Nick McQueen
8/6/13
Humanities
Final Conclusion
Through the course of the semester we went over many different topics and discussed our
beliefs and interest in this many topics. These topics where such things as is Humanities
important? Race, Buddhism, Identity. These are topics as I mentioned in my last journal that are
very controversial and bring a lot of heated discussions and many different ideas and beliefs.
I felt though that even though we all had our different ideas and beliefs we had some great
conversations and kept it in a well-mannered way. I never felt like anyone’s ideas were
discredited or ridiculed in any way. As I did everyone seemed to come out of class with a better
understanding and more of an acceptance of others beliefs and ideas.
I feel from this class I have gained a better understanding of what others believe. Even though I
did not change my believes in what I have gained just by taking this class, I do feel like I have
gained a lot from hearing what others believe. I enjoyed learning more about Buddha and the
religion that he had infiltrated into people. I particularly thought that hoe he went from a rich
prince, having never experienced pain or sorrow. He changed how he lived to gain the full
experience of what life offers.
We all experience different things in life and we react and come out different than others. These
journals are how I felt about the subjects that we went over in class. I feel my understandings of
these topics has increased and my knowledge.
Nick McQueen
5/27/13
Is studying the humanities important?
We all grow up with family and friends with different beliefs. We learn and grow from
our own experiences to have our own beliefs in life. Can a subject like humanities benefit us? In
class we talked about how it does benefit you because it helps you open your mind and helps
you decide what to think in life, which I can see to be true for some people but not all the
students who come into this class. Some students though have their beliefs and don’t consider
other peoples beliefs.
When they come out of high school most students don’t really know what they believe
in, they just go by what their family and friends believe. How you should live, what art means to
them, how to open your mind to new things. We are probably naive to the world and what is
really out there. Humanities is the class that really teaches you about many different things you
wouldn’t want to do in high school. For instance poetry, would not be something that many
people enjoy in high school because it is not something that is accepted to others.
On the other side of things there are people who already are stuck in what they think and
believe, and so humanities does not open their mind the way the class should. We are drawn to
certain things by the way we live and by what our friends and family live. It is what we are
already exposed to by other influences close to us that we decide to live a certain way. A
person doesn’t usually decide to say become a vegan unless someone close helps him decide
that. Now this isn’t how everyone changes, I have heard that teachers and classes do help
people open their mind.
Nick McQueen
Humanities
6/26/13
IAT Test
This test was a very interesting one to be a part of because as, it was well documented,
people who think they are not racist come out being racist. Or the test indicates that they are in
fact, a bit inclined racist attitudes. As I took the test I came out racist preferences even though I
think that I try really hard not to be. I know that I am at times, even though it is unintentionally, I
admit that I am. There are times when I see someone who maybe a certain color I label them as
to what kind of person they are. So does this test prove a point? Is it showing that no matter what
we categorize individuals by the color of their skin?
At first I was a bit in denial at what the results of the test were because I felt that it was rigged in
a way. It makes you get used to doing the system a certain way, putting certain things to one side
and then it switches on you. So you make mistakes no matter how hard you try. As I think of it
now, though, it does show you that people do categorize and judge based on categorization even
though they don’t mean to. So to answer the question you asked is yes I do feel that implicit
minds do affect racism. Even though they don’t mean too and try really hard not too we still have
some sort of way of thinking that a certain person is a certain way. The test is a simple way of
showing that we may categorize even when not intending too. Even now I am in denial and that
the test is rigged in so many ways, mainly because of pride I guess and wanting to be better.
Nick McQueen
Humanities
7/2/13
What are the causes and effects of privilege and inequality and what does identity have to do with
those phenomena?
The readings that we had on these subjects were different and hard to understand at times
for me. I enjoy hearing what people received out of them though and bring more understanding to
what the author was trying to portray. What are the causes of privileges and inequality? Have we
ever really thought about how some people do have privileges? Who gets such privileges too? I
am going to use some of the readings to answer these questions and my own personal
experiences.
The one reading that really stuck out to me was the one of privileges of a man. Now before
reading this I have never thought of me as having a privilege to being a man. So I felt the author
was very creative in what he considered to be a privilege for a man. Some I agree with and others I
do not. We had a long discussion on this topic in class and felt some good points were made. I
think these privileges just come from history sadly. The man was the care taker and provider for
the family. Because of this he is the patriarch of the family. Whereas women were more
considered to be child bearers and take care of the family in that way of raising the children. Men
were able to vote women were not. Men could own property and women could not. These have
changed to where women are now equal to man. One of the privileges that was pointed out that I
never thought of was if you ask for the manager it is more than likely going to be a man. This has
never occurred to me before that this happened that often. Now a days though women are going
to be in those positions more now. Whereas 15 years ago, when this was written, there was not
that many women in such positions.
Men get this identity I think because in the days before and now we are seen as powerful. The
ones that should be providing for others, history is the biggest part of this identity. I don’t know
exactly how to explain how men are thought of but I think of the Greeks and how men were
represented then with the Olympics and with art that was made of them. I think now though that
the world has changed a ton and women are just as powerful. Maybe in a way to prove that men
are not all that seem to be and that a women is just as capable as doing what a man can do. Which
I agree that they can do and show that they are capable of doing what men have been doing as
their role in history.
Nick McQueen
Humanities
7/25/13
Buddhism
Buddhism
Religions from the East are always been foreign and fascinating because we don’t get to
hear too much about them. For the longest time, too, we didn’t see them in the United States
much at all. Now when I drive some where there is a chance of seeing a Sikh temple or an
Islamic mosque, or Jewish synagogue. I think Buddhism is a religion that teaches very good
morals and truths and how to control your emotions. Even though it may be more extreme
than I feel it needs to be, I do find it rewarding. I wanted to go over the two teachings in
Buddhism: Karma and Dukkha the truth of suffering.
Karma is pretty much the idea that whatever you produce in the world, the world will produce
it back to you. If you are a bad person and do terrible things to people, then the same thing is
going to be happening to you. If you do good things and help people you are going to have
good things happen to you. These things will not only happen to you in this life but it will
determine your destination for reincarnation. You have a good thing going now but if you treat
this life bad then your reincarnation you may not get something very pleasant.
The second value I will discuss Truth of Dukkha, which to me is, the troubles that come in life.
There are good things in life and then there is Dukkha or bad things in life. You can’t have one
without the other in this life. Dukkha are things like suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction, pain. All
these things everyone experiences one way or the other in our lives. We all handle them
differently though. Buddhist handles it by overcoming those and reaching Nirvana. A stage
where everything is gone and you are left with bliss. This is the thing I like about Buddhist is
they take all these bad things that happen to us and overcome it to be happier and enjoy life is
a much more spiritual way.
Nick McQueen
8/6/13
Humanities
Is Studying Humanities Important?
We all go through life with different experiences and in different circumstances. We are
all raised and taught to believe different things. The different experiences that happen to us we
start to learn our own beliefs. Our friends are a big impact on these beliefs maybe more than our
parents. Sometimes we just act like that the beliefs we have are ours just to be accepted or cause
we are worried about what people will think of us if they knew what we really believed. At the
beginning of the semester I wasn’t super excited to take humanities. Maybe because I didn’t
really know what it was about? I felt that people have their own ideas and taking a class isn’t
going to change them.
Throughout the course of the semester we talked about things like religion and racism, to
sexuality. Topics that today always have controversy with them. People have their own ideas and
opinions on these matters. I felt though that even though everyone in class had their own ideas
about these topics we all seemed to come away with an understanding of each other’s ideas. Our
opinions and ideas never changed but we gain more knowledge on those subjects.
Humanities is a great class and I think it is a great general class for college students to take.
Some of us just need one thing, like this class to open up our minds more and to maybe accept
what we really believe. A better understanding of the world never hurt anyone.
Conclusion:
I feel that if people need to gain a better understanding of what others believe they should
participate in this class. In life we block out what we think is wrong or don’t want to understand
others ideas because we have made up our mind of our own. The world would be a much better
place if everyone took the opportunity to come to an understanding of others and accepted them
for who they really are. Being unique is a great thing in life, and too many times we don’t take
the time to understand someone else’s uniqueness. Humanities is a great way to come to those
understandings.