RMP

Hello class,

This post will be answering the question “Do you believe in the rationality, perfectibility and mutability premises.

The rationality premise is based upon the idea that people can be trusted to make good decisions. Even though this theory is possible, I do not believe that it is can always be trusted even at the highest level of our government. We as a nation have been showed many times by our government that they have lied, put us in debt with other countries, and spent money on unnecessary things rather than getting our soldiers out of Iraq. In this case the government as a social institution has not proved to me that we can always trust them.

I believe there is too much corruption. I find the perfectibility premise is based upon more so on religion. I do believe that someone can better themselves through giving the effort and having self control over certain situations to make people trust them, and for them to have a sense of being perfect/good heart in there mind. The mutability premise is the belief in which I completely agree upon. The environment in which one grows up in is where they will pick up all the behaviors and stereotypes of the groups they are associated with. Education is definitely the way to improve a persons intellectual thinking, and the way they will perceive situations outside of the narrow minded way they would have see it without the proper education. Usually when people are uneducated they only see situations through one-sided opinions.

Breaking The Limits of Cultures

According to anthropologist Ruth Benedict “we spend our lives following patterns of our culture.” I strongly agree with Benedict because no matter where you come from or what you have been through in life, you will always have traces of your roots within your personality. One of the most personalities within cultures this is commonly found is beliefs and religion.

There are many people throughout society that cannot break through the ways of their cultures, and people often fall into the negative effects of their culture. Issues like drugs and illegal ways of making money, stealing and many other issues throughout society. Ways that I believe people can break through the limits of their culture is be exposing themselves to new people and cultures. The reason why I believe this is because when you talk to new people you start to gain different ideas and start to think differently. If you always talk to people that are negative then eventually you will have those negative traits. Exposure to different crowds is in my eyes the easiest way of breaking through cultures. The more people you meet, the better quality of ideas you think of and the best outcomes usually come.

Nonverbal Codes/Emblems

Hello Class,

One concept discussed in Chapter 5 that I found useful was emblems. Emblems can be described as “kinesic behaviors whose direct verbal translations are known to all of the members of a social group.” Often times when we are speaking to others we use emblems without really noticing. For instance, as I was reading this chapter and this certain section I noticed that phrases that I use in my everyday vocabulary are considered emblems and I just say them without really thinking. One phrase that I say often and is considered an emblem is, “Calm down” while moving my hands in a downward motion. I tend to use this emblem to tell another person I am talking to relax and ultimately calm down their attitude.

Although, what really caught my attention when reading about emblems is that some can be offensive in other cultures yet I would have no way of knowing because I am not a part of that culture. For example, the book stated that the A-OK sign could be translated in some cultures as money or even an obscene gesture to symbolize a female private part. I guess we really need to pay attention to different emblems and how we use them so we won’t offend anyone.

Gender's Use of Language

Hello class,

In response to the question “Do you agree that men and women use language differently in specific areas?” I do agree both sexes use language differently. You can tell when engaging is conversations with males and females the difference in tone masculinity and femininity. When hold a conversation with another male they tend to up them selves subliminally. They try not to make the boost in ego very open and obvious, but they do it in a way that if you do no think about it long enough you will not catch what they said. Usually, most men are always trying to dominate one another in some sort. Whether it’s talking tough to get a point across or simply trying to show that one is more masculine than the other. Most of the time when men discuss topics they usually get into arguments or altercations.

When women become into the discussion of use of language, females tend to use language less masculine. When talking to a female I discovered that most of the time they just want someone to listen to them. When I engage in a personal conversation with a female they are more relaxed and just want to talk about anything that comes to the mind. When women discuss things with other women they usually talked about another female such as gossiping or trying to belittle another female.

Categorizing & Judgements

When answering the question rather or not it is possible to perceive others without judging them or criticizing them, I do believe it is possible to look upon someone and not judge the individual, but I do know that it is very difficult for someone to do so.  Different cultures is what shapes peoples opinion, and those opinions are what people use to gain a understanding about someone they may not know or someone they are getting to know. Another reason why it is difficult for people to not judge people is because of different stereotypes and belief throughout our society. For example, if someone who was not raised in a diverse community and do not know they values of people in different cultures, then they may one see things in a very narrow minded way. If so, this is when these people use stereotypes and other beliefs to categorize an individual or group of people.

The reason why I believe that it is possible look at someone and not judge them is because where I come from there are a lot of different nationalities and my community is very diverse. Although it is very easy to stereotype someone, I learned that everyone in certain groups are not the same. More so in this era people used stereotypes to define people when in actuality that person can b someone with a different personality that they may have thought. I do not think that it is fair to judge someone because their race, or sex, ethnic group. Everyone should have the same opportunity to show people who they really are, but in today’s society its just not that easy.