Ted Talks

 

"SCHOOL KILLS CREATIVITY"

 

Creativity is one of the most essential aspects in a person's life. I believe that without creativity a person will never get to live life to their full potential. I agree with the lecture Sir Ken Robinson gave, especially about the part he said "Creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status."
In today's society creativity is not nurtured for and as Sir Robinson said it is being killed by education. Education is very important in today's society because without education there are only a few opportunities available for a person to earn a living.
In today's society, what people desire the most are jobs they enjoy and makiing a lot of money. For example,  if you tell parents you want to be an art major, they think you are just wasting  money on something that is irrelevant and not as useful. The opinions of individuals around you can influence a person to do something they do not want to do.  Sir Ken Robinson told a story about the ballet dancer who had ADHD but the doctor said let her dance instead of giving her some pills to calm her down. I feel like she is the lucky one because most people will end up taking the pill rather than see their dreams come to pass.
Today's education system is designed to ruin the creativity of children because it involves following rules and doing well in school. Today nobody wants to be wrong but if we are not prepared to be wrong, we will never come up with something original

Fear Thy Nature

 In this article they talk about two experiments:

Zambardo's Stanford prison experiment & The play "Sleep no more".

 

 

Zambardo's prison experiment was designed to last for 2 weeks dividing 24 male college students into either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were arrested at home and brought to a fake prison. They were told to dress in the jail jumpsuits while the guards were dressed as cops and were given sunglasses to wear at all times. The point of this experiment was to see how a person's behavior can change in different situations.

This experiment was clearly a bad idea because the prisoners really believed that they were in a real jail and completely forgot it was an experiment. The prison guards ended up becoming vicious and taunted the prisoners by making them clean the toilets and other vulgar tasks. I think this was a stupid experiment because it got way out of hand and made people question zambardo's humanism. In addition, he harmed individuals by manipulating their minds and behaviors because of the situation they were put in.

 

The play "Sleep no more" is designed to throw individuals off balance by manipulating their minds with control and context. I personally would have not participated or have went to this play because it seems too violent and aggressive to enjoy the actual meaning. In addition, i feel like the play would frighten majority of the people because people do not like to follow instructions but figure certain things out on their own.

No Free Lunch

Maastricht, Marijuana and the European Dream

 

The City of Maastricht is located in the Netherlands and is known as the home of the Euro.  Every backpacker and college student are familiar with Holland's laws on Marijuana.  People are allowed to smoke any place desirable and are usually able to buy the drug from coffee shops. However, the Major of the city decided to ban foreigners from smoking marijuana because he claims that pot smokers make for "lousy tourists". In addition, he further says that "tourists just sit in their cars and smoke, litter, park illegally and do not appreciate the architecture or art of the city". The issue of Marijuana being sold to foreigners and tourists relates to the guidepost that states Economic actions often generate secondary effects in addition to their immediate effects.  

This guidepost relates to the clip because since the Mayor banned foreigners from smoking marijuana, several businesses in the drug industry have been shut down due to the lack of customers. Many coffee shops are going out of business and only a few still exist.  In addition, the locals that live in the city of Maastricht do not approve with the mayor's decision and have grown to dislike him. In order for the locals to continue smoking they need to sign an agreement with the coffee shops which unfortunately is sent to the government.  

"Either everyone smokes everywhere or no one does"

RS1 - How To Be A Genius

 

This Blog post expresses my opinions about the article “How to be a Genius”, By David Dobbs. This article emerged in the September 2006 edition of the “New Scientist”. The main point of this article focuses on the aspects that guide an individual to become a genius. The article allows us to comprehend that in order to be recognized as a genius, people need to endow many hours to their work and studies.

 This is a key factor of the article because it describes how no person is born a genius but has the opportunity to be made into one. People have to work hard if they want to succeed over their competitors, as well as, being acknowledged for their accomplishments. Many individuals have the prospective to become a genius at an early age by exemplifying advanced learning abilities. However, even if an individual is born with a higher IQ or other beneficial qualities, they will not be able to achieve more without hard work and dedication.  Dobbs explains that if you want achieve success and greatness in life, individuals need to apply time and effort to reach their goals. 

Dobbs uses Tiger Woods as an example by exclaiming that “he seems magical on the golf course, but he was swinging a golf club before he could walk, got great instruction and practiced constantly from boyhood, and even today outworks all his rivals.” He further says that “his genius has been laboriously constructed”. Dobbs implements that Tiger Woods was born with a natural talent and that he became successful because of the dedication and effort he has displayed over the years in his career. In my personal experience, I have also realized that time and dedication is key factors in achieving any goal. I have been playing tennis since I was 8 years old. When I reached Middle school I tried out for the tennis team and made it but only as an alternate. My couch gave us the opportunity to be able move up in our playing positions if we improved. It was with a lot of practice and devotion that I soon became a better player and held one of the best positions on the team.