Carl Sagan and On Time Travel

Chapter Ten: Write your reactions to any of the ideas about the future presented in this chapter.

After reading chapter ten I would have to say that Carl Sagan’s ideas about the future and time travel were what really caught my attention. His answers to his questions were said in a manner that was very easy to understand and grasp, you don’t have to be a physicist to understand what he is saying. Sagan’s points and explanations made me very interested in the topic of time travel; something that I felt, before reading this passage, was a thing of movies. His idea on the “grandfather paradox” is a very interesting one; he made a lot of valid points and raised questions that caused me to think, such as his question about the person killing their grandfather. Do they cease to exist because they were never made? Or does the person go on to live a different life with different events leading up to their adulthood?  I also love the statement Carl Sagan made where he said “I think inconsistencies might very well be consistent with the world.” This statement was not only very profound but also thought provoking. Overall I enjoyed this selection from the chapter very much. His ideas of the future and time travel were very honest and humble, he points out that we’re not yet at the stage we’re we can make time travel possible but the fact that it can even be thought as a possibility is a wonder of its own.

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The Mind's Prisoner

Chapter Nine: Write an entry that reveals how the mind can and cannot be trusted.

 

Everyone has heard someone tell them at one point or another to follow their mind and not their heart because their heart will make them do something foolish, which is sometimes the case especially when one is in love. Your mind is suppose to think logically and let you know what the best moves are while your heart is suppose to make you do crazy and spontaneous things just because. For example the girl who is in a bad relationship where her heart keeps getting broken. Her mind is telling her to leave her significant other alone but her heart just wont let her and she just keeps going back. She has a messed up perception of reality and what the relationship is really like. In this situation it is obvious that she should trust her mind but what do you do when your mind is the one tricking you? For example the boy who was always unfaithful so he sees all his unfaithful traits in his partner. He expects her to be sneaky and spies on her because he feels as though she is cheating on him. He sees all her actions as her trying to find a way to spend time with someone else. This is a perfect example of how the mind can play terrible tricks on someone. Your mind can show you things that aren't even there. It projects an image of one thing onto something else, making the person a prisoner of their own mind.

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Hip Hop Nation

Chapter Eight: Do you agree with Chang that hip-hop has come to be the way an entire generation sees their world? Does that make it more or less, as the caller suggests, “mainstream”?

I do not agree with Chang that hip-hop has come to be the way an entire generation sees their world. An "entire generation" accounts for a lot of people. Yes, some people may see their lives in this manner but that doesn't include everyone. I can personally say that hip hop does not affect the decisions a adult makes. I have listened to hip hop my whole life and I have never felt influenced to live the lifestyle that some of these rappers might rap about. Some rappers are rapping about things such as selling drugs, gang affiliations, and being in jail but what people don't realize is that this is a way for these rappers to tell their story. The story of their come up and the struggle trying to make it big. It’s an ugly truth but truth none the less. Some of the choices these rappers made were out of desperation, because they felt like they had no other choices. Being poor and not always academically talented or a star athlete they turn to what they know best. Most of the people listening to these songs and really enjoying it are the ones who can relate to their story and who feel their pain. They are also trying to live well. I do have to agree with Chang that this style of rap is more mainstream but that is only because these people look up to these hip hop stars as inspiration. Many of these hip hop stars prove through their success that one can make it out of poverty and live better.

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Voices of the Wind

Chapter Seven: What is the importance of environmental awareness and / or environmental activism?

Environmental awareness and environmental activism are both very important topics. If people are not aware of their environment how are they supposed to help it? Environmental awareness is all about "having knowledge of the surroundings, or world, beyond ones immediate place."(Cusimano,LDSupport) Many people know of the issues that the environment is currently facing, such as, global warming and the shortage of some natural resources, but what are they doing to stop it? This is where environmental activism comes into play. Environmental activism is the combined force of people who take action to protect and conserve their environment. These are the people who “go green”. They go green by recycling, using less water, and trying to minimize the production of gases contributing to global warming, etc. Every little effort counts and it is important that people try to do their fair share to protect this beautiful planet and all that it contains, if not for yourselves for your future families and the generations to come.

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Foucault and the Prison System

Chapter Six: Foucault claims that there is a reluctance to be rid of the prison system. Why do you think this is so, given its failures, as described by Foucault?

Due to the prison systems many failures Foucault believes that there is a reluctance to be done with prisons completely.  He believes there is reluctance because prisons do not decrease the crime rate and I can agree with this to a great extent. In my opinion there are a lot of "criminals" who should not be in prison, for instance those who do not pay parking tickets or who missed child support payments. Criminals who should be behind bars are murders, rapists, thieves and so forth. They are the real criminals. The system works in funny ways and doesn't always allow for justice and this is where the failure happens. It is not necessarily the prison but the way the laws are set up. Cases should be handled more carefully and reviewed thoroughly to ensure that the person is getting either rehabilitation or the jail time he/she might deserve. The prison system shouldn't always be about punishing but about fixing, helping people to better their lives by getting them help and stopping the problem. Prisons should be kept but prisoners, at least those who deserve it, should be given the help they require to return to the outside world as fully functioning members of society. Failure to rehabilitate is failure enough.
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The Real Side of War

Chapter Five: Write about your reactions to any of the war stories presented in Chapter Five

 It's easy to mistake war for a place where there is constant killing and fighting, as if in some sort of video game. But what about all the other parts in-between? In this story, Handouts, written by John Crawford the reader is able to see a part of war that many civilians do not see, and probably don't want to see. This story touched me because it created a picture of the sick and poor conditions these Iraqi's and soldiers had to tolerate. And many times, these soldiers were not even acknowledged for their work. War isn't easy on any population in the world; especially one that is already poor as it is. Crawford talks about the conditions the Iraqis had lived in for almost a year, stating they had no electricity, no fresh water or food, and a high mortality rate. In one part of the story Crawford recalls “several grown men viciously beat the youngsters with their fists and greedily snatched toys from their tiny hands”. He then goes on to say that the children were less surprised by the Iraqi men behavior than they were. This statement speaks volumes as to what these soldiers and people, kids alike, affected by the war have to endure. It must be hard to see such horrible acts of violence especially if these soldiers had families who they so desperately wanted to return to. People fail to realize the parts of their lives that these soldiers dedicate to their people and country.

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A Mother's Love

Chapter Four: Take a story from your life or the life of someone close to you that reflects an important theme about love or hate and tell the story in a way that reveals the theme?

My mother was in a hospital bed with terrible pains that she described as labor pains, which she was not supposed to be experiencing at about a month pregnant. My mother was in a tremendous amount of pain when she learned that her pregnancy might be an ectopic pregnancy and that she would have to face the decision of terminating the pregnancy. Despite the doctor’s advice and warning and that of her family, my mother denied the option of terminating the pregnancy and decided she would wait to find out for sure if this pregnancy was an ectopic pregnancy or not. After a week or more of waiting they were able to determine that it was a blood clot and not an ectopic pregnancy that was causing her all of that pain. If my mother had quickly made the decision to terminate her pregnancy I would not have been here today but because of her love and selflessness I am here. I don't know what shows love more than putting one owns life at risk for the one you love. There is no love like that of a mother for her child.

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