Author Archives: aa2473

About aa2473

Sophomore Information Science Major

The hidden realities of people we may know

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Through watching this film, I re-lived the moments I saw the Boston Bombing on  T.V. and all the panic and hysteria it drove. I remember seeing interviews of people with amputated legs, devastated that unknowingly their lives had changed forever. Every time I witness a terrorist attack and even throughout this film, it’s always challenging for me to fathom how these are real people, and how these people just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. This reality scares me because truth to be told, my family and I were supposed to be at that Boston Marathon, and something could have happened to us, however last minute my parents opted out. This makes me wonder how many times, just by change and luck, I have been saved and brought away from dangerous situations and while that makes me feel safe, it also makes me realize that my feelings towards safety are temporary. Through any surprise murder or bomb threat, I am always interested in knowing what lead the person up to doing these horrible things, and how their minds could have tricked them into believing that their actions were acceptable. In that sense, I would have liked the movie to have focused more on the psychological mentalities between the brothers, which lead to them capable of detonating these bombs.

This film also made me reflect on the idea that you may now know the actions of the people closest to you. It is hard to imagine Tamaran’s wife condoning the activities that he as a part of, and thus it must have been so scary and unimaginable for her to learn what her husband has been up to. In that  regard, it also worried me that I could be associated with people who are potentially very dangerous and that you don’t always know the true colors of all people you meet. Although this is a very paranoid statement, situations like these make me less likely to trust some people completely and maintain my distance. I wonder if there were any actions of deceit that the wife and friends could have caught on earlier, and if these actions could be given more notice, so more people could identify idiosyncratic behavior and ponder upon the relevance of this behavior. However, we then come to the issue of correlation versus causation which makes it more challenging to assume people’s behavior indicates deception and dangerous activity.

The degree to which we must appreciate non-linearity

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Last week watching The Arrival was eye opening for me. In understanding how aliens were talking using circular references for times instead of the linear, structure time measurement that humans use, this really allowed me to question the linearity of the world. Why is it that when we do certain things, we expect other things to happen. For example, we correlate getting a job with getting happiness as we will get paid an live independent lives. Similarly, we correlate good health with making us feel empowered to do everything we desire. In living in a world where each action, has a supposed negative and positive action, we lose sight of the continuous flow of events that shape our lives. I’d prefer the alien’s concept of representing time in a circle, and would extend that to representing all life events as a circle since a circle has no sharp ends and twists and has a constant influx of certain scenarios which lead to others and which then revert back to the original. In this sense, a circular way of life allows for a life that is more fluid and dynamic but repetitive and consistent in that every path of the circle is continually repeated. I feel that the circle is a proper metaphor for life since we do encounter similar situations and repeat aspects of our lives consistently, however we are often times bombarded with obstacles and difference events which in the end still allow us to complete our continuous cycle instead of viewing our paths as strictly regressive or progressive.

I was also impressed at the assimilation of communication skills that took place when trying to understand the language of the aliens. I believe that this action showed how language is more than words, language is so dependent on the context, the way the words are said, the emotions, etc. I believe this relates to my interactions with people since I am more focused at times regarding people’s body language, facial expression,etc rather than what they are actually saying which shows how everything besides words itself can be powerful communication tools. I also thought it was interesting to imagine a world time is uniform. As a person that spends a lot of time worrying about the future,and feeling guilty over my past, I would wonder what it would be like if all those time periods were to merge together and I could truly live in the moment and take life situations as they go simply because I would have no other choice. In this regard, I learned to appreciate the non-linear structured way of life because at times I feel that societal structures and expectations have made me more unhappy.

The degree to which Normality isn’t necessarily Normal

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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend GRF Magdala’s rose cafe about the pathological versus normal. This conversation was extremely interesting as it got me to think the degree to which society is so fixated on everyone being compared to this “average”, so much so that if you don’t fit into whatever social role expectations you are supposed to, you are considered an outcast or abnormal. On a broader level, I believe that the reason there is so much negativity in the world with respect to not valuing other races, or people of different gender identities, is because we are so fixated on using binary classifications to make our live easier, yet at the same time contradictory, these binary classifications complicate the way that people are able to freely express themselves.

In that regard, while I believe that we don’t need to have a “normal society” in order to function, I feel that given current social role expectations, it will be challenging for us to divert from this viewpoint.  For example, we are  so used to comparing things to certain “normal ideas”, in order to detect right versus wrong, unhealthy versus healthy. For us to not have these classifying factors, will increase the amount of confusion and gray matter we have over ideas. Thus, I believe that a normal society, where we have an average expectation of how things are supposed to be is important just so that we have metrics to track progress or the regression we make as society in developing cures to vaccines, solving mental health problems,etc. We thus will continue living in a world that is abnormal due to its constraints on the normal, perceived views of how society should operate and a world that is normal as perceived by society since all our actions fit into this measure box of ideas, values. etc. Anything that deviates from this would be considered normal in this context of pathological versus normal, however abnormal to society given that we have binary,and definite ways of classifying ideas, problems,etc. In that sense, through analyzing our discussion, it is evident that there seems to be contradiction in what society perceives as normal versus not abnormal and what the French Naturalists perceive as normal and abnormal. When I try and imagine a society that is without any binaries, I feel that it would be more inclusive and that I would not have these pressures to live up to. Everybody has their own expectations from themselves, but these expectations seem to be arising on this one central idea of who we should be and what we should do.  In trying to emulate this average idea, we all tend to act similarly. Sometimes, I wonder how different my life would be if there was no pre-defined metric to classify “success”, or “who I should be and what I should do”.

Challenges in Communicating in Effectively

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Last week, when I was watching 12 Angry Men, I felt that I really resonated with the theme of the film. The theme of the movie was how effective communication leads a juror to convince an entire jury that a boy was innocent although he was clearly guilty. The movie aimed to portray no matter how strict certain people seem in their beliefs, with solid communication skills and understanding, people can effectively convince other people of the opposite side to sway from their opinions. This got me thinking the degree to which perhaps jurors wrongfully commit innocent people due to effective communication which can lead to very negative consequences. This makes me question the degree of power we give to jurors and whether they should be moderators to evaluate the arguments being made inside the jury room.

Further, I believe that the way the juror dealt with conflicting opinions relates to a concept I learned in my dialogue class called LARA which stands for listening, affirming, responding, and adding extra information. The juror remained calm and made sure that he was actively listening to other people, and affirmed their beliefs which was important before he jumped in and responded and added extra information with his own content as it allowed him to establish his credibility and authority with the rest of the jury members before he gave his own beliefs. I believed that his ability to listen to other people, and receive input based on what he was saying was important as it allowed other people’s opinions to feel validated and often what happens when many people are conveying their opinions is that there is peace lost, and it becomes a matter of who can show they have more knowledge than the other. However, the discussion among the juror seemed to represent that of more of a dialogue rather than a debate in that there was the type of “equality” maintained in the conversation where although diverse beliefs were discussed, there was no sense of anyone trying to intentionally overpower each other.

I thought that having dialogues are more challenging than having discussions as it requires people to really actively listen and engage in understanding their perspectives before respond. Too often in debates, one person finishes talking and then the next person says their point without even acknowledging what the other person said because in debates it feels that everybody is just trying to get their point across without taking into consideration other people’s opinion. I believe on a broader level if we want to invoke change, it is important to work together with both sides to find solutions which are more often done in dialogues than in debates since people in dialogues really focus on understanding the person they are speaking with and then responding appropriately. I feel that many times it can be challenging to go from dialogue to debate especially since many times when we feel we have important content to say, we want to get it out instead of missing the opportunity to express our belief, but I value dialogues more because they focus on the end goal which is educating everybody involved about an issue and promote corresponding action.

Evaluating solutions for crises versus ethics

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Last week as I was watching the film What happened to Monday, a constant thought came to my mind regarding how solutions to various problems often breach ethics. Everybody grows up with their own set of morals, and it can be hard to enact policies that reconcile with these values to create solutions. Although the ethical issues in this movie were just killing people which is wrong on many levels, I believe that the idea about how policies that seem cruel are created and sustained goes towards the debate regarding impact versus intent. The intent of this policy was to create a solution overpopulation which was resulting in challenges with resource allocation. While the impact of the policy was cruel, the policymakers may be so fixated on creating solutions, that they lose the scope of the reality of their polcies. That’s not to say that policymakers aren’t to blame, I just believe it is important to imagine the perspectives that they might have prior to creating legislation. The movie symbolizes how a desperate need for a solution to a problem results in corruption of power. I think it would be beneficial for policymakers who are somewhat unaware of how the scope of their legislation actually impacts people needs to watch this film as I believe it will promote better conversation regarding how they can continue to work on issues such as poverty, and insufficient resource allocation considering all the stakeholders involved. I also believe that although this film took the idea to an extreme, there are many subtle messages that can be important for everybody like the importance of always stepping back whenever creating solutions to problems, to understand how your solutions affect various other people in your life. I also believe that another implicit yet important message that this film conveyed is the importance is staying true to yourself. Friday wanted to keep the record of the siblings’ existence till the last minute and risked her life for it which I thought was as an act of true bravery and courage. Overall, I enjoyed the film because I felt that although there were some exaggerated parts, with the increasing problems of now day society, I believe that a corruption of power is very plausible.I appreciate scientific films like this because I believe that they bring to light future realities we may not want to face, but these movies also start important conversations that can be used to prevent policies like these from being implemented.

Contemplating the Parallels of Forest Gump’s Lifestyle to Real Life

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Last Week when I watched the Forest Gump film, I remember how initially when I saw Forest Gump get bullied mercilessly by those boys throughout his college years, I felt so bad for him, but it also made me also reflect how I have never known students who were “different” in my schools that I’ve grown up in nor schools that I know of to be treated so harshly. I’ve only heard of special students treated this different in the news and in movies. Although Hollywood Movies tend to exaggerate situations, I think the importance is to really highlight how people are ignorant of many unfortunate occurrences of cruelty in some communities and to promote education on these matters. Although Hollywood movies are often criticized for not being authentic, there are certain ideas in movies that are exaggerated to bring attention to people who have never seen or been exposed to issues such as bullying of special needs children. Had Hollywood not emphasized and exaggerated these scenes, people wouldn’t pay attention to them and then there wouldn’t be as much awareness as there is on bullying as there is now. For example, in my high school, I always attended high school lectures on bullying even though it was not an issue in my school, however, the reason there was so much awareness was because of the media and Hollywood. This made me reflect on how more ignorant I would be of the world around had it not been for certain monumental Hollywood movies or reporters making news of various incidents. Although this seems like a very random thought, at times I feel that I take for granted things like watching movies and understanding that the purpose that they serve is beyond just entertainment but educational, and has actually helped mould part of my understanding of society today.  It’s interesting to think how the simple things and activities we do in life have had a role in shaping the people we become today.

On another note, a parallel between Jenny and Forest’s friendship that I found true and indicative of real life is how one friend who has supported a person in hard times will be there to pick the other friend when they are going through hard times, no matter how tough the circumstance. Whenever I’ve gone through tough times, my friends are always one to remember how I’ve helped them out and are always there for me. That being said, I’ve not always had those friendships. I’ve had friendships where people have only talked to me when it was convenient for them and watching this movie again, made me feel grateful for the friends that I have back at high school who I know will always have my back. I still am looking to create more of these types of friendships at the end of the day so that once I leave Cornell, memories with those people will be the ones that I remember, and not just memories involving studying for exams.

Discovering the Ins and Outs of West Campus

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Last week, I had the opportunity to listen to Professor Blalock discuss the early structure of West Campus as well as take us on a tour to see various locations in Becker House which turned out to be turned out to be secrets passageways to Rose House. Learning about the history of all the give houses, and how they’ve evolved to give many students a community they can call “Home” at Cornell was very interesting to me.  Being a transfer, I deeply appreciate the arrangement of the House structure as it has allowed me to foster many new friendships and has made my transition to Cornell a lot easier.  I believe that Cornell’s interconnected building structure is symbolic of the interconnected shared experiences that all people living on West Campus have. In fact, I’ve found that this shared interconnectedness between all the houses is the reason I have been able to make so many friends here and is thus a popular place for transfer students to live in.  Living in the Main House, I never realized how close our Gothic neighbours are as I have usually just visited all the main houses and missed the beauty of the Gothics. In particular, it was interesting for me to see the War Memorial room and learn about the history surrounding the room because this room is not usually open to students and had it not been for this day, I would not have been able to see and appreciate the beautiful and unique aspects of Rose House.  I often find myself not stepping out of my room nearly as often as I would like to explore the sights surround Rose House since due to the stress of school it can be easy to forget how grateful I am to be able to get to live in this community.

My biggest takeaway from this experience was understanding how the Housing system’s culture and creation in history have contributed to the unique community it holds for students. I learned that all the buildings in West Campus are the only buildings that are not named after wealthy donors, which I believe shows how this community is passionate about reinforcing equality and shared interconnectedness between students. Overall, this discussion was eyeopening to me about the views that are right around me which I plan to take advantage of and reminded me of how the unique structure of this community has contributed to my happiness at Cornell.

Evaluating Scopes of Justice in Sentences

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When attending the Rose Cafe event that Judge Miller held, I became aware of the numerous factors that go into making a final decision regarding the sentence of a convicted person. I knew that factors such as their background, past criminal experiences, and extent of evidence are particularly important when determining a sentence. However, what I had not know was the extent to which humanitarian factors affect the outcome of the case. Society normally views judges as impartial, law abiding people, atleast that’s what their job was. However, Judge Miller give insight into the copious amount of power that judges have in shaping the rest of a person life so factors such as empathy, and if the accused feels remorse and is willing to pledge to be a better member of society, are all factors that play into the final outcome and decision.

The idea that there are a plethora of factors that influence the verdict of a case without having a system that quantisizes these factors is interesting. Although judges are said to be impartial and follow the law strictly, the question begs the degree to which certain “humanitarian” factors hold a greater weight against certain “factual” factors and whether the subjective discrepancy that can occur between these groups is the reason for the growing number of court case appeals. I believe that although it can be difficult to assign numerical values to the diverse cases that are seen, the resistance to do can pose increasing questions regarding the required objectivity of a judge’s decisions.  In fact, numerical scores from one case can be carried through with other cases to expedite court case processes since many times court cases take up a lot of time, which would be helpful to jurors. The extended length of the court cases I believe is partly due to the fact that there aren’t formalized systems that are used, besides relying on precedent cases.