REFLECTION: WEEKS 3 & 4

Week 3

During this week we reviewed 2 articles from our book.  The first article was called, "The Challenges We Face."  This article basically talked about all the shortages we are currently facing with the earth's natural resources.  It not only talked about shortages in space, food, energy, and water, but it also included the problems with our climate and biodiversity. The second article we reviewed was called, "Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment On Film."  I think it was agreed that this reading was a little more challenging than the first article but after discussing it in class it seemed like everyone got the gist of it.  This article highlighted the fact that even documentaries on the most "natural" environments are manipulated in a way to make it seem like nothing is wrong with our world.  This was an eye opener for me because I never thought about this concept before.  It is crazy to think how much of an influence the media can have on people's perceptions (brainwashing?). 

Week 4

During this week, we watched a documentary called "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore.  This video, I felt, was very powerful and different from a lot of other documentaries I have watched in the past.  The main focus of this documentary was the ongoing problem of global warming.  Al Gore basically has been traveling around the world to spread the message about all the problems mankind is causing, and the direction we are going if we don't act now.  He supported every word that came out of his mouth with raw facts and scientific data. After finishing this documentary we had a little class discussion about our thoughts, and feelings.

What I Learned

Compared to my first reflection (weeks 1 & 2), I can confidently say that I learned A LOT more over these past 2 weeks.  Like all of you, I feel like blogging is becoming more of an everyday part of my life (like checking my email), rather than a chore.  I also learned quite a bit about the environment. Actually, I should re-word that last statement...What I really meant to say is that I learned our environment really is in dire need of attention.  I already knew about the problem with global warming, and all the shortages we are facing with our natural resources.  I'm sure all of you guys knew about those problems as well, or at least heard about them.  But the 2 articles we reviewed, especially the first one, really impacted the way I think about our world.  "The Challenges We Face" was like a pop-up book that slapped me in the face when I opened it because it offered so many power statistics and facts that are often over-looked by many (especially me). Also, the documentary we watched in class made it evident that our world is not going to tolerate our behavior much longer.  If we don't change our habits, planet earth will eventually shake us off, like a bad case of fleas, and we will be gone just like that! So, I really hope mankind  eventually realizes that it is "screwing itself over" and that we have to act now before it's too late.