Reaction to "Are war crimes caused by bad apples or bad barrels?"

This article was interesting because I think war crimes are caused by both "bad apples" and "bad barrels."  I think there are individuals who really do have problems and hate for other people and I think that the situations that people are put in do play a role in how a normal person can do harmful things.  The article mentions that war is the "ultimate bad barrel," and I would agree with that because it can give someone a whole new mentality from what they experience and what they are expected to do while at war.  Earlier in the semester we briefly went over the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments in my sociology class, and I think it just shows that given the right situation people can become monsters and do things that they normally wouldn't do.  In the Zimbardo prison experiment, it seemed as though they actually thought the roles they were assigned was reality as time progressed, which caused the experiment to last a couple days instead of the two weeks that it was originally intended to last.  Although they were just experiments, I think it makes us question what really goes on in places where there is no controlled environment, such as war.

Video Clip: Social Media Revolution 2

I wasn't surprised by what the clip was saying because the internet has changed the world.  For many people social media is a part of their lives.  Almost everything we do now is somehow involved with our computers, phones, televisions, and other forms of technology.  The statistics and statements in the video were alarming, even if some may not be accurate according to some of the comments posted, but either way I think it's true that we are shifting into a different lifestyle.  For me, I rely on my computer for school, entertainment, sometimes I'll buy something online, and just organizing things that I have on there.  I think there are good and bad things that have come out of social media, but it is so convenient and easy that I think it will only get bigger in the future.

Reaction to "How to avert a global water crisis"

The article described the water usage problem on a global scale, and looking at some of the statistics such as water usage rising to 6.9 trillion cubic meters by 2030 was interesting because I wonder how much that would look like if we could see it.  I think monitoring how much large agricultural companies use would help alleviate the problem.  I think it's also a local problem.  Everyone can cut back on their water usage in different ways, but I think a lot of us don't realize how much we actually waste and take it for granted because some countries don't even have clean drinking water.  I hope that there is a solution to the problem and we start conserving because I wouldn't want to see it come to the point where we don't have clean water because by then it would be too late.

Reaction to "Time to find a second Earth, WWF says"

I think the article brings up a good point about how we use too much of our resources.  It is important to preserve and protect what we have, especially the environment and species.  The article does raise awareness to that issue, but I don't think it's realistic by saying we need to find a new planet.  I'm not sure if they mean we have to come up with the technology to find and inhabit a new earth by 2030, or we should be extracting resources from other planets by 2030, or are just really trying to make sure people get the point.  Either way I don't think it would be possible for that to happen because there is still so much we don't know about space, and there's still so much that we don't know about our own planet.  The cost to do that kind of work would probably be very pricey.  I thought it was sad that it said 1 billion people don't have access to an adequate supply of drinking water, and thought about how a lot of us take so many things for granted.  I think the article does get the message across that we need to start doing things now.

Movie: 180 degrees South

I didn't think I would like the movie at first because I thought it was going to be about something old or something that I couldn't really relate to.  It turns out that I actually enjoyed watching it and the discussion after about the possible messages it conveys.  I think the message that stood out to me the most was how development is inevitable, but necessary for us to progress in the world, and how we should realize the consequences of our actions.  I think the narrator's use of Easter Island as an example of what can happen to a society was powerful because it can really open up someone's eyes to the reality of something that can happen when resources are dwindling down.  Another thing that stood out was the aspect of adventure and leaving your life behind to do something out of the ordinary.  I find it very exciting, and would want to do something like that some day, but I would have to agree with what certain people in class were saying about how it is not realistic for a lot of us.  I think people now have too many obligations at home that they can't afford to drop them for a couple months to go on some adventure.  If someone has the chance though, I think they should take it, even if it's not the kind of journey the narrator took.  I think just traveling to new places would be enough to open our eyes to what's out there and see our own community better.