English undergrad

One of the conferences i attended was titledtranscedental meditation and the internet: Two approaches to omniscience, their expression in, and effect on literature. I figured it would be the most interesting out of all of the choices, and it sounded like something i would like to learn more about. There were few people who attended a couple grad students with some undergrads as well. The presentation itself was not exactly what i had expected, a little unorganized and nothing very formal about it, seemingly just thrown together. But luckily there were two people there who were there to bring their own views upon the situation. Initially i didnt follow anything the presenter was saying, but when they got into conversations about it there were very interesting views brought about. For instance transcedental meditation is just taking yourself away from this sometimes stressful anxiety filled life. What is the difference between that and going onto the internet and looking something up, and then following links, and before you know it you've been on the internet for 3 hours. They compared this to a form of meditation, because in a way it takes you out of reality in a sense.

chapter 2 blog

In chapter 2 Gladwell talked about the Law of the Few and talks about the few people that have the ability to communicate superior to others. I think that the most interesting argument he presented was when he was talking about 6 degrees of separaration and how the did the study that they sent out letters and told the people to send them to people who they thought would know the stockbroker. Well it turned out that half of the letters were recieved by 3 people. And in this being shown changes the definition that we all know about the six degrees of separation, i used to think it was everyone was linked together in 6 steps but it changes that definition to "it means that a very small number of people are linked to everyone else in a few steps , and the rest of us are linked to the world through those special few", i thought that was a very interesting twist on what i thought i knew.

working with your reading

The type of reading i am normally used to doing is just science textbook straight facts mostly. And Gladwells book is similar in that they both contain very factual information, but they are both presented in different ways. The text book is just straightforward information while gladwell has some flow to it, and makes the facts more interesting by using things we already know a lot about and expanding upon them with his research. He also involves personal observations.

Malcom Gladwell raises the issue of the tipping point in society of trends/ epidemics, he does this in order to shed light upon things we do not normally see. For instance the hushpuppy trend, i knew of this, but not the origin of it, and how it started with only a few kids in New York trying to be different. Gladwell argues that something small can have a big effect on society. By observing specific instances that actually happend and researching possible factors supporting his claim. Gladwell concludes that there are many instances of this "tipping point" such as stated above the hush puppys, others including, the syphilis epidemic in Baltimore showing how the small reduction in physicians turned into a large increase in the disease, and the reduction in crime of New York City.

Social Diversity

I believe that there will always be social diversity, and i think that it is a good thing. There will always be people who choose to be ignorant and not learn from each other, but i feel that with diversity it makes life interesting, and there will always be something to learn from one another. Just think if everyone were the same, the world would be so bland of a place to live in. Certain things do need to be worked on of course like the discrimination, and prejudice that comes along with social diversity, and like i said before there probably will always be those people that choose not to understand other people. But i am proud and glad to live in America where it is the mixing pot of social diversity, and i think if everyone opens their mind a little they will be too.

Since i screwed up earlier and didnt post this i will post it now.
I am Michael Barbato I am from Greensburg Pa, I am in the pre chiropractic/ Natural science major, and i am currently a junior here at IUP.