Friday, June 22, 2012

Weighing In on Scale

In the middle of the transition to summer, to a changing role at SBS, the anticipation of my sister's wedding, and my impending age mile stone, I find myself thinking about the powerful effects of perspective.  In accepting my implicit invitation to join in this reflection, please take two steps before writing: consider this incredible sliding scale; choose an aspect of your life and examine the ways you have considered it differently from different places.  For local noon on Friday 29 June, please write about the effects of perspective on you the knower.  While shifts in perspective over time are powerful and important, focus instead here on those shifts brought on by changes in your location.  As the link suggests, "closer" and "farther" are different locations.

14 comments:

  1. Perspective definitely effects the experience of obtaining the knowledge the knower says he/she has. For example, let's say that we fin out on the news tomorrow that J.K Rowling was found flying on her broomstick in the skies of London. Now, for the people who were in London, looking up into the sky to find Rowling darting through the clouds, they can say, " J.K Rowling was flying! I was there!". ( Imagine what a flying pigeon would be able to think! " Whoa, what is she doing up here?")For the other people in Mexico who are on youtube watching the video, they can say, " I saw the video of J.K Rowling flying!" While both parties saw J.K Rowling on her broomstick, the experience was completely different. The Londoners were going about their day as always, when they saw a storytelling genius on a broomstick in the air. As for the Mexicans, the news let them know that something was going on in the skies of London, which made them search for a video of J.K Rowling riding a Nimbus 2000. Bottomline, the whole situation is much crazier if you were able to be a Londoner on that day. Being a Londoner could make you more excited and avid about this breaking new report than, say, the Mexican who saw it on their news feed.

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  2. I like NahFeeSah2's comment above. She tied in a lot of factors. As for me, I'm a little confused, but I'll do my best under these circumstances.
    I have s different perspective on things when I'm at home than I do at school. This all stems from the fact that I'm currently on summer vacation. I have a different outlook on life and what my purpose is. My role as a person change when I'm home and when I'm at school, so my perspectives/ views on everything around me are different. At home I'm somewhat responsible for 7 other younger people, so my action (the things I say and do) will influence them. I can't do certain things or say certain things around them because I know they're watching. At school, I'm responsible for myself. There will be a certain level of influence that I have on the underclassmen, but I don't feel directly responsible because they are away from home and should know how to make correct choice for themselves. Another example on how my perspective on life changes based on different places would that when I'm home I socialize a lot more than I do at school. My "life" at home is all about socializing, while my life at school is focused on school work and activities.

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  4. I really connect to the difference between home and school as Lola did. Because I am a boarder, my responsibilities change- when I am at home, I am responsible for small things like emptying the dish washer or picking up dog food if it is needed. At school, I have set times at which I need to be doing things. The real difference though is in my friends and who I associate with. At home, my main group of friends all live in the same town and they all go to school together- I am basically the outsider in the group though I have known many of them since pre-school if not before. At school, though the bond is shorter, at times, it seems deeper because of what we have had to go through together at such a great magnitude- at school, I had my first (that I was actually aware of the situation) family death. It was with my school friends I recovered with. Also I live with my school friends and they see me in an entirely different, sometimes make-up free way:) Because of how different the pools are- even as small a difference as the fact that my friends at home are both boys and girl- I react differently to similar circumstances. Knowing all of this about myself, I subconsciously, and consciously think, "what would home/school friend insert name here do in this situation". The group of people, or my location affects my actions in that things I do at school, like going out to the supermarket with shorts, Uggs, a t-shirt, and a Tinkerbell sticker on my cheek in 50ยบ weather is not what I would do at home.

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  5. Like Kate and Lola, I made the immediate connection of my perspective from being home versus being at Stoneleigh Burnham. When I am at school, my life is scheduled and it revolves around education and sports. Almost everything I do there, I try to make sure it will benefit me in some way, whereas at home, I have a lot more fun because I am socializing more. Also, I have completely different groups of friends at home and at school. Many factors play into this of course, be it class, ethnicity, age, gender, interests, hobbies, and the places where my friends have grown up. In my perspective, at home I am a lot more of a positive person because I am having more fun and freedom, but at school, I am usually a bit more pessimistic because I can’t wait for the next break. These shifts are definitely brought about by my location. This is because when I am at school, although I am used to it, I still would rather the city life, so my perspective on SBS can be more negative compared to when I am home, and then I realize I actually miss SBS. When I am home, I love it but part of me wants to go to SBS when I am arguing with my mother or there is too much drama. But when I do get to SBS, I am fine for an hour and then I just want to go home. My location greatly changes my perspective because of all the factors that are involved with location- environment, weather, people, activities, etc.

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  6. As the three immediately previous knowers have done, I will reflect upon the time I have spent since June 8 (and draw from even earlier experience). To make a probably obvious observation, America is viewed rather differently when seen from the outside. Each year as I travel to Germany, this becomes apparent: in my own thoughts and observations, and in the comments and behaviors of others. I experience an acute change not only in environment and living habits, but also in perspective. My American life seems to me remote and foreign; it knows nothing of these streets or these habits or these ways of life. I observe it through the eyes of German adults who discuss American politics with condescending smirks, who discuss the American mindset with quips about "Warning: Do not put cat in microwave;" I observe it through the eyes of children and young adults who worship American culture as they perceive it. Indeed, I often perceive it much the way they do come August. This extraordinary double/switching perspective never fails to amaze me: is it the new environment, perhaps, that causes these thoughts? or is it simply the change, the removal? I don't know. I do know that this has driven home, for me at least, the point that in order to make sound judgments, or to see things clearly, you must examine several perspectives, even those with which you aren't comfortable. Read books by authors you disagree with. Travel to a new country and live there. Learn what people think about your home. I've found this to be one of the most important lessons of my life so far.

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    1. As I explained today's TOK post to my mother, she said, "Oh yeah! In German, that's called 'Tapetenwechsel' - 'change in wallpaper.' It's really important, that concept. You have to change things every once in a while, it's how you learn." Thanks, Mom!

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  7. For me living in a a big and one of the busiest city definitely has change my perspective throughout the year as I grow up, as I start kindergarten in a class of 30 kids and seven different classes in a grade, and graduate twelve years after from the exact same school. I have spent most of my life in the same school, and now when I go back to the campus as alumna, I don't feel I belong to the place anymore. For me, it is a ordinary school as the other schools now, I do have memories with friends and sentiments from the school, but as I grow up, when I think of the school, I thought of myself being immature and childish just by looking at the old school buildings. When I was still students there I thought the ugly buildings were like jail and everyone has to climb five floor to the class room and face the quiz every single day. When I went back recently, I went to the graduation and I thought of the school has raise me well and teach me percious experience through putting me into reality and the route of life. For me, the change of perspective as I grow up, have a change of the study environment, I thought about reality more often and as I plan my career and future, it gets harder and harder to face my goal positively with any progress.

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  8. As my peers above have stated, the change of perspective between home and school can be quite drastic. But for me, the greater change is the change from one "home" to the other "home" or simply from country to country. When my father has to change countries every 4 years because of his job, the family often suffers the consequences. Yes, new beginnings are always fun, but the culture shock is not as much. I begin to also see things from different points of views and different perspectives. For example, when I am in Rwanda, the Rwandese people and Rwandese culture greatly values humility and humbleness; and believe that it should be an individual's best moral qualities. On the other hand, when we moved to Zambia, the Zambians value economic well-being more than anything else. But that being said, it is only superficial economic well-being, by that I mean they value what kind of restaurant you eat at, what kind of car you drive and what kind of school your children attent. So automatically, in everybody's mindset, the ultimate goal would be to show as much wealth as possible on the outside. And I have personally seen people with huts (as houses) but the same people that live in that hut drive an Audi and a BMW. This was rather very weird to me, but since the society has put so much value on the outside "look" of a person, that is how the person's mindset will want to think. Because by seeing that person driving such a nice car in Africa, one would think he or she is extremely wealthy when really their are struggling to even buy the car. So in brief, perspective changes as we go along the journey and travel the African countries. I personally, begin to have kind of a mixed point of view of things from both the African perspective as well as the American perspective. I notice that my perspective becomes more and more complex and thus changes quite frequently.

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  9. My perspective is something that changes frequently. The cause of change can range anywhere from the progression of time to a change in scenery. I completely related to the idea of a shifting perspective due to a change in location. Traveling between three different countries regularly, I have found that my perspective of different things has evolved. To support this idea, I have one specific example. Let me begin by saying: each of these countries has incessantly different view points, and therefore often cause a shift in perspective.
    Last summer I left my new home in the Greenfield, Massachusetts, to visit Bahrain and Mozambique. In the United States I had grown accustomed to the dress code (in school) and the ability to dress as I wanted for certain occasions. In Mozambique I had grown accustomed to complete freedom of expression through my clothes. But in Bahrain I quickly found that I needed to show respect through my clothes. This meant that I had to dress appropriately in certain environments, so as not to offend the people that I encountered in Bahrain. My perspective on what clothing did, or portrayed changed drastically. I began to understand the appropriate time, and place for certain items of clothing. But this new way of thinking changed every time I changed locations. I still wore the same things in the United States, and still wore the same things in Mozambique, but I also knew what was appropriate to wear in Bahrain.
    In essence, this example demonstrates that perspective can change when in different locations. Although it doesn't necessarily have to.

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  10. I most certainly can relate to the topic this week because I am in a different location. As I write this I am in a local post office in Mabou, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Pretty much the only way people get computer access up here is in a computer bank. $1.50 for every 15 minutes of internet time. Definitely a new location. The lifestyle here is completely different than in Greenfield, MA. It's simpler. Every summer I come here, my perspective changes. When I'm here I would rather go for a walk and read a book on the porch facing the ocean. When I am back at home I tend to rather sleep in and watch TV. Is it the change of scenery that changes my perspective so much, or the lack of internet and TV access? One cannot be sure. This place, this very special place, has stayed the same going back to when my Grandmother grew up here. Yes the world has changed in technology and development, but Mabou remains unphased. Even though she does not change, I change as the knower. My mind is more clear, and I am drawn to simpler things. I cherish sitting on the porch and listening to the birds chirping. I love that for once in my life the air is filled with complete silence. No highways, no trains, no yelling, no downtown hububb. Sweet, sweet, silence. I want to hold onto this perspective when I go home. But it becomes very difficult when I am given the access to 21st century technology. To be honest, I would rather get my internet access in a computer bank. That is moderation. That is simple. Tomorrow I am going home and I will be thrown back into the chaos that is our society. Maybe I will hold on to Mabou perspective for just a little bit longer and I will view my home a bit differently as well.

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  11. First I would like to comment on the sliding scale, it was interesting for me to see the things that humans cannot see with the naked eye. It was interesting to be able to go beyond that and wonder what other, smaller organisms can see with their eyes. It’s also interesting to think that we learn about these things that are too small for the naked eye to see in our textbooks in class, but we have to use a microscope or a picture/diagram, such as the scale, to see these objects.
    But anyway, having my other classmates talk about school, made me think of my experience going to school in a different country. When I first arrived at my new school last summer, it was extremely different and not at all what I was used to. To focus on the shifts brought on by my location, Australia, the most popular sport is rugby; however I was used to American football being the most popular sport in the USA. Not knowing anything about rugby made me really standout and look like an odd ball, because the rules of rugby were common knowledge to every Australian at school. This was really odd, because many of my new classmates thought that rugby was the most popular sport everywhere, which clearly it is not. But it was interesting to have to change my thinking to rugby being the “cool, popular” sport to play. I still knew that in my culture, rugby was not the most popular sport to play, but it was a great cultural lesson. So when I was on exchange, rugby was what I watched, and now that I’m at home I don’t watch rugby at all, instead I continue to occasionally watch American football, along with my favorite sport soccer (which is also not “cool” to the people down under). It's funny how each country gives sports a "coolness scale", just like the link. However, "coolness scale" aside; with the upcoming Olympics it is interesting to see all these countries come together and share the universal love for sports.

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  12. Location and perspective seem to be the reign of my life. Being born in Cote d'Ivoire and living nearly half my life in America, has given me a rather strange perspective on a number of different subjects. For example the way I talk with my parents would be considered disrespectful to many Ivoirians though most Americans would see otherwise. I bring value and meaning to things that seem abnormal to both cultures. For instance, the Americans and Ivoirians share different perspective on how a woman should be educated. Much like America, girls my age attend school in Cote d'Ivoire. However, unlike America those same girls have to learn how to cook, clean etc for, she might scorn by her husband if she does not. Most girls my age in America don't worry about cooking and cleaning. I, on the other hand, find it important for anyone- not just women- to learn how to take care of a home and family.Just like how both women and men should have the opportunity to attend school.I have gain my perspective from to the combination of two countries.

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    1. Also before my move to America I thought that girls had to learn how to cook and clean and men don't. The change of ideas due to the change in location has made a more self-depended knower.I don't just agree with society's expectations, I made up my own.

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