What I've Learned

    If I had to name something that I learned in this class, I'd say it's something not exactly concrete- the ability to to think about the position you're making. There were a lot of times in the class where we'd be discussing something, someone would argue their position, and the professor would turn the discussion around and get the person thinking about why they felt that way or why they didn't logically consider a different opinion.
   Like, for example, when we were discussing the presidential candidates and if they followed Laotsu or Confucius' teachings. People said they liked their candidate because of the values they held, but most people didn't think that much about if the candidate had the actual leadership skills to be the president. It made me realize that you have to consider more than just a person's views when choosing who to vote for.
I really enjoyed this class and getting to discuss all this stuff in class with everyone. I'm going to miss it, since I'm probably not going to have any classes as interesting as this outside of my major classes. It's been fun, and I hope everyone enjoys the holidays.
-Sierra

Doc 3

    I'm glad I wasn't the only one having issues with Doc 3. Not that I want anyone else to do poorly, but it makes me feel like less of an idiot when I'm not the only one feeling a little overwhelmed or stressed out. When I was reading Dante's post, for example, I could strongly relate. I chose a subject that wasn't very easy to understand the first way through, either. Thankfully, some of the sources I used helped me to understand part of what was going on in the text.
    And like Krystyna said in her post, what made me stay focused was that looming deadline. I wanted to at least have something readable by the deadline. My main issue was just trying not to get distracted, though, rather than real life events interrupting my writing. That and finding sources.
   But there was also balancing the work for this class with the work for my other classes, which was something Kimberly noted as an issue. Whenever you're dealing with one difficult assignment is always when your other classes decide to assign their own difficult work. Seriously, it's like the professors conspire behind our backs just to make us all more stressed.
  In the end, I probably did terribly, but for the moment, I don't even want to think about it. I just want to enjoy what little free time there is before classes resume.

Other Perspectives

    I've said my piece on the presidential candidates, but it's interesting to see what everyone else thinks. While some people (including me, I suppose) think Ben Carson appears to have the best ethical standards of the presidential candidates, not everyone agrees. Krystyna Owings made a good blog post talking about why she disagreed. Her point seemed to be that although he appears as more virtuous than some of the other candidates, he may not be. She said, "Although Dr. Carson may seem like a ethical candidate on the surface, I have to wonder if we need to dig deeper to find out his truths."
   On the other side of the matter, Dante Hancock made an equally good blog post discussing why he thought Dr. Carson had the best set of ethical standards. He saw Dr. Carson's experience in surgery and his humble appearance as why Dr. Carson has better ethical standards. Dante specifically said that, during the Republican debate, "Even though he was yelled at over and over again, Carson remained humble and quiet."
   It's nice to see that everyone has different opinions on this whole topic. I might not be as into politics as most people, but they say diversity is the spice of life. Getting to hear everyone's opinions and comparing them is part of what makes this class fun and it helps me see some of the concepts we learn in a different light.

Presidential Candidates

I'm going to admit, before I really get into anything, that I don't really follow politics. That also includes the presidential race. It's not that I don't think it's important, but for me, I don't really think any of the candidates are that great and I'm already a bit tired of the campaign ads and such.
That said, if I had to say which one of them seemed to have the most firm ethical standards, it seems like Carson. He seems pretty in touch with his own personal code of ethics.
On the other end of the spectrum, the candidate with the most relativistic and situational ethics to me seems like Trump. Right now, a lot of people have disdain for him because of how harsh and eccentric he is. But, Machiavelli says in The Prince that, '...in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits.' It could be that Trump will mellow out if he is elected, and the people will mostly forget about his present actions. And, people also consider his remarks on immigration to sound exceptionally cruel and fear what legislation he might enact while in office, but Machiavelli also says '...it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.' And, not to sound rude, but it's hard for me to see Trump as being loved, considering the current backlash against his campaign.
It's hard to say which kind of ethics is better for a president. On the one hand, people want a president to act ethically, but on the other hand, a president should be a strong leader, and some would say that a strong president would do what is needed, even ignoring the law in doing so. But I think I'd rather have a president who didn't have more situational ethics because I'd be worried that he/she would be more of a dictator than a president.

The New Testament and 2015

   People sometimes say that they don't think that the Bible is applicable to modern day life, but I disagree. I'll give an example to try and show my point. In the New Testament is the story of the Good Samaritan. It's one of the more well-known parables, but I'll put it here anyway, just in case.

"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?"
He said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

As you've probably heard before, the message gained from this parable is to treat others with kindness, as if they were your neighbor, even if they're someone you dislike. It's a message that fits even now, with modern society, because not enough people treat each other so kindly. Of course, that's always going to be a problem, but that's why this is still a good message.

The Qur'an and the New Testament

   One thing I was surprised to learn while reading those bits of the Qur'an and the New Testament was that the Qur'an actually has Jesus in it. Although the Islamic version of Jesus isn't considered the son of God in Islam, outside of that, he's pretty similar in the Qur'an to the New Testament Jesus. Jesus is born to the virgin Mary just like he was in the Bible. He heals the sick and brings Lazarus back to life just like in the Bible.
  But there are two big differences (besides the not being God's son part). First, rather than being born in a manger in a stable, Jesus is born in the middle of the desert and Mary brings him back to the town's temple, where he speaks to prove that Mary was blessed by Allah. And rather than Jesus dying on the cross as in the New Testament, the Qur'an says that Jesus instead rose to heaven to be with Allah, while the people on Earth believed he'd been crucified. This is what the Qur'an specifically says on the matter:
"That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;"
  Interesting, right? I'd always heard Christianity, Islam, and Judaism were very similar, but I never really thought Jesus was in the Qur'an. I guess next I'll have to see if Judaism has a different interpretation of Jesus.

Presidential Candidates and Confucian Teachings

   I don't know if you could say that any of the presidential candidates really lives up to Confucius' teachings. Just going by the 'think no evil' thing that he said, they've all probably thought something evil at some point in time. But I haven't been following the news about the presidential race as of late, so all I know is that Trump's been saying things that pissed a bunch of people off.
   But back the them and Confucius' teachings- he stated in the Analects, "Do not do to others what you would not like done to yourself." And judging from previous presidential campaigns, I have a feeling that none of the current candidates are following that idea, either. It's a bit sad, because Confucius' teachings seem pretty reasonable to me- be respectful to others, think before you speak, exercise self-discipline, yet I don't think a lot of people would really live up to them (me included). I guess we let ourselves get caught up in our daily lives and relationships, and don't think enough about the way we act.
  I know I've said this before, that the following statement will sound naive and childish (and it most likely is), but I wish people in politics realized that it's better to at least pretend you like the people running against you, because when you treat other people badly, everyone's going to see it and dislike you for it.

Souls

   Souls are eternal.
   At least that's what I think. Granted, I haven't been to church in years, so mine is probably headed right for you-know-where, but I think I'd rather think that what we are doesn't just fizzle into nothingness once we reach the end of the road, because then life would seem a bit pointless. We're born as these wildly different creatures from anything else on the planet and then everything that makes us the person we are just stops existing as quickly as we were born. It's pretty sad when you think about it. So, I'd like to think that what makes us... us lives on in some way, I suppose. Best case scenario, people's souls just get recycled or something and everyone gets unlimited tries at different lives or something like that.
   I dunno, I've never really given much thought to it until now, if that wasn't immediately obvious.

The Justness of War

   I'm not really a big fan of the idea of war.
   A bunch of people killing each other because of previous killings or political disagreements or other things that are way too complex for my tiny brain to comprehend doesn't make sense to me.
When it comes to the whole Syrian war, I feel a bit mixed, though. See, I'm a simple girl. I like to have simple solutions for things. If there was a way to just go over there, help all the people that need help, and instantly fix the country to make everyone get along and work together, I'd say we should just do that. But, sadly, it's never that simple. And I'm sure our involvement has all kinds of ulterior motives to it that are not completely altruistic. So, in terms of justness, I don't think we're justified in going over there.
   And man, I know this is going to sound really naive and silly, but I really wish everyone could just get along. But people are people, and even if there were only two people left on Earth, they probably wouldn't get along.

Another Kind of Change

   Imagine waking up on a lazy Saturday. Half-asleep, you hop off your bed and onto your feet, stretching your arms and letting out a big yawn. You shamble to the bathroom, and turn on the light as you always do, when you finally look into the mirror and see an unfamiliar face staring back at you. You don't know how or why, but you realize you've been turned into a person of the opposite gender.
   Personally, I can't imagine what I'd do if something like that happened to me. I guess if it was permanent, I'd have to throw out all my clothes. And I'd have to get rid of my jewelry or give it away. That'd be a pain in the rear. On the bright side, though, I'd probably be taller, since most guys are taller than the average woman. And guys have nice looking clothes, too. I wouldn't mind wearing suits, since I've always thought guys' suits look better than ladies' suits.
   On the other hand, though, I'm kind of a cry-baby, and I get way too emotional about little problems, so I'd probably get ridiculed for having traits like that that would make me seem more feminine. You don't think about it, but guys pretty much have to stay composed at all times or risk having people call them weak or not a real man.
   Now that I think about it, guys have it pretty rough. But I'll say one thing I wouldn't miss would be Aunt Flo coming to visit, if you know what I mean. At least if I was a guy, I wouldn't have to deal with that!

Changes

   The biggest change I've gone through in recent years is moving down here to Georgia. Before I lived in Warner Robins, I lived all the way up in Nebraska, in a town of barely more than 600 people. Living up there, my family had to go to the next town over to get groceries and my graduating class was about 30 people. I'd started my first year of college at a school up there, but my family moved down here to be closer to my mom's extended family, so I decided to move down here as well.
   It was a huge change because I left a lot of my friends from high school behind and the weather down here is so different- in Nebraska, the summers are hot and the winters are freezing, while here, the summers feel like you're living in an oven and the winters are extremely mild. And when it does snow here, no one seems to know how to handle it, which kind of makes me laugh a little. And it made me anxious to be somewhere where I didn't really know anyone or where anything was. I had gotten used to everyone in town knowing each other and while that got weird sometimes, it made you also feel a little bit at home.
   I'll say that I do like it down here since there's a lot more to do. There's actually a grocery store in town, and a movie theater, plus the internet isn't terrible! I don't know how I survived before. And I'm getting to know a ton of my extended family members who are mostly crazy and weird, but still interesting to talk to. So that's also a plus... kind of.

How People Deal With Tragedy

   Over the last year or so, there have been many tragedies to befall the country. Innocent people getting killed by police, police getting killed by people angry at the police, riots, shootings, etc. And just looking at these events, you see how people deal with tragedy in different ways.
   Take the shootings that have been committed by police. Some people chose to show their grief and sadness by peacefully protesting or expressing themselves through art, music, and writing. Other people let their grief lead to anger, and commit equally heinous acts of violence in revenge. And other people get together and remember the people who were killed so that those people can live on in memory. And I'm sure there are countless more ways that people react and grieve. And there are some people who don't at all, instead holding in their feelings (or not having any feelings about these incidents at all).
   When a tragedy happens, while most feel sad about it, everyone reacts to it in a different way and it shows how diverse our country is and how deeply these things can affect us. And just like the numerous other tragedies that have happened in the past, these current ones will pass, although we will remember them and discuss them for years to come.

Tragedy

    In my personal life, I haven't really experienced much tragedy. I've read about it, but aside from that and having some family members die, it hasn't affected me as much as it might affect other people. The closest thing I can think of is a family friend dying a few months ago. He had been diagnosed with cancer in the past, but it had seemed like he beat it until it resurfaced and slowly ate away at him and he passed away. I was upset, but my mother, who'd been really close to them, was completely broken by it. Even now, sometimes, I catch her crying a bit because of it. She'll start telling me a story about him and how funny he was, or something nice he did, and just start tearing up. And that makes me feel even worse because I didn't really know that person all that well and I didn't feel nearly as bad as my mother did.
    But I think that's just how I am. Even when my grandparents died, I didn't cry for very long, and not because I wasn't upset, but I just couldn't cry anymore tears. Even worse is that I cry about everything else- failing tests, getting a speeding ticket, homework... Man, that sounds depressing just reading it! And maybe that's a kind of tragedy in itself- a person not being able to cry in sad situations no matter how hard they try. But that's nowhere near as bad as what we've read already. At least I didn't kill one of my parents and marry the other and then stab myself in the eyes after learning what I'd done. Now that would be really tragic.

Modern Heroes

   So, in my last post, I said I think the heroes of the past upheld the values of their cultures. But that hasn't changed very much in the hundreds of years since those heroic tales were written. Modern heroic characters do the same thing for the cultures of modern countries. Superman stands for truth, justice, and the American way- and although he was made in the 50s, he still represents the values of the modern era. And going back to Gilgamesh, it's interesting to compare him to a more current hero like Supes.
   Rather than doing as he pleases, Superman (despite being pretty much the most powerful person in his fictional universe) obeys the law as best he can, sticks with one woman rather than all of them, and pretty much stays in Metropolis to make sure nothing happens to the city. But as different as Gilgamesh and Supes are from each other, there's one thing they both do in their stories- fighting great threats like monsters and gods. I suppose that just shows that there are some concepts that will always be pretty entertaining.
  And in the end, both of them are heroes- just different ones for different times. Thinking about it, it makes me wonder what kind of heroes the future will bring? I wonder how different they'll be from ancient heroes and current ones? I guess we'll have to see, right?

Ancient Heroes

   What ancient heroes did for the civilizations of the past was to give them an ideal for the citizens of those civilizations to follow. Ancient heroes upheld the standards that the people saw as desirable, which is why the heroes of the past may not seem as heroic to people in the modern day.
    For example, look at Gilgamesh. He sleeps with as many women as he pleases, leaves the city he rules to fight monsters, and goes on a long quest to become immortal, leaving his city with no leader while he's gone. Yet, despite what we might think now, in that time and place, Gilgamesh was considered to be a hero.
    I think part of it is also that making a hero with flaws like Gilgamesh just makes for a more interesting story. No one wants to read about a hero who is completely perfect. But I'm not an expert on this, so I could be wrong.

What Makes a Hero

   This is going to sound like something out of a elementary school essay, but I think that a hero is anyone who is selfless and helps others, even in tough situations. Some people think that just because someone is famous, that makes them heroic, but there's more to it than that. In my personal definition, a heroic person helps someone when no one else would. They give up their time, their money, even their lives to help someone else.
    In thinking about being a hero, it makes me wonder, would I be brave enough to do something heroic? I imagine a situation in which another person's life is in danger and by saving them, I could endanger my own. Would I really be brave enough to save them, even if there was a chance I may be injured or possibly killed? It's sad for me to admit, but I don't know. I'd like to say I would, but until a situation like that actually arises, I can't say. And despite it being pretty selfish, I can understand a person being so scared that they'd rather run than risk hurting themselves. But what about you guys? Would you go straight for self-preservation, or try to help someone else in need?

Project Evaluation

     Our group evaluated Jordan, Aubrey, and Dalton's creation story presentation. Overall, I thought it was good. Whoever did the writing on it did a great job. It's very descriptive and really paints a picture in your mind of what's going on in the story, like the process of the Earth's creation by one of the gods. And they did a good job of understanding what makes a creation story, especially an entertaining one. I like that it's not too long or short, either- it's just the right length that makes it easy to read.
     I think they also chose a good medium for their story. Making a slideshow is a simple way of presenting what they've got to everyone. I will say I think it's a bit plain looking, but it seems like there's space on the slides for images, so that and maybe a change of background color will solve that problem. Other than that, I can't think of much else to say about it. It's a little rough, but after they add onto it, I think it'll be a great presentation.

Erotic Literature

     There's a thought that's been on my mind for a little while now and it's something that's been bugging me a bit. When it comes to erotic literature, why is it you don't hear as many people complaining about it compared to other lewd media? I can remember countless times when people I know have complained about adult TV shows, sexy characters in games, or explicit songs on the radio, but you don't really hear about raunchy books, aside from stuff like 50 Shades of Grey, and that happened to get ultra popular and get a movie, so that's a special case.
     Is it because books aren't a visual kind of media? But if that's the case, then why do so many people criticize songs for their lyrics? Songs aren't visual, either.
    The closest thing I've heard to complaints are people making jokes about the covers of romance novels, but that's not really talking about the content of the book, just the art used to advertise it.
   Maybe it's just that not very many people read for fun these days, and it's hard to care about the content of a medium you don't experience yourself.
  What does everyone else think? If anyone else has a better idea, post a comment.

Thoughts on Eroticism

     The discussion we had in class the other day kind of opened my eyes to what can be considered erotic, but I'm still not sure on what I think eroticism actually means. I guess, at the moment, I'd say it's more of a mental state of mind where someone feels attracted to a person, thing, or concept. That attraction can be to things traditionally seen as erotic, or things most would find completely unattractive or mundane. So, some people are into the whole chains and whips kind of thing while other people are into even stranger things than that.
     It feels weird even discussing this kind of thing, though, even online. It's a subject that's pretty sensitive to people and I'm sure a lot of people would rather no one talk about it at all. But as weird as it is to talk about, I think it's good to talk about so people can understand more about sex and eroticism and not feel so embarrassed about it. The less embarrassed you are about sex, the easier it is to talk with your partner about when you have issues in the bedroom (or at least, that's what I think).

Coming Up With a Creation Story

     Last week, we were given the assignment of breaking the class into groups and coming up with our own creation stories together. And though we haven't been working on it for that long, I have to say, it's an interesting assignment.
     There's a lot to consider when it comes to a creation story. Will there be one god or a pantheon of gods or goddesses? Will there be evil gods that oppose the other gods? How will humans be created? Or will the story be grounded more in science and ignore the fantastic? In my group, we've decided to go for a fantastic tale about a group of goddesses who create the world together.
     But, even though we've decided some of the elements of our story, there's also the matter of what medium to use. I won't say what we're considering, but I will say it's not a spreadsheet. I don't think any of us know enough about Excel to attempt it.
    I hope someone else tries, though, and I hope all the groups can make their own unique creation stories.

A Greek Creation Myth

     What creation stories do you guys like best? I was thinking about it today, and one of my favourite creation stories has to be one from Greek mythology.
     It all starts out with nothingness as a lot of creation stories do. Suddenly, Gaia (who is the earth in Greek mythology), Erebus (representing darkness), Nyx (representing the night), Tartarus (an abyss where sinners are sent to suffer for eternity), and Eros (who represents love) appear out of the nothingness. Gaia gives birth to Uranus (who is the sky in Greek mythology, and who becomes her husband) and they have twelve kids together- six girls and six guys. Uranus isn't that great a dad, seeing as he throws some of his kids into Tartarus.
     Gaia isn't very happy about this, so she convinces her youngest son, Cronus, to castrate his dear old dad. He does and becomes the king of the gods. Later, Cronus and his wife, Rhea, have their own children, but Cronus is also a pretty bad father. Every time Rhea has a child, he swallows it, because he's afraid one of them will rise up against him the same way he did against Uranus.             
     Eventually, Rhea tricks him into eating a rock and is able to save her child, Zeus, and raise him to adulthood. Zeus gives Cronus a poisoned drink that makes Cronus vomit all of the godly children up and the children go to war against Cronus and his siblings. Zeus and his siblings are victorious and imprison Cronus and his siblings in Tartarus.
     Two of Zeus' sons, Prometheus and Epimetheus, go to Earth. Prometheus creates humanity while Epimetheus creates the animal kingdom. Zeus orders the two brothers to give humanity and the animals gifts, but all of the gifts end up getting given to the animals, leaving the humans with nothing. Prometheus, being a kind creator, steals fire from the other gods and gives it to man as his gift.
     Of course, Zeus is displeased, and punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a mountain and having a bird peck out his liver every day for eternity (or at least until Hercules comes by and saves him). This kind of puts things in perspective for me. I always complained about my dad growing up, but at least he didn't try to eat me or have my liver pecked out by birds.
    This was just a short summary of the Greek creation myth, but if you want to read more, search the internet or go to your local library so you can read this story in better detail.
  

Sources:
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation/the_creation.html
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation_II/the_creation_ii.html
http://dept.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_16.html

Introduction

Hello.

     My name's Sierra Meador and I'm just another student at Middle Georgia College.
I like to read, listen to music, and sleep. But I also like to travel when I can. So far, I've lived in four states and visited many more cities around the eastern side of the country.
If I had to pick a favourite place to have visited, it'd definitely be Denver. I don't really have a concrete reason for picking it- I just like being able to see the mountains from a distance no matter where you are in the city and how Denver has a lot of things to do.

     But, now that I'm in Georgia and can't really visit Denver whenever I want, I'd like to travel the state and maybe change my expectations, since I always thought of Georgia as a somewhat boring state.
I've already been to Atlanta, Savannah, and Augusta, but someday soon, I'd like to go north of Atlanta, since I've heard there's a really beautiful state park up there.
I think, though, that no matter where I travel, it'll give me more perspective on the world around me. And I'm glad to even be able to go different places, since I know not everyone has that chance.