An ethical dilemma that I had faced was one a couple of months ago in school. I had found out that a friend of mine wanted to cheat on a test and so was asking me the answers to the test. I was confused at the moment as to whether to tell her the answers because she was my friend or whether to tell her that it’s wrong because it’s not morally correct. In the end, I had decided to tell her the answers but one after telling her that it was not a good decision. My reasoning behind this was that I believe that it was my duty to informer that she was doing a wrong thing but ultimately it was her decision.
TOK – Bad Decisions
In the TED Talk, “Why We Make Bad Decisions” by Dan Gilbert, one statement stood out to me: We underestimate the odds of future pains and overestimate the value of present pleasures.
I think this really made me think about a time that I had made a bad decision. Once I had decided to splurge out money on a bunch of clothes that I did not like at the moment at all but knew that they were a trend. To this day, they still lie in my cupboard and I have never used them because I do not like them. However, in the moment it had given me happiness that I had something that everyone else around me also had
What songs matter to you now?
What kind of music have you been listening to recently? How do certain songs or artists make you feel? What songs do you think are important or significant right now?
As we are in a situation that we haven’t faced before, a lot of us have felt emotions such as anxiety or fear. Personally, I have been listening to songs to help me feel better in these times. For me, songs have been a way to feel ‘not alone’ in this situation. Rather than the genre or style of music (though I have been listening to more emotional rap), the lyrics are the most important aspect for me. One of the artists that I have been listening to is NF. One of his songs that I have been playing on repeat is called “Therapy session” and the lyrics of this particular song really reflect the emotions that many of us are going through at the moment.
Although some people may say we should be listening to songs or music that make us feel happier or better, I think that the songs almost act as a sort of tuning fork for our own situations, and they resonate with us. Recently, I read an article in the New York Times that talked about similar ideas and it talked about how different artists are very significant to current movements. It really helped me to see various perspectives on how different people see music in different ways.
How Can We Help One Another During the Coronavirus Outbreak?
In a time of anxiety and social distancing, what can we do to look out for one another?
Although social distancing seems to be the best way to stop the spread of the coronavirus, it has caused a lot of people to face fear and anxiety. In such a situation, I think it is up to each of us to make sure that we all look after each other. One of the main things to do is to try and stay in contact with all your friends and family even in such a situation. Even if this is just an online game of chess or UNO, try to make sure that no one feels left out. Playing online games can also help those who may feel more anxious by being on video calls for too long.
Not only your friends and family, but you should try and look out for your community also. This could be by donating to local food banks or volunteering to help out the elderly. There are a lot of people who rely on food banks and due to the shortage of donations and labor, a lot of banks are not able to provide for the poor. This has caused fear in a lot of communities who rely on these food donations to survive. Moreover, there are a lot of elderly who live alone and can’t go out to buy groceries or essential items. If you know someone in such a situation, reach out to them and ask them if they need help.
Finally, along with helping each other, I think we should be taking care of ourselves also. This includes making sure to wash our hands as often as possible and staying clean and indoors. Make sure that you don’t deviate from your main goals and don’t let these different circumstances stop you from achieving your aims and goals.
Tennis #3
The link to my audio
Study Skills
Recently in PSE, we went through a couple of new techniques for studying. I think some of these were really helpful especially the retrieval one. Quite often I think I am used to spending time on making notes or rereading notes. I especially think I will be using the retrieval method more often now and try to integrate it into my learning.
I also think that quite often when I’m stressed I tend to think that learning in like huge blocks instead of like taking breaks and pacing it out is better but I am going to try and force myself to try and space my learning out into different categories of subjects as well as manage my time a bit better.
A technique I tend to go away from is Dual coding as in my mind it has always been something that I think is a waste of time. However, I tried this out for a test the other day and it turned out to be quite a useful tool for me.
Kahaani #2
The link to my audio
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
LO4: I have been committed throughout and plan on also!
Top Girls
Q) Explain how Churchill uses language to establish a particular character’s identity, class, or social status. First, decide on a character, then analyze the specific language selected by Churchill for this particular character. Include direct quotes and dramatic techniques. Remember to consider both representation and identity in your response. Respond in paragraph form.
The character I have chosen is Dull Gret. In Top Girls, Churchill uses language as an indicator of class status and how women were oppressed at that time. Churchill makes Dull Great a stark contrast to everyone else at the dinner table by making her the quiet and silent one who doesn’t talk much until the very end. When Gret does eventually decide to join the conversation, the way her narrative changes is striking. I think the reason Churchill does this is to show how women at that time had a lot to say and a lot of emotion that they wanted to express but were told to keep quiet and not talk just like how Dull Gret was in the beginning. Talking about her main speech at the end where Gret describes her struggles, I think that Churchill wants to portray how Gret had gone “into hell” and fight the “devils” (devils being men in this scenario) to fight against this system where men were dominating. Churchill shows how women had been constructed to have a particular ‘voice’ or ‘identity’ and therefore uses Gret to show how women tried to fight back against this. Through the story that Gret tells, Churchill wants to show that even though they were all going through horrific times the women were able to fight the “devils” (men) and also beat them.
Reflection on the Arts Aards
What would I change in the award and why?
The first thing that I would change is our Eligibility age. The restrictions that we had given for age did not include people over the age of 35 and a lot of people thought that was unfair. people over 35. The reason why we had chosen to not include people over the age of 35 was that we did not think putting up a 10-year-old against a 40-year-old was fair. However, to maybe solve this issue there could be age categories.
What did you realize about others’ awards? Questions you might raise?
So, a main problem throughout all the awards that was common was that we were finding it difficult to measure “emotion”. Good art is normally connected with the idea that it makes the recipients “feel emotion.” However, many times people have different responses to the same piece of artwork. So then how do we know if the Art achieved its purpose?
Another problematic area that often came up was about judges. How do we make sure that we have the right panel of judges? Is there such a thing as “an expert”? should only experts be allowed to judge a competition? If we make it about popularity within the public, will the vote be more biased than the one from judges? Questions like this lead us back to the main question – What exactly is “good” art.
PSE Career Strengths
As of right now, I want to enter the field of computer science in the future. I believe that I have some of the skills and interests that one would look for in a computer programmer.
One of these strengths would be that I have a positive attitude towards a lot of things and don’t get easily agitated when I come across a challenge. In computer science, there comes a lot of times when one is faced with problems such as if your code isn’t working or there are multiple errors. I think that if faced with such a situation, I would not give up easily and instead try and figure out the solution to it. Another strength that I think is good is that I have good time management and a good work ethic. I have the ability to estimate the amount of time needed to complete a task and then actually delivering on it on time. Finally, I think that I can work well in groups and am a good team player and a lot of times programmers have to work in groups in order to produce a good final product which I personally believe that I would be good at.
Overall, I genuinely like learning the theories behind computer science and then applying it and so I think with all the qualities that I have, I would be able to go into such a field.