Honors

The first few weeks we had very different but interesting topics of discussion. They have been ranging from beauty to death and speaking to mathematical ratios. They have had varying results in interest levels and argumentative points. Some of the debating has been heated while others very calm and relaxed. I think that all of the topics were interesting in there own ways. I especially liked the death discussion because the talking all relaxed because most people agreeing on what it was and when they wanted to. We were very respectful and it seemed a little uncomfortable about it.  I think that all of these topics have been fun and I cannot wait to see what else we have in store.

The first part of the Cicero book was about how orating, being a good speaker, is something that puts certain men/women on top of others. He talks about how the development of speech and language has made man better then cave men. He talks about how it has progressively got better over time. The speech I listened to was “checkers” by Nixon. He is explaining things about budget of senators and his life. I think he is trying to show where the money went to that was allegedly stolen.

I think that being a good orator is an essential part of obtaining power. You can see this through history where all the leaders that could speak did the best to run the country. I think a very good movie to show this is King Speech. This movie talks about how a prince had a stutter and how it really hurt his governance ability. It is also shown in other movies that have battles. Before a big battle there is always a big speech that is said that is supposed to rouse the troops and warriors to win the battle. In running for presidency the candidates have to go around the country speaking of why they should be voted for. One of the reasons that Obama and Clinton got to become president was because they were such good orators. I think that Pastors do it every weekend to teach and also to get money for the poor and for the church.  In Nixon’s speech he is able to talk very fluently and it is understandable which gets his point across very well. If Nixon’s speech was stuttered and slurred it would not have done a very good job for him. Being a good orator is an essential thing in our society because we have to be able to talk to get a job at an interview. We also need to be able to talk to communicate with others. I think all in all, being able to orate is a major thing that people have over people who can not speak.

I read a couple of the articles which were about other peoples death experiences. One of the articles was about the experience of suicide. The father ended his life after years of depression by jumping off the top of a building. Another article I read was about the death of loved ones like mother, grandmother, and aunts. This story tells about how she moved on and had to just keep on living even though these people were not in her life.

I thought this was a very different topic to read about. Death is a very common subject that happens every single day. It is a naturally occurring thing which will happen to everyone. One of my big death experiences that I remember was after I lived in a new town for a couple years and I went back to my old town to see everyone on the fourth of July, which was exciting. One of the friends that I unexpectedly ran into was a girl I had crushed on before I had left. I finally got her phone number and contact information so we could keep in touch. The next day I came into town for a parade and learned that this same girl that I finally got to see and talk to had been killed in a hit in run accident that morning. It was a very sad event but I had to look at the bright side and move on with my life. Sure we could have had some fun conversations but I just had to live with her death. In some ways I just shrugged it off others it really hurt, but ironically this is Life. People take death in different ways and it is up to the person in how to handle it. Death does not really bother me. From the minute I was born, I live to die. It is more about how you live then the death itself. All in all I thought it was a different sort of read but it had some good points in it as well.

These two articles were about the golden ratio (GR) being used widely. The GR is supposedly used widely throughout history to construct structures ranging from music to architecture. The first article, The Myth That Will Not Go Away, it talks about how the GR is used in many things but writers use it to much for myths that are not really there. The author talks about humans being made from the GR is just a myth it is just coincidence we sometimes end up fitting into the ratio.  The second article, Did Mozart Use the Golden Section?, was about Mozart composing his pieces using the GR. It conspires that because Mozart was also a mathematician who used the GR to compose his pieces. At the end though it shows that Mozart did not use math to compose his music but his music ability.

Response:

These two articles brought to my attention that there is a golden ratio. I honestly did not know that it was this big of an issue. I had heard some of the stories but did not know it was such a hot topic through out so many fields. I do not think the GR is a big problem as its said to be but I can see where people could take it as a topic on which to base myths off of. Who does not like a good myth? So bringing the element of math into it helps to make it more believable. Mathematics is a proven thing that is usually true and can be proved many times over. Music is something that almost every culture has either for communication, entertainment, or for recording history. I enjoy music, I see math in it through counting measures and the length of notes. I did not know that there may be a ratio involved with it. Overall, I am just astonished that people can take conspiracies as far as they have. Saying that Mozart’s fame and music ability came through a ratio is just down right crazy.