outliers

This week in sociology we discussed the excerpt "outliers" basically the idea of outliers was about how our social groups such as who we are close to or where we live have an affect on us as people. It is hard not to agree with this because we are around those people or things for so long that some ideas must rub off on us and shape who we are. For example in "outliers" there was a lower level of people with heart disease. A man named Wolf was curious about that situation. The explanation was that the environment those people lived in somehow made them healthier. Not because they lived healthier lives because they lived just as unhealthy as everyone else. Something they did have was a connection with everyone in the town. That connection those people had made them have less risk of having heart problems. This idea is about people being affected by their social groups. In this example the town all those people lived in acted as their social group and because of there happiness and peace they had less of a risk. There was nothing medically that Wolf could find with the village, so he shifted his idea towards the idea that the people were healthier because of the the values and ideals of the isolated village. For me one example of being affected by my social groups is when I hang out with my friends. When we all hang out there are certain things we do and certain things we don't do. After a while those ideas of we do and what we don't do rub off and even when I'm not with my friends sometimes I won't do certain things because I those ideas have been instilled in me. Now I'm no trying to say everything we do has an affect, but to just understand that because I hang out with a certain group I am affected because of what we do.

A Loud Silence

The first day of sociology instead of Sal being in front of the class he sat in the back and didn't say word. For me it was a weird experience but not because no one was talking, it was because everyone in the class was doing the same thing. Everyone in the class basically just looked around and didn't know what to do. It was almost as if the other kids were talking all at once but nothing was being said. If you could hear what they were all thinking it would have been extremely loud and would drown out the silence. Usually when you start a class the teacher stands in front and instructs the class on what to do. We have been almost manipulated to that type of "normal" idea of how the class should work. The only reason that the weird experienced happened when everyone was looking around not sure what to do was because for us that was outside of what we are used to doing. For me this same idea was incorporated a few years ago. I was on a bowling team and instead of my coaching giving us advice on how well we should play or what we should do, he just sat there and said "take it all in, and have fun with it." At first we were all confused because it was not what we were used to hearing from our coach especially when a big match was about to begin. That same idea is what Sal did in class, but if you think about it, what he did was only weird to all of us because we really haven't experienced it before.

Who am I?

Who am I? That's a very good question. I have yet to figure out an answer for that. I have many characteristics, but does that really define who I am or just how I act. Some people say actions define who you are but who is really sure? I feel that I am a loyal friend, overall a good person, and love sports. Well instead of just stating what most people would say about themselves I could go a bit deeper. I'm usually filled with tons of self doubt, always thinking, always processing, and in many ways am far beyond many other people  in the idea that i can use common sense and regular thinking to succeed in any situation. I would like to say that I am able to "read" people, and by that I mean I am able to figure out what people are thinking or how they really feel about something. Its very frustrating to be one of few who understand those difficult ideas, or maybe that's just an outlook of it and I'm wrong, but who really knows.

I would have to say the biggest influences on my life are my parents because I've been around them for 18 years, so it be very tough not to take things they have taught me. Also another big influence on me was one of my friends who is two years older than I am, and he was the type of person to lead others and if he wanted to do something he did it. He was able to make decisions and then go through with them which is something that he taught me.

Goals and purposes are like most people, go to college, get a good job, family...etc. But there is something more that I want.  Maybe it's the way I think about life and what it's really about but I want more then just the regular life, to achieve that I don't know how, but it is a goal.