"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appe

"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."

“Do not judge a book by its cover.” This is an age old saying that is used to reprimand a person from judging another just based on outward appearances. True, to judge a person solely by superficial appearances alone might not produce an accurate representation of the person's true personality. However, is there no grain of truth to the fact that the way people look,dress and act can reveal much about their attitudes and interests? I am in agreement with the issue topic that the way people look, dress and act reveals much about their attitudes and interest, and collectively the way citizens of a society appear and behave can reveal much about the society's ideas and values.

As superficial as it may be, there is no denying that the way a person carries him or herself holds heavy weight in the way people would perceive them. Take for example the way a person dresses for a job interview. If the person dresses immaculately and and acts professionally, it portrays an attitude that is respectful and disciplined. On the other hand, if the interviewing candidate turns up at the interview slovenly dressed and slurring his speech, the interviewer would think twice before even considering the person as a potential hire for the company. People portray themselves the way they want to be seen, which in turn reflects their own individual personalities and interests. Many teenagers use the way they dress and act as a way to express their interests and identify themselves with others with similar interests. With the aid of the media industry, many subcultures have gained higher exposure and are emulated by teenagers everywhere. There are those who dress and imitate the speech of hip-hop and rap singers. There are those who follow the punk image, and dress and act accordingly. No matter what choices in the way people chose to portray themselves, it is a physical representation of their attitudes and interests.

On an individual scale, external appearance can indicate personal attitudes and interest. What about the appearance and behavior of people on a larger scale? Dynamics of different appearances at play in a society can indicate so much more. It can be used to establish cultural identities, to demonstrate social and economic class or even used as a display of religious tendencies. It can also be an indication of level of acceptance and diversity in a society. For example, if a society consists of mostly of people who dress similar, it can suggest a society that stresses on conformity. Or if there are many very obvious different groups of people who act and dress differently in a society, it can be an indication of a more liberal society. We see differences in different countries. Take for example the dress codes required of women in Muslim countries. Often they are required to wear headdresses and long dresses to cover their hair, and their bodies and sometimes even the face. It is reflective of the more conservative Muslim culture and beliefs. On the other hand, take a look at dress codes in a more liberal society like the United States. Women are allowed to wear pants, and tank tops or bikinis, which shows society's higher tolerance for the female display of body.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that way people chose to look, dress and behave can be a strong indication of the overall society's ideas and values. Not only does the way appearances and behavior reflect an individual's personal interests and attitudes, these behaviors and appearances on a larger scale can evince cultural identities, social and economic class and so much more.

"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

The issue of whether rituals and ceremonies help define a culture can be a contentious one. On one hand, rituals and ceremonies are an integral part of a society's or a group of people's identity. On the other hand, there are those who argue that there are far more important factors that help define a culture besides rituals and ceremonies. However, I am in agreement with the view that rituals and ceremonies help define a culture and without them, people lose a diminished sense of their identity.

First, let us take a look at what rituals and ceremonies of a culture are. Rituals and ceremonies can take on formal or informal forms, and they are a set of established behaviors that are symbolic of a certain group's culture. Formal or informal, rituals and ceremonies help provide a sense of identity to social groups. Each social group have their own sets or ritual and ceremonies, and this is what sets them apart from other groups and helps them gain a sense of collectiveness. Take for example the act of going to weekly Sunday masses at church. This act alone acts as the common bond between different individuals who hold similar beliefs. The rituals and ceremonies performed in church such as baptism, or Eucharistic ceremonies, is the tangible proof of their identities. In this sense, they affirm their identity as Christians. Moving away from religious rituals and ceremonies, let us take a look at rituals and ceremonies that affirm national identities. For example, the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States November of every year. It is a national holiday that is recognized to remember and give thanks, and it is a celebration that has been passed down from the times the English settlers first set foot in America. It is also a holiday to celebrate the American spirit and bring families close together.

Rituals and ceremonies are the continuation of old traditions that were passed down from our ancestors or forefathers. They are what that keeps the memories of the past alive, and they retain all the collection of ideas, superstitions, beliefs and the stories of our forefathers. Without rituals and ceremonies, we have a lesser sense of our identity, for we do not know where we come from. This can be especially important for groups of people whose ancestors originated from a country different from the ones they were born in. This is something I can draw from personally. I am an ethnic Chinese born and raised in Malaysia, but my grandparents were from China. My grandparents were brought as part of the group of laborers that were imported to work the tin mines and eventually they settled down in Malaysia permanently. My grandparents were very traditional in the way they conducted their daily lives, which included daily rituals like burning joss sticks at certain times of the day to show respect for our ancestors. These rituals and ceremonies, which marks so much of the Chinese identity, gradually faded as we moved down the generations. There are many of the rituals and ceremonies that I do not know how to perform, and I cannot help but feel a sense of loss of my own culture and heritage, and a lesser sense of being “Chinese” as I assimilate into the dominant culture of the country.

Thus, it is my belief that rituals and ceremonies are important in helping to define a culture. Not only do they help provide social groups or societies with a sense of belongingness, it also acts as an affirmation of identity for all of the people who hold similar ideas or beliefs. Also, rituals and ceremonies help retain the memories, values and beliefs, ideas, superstitions which helps us to gain our sense of cultural identi

“It is dangerous to trust only intelligence.”

What is intelligence? Intelligence is what sets us apart from other creatures in the animal kingdom. It gives us the ability to make rational decisions and think beyond just satisfying our basic physiological needs. The issue of whether one should trust intelligence alone can be a contentious one. On one hand, it provides us with an ability to reason and comprehend things around us. It gives us the ability to evaluate, consider, and make decisions based on the choices we have. On the other side of the fence, there are those who argue that it is dangerous to trust only intelligence as it disregards the human emotions and other values that are inherently virtuous. I am in agreement with the latter point of view.

We are not robots; we feel and we care for people and things. We all come with a different set of emotions and ideas and that is what that makes us human. We all have the ability to form emotional attachments, and our individual reactions to people and things are unique. Emotions can drive a person to perform kind and compassionate deeds. Of course, emotions can also drive a person to perform negative deeds.However, emotions is what that provides us with a sense of conscience, something that intelligence alone cannot provide. Intelligence without conscience can be dangerous. Consider this. A serial killer might have the intelligence of selecting his or victims and the cold rationale of choosing the method of execution. Without a conscience and a disregard for the human life, that intelligence is useless because it drives the killer to perform cruel deeds. There are events in history that have proven this. Take a look at the events that occurred during the WW2. Adolf Hitler was a highly intelligent man who had the acumen and efficiency of carrying out his agenda, but the death toll that resulted shocked the world. Over 6 million Jews was killed in the course of pursuing Hitler's agenda for racial eugenics and this episode remains an indelible black mark in history.

Consider the other values that intelligence alone cannot provide. Morality and ethics are what sets a restrictions on the types of human behavior that are considered acceptable. We fear repercussions from our peers, or from the society as a whole and that is what tempers our behavior. Trusting intelligence alone might drive us to disregard those restrictions for if we depend on logic alone we act in ways that makes the most sense in a certain situation. Take for example a family living in hunger. There is only so much food to feed the family and by plain logic alone, it is feasible to kill off the person that is the weakest in the family. However, killing is not acceptable by society's rules.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that trusting intelligence alone can be a dangerous thing. We cannot disregard the emotional factors that drives the ways a human thinks and acts. Emotions provides us with a sense of conscience as well as put constraints on the types of behavior that are deemed acceptable of society, which is something intelligence alone might tend to neglect.

Argument Analysis 13

In a study of reading habits of Leeville citizens conducted by the University of Leeville, most respondents said they preferred literary classics as reading material. However, a follow-up study conducted by the same researchers found that the type of book most frequently checked out of each of the public libraries in Leeville was the mystery novel. Therefore, it can be concluded that the respondents in the first study had misrepresented their reading habits.

My response:

The argument states that there was a misrepresentation of an initial study investigating the reading habits of the citizens of Leeville due to several evidences presented by a follow-up study. However, the argument presented is illogical and unconvincing as it is based on a number of faulty premises of which I shall analyze below.

First, the argument assumed that the results of the first study was the caused by a misrepresentation of the respondents themselves. The results could be caused by any other of number reasons including the manner the initial study was conducted. The way the initial study was conducted could be structurally flawed, causing inaccurate results. The author should investigate deeper into the data that was collected for the first study to confirm her beliefs. For example, the author should take a look at the sample size of the study. If the responses was only collected from a small portion of the Leeville population, it could not possibly be a proper representation of the town's overall reading habits. Or perhaps the study only targeted a specific age group, like an older group that mostly preferred literary classics. Without more specific information, the author cannot come to a definitive conclusion that the respondents of the first study misrepresented their reading habits.

However, even if we assume that the results of the first study was incorrect, the evidences presented to bolster the argument's second claim is flawed. The argument states that the follow-up study conducted found that the type of books that are most frequently checked out of each of the public libraries are mystery novels, therefore a solid evidence that the respondents of the first study have misrepresented their reading habits. We cannot assume that all of Leeville's reading citizens acquire their reading materials from the public libraries. There could be readers who prefer to buy their books, instead of borrowing it from libraries. The argument also failed to consider private collections, or private libraries from which readers can acquire their books from.

Lastly, the argument is flawed because it assumed that the classifications of literary classics and mystery novels are exclusive or each other. The argument failed to consider the fact that there are some mystery novels that are considered as literary classics. There was no mention if the mystery novels checked out of the libraries are contemporary novels or classical ones. With this and all the previous flaws mentioned, the argument is still insufficiently cogent.

For all the reasons enumerated above, I come to the conclusion that the argument presented is not logically sound. Had the argument taken the above factors into consideration, it would have rendered the argument irrefutable.

"The purpose of education should be to provide students with a value system, a standard, a set of ideas—not to prepare them for a specific job."

What is the true purpose of education? This issue can be a contentious one as many groups hold different views in regards to it. On one hand, there are those who believe that education exists to instill students with a value system, standards and a set of ideas. On the other hand, there are those who believe that education is more specialized in nature—that all the training and classes serve to prepare students for a specific job. I am in agreement with the former point of view as I believe that the purpose of education is to provide the basic knowledge of any disciplines and instill general values and ideas that would be beneficial to them as working professionals.

We spend a large part of our lives learning in formal educational institutions, moving from a lower level of education to a higher one. We learn the basics of mathematics, the use of language, and knowledge from various disciplines and as we move up to higher tier of the educational progress, the knowledge that we have gained from preceding levels serve as a foundation for understanding more complex ideas and theories. Though a student's scope of study eventually becomes more specialized as they move up into higher levels of education, it would be incorrect to claim that the educational process is meant for preparing them for a specific job. After all, we cannot assume that a student would know what sort of profession he or she would choose to pursue from a young age. The best thing education can provide is to instill the general ideas, skills and values that is beneficial for future use and help point students towards their area of general interest.

Education serves to hone a student's level of maturity as well as refine their method of thought and research. Through projects in school, students are taught to approach matters in a systematic and efficient manner. They are taught on the proper ways to present a project, the criteria on which a project should be given importance on, as well as foster other important values such a professionalism, teamwork, discipline, as well as time management. The process of education goes beyond the criteria of simply instilling knowledge and skills as students; it also essential for instilling the soft skills that are needed for a student to be successful as a person as well as a professional. For example, a student is able to hone his or her interpersonal skills from working in teams in school, or through interactions during extracurricular activities. Good interpersonal skills can be a very important tool to have as a working professional as it can make or break that great business merger for the company, or negotiate a favorable outcome during a job interview.

Though a student eventually branches out into a more specialized field, like choosing to major in accounting or electrical engineering, ultimately their real training comes from their jobs when they graduate, rather than from school. Why? For one thing, there is no such thing as a 'specific' job. Different organizations require different requirements from their employees. Therefore it is difficult, if not close to impossible to provide a single standardized educational form that can meet the criteria of all the organizations out there. There are many factors besides technical skills to be considered when a new person is hired in a company. Though knowledge and technical skills of the required area of discipline is required, there are many other factors that companies use to evaluate potential hires. Among them being the personality fit of the person into the overall company culture, the person's sense of professionalism to name a few. The educational process provides the minimum requirement that is needed for a student to perform the job, but ultimately it is the hiring organization that provides the specialized training that makes the individual an essential unit of the organization. For example, many companies like Toyota, or Goodrich, who hire fresh graduates from college usually require their new trainees to undergo a tailored rotational program that span a number of years to learn the company's system and values from the bottoms up.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that the purpose of education should be to provide students with a value system, a standard, a set of ideas, instead of just preparing them for a specific job. The purpose of education is to instill within students the basic knowledge, ideas and values that would be beneficial for the student overall, whether it is for personal or professional use. Education also serve to refine the maturity level of the student as well as instill other soft skills. Though education provides the minimum requirement and knowledge that is needed by a student to get a job, ultimately it is the hiring organization that provides the tailored and specialized training that is needed, as it is impossible for the educational process to provide a standardized training that meets the requirements of all hiring organizations.

“The most elusive knowledge is self-knowledge, and it is usually acquired through solitude, rather than through interaction with others.”

It is arguable if self-knowledge is usually gained through solitude, or if it is gained through interaction with others. On one hand, solitude can take away the distractions that is concomitant with social interactions, providing a purer environment for personal reflection and thoughts. On the other hand, interaction with others provide the “mirror reflection” that we use to see and form our self image. However, I believe that self-knowledge is better acquired through interactions with others rather than through solitude.

First, let us take a look at what is self-knowledge. Self knowledge can be defined as a personal understanding of one's individual strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and generally any other factors that constitutes a person's individual personality. Due to everybody's individual differences, the concept of self knowledge can be very vague and abstract. Therefore to say that self knowledge is the most elusive knowledge is not entirely incorrect.

Humans are inherently social creatures. We have always lived in communities, even from the days when primitive men lived in caves. Interaction with others are an essential part of our lives and through these interactions, we create and build our self image. Charles Horton Cooley had appropriately coined this phenomenon the “looking glass” theory. In essence, we perceive ourselves the way other people sees us. So how does one acquire self knowledge? How do we define ourselves? We may define ourselves with a certain race based on skin color, or by religion, or a certain social class due to our economic status or the types of jobs we hold. Ultimately, all these definitions are formed by interactions with our peers. Without any social experience, we are like empty buckets devoid of true stimulus to provide sufficient insights on makes us the way we truly are. Without interactions with others, we have no way to benchmark our goals, aspirations, or even likes or dislikes. For example, would we have realized about our competitive spirit if we did not have another person to compare it with? Of course, on the flip side, would we have also realize that we do not care for competition had we not experienced it before? Therefore social interactions is an important factor in the search for self knowledge.

It is incorrect to absolutely claim that self knowledge is only gained from social interactions. We do need the external experience that comes from interactions from others to collect materials that make part of our personality. We also need the downtime and solitude to absorb and understand all the information that we have collected. However, self knowledge that is acquired through solitude might not provide a accurate depiction as it is colored by our own personal ego and feelings. By looking at things through our internal lens, we only perceive matters from a one sided point of view. Interactions with others can help temper the internal bias as well as provide refreshing perspectives. For example, a person might think that he or she is really talented at writing music. That might or might not necessarily be true. Constructive criticism can not only help improve the person's music, but also teach him new ways or ideas of to improve his or her future works.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my views that self knowledge is better acquired through interactions with others rather than solitude.

"Instead of encouraging conformity, society should show greater appreciation of individual differences."

The issue of whether a society should emphasize more on conformity or individuality can be a controversial one. One one hand, conformity in a society can provide a regulating framework that citizens of a society can follow by. On the other hand, when a society shows a greater appreciation for individualism, it promotes healthy debate and an interaction of ideas from diverse people or groups.

There is no denying that a society is a dynamic, ever evolving entity. We need some form of regulating framework to manage the different dynamics to prevent things from becoming unruly and chaotic. This is where conformity in a society plays an important role. Conformity can cover many aspects of a society. We see conformity in all sorts of form; from the uniforms students wear at school, adherence to professional behavior at work to a mass political ideologies embraced by the people. Conformity can perhaps be best defined as the behavior of following the trends, ideas, characteristics of the majority of the of a social group. Conformity at its best can foster harmony, teamwork and increase the productivity overall. This can be seen in the Japanese society, where its people work fast, efficiently and by established rules. Conformity also has the ability to provide identity and show pride of a social group. For example, the observance of wearing the 'cheongsam', the traditional Chinese dress.

Though conformity has its benefits, there are times where the 'herd mentality' stagnates creativity, which is what that is essential in driving progress in a society. Individual characters are what makes a society as a whole. If everyone were to think and act the same, there would be no variety, no color, no defining characteristics of what makes each individual unique. Pressure on conformity can take its toll on the individual expressions of the people. Take for example the expressions in artistic endeavors. If the majority of the people keep on trying to put constraints on the types of arts that are deem acceptable or viewable by public, no one would push the boundaries of artistic expressions, they would be no avant garde works, there would be no progress to be seen.

The acceptance of individual ideas can provide perspectives from different angles and breed original ideas. This can be seen in the business arena. Sometimes the most successful of business products comes from ideas generated by someone that was never thought of by others before. In this sense, individual personalities and ideas have the ability to generate new ideas and perspectives which helps to drive new discoveries and progress in a society. Also consider the positive effects individual personalities can have on a dysfunctional system. Though most societies strive to provide a functional system or framework, there are some systems or ideologies that are detrimental to its citizens in the long run. Take for example societies where the government infringes on the basic rights of its people. If people were to accept the regime blindly, old archaic systems would not be challenged, no changes would be made, and an unhealthy status quo would be perpetuated. A fresh new idea or movement can be what that pushes for positive changes in the society. Conformity can also be dangerous. A fine example would be members of a cult following the biased and unhealthy views of their leader.

For all the reasons I have presented above, I would like to reiterate my agreement that society should encourage a greater appreciation for individual personalities. Though conformity has its benefits, there is no denying that there should be a greater emphasis on individual differences. Individual differences can provide different perspectives and breed original new ideas. Also, we must consider that conformity at times can be dangerous as it can perpetuate traditional ideas that are unhealthy for the people of society.