Happiness, Meaning, and Personal Ethics
Reflection:
This project was centered around learning different personal philosophies as well as philosophies concerning the beginning of Earth, the universe, life after death, and the earth itself. In preparation for this project, the class explored different philosophies ranging from existentialism to transcendentalism in a variety of different methods. For example, we learned about transcendentalism and transcendental meditation by reading John Krakauer's famous book “Into the Wild,” the story of young boy named Chris McCandless and his search for his personal meaning, as well as participating in a meditation session lead by the parent of a fellow student. Through all of this exploration of different ways to think about the world, we developed and grew our own personal philosophy on life and we had to create a statement that described our philosophy in detail for others to understand. I took my project in a very musical direction, whereas I wrote a song to follow my personal interests. I found it important for me to attempt to asses my personal life destiny and reason for existence. Because of this, I wrote my song on the premise of having fun with life and not worrying about what comes after death. A synopsis of my song includes my feelings towards the afterlife and how we should embrace our time here based on the pure uncertainty of what lies beyond.
I have gained far more perspectives than originally anticipated. Before the project, I was not even aware that there were actual names to the conditions and philosophies in which people exist under. As a person who enjoys arguments and seeking out the opposite points-of-view from different people, it was very intriguing for me to learn about the myriad of different, unique perspectives that differed greatly from mine. By gaining this information, I believe that I have become more aware of the fact not every one is the same. No one shares exactly the same philosophy or idea, but rather there is a very vibrant and diverse range of takes on life, and that is partially why everyone is so different. It has made me more understanding of people’s decisions and actions in their life because I now understand the diverse interpretations that these people come up with, and their way of thinking about the universe has great influence on the way they act in normal life. I have found this claim to be true for myself as well, as I now know where I want to take my life and I now know how to achieve the goals of getting there. I have also learned that there are certain philosophies that I disagree greatly with. Although I do not disagree in full, I will use John Krakauer's book “Into the Wild” as an example. Personally, I believe that the idea of transcendental connection between one’s self and the earth/nature is a very intriguing idea, but I disagree with the practices that the main character, Chris McCandless, took to achieve his own view of transcendentalism. I agree that everyone has their own right to explore their life and philosophy at will, but in all honesty, Mr. McCandless approached his ideal in a moronic way. From defacing currency to traveling into the unknown Alaskan wilderness horribly underprepared, readers experience the last years of young Chris’s life before he disappears and turns up dead in the Alaskan wilderness. Many of these actions would be considered insane in the modern world, and that is how I assessed the book. I believe that if one wants to experience that lifestyle more for themselves in order to aid in pursuing their philosophy, they should be adequately prepared. However, should someone else choose to do that, it is their life, and there is no reason for them to hear my perspective if they do not want to.
For me, the ideas brought up in this project still spark small debates in my mind late at
night when I ponder life the most. I do believe that for some time into the future, I will be more cognisant and aware the different philosophies and I will continue to re-mold my own outlook as new information and possibilities come along and challenge my ideas. I currently am debating the connections between religion and science and how one or the other can be used to explain one another, and this idea was not something I dealt with previous to this project. New questions arise every day that I attempt to tackle and explain, and there are very few questions that stay with me longer then a couple hours as I always find more content to examine and question. Long story short, there many unanswered questions in this lifetime and there are many unanswerable questions as well. For the time being, I will continue to address ideas as they appear in my thought process.
This project was centered around learning different personal philosophies as well as philosophies concerning the beginning of Earth, the universe, life after death, and the earth itself. In preparation for this project, the class explored different philosophies ranging from existentialism to transcendentalism in a variety of different methods. For example, we learned about transcendentalism and transcendental meditation by reading John Krakauer's famous book “Into the Wild,” the story of young boy named Chris McCandless and his search for his personal meaning, as well as participating in a meditation session lead by the parent of a fellow student. Through all of this exploration of different ways to think about the world, we developed and grew our own personal philosophy on life and we had to create a statement that described our philosophy in detail for others to understand. I took my project in a very musical direction, whereas I wrote a song to follow my personal interests. I found it important for me to attempt to asses my personal life destiny and reason for existence. Because of this, I wrote my song on the premise of having fun with life and not worrying about what comes after death. A synopsis of my song includes my feelings towards the afterlife and how we should embrace our time here based on the pure uncertainty of what lies beyond.
I have gained far more perspectives than originally anticipated. Before the project, I was not even aware that there were actual names to the conditions and philosophies in which people exist under. As a person who enjoys arguments and seeking out the opposite points-of-view from different people, it was very intriguing for me to learn about the myriad of different, unique perspectives that differed greatly from mine. By gaining this information, I believe that I have become more aware of the fact not every one is the same. No one shares exactly the same philosophy or idea, but rather there is a very vibrant and diverse range of takes on life, and that is partially why everyone is so different. It has made me more understanding of people’s decisions and actions in their life because I now understand the diverse interpretations that these people come up with, and their way of thinking about the universe has great influence on the way they act in normal life. I have found this claim to be true for myself as well, as I now know where I want to take my life and I now know how to achieve the goals of getting there. I have also learned that there are certain philosophies that I disagree greatly with. Although I do not disagree in full, I will use John Krakauer's book “Into the Wild” as an example. Personally, I believe that the idea of transcendental connection between one’s self and the earth/nature is a very intriguing idea, but I disagree with the practices that the main character, Chris McCandless, took to achieve his own view of transcendentalism. I agree that everyone has their own right to explore their life and philosophy at will, but in all honesty, Mr. McCandless approached his ideal in a moronic way. From defacing currency to traveling into the unknown Alaskan wilderness horribly underprepared, readers experience the last years of young Chris’s life before he disappears and turns up dead in the Alaskan wilderness. Many of these actions would be considered insane in the modern world, and that is how I assessed the book. I believe that if one wants to experience that lifestyle more for themselves in order to aid in pursuing their philosophy, they should be adequately prepared. However, should someone else choose to do that, it is their life, and there is no reason for them to hear my perspective if they do not want to.
For me, the ideas brought up in this project still spark small debates in my mind late at
night when I ponder life the most. I do believe that for some time into the future, I will be more cognisant and aware the different philosophies and I will continue to re-mold my own outlook as new information and possibilities come along and challenge my ideas. I currently am debating the connections between religion and science and how one or the other can be used to explain one another, and this idea was not something I dealt with previous to this project. New questions arise every day that I attempt to tackle and explain, and there are very few questions that stay with me longer then a couple hours as I always find more content to examine and question. Long story short, there many unanswered questions in this lifetime and there are many unanswerable questions as well. For the time being, I will continue to address ideas as they appear in my thought process.
Rhetoric Project
Project Reflection
For this project, students were asked to create a project that was centered around rhetoric and how it effects our daily lives. We studied the different effects of different types of rhetorical devices through different settings, mainly political discourse. My project focused on how the media plays a huge role in influencing our decisions and how we should be aware of how that is effecting us.
My project was intended for people to at the very least be aware about the different rhetorical strategies used around them every day. There is a myriad of different techniques that bad people use to to recruit other people into their evil doings, and I wanted to expose the dark side of this rhetoric and really drive home the concept of the dangers of rhetoric used for bad. I accomplished this by relying heavily on the Ethos of my project, where I appealed to the emotions of my readers by presenting them with evidence that made them have certain, in this case sad, emotions. I also used Logos to the best of my ability by adding statistics to my project to show just how overwhelmingly bad rhetoric can be used for.
After doing this project, I defiantly see the world in a different way. I am far more aware of the different rhetorical techniques put forth by different companies, organizations, and political leaders, and I can now better decipher whether what people are saying is legitimate or just simply a distraction. This awareness however does get annoying at points, whereas I can no longer watch political debates without being terribly annoyed at the useless rhetorical banter between all of the candidates, but it helps me be more aware of who is serious or just, as stated before, a distraction.
It was difficult for me to get into this project at first, as I was having a tough time memorizing and connecting the plethora of different rhetorical devices and terms to one another. I eventually overcame this by taking time out of my homework schedule to really dive deep into the different rhetorical devices and applying them to areas around me that I saw them in. If I were to redo this project I would have dove deeper into the different devices and terminology early on into the project so I did not waste as much time as I did attempting to wrap my head around them.
I learned more about who I was as a young American citizen, and I can now stand behind or oppose certain viewpoints with full confidence in what I believe. I can now also apply these rhetorical devices in my own arguments, and consequently have a deeper level conversation with people.
Media Bomb Project Text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qDa9txVM536Fh83ZZLPvxVTKdjWdh91NBC5s-Nie9wc/edit?usp=sharing
Video:
https://drive.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0BzDN9DOa1uJVQkhWVVhGamNRN0E/view?ts=56a707f8
For this project, students were asked to create a project that was centered around rhetoric and how it effects our daily lives. We studied the different effects of different types of rhetorical devices through different settings, mainly political discourse. My project focused on how the media plays a huge role in influencing our decisions and how we should be aware of how that is effecting us.
My project was intended for people to at the very least be aware about the different rhetorical strategies used around them every day. There is a myriad of different techniques that bad people use to to recruit other people into their evil doings, and I wanted to expose the dark side of this rhetoric and really drive home the concept of the dangers of rhetoric used for bad. I accomplished this by relying heavily on the Ethos of my project, where I appealed to the emotions of my readers by presenting them with evidence that made them have certain, in this case sad, emotions. I also used Logos to the best of my ability by adding statistics to my project to show just how overwhelmingly bad rhetoric can be used for.
After doing this project, I defiantly see the world in a different way. I am far more aware of the different rhetorical techniques put forth by different companies, organizations, and political leaders, and I can now better decipher whether what people are saying is legitimate or just simply a distraction. This awareness however does get annoying at points, whereas I can no longer watch political debates without being terribly annoyed at the useless rhetorical banter between all of the candidates, but it helps me be more aware of who is serious or just, as stated before, a distraction.
It was difficult for me to get into this project at first, as I was having a tough time memorizing and connecting the plethora of different rhetorical devices and terms to one another. I eventually overcame this by taking time out of my homework schedule to really dive deep into the different rhetorical devices and applying them to areas around me that I saw them in. If I were to redo this project I would have dove deeper into the different devices and terminology early on into the project so I did not waste as much time as I did attempting to wrap my head around them.
I learned more about who I was as a young American citizen, and I can now stand behind or oppose certain viewpoints with full confidence in what I believe. I can now also apply these rhetorical devices in my own arguments, and consequently have a deeper level conversation with people.
Media Bomb Project Text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qDa9txVM536Fh83ZZLPvxVTKdjWdh91NBC5s-Nie9wc/edit?usp=sharing
Video:
https://drive.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0BzDN9DOa1uJVQkhWVVhGamNRN0E/view?ts=56a707f8
Voices from the Animas
My Interview:
https://storycorps.me/profile/
Interview Archive:
https://storycorps.me/?s=%23VoicesfromtheAnimas&post_type=interviews
Project Reflection:
For this project, we were given the task to create an audio interview with one other person of our choosing to share their opinion on the Animas River spill. In early August 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) triggered a release of 3 million gallons of toxic waste sludge from the Gold King Mine in Silverton, Colorado into a tributary of the the Animas River. This spill temporarily discontinued recreation in the river and also discontinued drinking water from the river. A mass of confusion and fear enveloped the surrounding communities, and everyone held their breath for the future. Our aim with this project was to give the community a say in the future plans and execution of these cleanup efforts as well as voice the opinions surrounding the spill.
In this project, I gained many different perspectives on the state of the situation. I learned that there are several way of solving this problem either through government help, or through private groups with a special interest in the Animas River. I still have yet to develope my own perspective about the river situation pertaining to whose fault it was and who is responsible for the cleanup, and this project certainly helped me toss around ideas. I most certainly learned more about the area and its relation to mining history. I knew from work experience that the history of the San Juans is deeply entwined with that of mining, however I did not know that there was that much of a threat to our river system posed by mines. I have been taught that it pays to do your research. Had more research been done before the attempted cleanup, the workers would have found that it would have been smarter to either not touch the mine or to treat the small amount of water coming out of it rather than attempt to block it completely.
I really liked my interview, although I wish I had planned it better, as I went in with only a few questions. We ran out of things to talk about, so I had to improvise. I’m good at improvising, but it was too stressful as the recorder was still recording with blank space for me to come up with open-ended questions that were relevant. I interviewed my mom, Kris Colley, who works as a delivery girl for Kassidy’s Kitchen, a local restaurant. I had assumed as far, but my mom shared the same dilemma that I am in, in which case she didn’t have an opinion yet on the current situation. I did however gain some insight on the mindset of tourists that visit the area. Because tourists visit the restaurant often, I asked my mom if she had heard anything about the river from them, and she responded that she heard some small things. She had heard that people thought the river was extremely toxic and deadly at even the smallest touch, and she even heard some patrons discussing new trip plans considering that the river was in the condition that it was in. I learned proper interview etiquette and I also learned that it is important to know who you are interviewing so that you can have a more open discussion with them.
During the course of the exhibition, I gained many new perspectives on the river situation. My understanding of the situation was deepened on a human level mainly due to the fact that I witnessed many concerned individuals open up and share their true feelings on the river situation. Some of these people were so connected to the river that they were almost in tears. I realized that the river is more than just a playground, or a natural phenomenon, but it is infact a symbol that represents so much more than what we know it as. It also has many different levels of appreciation among different people.
Throughout this project I gained a multitude of useful knowledge and skills. I have to say that my biggest takeaway, as mentioned before, is the usefulness in doing research before anything so that way, you can carefully plan steps to make sure everything goes swimmingly. I also grew as a thinker, in which case I became more of an open-minded thinker. I tried my hardest to not apply previous biases to the situation, and instead attempted to see all sides of the argument, and internalize where they were coming from and what their values were. I believe these skills will be exquisitely useful in life.
https://storycorps.me/profile/
Interview Archive:
https://storycorps.me/?s=%23VoicesfromtheAnimas&post_type=interviews
Project Reflection:
For this project, we were given the task to create an audio interview with one other person of our choosing to share their opinion on the Animas River spill. In early August 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) triggered a release of 3 million gallons of toxic waste sludge from the Gold King Mine in Silverton, Colorado into a tributary of the the Animas River. This spill temporarily discontinued recreation in the river and also discontinued drinking water from the river. A mass of confusion and fear enveloped the surrounding communities, and everyone held their breath for the future. Our aim with this project was to give the community a say in the future plans and execution of these cleanup efforts as well as voice the opinions surrounding the spill.
In this project, I gained many different perspectives on the state of the situation. I learned that there are several way of solving this problem either through government help, or through private groups with a special interest in the Animas River. I still have yet to develope my own perspective about the river situation pertaining to whose fault it was and who is responsible for the cleanup, and this project certainly helped me toss around ideas. I most certainly learned more about the area and its relation to mining history. I knew from work experience that the history of the San Juans is deeply entwined with that of mining, however I did not know that there was that much of a threat to our river system posed by mines. I have been taught that it pays to do your research. Had more research been done before the attempted cleanup, the workers would have found that it would have been smarter to either not touch the mine or to treat the small amount of water coming out of it rather than attempt to block it completely.
I really liked my interview, although I wish I had planned it better, as I went in with only a few questions. We ran out of things to talk about, so I had to improvise. I’m good at improvising, but it was too stressful as the recorder was still recording with blank space for me to come up with open-ended questions that were relevant. I interviewed my mom, Kris Colley, who works as a delivery girl for Kassidy’s Kitchen, a local restaurant. I had assumed as far, but my mom shared the same dilemma that I am in, in which case she didn’t have an opinion yet on the current situation. I did however gain some insight on the mindset of tourists that visit the area. Because tourists visit the restaurant often, I asked my mom if she had heard anything about the river from them, and she responded that she heard some small things. She had heard that people thought the river was extremely toxic and deadly at even the smallest touch, and she even heard some patrons discussing new trip plans considering that the river was in the condition that it was in. I learned proper interview etiquette and I also learned that it is important to know who you are interviewing so that you can have a more open discussion with them.
During the course of the exhibition, I gained many new perspectives on the river situation. My understanding of the situation was deepened on a human level mainly due to the fact that I witnessed many concerned individuals open up and share their true feelings on the river situation. Some of these people were so connected to the river that they were almost in tears. I realized that the river is more than just a playground, or a natural phenomenon, but it is infact a symbol that represents so much more than what we know it as. It also has many different levels of appreciation among different people.
Throughout this project I gained a multitude of useful knowledge and skills. I have to say that my biggest takeaway, as mentioned before, is the usefulness in doing research before anything so that way, you can carefully plan steps to make sure everything goes swimmingly. I also grew as a thinker, in which case I became more of an open-minded thinker. I tried my hardest to not apply previous biases to the situation, and instead attempted to see all sides of the argument, and internalize where they were coming from and what their values were. I believe these skills will be exquisitely useful in life.