Devotion: Character

Morning, I am Daniel for those of you who don't know and I am going to talk about character. Every single one of us, today, are in the process of building character. A character in which is so unique to its roots that no-two-persons among our population of 7 billion can have a character in which is exactly the same making each and every one of us special. The common understanding of character is that it determines how we live our lives. The dictionary definitions said character is a "complex of mental and ethical traits" and that those traits, or qualities, are "built into an individuals life." It is those character qualities, those character traits, that determine a person's response in any given situation. Character is, as Abraham Lincoln quotes, "like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing". We often intertwine the two ideas; character and reputation, but it is not the same. We all have a reputation, good or bad but most of us will agree that reputation does not define who we really are. Reputation is always and only a shadow. Now the reason I 'm talking about character today is that many of us have forgotten the qualities of character of an individual and instead only see the reputation that is shrouded around it. We need to understand that reputation is not who we are but rather a false image. There is more to a person than his/her reputation. Just because a person has a bad reputation doesn't mean that the same person has a bad character. Same goes for people with good reputations. We need to become more compassionate for each other rather than judging each other. So remember today's devotion that there is always more to a person that what meets the eye. 

My Facebook

Life online

As you click your own profile and scroll down a few pages, you can't help but facepalm yourself and wail wwhhhhyyy. I've been using facebook for about seven years now and the stupid things I've done just stacks year after another. Honestly though, I feel that they were all great memories. Memories in which I wouldn't want to forget, ever. The friends, pictures, posts, status's, links, chats, likes they were all pieces of whom I really was. Although, that would only apply to myself. Only I would know who I am best and only I would understand how my profile was constructed. Facebook doesn't define who I really am but, it plays the avatar of myself. Agreeably, people can assume the person I am by the construction of my profile but that wouldn’t define me as a person. I believe human characteristics cannot be computed in any way because human behavior and mind is far more complex than the cyber world can portray. That is what separates us from the cyber world and reality. Another reason why my FB profile wouldn’t satisfy my true identity is that people have different ways of viewing things, in this case facebook profiles. My parents would view my profile completely differently from those of my close friends. For example my parents would not be able to understand some of the things I like as such as online jokes whereas my friends would and vice versa. I feel that the social networks should push toward never allowing people to put their full identity of themselves on social websites. Simply because it is dangerous. It will make you vulnerable to the infinite network of the cyber world. The cyber world is growing big and fast dangerously and we must be aware of this when we create our profiles. Facebook profiles may include parts of our identity but we must be aware of the fact that profiles are only profiles… avatars… masks nothing more…

High School: The Realm of Countless Judgments

As negative as the title sounds it is unfortunately true. High School is the period of our lives where we show our true characters for the first time in which makes every individual unique but unfortunately we are judged for it. We are in a time where we live in a bigger community which consist of different genders, countries of origin, cultures, sexual orientations, religions, beliefs, intelligence, experiences and the list goes on almost endlessly. With these differences within one society, it seems that being judged is inevitable. It is the idea of judgement that creates conflicts within our character. Bullying, Depression, Status, Sensitivity, Unstable Emotions, Trust issues, and so on are lists of common factors of judgments in a typical high school. Judgement is simply the root of all character conflicts within a high school. But I strongly believe that it isn't inevitable, the whole concept of judgement can be removed from the picture. Unfortunately the magnitude of this issue is just not emphasized enough for the audience to understand the whole picture (especially for those who judge teenagers by their behavior and character also to make things worse by making the typical excuses such as 'the rushing hormones of a teen'). In my view, the judgement issues that lies in high school is no different to the outer world, its just that the scope is much larger. Thieves, gangs, terrorists, criminals or even ordinary citizens who like to emphasize their character (hippies, gays, transgenders etc.) are similarly molded by judgments. This is why we must remove 'judgement' from the picture from a young age (as in high school) because we grow to become these kinds of people. If we had respected each others characteristics and complimented them instead of judging them, I believe that it would be a step in making the world a better place to live in. 

Response to McLuhan's concept of Media

How does some of the new media we use everyday affect our society?

In this decade, media has become as ubiquitous as physics, science and mathematics in society. Today media is considered as an essential factor to every individual's life within a community. Media comes in many forms in which some we don't even recognize. The classic examples are the TV, radio, internet, phones, magazines, and newspapers in which people use often use to know what is happening around them. But some examples are ignored as simple as local street performers playing the guitar, singing or even acting. We are constantly exposed to media that it alters our view of society. We watch the local news, hear about the latest gossips, buy new technologies, wear the trending styles, watch the most views videos, sing the latest hits, the list is endless. We, as the audience, are so entrapped by media that we are not even aware of it. We flow according to the direction of media. It seems that we do not control media but rather it controls us. This is how Media affects our society.

Do you think media and technology are moving our society in a positive direction, or negative direction? Why?

I believe this is not a matter of choosing a side whether media and technology is going in a positive or negative direction. It is a matter of how we, as the audience, interpret the given media that forms our opinion. I strongly believe that media is essential to a community, it is what builds a society, but to decide whether it is positive or negative is wholly determined by ones opinion, and I think that is what makes media incredible. Media is most definitely a flexible concept in which consists of countless opinions making it significant to society.

How do you think media shapes your own personal identity?

As mentioned above media is ubiquitous also making it inevitable. I have been exposed to various kinds of media even from different countries (societies). My identity is developed through a mix of all the different media I have experienced. Media has also allowed me to create a distinct world view that follows my identity. I believe through both of these concepts my view and opinion of everything has ultimately changed. This is how media shaped my personal identity.

  

Blog Post: Response to Atonement

Question Addressed in Class: If you were in the shoes of Robbie, would you forgive Briony? / Did Briony achieve atonement?

For this discussion the majority of the class said no which is understandable. As a reader, I believe that it is impossible to tell mainly because Robbie never had the chance to either forgive or keep a grudge against Briony. It would only be natural for the audience to argue that Robbie would never forgive Briony for all the things that lead him into turmoil. But we must consider Briony's case. Briony had written this book for a sole purpose; to achieve atonement. She had been writing the book for over 50 years, which in fact is more than half her life. In another words she has been in search of forgiveness for 50 years. Through this we can assume that her hatred for herself is much greater and longer than of the hatred Robbie held against Briony. Without a doubt, Robbie's hatred was significant but in my perspective, Briony’s hatred on herself would directly affect her more significantly than would Robbie's hatred against her. However by the end of the book, Briony confesses that she fabricated the ending where Robbie, Cecilia and Briony meet and that Robbie and Cecilia lived happily together. She explains that "her version of the book will be the one that will 'survive to love' rather than the sadness of 'what really happened'" (GradeSaver). She also exposes the unfortunate truth that Robbie and Cecilia both died in the war which also means that they never had the chance to meet. As readers this complicates the situation because we cannot factually tell whether Robbie would have actually either kept the grudge against her or that he would have ultimately forgiven her. Nevertheless, according to the evidence we are given Briony seems to want the audience to sympathize with Robbie than Briony herself. In the given situation Briony believes that she can't be forgiven. In the end of the book she makes a final statement or plea, in this case, saying, "How can a novelist achieve atonement when with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her [...] It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all" (Briony, Ian McEwan Last few pages). In conclusion Briony accepts her fate (of not actually being able to achieve atonement) and that the ‘attempt was all’.