April 2, class reaction

Last week's discussion was yet another entertaining one that was led this time by Kira and Yuka. They did their presentation on the topic of happiness. They incorporated several different activities to engage the class. First, a video was shown in which people where interviewed regarding what they thought makes them happy. I thought it was an interesting video because it showed the different responses made by different people. I told them that I agreed in particular with a man who said that happiness occurs when you are satisfied with what you have since I believe its nearly impossible to be happy otherwise. Afterwards the class was divided into several groups we were asked a series of questions. They included the following: "How would we envision the perfect birthday for Mr. Murillo?", "If we could go anywhere where would it be?", "What would be the worst vacation ever?", and "Given one of the other group's idea of a terrible vacation, how could we make it better". My group's envision of the perfect birthday for Mr. Murillo would involve him going to a restaurant with his friends and family, as well as receiving a gigantic cake from which KU would pop out! Then, we decided that the coolest vacation would involve going to the center of the earth, while the worst vacation would  be getting stuck there and dying a slow and painful death. Finally, we thought that we could fix the terrible idea of having nothing to do by considering it to be a great way to relax.
Overall, I found the discussion to be fun since it was both informative and thought-provoking. Good job Kira and Yuka!

May 28, Chapter 8 response

Chapter 8 focuses on a topic called happiness. There are a lot of different things that are important to people and happiness is considered to be one them that many people strive to achieve and maintain. One thing in particular that I found interesting in the chapter related to happiness was that the quality of one’s did not necessarily correspond to how high one’s level of happiness. In particular, poor countries like those in western Africa and northern Latin America experience high levels of happiness despite their condition. (pg. 278) While some may find this hard to believe, I think it’s plausible. Although the people in these countries may not have access to all the luxuries that richer countries have, I think that the lack of wealth allows them to have a greater appreciation for the simple things in life. These include factors that are responsible for one’s level of happiness, including family, friends, and free time. (pg. 281) In addition to these important aspects, I think the most important one is the feeling of control in one’s life. A lack of this feeling will give someone a loss of security thereby giving them the idea that nothing they can do will improve the situation. I’ve felt this way a few times, particularly now with my physics class and it feels awful. However, I know that if I continue to do more practice problems I can improve in this class, as well as in other parts of my life. 

March 18, class reaction

Last week Katrina and Yoyo led the class discussion. They began it with a game in which 5 boys had their backs turned to 5 girls. On each of the boy's back there was a sign listing a few characteristics of the boys, followed by the question "Will you marry me?". I choose the one labeled "I'm rich, good-looking, funny, adventurous, and I like to travel a lot." After the girls choose their mate, the roles were reversed and the guys got to choose their mates. At the end of the game, the girls turned around and everyone got to see if their mate was the one that they originally chose. To my surprise, Michael chose me (he was the one I chose earlier). I think this was the case because he was the only other American besides me who participated in the game. As a result, both of us chose the short-termed orientated description, which is what Katrina and Yoyo predicted for us to choose since Americans are more short-term orientated. 
After the game, Yoyo and Katrina showed a video which demonstrated the differences between how Americans and Asians like to handle business. The Americans (represented by Mr. McDonald and Ms. Wendy) were concerned with making money as quickly as possible whereas the Asian businessmen (represented by Mr. Honda and Mr. Toyota) liked to take more time and consideration into developing products with good quality. I think this is quite true since fast food restaurants sell food that's cheep, popular, but not very nutritious whereas car companies like Honda and Toyota provide good quality cars that last for years. 
Towards the end, the two presenters divided the class into two groups. One group contained all of the Asians, while the other half of the class consisted of the Americans. We were each asked the same questions but our responses were quite different. For nearly all of the questions asked the responses collected by both groups were close to what Katrina and Yoyo expected. In other words, the Americans provided answers that were more short-term oriented whereas the Asians gave long-term orientation responses. 
Overall, I think Yoyo and Katrina did an excellent job throughout the execution of their presentation. I learned a lot about short term and long term orientation and their presentation is something I will remember for years to come. I look forward to seeing what other novel ideas the other students will come up with when it becomes their turn to lead the class for discussion.

March 7, Chapter 6 response

Chapter six discusses a topic known as uncertainty avoidance. According to the book, uncertainty is “defined as the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations.” (pg. 191) This idea was demonstrated in particular by a question in a survey that asked whether rules should be broken even if it’s for a good cause. Countries that displayed a greater amount of tension and uncertainty avoidance among its people expressed a greater desire to adhere strictly to the rules (pg. 190-191). I think this seems plausible since the people would feel a lot more pressure in those countries to act submissively towards authority. I don’t feel as if it is a good thing because authority isn’t always right. Instead of avoiding them, leaders should strive to accommodate for improvements when they become available because they are good for society as a whole.  
Another idea that was expressed was that countries with a greater level of uncertainty avoidance have a tendency to be more open about their feelings. Because they do not suppress their feelings, they were less prone to die of coronary heart disease. (pg. 196) I find this interesting because in a civilized society it seems as if it is considered a good thing to control one’s emotions in order to get along better with people. On the contrary, it appears as if it is healthier to relieve one’s feelings to get rid of some of the stress in one’s life. 
A third idea that struck my interest was that people in uncertainty-tolerant countries were reported to feel healthier than those in countries with a higher level of uncertainty avoidance. This makes sense to me since less stressful people should be happier and, hence, healthier. Furthermore, I found the way in which doctors treated patients to be interesting as well. The doctors in uncertainty-tolerant countries focused more on talking to the patients and getting to know them whereas the countries that were less uncertainty-tolerant felt the necessity of giving more drugs into the patients to cure them. (pg. 202-203) I don't think that this is the best way to treat patients because I think that drugs should be used in urgent situations where there may be no other natural cure. However, if there is a more natural way of curing the patient then it should be used since it will be healthier for the patient in the long run. 

March 14 Chapter 7 response

The main focus of Chapter 7 is on long term orientation versus short term orientation which was analyzed during the Chinese Value Survey. Long term orientation is defined as "fostering of virtues oriented towards future rewards" whereas short term orientation focuses more on "fostering of virtues related to past and present" (pg. 239). A concrete example of long term orientation which I found interesting was the principles of Confusianism. Some of these principles included holding strong relationships with one another, viewing the family as important, treating others as you would like to be treated, and doing what necessary which includes spending in a careful manner(pg 237-238). I think these are some great ideas that should be followed in society because they make life for people around us easier. Examples of long term orientation countries include China, Hong Kong, and Japan. On the flip side, short term orientation includes characteristics that are opposite to those of long term orientation. They focus more on individual needs such as social status, actions that lead to fast gratification, and spending a lot of money (pg 243). Examples of such countries are the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Overall, I find short term orientation to be less efficient and not as good for society as a whole. Example of such countries are the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. I think the Asians countries in general have a better approach to life in this regard and that Americans and other short term countries should try to incorporate more Asian ideas into their cultures. 

March 11 class reaction

Last week Ben, Esther and I led the class discussion. Esther created a game where one person would stand in front of the class blindfolded and pick a number out of a box that would determine how many people would catch the blindfolded individual. I thought the game was very creative and, as we all saw, very entertaining! You could tell that a few people were hesitant before they took the dip but in the end everyone did a great job with the falling and catching. Next, Ben led the class by showing a very informative video about uncertainty-avoidance. It covered the material discussed in the chapter with accuracy and the other students provided intelligent comments regarding their reaction and what they learned from the video. Afterwards, I led the class by first asking everyone whether they thought they contained a high or low level of uncertainty-avoidance. I then passed out a self-made quiz to determine whether their prediction about this quality was correct. Finally we divided the class into two groups so they could have a debate regarding whether it was better to switch jobs often or remain consistent about where one works. All in all, I think the presentation went well and I want to thank both of my members for doing a great job!

Feb 28, Chapter 5 response

Chapter 5 focuses on the differences between genders. Men are considered to be more aggressive, domineering, and competitive whereas women are viewed to be softer and more family-oriented. The differences between males and females are particularly evident in a survey about work which asked men and women what they viewed as more important. Men thought that earning a higher pay, being recognized, and holding a challenge were the most important characteristics to have while working. On the other hand, women think that maintaining a good relationship with the manager, working well with others, and maintaining a sense of security in terms of staying with the company for a long period of time is important (pg. 139) I think that this would be particularly true with me because I believe that working well with others will ensure greater than success instead of trying to gain recognition for myself. In addition although women and men differ on several levels, it is possible for them to overlap as well. For instance, although men are generally taller than women, there are many women that are taller than men (pg 137). Furthermore, even though men are considered to be more associated with sports and winning medals, many women participate in sports and have won championships as well. 
Another concept that is discussed in this chapter is that of feminine society vs. a masculine society (pg 140). A feminine society is one in which roles of gender overlap whereas a more masculine society is one where the roles of women and men are distinct and traditional. Countries that tend to be more feminine include Sweden, Norway, and Latvia, whereas those that are more masculine include Costa Rica, Chile, Portugal, and Guatemala. A fact that I found particularly interesting was that wealth does not determine whether a country is more masculine or feminine. I thought the opposite was true since it would make sense to me for more wealthy nations like America to demonstrate more equality among everybody, On the contrary, there are roughly just as many feminine/masculine wealthy countries as there are feminine/masculine poor countries (pg 145).