“Thank You for Smoking” was surprisingly a really good movie. I was expecting more of a documentary type movie with evidence completely bashing anti-smoking. This movie showed a man who was good at one particular thing, persuasion. In addition, it exhibited a story of how a man approached his life and related to other people in direct correlation to his job and way of life. Nick Naylor said his job was to always be right, and to always be right would make someone else wrong. Arguing a point you know you can win, even if it is not the exact topic of discussion, is the key to always being right. The particular example used was arguing chocolate over vanilla ice cream. He asked his son what he would say if he was arguing that chocolate was better. To which he replied, that it was the best. Nick replied that it was better to have both because choosing, and having the freedom to choose was better. This argument was indisputable, even if it was not a direct answer to the question at hand. Thus people, in general, would have said he “won” the argument.
Nick Naylor’s personal life is affected by the way he acts and the way he does his job. His best friends are the spokes-people for firearms and alcohol, people just as persuasive as he is. His son starts off the movie little more than the average boy. He starts spending more time with his dad and seeing how he works, and the son picks up on his father’s persuasiveness. He first writes a simple paper on why America has the best government and uses some reverse psychology and persuasion to get his mother to let him go with his father on a business trip. Towards the end of the movie, he ends up persuading his father to come out of hiding and to continue on with his life, after the article Heather ran ruined his immediate reputation. Nick Naylor’s persuasion over his son’s life is finally shown at the end with his son receiving the champion debate award.
Another form of persuasion in the movie was Heather’s persuasion of getting Nick to talk about his life and job to her even though she was a reporter. She used sex appeal, redirecting of thoughts, and the misleading of trust to squeeze knowledge out of Nick Naylor. He was completely blown away by the article written because he, the master of trickery and persuasion, had been tricked.
I really enjoyed the movie, and it made me realize just how powerful persuasion can be, and how easy or complicated it can be depending on the situation and effect.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Research Progress
My Research is on vegetarianism and I have been using several keys words and subjects to find out about it. Vegetarian is obviously one of the big words I have been using. Finding out how vegetarians feel about their subject is the number one resource I can use to start off with. Disproving or finding alternate answers to the questions that arise is how the main parts of my paper will be addressed. The perception of society for being a vegetarian, and the religions and media that back up those beliefs will be addressed as well as the physical health aspects of the argument. The movie the Lion king is one of the media sources that show the idea of the circle of life. Religions like Christianity say that animals were made for our needs, or other religions believing in reincarnation were people can come back as animals. All these things point to a circular theory of balance. One of the other interesting topics I stumbled upon was the environmental effects of turning the whole world into vegetarians. Clearing forests to make room for farms would end up being killing off animals in return even if people stopped eating them. It would mess up the balance that exists in the world, it’s a natural process for animals, humans included, to eat one another. Vegetarianism is not for everyone, and it is just a personal preference of liking meat or killing in general.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Free Writting of 5 Topics
I researched each topic online, just slightly, to get a better understanding.
Man debatepedia is tempting! Nearly wrote a paper on circumcision. I have to draw the line somewhere I guess. And I will admit, I had a little bit of fun doing research.
Wave Energy
Wave energy is a possible way of solving the energy problem. I believe it is very beneficial to use wave energy. It doesn’t produce greenhouse gases and could help combat global warming. Some people think that it would disturb and harm fish and other marine life. To rebut this, marines animals are a little smarter than people give them credit for and the wave generators could provide a surface for sea life to actually live around. Wave power is more consistent than most other renewable resources and it could potentially produce 10 to 15% of the United States energy. Though wave generators are expensive at first, they are fairly simple and cheap to maintain. Some people worry that it will affect the look of and life on the coastline but wave generators can also be put under the water’s surface.
Renewable Energy Sources
Renewable energy sources are the way of the future. They are not limited as fossil fuels are and they don’t pollute as much. Wind, solar, and hydro power take unlimited natural forms of energy and turn it into electricity. The gas companies resist this change because they would lose money and the car companies are trying to put more efficient cars out there. Hybrids, hydrogen powered and electrical cars are making an appearance and the average mile per gallon is going up in cars. People like the idea of going “green”. The conservation of energy is also important. Americans leave electronics and lights running, we use excessive air conditioning and heating, and we even purify the water in our toilets and our sprinkler systems. Europe is far ahead of us in all energy aspects.
Marijuana
Marijuana? Is legalizing it a good idea? What are the pros and cons? Compared to other recreational drugs, including alcohol, marijuana is less harmful to the body. Some points include that marijuana is safer. A person drunk will drive like a crazy person and the leading cause of domestic violence is alcohol. A person above the influence would drive 10 miles under the speed limit and quote, “through marshmallows at a person not beat them up.” Most drugs are fine in moderation, this includes Ritalin, adderall, Vicodin, Perkasets, alcohol, ibuprofen , and vitamins. All of these drugs misused could cause serious harm to your health even cause death. You can’t overdose on marijuana and it’s not addictive. All the same laws placed on alcohol should be applied to marijuana, though the legal drinking age should be 18 years old not 21(that can be my next topic). Legalizing and taxing it could bring the country out of a recession. The snack food industry would sky rocket! But seriously, taxing it and saving money on the incarceration of people for the trafficking of it would save and promote billions of dollars. Past presidents have smoked marijuana, Michael Phelps smokes marijuana. It’s not the drugs of the world that are the problem it’s the people who use them irresponsibly. It’s actually kind of surprising that I tried to find a solid reason against it and I couldn’t find one. Although I did realize that most of the people that weren’t afraid to speak up for it on camera were unkempt looking.
Alcohol
Why is America the only country that has such a high drinking age? It’s a violation of our liberties. We can be drafted into the army, vote, and be charged as an adult in a court of all, but we can’t consume alcohol. America creates one of its biggest problems in doing this. Most countries have no drinking age and almost all have a lower buying age between 16 and 18. America puts it on a pedestal and makes it this object which teenagers are forbidden to touch. This is a time in our lives in which we question everything; it’s how we find out who we are as people. Creating this edge in society causes kids to jump or fall of it. Children in Germany and Italy drink with their families at a young age, usually a sip of wine with dinner. This creates a respect for alcohol and they are less likely to abuse it. Germany is known for its efficiency and getting things done. They nearly took over the world twice and very well could have succeed, if not for a few key mistakes, like appointing a completely off-his-rocker-lunatic as supreme commander of the country. He was a good leader but his personal flaws ultimately lead to his downfall (that could be a free write topic too). Just pointing out that just because things are, doesn’t make them right. Drinking, like other drugs, is agreeable but all in moderation. Excess of anything can lead to disaster.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is one of the topics to which has many facets. Do people have a right to eat animals? Yes animals have rights and cruelty to animals is horrible. But we have a circle of life. I believe that people should not waste food in general let alone meat. All life has value, but that doesn’t mean that the value can’t be spread to other things. Plants are living, and we eat them too. It’s a natural flow of life. Disney’s movie, “The Lion King”, defines the whole thing. Animals can be friends because they can form relationships with us or the can be friends by nourishing our bodies. The bible says we do, and eating animals is a natural process, other animals do it. Some say other religions think it is wrong to eat animals, but if a person is reincarnated as a cow or chicken, then eating them would make them reincarnate as something else, bringing them closer to enlightenment, or just the next step of their eternal life. Some believe that animals should have equal rights to humans, but the main line is that they aren’t us. Some people are not religious, and don’t see it as religion at all. Animals don’t have a society as advanced as ours. We clearly have done something right to get where we are, and have the power to control the “direction” the future leads. It’s this power that we have that makes us superior but it’s also the power that we have to regulate. Our good values, that most people embody, are set so that we use our power for the better good. There is no doubt we are the dominant species of the planet. Eating animals is an important part of our diet and there really is no other substitution. There are still people in other countries who hunt and raise live stock for their main food source. They are not wrong to do this. This is how everyone started out as hunters. Agriculture didn’t come in for thousands of years. Eliminating meat from everyone’s diet would essentially turn almost all of our land into farming, to compensate for the lack of food, causing the extinction of many species of animals. If certain people don’t want to eat meat, its fine, it’s a personal choice. But the whole world turning to vegetarianism would be catastrophic to the environment.
Man debatepedia is tempting! Nearly wrote a paper on circumcision. I have to draw the line somewhere I guess. And I will admit, I had a little bit of fun doing research.
Wave Energy
Wave energy is a possible way of solving the energy problem. I believe it is very beneficial to use wave energy. It doesn’t produce greenhouse gases and could help combat global warming. Some people think that it would disturb and harm fish and other marine life. To rebut this, marines animals are a little smarter than people give them credit for and the wave generators could provide a surface for sea life to actually live around. Wave power is more consistent than most other renewable resources and it could potentially produce 10 to 15% of the United States energy. Though wave generators are expensive at first, they are fairly simple and cheap to maintain. Some people worry that it will affect the look of and life on the coastline but wave generators can also be put under the water’s surface.
Renewable Energy Sources
Renewable energy sources are the way of the future. They are not limited as fossil fuels are and they don’t pollute as much. Wind, solar, and hydro power take unlimited natural forms of energy and turn it into electricity. The gas companies resist this change because they would lose money and the car companies are trying to put more efficient cars out there. Hybrids, hydrogen powered and electrical cars are making an appearance and the average mile per gallon is going up in cars. People like the idea of going “green”. The conservation of energy is also important. Americans leave electronics and lights running, we use excessive air conditioning and heating, and we even purify the water in our toilets and our sprinkler systems. Europe is far ahead of us in all energy aspects.
Marijuana
Marijuana? Is legalizing it a good idea? What are the pros and cons? Compared to other recreational drugs, including alcohol, marijuana is less harmful to the body. Some points include that marijuana is safer. A person drunk will drive like a crazy person and the leading cause of domestic violence is alcohol. A person above the influence would drive 10 miles under the speed limit and quote, “through marshmallows at a person not beat them up.” Most drugs are fine in moderation, this includes Ritalin, adderall, Vicodin, Perkasets, alcohol, ibuprofen , and vitamins. All of these drugs misused could cause serious harm to your health even cause death. You can’t overdose on marijuana and it’s not addictive. All the same laws placed on alcohol should be applied to marijuana, though the legal drinking age should be 18 years old not 21(that can be my next topic). Legalizing and taxing it could bring the country out of a recession. The snack food industry would sky rocket! But seriously, taxing it and saving money on the incarceration of people for the trafficking of it would save and promote billions of dollars. Past presidents have smoked marijuana, Michael Phelps smokes marijuana. It’s not the drugs of the world that are the problem it’s the people who use them irresponsibly. It’s actually kind of surprising that I tried to find a solid reason against it and I couldn’t find one. Although I did realize that most of the people that weren’t afraid to speak up for it on camera were unkempt looking.
Alcohol
Why is America the only country that has such a high drinking age? It’s a violation of our liberties. We can be drafted into the army, vote, and be charged as an adult in a court of all, but we can’t consume alcohol. America creates one of its biggest problems in doing this. Most countries have no drinking age and almost all have a lower buying age between 16 and 18. America puts it on a pedestal and makes it this object which teenagers are forbidden to touch. This is a time in our lives in which we question everything; it’s how we find out who we are as people. Creating this edge in society causes kids to jump or fall of it. Children in Germany and Italy drink with their families at a young age, usually a sip of wine with dinner. This creates a respect for alcohol and they are less likely to abuse it. Germany is known for its efficiency and getting things done. They nearly took over the world twice and very well could have succeed, if not for a few key mistakes, like appointing a completely off-his-rocker-lunatic as supreme commander of the country. He was a good leader but his personal flaws ultimately lead to his downfall (that could be a free write topic too). Just pointing out that just because things are, doesn’t make them right. Drinking, like other drugs, is agreeable but all in moderation. Excess of anything can lead to disaster.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is one of the topics to which has many facets. Do people have a right to eat animals? Yes animals have rights and cruelty to animals is horrible. But we have a circle of life. I believe that people should not waste food in general let alone meat. All life has value, but that doesn’t mean that the value can’t be spread to other things. Plants are living, and we eat them too. It’s a natural flow of life. Disney’s movie, “The Lion King”, defines the whole thing. Animals can be friends because they can form relationships with us or the can be friends by nourishing our bodies. The bible says we do, and eating animals is a natural process, other animals do it. Some say other religions think it is wrong to eat animals, but if a person is reincarnated as a cow or chicken, then eating them would make them reincarnate as something else, bringing them closer to enlightenment, or just the next step of their eternal life. Some believe that animals should have equal rights to humans, but the main line is that they aren’t us. Some people are not religious, and don’t see it as religion at all. Animals don’t have a society as advanced as ours. We clearly have done something right to get where we are, and have the power to control the “direction” the future leads. It’s this power that we have that makes us superior but it’s also the power that we have to regulate. Our good values, that most people embody, are set so that we use our power for the better good. There is no doubt we are the dominant species of the planet. Eating animals is an important part of our diet and there really is no other substitution. There are still people in other countries who hunt and raise live stock for their main food source. They are not wrong to do this. This is how everyone started out as hunters. Agriculture didn’t come in for thousands of years. Eliminating meat from everyone’s diet would essentially turn almost all of our land into farming, to compensate for the lack of food, causing the extinction of many species of animals. If certain people don’t want to eat meat, its fine, it’s a personal choice. But the whole world turning to vegetarianism would be catastrophic to the environment.
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