“There was a roar of the engines and the plane vibrated as the Fairchild tried to climb again; it rose a little but then there came a deafening crash as the right wing hit the side of the mountain. Immediately it broke off, somersaulted over the fuselage, and cut off the tail. Out into the icy air fell Steward, the navigator, and their pack of cards, followed by three of the boys still strapped to their seats.a moment later the left wing broke away and a blade if the propeller ripped into the fuselage before falling to the ground. Without either wings or tail, the plane hurtled toward the jagged mountain, but instead of being smashed into pieces against a wall of rock it landed on its belly in a steep valley and slid like a toboggan on the sloping surface of deep snow.”
This quote stuck out to me because death can approach very quickly that your last moments alive are so unexpected that you have no time to react to it. At this point the plane is completely destroyed and the lives of the people inside are threatened. This is the beginning of the journey on the mountains. At this time the students are thinking that they are all going to die. For all of the 29 people in the plane, they most likely think that they are all going to end up dying stranded on a mountain or during the plane crash. Being a student on a plane with your fellow peers is great but when you notice one of them just fly out the back of the plane, emotions and thoughts are running wild especially when you are trying to save yourself.
Once the plane has stopped sliding down the mountain the thoughts going through the students minds are questioning what the next step is going to be. At this point they all realize that they are stranded on a mountain looking for their next chance of survival.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
How to be an Expert
“He wanted to learn. That was a big part of it. But before he could become an expert, someone had to give him the opportunity to learn how to be an expert.”
This quote got my attention because it summarized the author’s thoughts throughout the first couple chapters in a simple sentence. The quote is talking about Bill Joy, a brilliant computer programmer who worked hard and was rewarded with amazing opportunities. One of the major concepts of beginning of the book is opportunity, and how if you had good opportunities throughout your life, there is a high chance you will end up to be successful. Wanting to learn is also very important, generally people who want to learn work hard at what they’re doing, and the amount of work they have accumulated over the years brings them closer to what researcher call the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
In the ZONE!
“Both playing in the zone and chocking are examples of phenomena that psychologists refer to as altered states of consciousness (ASC). Any time you experience an … if you have had either of these experiences you are caopable of learning to use self- hypnosis to gain greater control over your concentration and performance.” (Page 18)
In this passage the author relates to the audience and tells the audience that if you have played in the zone or choked under pressure it can happen to you again. The author relates to the reader so they see how they can improve their athletic performance and prevent choking in a game. He presents a solution so his reader can stay in the mindset in order to succeed and be in the zone. The author tells the reader that you can make playing
I have chosen this quotation because when I read it the first thing that came to my mind was everything I read in the prior part of the chapter. This demonstrates how the author’s use of summary as a writing technique is important since it worked to help me take away major points from the chapter. Also, any points that were unclear while I was reading the chapter were clarified in the summary. This method of summarizing helps the reader keep the major arguments of the book in their mind. In addition, because I am an athlete, the summaries allowed me to recall the times when I have experienced playing in the zone or also choking in a game. Thus, the chapter summary passages helped me to retain the main arguments of the text and also apply the theory to my own life to improve my athletic performance.
In this passage the author relates to the audience and tells the audience that if you have played in the zone or choked under pressure it can happen to you again. The author relates to the reader so they see how they can improve their athletic performance and prevent choking in a game. He presents a solution so his reader can stay in the mindset in order to succeed and be in the zone. The author tells the reader that you can make playing
I have chosen this quotation because when I read it the first thing that came to my mind was everything I read in the prior part of the chapter. This demonstrates how the author’s use of summary as a writing technique is important since it worked to help me take away major points from the chapter. Also, any points that were unclear while I was reading the chapter were clarified in the summary. This method of summarizing helps the reader keep the major arguments of the book in their mind. In addition, because I am an athlete, the summaries allowed me to recall the times when I have experienced playing in the zone or also choking in a game. Thus, the chapter summary passages helped me to retain the main arguments of the text and also apply the theory to my own life to improve my athletic performance.
The Bending of Time
"Spacetime is usually explained by asking you to imagine something flat but pliant - a mattress, say, or a sheet of stretched rubber- on which is resting a heavy round object, such as an iron ball. The weight of the iron ball causes the material on which it is sitting to stretch and sag slightly. This is roughly analogous to the effect that a massive object such as the sun (the iron ball) has on spacetime (the material): it stretches and curves and warps it. Now if you roll a smaller ball across the sheet it tries to go in a straight line as required by Newton's laws of motion, but as it nears the massive object and the slope of the sagging fabric, it rolls downward, inelutably drawn to the more massive object. This is gravity - a product of the bending of spacetime." (126)
This theory was proposed by Einstein, arguably one of the most influential and best known scientists ever. The reason I wanted to blog about this is not just because it's an interesting proposal, but the idea of curiosity. Where would we be without curiosity? If people were never curious, we would unarguably not be where we are today. If people were never curious we would never had had the invention of fire, or the wheel, or the cell phone. The question 'what if?' is the driving force behind the social and economical evolution of the human race.
I guess by realizing how curious Einstein was is what led him to his success, much like most other successful people. These types of people often ask 'what if we did this to make that better?'. I think that society has done a good job at ramming the question 'what if' into our heads. 'What if you could make your life easier', 'what if you could look better', 'what if you could save money', 'what if you could make more money'. All of these questions promise the idea of success or happiness in one way or another, and the curiosity behind the question is what drives us to make a change to something in some shape or form.
This theory was proposed by Einstein, arguably one of the most influential and best known scientists ever. The reason I wanted to blog about this is not just because it's an interesting proposal, but the idea of curiosity. Where would we be without curiosity? If people were never curious, we would unarguably not be where we are today. If people were never curious we would never had had the invention of fire, or the wheel, or the cell phone. The question 'what if?' is the driving force behind the social and economical evolution of the human race.
I guess by realizing how curious Einstein was is what led him to his success, much like most other successful people. These types of people often ask 'what if we did this to make that better?'. I think that society has done a good job at ramming the question 'what if' into our heads. 'What if you could make your life easier', 'what if you could look better', 'what if you could save money', 'what if you could make more money'. All of these questions promise the idea of success or happiness in one way or another, and the curiosity behind the question is what drives us to make a change to something in some shape or form.
you can be anything you want to be
"Not that is ever a single truth in a life, especially for a woman who built a career on refashioning woman's ideas of themselves; which may be why Chanel recounted so many different stories about herself, as if in each version something new might emerge out of her history" (Picardie, 13)
As I glanced at page 13, I found myself starring into the novel for quite some while. I was amazed, while beginning to read “Coco Chanel: The legend and the life” It finally came to me Gabrielle is outstanding woman. An elusive designer, who introduced simplicity into women’s wardrobes, changed the fashion industry and understood the true power of a trademark look.
She was simplistic and elegant however so very complicated when it came to her past. Coco had her personal stories and changed them frequently however; she was powerful and stuck by her idea of creating your own image.
It finally made so much sense to me, a self realization. Gabrielle truly created who she became, and not only did she succeed but she “built a career on refashioning women’s ideas of themselves.” (Picardie, 13)
Basically Coco gave me a new way of looking at “you can be anything you want to be.”
Monday, November 29, 2010
Shakespeare's Contribution to the English Language
While reading "Shakespeare, the world as stage" by Bill Bryson, I came across certain facts or passages that stuck out at me. One such passage was towards the end of the book when Bryson discusses how there are over six hundred words in Shakespeare's plays that were never in existence beforehand. These are words that are integral parts of our vocabulary even still, which is baffling to consider. Some of these words include critical, frugal, extract, dwindle, horrid, vast, excellent, eventful, zany, lonely, and assassination.
Another fact that presented itself during my reading was that Shakespeare redefined english vocabulary when he added un- prefixes to existing words in order to make new ones. These were unprecedented words that no one had thought of before. Some of these words are unmask, unhand, unlock, untie, unveil, and over three hundred other similar creations.
This really stood out to me when I considered I would express myself without Shakespeare's invaluable contributions to the English language.
Another fact that presented itself during my reading was that Shakespeare redefined english vocabulary when he added un- prefixes to existing words in order to make new ones. These were unprecedented words that no one had thought of before. Some of these words are unmask, unhand, unlock, untie, unveil, and over three hundred other similar creations.
This really stood out to me when I considered I would express myself without Shakespeare's invaluable contributions to the English language.
An interesting take on Shakespeare's style
Bryson made many interesting points during the course of the novel. He discussed many legal documents that Shakespeare could be traced to, which proved different things such as where he was in a certain year or how wealthy he was at certain points in his career and so on. While these were all very interesting and valid, my favourite part of the book was when Bryson got down to the real details that make Shakespeare the literary legend he is today; his writing style. The ways in which his style differed from others of that time period is truly fascinating, and certainly explains why he is so highly esteemed even after centuries have passed. Some of the most fascinating examples are as follows.
Stages during this time period had little to no scenery or curtains, meaning there was no way to distinguish night from day, fog from sunshine, or even room to room. Needless to say this caused plenty of confusion during most plays. Shakespeare, however, had an excellent way of making up for this. He set scenes using words. For example, in the opening lines of Hamlet, Francisco asks Barnardo to unfold himself. While this might not be overly siginificant to us today, "unfold yourself" meant to take off your cloak. Therefore, from just a few lines, Shakespeare was able to establish that it was nighttime, as well as cold out.
In addition to this ingenius way of expressing himself, Shakespeare's plays varied immensely in terms of length and style. The number of scenes varied from each play from seven to forty seven, lines varied from 1800 to over 4000. (2700 was the average during the time).
Stages during this time period had little to no scenery or curtains, meaning there was no way to distinguish night from day, fog from sunshine, or even room to room. Needless to say this caused plenty of confusion during most plays. Shakespeare, however, had an excellent way of making up for this. He set scenes using words. For example, in the opening lines of Hamlet, Francisco asks Barnardo to unfold himself. While this might not be overly siginificant to us today, "unfold yourself" meant to take off your cloak. Therefore, from just a few lines, Shakespeare was able to establish that it was nighttime, as well as cold out.
In addition to this ingenius way of expressing himself, Shakespeare's plays varied immensely in terms of length and style. The number of scenes varied from each play from seven to forty seven, lines varied from 1800 to over 4000. (2700 was the average during the time).
Into the Wild
“S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is NO JOKE. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?”
This note was found by a group of hunters just outside of an abandoned bus that Chris was camping at. The hunters were overwhelmed by the note and the smell coming from the inside of the bus, and it was only examined when a man by the name of Samel came along. Inside the bus, was the partly decomposed body of Chris McCandless. The body was later taken to the Anchorage where an autopsy was performed, revealing that starvation was the probability of his death. The irony in this is that before he set off for his journey he donated all his savings to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.
His desperate plea, previously quoted, had deeply moved me especially considering that his dream to live and create a new life for him became the cause of his death. I think that at this point he knew that this idealistic dream to live in the wild would be the cause of his death and regretted it. One piece of evidence that led me to this conclusion is that when he set off on this excursion he took on a new identification. Throughout his expedition, he refused to respond to his former name Christopher McCandless, and took on the name Alexander Supertramp. For the first time in this note he refers to himself as Chris McCandless, which I interpret as his revelation of who he truly was and a sense of regret from his attempt to escape his identity.
This note was found by a group of hunters just outside of an abandoned bus that Chris was camping at. The hunters were overwhelmed by the note and the smell coming from the inside of the bus, and it was only examined when a man by the name of Samel came along. Inside the bus, was the partly decomposed body of Chris McCandless. The body was later taken to the Anchorage where an autopsy was performed, revealing that starvation was the probability of his death. The irony in this is that before he set off for his journey he donated all his savings to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.
His desperate plea, previously quoted, had deeply moved me especially considering that his dream to live and create a new life for him became the cause of his death. I think that at this point he knew that this idealistic dream to live in the wild would be the cause of his death and regretted it. One piece of evidence that led me to this conclusion is that when he set off on this excursion he took on a new identification. Throughout his expedition, he refused to respond to his former name Christopher McCandless, and took on the name Alexander Supertramp. For the first time in this note he refers to himself as Chris McCandless, which I interpret as his revelation of who he truly was and a sense of regret from his attempt to escape his identity.
“S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is NO JOKE. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?”
This note was found by a group of hunters just outside of an abandoned bus that Chris was camping at. The hunters were overwhelmed by the note and the smell coming from the inside of the bus, and it was only examined when a man by the name of Samel came along. Inside the bus, was the partly decomposed body of Chris McCandless. The body was later taken to the Anchorage where an autopsy was performed, revealing that starvation was the probability of his death. The irony in this is that before he set off for his journey he donated all his savings to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.
His desperate plea, previously quoted, had deeply moved me especially considering that his dream to live and create a new life for him became the cause of his death. I think that at this point he knew that this idealistic dream to live in the wild would be the cause of his death and regretted it. One piece of evidence that led me to this conclusion is that when he set off on this excursion he took on a new identification. Throughout his expedition, he refused to respond to his former name Christopher McCandless, and took on the name Alexander Supertramp. For the first time in this note he refers to himself as Chris McCandless, which I interpret as his revelation of who he truly was and a sense of regret from his attempt to escape his identity.
This note was found by a group of hunters just outside of an abandoned bus that Chris was camping at. The hunters were overwhelmed by the note and the smell coming from the inside of the bus, and it was only examined when a man by the name of Samel came along. Inside the bus, was the partly decomposed body of Chris McCandless. The body was later taken to the Anchorage where an autopsy was performed, revealing that starvation was the probability of his death. The irony in this is that before he set off for his journey he donated all his savings to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.
His desperate plea, previously quoted, had deeply moved me especially considering that his dream to live and create a new life for him became the cause of his death. I think that at this point he knew that this idealistic dream to live in the wild would be the cause of his death and regretted it. One piece of evidence that led me to this conclusion is that when he set off on this excursion he took on a new identification. Throughout his expedition, he refused to respond to his former name Christopher McCandless, and took on the name Alexander Supertramp. For the first time in this note he refers to himself as Chris McCandless, which I interpret as his revelation of who he truly was and a sense of regret from his attempt to escape his identity.
The Existence of the Sense of Touch and Timothy Ferris' theory
"It is still a fairly astounding notion to consider that atoms are mostly empty space, and that the solidity we experience all around us is an illusion. When two objects come together in the real world - billiard balls are often used for an illustration - they don't actually strike each other. 'Rather', as Timothy Ferris explains, 'the negatively charged fields of the two balls repel each other... were it not for their electrical charges, they could, like galaxies, pass through each other unscathed.' When you sit in a chair, you are not actually sitting there, but levitating above it at a height of one angstrom (one hundred millionth of a centimetre), your electrons and its electrons are implacably opposed to any other closer intimacy." (141)
Bryson (and Ferris) propose an interesting point. If negative forces repel each other, doesn't this theory make sense? Then what really is the sense of touch? How does it really work? How do you know it's actually there? It is this type of thought that makes you doubt basically everything you knew about something so basic as the sense of touch.
Bryson (and Ferris) propose an interesting point. If negative forces repel each other, doesn't this theory make sense? Then what really is the sense of touch? How does it really work? How do you know it's actually there? It is this type of thought that makes you doubt basically everything you knew about something so basic as the sense of touch.
You're a ball of energy
"You may not feel outstandingly robust, but if you are an average-sized adult you will contain within your modest frame 7 x 10^18 Joules of potential energy-enough to explode with the force of thirty hydrogen bombs, assuming you knew how to liberate it and really wished to make a point. Everything has this kind of energy trapped within it. We're just not very good at getting it out" (122)
In Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" I keep learning random facts. It's not the story line (if you can call it that) that makes the book interesting, it's the interesting facts like this one that stand out. After reading this one, it made me wonder why if we have so much potential energy, why I sometimes have trouble staying awake in class. If I could find out a way to get some of this energy to work in my favour that would be ideal. Another thought it triggered was that if everything (living and not living) had such a huge amount of potential energy, why it is such an issue to turn off a light when you're not in a room. In todays society where one day we have cell phones that can only make a call to the next where cell phones are mini computers, we can't seem to figure out how to get a bit of this potential energy from everything and anything and make better use of it.
In Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" I keep learning random facts. It's not the story line (if you can call it that) that makes the book interesting, it's the interesting facts like this one that stand out. After reading this one, it made me wonder why if we have so much potential energy, why I sometimes have trouble staying awake in class. If I could find out a way to get some of this energy to work in my favour that would be ideal. Another thought it triggered was that if everything (living and not living) had such a huge amount of potential energy, why it is such an issue to turn off a light when you're not in a room. In todays society where one day we have cell phones that can only make a call to the next where cell phones are mini computers, we can't seem to figure out how to get a bit of this potential energy from everything and anything and make better use of it.
Disney Part Two
The last and final quote that really impressed me was one from the author,
"Contrary to rumor, Walt was cremated- not frozen and put away to be thawed at some later date."
I was glad to see that the author did some research on the subject of Walt Disney and found that most of the American population believed he was frozen, when he infact was not. It was refreshing to see that they (Katherine and Richard Greene, the authors) totally disregarded the rumor and made it clear that this nonsense must be put to an end. A lot of hear say has been said about Walt Disney and the authors have made a point to correct any miscommunications that have been flying around. Walt's actual funeral was as he always wanted it to be, a very small, private affair. His younger sister Ruth didnt even attend because she didn't want to attract the media, as Walt said before "I don't want anyone to go through that for me."
"Contrary to rumor, Walt was cremated- not frozen and put away to be thawed at some later date."
I was glad to see that the author did some research on the subject of Walt Disney and found that most of the American population believed he was frozen, when he infact was not. It was refreshing to see that they (Katherine and Richard Greene, the authors) totally disregarded the rumor and made it clear that this nonsense must be put to an end. A lot of hear say has been said about Walt Disney and the authors have made a point to correct any miscommunications that have been flying around. Walt's actual funeral was as he always wanted it to be, a very small, private affair. His younger sister Ruth didnt even attend because she didn't want to attract the media, as Walt said before "I don't want anyone to go through that for me."
Disney
Another quote that striked me was:
"if they hadn't been brothers this thing would have fallen apart in the first ten minutes."
-Roy Edward Disney
What Roy Disney said is definitely accurate. You have a stronger relationship with your sibling then you have with your close friend. This is because family never leaves your side; in the end, no matter how bad the argument, your still related. I believe that if Walt Disney did not have his brother by his side he wouldn't have had such an honest second hand opinion on things and probably would have been more careless with his money. But, because he had his brother Roy Disney working with him to help take care of the financial aspect of the company he knew what he could do and could not do, money-wise. Throughout the book the authors demonstrated a brief understanding on Walts various friendships; some of Walts close friends stuck by his side through the good times but left when the going got rough. That just goes to show how unsuccessful his company would have turned out to be if he decided to partner up with a "friend." All in all, Walt made a good strategic business decision when he decided to start a company with his brother and because of this choice his company is still live and running today.
"if they hadn't been brothers this thing would have fallen apart in the first ten minutes."
-Roy Edward Disney
What Roy Disney said is definitely accurate. You have a stronger relationship with your sibling then you have with your close friend. This is because family never leaves your side; in the end, no matter how bad the argument, your still related. I believe that if Walt Disney did not have his brother by his side he wouldn't have had such an honest second hand opinion on things and probably would have been more careless with his money. But, because he had his brother Roy Disney working with him to help take care of the financial aspect of the company he knew what he could do and could not do, money-wise. Throughout the book the authors demonstrated a brief understanding on Walts various friendships; some of Walts close friends stuck by his side through the good times but left when the going got rough. That just goes to show how unsuccessful his company would have turned out to be if he decided to partner up with a "friend." All in all, Walt made a good strategic business decision when he decided to start a company with his brother and because of this choice his company is still live and running today.
The Man Behind the Magic
For my non-fiction independant read I chose "The Story of Walt Disney."
This book was a play-by-play biography of Walts' life from the beginning to the end.
One quote that struck me while reading the text was,
"Walt never thought he was beaten at anything-ever"
-Lillian Disney
In my opinion, this quote realitstically describes Walts confidence and drive towards work and his animations. Walt started off as a paper boy in Kansas city then after lying about his age had a summer job selling candy, newspapers, and drinks on the Santa Fe Railroad. He enlisted in the army at the age of sixteen years old but could only make it as a Red-Cross Volunteer, and soon after put his talent as an artist to a test started working for Louis Pesmen as an advertiser. He drew tractors and farm ads and it was there that he met Ubbe Iwwerks. They decided to go into business together and eventually from there Walt followed his dreams and started a company with his brother Roy Disney. He had some major fails, with his company being in debt and close to bankrupt from some mediocre cartoon movies that were made but that didnt stop him from completeing goals and expanding on his company. Walt managed to be the first to get animaton films with sound, and colour and eventually went on to recieving 59 Academy Awards and building Disney Land. Walt never gave up and was a major people pleaser throughout his entire life, he was determined to make a difference in the world and he succeesfully managed to do that. Walt Disney continues to be a huge impact on the world of entertainment and children even today still watch his movies.
This book was a play-by-play biography of Walts' life from the beginning to the end.
One quote that struck me while reading the text was,
"Walt never thought he was beaten at anything-ever"
-Lillian Disney
In my opinion, this quote realitstically describes Walts confidence and drive towards work and his animations. Walt started off as a paper boy in Kansas city then after lying about his age had a summer job selling candy, newspapers, and drinks on the Santa Fe Railroad. He enlisted in the army at the age of sixteen years old but could only make it as a Red-Cross Volunteer, and soon after put his talent as an artist to a test started working for Louis Pesmen as an advertiser. He drew tractors and farm ads and it was there that he met Ubbe Iwwerks. They decided to go into business together and eventually from there Walt followed his dreams and started a company with his brother Roy Disney. He had some major fails, with his company being in debt and close to bankrupt from some mediocre cartoon movies that were made but that didnt stop him from completeing goals and expanding on his company. Walt managed to be the first to get animaton films with sound, and colour and eventually went on to recieving 59 Academy Awards and building Disney Land. Walt never gave up and was a major people pleaser throughout his entire life, he was determined to make a difference in the world and he succeesfully managed to do that. Walt Disney continues to be a huge impact on the world of entertainment and children even today still watch his movies.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Supernova
In reading my non-fiction book "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson, he has made several intriguing statements. The first I found when reading about supernovae. He said a supernova "occurs when a giant star, much bigger than our own Sun, collapses and then spectacularly explodes, releasing in an instant the energy of a hundred billion suns... 'like a trillion hydrogen bombs going off at once.' " (30).
I decided to blog about this because trying to imagine what one hydrogen bomb can do or what it's like is difficult enough, but to imagine a trillion hydrogen bombs is completely inconceivable. He goes on to say that "if a supernova explosion happened within five hundred light years of us, we would be goners." (30) If you think of how long a single light year is (about six trillion miles), for one single explosion to reach that far and cause damage can seem unimaginable; but 500 light years is even more beyond belief. As suggested in 'The Educated Imagination', being humans we can only imagine what we have seen or experienced on earth; the human experience. What goes on in the universe is much bigger than we are and can seem completely ridiculous on such a large scale. The truth is, we only occupy a microscopic place in the universe even though sometimes it seems everything revolves around life here. Bryson has made this clear with several examples in his book and this was one of the ones I found the most intriguing.
I decided to blog about this because trying to imagine what one hydrogen bomb can do or what it's like is difficult enough, but to imagine a trillion hydrogen bombs is completely inconceivable. He goes on to say that "if a supernova explosion happened within five hundred light years of us, we would be goners." (30) If you think of how long a single light year is (about six trillion miles), for one single explosion to reach that far and cause damage can seem unimaginable; but 500 light years is even more beyond belief. As suggested in 'The Educated Imagination', being humans we can only imagine what we have seen or experienced on earth; the human experience. What goes on in the universe is much bigger than we are and can seem completely ridiculous on such a large scale. The truth is, we only occupy a microscopic place in the universe even though sometimes it seems everything revolves around life here. Bryson has made this clear with several examples in his book and this was one of the ones I found the most intriguing.
Why Do Planes Crash?
“Planes are safer when the least experienced pilot is flying, because it means the second pilot isn’t going to be afraid to speak up.” (Gladwell 197)
This quote is from the chapter “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes”, which is very much self-explanatory. I found the theory very interesting, because it was something than I had never heard about. Gladwell talks about the reasons for plane crashes; how it was mainly a combination of things, but there was one main cause. And the main cause was the second pilot being unable to speak up to the first pilot; that is, not being able to speak upright and confront them if there is an issue. Gladwell speaks of the Power-Distance Index (PDI); which is basically a culture’s treatment of authority. With a very high PDI, the co-pilot will feel very inferior compared to the pilot. The result of this would be that the co-pilot will be unable to speak up if they see a problem, or if they do, they will have mitigated speech. Mitigated speech “refers to any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said.” (Gladwell 194). People do this everyday. It’s shocking that such a common thing could have such a drastic effect: being the ultimate cause of a plane crash.
Apparently as soon as this was found out, experts were sent to airlines from countries with high PDI to fix the problem. David Greenberg was able to go to South Korea and reform the structure of airlines enough to make them much safer. Workers are not afraid to speak up and stand their ground, and the pilot is no longer being treated like royalty. Since the importance of PDI first came out, the aviation world underwent a huge change to shrink the authoritative distance between workers on an airline in order to make flights safer: and it worked. I, for one, am very happy that it did.
This quote is from the chapter “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes”, which is very much self-explanatory. I found the theory very interesting, because it was something than I had never heard about. Gladwell talks about the reasons for plane crashes; how it was mainly a combination of things, but there was one main cause. And the main cause was the second pilot being unable to speak up to the first pilot; that is, not being able to speak upright and confront them if there is an issue. Gladwell speaks of the Power-Distance Index (PDI); which is basically a culture’s treatment of authority. With a very high PDI, the co-pilot will feel very inferior compared to the pilot. The result of this would be that the co-pilot will be unable to speak up if they see a problem, or if they do, they will have mitigated speech. Mitigated speech “refers to any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said.” (Gladwell 194). People do this everyday. It’s shocking that such a common thing could have such a drastic effect: being the ultimate cause of a plane crash.
Apparently as soon as this was found out, experts were sent to airlines from countries with high PDI to fix the problem. David Greenberg was able to go to South Korea and reform the structure of airlines enough to make them much safer. Workers are not afraid to speak up and stand their ground, and the pilot is no longer being treated like royalty. Since the importance of PDI first came out, the aviation world underwent a huge change to shrink the authoritative distance between workers on an airline in order to make flights safer: and it worked. I, for one, am very happy that it did.
Working Hard?
“Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig.” (Gladwell 150)
I found this chapter of Outliers to be really interesting, and I have to say I really liked it. Gladwell talks about the relationship between success and hard work. ‘Hard work’ has come to have a bit of a negative undertone to it, I think, but I also think that undertone is wrong. Louis Borgenicht, a Jewish immigrant, was very poor. However, he was also very good at making clothes. And so he went wandering the streets, to find a garment that people wore, but no one sold. And what he found was a child, playing hopscotch: wearing an apron. “When Louis Borgenicht came home after first seeing that child’s apron, he danced a jig. He hadn’t sold anything yet. He was still penniless and desperate, and he knew that to make something of his idea was going to require years of backbreaking labour. But he was ecstatic, because the prospect of those endless years of hard labour did not seem like a burden to him.” (Gladwell 150). And that goes back to the first quote I posted about meaning. Hard work, that is creative, complex, and that has the relationship between effort and reward: that work is meaningful. People don’t mind doing it, in fact, they want to do it. Borgenicht was nothing short of ecstatic, “And the Beatles didn’t recoil in horror when they were told they had to play eight hours a day, seven days a week. They jumped at the chance.” (Gladwell 150).
The lesson that applies here, that Gladwell is talking about, is an inspiring one. And perhaps we’ve heard it many times before, but I think it’s worth repeating. The is lesson is “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.” Considering we all have somewhere around a thousand things to do this week, I think this is very applicable!
I found this chapter of Outliers to be really interesting, and I have to say I really liked it. Gladwell talks about the relationship between success and hard work. ‘Hard work’ has come to have a bit of a negative undertone to it, I think, but I also think that undertone is wrong. Louis Borgenicht, a Jewish immigrant, was very poor. However, he was also very good at making clothes. And so he went wandering the streets, to find a garment that people wore, but no one sold. And what he found was a child, playing hopscotch: wearing an apron. “When Louis Borgenicht came home after first seeing that child’s apron, he danced a jig. He hadn’t sold anything yet. He was still penniless and desperate, and he knew that to make something of his idea was going to require years of backbreaking labour. But he was ecstatic, because the prospect of those endless years of hard labour did not seem like a burden to him.” (Gladwell 150). And that goes back to the first quote I posted about meaning. Hard work, that is creative, complex, and that has the relationship between effort and reward: that work is meaningful. People don’t mind doing it, in fact, they want to do it. Borgenicht was nothing short of ecstatic, “And the Beatles didn’t recoil in horror when they were told they had to play eight hours a day, seven days a week. They jumped at the chance.” (Gladwell 150).
The lesson that applies here, that Gladwell is talking about, is an inspiring one. And perhaps we’ve heard it many times before, but I think it’s worth repeating. The is lesson is “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.” Considering we all have somewhere around a thousand things to do this week, I think this is very applicable!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Not always right
In an immigrant neighbourhood in
These four officers were inexperienced, straight out of the police-academy. What occurred here was that the assumptions the officers made were completely wrong and due to their inexperience they could not mind-read Diallo. From the moment they saw Diallo sitting outside alone, he was a criminal in their eyes. When the man ran, the officers assumed it was because he was guilty of a crime and not because he was frightened. When Diallo tried to pull out his wallet, in the eyes of the officers he was pulling out his gun. In the adrenaline filled situation the officers were forced to act quick and fast, and as the action escalated, they abandoned their reasoning and decided to shoot Diallo.
"Mind-reading failures happen to all of us. They lie at the root of countless arguments, disagreements, and misunderstandings. And yet, because these failures are so instantaneous and so mysterious, we don't really know how to understand them." (Gladwell 196)
What Gladwell is saying is that our instinctive ability to judge people with our sub-consciousness is prone to mistakes. In many circumstances it can be biased and if we decide to act upon these false readings we can surely make the wrong decisions. Failures that occur beneath our consciousness are hard to recognize and understand. I believe its similar to when you have a negative first impression or a bad "hunch" about someone which turns out to be completely false as you get to know the person. When you try to figure out why you got the negative assumption about the person, it is often impossible to understand why.
I think this is why many impulsive decisions we make can be harmful and this is the reason why we don't see everyone in the world making decisions on the whim, its simply unreliable and risky. No matter how amazing the capabilities of our sub-consciousness and quick judging can be, we can't always adhere to it because without the right experiences it is vulnerable to mistakes.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Michael Rintoul
Blog #2
In the first few chapters of Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller, author Jeff Rubin explains how world oil supplies affect economic cycles. Rubin continues through the text, describing many reasons why world oil supplies are not able to satisfy world demands. Ninety percent of the world oil supply is consumed by transportation vehicles. The developing countries are increasing their car fleets at a tremendous rate. In fact, within the next couple of years, the majority of cars in the world will be congesting the streets of China and India. In addition, these countries are heavily subsidizing oil consumed by its citizens. Gasoline in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran can be purchased for a mere fifty cents per litre. This inexpensive fuel is greatly increasing the oil consumption around the world.
In addition to running out of oil, Saudi Arabia is running out of water. There are no fresh water supplies left to meet its growing demand. However, there is an abundance of salt water and fortunately, salt water can be desalinated to produce clean fresh water. This technology uses a tremendous amount of energy (oil) and it has been estimated, that in the next fifteen years, the Middle East will require 750 billion cubic feet of water per year. It will require one million barrels of oil per day to desalinate that amount of water. To put this in perspective, it is more oil than all of the oil fields in Alaska can produce annually. This lack of fresh water is going to have a huge impact on oil supplies.
Oil consumers have become more efficient with the use of energy. As a result, the price of consuming energy has been reduced. As the cost of energy goes down, the amount consumed goes up. The result of this will encourage economic growth which will also add to the amount of oil being consumed. A similar scenario was in the airline industry in 1975; the price of jet fuel went through the roof. The airlines developed technology to become more efficient and as a result fuel consumption per mile flown has dropped forty percent since 1975. This efficiency reduced the cost of air travel which in turn increased the amount of passenger flights per year – jet fuel consumption increased dramatically.
Oil consumption will continue to rise and rapidly deplete oil reserves because as we improve technology to become more fuel efficient, we increase the amount of oil we can afford to consume.
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