March Blog Assignment: Week 4

Please Read This Story, Thank You

Central Argument: The central argument is that people are losing their manners through generation to generation as people are starting to be rude, impolite, and overuse of casual language.

                Basic manners is something that each person is expected to have and follow. Certain phrases or words like “Please” and “Thank You” are expected to be said because these are basic manners that one is expected to posses. In Lincoln Weeks’s article Please Read This Story, Thank You, the author claims that people are losing their manners through generation to generation as people are starting to be rude, impolite, and overuse causal language. When you look through each generation, you can see how many things have changed during the gaps between generations. The fashion, fads, general interest and basically culture has changed from generation to generation. I strongly do not believe that people are losing their manners through generation to generation. I believe that people are rude, impolite or lack basic manners because they are brought up in a way where they lack discipline. Another factor I believe that determines the manners of a person is where they live, and what type of environment they are brought up in.  I feel that these two factors determine how mannered a person is, because I believe manners come from discipline and influences.

                Discipline is an element which helps keep people focused and maintained. Having discipline ensures that one does not have dynamic changes in them. Discipline is usually considered the key element to success. Since manners are something that can change, discipline is required to ensure that people do not intend to follow bad manners. Since I am in a boarding school, I have to go to bed in a certain time, get up on time to make sure I am not late for school, and I have to be nice to my dorm parents, so that they don’t make my life miserable here. I have to follow all this, and I have to have discipline in me to follow such a pattern. My cousin brother back in Nepal does not go to a boarding school. He doesn’t get enough sleep, eats junk food all the time and doesn’t listen to his parents. These are considered bad manners and this is due to lack of discipline. The amount of discipline one has is enough to see how much manners one has.

                Manners also come from the environment of where one is living and where they are brought up from. There are many ways to illustrate this factor. A student in USA can call an older grade student by their first name, but a student in Nepal would have to call an older grade student a “big brother” or “big sister”. This is due to culture, as different cultures expect different manners. The use of casual language also depends on where one lives. If you lived in Harlem in New York, you would use “gangsta” language, where large amount of swear words are placed. If you lived in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, such “gangsta talk” would not be tolerated. The environment and culture play a key role in what kind of manners a person has.

               

                Overall, manners are not derailing through generations, as manners are valued in different ways. A person’s manners are determined by how much discipline they have, as discipline teaches one not to change their attitude to certain heights. Another factor that must be taken into consideration is that a person’s manners can be determined by the culture they are brought up in, and the environment they live in. Manners are something people should have, but that varies on which perspective you look at it from.

 Why We Like What We Like

Central Argument: The central argument is that we like what we like because what we perceive things through a certain perspective that gets the better of our five senses.

                Have you ever wondered why your Rip Curl t-shirt is your best t-shirt? Why is pizza your favorite food? Why are you sexually attracted to tall, blonde girls? According to Alva Noë in his article, Why We Like What We Like, people tend to like something because they perceive things through a certain perspective that gets the better of our senses. His argument would mean that you like Rip Curl your t-shirt because it is made by Rip Curl, not because it is made from cotton and possibly because of the color. I disagree with what Noë’s perspective as I believe that the five senses do have a part to play in what we like because one would not just choose what they like because they see it as beneficial. I feel that at least one of the following; appearance, sound, taste, smell or touch at least has some part to play in what we like and what we don’t. Would one just like something because they feel they should like it? Would one choose consider something without looking or tasting etc? There has to be one of the five senses taken to consideration by a person, as no one would like something if they have no feelings or attribute of appreciation for it

                If one of the senses is not considered by a person, then they are most probably numb all around their body. I can confirm that each thing I like has to do with the five senses. I like Momos because the meat and the wanton taste absolutely delicious. I like to wear cut sleeve t-shirts because they look cool to wear around the beach. I like Indian food because I can smell the spices when it is being cooked. I like my blanket because it feels so fuzzy. I like to hot girls because I can see how hot they look. Everything I like has to be related with one of the five senses, and I believe that is the case with everyone. Why would one be married to their wife? If they didn’t find her attractive or find their voice very annoying, why not just marry a fat, ugly, old lady. Why even marry a woman actually? Why not just marry and make love to a man? See a man wouldn’t marry any random woman because he sees some quality in her that makes her attractive. He certainly would not marry a man because he sees that men have a quality that just doesn’t make them the right partner. There has to be a reason, and usually that reason is aided by one of the five senses in some way or the other.

                Senses do play a part in what we like and what we don’t. It contributes through some way or the other as it plays an important factor to what we decide on what we like and what we don’t. We like something because we find something good in it, and that is caused by the help of at least one of the senses. Senses do play an important role to what we like and what we don’t.