Week 9, post 2

Do you believe in the rationality, perfectibility, and mutabililty premises? What social institutions and practices are based on these beliefs?

Unfortunately, I believe that rationality, perfectibility and mutuability are not realistically attainable, however should be the goals of our society. We should make only rational decision. We should lead perfect lives. We should have mutual respect in our relationships. Our countries laws and judicial system is based on rationality. Our local governments, and each of our individual choices are based on perfectibility. We all don't want to make a decision or actions which are negative. And finally mutability is actually beginning to be a much larger portion of our society. Before, when a person was arrested, it was simply about serving the jail time, and that was it, no we focus on rehabilitation as well, to improve their pyschological situation.

week#9, post#1

I somewhat agree with Ruth Benedict regarding the impact of culture unto the development of the individual. I have a more individualist approach, in which the development of the self, is that of an interaction between the predisposition, or genetic makeup, and the environment, or cultural aspects. One of the greatest examples of this is the development of alcoholism. Life can be extremely tough, as well as depressing, and most individuals experience similar circumstances or events. However, not all become alcoholic drinkers. This means that the environment is shared between all individuals, yet all individuals do not end up the same. It is the interactions between the genetic predisposition, and the stressor, cultural events, which shape us. Only prevention education to improve coping methods of individuals engaged in events, would allow an individual to break through the limit of their culture.

Week #7, post #2

Although nonverbal messages are more universal than verbal messages, nonverbals do not always carry the same meanings in other cultures. Can you give examples of some of the nonverbal displays that take on different meanings in other countries? If you have moved around within this country have you ever encountered regional differences in nonverbal meaning?

Derogatory gestures easily come to mind when thinking of nonverbal, and sometimes even verbal communication miscommunications. I think that insults are largely dependent on culture, as they are usually not universal. From my work at a hotel, I remember a time when I witnessed a business introduction between a Japanese businessman and an American businessman. The Japanese gentleman bowed to the American, and the American did not bow back. The Japanese gentlemen seemed very taken back by the events, and actually walked away from the American. The American was taken back by the whole event, and thought it was the Japanese gentleman’s fault that the meeting did not happen.

Week 7, post 1

1. Because nonverbal messages can be ambiguous, they are open to a misinterpretation. Have you ever been wrong about the meaning of someone’s nonverbal message? Describe what happened. How can people increase the accuracy with which they interpret nonverbal messages.

I have been wrong a few times when dealing with nonverbal communication messages, one of which is very vivid in my mind. I was working at my hotel, at the front desk, and gentleman came up to the front desk and asked for a bottle of wine. I let him know that we have room service, and he could order it in his room. He said he wanted me to order for him, so I gave him a list and he point to one, and I asked him if he wanted a glass or a bottle, and he clinched his fist and nodded at me. And then I let him know the price, and he repeated the action. I assumed the clinched fisted symbolized holding a bottle, and I quoted that price. I found out he only wanted a glass of wine.

Week #6, Post#3 - Understanding Conversation

Converstation means something more to me, than the average person. I work at a large hotel, and in my position, must make conversation with our guests everyday. In a single month, we register almost 7,000 guests, so I probably individual speak to about 1,000 complete strangers. The conversation for me, is often based on gauging who and what that person represents in my 3 minutes or so that I conversate with that person. I obviously don't often know if my judgement regarding the person was true to his or her life, and did not use the judgement in any way. I found that most guest do seemingly fit into a mold, and that was dictated by the conversation piece we spoke of, how excited/shy the person seemed, nonverbal cues, such as staying on a cell phone during check-in, and a slew of other communication factors. It was very interesting to see the impact of such literature, to make me think back to my real world experience.

Men/Women

I believe that men and women do use communication in different ways. I think that men often use nonverbal communication much more than women. This can easily be seen in handshakes and head nods for acknowledgment, which would mostly be a conversation action for women. Men often talk less, but are more focused in their speech, almost to a fault, such as appearing not to care. Women speak from a more global perspective, which sometimes can lead to speech that is not connected to the original topic, bu may be just as important. There can be obvious differences and discrepancies between and within genders based on personality as well. We might assume that speech can be associated with the level of masculinity or feminity displayed in the individual.