Violence in Video Games

            I grew up on video games. I can remember waking up every weekend morning and hopping on to play some Tomb Raider with my mom. My dad and I would play Super Mario and Donkey Kong throughout the afternoon. The memories I made while playing video games in my childhood may not be the average memories one gets from video games, but they have definitely had an impact on my life. Because of this, it is hard for me to understand the topic that video games cause violence in young adults and may lead to increased violent behavior later in life.

            To me, video games have always been a social object. They allow friends to come together and focus on one particular goal. Solving puzzles and powering through levels weren't my only memories of these times, however. I can remember actually bonding with the people I was playing the games with. Picking up a PlayStation 1 controller brings on the strongest nostalgia of my childhood.

            I feel like non-gamers get hung up on what the games are teaching us. I can agree, some gamers do abuse video games, and can use them in a negative manner. I can't speak for everyone, but games, to me, offer just another way to build relationships. One of the best ways to get to know someone is to play a stressful and complicated game with them, and just attempt to solve the puzzle. Personally, games don’t seem like much of a negative, but might actually be used positively if used for their intended purpose.

Military In Sports

            A friend of mine joined the marines the year we graduated high school. He talked about how great and honorable of a decision he had made. I remember being jealous of such a great act, and wished I had made a similar decision. He has been part of the military for a year and a half now and I receive a call from him every few weeks. He has only voiced it a few times, but he has talked about how much he regrets his decision and how he would have thought differently had he been told exactly what he was in for. I feel as if the military involvement in the media could have easily swayed his opinion on what the actions of a marine consisted of.

            When we see a marine or anyone in the military during a sporting event they are being honored for something great they have done or patted on the back for their service. I respect everyone in our military, but, had I not known what some of my military friends believe, I would have assumed most people in the military feel the same honor we see on TV or at a sporting event. I feel as if sports glamourize the idea of honor.

            There is really no way to fix this. Now that I understand that I am in a society trying to convince teens to join the military in every segment of their life, I've already passed the target age. I feel like they have hit the target in the media so well that we can either make it past believing a lie or believe the lie and join based on such a honorable notion.

Food Inc. and King Corn

           When I watch documentaries I usually become obsessive. I can't describe how many penguin articles I read after watching March of the Penguins or the amount of research I did on Anonymous after watching We Are Legion. The class viewing of Food Inc. was no different. Once we finished the documentary a friend of mine happened to be watching King Corn the moment I returned to my dorm room. I sat through yet another documentary on how Americans use corn to extreme lengths and the potential risks of using corn to feed our cattle. After the documentary high wore off I began my research on the affects of producing this amount of corn and the nourishment it is providing for our cows.

            My results were somewhat astonishing. I discovered that having cows eating this much corn obviously hurts the cow, and causes the meat to be higher in cholesterol and less nutritious to us which we all know. Furthermore, the corn causes a cow's intestinal tract to be far more acidic which encourages the growth of E. coli. I read one article that explains the profound impact that corn feeding has on fossil fuel energies. "According to David Pimentel, a Cornell ecologist who specializes in agriculture and energy, the corn we feed our feedlot cattle accounts for a staggering amount of fossil fuel energy. Growing the corn used to feed livestock in this country takes vast quantities of chemical fertilizer, which in turn takes vast quantities of oil. Because of this dependence on petroleum, Pimentel says, a typical steer will in effect consume 284 gallons of oil in his lifetime."

            So what can we do? A common theme throughout everything I have read was the theory that meat should be used as a garnish and not a main course. Yes, buying grass-fed meat does sound like the way to go, but let's face it, we are college students and I know I wouldn't be able to afford buying my own groceries. If humans consumed meat the way it was intended to be eaten then it would essentially solve the problem. Prices would fluctuate, less oil would be used, and we would be all around healthier as a society.

Humor Isn't A Contest

Humor is a huge part of social communication. We can often times judge a person's entire personality based on the first interaction, and humor is a huge contributor. As we all know, humor is directly related with intelligence, so the use of humor in an interaction can greatly represent how clever you are.

To me, humor has never been a relative experience. I don't often find any one person to be funnier than another, and especially not one particular gender to be funnier. There are people who are louder than others. There are also those who are more confident than others, but these don’t tie directly in with humor.

As we discussed humor in class, the only thought that came to mind was "How can someone not be funny?".  I can't even understand how someone can think one gender is funnier than the other.  I would agree that male stand up comics are, relatively, funnier than the female counterparts; however, in my everyday life I find that women make me laugh far more often than men do. It seems to me that separate people are simply funny in their completely specific way.

            On a separate note, I've had friends that could be described as monotone and boring, but I find them to be extremely hilarious. There's always that one comment that can cause me to think that a person's funny, even if it is unintentional. It seems to me that we are caught up in the science of humor, and we aren't giving credit to the amusing instances of everyday life. I suppose the point of this post is that I don't understand how this competition can even survive and continue to thrive by discussion because humor is subjective.

The True Issue With "Hipsters"

           We hate hipsters because they are jerks right? Because they have caused unimaginable damages? We are supposed to gang up on them and get rid of them because they are everything that is wrong with our society. Correct? No. For the purpose of this post, I am using this definition of hipster because I know there are plenty out there.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster&defid=2705928

            Going off the class's opinion of hipsters, it sounded like we didn't really enjoy how these people contribute to society. It sounded, to me, as if we should hate hipsters because of how they dress or how they feel about their clothes. Of course they think they're different. They are different which, to me, doesn't sound too bad so, when an entire class decides that these people shouldn't be around, I start to think I'm missing something.

Upon further research I have gathered that we are to hate "bandwagon hipsters". These are people that think they're different even though they shop name brand clothing stores and mainstream lines, and, for this reason, we should hate them. I'm still lost in this argument. I know plenty of my friends shop name brand clothing because it makes them feel part of a certain crowd. I don't see how this is any different. I believe we all attempt to make some kind of statement with our apparel and these bandwagon hipsters are no different.

            I believe the real issue with hipsters is not an issue with hipsters at all. It is an issue with us as a society. If this problem with hipsters is correct, then we have found something to hate that isn't worth hating, and while we continue to bash these people for their clothing options, there are genuine jerks that feel fine because they aren't "hipsters". I guess the point to my argument is that we shouldn't care what the person is wearing, but we should focus on the people wearing it. It sounds pretty elementary to me, but apparently this still needs to be taught on a college campus.