The teacher allowed me to write up my SAC in blog format, so why not post it up. So here is my SAC draft enjoy.
---
Today’s topic to be explored in this blog is why people react differently to their landscapes. Everyday we continually encounter different landscapes; though these landscapes we are exposed to are the same, people perceive it differently. The cause of this derives from the psychological theory of perceptual set. Other factors that may influence reactions to landscape would include past experiences in life, how people look at life and our friendship groups. Many examples of this can be found in the film Jindabyne which will be further explored.
The theory of perceptual set stresses the idea of perception as an active process involving selection, deduction and interpretation. It is a bias or readiness to perceive certain aspects of available sensory data and to ignore others. What this means is that things we already know influence how we perceive a place or object to be. For example if we are walking through a rain forest and soon after we observe a random tree, we would view this not just as a tree but rather as part of a vast rain forest exploiting other factors of nature and wildlife. But if we just looked at the tree we would just see it as a tree. In the film Jindabyne this can relate to the native Australian people (aboriginals) who draw a sense of spirituality from their landscape. Where as the White Australians only see it as land that is used for recreation and their own purposes.
Our different perceptions on life change how we react to our landscape and environment. To extend this point further. In general, when we are happy we are able to see things with more optimism and have a more positive outlook. But when we aren’t in such a happy mood we find that that nothing seems to matter. Relating this back to how people view landscapes differently, that generally when people are happy it lifts the environment around them up and in the same way when people aren’t in a good mood it is obvious that they wouldn’t care about their environment around them. For example, whereas Caylin Calandria regards Lake Jindabyne with a sense of awe, Tom is fearful of it, refusing to swim therein.
Friendship groups affect how we react to landscapes. The notion of being in a friendship group gives us a sense of identity and self worth. And the people within the friendship generally reflect the overall leader of the group. This affects how we perceive landscape because in most cases the opinion of the group is made by the leader. In saying that we do not want to disagree with the fear of being pushed out or being different to the group. In which this would hinder our true opinion on any topic for that matter. So rather than speaking your own mind it is rather the group mentality that dominates over all. This is evident in Jindabyne when the men saw the dead body of the aboriginal girl, the group mentality suggested that they leave it, but surely one of the men thought they should do something about it, but because of the group mentality it didn’t matter what he thought.
All these are clear examples of what can influence our perception on landscape. Though we can say that it would be the same landscape, a range of factors can change our perception on how we react to landscape. There are many other examples that we can exploit, but in the end, to really gain a greater understanding and appreciation for landscape we need to take ourselves out of our worlds and just see everything for how it is.
Peter.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The gift of time.
Straight to the point. The greatest gift you can ever give someone is your time. Time can add the essence to any thing, whether it would be a simple gift between friends or a dinner with your special companion. The main factor that makes any gift or any thing for that matter, worthwhile is time. Often taken for granted, what we do give with our time can never be taken back.
Time can be given in many forms, whether it be spending time with the person, chatting to them, comforting them or it can even be simply taking the time to look for a gift about what they like and so forth. Allowing the other person to realise the time you've spent on them only makes it that much better. Because sure its easy to get something expensive for your friend, but if you didn't put any heart into it, thats all it will ever be a materialist item with a price tag. Time can make what would be considered a "cheap" item to be the most valuable gift they would receive.
Another example would be organising an outing with a friend, and there are to options. You could either take the easy option and go to Mc Donalds, or spend the time to find out what they like. And its obvious which would mean more.
These are just two of the many examples of how time can add that something special to anything we do or give to others. We all live in it, bound by it and often wish we had more of it. And you all know the saying "Spend wisely" and what better not to spend your time on those your truly care about.
"All the money in the world, couldn't buy the precious time I've spent with you" - Peter Do
Peter.
Time can be given in many forms, whether it be spending time with the person, chatting to them, comforting them or it can even be simply taking the time to look for a gift about what they like and so forth. Allowing the other person to realise the time you've spent on them only makes it that much better. Because sure its easy to get something expensive for your friend, but if you didn't put any heart into it, thats all it will ever be a materialist item with a price tag. Time can make what would be considered a "cheap" item to be the most valuable gift they would receive.
Another example would be organising an outing with a friend, and there are to options. You could either take the easy option and go to Mc Donalds, or spend the time to find out what they like. And its obvious which would mean more.
These are just two of the many examples of how time can add that something special to anything we do or give to others. We all live in it, bound by it and often wish we had more of it. And you all know the saying "Spend wisely" and what better not to spend your time on those your truly care about.
"All the money in the world, couldn't buy the precious time I've spent with you" - Peter Do
Peter.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Its all Because of Facebook
A couple of days ago it was my birthday, as part of a social experiment I decided to see how many people remembered. Without remembering the all important factor that of which is the internet and more specifically. Now lets be honest and say how many people did actually know it was the day I was born? And the truth is it wouldn't be to many. And as depressing/attention seeking as this sounds, this is the beauty of Facebook. We no longer have to remember any upcoming dates for events and birthdays. All the information required can be found within a few passwords and clicks.
Facebook like any online community shall I say, is a web based society where we are able to comment each other, finding out what is happening and even have some fun playing one of the many Facebook applications. Enough of me explaining because clearly if you know what blogspot is you'd probably already know what facebook is about.
While all of this is cool and dandy, the thing I want to bring up is not how much money I lose playing poker(on facebook of course), but this one topic that is always on my mind. And that is simply the fact that people can upload absolutely any photo for the world to see. It is usually just standard photos with people posing and their peace fingers sticking up. And that is fine but every so often we would come across those photos we would consider embarrassing.
Now these photos would be a picture with let's say a boy and a girl, and we all know what that means their going out! Another example of this could be a boy and a boy and yeah I think you know what I am talking about. Often enough I find that I am the victim of this. A comment about it would be fine, but when it leads to a page worth of discussion and further discussion beyond the bounds of the internet (real life), that's when it begins to become a little annoying.
Since the internet has come this far all these things are bound to happen in due time. And in time we just learn to adapt to flow with technology. I say we go back to creating rumors about the couple sitting in the back and actually remembering important dates you silly conformist. But thats just how the cookie crumbles.
"It's not official unless its on Facebook" - Jon Tran
Peter.
Facebook like any online community shall I say, is a web based society where we are able to comment each other, finding out what is happening and even have some fun playing one of the many Facebook applications. Enough of me explaining because clearly if you know what blogspot is you'd probably already know what facebook is about.
While all of this is cool and dandy, the thing I want to bring up is not how much money I lose playing poker(on facebook of course), but this one topic that is always on my mind. And that is simply the fact that people can upload absolutely any photo for the world to see. It is usually just standard photos with people posing and their peace fingers sticking up. And that is fine but every so often we would come across those photos we would consider embarrassing.
Now these photos would be a picture with let's say a boy and a girl, and we all know what that means their going out! Another example of this could be a boy and a boy and yeah I think you know what I am talking about. Often enough I find that I am the victim of this. A comment about it would be fine, but when it leads to a page worth of discussion and further discussion beyond the bounds of the internet (real life), that's when it begins to become a little annoying.
Since the internet has come this far all these things are bound to happen in due time. And in time we just learn to adapt to flow with technology. I say we go back to creating rumors about the couple sitting in the back and actually remembering important dates you silly conformist. But thats just how the cookie crumbles.
"It's not official unless its on Facebook" - Jon Tran
Peter.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wouldn't it be funny?
I was a little hung up on what topic I should write about on this next blog, and after acquiring a few opinions from friends of mine I have decided to write a short story of an event that happened not to long ago. For the sake of confidentiality my other friends will be named Alex (girl) and John (guy). Enjoy
*Note: Excuse my bad english.
---
So John, Alex and I decide to hang out while we waited for the party later on. We walked around the city, grabbed some ice-cream and it was all cool. We went to the food court and sat down and had a chat for a while about random things going on in our lives. "I'm really hungry" I cry out, and the problem with this was that the party was only an hour away. My friends were urging me not to eat but because the fact that I think with my stomach I decided to grab a bite to eat. And both John and Alex shook their heads in disappointment.
Soon after that we decided to walk around and look at the many attractions that the busy Melbourne Central allowed us. We came across a furniture store and decided to take a look inside. We saw many different comfortable elegant pieces of furniture in abstract shapes and sizes. In the background we could observe the beautiful house hold items such as vases, chandeliers and mirrors. We get to the back of the store and find a nice couch with a couple of soft pillows on it. I sit towards one end of the couch while Alex sat at the other and John found himself comfortable on a recliner near by and I notice the pillows. And out of immaturity I pick the pillow up and throw it square at her face. She quickly noticed and her automatic reaction was to throw it back. When the pillow approached me I used my ninja fast reflexes and deflect the pillow and at that moment we heard the sound of a crashing Vase hitting in the direction the pillow was flung. At that moment we paused for about three seconds in shock and I quickly said "Let’s get out of here". So we hurried out as fast as we could but not to fast so that no one would notice what had happened.
As we exited the store we all sighed in relief as we had escaped punishment for destroying a possibly expensive vase. My logic allowed me to comfort Alex who initiated the attack, in that "the store was a multimillion dollar company, and that vase was nothing to the company, just a mere item for display". And that is what keeps my conscious clear till this very day.
---
Ok so that was a funny event that happened not so long ago, but what I wanted to bring out is how often we would think that "hey that won't happen to us" or "wouldn't it be funny if", but every so often it does happen and luckily we didn’t have to pay the price (the price of the vase that is). I just wanted to say that don't be to confident in thinking that we are invincible, though this case wasn't to serious, we can see the parallels when it comes to different situations in that our lack of thinking can cause serious harm to yourself or others.
"Wouldn't it be funny if I punched in that direction and hit someone in the face? *punch* OH CRAP! Are you ok?"
Peter.
*Note: Excuse my bad english.
---
So John, Alex and I decide to hang out while we waited for the party later on. We walked around the city, grabbed some ice-cream and it was all cool. We went to the food court and sat down and had a chat for a while about random things going on in our lives. "I'm really hungry" I cry out, and the problem with this was that the party was only an hour away. My friends were urging me not to eat but because the fact that I think with my stomach I decided to grab a bite to eat. And both John and Alex shook their heads in disappointment.
Soon after that we decided to walk around and look at the many attractions that the busy Melbourne Central allowed us. We came across a furniture store and decided to take a look inside. We saw many different comfortable elegant pieces of furniture in abstract shapes and sizes. In the background we could observe the beautiful house hold items such as vases, chandeliers and mirrors. We get to the back of the store and find a nice couch with a couple of soft pillows on it. I sit towards one end of the couch while Alex sat at the other and John found himself comfortable on a recliner near by and I notice the pillows. And out of immaturity I pick the pillow up and throw it square at her face. She quickly noticed and her automatic reaction was to throw it back. When the pillow approached me I used my ninja fast reflexes and deflect the pillow and at that moment we heard the sound of a crashing Vase hitting in the direction the pillow was flung. At that moment we paused for about three seconds in shock and I quickly said "Let’s get out of here". So we hurried out as fast as we could but not to fast so that no one would notice what had happened.
As we exited the store we all sighed in relief as we had escaped punishment for destroying a possibly expensive vase. My logic allowed me to comfort Alex who initiated the attack, in that "the store was a multimillion dollar company, and that vase was nothing to the company, just a mere item for display". And that is what keeps my conscious clear till this very day.
---
Ok so that was a funny event that happened not so long ago, but what I wanted to bring out is how often we would think that "hey that won't happen to us" or "wouldn't it be funny if", but every so often it does happen and luckily we didn’t have to pay the price (the price of the vase that is). I just wanted to say that don't be to confident in thinking that we are invincible, though this case wasn't to serious, we can see the parallels when it comes to different situations in that our lack of thinking can cause serious harm to yourself or others.
"Wouldn't it be funny if I punched in that direction and hit someone in the face? *punch* OH CRAP! Are you ok?"
Peter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)