George Carlin

George Carlin was saying that as a species we will cause our own downfall. The Earth will naturally survive without us as it did before us.Carlin says that the Earth simply tolerates humand and "will be able to shake us off like fleas". If necessary, we will reach a point where we will be unable to live on earth either due to causes by our own hands or by the earth itself.

Mark Smith's "Animalcules and other Little Subjects"

Smith poetical describes the microscopic world in "Animalcules". In reality there is an entire universe in a jar of pond water. This notion places our existence into perspective. Is it possible that to some other form of life, we are nothing more than small creates thriving in a pond somewhere? This idea reminded me of the film "Men In Black" where, at the end it is reviled that our Universe is inside of a marble.
Some of the small creatures smith describes remarkably possess the same parts as humans "eyes, heart, brain, muscles, stomach..."(258). This also shows in many ways all organisms are alike and are connected by a common history

Bejamin Phelan's "How we evolve"

It makes sense that human evolution has slowed down. As Phelan states, in our society "the fit and the unfit equally flourish"(192). As a result, the concept of "survival of the fittest" may have taken a backseat. I think its undeniable that our technology has overtaken our natural evolution. In a matter of a century we created atomic bombs and space shuttles. The fact that our population has boomed may also hinder evolution. As the article states genetic drift contributes to evolution. It is difficult for a single gene to spread through a species that is 6.8 billion strong in number. It is a natural rule that organisms must adapt to their environment. However, the environment must now adapt to humans. I feel that as a whole humanity is reaching a critical point where will decide if we will destroy ourselves or continue to thrive.

Connection between "just add water" and "Ethics of Carbon emissions"

The world would resemble Trona Californiaif pollution and global warming becomes worse. Similar to modern society the people of Trona rely on gas stations to power their society.
Ray's neighbor is depicted as being lazy and always sitting on his lawn chair, yet he wants to help ray with his problems. Similarly, modern society wants to help stop global warming but rarely do people take serious action to combat against it. In regards to global warming, most of the western world wants to help, yet does nothing.

John Broome's The Ethics of climate change

I like philosophy too, but I found that John Broome's The Ethics of Climate change was too speculative. Is climate change killing people and harming the enviornment? Yes. But I found that Broome simply ranted and never truly reached a conclusion or gave a solid solution to any problem. He mentions the concepts of Utilitarianism and Prioritarianism which are only two ways of viewing the problem from many different angles. Perhaps I simply didn't understand his article or I missed something.
When it comes to climate change, the only people that can make a serious difference are world governments. Governments can pass laws that cut down on waste/carbon emissions/green house gases and whatever else is destroying the environment. A single person can make a difference by "going green" such as buying organic food riding a bike instead of driving a car etc.

how do I feel about blogging

I like being able to read other people's opinions about the topics that we discuss in class. I do like the fact that one can comment on someone else's blog so we can have some type of conversation. However, I do view blogging as a chore. Take this post for example, I forgot about it until I went on blogger and read that other people posted it. So I just wrote this up really quick.

Just add water questions. Recall

1. What's inside the box that Ray keeps in his car?
2. Does Ray still consider Ed (Jonah hill) to be his son even though he is not the biological father.
3. Why is the Lemon meringue pie recipe so special?
4. Is Ed really apathetic and angry or is that an act?
5. What gave Ray the inspiration to finally stand up to Dirk and his gang.
6. Does Ray's turtle has an actual purpose in the film?

Recall: the movie does remind me of Little miss sunshine because of the dark humor and tone.

Is everyone a writer?

Every college student has to write papers. People sometimes have to write letters and resumes. Due to social networks like Twitter and Facebook people have become their own publishers and post their thoughts and ideas.Essentially no one can go through their entire life without writing or communicating through written language. In that regard, everyone is a writer in a literal sense. Yet some people view writing as an inconvenience and are annoyed by the idea of writing anything.
I feel that writer is someone who enjoys writing as a hobby or for a job. For example. a jounalist for a newspaper would be a writer. Stephen King is writes for a living and as a hobby. I consider myself to be a writer and I usually write creatively when I'm bored. I find it fun to create settings and characters tell a story in the way I choose.

Just add Water Observations and Infer

Observations: Barren desert. Poverty. Drug deals on the streets. Dullness. Stupidity. Repetition. Apathetic attitudes. "Don't forget to take a mint".

Infer: Education is not valued in Trona. Ray wants to preserve his home and his family that is dysfunctional. Drug dealers (Dirk) owns and runs the town, there seems to be an absence of actual authority. There are no real family ties in Ray's family. Ray's son Ed is destructive and bored (wants to set a house of fire). Ray tries to make the best out of a dull and miserable life.

Michael Specter's "Bigfoot"

Yet again, Michael Specter's "Bigfoot" is another science article discussing the wastefulness of modern society. This piece discusses the carbon footprints that are produced when food is made and shipped to different parts of the world. I must admit that I had never considered that the hamburger I had for lunch came from a cow in New Zealand. However, I feel that although "Bigfoot" was insightful there isn't much the reader can do to address the issue. Like the other articles about pollution the only true way to make an impact is to give companies incentives to decrease their carbon footprints like giving tax credits to the corporation that follow through. Companies will also take notice and change their policies if there is a chance that they will be viewed negatively. For example the article states that Apple was ranked as one of the worst companies in terms of being green. Steve Jobs took note, and of course apple followed suit with becoming more environmentally friendly (pg 286). Finally it is necessary to integrate green programs slowly at not introduce it all at once.
In reality I suppose I have contributed to global warming in some way. I think that as a whole modern Western society is to blame for global warming. We refused to find alternative sources of energy when we had the chance and now we are suffering the consequences.

Writing Center Experience

I found the writing center to be helpfully. With my experience I simply talked out loud and I came up with the answers I needed mostly on my own. Also it is good to have another person read your work. As the writer of your own work you will naturally understand what you write. A reader will point out logicl flaws and vague parts about your essay. Obviously, this criticism makes your writing better.

Joshua Roebke's "The Reality Test"

This article reminded me of the movie The Matrix. There is a scene where Morpheus is explaning to Neo what the Matrix is and Morpheus asks him “What is real?” Like with literature I feel that to some degree everything, including reality, is open to interpretation. In many ways "we do create what we observe". We attach names and connotation to things that we observe, and therefore we change how we perceive events and objects.
I found that Roebke's thesis to be interesting. I feel that there is another world that exists that we are incapable of preceiving even with our technology.

faustian economics in class writing

Berry is very pessimistic about modern American society. He states that as a species we hve become arrogant to the point that we consider ourselves to be god-like. Overall, we are very wasteful and consume resources at an astonishing rate. For example, Americans use millions of plastic bottles a year. Many are not recycled and the waste beings to pollute the environment.
Berry claims that is necessary to place limits on ourselves in temrs of technology. By placing limits on ourselves we can fully analyze problems and create solutions that are extremely efficient. As stated by Berry, limits allow people to have a sense of “fullness”. Without pre-set limits it would be difficult to know where to end. This concept ties into our arrogance. As a society we do not know when enough is enough and we become greedy and wasteful as a result.
A prime example of this greed is with oil. Although the world’s supply is running low, many take its existence for granted and assume that oil will never run out completely.

Wendell Berry's Faustian Economics

In Faustian Economics author Wendell Berry has a very pessimistic view about American society. Berry states that Americans are in a “collective delusion of grandeur”, meaning that as a culture we are extremely wasteful and greedy. Berry cites that modern American society has become arrogant, believing that natural resources are limitless.
Berry accurately points out that as a species we have elevated ourselves to that of god-like beings (pg 8). We want to live without limits and to consume more energy and resources in order obtain more knowledge. However, Berry claims that we also need wisdom in conjunction with knowledge in order to use technology more effectively. He states that is it foolish to obtain knowledge that we ourselves don’t fully understand. If we do not understand the knowledge, we may apply it in an unfavorable manner which will be dangerous (pg 5).
Berry states that Americans must return to a state of humility. In order to progress we must ironically place limits ourselves. Berry states that as a society we mistake limits as “confidments” ( pg 8). As a whole, we must accept the fact that there are natural limits on how much the human race can expand. These limits allow us to survive in a balanced world. In reality, limits do not hinder progress, allow us to utilize our resource and wisdom to natural fullness.

Derrida- fear of writing

Derrida, like most people, fear that other people will react negatively to his work. In the video, Derrida states that he usually criticizes people and institutions and is afraid of the repercussions. I feel that his fear stems from natural self-doubt.
I feel that the fear of being judged is what motivates the fear. I have a similar self-doubt in my writing like Derrida. I feel restricted when writing essays, believing that if I try to do something different or new it will backfire. As a result, I stay close to the guidelines.
Derrida certainly has a deep respect for the power of writing. In the video he states that a type of “force” overpowers him to write and that it is a necessity. He then states that if he renounces his work there will be consequences. From these comments, I feel that Derrida believes that writing his something that is bigger than himself.

Poems by R. Jones and R. Hass

Both poems paint a very beautiful and tranquil picture of nature. The authors address how words and language can create imagery. Rodney Jone’s Hubris at Zunzal, makes this clear with the statement “No image like the image of language.” Language helps us communicate stories and ideas, here, both authors use language to bring the readers to their respective scenes. Robert Hass’ The problem of describing trees struggles to accurately describe a tree. To Hass the try has many characteristics and it is difficult to find the words,"There are limits to saying,
In language, what the tree did." He cites the tree's actual physical structure, mentioning it's "wobbly stems" and the trees cells. However, Hass also finds that the tree has traits of that of a person, stating that is a "dancer".
Language is a slippery vehicle in that a single piece of literature can be interpreted multiple ways. For example The problem of describing trees is purposely vague, its meaning is mostly likely subjective.