Friday, September 26, 2008
Making New or Keep Old Connections
We have had very good class discussion of how Hector, Achilles, and Ulysses valued connections--old and new. Many of you defended Ulysses' view of connections--to his men, to home, to honor--very well in your homework. What we haven't done, as a class, although some of you have done so on you values-analysis essays, is discuss if you think current culture values connections, both keeping old ones and making new ones. How important is that to us today?
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23 comments:
As a multicultural nation, I think is important and necessary to make new connections in order to value old ones. For, example people who have come to the United States in serch of opportunities and better living have enounter with a whole new world. Even though they encounter with a mix of culutes, beliefs and ideas, they never change completely, they still keep thier old connections. I believed is important to make new connections as well as is imprtant to keep old connections alive,because it describes the indiviudal's orgin and identifies him or her from today's soicety.
Connections play a huge role in our society. Most people keep close ties with their families and friends and value those connections. When you just meet a stranger on the street and find a "small world" connection in conversation, it is intriguing to us. Many people feel connected to their home teams in sports along with fellow fans. There are just countless ways we connect ourselves with others to find a common bond in our society.
I think we definately value connections in todays soiety. I notice most families try to live near there extended family as well. This can be a huge hand in raising children and it is also because we all want our children to know there heritage and respect there elders. We want all of our friends to be friends with our children as well.
Humans are social creatures, pack animals if you will. We all crave a connection to other people, be it friends, family, or lovers. For this reason, I believe making connections (new/old) is still an important part of our society, and will continue to be so, though our connections today are made for different reasons (mostly) and through different means than the people of the Post-Amarnaian age. Today, mostly due to the integration of the internet into our society, people are connecting in new ways to people previously unavailable to them through geographical and/or language barriers. In Ancient Greece, connections were made that ensured survival, such as a connection with a country that trades goods or an ally alliance. Today, people make connections about what television shows they watch and make love connections from thousands of miles away. The shift is due to our advanced society in which survival just happens instead of being forged, and our access to others around the world via the internet. Connections are still important, they are just used and obtained differently now than in Ancient Greece.
Connections are still part of our society today. We are connected through various means with other people. It could be through family, beliefs or ideas. These connections could either be old or new. Old connections play the same role as new connections in our society today. We meet people often and one way or another we are connected. We connect with family everyday and a new connection appears. We usually connect in our society through, conversations, reading or writing.
I do believe that current culture values connection. In thinking of connection in the context of connection to people, in particular friends, we have great examples in our culture. The popularity of online social networks such as MySpace and facebook shows us this. These sites allow members to keep in touch with old friends from high school, and add new friends that have just been made. If current culture did not value old and new connection these sites would not have millions of members spanning the face of the earth.
I never thought of it like Taylor before, but myspace and facebook are the greatest examples of our society valuing connections. The homepage of facebook itself says, "Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you." It is an easy way to stay connected with people you meet throughout your life, including friends from grade school and college. These sites are SO popular, which shows how people like to stay connected with others.
Making and maintaining connections is more important now days, more so then ever before. This is one of the reason that we have seen such an increase in technology that allows us to make connection to other people. In today's world it is a necessity to have access to not only a home phone but a cellphone, computer, and a tv all to keep you connected. Making connections are not just important to our personal lives but also to our professional one to. As the saying goes it's not what you know but who you know. When it comes to getting a job in today's market it usually boils down to who you know
I totally agree with taylor, all of these social networking sites are prime examples of how much our society's value making connections even if they are meaningless connections.
I believe that old connections are essential. In life you should always remember where you come from. Old or new there is a reason behind each connection made and a lesson to be learned in each. Or in Ulysses case maybe not learn just keep going. As humans we need connections and desire to be connected with one another in some way. The greatest way to punish a human is to disconnect them from their pupils young or old. For kiddos this is a time out or punishment. For adults it would be solitary confinement I know a person in prison. I heard from various sources that he was in solitary confinement a lot while serving 5 years in jail and he is not OK literally. He mental capacity is so deficient we'll never know exactly what happened. He won't get to learn from his disconnection unfortunately.
Our culture today certainly values connection just as highly as the ancients did, and with technology this has grown to a new height. We live in a world where no place is too far away, and no matter how far our kin may go, they are always just an airline flight away. Much of our social and technological progress has been towards connecting all the people of the world, with the U.N. brokering peace whenever possible by encouraging the formation of alliances, to the use of the internet to share ideas and expose ourselves to cultures fully on the other side of the world. These days, it is easy to keep in constant contact with one's relatives through the simple use of a cell phone. Though on the individual level connections might not play the same role they did in ancient times, such as providing mutual protection between oneself and his friends or to establish trade agreements between a peoples, we still place great emphasis on keeping in touch with those we know and we are always reaching out for new ways to meet new people.
I believe that it is very important to make new connections. Making new connections does not mean to necessarily forget about the old connections. New connections helps develop a more understanding individual. Making new connections to those that are different from you would develop great customer service, and people skills. I do believe that our society value new connections but at the same time, keeping old connections. New connections makes a well rounded individual.
Yes, our culture does value connections. Probably more than ever before because there are countless ways to be "connected" today. We have cell phones so we can be in touch every minute of every day. We have 'fave 5', mobile to mobile, Myspace, Facebook, email, webcams for our families in the war, and regular landline phones to keep us connected. Besides all the electronic gadgetry, we have connections to friends, alumni, organizations like fraterneties, sororities, SEA, SGA, even connections to get jobs, a good deal on what ever we buy. I tihink we may even value old connections as well since it is even easier to learn about the past now. We have many many people doing family trees, and looking up old friends on the computer, etc. We have connections every where we turn.
I agree with Jgriffin about the whole technology aspect. I didn’t really think about it like that until I read your comment. We do make new connections through technology. even preachers try to reach different kinds of people through the use of technology. Individuals everyday log on to sites like myspace and face book to make a connection with some one different than their circle of friends.
I think that our society today does value connections old and new. We connect with our families, friends, co-workers, pets, colleagues, and even strangers. Most people today value the connection with their families as a close bond. As humans we like to feel connected to other people, and animals as well. It gives us a sense of comfort. As other students have stated, we value old connections as well when we use online networks such as Myspace, Facebook, Blackplanet, and online dating sites. Some of these sites actually place us back in contact with others that we may have lost touch with back in the day causing us to value the reconnection. To value new connections as well is also very important. These connections could bring you in touch with your professional side and provide relationships with the right type of people.
I agree with Chuck, humans are social creatures who crave connections with other people. Its kind of like we beg for attention. I also love your examples used when discussing how we now use new ways to connect people although previously we were unavailable to through geographical and/or language barriers.
I agree with and have to say I didnt think of it the way Chuck put it. I agree that we are able to connect easier to people from all over the world now. This site is just proof that we can all manage to talk and share ideas without being in the same room or even same city. I live in Plano so right now I am 50 miles away from everyone on this site yet I can somehow comment on the same topics
We do connect in several ways; however, the main way of connecting nowdays is using technology. I agree with everyone that said that a way of connecting was through internet sites. Furthermore, people connect through email's and phone. It is definately a way of sharing ideas and values.
I completely agree with Joey. For the most part my entire family, both sides, lives within driving range. There is something to having family close by. For me personally there is no bigger sign of keeping old connections than having my whole family near by. These are people that have known me my whole life, and their connection is not only important to me but my family as well
I believe ehickman was right about the myspace/facebook thing. I have a myspace page and it has allowed me to get closer to my little cousins by browsing their pages and communicating with them thru myspace. It's much less time consuming to send an im or comment to them than to sit and call each one. I've also reconnected with many faces I thought I'd never see again from high school. Connections old and new are definitely important.
I agree with Taylor's observation that facebook/myspace are prime tools for connecting with those around us, and even those who aren't so close. The popularity is staggering, considering these websites are household names now, and it is clear why. They bring connectivity to a new level, not only helping you keep in touch with distant friends and family, but also bringing powerful networking tools that can connect you with people at your school/job or even find people in your area with similar interests.
I agree with Taylor and Joey, (although most of us agree anyway)Joey brought up the work connections...I work in Career Services on campus, and I can tell you connections really do make a difference. If the applicant knows someone at the firm they are applying for, it helps get them hired. Even if it is my boss or I that knows someone hiring, we can usually put in a good word for them and get them hired over other applicants. In someway that's sad, we should be able to get hired on our own qualities, but often it takes more. A lot of times the employer would hire his own family or a co-worker's family member over someone more qualified. I can't explain it, but it is true.
On the other hand, I value my connections past and present a lot. (Of course I wouldn't hire my family unless the job was something I knew they would excell at.
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