Ray Bradbury is an author for seeing into the future. To obtain an improved understanding of Bradbury’s short stories, novels, and screen plays you would need to know a modest amount about him http://www.spaceagecity.com/. One of Bradbury’s books that I have recently read is called Fahrenheit 451. To get a great summary of Fahrenheit 451 take a look at this link http://www.bookrags.com/notes/451/BIO.html.
It has been over fifty years since Bradbury has published Fahrenheit 451 and to say the least I think that he was on to something. Do I think that the future will convert into books being considered evil and are then destroyed, no probably not? It has happened in our history, but I think one great thing about time is that it makes one wiser. If there is ever a time when our authorities try burning books that is when the Bill of Rights and all that America has been founded on will come into play. The idea that Bradbury was onto when he wrote this book was how technology will steal from our social and family activities. In my Humanities 101 class we often discuss how people are no longer connected. A great example of this was an article that was put out for discussion in class called Bowling Alone. We no longer know our neighbors and have strong connections with our brothers and sisters. Bradbury was demonstrating that idea through Guy and Mildred’s marriage. They sleep in separate beds and hardly ever show any connection to one another. That said, reading his book today would bring up the question has television and the Internet destroyed Americans’ ability to read and think critically about ideas? Defiantly not, if anything the television and Internet has only strengthened our ability to read and think critically. For the fact that the younger generation is capable of understanding and performing tasks and thoughts that older generations are just now learning and beginning to understand. A great book that helps prove this point is called Everything Bad is Good For You. Television and the Internet do have a back lash like all things in life. Being as I said earlier that it takes from our social connections. Ray Bradbury was amazing in his thoughts and predictions of the future. I would recommend his book Fahrenheit 451 along with Everything Bad is Good For You and Bowling Alone.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Primary students learning to think
Should reasoning skills be taught in primary school? This is a question that is asked far too little. The purpose of a student learning reasoning or critical thinking skills is to better prepare that student for the future and in helping them be able to make wiser choices. The issue is that most students do not begin to learn reasoning skills until they are in high school, and even then students do not start thinking critically until they have reached their second semester of college.
High school students are about the age of fourteen to eighteen. At this age is when students are faced with peer pressure and decisions of the future for example what they want to be when they are adults and what they want for their upcoming future. How are students capable of making these decisions on their own and truly fulfilling their dreams and goals if teachers don’t teach them and help them understand how to process information, reason, enquire, and evaluate their choices?
Various primary schools such as Greens Norton C of E Primary School www.greensnortonshcool.com have based their curriculum around building reasoning and critical thinking skills. Learning reasoning skills at a primary level will only make the choice of that primary student further knowledgeable in the future. When a student that has begun to learn and harness this skill is faced with a decision in middle school that relates to peer pressure that student will be reluctant to follow the leader and say yes. They will think of why they chose to or not to make that decision and the possible outcomes for each situation. There for make them more capable of making the right selection.
In all I think reasoning skills should be taught in primary school. We are faced with decision from the time we are able to crawl, and having the ability to understand why we are thinking what we are thinking only makes us more understanding and knowledgeable of our surroundings and who we are. Starting to learn this skill at an earlier age will only make us better at using it, and propelling us to a higher level of being.
High school students are about the age of fourteen to eighteen. At this age is when students are faced with peer pressure and decisions of the future for example what they want to be when they are adults and what they want for their upcoming future. How are students capable of making these decisions on their own and truly fulfilling their dreams and goals if teachers don’t teach them and help them understand how to process information, reason, enquire, and evaluate their choices?
Various primary schools such as Greens Norton C of E Primary School www.greensnortonshcool.com have based their curriculum around building reasoning and critical thinking skills. Learning reasoning skills at a primary level will only make the choice of that primary student further knowledgeable in the future. When a student that has begun to learn and harness this skill is faced with a decision in middle school that relates to peer pressure that student will be reluctant to follow the leader and say yes. They will think of why they chose to or not to make that decision and the possible outcomes for each situation. There for make them more capable of making the right selection.
In all I think reasoning skills should be taught in primary school. We are faced with decision from the time we are able to crawl, and having the ability to understand why we are thinking what we are thinking only makes us more understanding and knowledgeable of our surroundings and who we are. Starting to learn this skill at an earlier age will only make us better at using it, and propelling us to a higher level of being.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Human Society
Technology has changed human society in many ways and each way being different. The purpose of technology is to make our lives more convenient and the human race stronger and more intelligent. These technologies are as simple as hand held portable computers to get information on the spot, computers that will type for you so that you can multi-task, and the all time favorite, texting. These simple advances in technology are just minor advances compared to various technologies such as tunnels that allow humans to travel underwater or into outer space and weapons capable of demolishing an entire country.
One way technology has changed human society is in how humans perceive themselves and interact with one another. People see themselves as being stronger more capable of becoming the dominate person in a situation and in them feeling powerful, people become more hostile. In an article How Technology Changed Our Society, Maheen Mirza states, “The very idea of man has undergone change under the influence of machines. Previously man was thought to be a weak creature. He suffered from ignorance and superstition. Now he is all-powerful. Machines have badly affected the thinking power of man. There has taken place a decline of attention.”
A technological advancement that has an immense impact on human society is weaponry. In olden times violence in society was done out of passion with a knife or a blunt object. Now a day’s people are capable of planning and premeditation. In the past a person had to be strong to shoot a bow and then society advance to weapons that took a less strength. Such as guns, the earliest gun had to be loaded with gunpowder and now a person would have to be knowledgeable on how to load gun powder, but these weapons could not be left in a state of readiness due to the fact the powder would get damp and go off. Today people in society are capable of keeping weapons that require less strength and knowledge on the weapon, therefore keeping their weapon in a state of readiness. So that violence is no longer an act of passion but it can be premeditated.
The impact of this change is that humans no longer see themselves as incapable of undertaking a task. They feel they are capable of anything with their weapons backing them up. With this thought in society, people become more aggressive and therefore creating more violence in society. I find this to be tremendously negative for human society. Instead people of working and cohabitating in a society peacefully, they want to dominate. This makes one question if we should still refer to society as human society.
I will leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King. Junior, “If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.”
One way technology has changed human society is in how humans perceive themselves and interact with one another. People see themselves as being stronger more capable of becoming the dominate person in a situation and in them feeling powerful, people become more hostile. In an article How Technology Changed Our Society, Maheen Mirza states, “The very idea of man has undergone change under the influence of machines. Previously man was thought to be a weak creature. He suffered from ignorance and superstition. Now he is all-powerful. Machines have badly affected the thinking power of man. There has taken place a decline of attention.”
A technological advancement that has an immense impact on human society is weaponry. In olden times violence in society was done out of passion with a knife or a blunt object. Now a day’s people are capable of planning and premeditation. In the past a person had to be strong to shoot a bow and then society advance to weapons that took a less strength. Such as guns, the earliest gun had to be loaded with gunpowder and now a person would have to be knowledgeable on how to load gun powder, but these weapons could not be left in a state of readiness due to the fact the powder would get damp and go off. Today people in society are capable of keeping weapons that require less strength and knowledge on the weapon, therefore keeping their weapon in a state of readiness. So that violence is no longer an act of passion but it can be premeditated.
The impact of this change is that humans no longer see themselves as incapable of undertaking a task. They feel they are capable of anything with their weapons backing them up. With this thought in society, people become more aggressive and therefore creating more violence in society. I find this to be tremendously negative for human society. Instead people of working and cohabitating in a society peacefully, they want to dominate. This makes one question if we should still refer to society as human society.
I will leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King. Junior, “If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.”
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Why I am rolling out of bed on a Wednesday morning.
HUM 101: Society and Technology, is my reason for waking up early on a Wednesday during summer vacation. I chose to take college summer classes to speed up the process of me earning my degree. I am currently taking English 102 and Math and also had to take a Critical Thinking class to fit my schedule for the future. My favorite subject isn't English so I decided to take HUM 101 for my Critical Thinking credits.
By choosing this interesting class I hope to gain new skills and sponge up on my Critical Thinking. Figuring out why I am thinking what I am thinking.
By choosing this interesting class I hope to gain new skills and sponge up on my Critical Thinking. Figuring out why I am thinking what I am thinking.
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