The episode I watched of The Daily Show came out on March 12th, 2015. The episode itself was about New Jersey governor Chris Christie. It talked about how he said that he had excellent negotiating skills, and then went on to talk about how unhelpful he was when there was an oil spill in New Jersey, and his general corruption. He spoke about how we often brush off corruption unless it's outright and obvious. It then talked about the blizzard in New York and the issues that caused.
I believe that The Daily Show is an acceptable way to represent news. Some people may think it devalues it or turns a serious topic a joke, and while there may be a valid argument behind this point, I disagree.
It is useful to make news more palatable for people who don't have the attention span to read more serious articles. There are a variety of reasons why this could be hard for some people. Some people prefer visuals over words (making it hard to read articles in general). Some people have trouble reading due to dyslexia. Some people, like my friend, have ADHD which makes it very hard to pay attention to certain forms of media due to their short attention span. While I personally am able to read news articles that are written in a professional, non comedic tone, I understand that not everyone is the same way.
I would much rather have people receiving their news in some way rather than being left completely in the dark. It comes across as rather elitist to believe otherwise, and it reminds me of people who look down upon others for reading books using a kindle rather than using physical copies. Not everyone has to access information and learn in the same way.
Another reason I think this form of news is positive is because it may inspire people to look into issues further. I've watched The Daily Show with my family before, and sometimes after watching it I would be intrigued by it and research it further, making myself more educated on the subject. If I had never watched the show to begin with, I would have never learned more. Anything that causes a person to become interested in a topic and compels them to learn more about it is positive in my opinion.
To me, there is very few real downsides to giving the world multiple ways to consume media.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Blog Assignment 7 - Unusual Wikipedia Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_and_Brittany_Hensel
I decided to read the wikipedia page about conjoined twins, named Abigail and Brittany Hensel. Simply put, they have two heads and one body. They must coordinate various activities because they both have control of only their side of the body.
For example, they both had to take their driver's exam separately, since they both are involved in the driving process. Now, they are able to drive. One twin controls the devices on the left, and the other on the right. They both control the steering wheel together.
They also have separate personalities, likes, dislikes, and preferences. They are the literal embodiment of the saying, "Two heads are better than one". Is this true? I guess only they can say for sure.
It gets a little more complicated when it talks about their body. The article lists how many of various organs they have. Some notable parts is that they have four lungs, two spines, three kidneys (two left kidneys and one right kidney), and only one ribcage. It gets even more tricky when you consider that they have different heights - Abby being 5'2" and Brittany being 4'10". Obviously, activities that we consider easy or take for granted would be far different for these two.
Although I have a vague memory of hearing about these twins on television earlier in life, perhaps while watching TV with my mom, I did learn a lot. Despite this, I still have many questions that I doubt will be answered, because having two heads and two personalities in one body would naturally be very complex and difficult to navigate.
A wikipedia page can only cover so much information about such a unique topic, especially since some of the details that would intrigue me would be rather private and not the type of information the twins would want to share so publicly, and I respect that. Even though they are interesting to learn about, they still are people with feelings and they deserve their right to not have every aspect of their life in the spotlight, and to choose what to share with the world.
One of my main questions I have, since according to the article they would like to someday date, get married, and have children, is whether they'd date the same person, or different people. Another question I have is if they date the same person, what would happen if one twin wanted to end the relationship and the other wanted to continue it. I suppose that's a bridge they'll cross when they get there.
It is difficult to say whether the information in the article is "useful". While it is certainly fascinating to read about anomalies in the world, it does have little practical use, especially since their situation is so unusual that the chances of it happening again are slim to none.
Despite this, one could argue it is useful to know about various medical conditions in order to be more sympathetic towards those with them, and more educated about the different types of people in the world. That way, when we encounter people like this, we already have some basic information and will come across as a better, more knowledgeable person.
It definitely does warrant a wikipedia page because the information is so far out and abnormal. Other medical conditions have a wikipedia page as well, but in this case, the condition is so rare that it makes sense to have a page on the only known people to have this disorder and live their life in such a way. Despite this, information on them would be relatively easy to find without wikipedia, because they have been on television before, and when it comes to cases that are considered to be "strange", they tends to be a lot of documentation on them. However, the wikipedia page certainly makes it easier to read about them and find information.
I decided to read the wikipedia page about conjoined twins, named Abigail and Brittany Hensel. Simply put, they have two heads and one body. They must coordinate various activities because they both have control of only their side of the body.
For example, they both had to take their driver's exam separately, since they both are involved in the driving process. Now, they are able to drive. One twin controls the devices on the left, and the other on the right. They both control the steering wheel together.
They also have separate personalities, likes, dislikes, and preferences. They are the literal embodiment of the saying, "Two heads are better than one". Is this true? I guess only they can say for sure.
It gets a little more complicated when it talks about their body. The article lists how many of various organs they have. Some notable parts is that they have four lungs, two spines, three kidneys (two left kidneys and one right kidney), and only one ribcage. It gets even more tricky when you consider that they have different heights - Abby being 5'2" and Brittany being 4'10". Obviously, activities that we consider easy or take for granted would be far different for these two.
Although I have a vague memory of hearing about these twins on television earlier in life, perhaps while watching TV with my mom, I did learn a lot. Despite this, I still have many questions that I doubt will be answered, because having two heads and two personalities in one body would naturally be very complex and difficult to navigate.
A wikipedia page can only cover so much information about such a unique topic, especially since some of the details that would intrigue me would be rather private and not the type of information the twins would want to share so publicly, and I respect that. Even though they are interesting to learn about, they still are people with feelings and they deserve their right to not have every aspect of their life in the spotlight, and to choose what to share with the world.
One of my main questions I have, since according to the article they would like to someday date, get married, and have children, is whether they'd date the same person, or different people. Another question I have is if they date the same person, what would happen if one twin wanted to end the relationship and the other wanted to continue it. I suppose that's a bridge they'll cross when they get there.
It is difficult to say whether the information in the article is "useful". While it is certainly fascinating to read about anomalies in the world, it does have little practical use, especially since their situation is so unusual that the chances of it happening again are slim to none.
Despite this, one could argue it is useful to know about various medical conditions in order to be more sympathetic towards those with them, and more educated about the different types of people in the world. That way, when we encounter people like this, we already have some basic information and will come across as a better, more knowledgeable person.
It definitely does warrant a wikipedia page because the information is so far out and abnormal. Other medical conditions have a wikipedia page as well, but in this case, the condition is so rare that it makes sense to have a page on the only known people to have this disorder and live their life in such a way. Despite this, information on them would be relatively easy to find without wikipedia, because they have been on television before, and when it comes to cases that are considered to be "strange", they tends to be a lot of documentation on them. However, the wikipedia page certainly makes it easier to read about them and find information.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Introduction & Reaction To Ponderingprof Blog Post
My name is Abigail, but I go by Abi. I'm 19 years old, and I turn 20 on February 15th. I'm a psychology major and a writing minor. I am very interested in both of those topics; psychology fascinates me and I find writing to be rather enjoyable. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my life yet. People have suggested I go into the research aspect of psychology and possibly be an author on the side, but I'm keeping my options open. In my free time I enjoy browsing the internet, playing video games, and relaxing.
As for my response to the ponderingprof blog post, I'd say the following: I believe social media is an important part of the world today, and that a lot of the critical attitudes towards it are unjustified, especially coming from an older audience who simply aren't used to all the changes the world has brought on. Criticism of social media often comes across as pretentious and unnecessary. At the same time, however, being somewhat skeptical towards it is understandable and perhaps needed.
Social media allows for a lot of damages messages to be spread and for false information to be passed along as if it were real. This can especially be negative for younger teens who may be gullible, easily influenced, and not always capable of critical thinking, and sometimes even their older counterparts.
As for my response to the ponderingprof blog post, I'd say the following: I believe social media is an important part of the world today, and that a lot of the critical attitudes towards it are unjustified, especially coming from an older audience who simply aren't used to all the changes the world has brought on. Criticism of social media often comes across as pretentious and unnecessary. At the same time, however, being somewhat skeptical towards it is understandable and perhaps needed.
Social media allows for a lot of damages messages to be spread and for false information to be passed along as if it were real. This can especially be negative for younger teens who may be gullible, easily influenced, and not always capable of critical thinking, and sometimes even their older counterparts.
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