Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Man's Nature is Evil

Hsun Tzu wrote a contrasting article to Mencius, entitled Man's Nature is Evil. Although Mencius had some great points and ideas on humans and Confucianism, Hsun did too. Both of these philosophers have credible topics and ideas about human nature. Hsun Tzu believed that there is no way that human nature is inherently good. He believed tht our nature is evil and in order to have some type of discipline we must be ruled by strict law and harsh penalty for disobedience. His main idea and theory is that goodness is only the result of concious activity. Throughout his wrting, he also gives good examples, analogies and other writing tools to emphasize his idea that man's nature is evil. He believes that there is a difference between nature and concious activity. It seems that he says people are only good when they are concious, disciplined and actually thinking. In his eye's our nature is evil, and there is a difference between it and the good. A quote that drew my attention was when he said, "Man's nature is evil; goodness is the result of concious activity" (100). I feel like both of these philosophers can be combined after reading this statement. Mancius says that if we practice good it will become permanent. Something being practiced is concious activity. With this being said I think man's nature is both good and evil. Another quote that interested ma and made me believe that man's nature is half and half is when he said, "Similarly, since man's nature is evil, it must wait for the instructions of a teacher before it become upright, and for the guidance of ritual principles before it become orderly" (101). I do agree that humans need rule. This made me think that this is why God made the ten commandments to keep his people in order. I think that there is a combination of both in human nature.

Man's Nature is Good

I dont know where to start to describe this article. Man's Nature is Good was far beyond interesting and had many debateable ideas. Chinese philosopher Mencius shared his ideas and thoughts on the development of Conficianism and how he believes that it is human nature for a person to be good. I found this article to be very credible and he did a good job and gave good examples, analogies and other writing tools to discuss human behavior and claim that ournature is good. Mencius believed that humans are inherently good and can be perfect if they have theproper leaders and training. His ideas overide Hsun Tzu's ideas and influenced and shaped future genrations of Confucians. Although his ideas made sense I also agree with Kao Tzu's idea tht human nature is a "blank slate". Everything depends on the conditions. There were many ideas in this article that caught my attention and changed my insight on the nature of humans and Confucianism. A quote that interested me was when Mencius said, "Think about water: if you slap it, you can make it jump over your head; and if you push and shove, you can make it stay on a mountain. But what does this have to do with the nature of water? It's only responding to th forces around it. It's like that for people too: you can make them evil, but that says nothing about human nature"(95). This makes total sense. I like the idea and agree that humans are like water and are shaped and respond to the forces and conditions around them. Another quote that caught my attention was when he says, "They're part of us from the beginning [...] what you seek, you will find, and what you ignore you will lose" (96). I totally agree with this. If you persue and practice goodness, you'll keep it. This also works for anything else, such as sports.


Sunday, March 25, 2012

Annotated Bibliography for Carl Jung's Shadow Self

Carl Jung's article Shadow Self  gives his view and insight on the contents of personal unconcious and the collective unconcious. The point of this article was to present the contents of the unconcious and their accessible archetypes the shadow, the anima and the animus. Carl focuses on the most accessible archetype which is the shadow. In his article he covers moral problems and effort, personality, emotional nature, projections andits affects, and anima and animus. Overall, this article gives an insight on the unconcious and its subtopics.
The goal of this article was to discuss the contents of the unconcious. This would be a useful source for someone who is interested and evaluating human behavior and the self. This article is not biased at all. It discusses the self in general and is written for every and anybody. Some ideas are unclear and could have more detail and explanantion to create a better understanding for readers.
The article was helpful and allowed me to gain a better insight on the individual and conciousness. This is an arguable subject but Carl Jung's is credible and I would use it as oneof my sources.

Carl Jung's Shadow Self

Carl Jung's article Shadow Self  was an interesting piece of writing that discussed the contents of the personal unconcious which is said to be acquired during the individual's lifetime. The contrasting idea was the idea that the contents of the collective unconcious occur since the beginning. These things are said to have an influence on someone's ego. The most acessible archetypes that has an affect on ego are shadow, the anima and animus. The shadow is most accessible and the easiest to experience because it can be inferred from the personal unconcious. Shadow challenges the whole ego personality. The emotional nature and conciousness also comes into play when shadowing takes place. Moral effort, and aspects of the prsonality are also recognized and involved. When examining these characteristics, the emotional nature is revealed. After dicussing the emotional nature, Carl talks about projections which are characterized as a moral achievement because it means one would be concious and aware of what they are doing. He also discussed anima and animus. Overall this was an interesting article about shadow and self. A quote that I found interesting was when Carl said, "The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become concious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become concious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real" (145). I agre with him and how he says that the shadow is a moral problem. I also think that personality and ego are both parts of conciousness that a person has to recognize. Another quote that caught my attention was, "[...] the contents of the prconal unconcious are acquired during the individual's lifetime, the contens of the collective unconcious are ivariable archetypes that were present from the beginning" (145). This is an interesting way to catagorize conciousness. I would have never been able to think of it like this. THis quote is a good introductory line and it sets up the article and its ideas. Some things wee unclear, but I enjod the article as a whole because I gained a new insight on conciousness and the self.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Hospitals and Spacing (essay)


Rayana White

Professor Rowley

English 114B

14 March 2012

Hospitals and Spacing

What comes to mind when you think about the hospital? Are you excited when you have to take a trip there? When someone has to visit the hospital, it is most likely not for a good reason. Since many people dread the hospital and what goes on there, it is a good idea to make them feel as relaxed, safe and comfortable as possible. Creating a comfortable and well organized environment can be executed through using the appropriate spacing and design. Specific spacing and design can improve people’s view of a hospital, its actual appearance, and responses and recoveries from patients. Great spacing and specific organization can ensure quality performance from staff and satisfaction for patients. The hospital plays a huge role in our society and it is very important that they execute their tasks to the best of their ability to lead the public to believe that they have a reliable place where they can receive the proper care when necessary. The hospital is a health care institution that provides patients with the service and care that they need in order to regain all means of good health. In addition to meeting all of their patients’ needs, the hospital must create a comfortable environment and be highly aware of spacing, design and organization to ensure a well functioning society. The appropriate spacing, design and organization can help keep the hospital in order, assist in providing the proper care and make patients feel at home.

Space is an aspect that has many effects on the people and things occupying it. Space develops a relationship with the things around it. It is often overlooked, but it is very important to the world. Spacing affects allocation, communication and responses, and how people feel, act and behave in a certain place. These affects emphasize that the quality of space is more important than the quantity of space. These are multiple types of spaces that satisfy people’s needs and affect their behavior. Oscar Newman adds to argument in Human Behavior and Housing when he says, “defensible space […] includes public, semipublic, semiprivate, and private territories (1972)” (3). All of these spaces are territorial areas that meet the certain needs of a person. Semipublic spaces are areas that are publicly owned, semiprivate includes yards or spaces owned by association. Private space is the interior of an area. These areas are spaced and designed like this for the specific reason that people require different amounts of space and privacy.

When it comes down to designing and organizing a hospital it is essential to remember that staff and patients need a certain amount of space for themselves in order to have a well functioning society. The hospital is such a critical place and that is why every little thing matters there. To have a safe and organized environment the hospital must separate things and place buildings, rooms and supplies in the appropriate place. Hospitals are organized by the type of care and amount of attention patients require. In A to Z of Hospital Departments, Dr. Roger Henderson supports the idea of hospital organization. He states the different departments as being, “ Emergency Room, Anesthetics, Cardiology, ICU (Intensive Care Unit), Diagnostic Surgery, Gynecology, Hematology, Maternity Department, Microbiology, Neonatal Unit, Neurology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Occupational therapy, Oncology, Orthopedics, Pharmacy, Radiotherapy, Rheumatology, Sexual Health, Pediatrics, Urology, Radiology and much more. Each department tends to be overseen by consultants in that specialty with a team of junior medical staff under them who are also interested in that specialty.” This separation allows specialists to perform to the best of their ability without distractions from other departments. Having different assigned for specific cares is a factor that ensures that patients feel at home and receive all the attention they need in order to feel better. This demonstrates how spacing, design and organization can contribute to a perfect society and the well-being of the hospital staff and patients.

Along with the organization of the hospital, the interior design also affects the people in the area. Things such as lighting, color, storage, furniture, privacy, and cleanliness can affect how patients feel and how fast they recover. Patients should be mentally and physically comfortable while at the hospital and these things can help. In Healing by Design, C. Robert Horsburg says that, “The quality of space in such buildings affects the outcome of medical care, and architectural design is thus an important part of the healing process.” I agree that the quality of a space is way more important than the quantity. The quality of a hospital can definitely affect the way patients heal. Joseph Anjali and Rashid Mahhub add to the argument in The architecture of safety: hospital design, when they say, “Features of hospital design that are linked to patient safety in the literature include noise, air quality, lighting conditions, patient room design, unit layout, and several other interior design features. Some of these features act as latent conditions for adverse events, and impact safety outcomes directly and indirectly by impacting staff working conditions. Others act as barriers to adverse events by providing hospital staff with opportunities for preventing accidents before they occur. ” This shows that every little simple thing affects patients in a hospital. Staff should make sure that they pay close attention to these things to keep the patients and themselves safe and happy.

Although all of these things can help patients recover and heal quicker, one may argue that there is no way that the spacing, design and organization can make a patient feel better about being at a hospital. They are there for a reason and there is no sugar coating it. Hospitals are a place where sick people who need help go. They have a problem and spacing would only work as a distraction for them, but in reality they are still sick. Medicine and care is what makes them heal and recover, not spacing, organization and design.

Overall spacing is important because it affects a location, communication and responses and the way people act, feel and behavior. The benefits of spacing, organization and design all come into play when building an association. The hospital is a prime example of how these things can improve the quality of an environment. Staff performance and patient recovery are proof that spacing does affect a society. When designing an association it is important to consider everybody’s privacy and likings to make sure that everyone is satisfied and comfortable.

















Works Cited

Whitehouse S., Varni J.W., Seid M., Cooper-Marcus C., Ensberg M.J., Jacobs J.R., Mehlenbeck R.S.
Evaluating a children's hospital garden environment: Utilization and consumer satisfaction
(2001) Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21 (3), pp. 301-314.

Anjalia, Joseph, and Rashid Mahbubb. "The Architecture of Safety:hospital Design:Current Opinion in Critical Care." Current Opinion in Critical Care: Volume 13.Issue 6 (2007): 714-19. Web.
Horsburgh, Robert C. Healing in Design. Web.
Henderson, Roger. "A to Z of Hospital Departments." Netdoctor. Web. 15 Mar. 2012.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Campus Space


The article Campus Space was very interesting and one of my favorites so far because I can relate to it. The scenario at the beginning of the article was very relatable. I still remember when I was in the process of visiting college campuses. All I was focused on was the campus and if it was inviting and made me feel at home. This whole article emphasizes how important space is. Physical design and space can influence someone's behavior and the decisions they make and their behavior. I totally agree that an environment can and does have an influence on human behavior. The three different views of probablism, determinism, architectural or environmental probabilism were interesting and I could not just agree with one. They all had good points that made sense to me. I realized that while choosing my college those positions were present and I wasn’t even aware of it. This whole article interested me, but a quote that I wanted to respond to was, "In the Education building she did notice a carpeted classroom with moveable chairs, tables, and several pieces of visual aid equipment. This was what she was hoping to find, since MRU was marketing itself as "a learning university with a college feel" (10). I feel that a classroom and its space is very important and should make a student feel comfortable. The first classroom I seen at CSUN was in Sequoia Hall and i felt that it was very spacious and I was very comfortable and that was a plus for the campus. Another quote that caught my attention was, "The appearance of the campus is, by far, the most influential characteristic during campus visits, and we gained the distinct impression that when it comes to recruiting students, the director of buildings and grounds may be more important than the academic dean" (17). I agree that the campus and spacing of a school is the most influential characteristic that helps a student determine what college they aer attending. I chose CSUN because the campus made me feel comfortable and its spacing was perfect. Far away but still close enough to home to commute if I need something. I have come to realize that spacing is a very important factor when it comes to designing buildings and recruiting people.

Hmmm..Comic Book Set in LA?


Los Angeles is an interstinhg place where a lot happens throughout a normal and rtegular day. LA is unigue amd known for its weather, open space, friendly people and more.  The way our city built and its geographical features also contribute to how our city is looked at by others. In my opinion, Los Angeles is the city that people mistake for Hollywood. We are popular for acting, movies, and the media. It would be interesting if we were popular for something else, how New York City is popular for comics.
If a comic book were to be set in LA, everything would be totally different because of the type of city we are. I feel like a comic book set in LA would be pretty boring unless it took place late at night andin a bad neighborhood because everything is visible out here. Nothing is concealed in LA and it is always bright and sunny. It would be pretty awkward to see villians and superheroes fighting in broad daylight. In LA, I also think that superheroes would have to be in disguise all the time because unlike New York there is open space and there is nowhere to quickly dart away and hide. There is also a good amount of crime out here, so I think anyone could be a secret villian. LA is a very spacious city and everyone knows each other. I feel like LA would make a horrible place for a comic book to take place. It is the total opposite of New York and it just wouldn't have the same affect. We should leave the comic book industry up to New York City.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Renovation in my Neighborhood



There are many places in my neighborhood that could use some renovation and improvement. The place that I chose to discuss is the church I attend. Renovation of our church and its parking lot has been an issue for many years, and there still hasn't been a decision made becaue people want different things. I do not go to a very big church and it isn't very popular either. My church is small and wasn't intended for many people to attend. With that being said, the parking lot for the church members is also very small. Over the years the numbersof people attending the church has increased. With more people starting t oattend our church, parking space has become a problem. Memebers complain that the lot is not big enough. There is always the option to park on the street and the neighborhood. Our church isn't in the best neighborhoos, so members complain about crime and being afraid of coming out of church and not having a car to drive home. With so many issues going on, some people think it is a good idea to expand the parking lot by decreasing the size of the church which makes absolutely no sense. If you decrease the size of the church, less people will be able to attend, therefore we wouldn't need extra parking space. In my opinion, I think that people should just use other methods of transportation such as walking, the bus, bike or taxi, so that they wont have to worry about a parking space. I believe we shuld leave the church and its parking lot just the way it is.

Comic Book Space



The article Comic Book Space used New Yorl City, Marvel Universe and Spider Man to emphasize tha the space an author decides to use and write about truely affects the comic in every way. I learned that New York City is the birthplace of the American comic industry. The  writers, artists and publishers were all first located  in New York. It is said that New York City gives fictional stories and series a sense of reality because of its architecture and ability to adapt to the demands of the narrative. Marvel Comics and Universe used New York as a foreground . Movies like X-Men, Spider Man, Captain America, Fantastic Four and other popular movies took place in New York and were also made into comics. These superheroes and their characteristics are defined by the place they live in. To be honest, this article wasn't very interesting but there were two quotes that were able to catch my attention. The first one was, "Through Spider-Man I want to interrogate the realtionships between New York City and the Marvel Universe and how over 70 years of their coexistence on the printed page, each has come to depend on the other" (164). The reason why this caught my attention was because I feel like the setting of a story or comic does create a relationship and determines all that will happen and take place throughout the plot. I do feel that they are dependent on each other. Another quote that slightly interested me was "Marvel superheroes are very much these "extraordinary" figures "in an ardinary world" as opposed to DC superheroes including Batman --- who function more as archetypes in "heightened and exaggerated" cities, kept removed from our own" (166). To me, this quote shows that since the plots and comics are stationed in different places, the characters and superheroes are bound to be different because the environment they are living in. These two quotes helped me to see tha space has a pretty strong impact on everything.