Reap What You Sow

p292 #2

     The human species is continuously evolving at a slow rate into the men and women we are today and will become in the future. Evolutionary psychology is one aspect that was born from Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwinian theory supports propagating the species through a process called natural selection. Natural selection is how humans are able to carry on their own genetic traits by choosing an ideal mate and having children. Selecting out or adding certain traits to our genes can take thousands of years. Our human sexual behavior is best preserved in a heterosexual monogamous marriage, because as Wright points out in Our Cheating Hearts, “love between man and woman is a human universal” (Wright 284). There are examples of human genes that show we are naturally selecting for genes in favor of a heterosexual monogamous pair-bonding union through our sexual selection. We prefer certain kinds of mates.

     Darwin’s theory of sexual selection states “ members of one sex choose a mate based on their preferences for particular qualities in that mate” (Buss 263). We choose to have children with individuals who have traits that will support, love and provide for the children for the duration. Wright explains how emotions like paternal love have evolved into human genes from our past. Possibly paternal love stemmed from “an upsurge in predators, say-made it more likely that the offspring of undevoted, unprotected fathers would perish” (Wright 284). These characteristics live on because these individuals beat out others without these characteristics. Thus, the ‘winner’ reproduces and the ‘loser does not and their genes die with them, and monogamy lives on.

     Of course, obstacles exist that may hinder a heterosexual monogamous marriage. Traits that mates choose to foster a heterosexual monogamous union are”…feelings for love, desire for sex, or jealousy” (Buss 266). We may think of jealousy as an obstacle to monogamy. Instead, jealousy is an attitude that has evolved to preserve heterosexual monogamous marriage and “combat(s) infidelity” (Buss 270). The mate who protects their marriage has more opportunity for continued reproduction.

     Contraception is another possible obstacle to present day reproduction. Contraception is another way to extend our choices to foster the heterosexual monogamous marriage. It gives us the ability to plan for an optimal child rearing environment. What better situation to have children in than when you are healthy and have the resources to do so.

     Finally, technology plays a supportive role in the heterosexual monogamous marriage by giving opportunity for creating well matched mates. Prior to the advent of the computer, most humans were tied to a small social group revolving around school or work to find that perfect match. Now there is a higher likelihood of finding the perfect mate. Those well suited for one another have a better chance for a long lasting union.

     In conclusion, Evolutionary Psychology “illuminates the tremendous flexibility fo the human mind and the powerful role of environment in shaping behavior” (Wright 280). Humans are on the right track to select for the key traits to pass on to the next generation. Each generation thereafter will be stronger to support and maintain a heterosexual monogamous marriage and may possibly boost the marriage success rate past 50%. These are the genes fighting the good fight for heterosexual monogamous marriage.

Meet Me Halfway

Directed Freewrite p. 246

     Early on in my marriage I felt the communication gap. Truthfully, it was more like an abyss. We stepped in and never got out. My conversational expectations during marriage and after fail to meet with my male counterpart, and I am sure I fail to meet his. We no longer conflict about our marriage, since it is over; but we still have not taken Tannen’s ideas and put them to practice. Hence, the conflict!

     One Sunday evening “he” dropped the girls back off to me, in his customarily silent way. As Tannen so eloquently puts it, he was “free to remain silent” (Tannen 244). I notice the youngest has a bandage wrapped around her hand as I am kissing her hello and the door is closing. I say ‘Wait’ and I ask him what happened to her hand. He nonchalantly recounts the evenings events with an “oh no big deal” flare that involve smores, fire and a hot coat hanger. The key ingredients for a burnt hand. I add in my listener noise of appropriate uh-huh’s and my probing questions: did you give her any pain medication, how long did you run it under water, what is on it now, how long ago did it happen, did it blister. His physical alignment is typical for a male listener as described by Tannen, especially when he avoids my direct eye contact. And then he is gone.

     Since the “he said” part is unavailable for Tannens recommendations to resolve the conflict, I have used Tannens ideas to instead, explain the conflict. But this is only the “she said” perspective. Tannen’s  theory that “male-female conversation is seen as cross-cultural communication” is the best analogy yet. The author’s research rings true to real life male-female

communications. The ability to recognize our communication differences and accept these differences as a unique culture may prove fruitful to the insitution of marriage. Now if we can only get the men off Mars and the women off Venus and back to Earth to communicate using the “solutions without blaming either party” (Tannen 244).

Week 6 Blog Reviews

Mary Bak

The Changing Face of Family

Hello Mary! What an interesting perspective you lend, relating economic gain to family structure. You have a great idea that could have been expanded on and possibly tied in the technology side. You started out with a thought provoking question: “I wonder if this would have been the case back in the 1920's??” The quote you used from the reading was also a strong supporter of your idea. Be sure to write more in the future so you can get full credit for your writing. The syllabus states that the requirement is a minimum of three long paragraphs. I look forward to more of your writing.

Week 6 Movie

9 to 5 (1980) – What a great movie to pick! Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin were a great “Wild Women” cast to write about. Keep in mind the internet is a great resource to help remember details like cast member names- details like names and facts could have made your writing stronger for this piece. There were definitely troubling, or inspiring, societal ideals 

that are perpetuated by the filmmakers’ use of the characters : sexual harassment, stereotypical work hierarchy which finally leads to empowerment and change. I would love to see you go deeper and write more. You have great ideas, go with them.

Jessica Chee

Directed Freewrite-Emergence

Hello Jessica! Your blog is easy to read. The first paragraph is strong way to summarize D’Emilio’s essay and tie it into your thesis. Paragraph 3 had a great transition question : But what does this have to do with gay and lesbian emergence? Because that is exactly what I was thinking right then and there while reading your blog. You seemed to have thought out your statements, they are descriptive and include many examples. I enjoyed your presumptions relating family life to technology. Your last paragraph tied your writing back to the beginning regarding identities and why they are emerging. Grammatically: One spelling item-line 5-patterns; Business meeting(s) in paragraph 4.

Week 6 Movie

Sorry you were sick! I appreciate the blog note.

Screen Time and Family Time

Directed Freewrite Pg. 236

     The most significant nuclear family change that resulted after the introduction of Capitalism, was the availability of time that the family unit had to enjoy. The members of a family had time to socialize once they were no longer tied to “the household family based economy” on the farm (D’Emilio 228). Presently, computer technology has resulted in another social change for family life.

Computers are information machines. Computers are a means for individuals to accomplish an endless list of duties in our lives. It is entertaining, assisting in communication, informing, educating, and socializing. It can even babysit by doing any one from the aforementioned list. The computer and family life equation presents its negatives and positives.

     Computers have created a definite shift in our social lives as members of a family. As a college student, the majority of my education takes place on the screen. This “screen time” encompasses hours of my day. I am online daily: checking email, logging on to Blackboard, researching assignments in online databases, writing papers in Word, taking notes in class, etc. I also socialize on the internet. I keep in contact with friends near and far via Facebook and e-mail. My computer helps me plan my social calendar so I can spend with friends and family. I am also a divorced mother. I maximize my social contact with my children by using SKYPE, a telephone and video calling service on line, when they are with their dad. This visual type of on line contact is more personal for young kids, especially if you’ve tried to hold phone conversations with a 4 or 5 year old. I am “connected” through all aspects of my life.

     Regardless of all the ways “screen time” has enhanced my life, it can be a negative experience. The computer is another member of my family. Not in the sense it is coming to the next Connolly Family Reunion, but in the respect that it engages and interacts with my children and gives them information. “Screen time” is time based for my children in my household. There are rules to follow because of the social implications to a child. I have an internet filter that blocks certain website access. I also have a list of websites they can go to. Currently, they are not old enough to have email access or chat access. This type of socialization opens my household up to possible danger. These rules exist to protect my family from the negative social situations that can occur with computer access. All our screens are turned off for meal time. This helps us pay more attention to each other and have more face time and take advantage of all the free time that capitalism has lent to us.

The Hangover

The Hangover

A rite of passage from singlehood to couplehood is the bachelor party. The Hangover takes us on the quintessential road trip to Vegas to celebrate Doug’s commitment to his future marriage. The movie starts with four men coming together for Doug’s pre-wedding celebration. Doug is the very willing groom who loves his bride-to-be. He is also a kiss up to his future father-in-law, wanting acceptance into his new family. Phil is the stereotypical good time friend with common sense but a flair for risky fun. Stu, is the nice but uptight, extreme voice of reason. He is submissive to his girlfriend, who gives him such a hard time about going on a road trip that he lies about his destination. Alan, the future brother-in-law, who is slightly mentally off and has feminine qualities. These qualities provide comic relief. Alan is the one character that defies our definition of totally male. He exhibits some feminine traits like carrying a ‘satchel’, sharing his feelings, and taking on the responsibility of the baby they have acquired.

After a short toast, time advances to the next morning where our four friends find themselves awakening after a night of drinking and chaos. None of them can remember the events of the past 12 hours or the whereabouts of their groom, Doug! The rest of the movie unfolds as we put the pieces of the puzzle together to find Doug in time for the wedding. The audience experiences the assembly of pieces just as Phil, Stu and Alan do.

This is the ever dreaded trip for a bride. But the most anticipated trip for the groom and his groomsmen. “Cultures play a huge role in how the activities and characteristics ascribed to men and women are defined…and these definitions are subject to change” (Beedles and Petracca, 203). Even the Las Vegas tourism website has coined the jingle “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” emphasizing the fact that the culture we live in supports our stereotypical traditions. In a frantic moment after finding out he is married during the blackout period, Stu rants that all the evidence must be torched, “all evidence that this night never happened” (The Hangover).

Beedles, Bonnie and Petracca, Michael. Academic Communities/Disciplinary Conventions. “Gender and    Sexuality”. Upper Saddle River : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001.

The Hangover. Dir. Todd Phillips. With Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha. Warner Brothers, 2009.

WEEK 4 BLOG REVIEWS

WEEK 4 BLOG REVIEWS 9/7 & 9/9

Sandra Barocio – no posts to review.

Amara Villa-Rodriguez

9/9 The Little Deer :  In paragraph 3, a comma after “To me” would help break up this sentence. The objective portion of your painting description is very clear and concise. You kept a descriptive voice without adding any interpretation into this part of the painting. For the last paragraph, your interpretation of the impressionistic description of the Little Deer was very insightful and creative. You wrote in a logical order and gave a real sense of how this painting was meaningful and symbolized Frida Kahlo’s life. I enjoyed reading your post!

9/7 Conscious Machines?

In paragraph 2, add a comma after calculations to help emphasize the last part of your sentence: ”If the computer makes its move based on one of these calculations, is it really thinking?” The robot example that recoils against heat was a great point supporting the theory that machines do not have consciousness. I thought the sentence “The robot still felt no pain and no emotion to burning its hand“ was a great way to end the paragraph and give the reader a specific example of what kind of consciousness is lacking in the machines. You wrote a thorough summary of Wright’s essay.

Ricky Kriebel

9/9 The Bus

The objective description of The Bus is very specific and full of details. You are right on in your description. The impressionistic description was also very well written with the amount of detail and interpretation you used to describe The Bus. As soon as I saw your post called The Bus, it called to mind the terrible accident Frida was in. I think you may be right that she was definitely trying to represent different ethnicities in her painting of The Bus. Keep in mind about doing a spelling and grammar check before you post. There are a few verbs and articles missing in some of your sentences. Example: Next to her is a little boy or In the man’s right­­­­­­­­­­ hand is a bag.

9/7 Do You Think a Machine Can Think?

I really liked your introduction, it told me the topic I should expect from your essay.

Each paragraph explained an example that supported your main idea of “Do You Think a Machine Can Think?” In the chess example, you may have wanted to mention who Kasparov was in the chess world, in case your reader did not know. You summarized the opinions of Chalmers, Bennett, and Ryle very well and concisely. This paragraph is strong with examples. You may have wanted to conclude your essay with a few more sentences for your last paragraph to explain the rebuttal. I think this essay was one of your best and you were able to summarize Wright’s article very well!

My Impressions of The Dream

The Dream (1940): Objective Description

Frida Kahlo is laying in a medium brown wood 4 poster-canopy-bed on white sheets, covered by a yellow bedspread. The yellow bedspread is overlaid with a twisting vine with dark green leaves. Frida’s head is laying atop 2 white pillows. She is on her left side and her eyes are closed with her long black hair untied. She is wearing a white colored top. A white skeleton like figure lay above her on top of the flat, medium-brown, rectangular canopy bed. The skeleton like figure is laying on its side with its skull like head resting on 2 piled white pillows. The skeleton like figure is holding a bouquet of pale pink and purple flowers with light green leaves with its left hand. The skeleton like figure is intertwined with white wires connecting light gold-brown cylinders that travel up each leg and to the arms. The skeleton like figure holds a straw-like stick between its inner ankles. The full left bedside view is revealed as it is suspended in the clouds with small breaks of light to medium sky showing.

The Dream (1940): Impressionistic Description

When I gaze at The Dream, I think of Frida painting about what haunts her. Although she paints herself looking serene, peaceful and unknowing of events to come. Sleeping may be the only peace Frida gets in her life during the 1940 time period of the painting. There are certain events in Frida’s life that haunt her: her sister’s betrayal, Diego, her physical condition, not being able to carry a child. The dream is representing death and life. The skeleton is a rigid and terrifying symbol of death, that seems to have a comical expression on its face. The vines are life. The blanket vines creep up around her slowly as if they are going to swallow her up and strangle her. The wires on the skeleton show how binding her disability and health problems have been. Frida’s health issues have consumed her with the thoughts of death. The skeleton is waiting patiently and alert on pillows, with flowers in hand. It is as if the skeleton is celebrating death, which is a custom in Mexico. The skeleton may also be wired with dynamite or fireworks to get ready to celebrate Frida’s death with a big loud send off. Or will Frida’s death be as peaceful as her sleep?  The clouds make this scene look calm and remind me of a vision of what heaven should look like. Frida is floating in the clouds because death is still a dream state, not a reality yet. 

Kahlo, Frida. The Dream. 1940. Private Collection. Frida Kahlo Foundation : The Complete Works. Web 9 Sept. 2010. <http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/The-Dream.html>.

Are We Extinct?

9/7/10 p165 “Philosophy Unit Writing Assignments” #1

     In Robert Wrights essay entitled “Can Machines Think? Maybe So, As Deep Blue’s Chess Prowess Suggests”, he makes us think about who we are as humans. Specifically, what sets us apart from the computer? Are we defined by what a computer can do better than us, the humans? Here lies our “identity crisis that computers have induced in our species” and our definition of what it means to be human (Wright 140).

     If being ‘smart’ is what makes us human, then move over Albert Einstein because today’s computer can beat a former world chess champion. If being able to ‘think’ is what makes us human, then watch out because during a ‘blind think test’ to determine if it is Coke (the computer) or Pepsi (the human) who is answering the questions correctly, Coke has been found to be a favorite some of the time. And if ‘face recognition’ is what makes us human, then break out the cigars, because we all may have an added member to our immediate family-Picasa, a photo software that recognizes faces once tagged initially.

     But don’t fret, we humans will not be obsolete yet, we still have many redeeming qualities that have remained a mystery to scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Qualities that have yet to be instilled into the machine. Qualities that make us “human”. These qualities include but are not limited to subjective experience, common sense, and feelings. We may not have the human capacity to maintain a second by second account of our lives in our memories, but we are able to laugh at a joke, make small talk, and evoke emotions when we see the faces of our loved ones.

    So this is where we leave the great thinkers of Artificial Intelligence in our time. We leave them with non-human thinking machines without the human quality, consciousness. In the future, 100 years from now, maybe scientists and philosophers will be able to explain the consciousness that exists in us and apply it to a thinking machine. And it will be able to do all that we do. But will the “crisis” be over…?

Week 3 Blog Reviews---

Ricky Kriebel

8/31 Your posting is an appropriate length, not too short or too long to read. In paragraph 2, “I think these things…”  and “Our minds develop them…” could be more descript if you actually use the words to describe “things” and “them”. I think you are still on “thoughts” but I am unsure. In the last paragraph, I really like the supportive detail of using the typewriter-computer example and the wheel example to fully explain the concept of “idea”. Your posting could be stronger if you used an example that is tangible for thought and idea in the beginning paragraph, like you did in the last paragraph. The order chosen to use the words “idea” and “thought” were not consistent for me to follow. It seemed idea was talked about, then thought, then back to idea, which hindered the flow.

9/2 In paragraph 1, you opened with Minsky’s view and then in paragraph 2, you have a strong opinion and supportive evidence about why you agree with Minsky and his theory. You may want to look out for agreement of nouns and verbs in a couple sentences “A human can look up how to do it themselves” and “human can figure it out by themselves“ in paragraph 2 or possibly make the compound sentence into 2 single sentences to help with the flow.

Sandra Barocio – no posts for 8/31 or 9/2

Amara Villa-Rodriguez

8/31 Your use of quotes to support your ideas flows smoothly in your posting about consciousness. The leading question at the end of your first paragraph is attention getting for the reader “The problem is, what does this physical response mean to our subjective thought?”  I like the way you formatted the posting, it makes it easy to read. I did not find any grammar/spelling errors.

9/2 Your posting is concise and to the point. I like how you start with Minsky’s view and support it. And then you end with your own opinion. The last paragraph was a nice summary of why machines do not compare to humans. The only sentence I felt was awkward to read was in paragraph 3 “I believe that machines do comprise of certain heightened aspects of consciousness,…” I am wondering if are comprised is what you were meaning?

Do you want to Super Size that? P.136 Class Discussion #2

     Rodney Brooks  is helping pave the way in the study of artificial intelligence, AI. I like to call him a robot maker. He is a robot maker who believes in the bottom up approach to AI. The robots he will make will have  “to learn to crawl before they  learn to think.” (Dery 125)

     Brooks’ belief that small size is an advantage comes from the life he lives and breathes in and “his realization that in the natural world, small size and smaller brainpower aren’t necessarily barriers to evolutionary success.” (Dery 128) Brooks could see this in the termite and the bee, two organic life forms who follow simple rules to achieve complex results, the basis for his insect-like robots. Brooks and colleagues have also developed artificial life-forms like the Squirt the cockroach robot, Genghis who targets human prey, and Attila who is a spider-like robot. These insect-like robots use sensory information to navigate their surroundings. One of Brooks’ robots could fit in your pocket, is named Squirt, and acts like a cockroach. Brooks does not want to follow American fast food culture and Super Size it, he wants to keep it small. And for good reason. Brooks recounts the reasons for keeping it small. The reasons are personal, financial, and functional.

     AI is in its infancy if the actual goal is to have a human-like robot who thinks and possesses consciousness. This is one of the reasons Brooks chooses “small”. The technology and research is so far off, he wants to be able to see his own concepts come to fruition. The second reason revolves around  money. If the robot project is small in size, it will be less expensive then a larger robot. And consequently, it will be cheaper to make and can be mass-produced. The money overlaps into the functionality of the robot. Brooks has a vision for his Gnat robot. In an essay he authored, called “Twilight Zones and Cornerstones: A Gnat robot double Feature”, the small in size Gnat robots would assist in medical procedures that “unclog arteries, mend severed neurons or crawl across eyeball to perform retinal surgery” and the gnats would also be able to assist with household chores like cutting grass and painting your house. (Dery 128) The future looks bright for Brooks, even if it “small”. I look forward to trading in my iRobot Roomba vacuum for a couple dozen gnats!