, it explains in detail how each of our sense travel to our bodies, it shows on pictures and in quotes the experience of senses and stimuli in our brain, the next article titled Making sense out of sensation deals with our interpretations of the different sensations that we experience, it talks about how we interpret different senses and how the same sensations can have different meanings to different people, individuals with a different social or economic background can have different experiences about the same stimuli.
One of the stories I could easily identify with is the one where the son is waiting for his father and he was able to recognize the unique sound of his fathers car, even though there were many different sounds in the background, the same used to happen to me when I used to wait for my father to get home when I was a child, I would immediately recognize the sound of my fathers car when I was waiting for him, and I am sure that the other people on the street couldn't recognize that unique sound, because their senses weren't adjusted to do it.
The four most important things that I learned reading both articles are: fist I wasn't aware that when the light goes into the retina and forms an image, the image its actually upside down, this is new to me and it makes me think about the nature of reality itself, if the image at some point is backwards, then probably the whole reality its upside down and we are experiencing it in a different way, reality its really relative then.
The second thing that I didn't know before is that we can actually train our senses to do things that aren't normal, I really liked the example about the black and white photographers, they have to make an image in their brain about how a color picture would look like if it was in black and white, they have to determine where would the different tones of gray would be, and I can identify with this because I like to draw and until now I realize that whenever I draw a charcoal sketch, I am drawing the black and white version of the color image that I see in my brain, its really amazing that we have the ability to change our senses without realizing it.
The third thing that I learned and that really called my attention was our preferences for certain tastes, like our craving for sugars to get carbohydrates or our craving for salts to get sodium, when you see it this way its easy to see why fast food chains like McDonalds have made so much money basing their product on our most inner human needs.
The fourth thing that I learned and that is wasn't aware before is that different cultures react different to certain stimuli, like for instance the smell of certain foods, I cannot stand the smell of curry or lamb, I didn't know why until now, because I never got to experience those types of foods when I was young because of the geographic location of the place were I was born.
Our interpretation of the different senses play a great role in our lives, and in our cultures, and I cant help to see a relation between making sense of our sensations and Schemes because they booth base themselves in previous experiences, and take the role of filters that we use to see the world, hopefully by becoming aware of how our senses work we can let our differences behind and become a more accepting and tolerant world community.
One of the stories I could easily identify with is the one where the son is waiting for his father and he was able to recognize the unique sound of his fathers car, even though there were many different sounds in the background, the same used to happen to me when I used to wait for my father to get home when I was a child, I would immediately recognize the sound of my fathers car when I was waiting for him, and I am sure that the other people on the street couldn't recognize that unique sound, because their senses weren't adjusted to do it.
The four most important things that I learned reading both articles are: fist I wasn't aware that when the light goes into the retina and forms an image, the image its actually upside down, this is new to me and it makes me think about the nature of reality itself, if the image at some point is backwards, then probably the whole reality its upside down and we are experiencing it in a different way, reality its really relative then.
The second thing that I didn't know before is that we can actually train our senses to do things that aren't normal, I really liked the example about the black and white photographers, they have to make an image in their brain about how a color picture would look like if it was in black and white, they have to determine where would the different tones of gray would be, and I can identify with this because I like to draw and until now I realize that whenever I draw a charcoal sketch, I am drawing the black and white version of the color image that I see in my brain, its really amazing that we have the ability to change our senses without realizing it.
The third thing that I learned and that really called my attention was our preferences for certain tastes, like our craving for sugars to get carbohydrates or our craving for salts to get sodium, when you see it this way its easy to see why fast food chains like McDonalds have made so much money basing their product on our most inner human needs.
The fourth thing that I learned and that is wasn't aware before is that different cultures react different to certain stimuli, like for instance the smell of certain foods, I cannot stand the smell of curry or lamb, I didn't know why until now, because I never got to experience those types of foods when I was young because of the geographic location of the place were I was born.
Our interpretation of the different senses play a great role in our lives, and in our cultures, and I cant help to see a relation between making sense of our sensations and Schemes because they booth base themselves in previous experiences, and take the role of filters that we use to see the world, hopefully by becoming aware of how our senses work we can let our differences behind and become a more accepting and tolerant world community.
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