Blog 25: Final project

                       ”Food, Inc.”, directed by Robert Kenner is a movie about the harsh realities of our current food industry (the industry itself doesn’t want people to know the truth because its scared that once having learned the truth people would become vegan). The reality shown in the movie focuses on people’s false beliefs about farming; it reveals how life in growing plants and slaughter houses really looks like for the animals. It talks about farmers debts which result from having contracts with big companies. It mentions food poising caused by different types of e coli bacteria and diabetes that now occurs more often in young children. This movie also gives a strong statement that even if we don’t eat at fast food restaurants we still eat from the food system. 

                       “Farmville” is an online game available on www.facebook.com that contributes to people having fantasy images of farms. People still believe in small red farm houses with picked fences, animals being outdoors and eating grass when in reality farms now are large plants. It cost around $280,000.00 to $300,000.00 for a farmer to have a poultry plant, but in addition they must be prepared to spend a lot more to update their equipment, which is required by big companies. As a result farmers spend around $500,000.00 to have two poultry plants while earning only $18,000.00.

                       Chickens in poultry plants are fed different types of antibiotics to make them grow bigger breast. They grow so big that they are able to stand for only a few seconds, because their legs cannot support their weight. Cows are fed with corn since it’s cheap and makes the cows grow fatter, faster. 

                       Both in plants and slaughter houses animal are treated with cruelty. They are kept in small cages that aren’t suitable for their measurements, or kept together were there is also not enough room, they almost placed on top of each other. Animals are also covered in their manure up to their ankles if not higher which causes the animals to get sick. Linda McCartney once said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone in the world would be a vegetarian”. /http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-aninsidelook.html/

         

                          E coli is short for Escherichia coli - bacteria (germs) that cause severe cramps and diarrhea. Symptoms are worse in children and older people, especially in those who have other illnesses. E. coli infection is more common during the summer months and in northern states. E coli 0157 is a kind of e coli that has mutated to allow it to colonize the intestines of cattle fed large amounts of grain. 0157 is non-existent in grass fed cattle - studies have shown that removing the grain from grain fed cattle and putting them onto hay for 1 week before butchering, eliminates e coli 0157 by changing the pH of the gut. The meat can get contaminated with the germ during the slaughtering process. In the movie "Food, Inc" we learn Kevin Kowalcyk's story. He was 2.5 years old when he died of e coli. The meat company recalled their meat 16 days after the boy died. His mom – Barbara Kowalcyk is fighting for Kevin Law to take effect. Kevin law is a law which will allow the USDA to have the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produce contaminated meat. /yahoo.com/

 

              Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. Some groups have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes than others. Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.

              In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can lead to diabetes complications./www.diabetes.org/

                       Now in America 1 out of 3 children born after 2000 will contract early onset of diabetes. People are hard wired for salt, fat and sugar, but diets high in fructose corn syrup and refined carbon hydrates wear down how our bodies metabolize sugar.
                      The movie shows a family that struggles with the choice of either buying healthy food or buying medication for the father, who is diabetic and needs two types of pills that are very expensive for their pocket.  The mother explains that she would rather give her child a burger from a fast food restaurant rather than for an example an apple, because at least she knows that that burger will fill her up.

Images: www.google.com/images

Blog 24: Reflection on the Class

It’s hard for me to pick three of my blog entries that I consider my best in terms of critical thinking, but I can definitely pick three that were easiest for me to write – 12, 21 and 23. All of these were easiest for me, since for me connecting to the text and elaborating my ideas is the hardest part in writing my essays.           
     Writing online was different from the experiences that I had in the past. When I was in high school we didn’t have access to computers or the internet. Writing online is way better. It’s not as time consuming and everything I write, for this class, stays on my blog, so I don’t have to worry about misplacing any of my essays.

For this class we had to write 24 Blog entries (including this one). I don’t know if blogging itself that helped improve my writing or the constant practice.

      I think online work was both an individual and shared experience. Obviously we wrote our blog entries individually, but by posting our work online we had the chance to read each others work, to compare and get useful insight. I always read others work.

I am not sure if any of my classmates read my work, but from the comments I received on a couple of blogs, I know students from other networks were assigned to read and comment my work.

I will definitely be walking away from this class with the knowledge that it is good to experience new things, even though they might not seem pleasant. “The Allegory of the Cave” was one my favorites. It has me thinking non stop about “leaving the Cave”.

I really didn’t know what to expect from this class. I thought that we would focus strictly on writing. I would have never thought that we would watch movies and talk about food, and labor issues. I found all of the topics we covered in class very informative, and I am glad that Dr.X chose them.

We did everything in class, from annotating, summarizing, writing thesis statements, to elaborating our responses. I definitely have an understanding of all the writing strategies; I just hope I can put them in use when taking my CAT. 

The most memorable assignment was watching “The Matrix”. I would have never expected to watch this movie as a class assignment in college. I must say I am happy that we did, because I saw this movie before and to tell you the truth all I remembered was the impressive fights. Now at least I know what the movie was really about.

My one and only recommendation for a student who plans to take this class would be to always be on time and to try not to miss classes. We covered a lot of material and even though I didn’t miss a single class, I can imagine how hard it would be for someone to try to catch up and write blogs on the topics they missed out on.

Blog 23: Expanding on one topic in Sleep Dealer

In Sleep Dealer, people become cyborgs by buying implants called “nodes” that allow to connect them to cyberspace.
a) Make a list of how nodes are used by the main characters: Memo, Luz, and Rudy. What uses seem perfectly normal to you? What uses seem perverse? Are there any uses that should be illegal? What uses are very similar to interactions on the internet?
b) In Sleep Dealer, Luz makes a living by uploading and selling her memories in cyberspace. Is this ethical? How does selling actual memories compare to writing a “tell all” autobiography, for example? How does it compare to participating in a reality television show?

In “Sleep Dealer” nodes are needed to perform different types of work. The main character - Memo uses the nodes to work in a hi-tech factory. Luz, the girl Memo meets on the bus on his way to Tijuana uses the nodes to sell her memories. And Rudy, soldier, uses the nodes to pilot his drone while working to secure the dam in Memo’s village.

Memo’s use of the nodes seems the most natural to me. Without them he wouldn’t be able to work, and he wouldn’t be able to send money to his family.  

Rudy’s use was rather disturbing to me. He used the nodes to control his drone and kill the “bad guys” who wanted to steal water from the dam. The nodes made his work look like a video game. Very unrealistic, which makes killing someone look like nothing than what it really is, even to a soldier.

I found Luz’s way to use the nodes to be perversive. She used them to sell her memories. It is one thing to write a book, even an autobiography. What she was doing was way more than that. She didn’t only tell the story, she also gave a visual. A facial expression can sometimes say much more than words. If no one can rob us of our memories than why would someone willingly give them away, especially for money (grrrrrr).

I think that it should be illegal to use nodes for Rudy’s and Luz’s purposes. I never killed anyone, I can’t even imagine doing such a thing, but the way it was shown in the movie it looked (I can’t believe that I’m actually going to write this) very simple. All you do is control a drone and shoot your target, just like in a video game (and now everybody plays video games so what would be the difference?!) And as to Luz, our memories should stay untouchable. They really are OURS (no matter if good or bad) and no one should be able to record them and sell them to whomever. That is why I understand Memo’s reaction when he gets really upset when he finds out that Luz has been selling her memories that included him. He shared everything with her, including how his father died, which he didn’t want to do from the very beginning, he wanted to keep it to himself.

Al thought I feel that Luz’s use of the nodes was very inappropriate I find it very similar to today’s internet use. For instance (even in our ENG 099) we blog. We write entries that consist of responding to a certain reading. Our responses are personal, at least they should be. But we blog in class, because that is our assignment, some people blog just to simply share their days experience. Some people go to extremes (I mean extremes!) Who wants to know what time you wake up, eat breakfast, go shopping, fight with your boyfriend, what the argument was a bout …etc… kind of thing.

As I mentioned before I find Luz’s way of earning money unethical. I understand that she wants to be a writer, but what she is doing with Memo’s story, to me, is way to personal. There are certain boundaries, that everybody should ably to, such as keeping things that, were meant to be private, private.

From what I understand a “tell all” autobiography is an autobiography that includes all the details of a persons life, even all their deepest secrets. I don’t really believe that writing such an autobiography is possible, because everyone has their little secrets that no matter what we just want to keep them to ourselves. If someone, however would decide to really, but really write about everything they have been through in the smallest details that still wouldn't equal to what Luz did for a living. Not only she sold her memories that contained Memo, but she also did not tell him of her doing so. Like I mentioned before, words don’t give as much as facial expressions. We can tell everything from our face, when we’re happy, sad, angry, even when we’re lying …..and its not only the facial expressions but our whole body movement. I'm just wondering if , according to Luz, sharing our personal experiences is so simple, why in movies based on facts we see actors rather than the people who actually took part in whatever it is we are watching?

Reality TV shows are meant to show life as realistically as it is possible, but to me it’s a bunch of BS. Everything is staged, people whom are presented to be real people are actors. Reality TV is made for entertainment purposes only, so we presented with things, actions what we want to see. There is nothing real about it. To me, Reality TV, what the name itself stands for, is exactly what Luz does with Memo's entries. Nothing is fake, it's a hundred per cent true. 

Blog 22: Watching and Responding to The Story Of Stuff

Define "planned obsolescence" and "perceived obsolescence" in your words. Who/What is responsible for these marketing strategies? Who/What benefits from them? Who/What suffers because of them? Are these strategies necessary? Are they right? Provide evidence from your own experience or from what you have read and discussed in class.

Planned obsolescence is a strategy that companies use to make people purchase more and more stuff by making their products easily destructible.

Perceived obsolescence is a strategy that convinces people to upgrade to new better looking products even though the ones they currently have work perfectly fine.

Both strategies are made to benefit only the corporate world, people just end up spending more and more money on stuff that is made to be easily broken and stuff that they don’t need.

I think these strategies are necessary for the big corporations, if they want to make money. Without them people wouldn’t spend as much money on unnecessary things.

Even though I think these strategies are necessary for the companies, I don't think that they are right. People shouldn't be pressured into getting newer products if they are comfortable with the ones they have.

Cell phones! Every couple of months cell phone companies come out with newer and newer cell phones. Cell phones are made to make phone calls when we are away from home. Why should we have to care if our cell phone is trendy enough and if we can talk while sending e-mails, picture messages and playing games?

Blog 21: Summary and Response to "The New Industrial Migrants"

Part I

                “The new industrial migrants” article from the Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is an article about immigrants working meatpacking jobs. in part I of the article Schlosser gives us a comparison of what meatpacking jobs use to offer to their workers, which was life on a middle-class level and what they offer now, which is a little more than poverty wages. Schlosser also mentions that at the Greeley beef plant workers quit or got fired every three months. The annual turnover rate at that plant, with hiring five thousand people during eighteen months, was four hundred percent. According to the author, today two-thirds of the workers at the Greeley plant are Mexican immigrants that do not speak English. They usually live in old trailers near the slaughterhouse or share rooms in old motels. Workers get paid $9.25 per hour and are offered health insurance after six months and a vacation pay after a year (most workers will never receive said vacation). Now the annual turnover at Greeley is around eighty percent (decline from 400% in 1990s). Schlosser than writes about a different slaughterhouse - ConAgra Red Meat. He mentions Mike Coan, who in 1994 was the safety director in ConAgra Red Meat. Their annual turnover was a hundred percent. Lastly, Schlosser talks about IBP and their annual turnover. Arden Walker – the head of labor relations at IBP, when asked by a Counsel if he was bothered with the turnover, during a federal hearing in the 1980s, answered – “Not really” and continued with a explanation “we found very little correlation between turnover and profitability” (correlation - coefficient measures the degree to which two things vary together). Schlosser finishes his article by saying: “a high turnover rate in the meatpacking industry – as in the fast food industry – also helps maintain a workforce that is harder to unionize and much easier to control”.


Par II

                In part II of his article “The new industrial migrants” Schlosser writes about the advantages for the employers from hiring illegal immigrants and disadvantages for the illegal immigrants from working in meatpacking firms.  IBP was one of the first companies to realize that immigrants would work for less money than American Citizens and that they would be more hesitant to join unions. Hiring immigrants was such an advantage for IBP that they would group their workers from poor communities throughout United States, even homeless people, and if they were located thousands of miles away the company would send buses to pick them up. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Iowa and Nebraska illegal immigrants represent one quarter of all meatpacking workers and yet a spokesmen for IBP and the ConAgra Beef Company denies hiring immigrants on purpose saying - “We do not knowingly hire undocumented workers” and that “IBP supports INS efforts to enforce the law and do[es] not want to employ people who are not authorized to work in the United States”. Than Schlosser writes how of GFI America, Inc. tricked and misled their workers. GFI hired thirty-nine people from Texas to work in Minnesota. The company had promised them apartment housing when in reality the recruits were suppose to stay in a in People Serving People, a homeless shelter. Most recruits refused to stay in the shelter. Schlosser finishes by writing about how angry the advocates of that homeless shelter were when bribed by GFI. This was their reaction - "Our job is not to provide subsidies to corporations that are importing low-cost labor".

Response

                Eric Schlosser in his article “The new industrial migrants” (part I and part II) talks about the annual rates of turnovers in meatpacking industries and the advantages theses industries have from hiring illegal immigrants. I agree that turnovers and hiring immigrants might be good for the companies themselves, but what about the workers?!

Turnovers stand for how long an employee stays on a job. Schlosser mentions in his article, the head of labor relations at IBP Adren Walker, who says he is not worried about the company’s annual turnover rate since there is “very little correlation between turnovers and profitability”.

With hiring new employees after a short amount of time, big companies avoid paying their insurance fees or vacation time, since these mainly apply after six months or more. To the companies that is nothing but pure profit since they do manage to keep their job positions filled. In today's economy companies have an even bigger advantage do to the excess number of people that are unemployed.

My dad for instance works in construction, he’s a carpenter. He hasn’t had a steady job for a while now. Every at least three or four months he ends up unemployed. There are so many unemployed workers, that the owners of the companies literally can pick and choose who to hire and let them go without giving them any benefits.

                Schlosser also writes in his article about illegal immigrants being cheaper to maintain by big companies and that they would less likely join unions. I am from Poland and ever since I can remember America has been introduced to me as the great escape for a bright future. Everybody always said that in America there are well paying jobs for everyone. When I was young I didn’t really know that you have to be authorized to work in the United States, so yes I did believe whatever I had heard. When I came to America I realized that whatever all the beautiful things I heard before weren’t at all true. From what I know from living in Greenpoint (a Polish neighborhood) for a little while, is that most of the men work in construction and women clean houses, apartments or offices. Both men and women work for minimal wages, since they don’t have proper papers for employment in the US.

            My friend’s aunt and uncle have been here in NY illegally for the past 15 years. He used to work in construction until he had a terrible accident at work and now can barely walk and the aunt ever since she came here worked in Williamsburg, cleaning Jewish homes. She works almost fourteen hour days. When she gets home she is extremely exhausted and yet she still has to cook, clean etc., to help out her husband. Life for them hasn’t been easy but it is still better than the life they would have had if they were back in Poland. 

            In conclusion, big companies care only for their profits. They use illegal immigrants to save money they would have to pay to hire American Citizens. Immigrants on the other hand, even if they know that they do not get paid the money they really do deserve for their long hours of hard work, still rather stay here in United States than struggle even more in their home countries.  

Blog 20: Reflection on the food unit

I really enjoyed the first classes of the Food Unit, especially watching “The Meatrix” and parts of “Super Size Me”. “The Meatrix” was funny but as well as “Super Size Me” very educational. I also enjoyed reading the content on http://www.sustainabletable.org/, which was needed to complete part II of Blog 15.

“The Matrix”, “Allegory of the Cave” and the Truman are all about learning the unknown. In all of these cases the unknown stands for the truth. Neo form “The Matrix” learned of the not so pretty reality of the real world outside the Matrix, one prisoner from “The Allegory of The Cave” who was lucky to escape the Cave learned all the beautiful things there were outside the Cave and Truman from the “Truman Show” learned that there is way more to life besides of what he had already experienced and that it doesn’t have to be as monotonous. In my opinion using the “The Matrix”as basis for the “The Meatrix” was a very simple, catchy and funny way of showing the horrifying realities of farming industries.

Leo the main character of ”The Meatrix” just like Neo for “The Matrix” is given a choice of taking the red or blue pill. He decides to take the red pill to discover the truth.

The whole point of the media unit we previously studied in class was to open our eyes to new things and develop our experiences. What I think this has in common with the food unit is that if we do not take interest in what we eat we’ll live in “the matrix”, “cave” and “Seahaven” not realizing what we really consume. We have to start reading labels that are placed on the products we buy, visit farmers markets and not just shop in supermarkets because it seems more convenient, since they do sell everything we might be looking for, and most of all we should stay away from fast food restaurants and find the time to cook ourselves.   

I found Cat #3 really hard to respond to. I started writing my summary and I wanted to write a thesis, but I couldn’t find a way to respond to the passage. I figured I’ll try something else than, so I got rid of my summary and started writing about a significant thing in the reading and than tried to response to it and so on. I think I really did not do a good job at all with this cat. I did not give any examples with my responses.

In general I feel like I am stuck. I did not see any progress in my writing throughout the Food Unit.

Blog 19: In Defense of Food

Michael Pollan in his book “In Defense of Food” gives a set of suggestions of what we should and should not do to eat healthier.

His examples of what we should not do are: eat foodlike items from supermarkets (the ones that our great-great-grandmothers would not consider as food), eat anything that does not rot or contain ingredients we are not familiar with. In addition, he mentions that we should not shop in the middle aisles of supermarkets, since the healthy food is usually displayed on the outline walls of the stores, and processed food is usually in the very middle.

Pollen then writes what we should do: avoid products that advertise to be healthy (they almost never are; it is just the opposite), we should eat plants especially leaves which will drastically change the amount of calories we consume and that we should spend more money on food since healthier food costs more. Lastly, the author states that we  should cook more and plant our own gardens.

 I agree with Pollan that by not eating products with unknown ingredients, shopping in peripheral shops, and by cooking and growing our own vegetables we can start eating healthier.

Pollan states that products, which contain unfamiliar ingredients “are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed”.  Processed food is modified with additives to taste better, look better and even smell better and some additives can cause serious health problems.

The author writes that we should avoid shopping in supermarkets and instead we should go to a farmers market were we can find “the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food” – real healthy food.

I always shop in small local Polish Deli’s. Everything is fresh from bread, cheeses, meat, sweets etc. Everything’s looks so delicious it literally screams at you – eat me!  Even though everything is a lot more expensive than products from supermarkets, I rather pay more and get healthy fresh food that pay less and end up with a stomachache.

Pollan writes - “the culture of kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism”. I agree. Eating anything we cook ourselves is a 100% healthier starting with the simple fact that we know exactly what our meals consists of. I try to cook as often as I can, however, with my current busy schedule I barely have time. If I do not cook, I still pass up on fast food. I prefer to make myself a simple sandwich than go to McDonalds or any other fast food place.

Pollan also writes that – “the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it.” In my previous apartment, I had a spacious balcony that I decided to change into my little garden. I planted mainly tomatoes and flowers for decoration. I was surprised that my tomatoes actually grew but most of all that they were very tasty. They were so good they tasted even better than the ones I use to get in a grocery store. Now I unfortunately do not have a place for a garden L. But who knows maybe in the near future …

Blog 18: Summarizing and Responding to "Where the Whale Be At"

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Blog 17: Summarizing and Responding to "The End of Overeating."

The article adapted from “XXXL” by Elizabeth Kolbert starts by mentioning a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration – David A. Kessler, who states that food is being modified to make people addicted to it. To create such an addiction the food industry came up with fashion products called “eatertainment” that consists of: fat, sugar and salt. Kessler compares Cinnabons and Starbucks’s Strawberries & Crème Frappuccinios to drugs. A research on rats shows that the rat’s brain reacts to sugar and fat the same way as a drug addict reacts to cocaine.

I agree with David A. Kessler when he indicates that the processed food is being modified to make people addicted to it.

 The food industry is increasing the use of fat, salt, and sugar in food and is creating fashion products called “eatertainment”.

Food Companies add fat, salt and sugar to our food to increase people’s cravings. I guess it is obvious that if we have a an explosion of different tastes in our mouth we start to crave the product even more and we cannot seem to stop eating it (seriously like an addiction). That is exactly what Kessler calls “conditioned hypereating”. For instance, I hardly eat chips. There are so many different kinds. They vary in tastes, color and smell. I can never make up my mind, but if I do end up eating chips it’s almost always the kind called “party mix”. The name it’s self says everything. What a combination. If you’re cravings something salty you have the pretzels, something cheesy - cheetos and something sweet the sweet sunrise chips. I mean what more can a person desire from a small pack of chips?   

Besides from attacking our taste buds with mixes of fat, sugar and salt food industries are also trying to get our attention by making their products as visually desirable as possible. McDonalds is making their meals bigger and bigger and also it’s adding toys for kids in happy meals. Kinder Bueno is another company that is trying to catch kids’ attention with toys. They came up with chocolate eggs that have little toys on the inside. Parents are getting great deals – a meal and a toy. You just can’t go wrong (not!). KFC’s wings can’t look any juicier in their commercials where in reality there nothing but dry. So many times after seeing a KFC commercial on TV I ended up eating it with nothing but regret at the end, and what funny is I know I’ll still have it in the near future.

In conclusion, in my opinion the food industry is doing a very good job with getting us addicted from their products. Even though people now are able to learn how many calories they are consuming when having a burger at McDonalds they still have it. Food industries won’t stop modifying their products, if anything they will come up with different ways of doing so to make profit. It is up to people as individuals to decide whether they want to eat healthy or not.       

Blog 16: Revision of CAT #2

            Nicholas Balakar the author of “Imitation of film: Here’s Smoking at You, Kid” featured in the New York Times starts off his article by mentioning a nationwide survey published in one of the issues of “Pediatrics” reports. That report states that children in the ages of ten to fourteen tent to start smoking after seeing actors smoke in a movie (as researchers sat thirty-eight per cent of children who start smoking do it to imitate actors who smoke in a movie).

            According to Dr. James D. Sargent, the lead author on the study and professor od pediatrics at Darmouth Medical School, kids start to watch R-rated movies as early fourth or fifth grade, and R-rated movies are proven to have twice as much smoking than other movies.

            Dr. Sargent’s study interviewed 6,522 children. From 50 randomly picked movie hits from 1998 through 2003 the study subjects were suppose to pick out the movies they had seen. The study team than added the number of times each child was exposed to smoking in a movie. The studies outcome was that children who were exposed to smoking in movies were more than two and a half times more likely to start smoking as those kids who weren’t exposed as much. Dr. Sargent took in consideration that kids from his study might have started smoking before they were exposed to smoking in movies but still he states: “the strength of the finding, and the fact that they replicate almost exactly on earlier regional study, suggest that this association should be taken very seriously”.

            I agree with Dr. Sargent that the findings of his study should be taken very seriously, because with every year that passes kids start smoking earlier and earlier, being not only influenced by movies but also by observing their parents or by being pushed (persuaded) by friends (a way of fitting in).

            Growing up both of my parents smoked cigarettes. They smoked in the living room of our apartment and I really hated that. Every time they smoked they told me to leave the room. I am grateful that they cared for my health but being a kid it annoyed me because I couldn’t watch TV. My sister is two years older than me. I remember one day walking home from school I saw her and her friends standing by bushed at the end of my flat. I was always nosy so I walked up to them to see what they were doing. As it turned out they were smoking cigarettes! I couldn’t believe it. When I confronted my sister about it her response was: “what?! Mom and Dad smoke, so why can’t I?!”

            Dr. Sargent did acknowledge the possibility that kids learn to smoke before they see it in movies. My sister is a perfect example, but I guess if she hadn’t had learned from my parents she probably would have picked it up from rate-R movies.

            Contrary to my sister I learned to smoke from my friends. When I was just starting high school, one of my friends bought cigarettes. I at first said no, because I didn’t want to get in trouble. My friend found other girls to smoke with and I ended up being the one who ever body looked weird at. Even though I had a choice, under pressure of sticking out I finally cave in.

            I think that if the amount of people smoking shown in movies would have been replaced with simple facts, risks of smoking, the number of smoking children would drastically change.

Blog 15 - Part I: Summarizing the Stories and Part II: Responding to a Factory Farming Issue

Part I: Summarizing the Stories

Leo is a pig living in the “Meatrix”. “Meatrix” is “the lie we tell ourselves about where are food comes from”. One day Leo is introduced by “Moopheus” to the real world which is factory farming.  Moopheus explains to Leo how factory farming begun -  ”in the mid 20^th century, greedy agriculture corporations began modifying sustainable family farming to maximize their profits at great cost to both humans and animals”, when in reality factory farming means that animals live in slaughter houses. They are kept very closely together (so close they cannot turn around) to fit as many animals as possible, they almost never see the sunlight, rest on the ground or breathe fresh air. Moopheus continues on by mentioning the effect of such conditions on the animals. This cruelty caused fights and diseases amongst the animals which started the process of for example debeaking chickens and adding antibiotics to keep the animals alive. Moopheus also mentions the massive air and water pollutions from all the excrement, and how small farms have been disappearing due to factory farming corporations.

“The Meatrix: Revolting” starts by Moopheus telling Leo about the progress they have made for the past two years and that people actually started taking notice of what they were eating. Leo and Chickity were very happy about that and Chickity even mentioned that Leo might be “the one”. Moopheus however says that there are many more issues with the Meatrix. They go in to the Meatrix and Leon is very happy with what he sees, until Moopheus tells him to “look trough the illusion of the Meatrix”. Moopheus explains to Leo that because of the conditions cows live in they have to be treated daily with antibiotics to illuminate sickness. Leo than is introduced to agents who give animals an artificial growth hormone – rBGH, which is banned by both the Canadian and European Union. Moopheus than continues by explaining how the mad cow disease can be easily spread by calves being fed blood of dead cows. At the end it comes out that Leo is “the one”. He fights off the agents who still manage to kidnap Moopheus. To Moopheus saving dairy farms is more important than his own life.

“The Meatrix II ½” starts with Chickity and Leo driving up to the factory where agents are keeping Moopheus. One of the Agents talks to Moopheus. He explains that all that matters to the factory is profit, even if the meat had some kind of a disease he says: ”what is a little E Coli between friends?”  The workers work so fast that the manure gets mixed up with the meat. The Agent tries to kill Moopheus but Leo and Chickity save him and three of the escape the factory safely. 

Part II: Responding to a Factory Farming Issue

              

                 In my opinion the most significant issue related to factory farming is adding additives to processed food, because almost all processed food contains additives and even thought there are FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved additives it does not mean they are entirely safe for our health.

                Additives are divided into three separate categories, such as: “indirect food additives” (packing material – paper, plastic, cardboard), “direct food additives” (preservatives, nutrition supplements flavors and texturizers) and “color additives” (they change color of the processed food).

               Preservatives are the most common additive and they broken down into three groups: apropionic acid (prevents mold in bread), nitrates and nitrites (prevent discoloration in meat) and benzoates (prevent bacterial growth). An article written for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) states:” it’s almost impossible to eat food without preservatives added by manufacturers “.

               Flavoring is also a very common additive. Its role is to induce the products smell or taste to make it more appealing to the consumer.

Currently there are three thousand additives that have been approved by the FDA which as I mentioned before doesn’t necessarily mean they are completely safe for our consumption. Additives are known to induce allergic reactions; some are linked with asthma, birth defects and even cancer.

As to FDA’s requirements ingredients have to be specified on the products’ label including the additives but often they are listed in general as “spices” or “flavoring”.

 There are however additives such as: sulfites and monosodium glutamate, which have to be listed on the label due to their effect on people’s health.

According to “Sulfites: Safe for Most, Dangerous for Some” article by Ruth Papazian “a person can develop sulfite sensitivity at any point in life, and no one knows what triggers onset or the mechanism by which reactions occur.[”Doctors believe that asthmatic develop difficulty breathing by inhaling sulfite fumes from treated foods,”] notes Dan Atkins, M.D., a pediatrician at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colo. He says that in a severe reaction an overwhelming degree of bronchial construction occurs, causing breathing to stop. This can lead to lack of oxygen reaching the brain, heart, and other organ and tissues and, possibly, a fatal heart rhythm irregularity.”

Monosodium glutamate causes health problems such as: headaches, nausea, weakness, difficulty breathing, drowsiness, rapid heartbeat and chest pains and also like sulfites the product that contains it has to have it specified on its label.

After reading about the negative influence of additives on human health only one question arises – What can we do to avoid additives? The answer is very simply put on the website www.sustainabletable.org, in the article about additives – “You can avoid food additives and health problems they may cause by eating fresh, unprocessed foods grown by local farmers. Since these foods are not transported thousands of miles, they don’t need to be packaged or pumped full of preservatives before reaching you. And since they are whole and unprocessed, they won’t contain colorings or artificial flavors.”

Blog 14: Reflection on Media Unit.

            I find all the exercises we do in class (writing responses using claims, reasons, and evidence in google docs, groups, and forms) very helpful when trying to compose essays.

When I am in class everything seems crystal clear to me which I can’t say is the same way I feel during the practice CAT’s.

I do have a general idea of how my essay should look like, but when it comes to actually putting everything down on a piece of paper my mind goes blank.

What I find the easiest is summarizing. Also fining key ideas in a given passage isn’t troublesome for me. However the part that is difficult for me is giving specific examples for reasons that I mention in my thesis, especially writing whole paragraphs that actually would make sense to the reader. It is very hard for me to form my thoughts in actual clear and meaningful sentences.

Another thing that I find difficult when writing an essay is referring back to the text after I finish writing a summary. 

To be perfectly honest I much more enjoyed watching the movies “The Truman Show” and “The Marix” than writing summaries and responses to them. As well as “The Allegory of the Cave” I find both of them very perplex and I think it will take more time for me to fully understand their symbolic meaning. Although I do find them complicated I think that they are very easy to relate to. So when I get a difficult passege for me to relate to I can always try to use “The Allegory of the Cave”, “The Matrix” and “The Truman Show”.

CAT #2 was not as bad as I thought even though I don’t think I’ll pass. The given passage was really hard for me to relate to. I wrote my summary which I think is pretty clear. I wrote a thesis supported with specific reasons (I think three). Giving examples was the hard part. I couldn’t find a way to refer to the passage when giving my examples.

Since this way my second CAT I am not really worried because I know we will have more practice before the actual CAT.

            To make biggest improvements in my essays I have to stay focused on the topic to which I am responding to and concentrate on elaborating my own ideas (examples).

Blog 13: Revision of CAT #1

              Timothy Sexton, the author of “The Dangers of Reality TV”, starts off his article by stating: “Reality television reinforces several unsound messages that are molding the minds of its young fans”. He continues with pinpointing what reality TV really focuses on, which is: putting stress on the importance of competition, the irrelevance of our abilities, and that education is totally unnecessary. The author explains that in today’s economy competition is the key to success, that is why a lot of industries merge – “There isn’t a business in America that doesn’t want to become a monopoly serving the needs of 100% of consumers”. Sexton then explains that image is most important, and that usually during a competition the contestant with better appearance tends to win. People would rather watch someone attractive without a personality rather than an ugly brainiac. Lastly the author mentions that the education of Reality TV stars is not at all important, since all thy do is humiliate themselves, and by doing so they definitely live a wealthier life than a college graduate.

            I agree with Sexton when he states: “Reality television reinforces several unsound messages that are molding the minds of its young fans”, because reality shows are shallow, uninformative and brainwashing.

            Reality TV shows now a days are shallow. They are about everything and everyone – pregnant sixteen year olds, rich bachelors or self absorbed wives from New Jersey. I stay away from television, since to me it is just a waste of time. Sometimes, but very rarely I happen to watch a movie, but whenever I come across a reality TV show I either change the channel right away or turn the TV off.

            My sister on the other hand who recently became a mother does nothing else in her spare time than watching reality shows. I remember when one time I went to visit her and the baby and “The Jersey Shore” was on. Since I had never seen that show before, believe me when I say I was shocked! All this show consisted off was a bunch of half naked teenagers with fake tans, running around acting like animals (if not worse). Seriously all those kids did was drink, argue and make out. I know that kids of all ages what shows like “The Jersey Shore” and I wonder if their parents really think that by watching such shows their kids get a good example.

            Reality TV targets young people since they are the biggest audience. You would think that because of that TV producers would want kids to learn something from their shows, but in reality it is exactly the opposite. Reality TV shows become more and more childish. Reality TV stars usually come from a rich homes, they have whatever they want and their parents allow them to do everything. Whatever reality TV is showing is exactly what kids are learning from it.

            Instead of putting stress on the importance of education, as Sexton mentions, reality TV is all about competition, so “why go to school and face the difficulties of learning something” when all it takes is getting on a reality show to make lots of money in a short amount of time.

            Reality TV has a very big influence on young people, but not only. However young people are most naïve and tend to believe that whatever they see on TV is true. When I first came to the USA I met this guy – “Johnny Brooklyn”. He was very nice, but there was something strange about him. He spent his whole days walking the street of Greenpoint rapping to himself, but loud enough for others to hear it. I found out from my friends that Johnny’s behavior was influenced by a reality TV show he once saw about his favorite rapper whose name I cannot recall right now. The show was about the rappers entire life and it especially focused around his career. Before he became famous all he did was walk around and rap/sing to himself until one day a famous producer heard him on the street. Johnny Brooklyn was not as lucky. Seven years have passed and I still see him sometimes wondering around Greenpoint rapping.

            In conclusion I find nothing positive about reality TV. It is just a bunch of lies that is being played on TV for people that obviously have no lives. On the onther hand if it weren't for those people, producers of reality TV wouldn't have an audience and that is why they do not focus on education in their shows.

Blog 12: Summary and Response to "Red Pill or Blue Pill?"

“Red Pill or Blue Pill: Is Ignorance Bliss?” article adapted by Dr.X from “The Matrix, Liberal Education, and Other Splinters in the Mind”, by Christine Cornell and Patrick Malcolmson begins with the comparison of two characters - Neo from the movie “The Matrix” and Alice from the books “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking - Glass”.

Coronell and Malcolmson reveal their significant similarities such as: both of them walking “through a mirror”, Neo having the choice of the blue or red pill which resemblances Alice’s magic drink and cake. Their biggest similarity however is, as the authors’ mention, their “confusion” of what is real (Alice when asked by the Caterpillar who she was, answered – “I-I hardly know, sir […]”).

Cornell and Malcomson continue their article by comparing “The Matrix” to the “The Allegory of the Cave” from the book – “The Republic”, by Plato. The authors pinpoint out their key difference. Socrates describes the world outside the Cave as “more beautiful”, whereas Morpheus calls the real world “the desert of real” (dark and ugly). But even though Plato and Wachowski brothers portrait the real world in a totally different way they do agree that – “freedom is not something that most people are going to be inclined towards or be receptive of”.

The authors finish the article by stating that “The Matrix” brings out a very perplex question about us, human beings that is – “Why do we want to know the truth”. They also relate to “Utilitarianism” essay written by a philosopher John Stuart Mill, who says that “If we experience of both the lower and higher pleasures, we will choose those of superior quality rather than mere quantity”.

My answer to the title question – “Is Ignorance Bliss?” is yes – ignorance is bliss. By being ignorant we avoid struggles from experiencing new things and we do not put ourselves in situations in which we would feel uncomfortable or would have to question our beliefs (for example reality).

Both “The Matrix” and “The Allegory of the Cave” show the struggle (of Neo and the prisoner that left the Cave) of what Coronell and Malcomson call “turning around from the world of becoming to the world of being”, which represents the life inside and outside of the Cave for Socrates’ prisoner and for Neo (“The Matrix”) life in and out of the Matrix. The prisoner being imprisoned all his life in a Cave suffers from sharp pains in his neck and eyes since he uses both for the first time. Neo, like the prisoner, from not using his muscles and eyes undergoes a lot of pain.

People struggle with new experiences in every aspect of their lives. From the first day of school, learning, meeting new people, traveling, starting families, etc.

When I was younger I wasn’t really fond of school, especially the part of reading mandatory books. Some books where written in older polish which did not make them easy to read. Clever kid that I was, I figured out a way to spare myself the troubles and confusion. Instead of reading the actual books I read very detailed summaries. Like I said I was young and ignored the fact that I can actually learn something from reading all these Polish classics.

Cypher, one of the characters from “The Matrix”, after learning what the real world is like (“desert of the real”- dark and ugly) desperately wants to go back to living in the Matrix. As Coronell and Malcolmson mention – “reality is not as pleasant as his former illusory life”. Life on the Nebuchadnezzar (the crews ship in the real world) was difficult, but contrary to life in the Matrix – it was true (not an illusion). Cypher regrets wanting to know the truth – “Why, oh why didn’t I take the blue pill…?” If Cypher had been ignorant to the truth from the very beginning he would have stayed in the Matrix. Without knowing the dark and ugly reality he would not have to betray his crew to once again live a life filled with pleasures.

To some ignorance may seem shallow and selfish, but to some it is a perfect way to lead an ideal life. Like in “The Matrix” the truth is not always better than a lie and that is why sometimes we choose to stay ignorant to reality.

Blog 11: Responding to a significant topic in "The Truman Show"

Truman struggles between what his society (and his "god," Cristoff) tells him to do and be, and what he feels he wants to do and who he wants to be.

Consider your own life (or the life of someone you know well): Have you ever disobeyed society’s rules because you were trying to follow your own instincts? What made you want to disobey the rules? What did you expect to gain from your disobedience? Did the consequences to your disobedience confirm that you made the right choice?

               

“The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir is a movie that shows us a life journey of the title character – Truman. Truman is 29 years old and his whole life (actually even before he was born) he has been the lead star of a reality show called “The Truman Show”.  However for the most part of the movie Truman is unaware that he is being watched 24/7 by people all over the world. The world he lives in – Seahaven, is the biggest movie set, seen even from outer space. Everything in Seahaven is controlled by the creator of the show – Cristoff. The crew of the show starts making mistakes such as: dropping a light (from what Truman considers the sky) almost hitting Truman, talking on a radio frequency that Truman listens to on his way to work (he can hear the crew comment on his each move), and letting his supposedly dead father on the set so that Truman can see him. Yet the biggest mistake they made was getting rid of his true love – Sylvia, who was just an extra on the show (Truman was not even suppose to notice her). They told Truman she left with her family to “Fiji”. Throughout the whole movie Truman tries to put Sylvia’s face together from scraps of paper torn out of magazines for women. After all of these mistakes Truman starts to notice that everything in Seahaven revolves around him, which makes him remember Sylvias words that everything is fake, nothing is real. He decides to leave Seahaven. Sadly Cristoff makes sure that that does not happen. He forms fake traffic, simulates a fire in the forest an even stages a nuclear meltdown, which makes Truman even more suspicious. One night he finally manages to run away through a tunnel. He fights his biggest fear –water – and sails into the sea. Cristoff develops a storm that nearly kills Truman. Truman sails to the end of the dome. He leaves through a door with an exit sign saying his famous phrase – “And in case I don’t see you good afternoon, good evening and good night”.  

Living all his life accordingly to the society and Cristoffs ways, Truman never got a chance to grow up.  After all growing up is not about getting older but about starting to think on our own, analyzing everything  we had learned so far to determine whether  it is really true to us.

Since I was little I remember the saying – “rules are made to be broken” which to me is absolutely true. If we didn’t break any rules, we would be stuck in Seahaven like Truman.

In Poland People my age pretty much have their future planned. They go to primary school, high school, college is a must and all this is done without any breaks it is a steady process. Than after they are fully educated they are expected to work. After I finished high school I came to the US for a little vacation and to most importantly renew my green card. I was expected back in Poland right before my college acceptance exams. Throughout my short stay I realized that I did want to go back, I did not see my future in Poland. Without telling my parents I went to a travel agency and changed my flight for a later one (about a month difference). That meant that I was definitely going to miss my exams. I was aware of what I was doing and even though I might not have been a hundred per cent sure of my decision I still stuck with it. Everything in the US was so different than back home. Everything seemed better. Now I can even say that back then I was amused with America (now I am used to it). When after that month I went back to my home country people started looking at me differently, it was like maybe they envied me that I got the chance to stay in NY. I stayed a week in Poland that was it.  Nevertheless I felt that I had more opportunities in NY school wise, work wise, socially – since people come to NY from all over the world. I have been here for seven years now and I can gladly say that I have made the right choice by listening to my gut. I talk to my friends from Poland every now and than and most of them actually also live abroad.  

Obeying our society’s rules stops us from thinking outside the box. Just like animals are hunters from nature, people are explorers. We seek new adventures all the time sometimes even without realizing it.

Blog 10: Reflection on Skills

In my ENG 099 class with Dr. X, I have learned about the four most important writing skills that are: Annotating, Summarizing, Thesis-based writing, and Paragraphing.

All of these writing skills when put to use together make a great whole which would be a clear, on topic and well developed essay.

Annotating will definitely help me concentrate on the main ideas of the given text, which will reflect in my summary that will than show that I have read the text with understanding it. By writing thesis’s I will be certain that I write a paragraph about each reason given in the said thesis, and paragraphing will show that I can relate to the given text with examples from my personal life, books, movies etc.

After the lessons we had so far I feel more comfortable with my writing, because I now have a clear visual of how my CAT essay should look like. If my essay will consist of a summary, good thesis, developed paragraphs and a clear conclusion I should not have a problem in passing the exam. The only thing I have to make sure of is to stick to the subject and not brain storm to something totally irrelevant.

The only really confusing thing we were asked to do was Blog #5 – Summarizing the symbolic meaning of “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. I just hope that with time, like Dr. X told me, I will get a better and better understanding of it.

Blog 9: Blog 9: Reflecting on Paragraphing.

• What have you learned from the paragraphing class?

Another way to keep my essays clear and on topic. This class showed me AGAIN how important it is to give examples, since each paragraph is an elaboration of reason. he?!

• How do you know that you have learned it?

I don't know but I sure hope so.

• Can you describe how you learned it? 

 Ofcourse Dr. X, reading examples with class, writing a paragraph with my group JAC.

• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?

  Ofcourse Dr. X, reading examples with class, writing a paragraph with my group JAC.

• How do you feel after today's class? 

Even more confused than after Mondays class.

Blog 8: Developing Your Summary and Response to "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother Me with Facts"

               Jeffrey Kluger, starts off his article "I Know the Truth, So Don't Bother Me with Facts" by stating that people are known to be gullible. As an example Kluger mentions a recent dispute in downtown Manhattan. Kluger continues by making a remark about two assistant professors of communication from Ohio State University - R. Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet, who performed a study to show what the real influence of such lies is and what it would take for people not to believe in them. They recruited 750 people familiar with at least one rumor about the Islamic cultural center to determine whether if given true facts about the topic the study group would change their beliefs. Garrett's and Nisbet's study showed that even though with people’s beliefs being easily manipulated only less than a third of people changed their mind. Garrett states that when our beliefs are in conflict with the truth people “respond by sticking to their biases even more strongly” and that “none of us likes being told we’re wrong”. Kluger finishes his article by saying that no matter the outcome of the studies, it is up to us to decide what we believe in, to separate given information into what we think are facts and what we consider fiction.

I agree with the author Jeffrey Kluger when he states: “Even when people do take time to learn the facts, the effort often does no good”, because people are narrow minded, they do not like to be told that they are wrong and they tend to be oblivious to what is going on around them.

           Once we learn something no matter if it is a rumor or an actual fact we decide to stick to it. We tend to be very stubborn if it is argued whether what we believe in is true or not. No matter how many different ways someone tries to change our mind we still do not. Recently in my ENG 099 class with Dr. X we discussed “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. It is a story about people being imprisoned their whole life in a Cave. They have their necks and legs chained so that they cannot move and all they see is what is before them. Before them are shadows of people walking behind them on a raised pathway. Shadows are all the prisoners believe, it is their only reality. One of the prisoners is set free, after struggling with sharp pains from moving his neck and from the sun touching his eyes for the first time he finally leaves the Cave. After this prisoner explores life outside the Cave he decides to go back to the Cave and tell the other prisoners what he had learned. The other prisoners however were not as open minded, they did not want to learn new things. So instead they started mocking him for not being able to name the shadows anymore since his eyes were no longer adjusted to the dark. To them it was unimaginable that there was life outside the Cave and that it could have been so different from their reality, represented by the shadows.

             Obviously nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Kluger mentions in his article that it has a lot to do with our ego. We put a lot of pride in whatever it is that we believe in, so how can we be wrong? A couple of weeks ago I witnessed two of my friends argue about a broken car alarm. The owner of the car was positive that the alarm was constantly going off because it was simply broken and had to be replaced, and my other friend was sure that it had something to do with the alarm sensor in the trunk of the car. I am not a mechanic and car alarms are the least of my worries I would just bring the car to one of the local shops to get it fixed. My friends however were so engaged in their argument that it lasted for at least an hour and a half. Neither one of them admitted that they were wrong nor did they come to any understanding in the middle. They haven’t spoken until today.

            People tend not to be aware of what is going on around them. They live in their own little worlds and do not pay attention to any of its surroundings. This reminds me of my boss who is really something else. I was the one who always supplied the office with paper towels and toilet paper so we usually never lacked it. One day however we ran out of paper towels and it just so happened that my desk was stacked with paperwork for me to go over and I could not go to the store. My boss after coming out of the bathroom had the most surprised face I have ever seen. It seemed to him impossible for us to be out of paper towels. He asked me – “Agata, what now?”. I responded saying that someone has to go to the store since I was too busy. He continued looking at me like I was some kind of a freak. I came to the conclusion that all this time not once had he seen me walking into the office with dozens of paper towels or toilet paper rolls. As long as we did have bathroom supplies it did not batter to him how we actually got them. People learn something and it does not matter to them whether it is right or wrong, they just decide to stick with it, so they would not be bothered with (what to them is) more useless information.   

In conclusion, people may be easily manipulated as it showed in Nisbets and Garretts study, but it is very difficult to actually change ones belief, even if the reason behind that is plain spite, laziness in learning the facts or ignorance.

Blog 7: Reflecting on Thesis-based Writing.

• What have you learned from the thesis-based writing class?

I learned the difference between a claim and a thesis; how both are structured and what they should consist of.

• How do you know that you have learned it?

Practice, practice, practice.

• Can you describe how you learned it? 

Listening to Dr.X, reading about the thesis in our booklet, writing claims and thesis in group.

• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?

Working with the whole class and in groups.

• How do you feel after today's class? 

Confused .... But I'm happy I learn another way to keep my essays clear and on topic.

Blog 6: Things I do Not Believe in Any More.

1. Definitely the example in the instructions - I do not believe in Santa Clause - at a certain point i figured out that it's my parents who put the presents under the Christmas Tree.

2. I believed that it is impossible to work full time as well as going to college full time. Now I work full time and study full time and I am managing.

3. I believed I would spend my whole life in Poland, I came here to NYC for vacation and so far I've been on this vacation for  7 years (hehe).

4. I believed I will always live with my parents.My mom always cleaned my room, did my laundry, cooked from breakfast to supper - now I'm on my own and I'm doing ok without the constant help from my parents.

BLOG 5: SUMMARIZING WHAT THE ALLEGORY STANDS FOR

In “The Allegory of the Cave” form book VII of “The Republic” by Plato, Socrates tells a story to his student Glaucon about a group of prisoners that have lived their whole lives in a Cave with “their legs and neck chained so that they cannot move, and they only see before them”, and all they saw before them were shadows of people walking behind them on a raised pathway. Being imprisoned all their lives all they knew was their Cave and the shadows. The shadows became their only reality – “to them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images”.

In reality people are not born chained, so that they cannot move, but everybody is born into a certain culture, religion and society. We are given a specific stereotype to which we have to subordinate. From day one we are being thought by our parents,  later on we learn through the media, from friends and other sources how we should live to lead proper lives.

In Socrates’ story one of the prisoners is set free form the Cave, but before he actually leaves the Cave he suffers from sharp pain caused by turning his neck, which he wasn’t able to do before, and from the light hitting his eyes, which he also experienced for the first time.

The purpose of Socrates’ story is to explain that there are two worlds: within the Cave and outside the Cave. Life within the Cave is the life the we are familiar with, accustomed to, the world we were bought up in. It stands for everything we know and even though we might not be a hundred per cent comfortable with it, we try to make it as true and real to ourselves (just like the prisoners did with the shadows) .Living in the Cave limits our life in every aspect of it, emotionally, mentally, socially. On the contrary life outside the Cave represents a new better world, filled with good and many great opportunities. Sharp pains the prisoner suffers from stand for the struggle with adjusting to something we are not familiar with.

The prisoner that left the Cave, after becoming familiar with the outside world, decided to go back to tell other prisoners what he had seen, experienced, he wanted to share what he had learned. The other prisoners started mocking him, because he wasn’t able to recognize the shadows anymore, since his eyes were no longer adjusted to the dark. According to them he didn’t fit in anymore.

People are scared to leave their comfort zone. They worry that if they ever decide to come back from the outside world they will no longer fit in. However, if they are so scared to leave the Cave they will never experience all the good that awaits them in the outside world. As Socrates says: “in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right (…)”.

Blog 4: Revision of "Hype"

             Kalle Lasn, the author of “Hype” starts the article by stating – “advertisments are the most prevalent and toxic of the mental pollutants”. The author continues with giving us an approximate number of advertisements we see, hear or read throughout the whole day which equals to around three thousand ads. Lasn also mentions the increase of commercial advertising and their placement. They are no longer placed in the typical places like buses, billboards, stadiums. Now they are everywhere even on gas pump nozzles,  ATM machines, in kid’s classrooms, and even supermarket carts – “there is nowhere to run”, the author writes. Lasn ends her article by saying that everyone’s life, without exemptions, is filled with advertisements – “no one is exempt and no one will be spared”.

            I do not agree with Kalle Lasns’ statement mentioned above - “advertisements are the most prevalent and toxic of the mental pollutants”, because to me they are entertaining, informative and secure a lot of people good paying jobs.

            Commercials now a days are created more and more to first entertain people and than to promote the product itself.  They are short, funny and very catchy. I can bet that everyone has caught themselves singing a jingle or even saying a whole phrase from commercials like “I lift things up, and put them down” or “stay thirsty my friends” …I actually know people, which may surprise you, that watch the Superball just for the commercials aired during halftime. If commercials were, so disturbing as many people say they would not waste time picking commercials of the year, right? Or the funniest one, or best and worst commercials.

            Commercials might make the movie you are watching on TV last longer, but at least you get the latest news on upcoming products or even news on sales and promotions on current products. Several times I caught myself running to the Queens Mall after I learned from a commercial that American Eagle or Aeropostale is having a sale.

            It takes a lot of work and a lot of people to create a commercial. Creative designers, advertising specialists, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales specialists – that is a lot of job positions filled by what some consider the most annoying thing they see throughout the day.

            With commercials being everywhere we turn I still don’t consider them disturbing. They serve their purpose – they promote by getting our attention in every way possible.

            I say that if we were to stop all advertising at once, people not knowing it now, would actually miss it, and most of all a lot of people would end up being unemployed.