Ecological Intelligence

Ecological Intelligence is the ability to understand what kind of impact you are leaving when you buy a product, kind of like how we are able to calculate what will happen if we eat rotten food. We would be able to instantaneously be able to calculate what would happen if we bought a so called "green" product. This fits into our essential questions (Why don't people live more sustainably?, How can I convince them to do so?) because if people know exactly what they are doing to the planet when they buy a product, they may be tempted to do something about the impact that they are producing. I personally think that my ecological intelligence is pretty low. Most of my green ideas are from propaganda and the such from things like the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and other pro-green movements. Probably the only real ecological intelligence is knowing to turn off the light and recycle plastic bottles. Personally, I think a lot of the other "ecological intelligence" that I have is just propaganda talking to me in my head.

Article:http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884776,00.html

Data Collection, Interpretation and Analysis

One thing that really struck me after compiling all the data in charts and graphs is that people, on average, leave a lot of their home electronics on at home knowing that they are on. Many responses as why they don't turn them off or unplug them is that they are "too busy" or "I just don't want to go through the trouble of unplugging then plugging back in when I want to use them again." To me, this basically meant that people weren't even trying to conserve energy, not because they didn't want to, but because they are just lazy. I was sort of surprised by this result, but not really. I have heard this result time and time again by other people conducting green surveys, but it really struck me when I say the results of the survey with my own two eyes. It was kind of dispromising to see that people are not trying to go green just because they are lazy and don't want to put in a little extra effort. To be completely honest, I really did not have any expectations. Everyone has their own separate opinion, and that was what I was expecting to see when I started compiling the data. So kind of, yes my expectations were met when my group finally finished the survey. Based on the data that we found, my group decided that we are going to launch an ad campaign that is aimed at educating people and taking the "did you know" stand. I think taking that angle will help educate and then encourage people to do things like turning off their computer when they leave the house, or switching off a light.

The Dervaes Family

I enjoyed watching this family through the movie. I really thought that their ability to sustain themselves was absolutely amazing. It really made me think about how personally, I am wasting resources everyday. It also made me think about how I can reduce my waste, like their family did. It also struck me when at the beginning of the movie the father said "Growing your own food is the most dangerous profession, because it can make you free." That line struck me because I went back to what Ishmael was saying about keeping food on lock and key. If the food is not under lock and key, then the citizens of that culture are "free."

I think that the Dervaes' family Wants vs. Needs sheet looks a lot like a sheet of a person that is not doing so well on money. I say this because a person not doing so well on money puts the more important things on the Needs column, while not so important things on the Wants column. I also think that the Dervaes family does not put food under Needs because they do not need to pay for food, they get all of it for free. I think that they do, however, put their garden and plants under Needs because that is how they survive, and without them, they would be, well screwed.

The Dervaes family fits into what we are learning about in My Ishmael because Ishmael keeps talking about civilizations that keep their food under lock and key. But the Dervaes family does not live by this principle. They are more like the Leavers when they first left, they spend all their time growing food and then eat the foods that they want whenever they want. But they are not exactly the Leavers because they do not keep their food under lock and key for themselves. No one forces them to grow their own food, they do so on their own accord.

My thoughts on this family is that they are probably one of the best examples of how to live sustainably in a modern city. I think that if everyone shifted to the way that the Dervaes lived, the orginal "Leaver" way, than I think that we would not be in this cultural and climate predicament that we are in.

Erratic Retaliation

1. Anthropomorphism: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.

When Ishmael talks about this in the chapter, I think he is talking about how humans always interpret what animals do in the human sense not only because we are used to seeing the kind of behavior, but subconsciously we are assuming what they are doing is something a human would do because the human way is the “right” way. Just like in the consecutive lines after the mention of this word, Ishmael talks about animals and territories. Animals have no want for territory, nor do they need it. We just think that animals are claiming land for themselves because that is what humans do. Really though, the animals are just trying to survive, and taking land that has the resources to sustain the animals.

2.
a. I think erratic retaliation is a fancy way of saying “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” In the case of the Cawks, this means that if one tribe starts to irk another tribe, the tribe being irked will try and bother the other tribe, so that they can be even.

b. Erratic Retaliation is a peacekeeping method because it forces the peaceful Cawk tribes to defend themselves, instead of just being annihilated by other more aggressive Cawk tribes. Basically, it forces Cawk tribes to defend themselves when others attack them, keeping any tribes from just being wiped out because they chose to lay down and die.

c. Cawks don’t annihilate one another because that would be useless. Going back to the example of the white-footed mouse, if the white-footed mice tried to kill themselves, that would not contribute to the gene pool. But if the white-footed mice kill other pups, than that makes it more likely for one white-footed mouse family to contribute their genes to a gene pool. To refine what I am saying, the Cawks don’t kill themselves because that would not help them advance.

Ishmael Questions

1. What are Ishmael’s two general rules on how to identify people from our culture? Do you agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture? Why or why not?
Two general rules that Ishmael states you can use to identify someone of our culture is to look if a culture has their food source on lock and key and to see if the people see themselves are flawed who are eventually going to die. I do agree with Ishmael when he says that people all over the world are of the same culture. I agree with this because even though the people of the world are American, Chinese, Indian, etc, we are all part of the Human culture. We all share the same idea that we need to love one another, and must stick together to succeed.

2. Ishmael disagrees with Mother Culture’s voice that says that humans are inherently flawed. After reading through page 66 of My Ishmael do agree or disagree with him? Why?
After reading these chapters, I do agree with him that humans are flawed. I agree with him because (just going off the book and not other reasons) we keep our food under lock and key and we think that the way we do something has to be the right way. I do not think that we should keep our food under lock and key after reading the story of tunes and dancers. I think that people should be able to “dance” for the amount of food they want and then be left alone. If some people wanted to dance all day, let them dance all day. But leave the people that only dance for a few hours each day to their own business. The second reason I agree with Ishmael is that we always see the way we do things as the right way, and when a different or abstract idea or process comes up, we condemn it right away because it is not the way we do it. Just because we don’t do it doesn’t make it wrong. It just makes it different.

3. Ishmael uses a parable of Tunes and Dancers to explain his idea of Takers and Leavers. Who are these Takers and Leavers and how do they relate to American culture?
The Takers are represented by the regular everyday people in the American culture. The Leavers are represented by farmers and food distributers. Ishmael’s parable of Tunes and Dancers relates directly to American culture because it is how we “operate”. At one time, all the people in the American culture used to be hunters. They would hunt only when they were hungry, and not store excess food. But as time went on, they became Leavers who turned to agriculture to keep themselves fed. Later, these Leavers (farmers) found that they could make money by withholding the food from the public unless they danced for the food (paid for the food). In time, food distributers appeared, who kept the food under lock and key. Even now, this system of food under lock and key still exists, which is why the parable of Tunes and Dancers relates directly to American culture today.

Sustainability

I think living sustainably means that we continue to prosper yet having no bad effect on the world. We currently are not living sustainably because we live in a world where we burn fossil fuels that are burning holes in the Ozone layer and leaving dangerous greenhouse gases that are heating up the earth, resulting in the melting of the polar ice caps. I also think sustainability means being able to live without exhausting the resources at hand, such as money or oil. If the world as a whole can go on their daily lives without running out of oil, then I consider that living sustainably. Alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar energy also help the world live sustainably.

I think I have a lot of freedom, but am also restricted a lot. I feel restricted in the sense that I cannot do certain adult things such as vote and drink, but I feel very free in the sense that I am free to express my opinions and talk about the government without any repercussions or consequences. I think that the latter is more important to me, even though at times I wish I could vote on topics such as the next president and bills regarding things like economic spending packages.

I think I could live my life more sustainably if I paid a lot more attention to the world around me and counted it as a whole instead of looking at the general city I am living in. I also think that I could live my life more sustainably if I looked more in depth at the decisions I make every day. Buy a reusable water bottle, instead of a plastic one that I just throw away. Not leaving the heater in the house running when it is not in use. If I put my life under a fine tuned microscope, I know I could find even more ways to live my life very sustainably.

My Goals

1. I think I am definitely more high schooler-ish. I'm starting to think about college and my life after school and what I want to do with my life. Other than that, it really doesn't feel different than how I started in August. I went through all of middle school in a High Tech school so coming into high school was basically just rising another grade level in the High Tech society.
2. I think that my most important skills in succeeding in Humanities is my ability to write well. This ability will help my bring more life to the papers I write, whether it be a writing such as a research paper or a creative writing from WEX.
3. One thing I would like to improve on this semester is getting my papers more often and by a bigger group of people. I will accomplish this goal by not only giving my papers to people in our grade level, but people in the 10th,11th, and 12th graders to proofread. I will also give my paper to people outside of the school, such as my parents and fencing friends.
4. The one thing that I would really like to learn about this semester is grammar and different writing mechanics. I think that learning more about grammar would really be beneficial to my writing because I will have a wider range of tools to use when I do write. I like how we have been keeping things like the writing concept of the week, it has really helped my writing. If we had even more tools, I think I could make my writing that much better.