The Secret Behind the Misconceptions

Before developing my thesis for my first essay, I needed a topic that intrigued me, something that I could learn about and at the same time write a book about. That for me was clearly climate change, as it is, in my opinion, the biggest problem us humans will face in the next century. Of course, climate change as a topic is incredibly broad, as it entails so much politics, economics, and science. To add some specificity, I looked for something that bothered me most about climate change. It was the way so few people truly understand the subject.

 My inspiration came from a five minute conversation with the store manager at my work. After mentioning that I was in school as a geography major with hopes of studying climate, he piped up saying that “global warming is fake.” Of course, my next move was to refute that statement. I told him about carbon dioxide emissions and how it correlates to global temperature, out of control fossil fuel burning, and how rising populations will continue to demand more and more resources. Expecting more push-back  I was surprised to hear his response. In his words, “we’ll have to do something about it, but the problem is that no one can agree on a solution.” Here he was, an educated professional, starting with an anti-climate change belief and coming to a conclusion, after a two minute conversation, that there might be some truth in it. This led me to believe that he really has no concrete opinion on the matter. It made me think about how many other people I know are in the same situation. Upon more research, I found that this pattern is all too common. 
                According to a Yale University study, only one in ten Americans feel that they are “very well informed about climate change.” Along with this, only fifty percent of the subjects in the study believed humans were the cause. The fact that climate change is caused by humans is no longer debated by the scientific community. This has been the case for half a decade, yet so many members of the public, my store's manager included, still wonder if it is true. There is a factor in our society that inhibits knowledge about climate change, and I set out to figure it out. 

After setting up a causal chain, I realized that the underlying cause of such a lack of knowledge could very well be, special interests. More specifically, businesses like Exxon Mobil and BP who profit solely off of fossil fuels, a huge contributor to global climate change. They have more power than we can ever imagine in media, government, and in their customers. It only makes sense to me, that companies so dedicated to discredit climate change as a myth would be one of the biggest causes to the lack of knowledge in the general public about it. Upon further investigation, I found this to make more and more sense.

Works cited

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Nicholas Smith, and Jennifer R. Marlon. Americans’ Knowledge of Climate Change. Yale.edu. N.p., 12 Oct. 2010. Web. 03 Feb. 2013. 

Assignment 3 Response

1. The "wife beater" clothing style has been increasing in popularity and brings up questions as to the inspiration of it.

2. According to smith the "wife beater," bears a disturbing name of domestic abuse, is often misunderstood by those who wear it, and dilutes the real effects of domestic abuse.

3. Smith includes the dictionary definition of wife-beater to demonstrate to the reader the real meaning of the word by the English language. In the writer's perspective, the name bears a much deeper meaning in that it represents domestic violence. Since it is currently being popularized, it is seeming to her that the meaning is being diluted.

4. Smith brings up that it is common for young people to simply ignore the meaning behind the name of  "wife beaters." She quickly attributes this ignorance to the fact that "children of abusers often learn the behavior from their elders." This insinuates that the reason it is becoming popular, is because the wearers just may be the next abusers. Her refutation therefore would create much controversy.

5. A picture would help strengthen the authors claim as it would give the reader a visual on not only what the clothing style looks like, but how it has been recently popularized.

Assignment 2 Response

2.1

1. Stories of violence and superhuman combat often aid in the emotional development of certain individuals.

2. Jones argues that violent stories aid in the emotional development of children. He says that violent stories like those in comic books allow children to explore the "taboo" feelings that they have inside. As our society largely tries to suppress these feelings, comic violence makes for a good way to release it. There is also the argument that the stories help children cope with difficult situations, like family issues because they can relate to them. It has been shown that oftentimes those that relied on violent stories as children did not revert to drugs or alcohol in later years.

3. A common argument against Jones' opinion is that violent games, music, comics, etc for children, results in actual violence. For this argument Jones references a girl who utilized "gangsta rap" to get through difficult family situations. Despite all the violence, hate, and cursing of the rap, she never did resort to violence as some claim is bound to happen. Another rebuttal is that allowing children to grow up "too passive, too distrustful of themselves, [and] too easily manipulated," may do significantly more harm than anything otherwise. Violent stories in a sense help children grow.

4. Preventing children from releasing their inner feelings may in-turn be very damaging when they grow up.

2.8

According to Gerald Jones, violent media can actually have positive effects on young people because it allows them to explore feelings that they are forced to keep at bay due to social norms. Jones also believes that violent media are a positive influence on children because it helps them develop a sense of self identity. It prevents them from growing up too passively and without a sense of trusting themselves. Jones makes some good points. For example he says that he once knew a girl who relied on "gangsta rap" to cope with difficult family situations. In the end, she didn't turn to violence or drugs as some often attribute to a childhood filled with violent media. However, there is still concern as to whether this would be the case for all children. It is always possible that a child could be more apt to move into violence, inspired by say, a superhero comic. All in all, Jones poses an interesting perspective on the issue of childhood violence. A better result may come about after further scientific investigation.

My Introduction & Assignment 1 Responses

My name is Jason Covert, and I am a Geography major in my first year here at Bridgewater State University. My main goal as a student is to gain new perspectives on world issues and be able to look at them objectively in order to develop an unbiased opinion. This is one of the reasons I have found my passion in the sciences. I have long been interested in meteorology, but have more recently been intrigued by our environmental future as humans. At this time, I am unsure where I will end up with regard to a career, but I hope to combine my two interests around the topic of global climate change in a scientific field. As people begin to understand the effects global warming on our future, I believe a career in a scientific field is relatively secure considering the state of the economy.

Potential topics for my first argumentative essay and my stand on them

1. Whether or not humans have an impact on climate change.

I believe that humans have a significant impact on climate change, and have an obligation to try to reduce its effects.

2. The political atmosphere of the United States with regard to addressing future problems.

The current political atmosphere in the United States is not in the best interest of the general population.

3. Whether or not government should help fund private businesses.

Under some circumstances, government funding is necessary for the public good.

4. Alternative energy vs. fossil fuels (Keystone Pipeline)

We need to start investing in alternative energy and replacing fossil fuel based infrastructure and technology.

5. Whether or not financial aid should be merit based.

The current system is flawed because it is based on parent’s income rather than the student’s abilities. This, in turn, only punishes parents who make too much to get financial aid.


Assignment 1:


Response to New York Times, "In Praise of Tap Water."

1.We must start considering the environmental impact of using individual sized water bottles for drinking water

2.-The cost of tap water is significantly less than that of bottled water imported from all around the world.
-Plastic water bottles require a large amount of petroleum to make and ship. Petroleum is a limited resource that could be better used.
-Continuing acceptance of bottled water may reduce support for public water supplies, causing a loss of a major valuable resource.

3."The real change, though, will come when millions of ordinary consumers realize that they can save money, and save the planet, by turning in their water bottles and turning on the tap."

4.The writer should have included the argument regarding poor drinking water quality in some areas. The refutation of this argument would be that there are many options on the market for home filtering systems. The cost advantages of tap water would still be there minus a small up front investment. There is also the convenience factor that proponents of water bottles would point out. A water bottle is an easy quick drink in places where water fountains may not be present. The writer could refute this argument by pushing eco-friendly refillable water bottles. These bottles are environmentally sound and can be carried all around including in places with few public drinking sources.

5.The purpose of the last paragraph is to incite the reader to think about their actions and whether their use of plastic water bottles is justified.

Response to Polandspring.com, "Poland Spring Water."

Opposing arguments to plastic water bottle use are that while they are 100% recyclable, far too many still make their way into the trash, essentially wasting the petroleum resource they are made from. The visual also emphasizes the changes from the previous generation of water bottle including the reduction of plastic, labeling, and improving it's crush-ability for recycling. The opposing argument of this would simply revolve around the fact that the bottles still exist, and still face the same challenges. They still will not be recycled in majority, still use a lot of plastic, and still are unnecessary given our tap water resource.

Response to Purewater2go.com, "Pure Water 2Go."

By showing used water bottles, the ad portrays the use and disposal of old water bottles as a negative. It argues that filter bottles could significantly reduce the amount of plastic water bottles that are thrown away every day.