Today in class we spend a good deal of time discussing
upcoming assignments as well as going over Journal entry requirements again.
Zach showed a video expressing a grim outlook on societies dependence on mobile
devices. We got instructions to draw a map of our lives and once we complete
our reading assignment we will know exactly what to do.
There was a brief conversation about the Ancient Greek story
of Pandora. The story is that Pandora received a gift from the sky God Zues and
was instructed never to open it. Since she had been endowed with curiosity she
could not resist and once she opened the box it let out all of the horrible
things that plague mankind. She was able to close the box and the only thing
she kept from escaping was hope. Crystal explained that this story symbolizes
that no human society is perfect, and that Sociology can help us get closer to
perfection.
We spent the last part of class watching a video which
allowed us to look through a window at some other cultures. We watched about the Australian Aborigines,
the Japanese, culture from India and the Native Americans. One thing that it
seems all of these societies have in common is the great respect for their
history and their religions. This may be something that they share with all human
cultures. Even though this may be a common theme in human society, it could
also be a source of conflict between different societies. Each culture has
their own beginning and their own creation myth. Each culture believes that its
story is true and is therefore the stories of other cultures are not true. This
can cause conflict between different cultures which leads to the suppression of
less technologically advanced cultures.
The video above explains very basically the process of the Mikvah in the Jewish tradition. If you analyse the video it is not too difficult to see how there may have been physical benefits along with spiritual benefits. It is easy to see how there are some components that may have slowly changed within the Jewish tradition and how many other cultures may have borrowed from this tradition.
It is my opinion that most cultural traditions began with a
practical purpose. For example, a group notices that if they go into a pool of
water before the weekly tribal dance (which could also have a practical
application) they tend not get sick as often. Not knowing the reason, they
assume this practice as part of the tradition simply because those members of
the tribe that do not participate seem to get sick more often. Eventually the
original reason may be lost, and the tradition continues simply because that is
the way it has always been. Behaviors that promote survival are simply
encouraged while behaviors that have greater risk are discouraged. Even today
there are more people that wish to be cautious and avoid risk even though
sometimes risk can produce huge rewards. More often risk leads to failure which
in some cases can be catastrophic for an individual or even a society.
Positive I can do: Remember that in order for society to
function, members must care about each other.
Negative I can do: Be selfish and deny help even when I can
help.
Positive Society can do: Help each other at a more local level.
Devise a better way of helping than just giving a hand out.
Negative Society can do: Continue giving hand outs which does
not always promote self-improvement.
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