Right Vs. Wrong

On daily basis we contemplate the right and wrong things to do. Whether it be something as simple as recycling or not, or something as important as choosing to rob a bank (drastic, i know) but regardless, a decision must be made. How do we know which is the right decision. Clearly, when regarding the bank robbery, i would hope that most of you would decline that opportunity if it ever arises.
At a young age our parents instill in us three important things, love, respect, and values, of course amongst many other things but I think these are within the top five at least. From the beginning they teach us that hitting is wrong, you should always use your please & thank yous, never ask someone how old they are, and you should know the difference between right and wrong. However, can right vs. wrong, be taught? I think that has a simple answer, no. Right decision vs. wrong decision is not something that we can read about in a book. Instead, we learn through way of life and with experience. When you push your best friend down when your little, they cry, you learned that crying is a way to show sadness or hurtfulness therefore you learn that pushing (which made them cry) must be bad. The values our parents instilled in us at that young age I think are guidelines for learning ethics later in life. We learn that most things in life have ethical reasoning. The ethics that we learn help us to better make decisions. As stated before, these decisions can be an 1 second answer or two-day answer. It doesn't matter, all that matter is that at the end of the day you're happy with your decision and your not afraid to own the decision you made. If you dont want to announce the decision you've made and you're not proud of it, whelp, you my friend may have picked the wrong answer.

Have a great day! Make good decisions!

A Day At the Ball Game

When you think of baseball games, what comes to mind? Home runs? Peanuts? Cold beer? Hot dogs? Injuring yourself... probably not. Well Shannon Stone's family surely didn't think so. But in reality, in July 2011, the Stone family endured a tragic event where they lost a major part of their family. 

Most of you Texans are probably already know the story of what happened to Shannon Stone when he fell from the stands during the summer game. What most of you probably don't know is how the owner, Nolan Ryan, handled the situation. I am happy to inform you that Ryan handled the case with grace, honor, and the utmost respect for the family.

Now-a-days we hear stories and are disappointed about the outcome. More often than not, the PR is bad and doesn't do the story justice. I know it sounds bad but I think that today we are more focused on the drama of the story than the actual facts. I hope that there are still reporters and public relations gurus who see the heart in the story. I hope that there are still CEOs and Presidents that realize saying sorry doesn't mean you failed. It is not a sign of a weakness but rather, a time to shine and a time to realize your mistakes in order to fix them the next time around. There is always room for improvement. There is always room to become someone better and wiser than you ever were before.

For more information on the story of Shannon Stone please visit http://abcnews.go.com/Health/texas-baseball-fan-shannon-stone-asked-son-fatal/story?id=14030458#.Tz1P_ZhZVAc

For Nolan Ryan's comments on the situation please watch the video provided below:

A look at the traditional family

Lets take a look a the traditional family. That being, mom stays home and dad does to work, kids go to school. It is the basis for our livelihood and I think it should be analyzed.  

I think that in some ways the traditional family was better for society. This is because everyone knew what their role was in society and there weren’t any questions of quality of life or social standings. I think it was a simpler time and possibly more peaceful. Everyone knew what was expected of him or her and they had no problem delivering what was asked.

However, at the same time I think that the traditional family was not better for society because at this day in age, the options are endless. I think that since our society has grown so much concerning equality, opportunity, employment, and has had overall lifestyle changes. I think that today, the traditional family would not have been beneficial because we need change. We cannot live in the past and think that the same “rules” of family still apply. Times change and so do our expectations; it is just the way life goes.

I do not think that our society will ever be able to return to that version of a family because we have learned too much to move backward. As women, we have discovered the self-fulfillment of having a job AND raising a family. We are society that tries to multitask and handle everything under the sun. If we were told that we must all stay at home while our husbands work, there would be a riot. Some women may be fine with that and for them it will work, but what about all those women who love their jobs and love what they do? The standard has risen for the “traditional family” and probably won’t be returning to what it used to be in a very long time, if ever. 

A life with Technology

Let's start off with a question:

When did the "thing to do" become the "five things to do at once"?

In our society we are constantly doing more than one things at once. You name it: texting and driving, eating while watching TV, skyping while texting, walking and talking, working out and listening to music... the list is never ending. Why does we feel so inclined to have to do so many things at once? Are there not enough hours in the day to complete the necessary tasks? I personally think it comes down to one thing: we got bored.

We became bored doing the same thing all the. We needed to mix it up and try something new. It's the same reason technology is always changing, we need something new to play with and to wrap our minds around. We are infatuated with new things, whether that be new games to play, new phones to figure out, new TV shows to watch. Our lives revolve around the update of technology and we're so blinded by it all that we don't even see it. More often than not, we go out to dinner with other individuals, and spend more time on our phones than we do talking to the person sitting next to us. I can't say Im not guilty of it. But i just wish that for one day, we went back to the way things used to be, a simpler time. A day when a family dinner meant, no talk of religion or politics and all phones, computers, and non-existant iPads were left in the other room. I dont want it to go back that way forever, lets face it, our world would crumble. I just think that all of could use a dose of reality and cause us to pump the breaks on this busy life were so engaged in.


Below is short clip from John King on CNN concerning a hour and half without technology

It's All Political

Since a young age I have been taught the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. And for majority of my life, I would like to think that I have followed this rule and kept up my end of the deal. But what happens when I am not the one deciding how people deserve to be treated. If everyone is nice to each individual they come across, assuming they don’t want to be treated badly, then the world would be nice and dandy place. WRONG. That isn't exactly realistic. That’s why we have villains and bullies and just your average grumpy people; the world isn't perfect. I guess my question is: when Mill's Principle of Utility is put into play, how do we know who is coming up on the good end of the deal? The principle states that we should "seek the greatest happiness for the aggregate whole." So are you just S.O.L if you're not in the majority whole?

This immediately reminds me of political campaigns. Every four years we have someone “x” amount of people run for office and only one person becomes President of the United States. What if you didn’t vote for this person? What if you don’t believe in his or her morals and background? I suppose you just have to wait until the next four years. Realistically, there is no way to please everyone but in our society I suppose we try to do what is best for the largest amount, that way you piss of the least amount of people possible. Seems pretty political if you ask me.

To learn more about Mill’s Principles please visit:

http://www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/PGreenspan/Crs/MILL.pdf

Disconnect While Connecting

After reading WIlliam Power's book, "Hamlet's Blackberry" a certain point to me stuck out like a sore thumb; Chapter Nine, titled "Inventing Your Life." The chapter's first paragraph goes on to talk about how no-email Fridays would be a successful way to go about our business week. For just one day a week, we completely disconnect ourselves via email/technology and allow more personal interactions to arise.
Powers' discusses that it echos the casual Friday act that everyone so quickly responded to in a positive manner. I, however, think disconnecting would be relaxing although initially stressful. In fact, on page 163 it reads, "man is a sociable being, and it is... one of the worst punishments to be excluded from society." Powers could not have worded it any better. Although, i do not have any book or movie to reference, I do have personal knowledge as well as a credible educational background that backs me up when I say, we as a individuals need society. There is no way to go around it. In our society, no-email Friday is more of a management problem than not enough cokes in the vending machines. We are dependent upon communication with one another. In the present day, we get emails constantly throughout the day. A few years ago, it wasn't uncommon to hear back from someone by the end of the day if you emailed them in the morning. However, if I got an email today, I can almost guarantee that individual will have a  response within at least one hour, sometimes one minute if I am on my computer. I understand that Powers' thinks that this type of solution will help you invent yourself by causing you to network and interact on a face-to-face basis but I think more people will get frustrated than relieved. Overall, I think no-email Friday would be a positive way to invent your life like Powers suggest. Although i hate to say it, I just dont think it is a realistic option for today's society. Especially for the Gen-Y era whom are constantly multitasking and attempting (key word) to do five things at once.

The Joy of Quiet, What Is It Worth?

After recently reading a NY Times article, "The Joy of Quiet," I made a significant correlation to the current bills attempted to being passed, SOPA and PIPA. In the NY Times article it discussed that our society has become so overwhelmed with technology and social media networking today that more often than none, we are trying to avoid it at all costs. The cost of course being a wager in eliminating all communication for "x" amount of time. For many years in our society we have been told that having the newest, nicest, quickest, most up-to-date items will make us successful. However, in the article it recalls that we actually need to step away from this busy and flustered life in order to be successful. Being happy and successful is parallel to finding yourself within the stillness of life. 
Now, ask me in 20 minutes when I'm par-oozing on Facebook and I'll probably contradict all that I'm about to say. Yet, there is a slight chance that SOPA/PIPA are solutions to this problem our society is having to find the stillness in life. On the off chance that you are not familiar with SOPA and PIPA, they are acts which "Stop Online Piracy" and "Prevent Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property." On the TED blog (can be seen below), I recently watched a video, "Why SOPA is a bad idea" by Clay Shirky. In the video, Shirky talks about how if these bills are passed our lives will change drastically, there is no argument in that. However, what if these bills merely simplify our lives. They would be taking away majority of free speech, which i fully disagree with. However, they are also looking to take away a lot of complications and reduce the over abundance of technology available to us. I'm not saying I agree with the two bills, I just think it is something to consider. If we want to enjoy the peace and quiet in the world than sacrifices have to be made and certain things will have to be eliminated. We need to make an ethical decision to determine what it is we are willing to give up for the gift of a joyous and simplified lifestyle. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose the saying goes.