Big Question Intro

Something that always amazes me is the change that occurs amongst people from when they are young and careless to when they begin to form as an adult and the little things become much more important.  As you may know kids could have a care in the world about what their hair looks like, or who is watching them or even things such as school or church, for them it’s just another place to have fun.  But as always the limitations and guidelines for one person may be completely different for the person next store.  The friends, family, and over all environment of a child can effect who they come to be as an adult. 

Adolescence is the time in which a child comes to be an adult.  The time frame for theses years is different among cultures but is probably close to the ages between ten and twenty years of age.  During this time is when we come to know our selves more than we ever have.  Things such as sexual awareness, cognitive development, the ability to think abstractly, and most of all, our own self image come to be things that ate most important to us.  They are the things that influence who we are.

Many people have already looked into this field and it seems that for the most part everything that I have looked at is consistent with the ideas I have just stated.  Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture and upbringing.  This is very true because all cultures differ from others.  Other cultures probably do not hold the same values in sexuality and self appearance as we do in our western culture and you can see how we differ from someone who was raised in the Middle East, or any place foreign to us.  It’s possible that some other cultures may be similar as well but there still some differences amongst those who appear that way. 

G. Stanely Hall was a great American psychologist stated that the stages in which an adolescent goes through is a time of storm and stress.  I think that anyone who has already experienced this time in their life of is experiencing it can agree that this statement is spot on.  As an adolescent you experience so much stress form school, boyfriends/girlfriends, sports, clubs, family, friends, and more.  To many a lot of this stress is contributed what we call drama.  What is interesting is that Hall also said that, “Conflict at this developmental stage normal and not unusual.”  It happens that all this drama is important to our own learning experiences and has a huge part in shaping who we come to be.

Everyone has or will experience drama in their life at one point or another.  It is expected to happen and because our culture says so there is a place for it.  I think a great example of the effects drama could have on someone comes from the often yet unfortunate event that someone is cheated on during a relationship.  If a girl in high school finds out that her boyfriend has been   cheating on her it has a huge effect on the way she is going to approach relationships later on in life.  She might become a little jealous when it comes to hanging out with other girls, or it might take longer for a guy to gain her trust or she may never have the confidence to trust another guy.  To  an adult this situation may seem silly and maybe even pathetic do to the fact that it is some stupid high school kids going through a little drama that will not affect them at all later in life and they just need to get over it.  But it’s not that simple; because everything seems to have so much importance during this time the situation could seriously damage the mental standpoint of the girl.  In her mind her whole life is ruined do to her loss of the one she was going to love for the rest of her life as well as the humility of being cheated on.  There is nothing in the world that would change her feelings about it because it is what is most important to her at the time.

This is a very important question when people are dealing with psychology.  Doctors who study in this field often ask about the history of that person.  What they are looking for is any event that may have caused trauma to them.  What is amazing is that a lot of the time doctors retrace the beginning of these problems back to childhood and adolescent years.  There is so much stuff surrounding you as come to be an adult and if something of importance collapses or changes it could have a huge effect. 

Oh Captain my Captain

CONTENTS      BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Walt Whitman (1819–1892).  Leaves of Grass.  1900.

193. O Captain! My Captain!


1

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;  
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;  
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,  
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:  
    But O heart! heart! heart!          5
      O the bleeding drops of red,  
        Where on the deck my Captain lies,  
          Fallen cold and dead.  
  
2

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;  
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;   10
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;  
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;  
    Here Captain! dear father!  
      This arm beneath your head;  
        It is some dream that on the deck,   15
          You’ve fallen cold and dead.  
  
3

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;  
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;  
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;  
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;   20
    Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!  
      But I, with mournful tread,  
        Walk the deck my Captain lies,  
          Fallen cold and dead.  


CONTENTS      BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Steve Jobs

After reading about the life of the great Steve Jobs, one of the two founders of Apple, my perspective on technology has taken a major shift.  I used to hate computers and technology but I have come to realize that we have so many resources that are made available to us that we should take advantage of.  I think that most people think of Jobs as clean, calm, collected, and appreciative person when really it is quite the opposite.  Jobs was one of the most charismatic people of his generation.  He strived for success and lived somewhat of an intense and crazy life.  As a young adult he got into drugs such as LSD which he said was one of the most enlightening and important experiences of his life.  He was always smart and witty and sometimes had trouble fitting in with people at the time.  Technology had not yet taken off and it was hard to find others that were as passionate about it as he was.  He was also hard to get a long with a lot of the time because he pulled so many pranks and angered so many people, but he didn't care.  Soon enough he found someone who was just as much into tech and pranks as he was.  his name was Steve Wazniak.  They later came to found Apple in a garage neat Pal;o Alto California.  It has developed into one of the largest and most successful companies to have ever been made.

Although Jobs most notably known for founding Apple the company that he first took pride in was the animation studio known as Pixar.  He helped to create movies such as Toy Story and Monsters Inc.  he saw this company as one of his biggest accomplishments.

Something that made Jobs different from every other CEO in the world was his passion for what he did.  He stated, "It's never about the profit but instead about the product."  He was one of the most meticulous and controlling person you would ever meat.  Everything mattered to him.  He stressed for hours, days, and weeks over things as simple as how rounded the corners of the iPhone should be or what kind of lighting he should use when he presents a new product.  One of his most notable qualities was his passion for simplicity.  He felt that phones such as the Android were to complicated for users.  He once tested the ipad by giving it two a four year old and watched him.  Soon enough the kid was downloading games and playing them without his help.  If a four year old can do it then anyone can.  His lust for control and quality is what shaped Apple into what it is today. 

Jobs had a very unique character about him.  A lot of times people at Apple hated working with him but they always came to appreciate what he did.  he pushed people to their limits and if they didn't preform they were fired and not in a nice way.  He would often walk into a meeting were a team of engineers would give him a demo of the new product and he would scream at them saying that it sucked and that the were all screw ups and that if they didn't do better the whole company would be in ruins.  Jobs believed in complete control.  he designed the way that stores look today with the sleek looking glass entry ways. He wanted to guide the complete consumer experience so that they know exactly what they are getting.  The entire Apple company is built around making the consumer feel like they are a part of something big and important.  He even stressed over how the products were shipped and what the box looked like and what appears after you open it.  If you didn't notice every Apple product is packaged the same way, you open the box and their is or beautiful new iPhone with its slender tone yet dominant presence.  His demand for the best quality and presentation always gave him an edge over his competition.

Something that many people may not know about Jobs is that he followed a very strict and simple life style.  He believed in Zen Buddhism and followed strict dieting regimens that sometimes included not eating for almost a week.  He was famous for knowing the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants around the world.  He especially loved Japan which was the only place he ate real food, mostly sushi.  For most of his life he believed that if he ate only fruit and nothing else that he would remain clean even without the refreshment of showers.  Even though many of his co-workers often said he was rude, angry, and he stinks like pig poop he still believed in it whole hearted.  Every year Jobs read the book, The Life of The Yogi, so as to refresh his memory on what he was trying to accomplish. he often walked around barefoot and entered meetings with big business managers smelly and oddly dressed.  He truly believed in simplicity, even when it cam to money. 

"It's not about the profit but the product."  Jobs was true to his words.  He never cared about the money, he simply didn't need it or want it. he already had a lot and didn't to be seen as someone like Bill Gates who was in it for the money.  Although Gates was a large competitor of Jobs he fully appreciated his character and beliefs about the importance of the product.  Jobs had so much pride when it came to new products.  almost every time something new came out he said it was the best thing he had ever created.  He lived to push technology to new grounds and he most definitely accomplished it.

He also had an interesting view on education.  He believed that kids should first of all not have to pay for it and second that the system we have in place today is crap.  he did not believe in power points and suggested that if you have to use a power point to teach something then you have know idea what you are teaching because you are just reading whats on the screen.  He believed in discussion and debate over what should be done.  He wanted ideas, thoughts and plans to develop through constant questioning.  He once had a meeting with Obama, that his wife set up and that he did not want to go to, but never the less ended up going against his own will.  He torched Obama about education and told him how everything was wrong with it and that it sucked.  He had no fear in telling the president of the United States that he was doing a sucky job at the time.  He also developed the idea of transferring textbooks onto the ipad which is supposedly coming soon. 

It is a tragedy that Steve Jobs is no longer with us.  He lost the battle to cancer but because of his own stubbornness to not eat the foods he needed in order to stay alive.  He was very strict about his dieting.  Still he left us with an empire of great technology and wisdom that should be seen as a learning tool.  His story has inspired me to become more involved with technology and his passion has inspired those who were around him to carry on his legacy.  I think that one of his best quotes to take away from his life story is this, "If your not busy being born, your busy dieing."  There is nothing more simple and true than that statement.