Chosen Ignorance does not exist

"Chosen ignorance" is purely oxymoranic. Ignorance implies a lack of knowledge. Chosen ignorance implies that a person recognizes and has knowledge that there is another choice. Hence we run into a problem of contradiction. By "chosen ignorance" I assume people mean one of two things:
1) Purposeful 'ignorant'-seeming judgement and perceptions motivated by self-interest
       Ex: You slipped on an orange juice spill in a grocery store and bruised your tailbone. You want to sue for money, so you purposefully determine/perceive that, after a disagreement with an employee, the employee maliciously left the spill in the aisle in hopes that you would fall and hurt yourself
2) Ignorance due to ingrained cultural bias
        Ex: You have grown up being taught that anyone who does not look you in the eye is rude, and you should then treat them as such.  So when an employee at a hardware store doesn't look you in the eye when you ask him a question, you immediately complain to the manager about a rude employee. The thought that the employee might have a form of autism or an attachment disorder which makes eye contact uncomfortable does not even cross the individual's mind.

Either form of ignorance does not leave an excuse for a person's behavior. Nevertheless, understanding the reasoning behind someone's decisions and perceptions can be important in figuring out how to move forward. Maybe, for the person who is ignorant due to cultural bias, all they need is a lesson on the subjects of autism or attachment disorders, and then they can fix their judgement and their reactions to the situation. In contrast, the person who is purposefully ignorant due to self-centered goals, they might benefit/ change their behavior by meeting the employee face to face, learning how their actions have affected the employee, hopefully gain some empathy, and learn how they can achieve their goals even quicker/more effective by working with the employee, not against them.
Considering the sources of 'ignorance' is important to solve even larger issues we face today such as mass incarceration of African Americans in the United States or religious conflict across the globe.

The World Spins Faster in College

This past week has been filled with much reflection, besides the normal allocated time in which I write this post. My friend who is still a junior in high school came to visit American… and it was crazy to be reminded of what my life was like only 2 years ago. Time has been flying and I can’t believe that even more is going to change in the next couple of years. To make matters a little more grand,  I made my 3 year academic schedule this week which led my entire day to exist on the brink of an existential crisis. I often feel that so many things are not in my control so I am led to grasp onto any excel graph or chart that can give me some sense of stability in my life. It does not help that life in college is moving a solid ten times faster than life outside. Life in a classroom is matching that speed. Our discussions this past week were extremely interesting and I am starting to see how everyone is actually starting to integrate our learning into the discussion consistently without having to always pull out a direct reference. I also feel a different energy where people are no longer as afraid to disagree with each other and are quicker to respond. It is interesting to think of how far we have come in our debates and discussions from the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to seeing how the second simulation will transpire and the ways in which our lives and actions will continue to change in these next few weeks!

A World Away -- Week 11

People look into the past and miss it, they look into the future and are excited for it, but they rarely enjoy the present....

Its been almost 3 months since we have all moved into campus and this week is officially the longest I've ever been away from home. Talking to my family this week, I realized how much I've changed and how much the last 4 years of high school seem like a prior life. I feel as if I've been reincarnated into this life and only vaguely remember what it was like to be in my earlier one. There are certain things - like talking to friends/family, doing my hobbies in freetime, looking around at pictures - that bring me back to specific times that I've had back home, but in many ways I feel estranged from the Jacob who went to Solon High School and slept in a suburban house a block south of the fire station, on the side closer to the park than the shopping center.

Is this feeling a bad thing or a good thing? Or neither?... these thoughts occurred to me this week and I'm not sure I've really been able to answer them. I think it may just be a matter of accepting that life is so much different as you get older and experience a completely new lifestyle with new surroundings.

"Does everyone feel like this?" I asked myself. I was curious to see what people thought of their lives here overall, and what could be done to make them better. I asked some classmates the following questions and have included their responses:

1. On a scale of 1-10, rate your level of homesickness since being at AU?
2. On a scale of 1-10, how much does AU feel like your home?
3. What things make AU feel like your home?
4. What things at AU are vastly different from home?
5. What (if anything) could others do to make you feel more at home?
6. Other Comments?

Valerie

1. 6
2. 6
3. The people here are friendly, my bed is cozy, the food here is like home.
4. The communal bathrooms (-), no pets (-), no parental supervision (+/-)
5. I don't know.
6. AU is an interesting place.

Emmet

1. 1
2. 6
3. Community dorm living
4. No one to monitor or be in charge of you (+)
5. Nothing, I'm good.
6. "Nats suck... bryce harper is the GOAT"

Asim

1. 1 million
2. 2
3. My friends
4. Food
5. Nothing
6. I like turtles

Annie

1. 2
2. 7
3. The people, my room, Letts 6 as a floor and daily runs
4. Lack of nature, lack of ease of exposure to the outside world. Showering w/shoes on, no baths, no separation between school and home and no parents
5. Make me hot chocolate... I love it because it makes my heart so happy
6. Jacob you're a scammer

Xandra

1. 2
2. 8
3. Independence, running, connections with people
4. A lot of extra, less structured time. 
5. Stop in more unannounced
6. This is a wonderful post idea (yes, this post was inspired by Xandra) 

Holt

1. 6
2. 7
3. People, independence 
4. level of independence, weather,
5. nothing
6. This is a great idea I agree with Xandra

Disclaimer: In retrospect, these questions may not have encouraged enough freedom of expression and by default had very repetitive answers. Next time, I will change up the questions in order to present a better interview.

Reflection Week #11

This week passed by in a blur. Nadia, my roommate, kept talking about how long it was but honestly it flew by for me. 

Things finally started to look up for my health on Monday, when we got the diagnosis of haemophilus influenzae (basically bacterial flu) and I started to take antibiotics. As the days passed I did my best to catch up on work until we finally decided I was ready (enough) to go back to school on Wednesday. Being at school was definitely a contrast to being at home and since I still had a cough, I knew I had to take it slow.

On Thursday morning my body decided to wake me up at the ungodly hour of 5:45 AM and didn't seem to want me to go back to sleep. I knew my coughing and tossing and turning was bothering Nadia and had woken her up, so I finally decided that I was just going to start my day. I watched some Designated Survivor in the lounge with our lounge mouse for company until I ended up going to TDR and eating a proper-ish breakfast for once while watching more Designated Survivor. Class was interesting but honestly my brain was so out of it from being up since 5:45 AM that I sadly was not paying attention to the conversation as much as I had wanted to. However, the discussion I had with PTJ during office hours completely made my day. We talked briefly about what had been covered over the last couple of classes, but eventually our conversation turned to wealth on a micro level and international development, something that I'm very passionate about. It was one of those conversations where you and the person you're talking to are constantly engaged and instantly jumping off of what the other is saying and it brought me a lot of joy to be able to have that kind of conversation with someone I respect so much. I love talking about international development and even brought in the resource of Dollar Street, a website that illustrates through pictures how people live all over the world with different levels of monthly income. To be able to tie that tool that I used last year in my Human Geography class to what we were talking about in class was really cool because I love being able to build off of things I've learned or used in the past with what's happening in the present.

After that intellectually energizing conversation I did take a much deserved nap and powered through the rest of my day which included my first actual rehearsal for A Doll's House! I was a bit nervous about it because we had to have our lines memorized but luckily I'm only in one scene so that wasn't too difficult! Since I haven't really had rehearsals and haven't interacted with most of the people involved in the show on a regular basis I've been feeling somewhat disconnected with the production, but after that one rehearsal I'm really excited to start putting the whole show together this week!

Saturday did bring some surprisingly good experiences as I had a great time filming the broadcast with ATV News and enjoyed the community salsa dancing class I attended. I really enjoy filming for ATV because I get to tap into a skillset that I don't normally use and it's a really fun creative outlet for me! I also enjoy it because it's helping to build my AU community and I can't seem to get enough of that! In terms of the salsa class, I was honestly expecting to dislike it a lot, but it was such a positive experience! Everyone there wanted to be there which really does influence what everyone gets out of the class. I learned some new moves and was pushed out of my comfort zone a bit, but it helped me remember how much I love dancing and what a great outlet it is for me creatively but also athletically.

I'm hoping this cough goes away soon, and I'm looking forward to what this week brings!

Call Me Naive.

Transcript of the video (Although, in personal preference, I think listening is better than reading):

Call me naïve.  

But sometimes I think our brain is a detriment not an asset 

Every call to action doesn’t need to include a what’s in it for you 

Everything doesn’t need a reason 

Talking reasons doesn’t always lead to solutions.  

Call me naïve. 

But I believe in the possibility of being good for the sake of being good. 

I believe in the possibility of a mindless mutually benefiting currency of selflessness 

There are acts of kindness that cannot be explained  

I once stood in a DSW admiring a pair of clearance heels that I would never be able to afford if I wanted to afford the price of my education. 

A woman walks up to me and hands me cash. She tells me to buy the heels. I protest but she insists. Give me a political reason why she did that for a complete stranger  

Call me naïve. 

But I believe individual actions can be translated to larger actions. 

Being good is of no intrinsic benefit for you, so you talk and talk and find a way to swing your actions into a benefit for you and them 

If being kind has no benefit to you, why does it feel right? 

Call me naïve. 

But I am waiting for the revolution 

The revolution where a country does good because it is good 

Where people recognize that selfishness is selflessness 

Where people stop talking, stop reasoning, start solving 

Insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results 

I am waiting for the revolution of the end of international insanity 

And people start the insanity of valuing their valueless values  

You can call me naïve.  

Here is a video that I believe speaks to some of our questions about wealth https://youtu.be/IwRphYeVraA 

Giving Back: Reflection 9

Reflecting on my childhood and my community back home, I have really been trying to think about what the best way to give back would be. I constantly ask myself questions like: How can I repay the people who have had such a huge impact on my development and my path as a n individual? How can I become the young woman that would have made my Pawpaw proud? And Lastly, how can I manage to become the best human I can possibly be? In the end, I just want to be able to say that my parents didn’t produce a wasteful product. I have also thought about the value of making the world a better place through contributing to the community by being a citizen who contributes to the good of society. 

When determining what I plan to contribute, I thought of one consistent downfall of my community; its education. Coming from a community that is suffering from the effects of the opportunity and achievement gap, one is surrounded by different perception of what it means to ‘live a good life’. Some individuals in my community believe that the good life is smoking weed everyday and staying out of jail or having mass drinking parties and drinking until they end of doing stuff that will put them in jail or change their lives forever. Some are even satisfied with the bare minimum that life offers. I would like to work on the issue of bridging the opportunity and achievement gap in my community by pursuing a career in education policy and working on improving curriculum. By pursuing a career in education policy, I will be able to work towards building the bridge between the gaps associated with the opportunity and achievement gap, which will be an ongoing life project.

More on the "Right" to Wealth

During class on Thursday, I was hoping to expand on the “right” to wealth and how quasi-states should be dealt with in foreign aid and policy. 

I think the idea of sovereignty and the “right” to wealth goes back to defining equity and equality. Ideally, economically and socially developing countries would be given the equity needed to be successful and open up the opportunities to have wealth. However, there is often times the idea that giving these countries many opportunities and funds on the basis of equality is used to justify whatever economic aid is given under the guise of colonialism. This creates a system of “equality” that is forcing these quasi states to remain dependent. This can be seen in areas like India or even East Berlin. These areas have been enveloped  by superior territories (Britain or West Berlin/Western Countries) and have therefore been forced to sacrifice much of their individual identity at the hands of this super power, as well as, are not able to develop at their own rate to reach autonomy. With the continuous “support”, a cycle of dependence is enforced on the foundation of equality, not equity. 

I find this idea very interesting as it debates with the arguments of foreign aid being colonization or not. I believe my current standing would be that foreign economic assistance through the mindset of pursuing equality, is often counterproductive for the quasi-state and resembles a system of colonization. However, when aid is provided through a basis of finding equity, there is greater opportunity to achieve autonomy and wealth individually.