videos about awarness and observation

Eyewitness can sometimes cheat us.

Today in seminar class, we watched some interesting videos about different kinds of scene changing.  We tried our best to focus on something, but unfortunately we often lose some other amazing points. Some changes were fast, while some were slowly. Some changes even happened out of our minds. It’s really a fascinating experience.

In the first video, I did see the gorilla at the first time, but the reason why I could see it may be a little funny. I just can’t figure out exactly how many times the basketball has been kicked. Counting makes me crazy, and I give it up. Just on that moment, the gorilla appeared. I even screamed in low voice: “oh, what’s that?” But nobody respond to me, maybe they just focused on counting. When reviewing it, a lot people laughed. Maybe they were surprised how they could miss this clear part. It must be an interesting experience, but unfortunately, I missed it.  

We also watched videos like repeating changes, slow changes, and movie scene changes.

Repeating changes show two different but almost similar pictures repeating again and again. The video played very fast, and at first we were astonish to feel how it could end so quickly. It was too fast for us to find the differences. But soon we found the rule, and change became quiet clearly. This change may only confuse us at the first time. We became sensitive and not easy to be cheated.

Movie scene changes seem difficulty but actually easy to follow if you don’t focus on the dialogue or the story. It’s so funny to see the woman wear the necklace at the first view turning out to have a scarf around her neck in the next scene.

For me, I think the slow changes are the most difficult to figure out. I required reviewing the video again and again, but I could not find the rule. Once the picture changed, I will have difficult to discover what had changed in the picture. I must say I’m not sensitive about the changes turning out slowly.

We often have one hundred percent confidence at what we seeing, but through this interesting experience, we must admit that what we see sometimes could not be the truth.

My thoughts about the interesting game

      Days before, I had met some difficulties with my computer, and I didn't post what I thought about the interesting game we played in the class which related to wealth&power.
      Here follows my ideas.

       It is quiet an impressive class which gives us the opportunity to experience the wealth and power through an interesting game. The game is focused on wealth and the distribution based on the power of different classes. I have some ideas in personal about the game, and want to share them with my classmates.

       First, people are not born fairly to gain money. At the very beginning, Jessica throws lots of pennies on the ground, about two hundred and fifty. We are required to try our best and use all the material available to pick up pennies as much as we can. Most people are able to use their hands. Some people are planning to use their cloth. But few of us can only use spoon to pursue the money on the ground because of some special reasons. In our game, the unlucky reason is just because black is their favorite color. All the people are in a circle, but everybody has different distance to the penny area. Maybe the circle is more like an oval. I am lucky to stand along the long side in front of the pennies, that’s why I can get as much as 22 pennies at beginning. But for some persons like Dong Wook and Paula who stand along the short side and have far more distance to the pennies just pick up 6 and 7 cents at first. I believe that happens in the real world. Some people are born to face lots of chances to own money, while some people have fewer opportunities or even have limited condition to earn money.

       Then we came to the process to ask or donate the money personally. We can see various kinds of methods for people to ask for money, sometimes they even play trick on other people. I don’t ask for anything, but donate 5 cents. By different kinds of ways, some poor people soon surprise become rich man.

       After this process, we are divided into three classes on the basis of different wealth. Like the real world, middle class occupies the largest amount of people, and the rich class contains least. The people in the same class also have different level of wealth, but the baseline is fixed: 14 for middle and 27 for rich. And I am in the middle class. Each class can put forward a program on how to distribute all the property in society. Of course, all classes will follow the rule of benefiting the most for themselves. The program rich people suggest is that middle class donate 27 cents and they donate 21 for the poor people. The middle want change the number as 13 and 32. The poor people prefer to get 17 cents from the middle class and 30 from the rich. All the people have the right to vote on each program, but different class has different power. Each rich people vote accounts 5 tickets, each middle cut down to 2, and each poor just equal to 1 ticket.  Even through the rich people have the heaviest power, we reach an interesting and funny result that middle and poor combine together to win the most rich people. The program 2 becomes effective. Frankly speaking, I don’t think it’s realistic in the real world. Middle class and the poor class can’t be all standing at one side to get coordination, once if it shows some of these signs, the rich people will use any methods to separate them, and they will be the final winner. In the game, the rich people become less wealthy than middle class in the end, it is also not realistic and helpful. This phenomenon will lead to the overall economic level of recession, which does harm to the whole society.     

       At last, I want point out that if I were in the poor class, considering the entire situation, I may vote on the program 1 which the rich people offer. In total, program 1 can promise me to gain 48 cents, more than our program 47, even larger than middle class’s program which donates 45cents in total amount. Maybe I take less into consideration, but on the basis of total amount, the poor class may choose the worst one.

       I really enjoy the process, and have gained much from the experience.

The embarrassing situation---some thoughts about the Singer's essay

Peter Singer points out that all of us are in a situation choosing between the life of some innocent persons and the sacrifice of what we owning. I have to say it’s true in the real world, even though I don’t want in such an embarrassing situation.

Peter Singer tells the story about Dora and Bob who both in the difficult situation making decision between other person’s life and personal wealth. Compared with these two examples, the writer figures out that people who live well should have the responsibility to give the substantial amounts of money to help people overseas who are hungry, malnourished or dying from easily treatable illnesses. He lists a few numbers of some organizations to encourage people donating for others. I think it’s a good way to pursue, but when take into action, people will have different obstacles.

About "obedience"--sep.21.2011

I am quite interested in the topic of “obedience”, and the materials we have been reading and seeing are really attractive. “Surprised” could be described as my first impressions about the reading and video. In my opinion, obedience simply can be described as “following the rules or command”. when I was young, I used to think that obedience is positive which can make us live in well-regulated circumstances, but after I grew up, I was frustrated to find that we have no choice to obey something against our principles. It’ s very sad to think about it.

I do think it will change the way my view ideas about authority and conformity.  I can’t help thinking the predictions and the real fact. I can’t image how so many people will continue until 450 volts. They abandon their authority to humanity and human sympathy but choose to obey the cruel suggestion even it is just an experiment.

Anyway, I think authority and conformity should not be blind. We ought to insist on the basic principle to be human, to respect ourselves.

Difficult beginning!

I have used lots of time to be familiar with the blog. Exactly, this is my first time to use a blog. I don’t have much interest in something like this. I mean I just like watching other people’s views, but not my expression. Now I think I must change my mind and try my best to convey something form my thought which is important for me to communicate with my friendly classmates. So just keep on!