Monday, November 12, 2012

More Topics to Discuss....

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-> Please use this space to talk about other topics you find important and interesting!



11 comments:

  1. In class we talked quickly about how one person can make a difference. I often find it hard to visualize, so here's a hilarious talk about how one man, Mechai Viravaidya, made Thailand a better place. He also founded the restaurant I talk about below.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/mechai_viravaidya_how_mr_condom_made_thailand_a_better_place.html

    ALSO: If ever in Thailand head to Cabbages and Condoms, the restaurant where the food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy. I've been, the food is good and it's decorated completely with condoms. It was established by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), one of Thailand’s largest and most successful private, nonprofit, development organizations. PDA established a community based contraceptive distribution network throughout the country and managed to decrease the amount of unwanted pregnancies by some insane percentage (like 90?!). The name of the restaurant comes from Mechai’s belief that for any family planning program to be successful, birth control should be as accepted and accessible as vegetables in the market.

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  2. Recently I came across a video one of my friends posted on Facebook. I found the video really amazing and wanted to post it here for everyone to see
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKFln4YwBRM
    To me, the video shows how when we set our minds to it, we are capable of so much. I think that we are all capable of things that we might not think we are. The key is that if you can convince yourself that you can do something, then you can do it. The more we believe in ourselves, the more we are able to do. If you don't believe that you can do something, then how can you ever expect that you will actually be able to do it. By tricking yourself into belief, you are able to attain things you would not even dream of as possible. The more one stresses and pushes themselves, the more they will get out of themselves. If you never take risks or try things, you will never break through the barrier. That being said, don't try what this guy did, start off lighter and work your way up.

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  3. Since my topic for the research paper is "Teenage Bullying", I found a video of Obama's Anti-Bullying Message. Just wanted to share with you guys =) I find his short speech quite influential and powerful in raising awareness as well as encouraging ones who are facing troubles in schools.

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

    Enjoy!

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  4. Taking part in the robot soccer game during November was a very rewarding experience for me because it enabled to realize that success actually comes from taking risks and being decisiveness.
    My partner and I participated in the game after two weeks' elaborate preparation. After a few victories, we succeeded in entering the final. Our adversary was a very experienced team whose robots were far better than ours in many aspects. As a result, shortly afterwards they obtained a score, and our team became the underdog. My partner and I both knew that if we didn’t make any change, losing the game would be unavoidable. Then I suggested adding another panel of battery to increase the power, but my partner objected because he believed doing so might cause the robot to stop working at too high a voltage. I exerted my utmost to make him convinced that we actually had no other alternative and he finally agreed. In less than a minute, our robot scored one goal. The game ended in a draw, and we would have to compete for championship in the playoffs.
    Soon after the overtime kicked off, in order to take a lead, our robot tried to scramble for the ball first. However, quite unexpectedly, it only ended up in breaking down entangling our opponent’s robots. Both attack robots lost function and that moment and we have to fight with the defense robots which could not find the ball the first. I noticed that the intensity of the light became much weaker as it was already at dusk, so I immediately called a timeout and used a manumotive program which we prepared before. When the game started again, the rival’s robot couldn’t find the ball, while ours could, and it finally scored the golden goal! Yes, we won. We were the victor.
    The award of the game was only a certificate of merit, but I hanged it on the wall of my bedroom, because it not only recorded the arduous efforts and the cooperation with my teammate, but also demonstrated my decisiveness when confronted with the adversity. Now whenever I meet troubles in my life, I have become accustomed to looking at the certificate and telling myself that I will eventually overcome any obstacle as long as I have the courage to take risks and have absolute determination.

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  5. This is an interesting thought provoking video I saw today.
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=526715934005437

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    1. In this video, the speaker talks about how education is not the only path towards success. He opposes most people’s view of education as being an absolutely essential step to finding a job in the future. Statistics have shown that successful people such as Steve Jobbs never even graduated from a higher learning institution. These examples prove that success is not just about education. It is about the ability of oneself to understand one’s motives and walk towards his or her dreams. The role of education should not be to overwhelm students with loads of information which most of them forget immediately after taking the exams. Education is about inspiring someone’s mind and not filling one’s head.

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  6. Recently my friend linked me to a very interesting video that I thought I should share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd0I1xAICOc

    The video is pretty long (just skip through some of the long pauses), but well worth the watch. Essentially the video is raw footage of one of the last stone-age tribes coming to contact with the civilized world for the first time. It's amazing to see how the tribesmen react to this sudden overload of culture. Never before had they seen a white man, a mirror, the cameras, the matches and the rest of the modern day benefits. The stuff that we take for granted everyday are completely new for them. Slowly and surely the tribesmen and the the camera crew start to communicate with each and come to a peace. They soon learn each others ways of living, names, and to an extent, languages.

    It's amazing to think how humans communicate at the most primitive state. Despite the fact that neither the expedition crew or the tribe knew any of each others language or body languages at first, they were still able to communicate to each other and share their thoughts.

    Another thing I found interesting in the video, is how they mentioned the fact that they leave these tribesmen in the wild. Even though that they lack the benefits of the modern world, they are better off remaining in the wild. By being brought to the modern world, these tribes-people would simply be out of place. Having no education, no experience, and no knowledge of the world itself, their lives would be worse. They would live in conditions of the highest points of poverty and sickness, and would have no chance of ever escaping it. In a sense, it's the same as the expression “Ignorance is bliss”. The tribes-people are better off living a life where they are blind to the world around them. Not knowing what they are missing out in life, they have less to grieve for.

    What are your opinions on this? Is it right that they left the tribesmen be, or should have they brought them into civilization, despite the fact that the conditions of their lives would be unlivable?

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  7. I want to talk about a quote that came up in my friend's math class that is very relevant to what we talked about in class.

    “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

    In class we talked about a problem we saw in the world, and how we could fix it. That is excellent, but you could see that some people found it harder to come up with a topic. I think that you don't always have to aim to make the world a better place. Sometimes its alright to just do what is best for you, because that is where your interests are, and that is how you will feel successful. Of course I do not think that this is an excuse to ignore the many issues out there in the world, and thank you to those of you who brought them to our attention. I encourage you all the hold the question of "what makes you come alive" with you!

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    1. I forgot to add that this quote is accredited to Howard Thurman.

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  8. This is a text I wrote about life:

    Some of you have probably heard it before. It is a general thought that came to my mind. The Dalai Lama also has a similar saying.

    Life is never enjoyed nowadays. Time is constrained. Through tough times, time never seems to stop but during the enjoyable but rare moments it passes by in the blink of an eye. Every one competes with each other deep down inside even though not everyone explicitly states it. We compete for tomorrow, save up the money for the future, and in the process damage our health. Then the future becomes present, and the money saved up is used to recover our health. Then death arrives, and we realize we have worked so hard in life just for the future and never lived in the present moment. Learn to enjoy the life we are granted. Who knows what happens after life. Enjoy today. We must change our thoughts and stop looking at money only. Learn to live life not in a materialistic manner, but with love. Don’t judge others and don’t let others judge you. Enjoy the present. Because the present is the past, the present is the present, and the present is the future. Let present be life.

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  9. I want to discuss what really the conscious mind is.
    What really is the conscious mind? Is the conscious mind what comes in our mind or how we control ourselves? Me writing a blog post right now is through the use of my conscious mind. We know what we are doing! We are conscious of what is going on in this world.

    It seems that we are unable to think in our sleep or in other word, the conscious mind seems to turn off when we are asleep. But is it really? In my opinion, our consciousness never sleeps although our body does. However, we usually sleep and completely forget to think in our sleep. Have you ever thought how and why we dream? Well it does happen in our mind. This gives me a thought that our consciousness can be controlled even when we are asleep. There must be a key to unlock this power.

    There has been many discussions in other forums about the people are conscious in their sleep, and can continue to think while their body is asleep. I don't know if this is true yet until I experience it myself. But I just thought it might be an interesting topic for all of you to think about. Hope you enjoy researching it on your own. Happy Holidays! : )

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