Sean Wykoski

Junior Cornerstone

Dr. Simpler

1/30/14

What is the most sensible position?

After reading the different articles posted, there were many that I liked, but there was one that I liked the most. Cultural determinism was the one that I thought made the most sense. It is definitely plausible because as we know, stereotypes exist. I feel as though these stereotypes are traits that define someone to a certain type of culture and lifestyle. Where we live tends to define us. I talked about in my previous post that where someone lives has an impact on their lifestyle and these influences tend to lead them down the career path they want to follow.

My parents are both musicians and have definitely had an influence on my life and the decisions that I am making. I'm attending Belmont because I want to pursue a life in the music industry, but I don't think that I would be at Belmont, or as interested in music as I am now if it weren't for my parents. If I had grown up in a town that was all about farm life and I had grown up on a farm then I would most likely be interested in pursuing a career in agriculture, but do to me being raised in a house of musicians I found a passion in music.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I think that my position has both good strengths as well as good weaknesses. For starters, most people are very influenced by their parents and their community. The town that I grew up in had a lot of families that were either doctors, lawyers or businessmen/women. When all of us went off to college all of these kids who grew up in doctor, lawyer or business households are studying medical, law, and business at college. Since they were around a lot of people who also grew up like they did, they had a common interest among the community. However, there are definitely out liars to my position.

 There were many kids who were not like the kids I stated previously, myself included. While I did state that my parents had a great influence on me, my community did not however influence a majority of my decisions growing up. My high school was very much into athletics. Myself, not so much. So while all of my friends and classmates were ranting on about sports, I was off in my own world with music. I was one of two in my class to apply and attend Belmont, the other girl transferred her freshman year. I'm the only student I know of who is studying Audio Engineering. To bring attention back to the point I made about my parents, they did influence me to like music, but they raised me on Classic Rock. Today I listen to punk-rock almost exclusively. So they gave me my musical influence, but I found my own style of musical taste that they did not show me. So in a way, culture does influence you, but it doesn't always have a definite influence on who you are.

First Post - Sean Wykoski

Sean Wykoski Junior Corner Stone Dr. Simpler 1/30/14 Who Is Writing the Script of My Life This is one topic that I always seem to think about with life because there are so many different theories as to why things happen to us. I'm not entirely set on one reason as to why things happen, but there are a few theories that I have. My first one is that there may be reasons to why things happen, but they are not set by a god or someone watching over us. I'm definitely a believer in karma and that if you do good things then good things will happen to you in return and vis-versa. I think there may be some kind of acting force in the world that connects us all, but it is not a god or a being, but rather we all have some kind of connection within the world. It's hard to explain, but through this connection our actions decide our outcomes. Which leads me to one of my other theory that we have the choice to be who we want to be and do what we want to do. For instance, I want to be a musician and so I'm going to make every decision I can to help further my chances of becoming a famous musician. I'm going to take every road that I believe leads to a successful life of music and happiness. There are choices in life that each of us can make, they may be good and they may be bad, but we all have the opportunity to make choices instead of someone or something setting out a coarse for us to follow or ride along. My last idea is that where you are also depends on who you will become. I'm a firm believe that nature has an influence on nurture and that society has a strong dictate on our personalities. Growing up in a upper-middle class, mostly white neighborhood I learned how to be an upper-middle class white kid. Why? Because I was surrounded by upper-middle class white people. If I had grown up in an area of predominantly black people, then I would have most likely acted like the black culture I'd have grown up in. It sounds stereotypical, but I also believe that stereotypes exist for a reason, and that they generalize a community. While there are always out liars to every stereotype or group, you can always seem to get some sort of generalization from a group of people that hangout together. For instance, I grew up listening to hard rock which progressed into a liking of punk rock music. What do I want to do in life? Play pop-punk style music, or work for a company that is affiliated with pop-punk style music. These are the three theories and ideas I have for what it means when asked who is writing my script. Who's To Say What's Right? This is probably one of my favorite questions to think about. I've gotten into countless arguments with my parents about what is actually right and what is right according to society. I definitely believe that there are set actions that are just wrong no matter what. For instance: Murder & Violence, rape, theft, etc. These are things that us as humans just should not do to one another because there is absolutely no good that comes from them. However, this would be in a perfect world. I always tend to get in a gigantic moral battle with myself when it comes to murder. I always like to think "Murder is wrong and no one should kill anyone ever, period." But then I think to my self "Well what if someone kills a person who had been raping children? They would be putting an end to a crime and a horrible horrible person, but they would still be murdering and taking the life of another." In the U.S. we all know the saying "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" and that every person is entitled to having these. However, I believe that if someone takes away these traits from someone else, then they have given up them as well. So, if man A kills man B, then man A has taken away Life from man B. This would mean, to me, that man A has given up his rights to Life, Liberty and happiness when he murdered man B. This is where a paradox comes in. If society decides kills man A for the murder of man B, then man A's Life is taken from him. Does this mean that whoever killed man A should be killed because they took away the rights of man A? I like to think that man A's death is justified, but I'm not a big fan of kill those who kill, because it takes you to the same level as the original killer. The last point I'd like to make, and hopefully make less confusing, is what society considers right and why laws are sometimes meant to be broken. We have a TON of laws today, some great and some not so great. One example I'd like to bring up is the Edward Snowden scandal with NSA. Snowden released information about how the US government spies on its citizens through their private emails, phone calls and text messages. He was charged with treason for dispelling this "classified" information. However, if you look up the definition of treason it states that it is "the crime of betraying one's country or giving information of ones country to an enemy." So because Snowden released classified US information he was charged with treason because thats how the law states it. But if you look at it. Was it really treason? He gave the public information about the government, which should've already been public domain. And since the US charged him for treason, they saw that he gave information to the enemy. This makes the US public "The enemy". Does that law really make sense now? Maybe if he were a Russian spy from the KGB. But he is a citizen of the United States unveiling the corrupt power of his own government. That is where I believe that there are times when what seems right, may actually be wrong.

Two Assumptions

Who is writing the script of my life?  I don’t think I have an answer to this question.  I’m not even sure I know where to begin on addressing this question.  I've grown up in a household that believed God has a plan for all of us.  Therefore, one could assume that He is writing the script, watching it all unfold.  Is this is right answer, the right train of thought?  I don’t know.  As I grow older I start to question these kinds of matters.  Is it God?  Does the Universe have a plan?  Does God control the Universe?  The more I think about it, the more I get confused.  Of course, one could always take a humorous approach – think in South Park terms:  that we are all on an alien reality T.V. show!  Really though, I like to think I that I am writing the script of my life.  I make decisions every day – when to wake up, what to eat, what to wear, where I am going to school, who my friends are, where I work, etc.  But then I wonder if it’s all predetermined.  I was destined to meet this person.  I was destined to go to this school.  I was destined to be here, do that, and say that at that exact moment.  If this is the case, then the question returns to who exactly is writing this timeline out?  I honestly don’t have a set opinion – anything can be possible.  I would like to think that I have my life figured out, but who knows.

Who’s to say what’s right?  I feel I can answer this question a little better than the last.  From the moment we are born, we have someone telling us what is right or wrong.  As we grow older we start to comprehend the world around us and make our own presumptions of what is right or wrong in this world.  However, there will always be a part of us, even if it’s subconsciously, that will use our upbringing as a comparison.  So how we were raised will always have an effect on us.  Where else do we gain this right-from-wrong knowledge?  We have an infinite number of sources to choose from.  There’s T.V. shows, movies, friends, random people we come in contact with, laws, religion, rules of all sorts, and the list goes on.  Everything we see and hear we take in and remember, even if we don’t realize it.  Past experiences shape our perception of future ones.  One person’s actions can change the course of another’s.  Who, ultimately, is correct?  Well, I believe that no one person has all the answers.  What’s right in one person’s situation could be wrong in someone else’s.  Everyone has a different interpretation of what is right and wrong, if we didn't the world would be a pretty boring place.  Think about it.  There would be no debates, no conflicts, everything would be decided cut-and-dry.  Then, you get into the realm of cold, hard facts versus assumptions (the science versus the Bible debate for example) and you just opened a whole other can of worms.  I guess my conclusion to that is like my first one, who really knows.

Two questions for the future

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   Those two questions being "Who is writing the script of my life?" and "Who's to say what's right?"
   
   
        My first assumption on these questions, particularly the first question is if the script is still being written or if it's already a finished product.  My starting point for answering the question depnds on whether I believe in fate or whether I believe that ultimately, I am in control of what will happen to me in the future.  I've lived my entire life not believing in fate and have no reason to wander from that now, so I'm in the camp that believes my life script is still being written.  That's not to say that there are not certain aspects of life where I think there may be a certain amount of destiny involved.  Such as love, career, etc.  If it were a matter of fate, these things would come about the way they were intended regardless of my decisions.  I believe that it's more likely that Destiney will put me in the situation to make the correct choice and if I do not, it may decide to give me another chance later down the road.
        Now that that has been established, the starting point for answering the question of who is the author of my life script is my early years spent in church with my parents and grandparents.  Weekly sessions sitting in the pews of Catholic Church where I would usually be thinking about how I would much rather be watching football.  Not to say that I did not or do not believe in God, but one of the first things learned in catechism is that God has given man free will.  It can be debated whether or not that was just a way to explain away the evil that seems to be ever constant in the world but regardless, it is a belief that I still hold today.  So if I have free will than I am obviously writing the script of my life.  With help from the different characters, subtle hints from destiny, and plot twists that find there way into the story.  Each one leading me to a different possible outcome that cannot be known until the last page is written.
   
        As far as the second question, "Who's to say what's right?", again, it depends on what we are referring to.  Are we talking about big picture?  Good versus Evil?  Justice versus injustice?  Or are we talking about what is right with regards to the choices made in my life?  As for the larger questions of good versus evil, the answer is society.  Society and different cultural shifts decide what is right and wrong big picture.  Countless things that were not only accepted but expected in years past have now become almost unanimously vilified.  Granted most of those societal norms are based in regligious beliefs, but ultimately, societal norms will eventually be seen as right regardless if they are or not.
        When it comes to the individual, in this case, me, my starting point on who the ultimate decider of who's to say what's right is God.  Although one may be able to make their way through life being considered righteous or just, it will ultimately be up to the judgement of God as to whether that is actually the case.  Another catechism teaching that has stuck with me is to not judge others, because only God will be the ultimate judge.  If only God can judge that obviously only God can say what is right.
   
        I'm looking forward to going deeper while looking for the answers to these questions and really hope I can come up with some better answers than the ones I just came up with.  Glad I'm the one writing the script.  
   
   

1st Group Meeting