Barnga Blog

1. Confusion
2. I expected all the rules to be the same and everyone to get along and understand exactly what we were playing. I was expecting less confusion on the part of people coming from new tables.
3. When Mason tried signing to me that the diamond he played was trump, but it wasn't at my table.
4. I took over controlling who the cards went to since I knew what cards were best and I pushed the cards at them.
5. Made it worse since we couldn't communicate our differences in words.
6. Yes. Because communicating with people of other countries and other cultures is as difficult as that game was for us. You can't communicate verbally and so the differences get frustrating.
7. Maybe not absolutely necessary, but if we had them it would probably bring about peace, I'm almost 100% sure of it.
8. That we all have our differences in cultures and we need to understand that. Listen to others and trust them and what they try and tell us.

Sociological Mindfulness

I thought the video was eye-opening. I think that guy did a very good job trying to get everyone who watched to be even a little bit empathetic and mindful. It was very smart on his part to first make up a scenario where America is the weaker country because everyone in the crowd would know what that feels like. Then the crowd could empathize a little more closely with the Iraqi civilians. The biggest thing I picked up from this video, I realized how distorted our views of other countries probably are. I realize that we are probably being lied to, but I didn't realize how much until I saw the other point of view. You had told us that it was radical (and it was) and might make us angry, but I didn't feel that. His speaking made me think and got my mind going about a million miles an hour thinking of what I've missed or what I have thought or said of others in my life by not doing this.

As for sociological mindfulness in my own life, I can't lie and say I do it often enough and empathize with others. However, I sometimes have been able to do empathize and be sociologically mindful when someone hurts me or does something that is questionable. My hope is that if I put myself in their shoes I will understand why they hurt me or why they do the weird things that they do. I am definitely going to be more sociologically mindful and empathetic from now on. My hope is that I will get angry less at others because I will understand them better.

Finally, finishing the statement. I see myself fitting into the big picture of society as a thinker, an analyzer. Without people who analyze, our society would be much more whimsical. More people would do without thinking, the world would be run much more on a whim. It is the thinkers and analyzers that keep the happy-go-lucky people grounded more, keep the world more stable.

Blog 2: Freaks and Geeks

1. What are the groups and what functions do they serve? Are there negative influences from any of the groups (dysfunctions)? This is functional theory. It was developed by Emile Durkheim.    The freaks and the geeks. The freaks are the group that could be classified as "rebellious", and they are the bullies of the school. The geeks are the smart ones who follow all the rules and just try not to get hurt. They are the weaker group. The freaks influence many other kids to be like them and do things like cut class and smoke and bad things. 

2. Who has power in the episode? How or why do they have power? How do they use it? This is conflict theory. It was first developed by Karl Marx. One group that has power is the freaks over Lindsay. They have it because she wants to fit in with them and be "cool" so bad. They use it to get her to skip the dance and come with them. The other person with a lot of power is Alan over the geeks. They are so afraid of him beating them up that they have given him power. He uses it to constantly scare them and make them afraid of being near him.

3. What are the important symbols in the episode? Note that the symbols might be an object, but also might be an idea, an event or something else. How do the characters act based on the symbols they find important? This is symbolic interactionism. You can connect it to Max Weber. The biggest symbol is Nick's drumset in his garage that he showed to Lindsay. It represents his happy place, what he actually wants to try at. He acts so excited and happy about it because he loves drumming.

4. Can you relate any of these theories to your own life? How can the things you do be interpreted through one of these theories? For example why do you wear what you wear or why are you going to college or why do you stress yourself out to get "good" grades? Yes. I can see the conflict theory as it works through high school. Some older kids are seen as role models and I can see how younger students will try their hardest to be just like them, no matter what they do.