In his essay "Is Google Making Us Stupid" Nicholas Carr suggests that even though the web has been an amazing asset to him and his writing career it also has changed the way we think and use communication. As we reach out to the most innovative ways to collect information, books and older media are being phased out. Carr suggests that when we are reading we simply skim over important words and sentences, which is called "Power Browsing." Rather than reading books fully and understanding topics, we are merely power browsing by clicking from one site to the next reading simply what we need to. Carr uses the analogy, " Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski." Carr's observations really show us how we are not seeing how society and technology is changing us. We all go with the flow and take in new things as they are presented to us, not considering any negative consequence that might go along with them. There will always be new technology and new ways of learning new material which will make our lives easier and faster. I feel this article is very supported because this exactly how I read articles online and do not read the entire articles if I do not have to. I feel the thesis of this article is the web is an amazing tool but it has slowly made us lazier and lazier.

 “Your brain is evolving right now”, by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan. While I feel that they made a variety of arguments, the one that struck me most was this idea of an “artificial sense of intimacy” and a “new culture of communication” that exist because we interact with other people online and through text messaging. In “techno-brain burnout”, Small and Vorgan make a valid point, that the lack of face-to-face interactions could be detrimental to our social skills and our relationships to others, but I also feel that they are being a bit over dramatic. They are looking at the minority in this situation. The average person may spend a good deal of time on facebook and their phones, sending text messages and writing comments, but that’s not where their relationships end. They still get up, go outside, and socialize with others. In “the new, improved brain”, the authors speaks about relationships through digital media. I think their weakness here is to automatically assume that there is a fundamental problem with this form of communication. I feel some of her arguments are supported but they are up to interpretation and this is too dramatized. I feel the thesis of this article is that technology is ruining our social interactions.

Marc Prensky opens his "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"(2001) by stating  that the problem with education today is  that " Our students have  changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system  was designed to teach".  He tells us that students today think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. He also talks about digital imigrants or people who were not born into this technology but instead has tried to imbrace it. He gives examples of people printing essays to edit them instead of editing on the screen. Or calling people in to show them a website instead of simply sending them it. The writer talks about how most teachers are digital immigrants and cannot connect with their students. The digital natives find this very frustrating and lose focus very quickly. Teachers need to try and integrate this technology in their classrooms to reach this generation of students. I feel this argument is very effective because this is exactly what is making the gap between this generation and between older generations. The thesis of this article is that digital immigrants need to reach their younger generations better.

“Do they really think differently?” Marc Prensky tells us how children today are being put into a society that no one has been put in before. Children today have been born into technology and spend their lives watching tv, playing video games, and sending emails. The writer tells how previously people thought our brain structure can’t be changed or altered but this is in fact incorrect and our brain structure can change by stimulation or various kinds. Evidence also shows that one’s thinking pattern can also change depending on our experiences. All these video games with hours on hours of focused attention are changing the way we process information and how categorize information. This is not necessarily a bad thing but we just need to find new ways to process information in school because reading out of books does not keep the generation today attentive like it used to. Marc tells us that teenagers today use different parts of their brain and think in different ways than adults when at a computer. Marc also shows evidence that the generations attention span is much smaller than previous. I feel this article is very supported with all the studies he gives. I feel the thesis of this article is that this generation’s brain structure and thinking process is much different than other generations. 

Lovemark

Lovemarks

 A love mark is a brand which has “loyalty beyond reason”, where the average consumer feels an emotional or spiritual connection. A love mark is a love of a brand for no real reason. You tend to attach to this brand buy cannot identify real concrete reasons. This is what a company or brand works towards. Companies work towards having customers attaching to their brand and not looking for any others. I believe i have a love mark, it is not quite what the book defines it is just a brand that I like. I also feel that I don’t have an emotional draw to this brand either. It was quite difficult to recognize if i had one because one does not want to admit they buy a brand or something for no real reason. I thought hard and realized that i buy Nike for no actual reason. Nike has so many different products but i tend to just buy their shirts shorts and socks. I like a special type of a shirt they make, it is called "Dri-Fit" which is made of this breathable material that feels really soft and i love wearing it. Actually I am wearing one right now. I buy those certain types of shirts from Nike but i also buy their basketball shorts, the reason for buying the shorts are again how they feel. i am very picky about what basketball shorts i buy. They must have pockets, they must be quite thick, they also need to be a little heavy so I can feel them. With these requirements i have found Nike meets these best. Jordan basketball shorts are very nice too. 

I am sure if i was more open and looked harder i could find other brands that i would also like but i am a very stubborn person and like what i like. i don't have any urge or need to venture out and look for other brands that I could wear. 

I don’t only wear Nike, actually this is not the case at all. I wear many other types of clothes. I just choose to buy Nike when I see it and it is at a good price. I do not feel I am addicted to Nike at all I just choose to buy it.

I feel when I am buying Nike and wear Nike I am showing an active identity. I show that I am athletic and that I am fit. Nike is an athletic brand that is used in sports and working out.

This is an identity that I wish to portray. 

“Dying to play”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/opinion/head-injuries-in-football.html?ref=contributors&_r=0

The thesis statement of this article is that NFL players and their career are adherently dangerous because of concussions, which can be life threatening, can cause brain damage, and can also leave life long effect irreparable. The NFL is not always as glamorous as it can seem. Imagine being forced to retire from the life of a professional athlete because of a concussion, which may lead to seizures the rest of your life or even death. The NFL faces an issue concerning its players’ health and safety being in jeopardy due to threatening injuries, which may lead to long term brain disease; however some feel that there is no direct evidence connecting football and brain damage which may lead to change in the way the game is played.

 To some, concussions are not very serious and can simply be healed by rest. This is not the case, concussions are extremely serious and there is endless amount of evidence to prove it. Some of the evidence in this article is as follows.Concussions happen weekly in the NFL to players of all positions due to the tremendous force these players are hit with weekly, over and over.The short and long term effects of multiple concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term physical damage, players often suffer from long term mental problems. A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. A concussion involves a transient loss of mental function. It can be caused by acceleration or deceleration forces, or by a direct blow to the head. Whether a player is hit with a helmet to helmet type of hit, a face mask, or just hits his head to hard on the turf; they can all cause serious concussions. Concussions weren't taken very seriously until the middle of the 20th century. Often times, if a player said he was ok to go back onto the field after a concussion; the team doctors would let him. Recently, however, the NFL began doing studies on concussions due to the career ending injuries to Troy Aikman and Steve Young. Concussions have become the single biggest threat to the future of football since the turn of the 20th century.

The argument the writer is giving is that the NFL has things it needs to change. The best way to try and address this problem is with discussions and there have been discussions about how to make football more safe is very difficult. The game of football is very traditional and with every change in the game there is uproar with fans and players. The NFL have tried many changes to improve safety. They have tried better gear and more fines on illegal hits. 

“Dying to play”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/opinion/head-injuries-in-football.html?ref=contributors&_r=0

The life of an NFL player is not always as glamorous as it can seem. Imagine being forced to retire from the life of a professional athlete because of a concussion, which may lead to seizures the rest of your life or even death. The NFL faces an issue concerning its players’ health and safety being in jeopardy due to threatening injuries, which may lead to long term brain disease; however some feel that there is no direct evidence connecting football and brain damage which may lead to change in the way the game is played.

Concussions happen weekly in the NFL to players of all positions due to the tremendous force these players are hit with weekly over and over. The short and long term effects of multiple concussions can be devastating to the human mind. Not only does the brain suffer long term physical damage, players often suffer from long term mental problems. A concussion is the most common type of traumatic brain injury. A concussion involves a transient loss of mental function. It can be caused by acceleration or deceleration forces, or by a direct blow to the head. Whether a player is hit with a helmet to helmet type of hit, a face mask, or just hit's his head to hard on the turf; they can all cause serious concussions. Concussions weren't taken very seriously until the middle of the 20th century. Often times, if a player said he was ok to go back onto the field after a concussion; the team doctors would let him. Recently, however, the NFL began doing studies on concussions due to the career ending injuries to Troy Aikman and Steve Young. Concussions have become the single biggest threat to the future of football since the turn of the 20th century.

The discussions about and to make it more safe is very difficult. Helmets are of the highest quality and almost every precaution is taken to ensure their safety but there are still countless injuries every game. Football is just trouble. Simply because it is impossible to make the game safe from head injuries without making drastic changes. The way the game is played makes it almost impossible to make the game safe. In order for the game to be completely safe the hits would have to be extremely slow and that would make it boring and football would not be interesting anymore.

Concussion test are now a very popular thing for sports today. Every player takes a test and in this test they learn about the signs of a concussion and how to treat a concussion. They might feel more tired and more dizzy and they know that the need to stop playing. This can be a safety precaution but not everyone knows they have a concussion so they do not visit their trainer. If they were to continue playing there risk for a more serious injury is greatly increased. This is why it is so important to be safe when playing sports.

How free are we to make our own decision?

Is your mind as free as you think it is to make decisions? I do not believe so. We might think we can make our decisions freely. This is not the case. Our decisions are based on what options we have and what others opinions are. We as humans aim to please others. We inadvertently do things to please others and take others opinions and shape them as our own. Our decisions are often the reflection of the situation we are in, and the social status we have. Therefore, due to the people around us, our situation, and our society, we subconsciously are limited in the decisions we make.

People that are close to us, such as our parents and friends, often limit the choice we have in our life. For instance, parents can limit our education options by pressuring us to study the subjects they want, and friends can affect our decisions through peer pressuring. If we do not adhere to these pressures we can be isolated and as human beings we want to be popular so we do what we are pressured to do.

A good example of how our decisions can also be affected by situations is for example. A person is trying to buy a car, of course he wants to buy a new car but if his financial situation doesn’t allow this then he will most likely end up buying the used car. This is an example of how his financial situation changed his decision making.

More commonly, society influences our decisions. Through the media and just every day interactions. From the way you dress to the way you talk. It is all influenced subconsciously from what we hear and see.

In summary, our decisions are not entirely our own. We must keep in mind that every time we make a decision, there are many factors that affect it, such as the opinions from families and friends, the situations we are at, and the structure of our society.

“Welcome to my dorm room”

“What is a dorm room?”

“A dorm room is where students who are attending college, sleep and live when not in class”

“why do you live in a dorm room?”

“I live in a dorm room because my real home is far away, and I want to be able to get to class on time.”

“Why is your home far away?”
“I chose a college that was not in my city and I could not make that drive every day.”

“why could you not make that drive every day?”
“I could not make that drive because it would cost too much time and money.”

“why do you not have enough?”

“because I do not have a car or a job”

“why don’t you have a job?”

because no one is hiring”

why Is no one hiring?

I don’t know.

Why do our minds have Freudian slips? 

Freudian slips - A Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of some unconscious, subdued wish, conflict, or train of thought. The concept is thus part of classical psychoanalysis.

People have always thought that Freudian slips were the unconscious mind telling what the speaker actually wants. For example if you accidently call your lover and exes name it is assumed that you were thinking of her. This is called a Freudian slip, or a slip of the tongue.

Slips of the tongue are almost inevitable. For every 1,000 words spoken, we make one or two errors. Considering that the average pace of speech is 150 words a minute, a slip is bound to occur about once every seven minutes of continuous talk. Each day, most of us make somewhere between 7 and 22 verbal slips.

The unconscious mind is the core of our feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories of which people are unaware. Often these thoughts are unpleasant or not able to be expressed, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. But our unconscious minds continue to influence our behavior, which is the reason for our Freudian slips when talking, our unconscious hand gestures, also our unconscious facial expressions. Most of which we don’t even realize are happening.

Science has dis proven the popular culture idea of Freudian slip. Popular culture says that the reason for your tongue slip was that, that thing was on your mind. Modern science and psychology has dis proven this idea of a Freudian slip but it still lives on.

The scientific reason for these slips of the tongues are now believed to be from the unconscious mind. Slips may be due to inattention, incomplete sense data or insufficient knowledge. Secondly, they may be due to the existence of some local response pattern that is strongly primed by its prior usage, recent activation or emotional change or by the situation calling conditions.