Rationality, Perfectibility & Mutability Premises

Rationality- I agree most people are capable of making the right decisions based on sound judgments. There are big differences in people’s analytical abilities, so what may be right for some may not be the case for others. Our democracy, justice system and free enterprise are all based on our assumption that people are rational. Take the “financial crises” we are experiencing it is based on people taking irrational decisions for their own good will!!
Perfectibility- I disagree people are born in sin. In my opinion, every individual is born with a clean slate; they are then molded by society and choose various paths in life. Hard work and individual achievement make up parts of the American culture and it is up to each individual to take up that opportunity and freedom provided in this country to become successful or follow a path of sin. Some religions are based on this premise.
Mutability- I agree human behavior is shaped by environmental factors. If we live in an environment of poverty and crime, we become beggars/ thieves because our environment influences us. On the other hand if we were live in a middle class society, our environment would influence us to go to school like everyone else. What children are capable of here in America and what they do in Africa are all determined by their environment. This is not to say a child in America cannot be a criminal or a child in Africa cannot become a leading scientist someday. It all depends on how far each individual allows the environment he lives in to influence him.

Creatures of Our Culture

I agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict, that we are creatures of our culture. Humans are bound by their culture, it is their identity. Everything we do is shaped by our culture in some form or another. Culture is something that is very hard to shed and it functions out of awareness. In order to understand others, we must first understand our own culture and how we are influenced by it. We can break through the barriers and understand others better by studying and observing their culture. It is important to realize that cultures are neither better nor worse, they are simply different. To be free from the hidden constraints of culture, we must study it and keep an open mind, because behind the differences there are basic similarities such as love, family, loyalty, friendship and joy that are common among various cultures. We need to experience other cultures and show more understanding, unlike the lady who traveled to Iran and felt very misunderstood.

Here is a link to a video clip I think you will find interesting!!
The God's Must be Crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66pTPWg_wUw

Ch 5: Cultural Display Rules

A concept that I found interesting was the cultural display rules that are a factor in nonverbal communication. We are all born into a culture that provides rules on how to live and communicate with each other. Cultural display rules influence how people use their bodies in communication. For example, Asian children are taught not to look an adult directly in the eye as a sign of respect, here in the West we see it as a sign of disrespect. When President Obama bowed too deep before Japan’s Emperor Akihito, there was a lot of debate on the aptness of the act. The media portrayed the act as, “The United States of America bowing low and lowly before Imperial Japan.” It was said that the Emperor “smiled” to communicate his embarrassment.

We need to be more careful when communicating non verbally using unfamiliar cultural displays. There are many aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication we need to carefully consider, if we do not want to be misunderstood.

Checkout Image At: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/usa/news/article_1513396.php/President-Obama-s-deep-bow-in-Japan-causes-debate-Video

Do Men & Women Use Language Differently?

I suppose men and women use language differently in some circumstances. Women love to chat where as men prefer action over words. In one of my undergrad science classes, I learned that the female brain excels in verbal tasks; where as the male brain excels in mathematical and visual-spatial tasks. Women love to give details when they are talking, where as men just say something with very few non-descriptive words and leave it at that. For example, if a woman were asked how her evening was at a party, she would give details on the food, the guests, how they were dressed, what happened and how the place was decorated. A man on the other hand would just say the party was great (or not) and leave it at that. Most women use language to convey empathy, while most men use language to get things done. This is not to say men cannot use language to be empathetic or that women are incapable of using language to get things done.

We have come a long way in how we use language compared to our ancestors and as we become better educated, our use of language is merging. The differences we see may have been imposed by culture and nature; this was discussed in the text in chapter 4 too. We also need to consider the context and subject matter when we say men and women use language differently. For example sports and politics are topics men may want to talk more about, while women may prefer to talk about family, travel or food. Again this is not the case for everybody!!!

Judging Others through Perception

I think it is impossible to perceive others without judging or categorizing them in some way. According to Trenholm, we judge people daily using person prototypes (geek) and personal constructs (attractive, childish). Human beings have a natural instinct to judge so we can decide if our response should be fight or flight. We use our perceptions to better understand someone and to build relationships based on these perceptions. Our society often creates and perpetuates negative stereotypes naively, which often leads to unfair discrimination.
We all need to be more conscious of how we perceive others and should not be quick to judge or categorize people, since it can affect our relationship with someone negatively. We need to become more mindful when we process information and more active listeners. When we judge people based on their looks or how they communicate, we are limiting what that person is capable of and hence see them for what we want to see. In order to make my judgments fair, I try not to be quick to judge someone without learning all the details and re-evaluate my perceptions accordingly. Human interaction is an interesting and delicate subject and we need to be careful about putting people into a “box.”

A Concept from Ch 10

There were several good ideas on how to make an effective public speech. A key concept that stood out for me was the importance of a good introduction that would capture the audience’s attention. Table 10.1 (pg 282) discusses different ways to start a public speech, which I thought was interesting. I think opening a speech with humor, a video or power point with a quote or picture, are some other ways to make a powerful start. Obviously we need to keep in mind the appropriateness of the joke (there is nothing worse than a punch line that has no punch), video, quote or picture to the given audience. We need to keep in mind that the power point slides are there to support us and not the other way around, so keep them simple and don’t read or pack all the information in it. If all else fails, try starting the speech with a personal story, so they audience can see the human side of you. An interesting introduction will definitely keep the audience engrossed and want to learn more and this is necessary for a public speech to be effective.

An Influential Speaker

I have had the opportunity to listen to many influential speakers, in person or through the media. However, a guest speaker I listened to last October communicated in a way I had not heard before. I was taking a course in special education and our professor invited Richard to speak, he was a high school teacher who was deaf. He had two interpreters to assist him as he used sign language to convey his ideas. What struck me was the passion with which he gave his lecture. He was well prepared with creative power points and clearly articulated what people with disabilities are capable of. Richard had a certain presence and enthusiasm as he communicated, that kept everyone’s attention on him. Every now and then he injected some humor and got the audience involved. Through his lecture, I learned that we can become effective communicators if we follow some rules like, keeping it simple, visual, interesting with the right touch of humor, look at the audience, be creative when introducing a topic and move with gestures. He showed us that we are all capable of doing things if we are passionate about it.
One of the worst speakers I heard was someone who just read from her notes for twenty minutes standing in the same spot, in a fast-paced, monotonous voice. She never looked at the audience and judging from the tone of her voice, she was clearly nervous. She had no visuals or humor to share. As a result, some of the audience just chatted amongst themselves, while others began to doze off.