Four [reflecttion] Decades After Milgram, We’re Still Willing to Inflict Pain

The article discussed about a psychological experiment done by a Yale professor. In the conclusion, the author asserted:
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/opinion/29mon3.html?_r=1



"The results of both experiments pose a challenge. If this is how most people behave, how do we prevent more Holocausts, Abu Ghraibs and other examples of wanton cruelty? Part of the answer, Professor Burger argues, is teaching people about the experiment so they will know to be on guard against these tendencies, in themselves and others.

An instructor at West Point contacted Professor Burger to say that she was teaching her students about his findings. She had the right idea — and the right audience. The findings of these two experiments should be part of the basic training for soldiers, police officers, jailers and anyone else whose position gives them the power to inflict abuse on others."

So i want to reuse this concept, or quotation
Society is my concentration, and education is my primary concern. Well, if that is the case, can i say, the best way to help people to know why they are entitled by me as "unproductive" is to tell them. To let modern men see my point of view on current society. Indeed, this needs futhur research.
Research expand to many fields, such as philosophy, Christianity, education, virtue, worldview, culture geography...etc.

tradition

In such turbulent times, one can become dispirited by the presence of economy. If depression is defined as a, deep and long recession period, and anyone under the age of 75 cannot recall it, then we are surely in one now. However, I believe no matter whatever the circumstances might be, we should never lower or exchange our values and beliefs. There are two reasons: first, tradition is what makes human beings distinct, and second, values are the foundation of a moral and stabilized society.

After a long period of discovery, scientists have finally concluded that tradition is the only factor, which separates human beings from the other animals. From radiocarbon dating, a method that is used to determine the age of a material, scientists have also discovered the first possible sign of religion appeared about a hundred thousand years ago. In other word, since a hundred thousand years ago, our ancestors have already recognized the essentiality of value and belief. No other animal on earth has such incredible ability.

Secondly, values are what make a society stabilized. Value is the kind of attitude we have doing things. For instance, my personal values are: persistence, hard work, compassion, and openness. Therefore, all my actions will comply with my values. No matter how many times or how harsh people criticize me about my writing skill, I will just keep trying, because one of my personal values says “persistence”.
In conclusion, our ancestors once thought those teachings as the most valuable things for mankind. However, modern men are pushing them farther and farther away from their daily life. The decision we make today will impact us tomorrow, and next generation’s culture will be build upon our generation foundation.

My father and I

Obama once said to Men’s Health magazine, “every man is either trying to live up to his father’s expectation, or make up his father’s mistake.” I grew up watching my father franchising his company. He is an entrepreneur, a diligent one, and from him you can understand how devoted a man can possibly be. And at the end, my father influenced my life the most.

For the last nineteen years, I had little childhood memories with my father. He is a busy man, and there is no weekend for him. Moreover, since he loved his company so much, when the company was rebuilt, he even gave himself an additional "office" with a bed, television, bathroom, and even a kitchen. And the reason: “just don’t want to drive at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

My mother and grandparents raised me. They told me stories about him. Stories of how he overcame difficulties. When he first started the business, it was not doing so well. Two month later, the company was already in debt. Additionally, since he was so far away from home, and cannot afford a train ticket, he was forced to sleep on the park bench for weeks. To me, he is just the same as the “Wall street legend”-Chris Gardner.

When I was eleven years old, dad took me to fishing one day. On the way, he asked me the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I thought about it for a second, and said, “I don’t know. What is it dad?” he looked at me in the eye, smiled, and said, “ Son, that is the only question I cannot answer for you. You have to find out by yourself.”

Since then I have been on the journey of seeking wisdom. After years, from schooling to Bible studying, the meaning of my life is very similar to my father: to be a good man whom does good things to others-provide services and establish values to the society. Like what Albert Einstein said, “try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value."

Culture Value

In these turbulent times, it's easy to become dispirited by the country's present circumstances. Workers are losing their jobs, students are no longer able to afford tuition and banks are facing insolvency. Despite these problems, our essential personal beliefs and values should never be exchanged or lowered. In time the economy will recover; however, the next generation's traditions, values and beliefs will be built upon our present foundation.

After more than fifteen hundred thousand years of human evolution, human brain has tripled in size. The brain has gained a new part called prefrontal cortex. This new structure allows human beings to rationalize things, in other words, like a time stimulator. Religion is therefore invented: a set of practices or beliefs, which answer questions that relate to life, death, and nature. From radiocarbon dating, a scientific method used to determine the age of a substance, geologists discovered the first appearance of possible signs of religion was about one hundred thousand years ago. That is to say, since one hundred thousand years ago, human beings have understood the potentiality of worldview.

Because of culture diversity, different countries may have different holidays. For instance, in United States, the New Years Day is on the first day of the year; however, in China, since their ancestors left them with a different calendar, the Chinese New Year is in the middle of February.

Holidays may be celebrated differently, but they all are created with underline message: New Years Day-the preciousness of time, Martin Luther King’s day- the value of freedom, and Thanksgiving Day-the importance of gratitude. However, modern men are misinterpreting the definition of holiday. Holiday is no longer a day for personal reflection but a day to seek personal pleasure.

This culture is corrupting, and the next generation is receiving wrong messages.
When the news is filled with, violence, crime, hatred, and homosexuals, what has this generation been doing? Writers, scientists, and philosophers are longer the engine of society; instead, Hollywood celebrities, NBA basketball players, and American Idols finalists have been most people’s everyday life focus. Students, the next generation, are spending everyday watching television or surfing on the Internet. Most importantly, the goal of human life shifted from, wisdom to money.

In conclusion, our ancestors thought that culture values and beliefs were the most precious thing for mankind. Indeed, it teaches people a way to live a life with meaning and engagement. Unless people start to understand the real problem in society, one day, human beings will be facing the danger of massive destruction.

The Value of Relationship

Time has changed. With the improvement of technologies, people’s life is no longer measured in hours or minutes but in terms of seconds. For many parents in the U.S., the total amount of time they spend everyday driving to work, answering clients phone call, and responding to emails are twice as much, compare to the amount of time they spend with their children.

I believe that no matter whatever the family condition is, parents should take the most responsibility for raising their kids, and there are two primary reasons: first, it complies with traditional and cultural value, and second it increases the level of intimacy between parents and kids.

After many years of scientific research, sociologists have come to the conclusion that, culture is the only factor that separates human from other species. Different people may have different cultural background, in other words, different beliefs and practices. However, there is one statement all societies agree with: a stabilized society begins in a home, and in the house it all start with the teachings and the disciplines of a child.

By combining both western and eastern religions, the serious argument for parents to be actively involved in this crucial process (raising their child) can be more sufficiently emphasized. In the Holy Bible, the Koran, or the Hebrew Bible, they all defined what a family is-a father, a mother, and a child. The most important duty for the parents is to instruct their kids and teach them the truth. In eastern countries, the mission of raising a child is described as the most difficult task. Moreover, it can be only accomplished when both the mother and the father execute it together. For instance, Taoism’s Yin and Yan, Hinduism’s Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. Yet, each part may have different missions or attitudes, however, they only work when the two pieces are united. Our ancestor once thought that these teachings were the most precious things for mankind. Our culture, however, is pushing them farther and farther away from our everyday lives.

Secondly, I believe the psychological feeling of comfort and familiar for a child when they are with their parents are essential. Animal Psychologist and human psychologists once did an interesting experiment together. Scientists want to know if monkeys and humans are going to react similarly, when they face a sudden change of people and environment.

Scientist first started with monkeys. They randomly selected thirty monkeys from zoos across the nation, they gathered them up, and placed them into an empty classroom. After just minutes, monkeys recognized the differences of environment and people; as a result, they all became exhilarated. Scientists recorded monkeys jumping from chair to chair, and shouting to each other as greetings.

However, when scientists did the same thing to human beings, the outcome was completely the opposite. Since each of them have never met each other, so people’s tone, voice, diction, and even behavior started to alter because of external factors. For some people, they even placed themselves into a defensive position. From this experiment, psychologists have concluded that, humans are a very distinct species, unlike other species human are the only mammal, which opposes any change, even if the change is small. Therefore, kids will react differently with different intimacy levels. For instance, a child may feel completely normal to go to supermarket shopping or go watch a movie with his mother, but feel bizarre or even scared to conduct exactly the same activity with his father.

In conclusion, this is my fourth year to be in this country. Indeed, this country has great health insurance and other offers for people who are retired; however, senior citizens usually do not get the respect they deserve from junior group. Much of the reason why this is beginning to happen is because of the devaluation of cultural values, and parent’s failure of understating and applying the correct teaching and discipline to their kids. When everyday people are worrying about their banking account, can this society move any further?

The Best Learning Is Active Learning

At age of five, Albert Einstein’s father, Hermann Einstein, gave Albert a compass as a birthday gift. Unlike other boys, who might have tossed the compass aside in minutes and moved to things that seemed more interesting. Einstein had the compass in his hand for months. He investigated and questioned this strange object, asking his parents’ questions like, “ Why the arrow always points to the north?”

Since his parents were normal working-class people, they were not able to give little Albert a good explanation; however, that did not stop him from trying to find out the reality. Those questions later became gunpowder of Einstein’s journey of scientific discovery.

After more than 50 years of devotion in science and contribution to the society, Einstein has become one of the most influential people. All parents wish their newborn to acquire Einstein’s intelligence. A child’s learning style becomes a crucial factor.

I believe the best way for children to learn is by active learning, and there are two primary reasons: first, it will keep the child focused and engaged during the learning process, and second, it will help the child to develop an attitude and personality that best suits the needs of current society.

When describing a child, “energy” and “curiosity” are the two most common adjectives people would use. Indeed, everything around a kid is a question mark. Although, having the motivation for discovering and investigating are good. But for educators, with all the attractions from the natural environment, keep a child’s focus during early education period becomes a big challenge.

Schools have been using active learning method since 1600s-the first establishment of institutions. By letting children learn things step-by-step, will not only keep them focused, but also allow the instructors to evaluate student’s overall performance. That is also why homework is invented. Teachers assign after schoolwork to students in order to minimize the temptation from external factors. And as time progress, once the student reaches to higher education level like college, the importance of homework and examinations are reduced. Because by then, schools are expecting students to have already developed some productive learning habits.

Secondly, active learning will also impact a child’s development of attitude and personality. In 21st century, with the invention of Internet and improvement of technologies, corporations are shifting from local to global. Companies are seeking better employees, workers who are passionate, hardworking and courageous.

However, all those traits the corporate demands are all sub-products of this long-term active learning process. In high school, students are required to write research papers in English and science classes. The school encourages students to choose a topic that would raise their interests; however, the focus here is neither understanding the material that is being investigated nor producing a ten page well written paper. The factual purpose of this exercise is first, to let students be passionate in researching and investigating, and second, to construct a mind-set of risk taking, hardworking, and persistence—to students unconsciously.

In conclusion, yet, there are many parents who prefer a more passive learn style, learning by watching and listening. However, when comparing the benefits a child would receive in the future, active learning is more beneficial. It will not only help a child to become rigorous and hard working, but also develop a personality that most suits 21st century companies demand.

MIT Vs. Berkeley

The transition between high school and college is like liftoff-the roaring thrill of the first booster rocket those lunches the great adventure of life. United States of America, the Mecca of education, where great universities and unlimited opportunities gathers. Unlike any other country, even if one failed in high school, one is always given a second chance by starting the higher education in local community college, and once the student realized the importance of education, in another words, the value of knowledge, there are always great universities that awaits him. For a college student whom majors in business management and administration field, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California-Berkeley are two great choices for higher education. Even thou these two schools provides similar education quality, the student body and social environment are very different from each other.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the nucleus of east cost engineering, science, business, and mathematics. New York Times newspaper acknowledges the school as, “the ultimate place for information overload, endless possibilities and expanding your horizons.” Indeed, with sixty-three MIT related Nobel Prize Winners, the school obtains some of the most creative minds in United States. Additionally, the school focuses on providing an education to students that combines both academic study and real time discovery. Moreover, since MIT is a private institution, class size is small, fewer than ten students. The student faculty ratio is about seven to one, in another words, each student can accesses to their professors easily.

Undoubtedly, under such altruistic environment, life in MIT is no fun. For every high school students who wishes to attend MIT, the school expects every candidate to be creative, hard working, problem solving, and most importantly, be able to manage and prioritize daily affairs. For instance, during academic semesters, on weekdays especially, every student needs to spend about eight hours per day studying. An undergraduate asserts, “ It may seem… like there is no life outside the problem sets and studying for exams, but with good time management skill or the ability to survive [a] lack of sleep, there are always things you can do on campus.”

Besides all the opportunities the school provides and the workload that is beyond comfort level, MIT is a school made up with engaging people. Although one forth of its student-body does look like Albert Einstein, the rest of them seem to be ‘ordinary’ student. Although, each student’s interests may vary from athletic activity to building robots, but there is one thing all students have in common—creative and hard working. Simultaneously, the school environment is enriched by different ethnicity, culture, language, and religion. With three hundred and thirty organizations, twelve media organizations, sixty-four ethic, language, and internal student organizations, thirty religious organizations…the school promises to every student “ No matter what your culture, interests, or background, you will find an open door at MIT”

Similarly, in spite of the differences of location and weather in winter, University of California-Berkeley’s academic is just about as challenging as MIT. At Berkeley students are offered with a wild variety of undergraduate courses and research opportunities. Additionally, the university library holds more than nine million books volumes, ninety thousand current serial publications, and sixty-four thousand videos. Most importantly, the school gives their students freedom for discovery and investigation. Professor Yellen from Hass School of Business comments, “research allows student to pursue their interests, to learn new things, to sharpen problem solving skills, and to challenge themselves in new way.”

However, University of California—Berkeley is a public university, and it is using a very different admission system. With more than twenty three thousand undergraduate students, more than ninety percent of lectures in Berkeley are held in large lecture halls-more than a hundred students. An undergraduate student emphasizes, “ If you walk into a lecture hall and you had to group people into what ‘crowd’ they were in high school, it would be near impossible.” Moreover, yet Berkeley has more than three hundred organizations, but many students still felt disconnected from the social scene. An undergraduate once stated in Los Angles Times newspaper, “students live up to hours away via car or BART, since high rent prices in the city of Berkeley force many out of the city’s limits. If kids don’t find a niche in some group or activity, they end up completely lost for a social life.”

Finally, University of California-Berkeley has a very special admission system. At Berkeley the school considers academic GPA, application essay, rigor of secondary school record and state residency as the most important factors. In comparison, the admission office in MIT considers character, personal qualities as the most important factor, and then it is academic GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, interview and recommendation. As a result, with forty one percent of Asian, thirty two percent of White, eleven percent of Hispanic, and three percent of African American, Berkeley does not hold a diverse education environment,

In conclusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California-Berkeley are two great universities. However, different students with different personalities may make different choices. MIT creates a hand-on learning environment, while Berkeley lets their student to be independent, and learn things on their own.