PLN #12 Chains That Set Us Free

The article "Chains That Set Us Free" by Jonah Lehrer matters to me because it shows people like me that guidelines can help, imagination isn't everything. Many people think that way, but many artists use borders and are successful because of that. Constraints can be very helpful because it helps the mind. Who knew that overcoming obstacles may actually do us good! Being challenged increases your ability to work with concepts. This makes sense because as we have all heard, "you learn from your mistakes." Overcoming obstacles will do the same thing. It teaches you, but also makes you more creative. It expands your creativity and helps you later in life when problem solving will be key. Flexablitiy helps you come up with new ideas, making everything a whole lot easier. Thinking outside the box; outside the boundaries is extremely useful. Your brain takes time figuring out what not to notice, which is holding us back. Being challenged will allow us to come up with something we wouldn't have come up with normally. Poets, artists, and singers use their minds to create more. This is what we all need to take away from this, guidelines and challenges should be taken advantage of and used. It will only do us good.

PLN #11 My Teacher is an App

The article, "My Teacher is an App" by Stephanie Banchero matters to me because my future schooling could be based on the computer through Internet schools, or using apps with lessons all planned out for me. I guess the new thing, according to the article, is going to school online. Instead of sitting in a classroom learning, you can sit in your bedroom taking courses on the computer or your phone. I think the whole idea is terrible because school has much more of a value than just learning things to help you in the future. A big part of school is the people you meet and the relationships you build. You can't do that at home all alone. Yes, there are advantages like preparing for college, which is the reason some high schools require an online course, as the article said. But overall, it is a bad idea. Some day school won't even exist because everything we need to learn will be online. That is weird thing to think about because your teacher will now be an app, something you download, not something or someone you get to know and learn from. Education now has a whole new path and works a whole lot different. Going to school everyday is a much better way to learn. I don't want to spend hours on my phone every day to get information that I can get at school, while acquiring other skills at the same time.

PLN #10 Moab Man Embraces Simple Living in Cave

The article "Moab Man Embraces Simple Living in Cave" by Jason Blevins matters to me because it shows me that living with no possessions could actually be satisfying. Daniel lives in a cave with nothing. He believes that people should take things as they come naturally. I guess it has worked for him because he is a very healthy man who lives his life just the way he wants to. Daniel went to college and worked for a homeless shelter, until he realized he had to much stuff. So of course, he sold it all. Now he lives without anything, including money. He reminds me a lot of Chris McCandless because they both felt like living naturally is the way of life and they both were as happy as they could be. Daniel is happy, even without money or possessions. Money doesn't buy happiness. This makes me wonder if I could do this, what he is doing now, living with none of the things I rely on everyday. Maybe living a simple life would be quite fulfilling. He didn't like society, but he sure liked to learn from it. He would never accept possessions from others and just lived a stress free life. The catch is, is that he really is somewhat homeless. He goes through trash, lives outside, and lives how most homeless people live. But he doesn't care, he doesn't worry or fret. He just takes life as it comes and doesn't care about what the future holds. Maybe one day everyone will live like him, happy and satisfied, a very simple life.

Beliefs

1. Family
2. Friendship
3. Health
4. Live life with no regrets

For most of my beliefs I would go as I far as I have to go for them. If that means being in prison or even dying. I would do anything for my family's safety. But I wouldn't do anything to keep up with living life with no regrets. It is important to me, but not as important that I would stay in prison for it. I also think health is important, but if I were being held captive or about to die, I would definitely give it up because living is more important than health. I think my beliefs also depend on the situation. If my family's lives were at risk than I would do anything, but if they were just fine and I was being tortured by an Iranian prison, than I would probably give it up. I don't have strong beliefs yet. I am still not quite sure what is right, wrong, important, and not important. The only belief I would give my life for is my family. And i know family will be the most important belief to me for my whole life.

Manifesto

I walk on this planet for a reason, for myself and for others. I enjoy life and take it as it comes. I just go with the flow, and that has always worked for me. I live by the saying, "live life with no regrets." I take hold of things and try to never say no. I never have fun when I say no. I care about my family, friends, and school. I strive to get the best grade. I want to be successful, go to college, have fun in college, not just study, and get a good job that I enjoy and look forward to every day. I like money. I have lived happily, ever since the day I was born. I live a colorful life, full of things that brighten my day and make everything better. I am colorful. I love life. I won't let it go. I will always live life with no regrets.

PLN #9 Is This the Future of Punctuation!?

The article "Is This the Future of Punctuation!?" by Henry Hitchings matters to me because it is important that people realize that punctuation can be effective and how we use it is crucial. A very long time ago punctuation didn't exist. In the 15th and 16th century, punctuation came about and was used regularly. As Hitchings says, "punctuation is being renounced" and its true. I don't use much of it, I try, but when I do, I overuse it. Some people probably just give up because their teacher keeps telling them that they have too many commas in one sentence, so they don't use it anymore. Punctuation can be confusing and I think that is what is effecting the future of it. Many punctuation marks have become popular like the dash and hyphen but others have drifted away like the colon and apostrophe. This makes me wonder why some are increasing in use and some are decreasing. The future of punctuation is a mystery. Tons of punctuations marks are created and tons die off. No matter what, people like to not use punctuation. Most people think it isn't necessary, I think it is effective. Some day the whole idea might even be extinct.

PLN #8 Poetry, Painting to Earn an M.D.

The article, "Poetry, Painting to Earn an M.D," by Laura Landro matters to me because doctors who have the most empathy always make the best doctors. Whenever I go to the doctor, I hate it, but the doctors with the most empathy always make my sick days a lot better. That's why it is so important to teach this at medical school. Having a writing workshop at college is a good idea because this will get doctors in training thinking about patients and will make them a better doctor. Understanding your patient and listening to them to figure out what is happening in their life is key, which can be taught through writing. Writing poetry, shorts stories, and any other writing will get their experiences on paper and get them thinking about what it's like to be a patient. This article is similar to PLN #7 in the way that we need to learn more than just the basics, we need to learn critical thinking. Instead of performing tons of surgeries a day to learn how to become a doctor, having a writing lab dealing with people's experiences will help doctors be the best they can in their profession. Death is one of the hardest things to go through and to deal with, when doctors can understand what is happening in someone's life when this happens to them, their patient will have a much easier time. Patients are always number one in the medical career cluster, after all that is what being a doctor is all about. So if a doctor can learn to be empathetic, they will get much more out of the M.D. degree.