This blog happened to be assigned at a perfect time in my life. Earlier last week my Mom told me that if my room wasn't cleaned in one week I would be grounded. This blog was the last bit of motivation I needed to actually go through with cleaning my disaster of a room.
I'll start with how my room became the insanely messy area it was before I began cleaning. I am a perfectionist in most things I do. Actually almost everything I do. The only exception is my room. Since it is my living area and other people, for the most part, do not see it, I am alright with it being messy. If people were going to be coming into my room often, then I would keep it clean. I tend to care about other people's opinions too much, so if nobody sees it then why clean it?
A layer of clothes, supplies, stuffed animals, garbage, writing utensils, papers, books, and much more lined every surface of my room. Let's just say that it was time for a deep clean. My mother was right. Before cleaning I looked at my junk filled room and felt overwhelmed. I wasn't sure that I would be able to accomplish this, but for my mom and this assignment I chose to go for it.
I decided to begin with the desk in my room because I haven't been able to use it in about a year due to how much stuff is piled on top and in it. While cleaning I found things that I hadn't seen in years. Birthday cards from 7th grade, papers from 6th, and corsages from freshman year dances were just a few of the random things I found. These are all things that I no longer need, yet I kept them for some reason.
Before I continue, you need to know that I am also someone that has difficulty throwing things away in fear that they might mean something to me in the future. This made cleaning my room even more difficult. I would stare at a birthday card from forever ago and wonder if I would miss it if i threw it out. The process went on and on like this until my Mom came in and told me I was being crazy. She began helping me go through things, and it helped quite a bit. This is when the cleaning process really kicked into gear.
After finishing my desk I moved on to my closet where I found shirts that I couldn't even fit over my head, pants that had no button, and socks with more than 10 holes on the bottom. All of these are things that I obviously had no use for anymore, so I threw them away. When I finished cleaning my closet I moved onto the floor, which was just covered with random things. I ended up throwing a lot of it away and by the end of the process I could see the floor. I made my bed, turned on the lava lamp and took a gander and my newly cleaned room. I was proud of myself immediately. I felt a sense of relief being able to use my desk and see my floor. I had never realized that my messy room actually made me a little bit anxious. Having a clean room made me calmer.
The process was tough, but I learned that a clean environment actually makes me feel better. I also learned that I am a person that really needs quite a bit of motivation to go through with anything. Overall, I am so happy I finally cleaned my room because it really taught me a lot about my thought processes and how my mind works. Oh, and now I know what color my carpet on the floor is.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
What if: Dinner with Aristotle.
Reading Sophie's world has got me thinking about many different philosophers, but one in particular stood out to me for many reasons. Aristotle is known for his ways of teaching, and since I want to be a teacher it was very interesting for me to learn about his ways. After thinking long and hard about what topic to do for my blog this week I decided to go with 'What if' because I wanted to ponder the possibility of having dinner with Aristotle.
First of all I would make sure to get reservations at a wonderful restaurant that is not too loud and has great lighting. I'd do this just to make sure he is comfortable in a place that he is probably very uncomfortable being in in the first place. Then I would begin talking to him. I feel like our conversation would be very enjoyable and quite easy since both of us have a passion for teaching. He would probably have a lot to say about categories, since this was a min factor in his teachings. I think that he would ask me many questions about our world today since it said in Sophie's World that he was a big questioner. He would most likely ask me about how people these days are living up to the theories he had back in his time. I would explain to him that his theories about categorizing were for the most part dead on.
For example, he says that he could make a prediction for a group of adults as to where they would place different things if they were asked to put them into categories, and they would all put them in the same place that he had predicted. This seems to be common sense for us now, but back when he thought of it it seemed remarkable. There is one portion of his lesson that I think he should have included in more detail, and that is children.
If I were to have dinner with Aristotle I would explain to him that his theories were correct, but he left out a huge group of people; the children! Since I do want to become a kindergarten teacher in my future, of course this is the first thing I think of when I learn about Aristotle. I would tell him that if he did the same experiment with kids the results would be completely different than what he predicted! And this is simply for the reason that kids have not gotten a chance to learn everything that adults have about how things go together. For example, an adult knows that a tractor and a farm would go together because they both have to do with farming, but a child might not realize that. I can't wait to continue reading this book and learning more about philosophers, but I think, at least so far, that Aristotle would be my first pick for a dinner!
First of all I would make sure to get reservations at a wonderful restaurant that is not too loud and has great lighting. I'd do this just to make sure he is comfortable in a place that he is probably very uncomfortable being in in the first place. Then I would begin talking to him. I feel like our conversation would be very enjoyable and quite easy since both of us have a passion for teaching. He would probably have a lot to say about categories, since this was a min factor in his teachings. I think that he would ask me many questions about our world today since it said in Sophie's World that he was a big questioner. He would most likely ask me about how people these days are living up to the theories he had back in his time. I would explain to him that his theories about categorizing were for the most part dead on.
For example, he says that he could make a prediction for a group of adults as to where they would place different things if they were asked to put them into categories, and they would all put them in the same place that he had predicted. This seems to be common sense for us now, but back when he thought of it it seemed remarkable. There is one portion of his lesson that I think he should have included in more detail, and that is children.
If I were to have dinner with Aristotle I would explain to him that his theories were correct, but he left out a huge group of people; the children! Since I do want to become a kindergarten teacher in my future, of course this is the first thing I think of when I learn about Aristotle. I would tell him that if he did the same experiment with kids the results would be completely different than what he predicted! And this is simply for the reason that kids have not gotten a chance to learn everything that adults have about how things go together. For example, an adult knows that a tractor and a farm would go together because they both have to do with farming, but a child might not realize that. I can't wait to continue reading this book and learning more about philosophers, but I think, at least so far, that Aristotle would be my first pick for a dinner!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Best of Today: Humans Merge with Technology
Today in class we discussed the topic of humans merging with technology in the near future and whether or not we would become a new species if that indeed does happen. This discussion blew my mind. I have never really taken the time to think about things like humans merging with technology. Obviously, when I'm watching the movie Terminator I am watching it happen right in front of me, but that movie is fiction, so I've never thought for something like that to really happen.
The discussion in class today really got me thinking about this concept. I took a while to ponder exactly what my view was about it and I finally decided that I am against merging humans and technology. I understand that it would make people live longer and probably have more fulfilling lives, but I think that merging with technology would take away our humanity. Removing a broken part of us and replacing it with something else is taking away a part of us. If we do end up merging with technology I think people will end up changing greatly, and not necessarily for the better. I am guessing that people will make themselves fantastic at many things, and we will end up with a population of rich people that can do everything and poor people that seem under par because they cant afford to combine with machine.
Not only does this concept seem very unfair and biased towards people that have a lot of money, but it also will destroy our concept of hard work and dedication leading to reward. It could get to the point where information is simply downloaded into our brains, making it incredibly simple to learn new things. School would be useless because a kid could learn how to write with a click of a button. I feel like we are better off only using technology in humans in dire situations. If someone is dying and needs something mechanical placed inside them and they can afford it and are willing to risk the changes that could come along with it, then sure. But for the most part I think that is we do end up merging with technology the human race as we know it will never be the same again.
The discussion in class today really got me thinking about this concept. I took a while to ponder exactly what my view was about it and I finally decided that I am against merging humans and technology. I understand that it would make people live longer and probably have more fulfilling lives, but I think that merging with technology would take away our humanity. Removing a broken part of us and replacing it with something else is taking away a part of us. If we do end up merging with technology I think people will end up changing greatly, and not necessarily for the better. I am guessing that people will make themselves fantastic at many things, and we will end up with a population of rich people that can do everything and poor people that seem under par because they cant afford to combine with machine.
Not only does this concept seem very unfair and biased towards people that have a lot of money, but it also will destroy our concept of hard work and dedication leading to reward. It could get to the point where information is simply downloaded into our brains, making it incredibly simple to learn new things. School would be useless because a kid could learn how to write with a click of a button. I feel like we are better off only using technology in humans in dire situations. If someone is dying and needs something mechanical placed inside them and they can afford it and are willing to risk the changes that could come along with it, then sure. But for the most part I think that is we do end up merging with technology the human race as we know it will never be the same again.
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