Appiah "The Case for Contamination"

I felt that Appiahs article “The Case for Contamination” was fascinating.
I happen to agree with Appiah, and argue that all human beings are
entitled to the same respect and concern globally. There has
definitely been more pressure to modernize the world towards
uniformity.

The idea of Globalization will not only have an effect on culture but
an unquestionably effect on economic development and political systems
as well. This globalization can impact many women who plead to be
recognized. This can create new standards for women. It would be a
great way to change the treatment of women and allow women's groups to
circulate. Some features of globalization will be liberating for women
who have been discriminated against within their culture and around
the world because of their inherited traditions. This can allow women
to make choices while somehow preserving cultures/ traditions for
those who do not want change. An individual can certainly impact this
change

Appiah is right by saying "Talk of authenticity now just amounts to
telling other people what they ought to value in their own traditions"
Access to information impacts the choices people make. People from
different cultures will no longer be told what they must or ought to
do. This will permit advancement for those in such third world
countries by providing opportunity rather than just adapting to their
culture.

SECRECY

Back in 2006 I was involved in a situation where I felt compelled to lie in order to keep a secret. Two of my good friends were dating each other… For privacy matters let’s just keep the names as Pepito and Pepita… I had known both of them for more than 4 years and they had been dating for about 1 or 2 months…

Pepita had just gotten out of a long term relationship and had informed me about having feelings for her ex boyfriend while she was dating Pepito. To make a very long story short, Pepita had asked me to lie about where she was to Pepito because she was going to meet up with her ex boyfriend and didn’t want pepito to know. I got a phone call later that day from pepito asking me if I knew where she was because she hadn’t been answering her phone and was wondering where she was… It turned into this huge conflict between the two because pepito had speculated that she was hanging out with her ex- boyfriend… I had Pepita on one side begging me not to tell Pepito anything, and then I had Pepito calling me every second trying to convince me to tell him anything I knew… I ended up lying to Pepito telling him that I knew nothing of where she went or had been doing..

During this time, I had felt a sense of empowerment. I felt that I had the ability to protect her secret and protect her against scorn. In telling pepito I feel like I would be intruding her privacy, at the same time I felt terrible in not telling him because he was a good friend of mine for longer than Pepita and he should have the right to know that his girlfriend is not in love with him and cheated on him with her ex-boyfriend… I promised Pepita I wouldn’t say anything first so I wanted to keep my promise in order to avoid even more conflict… Either way someone was going to get hurt so I decided to just keep things to myself. After all, Pepito had learned the truth and was devastated…

It’s interesting to think how many times a day I tell a little white lie to avoid a secret to unfold… Or how I avoid certain words or information to protect others… I can only imagine how many government documents have been kept from the public …. Is it for our protection or theirs???

Mistakes

I try to avoid making intellectual mistakes by thinking things through before I speak it. I have to admit that I have slipped a few times especially with friends and family. For me it is easier to make this mistake with people I am close to because there reaches a point where I feel comfortable speaking my mind and I blabber on about things without thought of how it can affect the people around me at the time.
I’m almost positive that these mistakes happen every day and all around the world. Especially now in days when most of the talking isn’t even done in person anymore… One word in a text can change the entire meaning or idea you were going for. These mistakes can become offensive to certain audiences and can have a different meaning to people with different thoughts and religion.
I definitely think that the same misunderstanding can occur across cultures, nations, and continents. People misinterpret phrases and statements all the time and I do believe that the way we misuse phrases and quotations may tell us something about how our brains work and how much we really know…

MY MEDIA-YOUR MEDIA

After being asked to take apart a 48- hour period and live my partner’s media life I found myself acquiring new habits. After interviewing my partner I learned that we had few differences in how we absorb the media. She prefers to listen to her I-pod while I rather listen to the radio, She reads the school newspaper, plays video games, watches the Sci Fi channel, and is informed about world events through a friend in the military.

Although I did miss listening to the morning phone taps on Y-100 and listening to people’s opinion on the latest episode on American idol, the bachelor or Lost, also listening to people give advice on “how to catch your partner cheating”… I avoided listening to the radio for the full 48 hours and played my I-pod instead… I feel like I never really missed out on anything eventful and instead found myself enjoying the music on my I-pod commercial free!!!! In doing so, I had more time to think for myself and avoid having these nonsense topics on my mind all day and thoughts of how I would think of catching a boyfriend cheating… I know I know… it’s terrible!!! I picked up the school news paper for the first time in FIU… it was strange to read about the many events that take place in FIU that I never knew of!

After this assignment I realized how people really know what they know. Everything is influenced by what you read, what you see, what you hear and the experiences you go through. The media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting someone’s opinion. My partner’s media experiences did expand my own vision and perspective on the world and changed the way I get informed by access to more actionable information.

NEWS BLACK OUT

After attempting to black out all news media for 48 hours I realized that it was definitely much harder then I thought it would be. I realized that news is everywhere and trying to avoid it is more difficult then trying to follow it.
I feel that news is a necessary intrusion of our solitude. It makes us aware of different events going on around us and informs us of important facts. Many may argue that news can create more solitude by making us think for ourselves. I disagree because I relate solitude to a positive and constructive state where you can enjoy or reflect on something peacefully. Many news creates fear and worry, and there is nothing peaceful about that.

Influence on society

Aristotle and Plato were the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece and had a tremendous impact on society today. Although Plato was Aristotle’s teacher, Aristotle surpassed Plato’s level of thinking and grounded his experience to more concrete living. Aristotle wrote numerous books on politics that influenced our constitution. Aristotle discusses in one of his writings the elements from which the city originates. First comes the family, then several families unite to form a village; when several villages unite into a community large enough to be self-sufficient they form a state.

He wrote books about property, the role of men and women and the relationship between husband and wife. He stated a passage that in my opinion stated husband and wife to be a relation of ruler to ruled in a constitutional government. He discusses books questioning virtue and the relation of freedom and slaves along with women and men.

Plato wrote about abolition of family. Something that even seems to be in question today, he wrote about unity and argued how there should be no separate families. Many of their philosophies are things we still argue about today and affect our way of thinking. We use their principles of rhetoric on daily events and use their methods of persuasion even to this day.

WHY WE WRITE THINGS DOWN

Why do we write things down? I have realized that writing things down not only helps you remember tasks but it helps you memorize different facts. I tend to write my notes over a few times before an exam to better understand and remember the topic. It also serves to elucidate something that is unclear by allowing you to visualize and organize notes and ideas on a sheet of paper. Writing something down allows you to keep track of a goal or event, this way you can look back at old records and thoughts. I believe it is also a way to record history for the future. Lastly, writing things down can easier prove or disprove an argument by having written evidence.