Persuasion is a technique that I am constantly utilizing. Although I fail to persuade about 99.9999999 percent of the time, that measely bit that I do persuade does make me very happy. I like to think my persuasion is not used in order to obtain selfish goals, but goals that benefit the other person, animals and the planet. I am always trying to persuade others to stop eating meat.
I'd like to say I'm good at persuasion but my countless failures have left me a little dubious. However, I have managed to turn at least three people vegetarian. That's a lot of lives saved!
The tactics of my persuasion include all types; pathos, ethos and logos. I use statistics and facts. I try to convey the image of the emotions of the animals who spend their lives in factory farms. I try to show people that I am not unlike them as I used to eat meat, too until I became aware of the many reasons to stop.
I witness persuasion quite a bit in movies and in real life. I tend to use persuasion more than anyone else I know.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
WN2 Being a Winner
The U.S. is winning the Olympics and my assigned topic is to reflect on what I think being a winner really means.
Personally, I think that being a winner only means that you are (probably) just being a selfish, overcompetitive jackass because really winning doesn't matter except to prove that you are better than someone else.
Trying to win is pointless because you should not be relying on happiness that comes from being better than someone else in the first place. Your happiness should come from within.
Winniing does not always mean you receieve a tangible award.
I am not proud of winning anything I've won, and I cannot recall winning because rarely do I conciously place myself within a competition.
Personally, I think that being a winner only means that you are (probably) just being a selfish, overcompetitive jackass because really winning doesn't matter except to prove that you are better than someone else.
Trying to win is pointless because you should not be relying on happiness that comes from being better than someone else in the first place. Your happiness should come from within.
Winniing does not always mean you receieve a tangible award.
I am not proud of winning anything I've won, and I cannot recall winning because rarely do I conciously place myself within a competition.
WN1 Commitment
Marriage takes as much commitment as that of athletes who practice hours and hours each day to achieve their goals.
Getting married changes your life just as training to become and maintain the status of an Olympic athlete does. In both cases, you are commited to something and you promise yourself that you will never abandon what you are commited to. You trust in what you are doing and you always give your best.
Marriage is something I would put my commitment into as an athlete would her sport. The achievement in marriage is happiness on both parts, rather than gold. So marriage may be considered much more mature than sports in this way because the people involved have come to know that being better is not the key to happiness.
The commitment to love each other and make each other happy is much more important that self-discipline of the body in order to be better than another in my opinion. (However, lots of athletes do compete against themselves rather than concentrating on others.) Both commitments require perseverance, maturity and determination.
Getting married changes your life just as training to become and maintain the status of an Olympic athlete does. In both cases, you are commited to something and you promise yourself that you will never abandon what you are commited to. You trust in what you are doing and you always give your best.
Marriage is something I would put my commitment into as an athlete would her sport. The achievement in marriage is happiness on both parts, rather than gold. So marriage may be considered much more mature than sports in this way because the people involved have come to know that being better is not the key to happiness.
The commitment to love each other and make each other happy is much more important that self-discipline of the body in order to be better than another in my opinion. (However, lots of athletes do compete against themselves rather than concentrating on others.) Both commitments require perseverance, maturity and determination.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Daybreakers: Oil?
Not the greatest movie, but a very entertaining one with a creative plot, Daybreakers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433362/) serves as a good metaphor for oil. Our use of oil in particular.
Daybreakers shows the story of one vampire, named Edward and played by Ethan Hawke, and his attempt to help repopulate Earth with humans long after they have become an endangered species and vampires have taken over. Humans are farmed for their blood, but they cannot be reproduced as quickly as they are being used to feed the huge quantity of vampires. Edward works at this giant farm as they all try to come up with a substitute for the blood.
Like oil running out in our own greedy society, blood is running out in theirs. And according to Edward's boss, "There will always be those who will pay a little extra for the real thing." This makes me also want to compare their human farming to today's factory farming. People don't want to know the truth about it as in the movie the vampires do not want to be human again. Their greed craves immortality, ours craves taste bud pleasure. It's too bad that people won't allow themselves to seek the truth, that factory farms are horrific and not worth it (especially when the products are so bad for you and the environment). And it's too bad the vampires don't want to listen to Edward. But, thankfully, he gets the cure out.
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