Rationality, Perfectibility, Mutability...Week 9 Post 2

The rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises are completely different in what each is based on. I do not necessarily believe in the perfectibility premise but I do see some truth in both the rationality and mutability premises. The mutability premise I feel is very important in the many peoples’ behaviors are shaped by the environment in which they live in; also the rationality premise I see truth in because I feel that most people are indeed capable in discovering truth it is just up to whether someone decides to do that or not is another case all together. The social institutions that use the rationality premise would be like what the book says: American institutions, trial by jury and free enterprise. I feel that some religions are based upon the perfectibility premise and the mutability premise would include many psychological institutions which would look at why a person ended up there based on their environment and mental capacity.

Creatures of our Culture?... Week 9 post 1

I completely agree that we are creatures of our culture, whatever that culture may be. I feel that if someone is from a particular culture it is reflected in his or her everyday life. Because the United States is considered a “melting pot”, the majority of the population is from different cultures and countries. Since most of us live with our families we pick up the habits, beliefs and values from them and in turn these beliefs typically reflect our cultural standpoint. I do feel like we can break through the limits of our culture and that people do it all of the time. There are many who change religions, marry outside of their culture and pursue job careers that the cultural “norm” would not necessarily approve of.

Nonverbal Messages...Week 7 Post 1

I have been wrong about peoples’ nonverbal communication many times. Once my boss was saying something he meant to be funny and as a joke, but because he had his arms crossed over his chest while he was saying it, I took it as him being serious about the situation and that I was in trouble. Also another time with my boyfriend our communication gets mixed up all the time. People can increase the accuracy in their nonverbal communication by taking a second to stop talking and really read the persons’ body language they may be able to be more accurate. Also reading the nonverbal cues by how they relate actually to what the person is saying will help a lot in interpreting the messages correctly.

What I found interesting... Week 6 Post 3

There were a few things that I found interesting in chapter four one that was interesting but also confusing was the idea of sign, signified and signifier. According to the book a sign is the vehicle for this expression; the signified is the private idea located solely in the mind of a communicator and the form in which the idea is expressed is the signifier. During this blog I kind of want to go over this idea. I feel as though this is interesting concept because the signified can be different for every person. The entire symbolism that comes with language is all dependent on who is viewing it and their past experiences. To me if I saw a sign for pizza, the signifier would be p-i-z-z-a, the signified would be the delicious crust with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni; which would all constitute the sign. If someone who wasn’t from this country and didn’t have pizza their sign would be completely different.

Do Men and Women use Language Differently?...Week 6 Post 2

I completely agree with Deborah Tannen that women and men communicate differently. Every example she gave in the book reminded me of my boyfriend and I. I feel that women and men are different in many ways from anatomy to how we go about dealing with a situation. Men and women use language differently when it comes to personal relationships to how each interacts with their friends. In personal situations I feel as though men hate to be asked questions when it comes to the details and things that most women find important and men find to be burdensome. Also men and women typically use language differently when communicating with children. A lot of times when a child gets hurt women use nurturing comforting words and men will use the attitude of its alright but don't cry and toughen up. I couldn't begin to go over all the ways that we use language differently but there is no doubt in my mind that we do.

Can we really not judge?...Week 6 post 1

In all honesty this is a really tough question because we all like to think that we don't judge one another. As humans we judge. We all have first impressions which is basically when we are judging each other for the first time; and if we didn't judge then why would the saying of "first impressions count" matter. In everyday life we judge and categorize one another either by dress or the type of music a person listens to even to the point of the dialect and how a person talks. I feel living in the place that we live in (especially California) we naturally are more predisposed to be judgmental and I don’t really think we can be fair when judging someone, unless you wait to judge people until you actually know them and not by how much money they have or how they dress or talk; but whether that is possible never to judge immediately I don’t think so.