HW 30 - Psychological and Philosophical Theorizing of Cool

How does this emptiness feel?

"The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
Atisha

As I read this example I began to think about the meaning of emptiness and meaninglessness in peoples lives as well as my own. I have confirmed that if you practice the religion of Buddhism you are taught to understand and attempt to follow these words of wisdom taught buy Atisha. Now I too have taken a little bit of his teachings by reading his writings and attempting to comprehend his teachings of how to live ones life. When he says "The greatest achievement is selflessness.The greatest worth is self-mastery.The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.The greatest generosity is non-attachment.The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.The greatest patience is humility.The greatest effort is not concerned with results.The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances." he is saying how these are the things that you should abide by throughout and I understand that. I believe that this is the true way to live a truly and purely live life, but now a days people strive to live a some what cool life where they constantly follow other peoples looks and attempt to act pretty much like the popular group ninety percent of the tim during their lives which is in a way mindless. I say this because we constantly are thinking of cool cool cool, whats cool, who's cool, wheres cool, how can I act my part, this action of thinking to me in my own mind is mindless and I'm sure many people would agree with me on my thinking. So as these people are striving to accomplish there points where the emptiness sets in in between the highs becoming temporarily cool. Some people find it depressing or a set back and some like the Buddhists find it as being a healing process of the mind and a sense of awareness. I say this because of this example in Atisha's teachings:"The greatest precept is continual awareness.The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything." So as Atisha says this he means that as you feel the meaninglessness and emptiness it is clearing your mind and making you more conscious of what is going on around you and as well that when your feeling this it is good for you because you get a chance to blank out everything out of your mind and just think while being aware. As well I agree with this because I believe it to be true, sometimes when I think to myself, (when I don't feel significant to anyone in particular) about things that are actually important in my life. To me thats being aware and while I'm doing this it makes me feel better about myself and I like that. So in conclusion after reading and taking in the insight of the great teacher of Buddhism Atisha my thoughts on the feeling of emptiness is that it's a great thing every once in a while that can make you feel better about yourself and more aware to the important things that are going on around you.

HW # 29 - Merchants of Cool

Essential Question: Is it evil for the corporations to manipulate the minds of young people for the sake of profit?

Well what I believe is evil is the fact how these kids find themselves buying into these corporate vampires organizations in the first place. What these kids don't see is thats its a power struggle between these organizations to see who can influence the most teens. While the kids blindly buy into the corporate empire they continue to profit no matter what the circumstance. It's just plain out wrong how this process works in our world today, I can't help but feel sympathy for all of the teens whom have fallen for this mindless degrading scheme. This is what I find truly evil that these kids get themselves involved with these corporations just trying to be cool.

They are basically prey for these organizations it's just sad how this cycle in our society works. An example of this :"Girls are taught (by Britney Spears type media) to flaunt their sexuality even though they don't understand it yet." Here is a great example of what I'm trying to say. As these kids are struggling to be cool, once they actually find a way to accomplish that they never are really able to because they really don't even know what they are doing because they don't have a clear reason for why they are doing it. This is exactly what I find evil that these kids spend their money aimlessly on these stupid items that make them even less cool them they previously were and the corporate businesses profit off these teens foolishness, and thats whats truly evil in my perspective.

In conclusion I feel that it is evil for the corporations to manipulate the minds of young people for the sake of profit because these kids today are just confused and don't understand that they are wasting their money on things that won't even help them be cool. What these kids really need to do with their lives is concentrate on the aspect of success in life because that is what I feel is the key to coolness in our society. I say this because in the world if you look at all of the famous people, actors, business tycoons, sports stars etc, they are all successful in their own lives which has made them cool to the outside world. So if you ask me what it takes to really become cool I will answer: "Once success is acquired the limits to coolness are endless".

HW # 28 - Informal Research - Internet, Magazines, and TV Shows

5 sources of "cool" to me.

My Father- "MARINES THE FEW. THE PROUD.." AMERICA'S FEW. ©2009 U.S. MARINE CORPS, Web. 8 Dec 2009. .

My Brother- Pastore, Gregg. "SUNYAC Online." SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse Players of the Week. SUNYAC SID, Web. 8 Dec 2009. .

College- "MARITIME COLLEGE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK."APPLY ONLINE. ©2009 SUNY Maritime College, Web. 8 Dec 2009. .

Soccer- "THE OFFICIAL SITE OF MARITIME COLLEGE ATHLETICS."MARITIME COLLEGE ATHLETICS. Copyright � 2003-2009, SUNY Maritime College., Web. 8 Dec 2009. .

House Music- "Tiësto." inthe booth. © 2005 Tiesto.com, Web. 8 Dec 2009. .

I decided to do this my own way because it seemed like an easier way of explaining to you the things that I actually think is cool to me in my own personal aspects of my life. The first thing that probably has the biggest influence of cool on me is my Father so since I can't really cite my Father I cited a United States Marine Corps website. I did this because my Father in his earlier years was a marine himself leading his very own fire-team in the Vietnam war during the years of 1967-1968 and I'am extremely proud of that. I see my pops as an idol whom i want to be like when I get older and progress successfully in life. Just as he was I too want to be a reacon marine and have the responsibility of leading some of the most prestigious and elite man powers in our country.I'm saying this because my Father is the drive that creates me to want to strive to do make this possible in my near future. Now for my brother I cited his player of the week article because I felt it was cool that he even got one because to become a player of the week is pretty hard. As well I see my brother as a role model just as my Father and when I go to college I want to get the player of the week too for Soccer. So as I grew up seeing and hearing about my brother getting these write up and playing Lacrosse it made me think that one day I too want to accomplish this for myself in my own way of being cool for instance for my sport soccer. So thats why I cited my brothers player of the week articles because I think that they are cool and maybe that one day when I get to college that I could also get player of the week a few times along my four years that I will be attending college. Now I also cited Maritime College State University of New York because since I want to join the Marine Corps this college would be a cool college to attend since it will prepare me for the Marines. As well it is also a great college that has been on the list of "Best Colleges of 2010" in the "U.S. News Magazine" as for many other companies that promoted the school. But I didn't even know this till I actually went to the site and got some information about the school and it turned out that I liked what I say and thought it was cool to go there based on the things that I want to do in my life. Now I also cited the Maritime College site again Because I thought it was cool to plan that if I actually get into Maritime to try to get onto there College Soccer team because I've been playing soccer in high school and since I can remember from birth. Since I thought that the school was cool I thought why not the schools soccer team too?AND that why I added that citation for the reason of it being significantly cool to me in the future. Now finally to get to the citation about my favorite House music Dj, Dj Tiësto. I obviously find him col because he composes music that my brother and me love , and I mention my brother because if it wasn't for him I wouldn't even know of this Dj. So i wouldn't even think he was cool if my brother never showed him to me. As well this citation kind of adds to the citation of my brothers because basically everything that my brother thinks is cool I do.And lastly I feel that it's like this with everyone's families because we see our elders as role models to look up too and follow to become similar to but in a way as we are trying to be like them we have a tendency to strive to be alike but better in a way than them in the end of our lives. These are just some thoughts I have on this aspect of coolness and the way we take it in from our families.

HW # 27 Informal Research Interviews and Surveys

Street Interviews: Will and Me interviewing on the streets outside the school.

The types of questions that Will and I asked were:

-What is your defienition of cool?
-In what ways are you cool?
-How do you think others see you as cool?

-Do you think that most people are blending or conforming with society?
-Who do you think is cooler, President Obama or Pope Benedict XVI?

The people that we attenpted to were many businesssmen, tourists and homeless men.
We weren't very successful with about 6 people denying our interview in the beginning. As well to add to the unsuccess in the end we only had 2 people whom had given us feedback when we interviewed them. One of the people that we were successful with was a businessmen having a smoke outside his office buliding. What he said when we asked him our questions was pretty bland and dry:"Things that are interesting, that I like. Well yea people do conform and try to blend in with society." See what I mean? We didn't have time to ask him all of the questions because he said he had  limited time and had to get back to work. So we walked away and looked around for more people to interview and we found these two very interesting homeless men who had quite a bit to say:"Somebody who understands people only knowing them briefly. Somebody who has internal style and gets along with everybody has their own style. someone whose unafraid of people casual and can hang with the cool crowd. I think the Pope because he got his position by competing against 12 denominations with 10,000 others in each denomination and the President only had to compete with a few other elected candidates. Also I think I'm cool because I'm a valley boy from california whose into alternative and euro tech types of music."  I feel this was our only successful interview that we had at all that day, those homeless guys were pretty interesting.

HW # 26 Photos and Interviews.

"COOL" INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

#1. The definition of "Cool", what does it mean to you; what do you believe the meaning of it really is?

#2.How do you believe the average person tries to become cool or act cool?

#3.What type of archetypes do you think other people try to mold themselves into?

#4. What type of archetypes do YOU think you try to be in your life?

First Interviewee: My Pops

He answered the following by saying,

#1:"Thats a very good question... a person who has his life together, it says a lot about the person that they have goals and objectives that they want to achieve. I think thats a cool person, smart, and good morals. A person who has his life in order; you don't need a lot of words that's it. Ask your Mother..."

#2:"I just think its...how they become cool...I think its those things that you can't see..maybe the way you were brought up the things you do with your friends, home, school, extra after school activities, and your success in school. I think becoming cool is part of life, some people will be cool, some will be idiots you gotta have your life in order. You learn it from your family your grandparents and friends, the things you have experienced with them and learned from them. Being cool is having your live in order not being a follower."

#3: I think everyone wants to be successful, people would like to model themselves after a successful person. I wouldn't model myself after a popular person because it might not be a character you would want to be... if the kid could be failing in school. I would think most people would want to model themselves after being successful, there many different types of success. There could be the kid who is successful in school, successful at sports and successful with friends therefore very few kids want to model themselves after people who are failing. Tiger Woods and President Obama those are good role models because they have their lives together. There are bad role models and good role models; you've got to pick a role model who is going to give you success in life. You want people to want say wow I want to be him. It's the kids.... well some kids unfortunately who pick the wrong role models and have major issues and have a hard life. It's about decisions, make the right decisions, people who make the wrong decisions will fail in life; it doesn't matter who your role model is..... if you made the wrong decisions you're going to fail.

#4:Successful, like to me it says so much, a good person, do the right thing. Your role changes too as you get older, because as you get older people start to look up to you as a role model. I think now that I'm older I should be a role model for you, the people who are part of my organization..... I'm a role model for them, they watch how I act..... the things I say.... the things I do, how I act.... people watch me. So that's what I'm saying as you get older your role changes and you might be a role model to others. I had a teacher it didn't necessarily mean I liked him because he failed me, he always passed me in June with a 65 ....he was mean but I realized he was doing that for a reason. He wanted me to learn grammar and he knew I could do better and he wouldn't pass me until the last report card. I had him for 3 years in a row, I did like him he was a mean son of a gun but don't forget he did pass me in June so I didn't have to go to summer school because I really was a really good student. The 64 was a message to me I'm smarter than that, what he wanted me to do was work harder. Later on I learned why he did but I did like him, I always just thought he was a nut.

Second Interviewee:My Ma

She answered the following by saying,

1#: I believe cool is marching to the beat of your OWN drummer! THAT'S COOL!!

2#: The average person tries to gain "coolness" by being part of the "in" crowd. I don't agree with it but I believe it's part of reality. I also believe people are always trying to keep up with the Jones's... another sad reality. You can"t be who you aren't!!

No matter what! It catches up to you sooner or later!

3#: I will first start off with hoping that people try to mold themselves into all that they are, all that they're made of and all that they strive to be. I think all too often people try to emulate styles of notoriety and popularity without the tools that are necessary to tow the line. People need to be true to the themselves and all that they can be without putting on any false heirs.

#4: I think I try to be ethical, honest, and straight forward with respect for others. I also think you get out what you put into whatever you believe in. If it's hard work and a good work ethic that you strive for then you will earn positive self esteem knowing that you were true to yourself and others, understanding that life is not always fair and we all have to deal with the human element. It is however not always easy to stay strong and not fall prey to materialism and the pressures surrounding us in our daily lives. Keeping focused on our true ethical standards and practicing them daily will hopefully reinforce our stand on the truly important things in life.

HW#16 Big Paper Outline

THESIS:
Social communication and digital devices in our age has benefited us as a whole by helping people live progressive lives as well as saving peoples lives.

ARGUMENT # 1:
Everyday problems that Digital Devices solve.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/152210/gadgets_that_solve_everyday_problems.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS101190+08-Oct-2009+MW20091008

ARGUMENT # 2:
How Digital Devices help our economy progress.

http://www.cellphonedigest.net/news/2008/03/are_cell_phones_in_a_major_eco.php

http://www.healthcare-packaging.com/archives/2008/10/pharmaceuticalmedical_device_p.php
ARGUMENT # 3:

How Digital Devices save and have the ability to save lives.

http://www.bloglongtermcare.com/long-term-care/storage-device-for-electronic-medical-records-may-save-lives.php
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/04/20/story3.html

Interesting link:

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~pam/papers/Samuelson_IP_dig_eco_htm.htm

HW # 15 ABCDEF Treasure Hunting

Dear Devin,

I believe that your arguments in your HW # 14 post about how the author is making an point that television has a larger passive effect on people then video games is well supported by the examples that you have displayed in your writing. In my opinion your best example that supports your claim is where you talk about the author describing in depth about the "multi threads going on" among the advanced and complicated television shows. When you quote the author on this I feel it's your most strongest point because you continue to back that point with even more information of the weak side of television shows. You go on about television shows that are so easy to comprehend with "two main characters and a conclusion that even a monkey can follow without any effort". As your adding your own thoughts and quotes form the author I feel that your first summing up of excerpt one was completed very nicely as well for your reaction to it in the third paragraph. This was what I thought was your strongest piece of your blog from HW # 14.

Brendan S.

HW# 11 Self Experiment

What I chose to do for my self experiment was overload of digital technology. Specifically what I did was from when i got home on friday was play Xbox all through the night till about six or seven in the morning. So basically your classification of this was digital doubling. It affected me in a way that I suffered from severe fatigue and the desire to fall to the floor in a deep sleep. While playing online I discovered that the games actually did a outstanding job of keeping me awake which I'm guessing is the main reason why I was able to stay awake playing all night long. After experiencing this I can understand that being on a game all night is pretty much number one a waste of time and energy. I could of been sleeping and saving energy and woke up refreshed, but I had the complete opposite experience. Since I fell asleep at about seven am I ended up waking up around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I felt like shit. Even though I have done this before when I was younger I did it again just for this experiment and now sort of regret it because it messed me up pretty bad for the soccer game I had the next day. But regardless it was a homework assignment and I had to get it done. Now that I'm older now I think I won't be doing this ever again because of the sleep deprivation it caused me the days after.

Brendan S.

HW# 6 Video Project

What were some of my thoughts while I watched my own video?

Well what was going through my head when I watched the video was basically me judging my self about the entire time. Specifically I was noticing how stupid I look while doing work on the computer and eating at the same time. As well I think I understand why older people see young people and adults whom are obsessed with digital technology as stupid. They see us as stupid based on the stereotype I'am showing here in my video, the kid staring at a screen constantly and typing or playing a game. I mean I know where they are coming from with the thought. They grew up in a different generation and all without our advanced digital technology and haven't experienced it enough to learn how to appreciate it, and use it to better there themselves. But I guess the past generation will always be complacent, ignorant, and disinterested in the nature of "our" state of the art preferred digital technology. These are all of the thoughts I could fathom from the question shown.

Brendan S.

Informal Internet Research HW#10

http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm

What i found the most interesting about this text was that the study found that when students played more aggressive video games they became more aggressive overtime especially if play for an amount of years. In a way I guess it makes sense because if all you see all day is bullets flying, people dying, and explosions going off your probable either going to get angry or scared which eventually turns into anger over time. Also what i did not find interesting was that both the students who played the violent and non-violent games were aggressive to each other when they played competitively because thats basic human nature. But after reading this article the most shocking thing i found out about the study was that females get more aggressive them males when playing video games in general.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040121/Feature1.asp

What I found funny about this text that close to the beginning of it it says that it takes about 50 to 60 hours of intense concentration to finish a complete video game. But in my case for me it takes about 12 to 16 hours, so i guess I can concentrate a lot better then other people. And yet I wonder if this is normal? Now what I noticed which I thought was very intriguing was that the text gave reasons why video games were helpful to some people. For example people with ADD and ADHD the text said it helps these people concentrate a lot better which can help them in school as well as with coping with their disorder. Yet overall I can't see how video games would help kids concentrate in school because they are going to want to concentrate and work on the video game instead of school in retrospect not helping them with school at all. Until the board of Education decides to create a way to combine boring school and entertaining video games to make school equally as fun as a video game only then will these people with these disorders can be pushed to succeed.

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Something that surprised me while reading this text was that games were used to train soldiers in the military to kill and that video games are the main cause of the epidemic of youth violence. I mean honestly I find it completely stupid that people can't control themselves to understand that a game is just a game not real life and that they have no reason to be violent to others easily for stupid reasons. Most people form my experience don't understand this and I absolutely hate it. Something else that I discovered after reading this text which was by far the most interesting was that the amount of female video game players is almost out numbering the amount of male players to this day because of that fact that most females are looking for an image to base themselves off of to cope with their problems in life.

-Brendan S.

HW# 9 Video Project GHIJK

Again I could not complete this assignment because I didn't have my video posted in time because of me not having access to one. As well I don't know who is in my triangle group because I have not posted any video to be commented on to actually find out who my partners are. In the future for further assignments I will probably have a laptop and camera to do assignments like these. Also for future reference please tell me whom is in my groups before you want me to complete any assignments for you.

Brendan S.

HW# 8 Triangle Partner Video Project.

Nobody commented on my video because I don't have one posted yet so I don't know who my triangle partners are or if I even had any. For future assignments can you please tell me whom they are so I can complete the assignments to there full extent. I'm

sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Synder.

Brendan S.

Peoples thoughts and opinion about Digitalization. HW#7

Peoples thoughts and opinion about Digitalization. HW#7  Female Traffic Cop passing by on 25th street: "Personally I feel that the topic of Digitalization and the advancement of technology makes people lazy and anti social because my husband is on his Xbox all hours of the day." Male Businessman passing by on 25th street: "I think that the advancement of digitalization in this era is absolutely useful in helping people advance their own lives and our future generations. It keeps the public informed by speeding up the sharing of information which is quick and accurate, and as well we use it to defend our country." My Mother at the House: "Digitalization is one more way to streamline information coming in and going out, its all about shortcuts, welcome to the 21st century. It's got it's pros and cons but when used wisely it's also amazing." My good friend Ricky: "Like anything it has both it's positive and negative effects. It's lead to the Globalization which has lead to the advancement of communication on a world scale. Also it has lead to a source of distraction for many adolescents." -Brendan

9/23/09

HW#5 Comment (Second One)

HW#5 Comment (Second One) Devin, First I would like to say that I appreciate your feel comments on my topic about Digitalization regarding the use of Facebook. Now what I especially found helpful in your comment is that you actually told me what was helpful to you in the first place. When you told me this I could in a way further understand my own point about what really inspires people to use Facebook and what reasons they choose use there time on the site. And I would like to thank you for backing up my reasoning on how some people use Facebook to impress others then rather use it themselves for as form of communication between friends. But to go further into your use of Facebook if you use it, may I ask you what type of person do you believe you are? Someone who goes on to impress others and impersonate others or someone who actually goes on to make casual conversation between friends and be real and your actual true self on Facebook? On the other hand your comments gave me insight on how to formulate my thoughts a little better because as you were agreeing with me I thought of more complicated ways to explain my thoughts and ideas on the topic of Digitalization regarding the use Facebook. As well I think that your thoughts on AIM and hows it can be both a good and bad thing for some people is the same or yet similar because as you explain how bullies and nervous teens use AIM to bully other kids and mack on girls , in retrospect Facebook can be used in the exact same ways. If you break it down Facebook is like a more modern version of AIM, besides just direct communication between friends and family Facebook gives you direct links to any and everybody you might know, would want to know and maybe even be smart enough to connect you to people you use to know. To end this my thoughts on your comment I have no further questions or issues to discuss here besides the questions I stated earlier in my writing here and a suggestion that we should continue these comments to one another because I feel they can help us both understand and formulate our thoughts about Digitalization and other topics we wish to dwell upon in the future. -Brendan S.

9/21/09

HW#4 Comment

Remy,

I liked how you were honest as you explained how you were taking your online communications for granted and actually forgot that you really had people who are your friends that you could hang out with. As you were saying if you get to involved in the many online communication sources between friends you actually forget you have friends, this is a bad thing and I agree that you have a right to be mad about it if people do this. In reference to your situation here that you discuss in your post I myself can't really connect because I personally know and never forget that I have friends to chill with because if I talk to them everyday how could I forget that they are my friends? I feel that you could further your thoughts here by expanding what actually made you forget you had friends. Explain what exactly made your mind blank out the people you are talking too and expand on why you think you did this. In reflection to my own life here I can consider you and myself forgetting some friends that I might not have seen in a while, but I can't possibly see you or me actually forgetting the people we talk too everyday, I just plainly don't understand what came over you. We can talk about this in person in school which I wold like to, AI will ask you some questions about what happened in our next class.

-Brendan S.

HW # 3 Questions and Theory of Digitalization

Questions and Theory of Digitalization What is the reason for facebook in general? Why do people feel the need to get on their computer go to their profile and chat, update, and friend request all day long? Why even create a profile about yourself and your life and what you do in the first place? What does it really accomplish, what do you as a person gain from having and interacting with your personal profile in general? Why do so many people have a profile on facebook and go on it every day for hours at a time?What compels people to sit on their ass all day on the computer and talk and gossip about other people and them selves? Maybe it's because people want to feel that they are important in life and feel good about themselves that's why they create these profiles. Or maybe people just like what just going online talking to their friends, making plans, and trying to hook up. Rather then trying to be something their not on their profiles and not there own person. Maybe as the people whom try to be something there not in there profiles retrospect spend alot more time on facebook attempting to feel good about themselves in the process. Where they basically create or in a way try to be somebody their not,the complete opposite of being independent and being their own true person. And on the other hand maybe the people whom just go on their profiles who are there true selves and there own person spend less time on facebook because all they are doing in making casual conversation and planning amongst themselves and friends. Here these people who are independent and do think for themselves and have created there profiles based on their true selves,unlike the others who impersonate others. In conclusion besides the fact that people who make profiles are real or fake overall, I feel that we being as adults old and young and children are learning very much about the technology of digitalization from using facebook. These are my thoughts, questions and theories on this specific part of digitalization called facebook.

9/13/09