Monday, December 3, 2007

"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appe

"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."


Do not judge a book by its cover.” This is an age old saying that is used to reprimand a person from judging another just based on outward appearances. True, to judge a person solely by superficial appearances alone might not produce an accurate representation of the person's true personality. However, is there no grain of truth to the fact that the way people look,dress and act can reveal much about their attitudes and interests? I am in agreement with the issue topic that the way people look, dress and act reveals much about their attitudes and interest, and collectively the way citizens of a society appear and behave can reveal much about the society's ideas and values.

As superficial as it may be, there is no denying that the way a person carries him or herself holds heavy weight in the way people would perceive them. Take for example the way a person dresses for a job interview. If the person dresses immaculately and and acts professionally, it portrays an attitude that is respectful and disciplined. On the other hand, if the interviewing candidate turns up at the interview slovenly dressed and slurring his speech, the interviewer would think twice before even considering the person as a potential hire for the company. People portray themselves the way they want to be seen, which in turn reflects their own individual personalities and interests. Many teenagers use the way they dress and act as a way to express their interests and identify themselves with others with similar interests. With the aid of the media industry, many subcultures have gained higher exposure and are emulated by teenagers everywhere. There are those who dress and imitate the speech of hip-hop and rap singers. There are those who follow the punk image, and dress and act accordingly. No matter what choices in the way people chose to portray themselves, it is a physical representation of their attitudes and interests.

On an individual scale, external appearance can indicate personal attitudes and interest. What about the appearance and behavior of people on a larger scale? Dynamics of different appearances at play in a society can indicate so much more. It can be used to establish cultural identities, to demonstrate social and economic class or even used as a display of religious tendencies. It can also be an indication of level of acceptance and diversity in a society. For example, if a society consists of mostly of people who dress similar, it can suggest a society that stresses on conformity. Or if there are many very obvious different groups of people who act and dress differently in a society, it can be an indication of a more liberal society. We see differences in different countries. Take for example the dress codes required of women in Muslim countries. Often they are required to wear headdresses and long dresses to cover their hair, and their bodies and sometimes even the face. It is reflective of the more conservative Muslim culture and beliefs. On the other hand, take a look at dress codes in a more liberal society like the United States. Women are allowed to wear pants, and tank tops or bikinis, which shows society's higher tolerance for the female display of body.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that way people chose to look, dress and behave can be a strong indication of the overall society's ideas and values. Not only does the way appearances and behavior reflect an individual's personal interests and attitudes, these behaviors and appearances on a larger scale can evince cultural identities, social and economic class and so much more.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

The issue of whether rituals and ceremonies help define a culture can be a contentious one. On one hand, rituals and ceremonies are an integral part of a society's or a group of people's identity. On the other hand, there are those who argue that there are far more important factors that help define a culture besides rituals and ceremonies. However, I am in agreement with the view that rituals and ceremonies help define a culture and without them, people lose a diminished sense of their identity.

First, let us take a look at what rituals and ceremonies of a culture are. Rituals and ceremonies can take on formal or informal forms, and they are a set of established behaviors that are symbolic of a certain group's culture. Formal or informal, rituals and ceremonies help provide a sense of identity to social groups. Each social group have their own sets or ritual and ceremonies, and this is what sets them apart from other groups and helps them gain a sense of collectiveness. Take for example the act of going to weekly Sunday masses at church. This act alone acts as the common bond between different individuals who hold similar beliefs. The rituals and ceremonies performed in church such as baptism, or Eucharistic ceremonies, is the tangible proof of their identities. In this sense, they affirm their identity as Christians. Moving away from religious rituals and ceremonies, let us take a look at rituals and ceremonies that affirm national identities. For example, the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States November of every year. It is a national holiday that is recognized to remember and give thanks, and it is a celebration that has been passed down from the times the English settlers first set foot in America. It is also a holiday to celebrate the American spirit and bring families close together.

Rituals and ceremonies are the continuation of old traditions that were passed down from our ancestors or forefathers. They are what that keeps the memories of the past alive, and they retain all the collection of ideas, superstitions, beliefs and the stories of our forefathers. Without rituals and ceremonies, we have a lesser sense of our identity, for we do not know where we come from. This can be especially important for groups of people whose ancestors originated from a country different from the ones they were born in. This is something I can draw from personally. I am an ethnic Chinese born and raised in Malaysia, but my grandparents were from China. My grandparents were brought as part of the group of laborers that were imported to work the tin mines and eventually they settled down in Malaysia permanently. My grandparents were very traditional in the way they conducted their daily lives, which included daily rituals like burning joss sticks at certain times of the day to show respect for our ancestors. These rituals and ceremonies, which marks so much of the Chinese identity, gradually faded as we moved down the generations. There are many of the rituals and ceremonies that I do not know how to perform, and I cannot help but feel a sense of loss of my own culture and heritage, and a lesser sense of being “Chinese” as I assimilate into the dominant culture of the country.

Thus, it is my belief that rituals and ceremonies are important in helping to define a culture. Not only do they help provide social groups or societies with a sense of belongingness, it also acts as an affirmation of identity for all of the people who hold similar ideas or beliefs. Also, rituals and ceremonies help retain the memories, values and beliefs, ideas, superstitions which helps us to gain our sense of cultural identi

Saturday, December 1, 2007

“It is dangerous to trust only intelligence.”

What is intelligence? Intelligence is what sets us apart from other creatures in the animal kingdom. It gives us the ability to make rational decisions and think beyond just satisfying our basic physiological needs. The issue of whether one should trust intelligence alone can be a contentious one. On one hand, it provides us with an ability to reason and comprehend things around us. It gives us the ability to evaluate, consider, and make decisions based on the choices we have. On the other side of the fence, there are those who argue that it is dangerous to trust only intelligence as it disregards the human emotions and other values that are inherently virtuous. I am in agreement with the latter point of view.

We are not robots; we feel and we care for people and things. We all come with a different set of emotions and ideas and that is what that makes us human. We all have the ability to form emotional attachments, and our individual reactions to people and things are unique. Emotions can drive a person to perform kind and compassionate deeds. Of course, emotions can also drive a person to perform negative deeds.However, emotions is what that provides us with a sense of conscience, something that intelligence alone cannot provide. Intelligence without conscience can be dangerous. Consider this. A serial killer might have the intelligence of selecting his or victims and the cold rationale of choosing the method of execution. Without a conscience and a disregard for the human life, that intelligence is useless because it drives the killer to perform cruel deeds. There are events in history that have proven this. Take a look at the events that occurred during the WW2. Adolf Hitler was a highly intelligent man who had the acumen and efficiency of carrying out his agenda, but the death toll that resulted shocked the world. Over 6 million Jews was killed in the course of pursuing Hitler's agenda for racial eugenics and this episode remains an indelible black mark in history.

Consider the other values that intelligence alone cannot provide. Morality and ethics are what sets a restrictions on the types of human behavior that are considered acceptable. We fear repercussions from our peers, or from the society as a whole and that is what tempers our behavior. Trusting intelligence alone might drive us to disregard those restrictions for if we depend on logic alone we act in ways that makes the most sense in a certain situation. Take for example a family living in hunger. There is only so much food to feed the family and by plain logic alone, it is feasible to kill off the person that is the weakest in the family. However, killing is not acceptable by society's rules.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that trusting intelligence alone can be a dangerous thing. We cannot disregard the emotional factors that drives the ways a human thinks and acts. Emotions provides us with a sense of conscience as well as put constraints on the types of behavior that are deemed acceptable of society, which is something intelligence alone might tend to neglect.

Argument Analysis 13

In a study of reading habits of Leeville citizens conducted by the University of Leeville, most respondents said they preferred literary classics as reading material. However, a follow-up study conducted by the same researchers found that the type of book most frequently checked out of each of the public libraries in Leeville was the mystery novel. Therefore, it can be concluded that the respondents in the first study had misrepresented their reading habits.

My response:

The argument states that there was a misrepresentation of an initial study investigating the reading habits of the citizens of Leeville due to several evidences presented by a follow-up study. However, the argument presented is illogical and unconvincing as it is based on a number of faulty premises of which I shall analyze below.

First, the argument assumed that the results of the first study was the caused by a misrepresentation of the respondents themselves. The results could be caused by any other of number reasons including the manner the initial study was conducted. The way the initial study was conducted could be structurally flawed, causing inaccurate results. The author should investigate deeper into the data that was collected for the first study to confirm her beliefs. For example, the author should take a look at the sample size of the study. If the responses was only collected from a small portion of the Leeville population, it could not possibly be a proper representation of the town's overall reading habits. Or perhaps the study only targeted a specific age group, like an older group that mostly preferred literary classics. Without more specific information, the author cannot come to a definitive conclusion that the respondents of the first study misrepresented their reading habits.

However, even if we assume that the results of the first study was incorrect, the evidences presented to bolster the argument's second claim is flawed. The argument states that the follow-up study conducted found that the type of books that are most frequently checked out of each of the public libraries are mystery novels, therefore a solid evidence that the respondents of the first study have misrepresented their reading habits. We cannot assume that all of Leeville's reading citizens acquire their reading materials from the public libraries. There could be readers who prefer to buy their books, instead of borrowing it from libraries. The argument also failed to consider private collections, or private libraries from which readers can acquire their books from.

Lastly, the argument is flawed because it assumed that the classifications of literary classics and mystery novels are exclusive or each other. The argument failed to consider the fact that there are some mystery novels that are considered as literary classics. There was no mention if the mystery novels checked out of the libraries are contemporary novels or classical ones. With this and all the previous flaws mentioned, the argument is still insufficiently cogent.

For all the reasons enumerated above, I come to the conclusion that the argument presented is not logically sound. Had the argument taken the above factors into consideration, it would have rendered the argument irrefutable.