Reflecting on Professor Kjar's lecture

I learned about evolution throughout the lecture given by Professor Kjar. First of all, I learned that when it comes to the topic, evolution, it is likely to include a variety of aspects such as theories, hypothesises, facts and truth. They appear to be all the same, each one is significantly different from each other. For instance, while facts are always the same as a conclusion not depending on the person, trush is something that you know. Evolution is likely to be believed as creation myths, which are different depending on regions and so it can be said that evolution is deeply related to the person's perspective or beliefs. However, in fact evolution always has something to do with biological facts. I was also surprised at the fact that evolution has a lot to do with science and it can be taken place because of a lot of elements like mutation, recombination and genetic drift. Professor Kjar explained since science has been developed rapidly, it could affect the way how creatures evolve. However, the most interesting fact that I personally found during the lecture was that to focus on the origin of the human being, we are related to each other. This line added new perspective to me in terms of evolution because this is what I had never come up with. Before the lecture, I had never been familiar with the topic because it had seemed to be too complicated and not related to me. However, now I feel evolution is somewhat connected to me as a human being.

Pardeshi. 8 October 2007. Online image. flickr. retrieved from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pardeshi/1514977212/

Discussion Questions Related to Blade Runner

1. Blade Runner is best known for its cyberpunk mise en scene (design aspects of the film): the incredibly dense texture of its shots. Watch very carefully and describe the 2020 culture the movie suggests visually.

In Blade Runner, I consider that the world in 2020 is illustrated as destopia, which is old and decayed despite the high-technology. As I have just been to Los Angeles, where is the main stage of the film, I can compare the difference between the present one and the one which is illustrated in the movie. I found that although L.A. seems to have a variety of population such as Asian and Hispanic, it appears that the city in the film has more mixed and each culture is more influential. For instance, in the film people speak a variety of languages such as Japanese, Korean and German. Also, there are a lot of signs which are written in those languages. I analyze it is because those people, who do not afford to move to other planets, suddenly started to be forced to live in the dense city because of the environment of the earth. This is interesting because the phenomenon which seems to be taking place all over the world is globalization. In other words, every culture is getting similar or perhaps Americanized. However, what is expressed in the film is completely different.

2. One of the most dramatic philosophical points made in the movie is that we can't trust our memories: they may have been implanted in us regardless of how true they seem. what is the main reason that we trust our memories as more or less accurate accounts of our past events?

We are likely to judge things depending on our memories. I think the main reason for this is because our memories are a lot to do with our emotions. Emotions include a lot of elements such as love, hate, anger, jealousy, sorrow, fear, despair and happiness. For instance, when I was in junior high school, I belonged to a soccer team. I never forget the last game we played as a past event even though it has been more than 5 years. This is because after we lost the game, I looked back the incident over and over again as a regrettable memory. So, it still brings back bad memories. This can be explained by my statement, our memories have a lot to do with our emotions. If I had not felt anything about the game, I would not trust the memory or maybe I would have forgotten about it already. Consequently, I believe that because we strognly feel something which will eventually become a memory, we tend to trust the memory. Also, the stronger the emotion is, the more we are likely to trust the memory as an accurate account of our past event.

Twilightzone1960. 24 December 2008. Online image. flickr. retreived from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsabree/3134993334/

Reflecting on Dr. Jesse Kabwila Kapasula's Lecture

On 8th March known as International Women's Day, I had a lecture given by Dr. Jesse Kabwila Kapasula. She is a lady from Malawi and the topic was feminism. During the lecture, she kept us entertained by showing videos and telling jokes. I was surprised at the fact that feminism started in North America and spread to most parts of the world. Even in Japan, where has a compulitely different culture, it is said that the phenomenon has become common in the last few decades. For example, I heard the news that even after women get married and have children, some companies guarantee those women's positions. I think that even gender include inevitable different roles, when it comes about job opportunities or education, I think men and women should be treated equally. The song "single ladies" by Beyonce gives a perfect example of elements for feminism. In the song, it can be seen that she complains about the way her boy friend treats her.

Social Geographic. 7 March 2009. Online image. flickr. retreived from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/social _geographic/3337573972/

Reflecting on Professor Lemak's Lecture,

1. How do we balance social justice with moral authority, or just with unjust laws?
I think that moral authority plays an important role in shaping social justice. Because of the existance of moral authority, people hesitate to do things they are not supposed to do. Actually, most people naturally balance social justice with moral authority to a certain extent.

2. What constitutes social responsibility and justice, and what is the relationship between freedom and power?
I believe that our rights as citizens in a certain place constitutes socail responsibility and justice. As we have the right to do something, it also means that we are responsible for ourselves and our actions in society. I think that freedom and power are deeply related and I consider that the relationship can be disrinct depending on the leader. If the leader tries to get power to bring freedom to the society, it works in a positive way. On the other hand, supposing the leader was tyrannical, it would be difficult for people to obtain freedom. Also, freedom could result in new power because with freedom, they have more chances to express themselves and act in his or her way.

3. What constitutes leadership and how do leaders confront moral choices?
As Professor Lemak mentioned, leaders are not super heroes, but humans; however I believe that good leaders are consistent in his or her decision. What is more, the leader has to convince people to get involved in his or her decision by speaking to those people. Then, the leader can effectively lead other people because they understand they have the same ambition to achieve. For instance, I respect Nelson Mandela as a leader, I think his leadership is prominent considering the fact that he never stopped insisting the abolition of apartheid even when he was imprisoned.

b1968. 7 May 2007. Online image. flickr. retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85788705@N00/489420674/