Beasts of the Southern Wild

I think that the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" was over all a good movie. All though it seems confusing at times, or you might not understand it, by that's all part of what makes it better. The movie was able to get heavy messages across, ones that aren't touched on that much today, where most people judge happiness on the amount of wealth you have, or the class of society that you live in. But this movie was able to get across that life can be enjoyed and valued even in low class areas, by families that don't have much money, and by people who don't have the best opportunities available to them. Also, this movie also taught a lot about a sense of community, something that most of us no longer have. The people in this movie love their town, and stayed behind during the storm because of that. They worked together to rebuild, and help each other mourn the deaths of family and neighbors. We can learn a lot from this movie, about community, empathy, and appreciation for what we do have, not what we wish we have. We can live like the people in The Bathtub who "have more holidays than anyone else in the world". But more importantly we can take what Hushpuppy said to heart. We are all just "tiny pieces in a big, big universe". No one is that more important than anyon else. We all have our roles to play in the world, and we all need to do them.
I think this movie ties in perfectly to our unit, Humanity. When we are asked  "What does it mean to be human?" I think our answers can be influence by this movie. Because of this movie, I can think part of being human is to have empathy, a sense of community, and to be grateful for what we have. These are all important things that if people live by them, we could all have a better life.

Passion Project Update

So far, my passion project is at about the mid way point. I've been working on researching the parts of the brain that automatically correct mistakes, or allow us to see things the way we do. The obstacles i find are not understanding most of the solid research that i can find, and needing to look up more, to just understand the first thing. What i need to do over the next 8 passion project days is really push my self to work diligently on finding and comprehending my research, and finding a way to present it. I also want to find examples of things that our brain automatically corrects, to show the class. i think i will be able to accomplish this all on time.

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Recently our class took a personality test, the Myers-Briggs one to be specific. My results tell me I am an ESTP type. The ESTP type bears this description:

 "Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic approach focused on immediate results. Theories and conceptual explanations bore them – they want to act energetically to solve the problem. Focus on the here-and-now, spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be active with others. Enjoy material comforts and style. Learn best through doing."

I think this is very accurate. I cant learn well if I'm just sitting at a desk listening to a lecture. I find it easier to do it, as well as have a fun, laid back environment. I also like to enjoy the moment, and hate when i have to think ahead and worry about things in the future.

The information i could get from the test can help me understand others, because i can have access to how their personalities blend with mine. Since there are 16 personality types, that means there's at least 16 ways to interpret or do something. I could learn about the different personalities so I could interact better with more people.

This can also help answer the question "What does it mean to be human?". This makes me believe that there might not be a specific answer to this question. If there are 16 different personality types, then there are 16 different types of people and they all act and think differently. This just farther proves how humanity is natural diverse and how everyone is unique.

Joyas Voladoras

After reading Joyas Voladoras, I as well as others in my G&T class believe that in can help us answer the question "What does it mean to be human?". In the writing piece, Brian Doyle discusses the different sizes of hearts and their paces among the different creatures on earth. However, there's a deeper meaning to it as well. While not all hearts are the same size, or beat the same amount of times in our lives, all hearts do have a similarity. Whether large or small, hearts can all hold so may important events and emotions in them. All hearts will hold good and bad things, and any number of them, and this is not affected by the size of the heart, or the pace it beats. So why does being human have to be something physical? if we can all experience the same things despite different physical characteristics, then that should mean the question "What does it mean to be human?" can be answered with not just physical explanations, but emotional, mental, and philosophical ones as well.

My favorite line from Joyas Voladoras  was "So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a day, an hour, a moment"

What does it mean to be human?

What does it mean to be human?
To be human is to:
feel emotion towards yourself and others
To be able to think freely
to be able to choose your own path
to enjoy the time you spend here, not hate your life
to be able to contribute to something and make a difference

2nd google 20%

For my google 20% this time around, i am going to be writing a book that is similar to Red Dawn. Possible obstacles i could face are whether or not i would be able to finish in time. Possible consultants for this are history?English Teachers, so i could ask about writing a book and info about foreign countries.

Terri Schiavo Case Study assignment

Beginning in 1998, Terri Schiavo was in coma, or a long-term unconsciousness. She stayed in that state until her death in 2005. However, this brought about one of the biggest court debates in history, a debate which spread into the media and the minds of everyone in the country. The question everyone was asking themselves and each other? should the plug be pulled on Terri Schiavo, or should she be kept alive, whether she recovers or not? Her husband claimed that she would want the plug pulled, and her parents wanted her kept alive. In the end, the plug was pulled on her, and Terri Schiavo died. However, that debate continues to rage today, and seems to leek into similar cases as well.
  
In my opinion I believe that it was not justified to pull the plug on Terri Schiavo. Although it is true that she could not due much to benefit herself or society, she was still alive. She was starting to recover a bit by bit, but she was never given the chance to fully recover because of her husband. Her husband did not allow her to take certain medications or go to physical therapy. Also her husband kept her in bad living conditions as well. He did not allow visitors or gifts unless approved by him. Also, there were also things such as therapy dogs that he would not allow to visit her either. Finally, he was just a terrible husband in general. While she was in the coma, he already had a new girlfriend (they are married now) and based on doctor observations on her body, he may have beaten her as well.

Its is not justified to have pulled the plug on Terri Schiavo, because she was still alive, and could have recovered if she was given the proper "tools" and "environment" to do so. I believe it is not right to allow someone to die if you know you can help them. That is why I believe it was not justified to allow her to die.

Question I'm answering? 2. PERSONHOOD: Is Terri Schiavo still a person? Is she the same person?

Terri Schiavo was, no is, still a person. Simply because you die, or you find your self in a situation like hers, do you lose every aspect about you? Does your personality, goals, accomplishments, and everything like that simply get "erased" from history? Does every single person alive now forget you ever existed at all. The answer is no. However, Terri Schiavo is not the same person. But she is still a person, some might say she is a new whole new person. 

Sources:
http://rense.com/general63/mmr.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case
http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/schiavo-facts/
info told to me by other students in my class after they researched the same topic during class discussion.

Reflections and Resoluions (little late but here it is)

Reflections:
2012 was a pretty good year for me. I started my first year of high school  It's been going pretty well so far. The cross country team i was on won divisional  and went all the way to competing in the state competition  Also, I SURVIVED 12/21/12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #YOLO!!!!!!But moving on past me, the year had some great things. The 2012 Olympics came and went, with the U.S getting the most gold, and most medals over all (BOO YA GO AMERICA GUESS WE'RE NOT ALL THAT FAT)......there are of course other great things, check them out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYopqtXMSwY

I learned a lot from 2012. I learned that high school isn't like the movies, i learned that some people do sick things, whether because of a brain disorder or not. I've seen people push themselves to the point of breaking  to be the best they can be. To be the best in the world at what they do. But I've also learned that the world can come together, whether through sports (Olympics), mourning (sandy hook), or just trying to have a little bit of fun (gangnam style)!

Resolutions? no way.....
I'm entirely against new years resolutions. Why should people need an excuse like new years to start doing something new, like stay in shape, or do well in school? People should be doing that stuff all the time. Also, i barely ever see anyone who actually keeps their resolution, some people do it for 2-3 weeks tops, before they just don't care any more.

The DNA Dilemma

Recently we have read a article from TIME magazine in our G&T class. This article was all about something pretty amazing, but maybe a little too amazing? This article talked about genetic testing,and what it can do for us. Did you know, that for $7,500, you can figure out if you or your child will have cancer, Alzheimer's disease, or anything else, years before the symptoms will become present. Imagine, being able to tell what diseases newborn baby will have, 70 years from now. Of course, that can be scary, especially if there's no cured for said disease. So the question we must ask ourselves is should we know these facts, and if yes, how much info should we know about it.

There can be many opinions on this. If I were to be given this test and a doctor found out I had a disease, but it was impossible to cure, I would want to know. If I new I could have the possibility of dying at any random time, I would live my life to the fullest. Some might argue that if there was no cure, they would not want to know.

If there was a cure, I would obviously want to know if I had the disease.

If I was a doctor, or some type of physician, I would be tell the patient anything, unless it would cause them more harm. This idea comes from the hippocratic oath that all doctors take. This basically means that you should tell the patients everything, unless telling them something would do something to them that would make things worse (mental trauma)

What do you guys think? Reply with your opinions below.......