Category: Unit 2 (Page 1 of 2)

1. Aviation

Aviation, on the surface, has many aspects that could attract someone to the field, but as I dug deeper, something kept coming up: pilots who suffer from depression. While I knew about this for a while, I also saw the lack of support given to pilots when they are diagnosed with depressive symptoms. In my opinion, most suicide-by-pilot incidents could have been prevented, most notably Germanwings Flight 9525, where the first officer descended the plane into the French mountains. My biggest concern is with how the FAA handled these cases. While the FAA can only govern American pilots, I feel it’s not really encouraged for pilots to report their thoughts because of the risk of losing a job they spent years training for, so my question is, “If the current system for reporting depressive symptoms is not working, why isn’t the FAA not making any huge changes and consulting with pilots and mental health experts to make it more welcoming to report these thoughts?”

2. Technology

While AI is not a new topic, with how fast technology is expanding, many controversial topics are beginning to rise. One of them is Neuralink. It’s one of Elon Musk’s technology projects, and it intends to better brain-machine interfaces, record memories, and develop other brain-related technologies. While current testing isn’t going as planned, with 15 of the 23 monkeys dying, it seems like Elon Musk is still on the project. Inevitably, one day, human testing will begin. Humans’ and monkeys’ brains are similar but not identical, meaning that no matter how much animal testing they do, human testing will have unknown consequences. My question is “At what point does the promise of dramatic technological advancement outweigh the risk of human loss in the process of developing the technology?”

3. Gaming

Gaming at first can seem inviting to everyone, but the culture can be extremely toxic from within. Since there’s a level of anonymity when gaming, people are able to dissociate and bully, belittle, or even threaten others. While a lot of developers have tried to limit the level of toxicity that can happen, there is still no one-size-fits-all solution. A lot of the solutions that are currently in place can be easily worked around. My question is, “How can developers put better systems in place to actually have a welcoming community?”

I think an “area of mastery” is tough to consider when reflecting on some of the hobbies and activities I do but my interest reach a full spectrum of people I believe. I mentioned in a previous assignment that one thing I like to do is read manga and watch anime. I find it to very interesting and unique in being able to portray lighthearted comedy to dark political commentary. My other favorite hobby that ties in to the first is movies. I enjoy watching and learning about the background of movies. When you to take the time to learn about all the moving pieces that are crucial to creating giant blockbuster movies, you really appreciate more. My last interest consistently belongs to sports, being enamored with games like basketball, football and soccer. I enjoy seeing the amazing feats these athletes perform as well as the competition factor.

During my research I noticed that some controversy span both the portrayal of a character and whether it was believable in a space of art, and how actors playing dark and disturbing character change how a viewer may view the world. This made me think,

• How often if at all do actors receive therapy?

When it comes to sports I noticed that a lot of controversy came from the responsibilities of leagues and the government to take action when athletes commit a crime as well as when giant organization like the NFL and the MLB fail to act in a way that counteracts their community first initiatives. This made me reflect on my own ties and ideas to these leagues and I came up with,

• Why does the general public hold athletes in such high esteem?
• Do athletes have to meet and go beyond the expectations of the general public?

When it comes to anime, I found that a lot of topics ranged in depictions of women and men especially when it comes to race and sexuality. There are also threads that seem to question how some of these stories impact the development of people. I started to compare American animation to Japanese animation, and I noticed w a major difference in story development.

• Why does western animation lack adult topics when children in eastern animation handle the situations?

My three topics/areas of fascination are:

1. Gardening 
2. Food
3. Art

My question of choice for each topic are as follows:

1. Now that it’s officially spring and the weather is getting warmer, my parents and I have been looking to get new house plants to brighten up our home and flowers/veggies for our garden. While searching around, I found this article talking about sustainable plant shopping. After reading, I realized that I’ve never really stopped to think about where the plants came from. According to the article, many “off the shelf” plants that we purchase are grown with loads of chemicals which is harmful to en environment. Thus, this made me think of the question: What are some more ways to make my gardening hobby more sustainable, bio-organic, and environmentally friendly? 
2. For my second topic of food/restaurants, I looked around the internet regarding Yelp which is the app I use most often to find new restaurants to try out. Upon digging around, I found out that Yelp has been in a lot of controversies over the years in regards to manipulation of reviews and predatory advertising tactics. I read this article about how Davide Cerretini, owner of the restaurant Botto Bistro, would give a discount to anyone to leave a 1-star review on Yelp, eventually gaining him the worst-rated restaurant on Yelp. His inspiration to do this was to rebel against having the fate of his business rest in the hands of the online review ecosystem. This makes me think of the question: How can we break free from the manipulation of larger corporations to better support small businesses?
3. For the topic of art, I was looking around and came upon this article in the New York Times about an old exhibit at the MET called “Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy.” This made me think about how many times, art is a projection of our past and our present. At the same time, art also has the power to change the way we perceive our own reality. In many instances, art has been successfully used as a medium for changing/altering people’s thoughts and emotions (propaganda, for example) about a certain topic. This makes me think of the question: What are the elements that go into a piece of art that strengthens or weakens its ability to influence a viewer’s thoughts and emotions?