Elizabeth Dean- Outside Reading Reflection

Upon doing research for my paper, I came across an article on a website about herbology, and different healing practices among Native Americans, anmd nonliterate traditions. I am intrigued by their pracrtices, because their healing practices are soo much cimpler than ours, and ;less complicated but seem to be just as, if not more effective. I think we again, have become overcome with modern technology, and higher education that we lose track of simple, heakling practices that could be present in our lives. Native AMericnas put a big emhpasis on religious healing, and perofrm rituals calling on higher powers to heal the sick. Sometimes, I think if we were to move away from technology and modern medicine we could be just as well off.

Elizabeth Dean - Panic Reflection

Have you ever been hopelessly, miserably lost? I had this experience just yesterday. I unexpectedly found myself driving through D.C. wasting time as I waited to pick up my cousins who were going through the mall. Suddenly, I realized that I had no idea where I was. In my panic, my reason went out the window. I felt as though there was nowhere to stop, mean drivers were honking at me, and I had no idea what to do. To top it all off, my cell phone died as I was trying to get directions. My panic turned to tears -- likely provoked by my lack of sleep during finals week. Finally, I pulled over at some random gas station in Arlington where I used a pay phone and eventually my cousins and sister came to find me in a taxi. What did I learn from this? First, when in a city, four right turns equal a circle and will usually return you to your original location. Second, charge your cell phone. Third, carry change for a pay phone.

Elizabeth Dean - Harry Potter

Ok, so first I'd like to state that one of my favorite things, in regards to Harry Potter, is their accent I can do it perfectly...please approach me and I shall demonstrate. Now on to bigger and deeper topics. The books are wonderful. They are meant for children but can pull even the oldest, intelect into a world that I wish I could visit and be a part of. A world with wizards, witches, flying brooms, spells, potions...all the creativity it took to create a world that is so different then our own! I can't believe all that went into these books. And although they don't mention any religion the foundations for most religions are apparent in the words. They show you how love for one another can beat even the strongest, evilest creatures in the world. In most religions, being a good person will grant you an eternity in 'their version' of heaven. In the end, Harry Potter has all he needs.

Elizabeth Dean-Inersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity emphasizes that shared cognition and consensus is essential in the shaping of our ideas and relations. This is very true and seen throughout time; the best organization/companies/governments are horizontal and allow innovation and ideas to flow freely. I think we all are influenced by our friends and family, because we have a shared trust.The idea of intersubjectivity is exemplified, again, in Martin Buber's I-it, I-thou again. It is the place between objectivity, and subjectivity. This relates back to the I-thou relationship because it is the sharing of two individuals. They are not acting on each other but with each other. I notice these kinds of relationships in serious relationships. Like married couples, etc., In my parents they are in a relationship, and experience intersubjectivity, and they act and make decisions together, and are in engaged in a genuine relationship concerned with each other as opposed to concerned with outside circumstances.

Elizabeth Dean - Religion Reflection

Catholicism-

I don't know much...but my cousin and I had a discussion regarding our religious beliefs. I was raised Methodist and she Catholic. Here is what I grasped:

They follow 10 commandments that seem like a no brainer to most, i.e. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall have only one god, etc. The few that shocked me (but still a no brainer) include: thou shall obey their mother and fathe (keeping your kids in line), thou shall not covet their neighbors wife (adultury), thou shall honor the holy sabbath day (Sunday). They must go to confession and express their sins. This not only seems scary to me but confusing...how can a priest release you from your sins and offer you forgiveness?? The whole point in religion is to honor thy father (god) and only he can forgive you? Is putting yourself in a tiny room and telling your 'sins' to a man what god wants from us all?

Elizabeth Dean - Euro

Does a single currency stand a chance? With profligate debtor states owing their ability to continued operations to zee Germans: Is it possible for sovereign nations with disparate economic, social, political and religious beliefs to assimilate enough to ensure a single currency long term? 8 years in and one long and deep recession paints a bleak picture of its chances. Will one more bailout drive the germans back to the mark? Likely.

Elizabeth Dean- outside reading reflection

After reading, Little Women, written by, unknown, it helped me to understand what an influence my family has been in my life. My mother is a strong woman, that has spent my life teaching and molding me in ways that weren't always clear to me. My father has been surrounded by three (very strong) women...that in itself tells you a lot about him. My sister and I are best friends, we can tell each other anything (and believe me, we do) and never pass judgement on one another. We all play an important role and we all are very different... but our differences and our roles help mold our family into a beautiful rock solid foundation. I know I can go to my mother (or father) with any problem, story, event and get the understanding, laugh, advice, that I need.

Elizabeth Dean

Matin Buber's main proposition in his I-thou research is that we may address existence in two ways. The first being of the "I," towards an "it," towards an object that is separate in itself which we either use on experience,; and that of the "I," towards "Thou," in which we move into existence in a relationship without bonds. One of the major themes of the book is that humanlife finds its meaningfulness in relationships. All of our relationships, Buber contends, bring us ultimately into relationship with God, who is the Eternal Thou. Reading all about Buber's theories made me take a deeper look at the relationships I have in my own life. To engage in an "I-Thou," relationship, one is completely, fully, and genuinely committed in the relationship, and the "I," does not objectify the "it," but rather acknowledges a living relationship instead. I think I'd like to make an effort in my life, and in my relationships to engage in more I-Thou relationships, and move away from I-It. I want to fully engage with the second party. In an I-it relationship the subject is focused on superficial things that make the person as opposed to fully engage with them.

Elizabeth Dean

Alas, direct democracy does not work. Our representatives are charged with looking after constituents best interests yet our california brethren do not afford their reps the opportunity. The dichotomy of wanting a world class eduction system and then amending the constitution to disallow municipalities funding said objective is exactly why the 8th largest economy will be looking upon the top 10 from the periphery.

Corollary, why did Prop 19 fail? Much needed tax revenue? Probably.

Elizabeth Dean - Technology Reflection

Walking through the city and observing the people around me, I cannot help but wonder if technology is helping the crazy people around me blend in better. Years ago if you were to walk down the street and see someone talking to themselves, you could not help but wonder if that person was a little off their rocker. Now, with the popularity of bluetooth, the first assumption is that the person is just on the phone. So good for technology helping everyone appear a little more 'normal.'

Martin Bretzin #15

What is religion? In 2006, I had no idea how to define this topic. Originally, when I thought of religious studies, my mind immediately jumped to Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. I thought religion was a term used to describe mass consensus of beliefs held by individuals of a particular organization. Today, I still don't think I understand what religion is. I've completed 4 religious studies courses at CNU, two of which were introductory to the field in general. As a result of completing these course, my understanding of religion is a centered around the idea that it is some sort of a series of personal beliefs an individual develops regarding his or her environment, social standing, interpersonal values, intrapersonal values, potential spiritual understandings/values and the interactions that occur between and within each. This is a bit of a long-winded definition and I'm still not sure it's accurate. If I remember correctly, I was taught that religion is simply a "binding." I'm unsure as to whether is is in reference to the individual and his or her thoughts and perceptions, or if it can be relevant to my own personal definition. Overall, I see little importance in properly defining religion as a construct. But, the fact that I still don't feel confident in defining it disturbs me.

Martin Bretzin #14

How does one decide what path they want to take following traditional institutional training? College is one example of such training and is meant to provide discipline, insight, and potential routes for usually career-based life choices. I came to CNU in hopes that when I am to leave, I will have an advantage in the job market over others. Since attending school, I have discovered, that I have very little confidence in knowing what I actually want to do with my life. More importantly, I have only a few guesses as what I want to start doing following college. These concerns worry me every day and become more and more important as the days go by. I fear that the impending inevitability of my age will occur sooner than I'm ready for to really get what I want out of life. Many nights I stay up late worrying that I'll wake up and I'll be 35, with no passion about my niche and a body that continues to degrade and slow down robbing me of so many joys that I remember having as a child. I realize now that I fear the process of aging, and am almost entirely dissatisfied with the current course of my life choices.

Martin Bretzin #13

The old library in the Sean Connery/Christian Slater movie we watched was pretty confusing. The library was essentially a huge labyrinth of texts handwritten by men of the Church. The symbolic use of the labyrinth showed how when looking for answers the men of the Church were required to disorient themselves. This showed that without the answers they sought, the were essentially lost. This was illustrated by the complexity of the labyrinth and its existence as a library. However, what confused me most was why the library was actually built that way. Was this a common architectural design in that era? Did it serve some other purpose, like hiding sacred documents from enemies? Or was it simply a fictional building used to demonstrate a philosophical connection between gaining knowledge and concepts of orientation?

Martin Bretzin #12

Conflicting Cosmoses:
It's always interesting to observe the interactions two very distinct cultures have with one another. In history, it's suggested that when this occurs, the probability for there to be physical violence is very high. Individuals in their societies see the World in a particular way, with particular rules that are often considered to be sacred. While most tribes probably don't have a word for, or a generalized Western concept on the term "sacred," they would probably understand it to be something like "the important things, people or places that MUST do what what they are supposed to do." With this general and somewhat vague description of global practices, understanding why the prevalence of inter tribal conflict is so high. When one sacred belief of one tribes interacts and conflicts with another tribe's sacred belief, physical violence to ensure the "proper" belief occurs, will likely be a result of the interaction.

Martin Bretzin #11

Local ecosystems perplex me when I study ancient tribes. I understand that many people used their local environments to form their habitats. I don't know whether this practice was done for its convenience, or if a special relationship truly did develop between the individuals and their environments. I look at evidence, showing that some people traveled very far distances with encumbering materials in order to build/maintain their habitats. These practices are obviously not immediately convenient and must serve some specific purpose. However, I cannot say whether this purpose was to develop stronger ties with their particular resources, or whether it was done to serve primarily some utility of the resources themselves. In order to find out more about this, my best bet is to read more about this topic, and to be perfectly honest, this topic is difficult for me to get absorbed in.

Martin Bretzin #10

Reciprocity is an interesting idea. My understanding, now of reciprocity, is that it involves a relationship between two forms. This relationship is characterized by some sort of verbal or non-verbal dialogue in which the forms act upon each other. In class, we attempted to brainstorm how a human could develop a reciprocal relationship with a device or object. No one was able to provide an accurate guess, without the teacher revealing the process to us. In order to engage in an "I thou" dialogue with an object, the relationship is entirely dependent on the attitude the person has in regard to the situation. The person needs to be aware of both his effect on the object and the objects effect on him. These thoughts do not have to occur at the same time, but ideally sequentially, or very close together, as the person forms his or her understanding of the connection. Redick illustrated this procedure by describing how he would do so with a piece of talk. After that lecture, I came to the decision that I do not need or at least do not desire to form constant "I thou" relationships with objects in my environment. Rather, I'm more interested in using this attitude to improve my relationships with other individuals, so that the conversations I have with others can be less utility and function based, and more sensation based.

Martin Bretzin #9

The power of words. When we examined the difference between power in words between oral words and literate words, many people seemed to ignore important arguments. We discussed that the power of oral words are coupled with a sound, smell, touch and dynamic movements that elicit sight senses, all which manipulate energy in a room to evoke a response in either others or an individual. Class argued that oral words contain more power than written words. Some based this argument by saying oral words have power and written words do not. This was most likely thought as oral words have an immediate observable effect on their audiences, whether the audience is the speaker or people that can observe him or her. I got a little frustrated with this, as it ignores entirely, the affect that books have on their audiences. If written communication isn't meant to have any effect on its readers, why would anyone ever read anything for entertainment? Isn't a main characteristic of entertainment its ability to evoke a response in the reader? Written words do have power. They are very different from that of spoken words, in concept, and their ability to socially connect individuals, but they must contain a level of power.

Martin Bretzin #8

Power is an interesting construct. Power has been seen as the consequence of someone or thing's actions. It has been seen as the recognition of a relatively profound effect. It has been seen as an evil and danger to its victims. In this class, we discussed power mostly as an identifiable effect. After watching the Icelandic film, we discussed the "power" that the figure in the film possessed. It's effect was so great on the people of the film, that the possessor of the power was considered to be a threat so great, that the utterance of its name was capable of bringing the misuse of the power, resulting in very undesirable circumstances. The possessor of the power ended up being a bear, who the people successfully hunted. After the bear was slain, the man who inflicted the killing blow was temporarily exiled from the people with the belief that he had acquired the power of the bear in the process of ending the bear's life. This power was thought to be too dangerous to have among the people and needed to exit the man in some way. These beliefs may sound silly, but were most likely reinforced by past events where the power became a problem. In class, we also talked about how words can and still do have some sort of power. We also discussed that Oral words tend to have a more immediate and often larger effect on the audience than literary words do. This was shown through the use of the word "BANG" first yelled, then written largely.

Martin Bretzin #7

The circle drum made accessing the state of mind "flow" an immediate inevitability. When I say the word, inevitability, I do not mean it in a negative sense, however, it felt impossible for the participants in the drum circle, according to their reactions, not to have experienced this state. After various points in the drum circle's events, it looked obvious that nearly and possibly everyone there was experiencing some sensation described as "absolutely fun" or completely connected with one another. The connection was interesting, while there was a feeling of being connected to each other, it felt less personal or intimate. It felt more like our actions were connected to each other, rather than each of us directly and intimating developing any real connections. I found this to be the only downside to the experience. However, if these events were to occur more frequently with the same people, it may be possibly to develop real connections with others rather than just their actions. In retrospect to other instances in my life where I experienced flow, I find that in all of these cases, I may have attributed more positive attitudes towards my peers, I don't think the connection caused any revelation of social intimacy, just an action and consequence-based comradeship.

Martin Bretzin #6

Flow is sooo cool! Flow is by far the coolest concept I got to learn about this semester. Just this past... January(?), I spoke with my ex girlfriend's step dad, Robert about his brother's black belt in Karate exam. Supposedly, the man had been learning Karate for a really long time. Interestingly, the gym that he trained at used a more traditional method for administering belt progression. According to Robert, the only way a student could receive a black belt at that gym was to maintain a state of perfect reflexive defenses to a skilled opponent's attacks. This is only achieved through a great deal of practice, and an eventual conscious state of heightened situational awareness. This state must be maintained for minimum period of time, during which a superior opponent is administering attacks. Robert labeled this state as being "in the zone." I recognized his description of state of consciousness immediately, as with my travel soccer team in high school, I had, on several occasions, experienced this feeling of heightened awareness coupled with a sense of euphoria. Ever since that conversation, I've thought often about trying to rediscover that sense of being "in the zone."