Sunday, December 11, 2011

Who are you?

Assignment Instructions
Note the point count for this project. You will be graded on evidence of a thoughtful and creative approach to the questions listed below, both in your project and your blog entry. Each question is worth 100 points.

For the final project create an original tangible or virtual project that explores the concepts of identity and purpose. Try to create something that will leave a lasting impression. Address these questions:

Who are you in the eyes/perception of others?
How do you see/perceive yourself?
Why are you here? (your definition of here)
What are the implications of your identity to others? (you decide to whom the implications apply - you or others, but be specific)
How are you effected by the identity of others? (are you different around various people - why might that be)
Is identity static? (make sure to show in your project your answer to this)


Be prepared to share your project in 2 minutes or less on Dec. 12, our last day of class. Post your dialogue with the questions listed above to your blog, along with a sample from your project. Upload the URL to that blog post here. Remember, this project is worth more than the rest of the semester points combined, so it would behoove to take this one fairly seriously.

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Who am I in the eyes of others?
There's no simple word to describe this. I can try and describe all the words and labels the people I've talked to gave me, describing me as an intelligent person, knowledgeable, witty, charming, all that fun stuff. Through my actions, they can label me as a person who speaks his mind, a man influenced by many things...
In the eyes of others who know me personally, I am the cumulative result of my own actions that has now branded me with such a label.

But how others perceive me is inherently different from how I perceive myself. I believe I am all of what others say, yet being none of it at all. I see myself as a traveler, in a world full of rules and guidelines, a world where I am becoming aware of its rigid structure and its immovable culture - and watching many people wade through it without much thought, nor any reaction to its...density.

I see myself more or less aware of this as I wander through a world like this.
A traveler in a static world.
A wanderer in a world that slowly fails to give purpose and ambition to people - to give people the ability to yearn, to create, to explore.

To believe.

So why am I here, in a world that is slowly decaying in change?
To change it.

To bring ambition back.
To create dreams.
To make people believe for a cause.
To make people aspire to become something greater.
To never give up.
To have faith.

People may call me a traditionalist - even an idealist, perhaps. My implications to others may just be that - a man who preaches ambitions and aspirations. But even if I am labeled as such, I know where I lie, and what I want to leave for other individuals. Even if it is a goal which no one will appreciate, or a goal which people will dismiss...

I do it because I believe.

But how will I leave it? Will it become just an identity in which I shroud myself in?
What will I pass on?
How would I do so?

It's like a book, the content itself being the things that the author wants to leave behind to others. Dreams, ambitions, aspiration...
So if I bring a book, devoid of content...what will I add into it?

What can I give, which I can pass on to others?

I'll bring a book.

And we'll see how it goes in class today.

What the Bleep do we know?

Based on your experience in this course (overall) and the final project in particular, discuss how some of the ideas rasied in the movie we watched today, What the Bleep Do We Know?, might impact your personal and professional development. How has exploring large topics such as what is presented in the movie and final project assignment helped you with critical thinking and creative exloration? Post your answer to your blog and submit the URL here to earn your points. This assigment is worth 50 points. That should help anyone who needs it to be able to make up some missed points from earlier in the semester. It also reflects the gravity of this topic.

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The movie was rather informative, though each individual in the video had their own subjective view on what is reality, and how we define it to be. Personally speaking, I believe that the video gave us an interesting perspective on how we, as individuals with our own perspective and viewpoint, can perceive things differently from one another. Each argument brought up by the individuals within the video is a valid point, and can be defined as a certain approach to seeing their world as it is.

How it shapes our professional and creative mentality, is that it allows us to - at the very least - recognize that there is always another viewpoint, a set perspective on how we can approach a subject. One can say it is through the influence of our own biological features. Another can argue - without difficulty - that we are under the influence of quantum mechanics - where we create the world whenever we approach a said area.

Everything is valid, and can be argued as the truth. There is no "one" right view that overwhelms the other - and the video points that out rather well. One must always be humble in the idea of alternative methods, and understand that reality isn't just one 'static' image.

And only when we realize the broader picture of reality, do we come ever so closer in understanding our own placement within it - either through enlightenment, or through our own struggle to sedate the curiosity within us.