Skills for 21st Century

The article Rigor Redefined written by Tony Wagner presents how the current schools are failing to teach and develop some skills that will be primordial for the students in the future. Based on some researches, the article analyzes which skills and acquirement are most required nowadays from the employers in the world of work. The main points are about critical thinking and work with other people. Employers want a person who asks questions and search for their solutions, who knows how to work in teams and have an easy adaptability. After observing how is the education students are receiving in classrooms for many years, Tony Wagner could conclude that, in the majority of the classes, students are not motivated to work on the "7 skills" the world of work is looking for today; they are "feed" from their teachers, and just get prepared to pass on the tests. Wagner presented how the schools are failing nowadays in prepare the students for the future, but also showed the solution: push them, creating situations that can engage their thinking, that will prepare them not just for their careers, but for their role as citizens. 

 The labor market is increasingly rigorous and demanding, and the 7 skills Tony Wagner presented in his article are the minimum a student should be developing today, to be a great and successful professional tomorrow. A huge majority of the students are not so engaged in their learning, and it is not 100% their fault. They grew in a system where they are supposed to get ready to get a score, which is a number, not learning. The technical skills they "learn" can be memorized during school time, but when they get in the world of work, many other skills are fundamental to survive in a good career. Their employers look for someone who is going to make the difference in their company, someone who asks questions and seek for their solutions, and will bring innovations and make the company grow. They have to be challenged everyday in the classrooms, and it is probably what the teachers don't know, or don't know how to do, because it is easier to just feed the students with books and lessons, and also, answers. It is something we should be more concerned about, because the students today are the leaders tomorrow, and if they are not well prepared to face the world and its changes, we will have a problem. 

Media controls what we think

    Just because you have your remote control in front your TV, doesn't mean that you are the one in control.

     The article " How the news media controls society " written by Carlos Hurworth, explores the idea of the current media controlling and influencing what we think, how we act, and the way we live using their tools to make the society do what is good for their interest. The author talks about the power the media has and how it can control people's lives by the creation of fear. Their main goal is to control consumption  and they invest all they can to sell their products. If the population wasn't living in fear of something, the need to seek out, the news would be lower and wouldn't be so strong. People wouldn't wonder what they should be aware of, fearful of, careful of, looking out for or thinking about. Their need to consume would dissipate. The media can choose the information that arrive in people's homes, they show the society just what they think people should know about their politics, the world, and culture values too. The media works in serving people, but in essence satisfying its own need to generate its massive profits.

     The media plays a big role in influencing society to believe certain views, especially through cultural values. There is also the influence of leaders and public figures. They can control how we think because people rely on the news ( The human's necessity to be seeking for something act here and make the population rely on the news) and in many instances accept the commentary/views in the various media without analyzing the information and coming up with their own views. A good description for our massive society nowadays is alienated; it's because, first of all, the media starts to manipulate some area of people's lives, some people believe it, and some others who are a big massive population just "follow the crowd" and are not capable to have a critical thinking about the information that come to them, and just "eat" what is given to them. Cultural values are a good example about how the Media has the power to control us; In the beginning it can shock people, but when it gets normal and common, the crowds seem incapable to judge what they see anymore. A good example about how the Media can shape people's values are some human behaviors and gay ideals that would shock people in the past, but nowadays they became common, and people can accept it better. Many other ways of behaviors followed the same path. Their tools to try to control what we buy are pretty efficient when they deal with the massive crowds. Just because you have your remote control in front your TV, doesn't mean that you are the one in control.

What is 'presidential greatness'?

The article "What is 'presidential greatness'?, written by Joseph Ellis, Aida Donald, Joan Hoff, H.W. Brands, and Richard Reeves, explores the ideas of what makes a president great, comparing some points in common between great presidents the United States had. As Truman said:  "A leader needed a true heart, a strong mind, and a great deal of courage." 'Roosevelt, who probably understood the presidency better than anyone else, was the greatest president of the 20th century because he knew what people wanted from the highest office in the land: action, words and optimism. As the article always says, and is the biggest truth when they are talking about great presidents, in good times or bad, a president is expected to do something! Sometimes he does the right thing and becomes great for it. Can also be observed that great presidents in history usually were involved in some war or conflict; but, as Aida Donald said:  "No, Franklin Roosevelt was a great president before World War II started. His domestic program had already made him a great president."
     Wartime Presidents are regarded by Americans as the greatest Presidents. That is what we discover when we examine the polls. Americans revere wartime Presidents. That’s the essence of  the great presidents in history. To Americans, a great President is heavily associated with war. It doesn't affect his greatness that Lincoln started the war, for example, which, if you think about it, should detract from his greatness. Wilson got the country into World War I and he ranks number 6. Franklin Roosevelt got the country into World War II and he ranks number 2. Their high rankings are also associated with the fact that they presided over the country during large-scale wars. Maybe it is all because, during a war, people feelings are more easily controlled, and the government could try to shape their opinion in favor to the president, creating a proud of their nation and its leader, during a war. As people usually say:  "anybody can grow up to be President." But, not everybody is cut out to be President. It takes a special kind of person, someone tough, smart, and driven, just to run for the job. It takes still more talent and character to hold up under the pressures of life in the White House.

Reaching Better Works

     The article: "What Motivates Us To Do Great Work", written by Jocelyn K. Gley talks about  the fact that the society and  is driven more by knowledge than by money, what motivate the individuals to do a great work is not rewards, recognition, money and stability anymore.Traditional rewards are not enough.The article reveals that what makes people creative to do a great work, is themselves, especially when they have an intrinsic motivation: wich is developed by external stimuls that make people progress toward the goals, and their understanding that they are gaining new skills and knowledge.Also, based on the science writer Jonah Lehrer study about `self-talk`, external stimulations play an important role when we are talking about great works: he analyzed that in some situations people presented a better work result when they previously knew what they were going to do, and spent more time thinking about it. This research could show that the key to reach a better work is made by challenge - external challenges that challenge people and motivate than to think more, work better, and deal with their intrisic motivation. As Jonah Lehrer said: "  By interrogating ourselves, we set up a well-defined challenge that we can master. And it is this desire for personal fulfillment - being able to tell ourselves that we solved the anagrams - that actually motivates us to keep on trying.” Another study made by the author Daniel Pink, reveals there are three key motivators: autonomy, mastery and purpose.Although this article presents many other studies about what motivates people to do a great work, all them had a result point in commom - the progress. The idea of progress and developing is what encourage more people to work more and build creative thoughts. This is the real challenge for them.
 If the idea of progress work with many people when we are talking about motivation to great works, we could think about bonuses and monetary rewards as a measurement of progress. The article assures that some sorts of reward, as bonus money, doesn't estimulate people to do a great work. But the fact is that, some kinds of rewards that we already have spread around the companies and around the world, could motivate the intrisic thoughts, if only the idea of progress were necessary.Based on your performance, and the secure in knowing you improved; there's a link between the pleasure in receiving reward and the satisfaction of knowing you made progress.We already have some examples in our society that work with the idea of progress, and they don't work very often. What, in most cases, ,motivate people to work better, in my opinion, is doing what they like, and wanting to do. When a person like and want, it;s almost impossible for him to don't achieve his goals. It works the same in school. If it was a class on a topic that interested you - you probably did quite well. You probably couldn't wait to get there each day, sat at the front of the class, doing everything you could and you were as engaged as you possible could be. The same is true for job. If you love the environment and culture of where you work- and what you do, then you will be closer to give your best, reach your goals and your employers goals, and, in the end, consequently, you will have the progress.

Consequences of the internet

     The article "Footprints in the Digital Age"  presents some aspects and consequences of the current internet and this new connected world. It also explores the paths this internet system is taking, which the society cannot control how much information is available about them online. Adding to that, the article talks about the role the school plays in student's learning, which is not so strong anymore, once they can learn by themselves online, but still need the teachers to guide and create standards about what they are learning and seeing at the internet.

   Although, the internet's evolution brought some good changes and facilitated the lifestyle of this current society; nowadays it is impossible to control the information and issues about individual's lives that are posted online for everyone to see. Consequently, this 21st century society is loosing its privacy; they are unable to have the right to choose the path their information is going to take online - Just with a name in hands, it is possible to find a big profile about each person. With all these contents and information on their   hands, the students of this generation could learn the same or more than what they learn at school. The point is: some students don't have the mature enough to guide themselves and search for the right resources, which will make them grow as a person, improve their knowledge  and use the internet wisely. A big population of students would take away their attention online to websites that don't really make they work with their brains. These are just some of the consequences of being part of this connected world, which is still changing each day. 

Consumerism X Creativity

The article " Is Consumerism killing our creativity? " written by Jocelyn K. Glei, illustrates how the culture of a consumerist society is affecting the development of people's brains and their creativity today. The consumerist impulse stimulates the same part of the brain that fires when men are going to have a great idea. People have a desire to search, the " wanting, hunting, getting instincts " that are being filled not by ideas, but by shopping. As the article says, the consumerism is being an addictive substitute for the stimulation of creative activity, but they don't provide the same rewards. "Once you get that new thing, you think, you’ll have a superior means to complete your work", but it is not true. Furthermore, the hardship plays an important role when the subject is creativity - adults that grew up with hardship are more flexible, consequently, they are more creative. 

     The most important point that stimulates the society to buy is the world around them: the TV, the neighbors, the media all the time telling people that they will just be fine if they buy more and more. The media controllers know how to work with individual's minds, the visual effects and the right words to say in every advertisement, to stimulate people to buy. Sometimes their techniques are explicit, other times, they deal with our subconscious, and they have the power to make them think that to buy more and more is necessary to have a better life. Therefore, this culture of buying every time and having BIG things, BIG cars, BIG houses, BIG portions of food is spread, and it is hard for a person to stop being consumerist because he would not fit very well in this society where his value depends on what he has. People are filling the `search` space in their minds with the seeking of buying, because it is less work, it is easier than using the brain to be creative. But their results are more important: when a person buy something, in some months this product will not have the same value, and he will have to buy another evolved kind of that product that is new at the market. If the person spends more time using his brain to be creative (creating and thinking about new ideas for whatever in his life), the results are more valuable, and the most important: no one can steal it. No one can steal the knowledge. It is true that an individual in this society usually can just find his identity if he buys certain products; but the media that can control people's thoughts is not the only one blamed: they can interfere in their ideas, but cannot buy for them.

Inside Teenager's Brain: Reason or Emotion?

According to the text "What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?" by Alison Gopnik, our minds have two different neural and psychological systems that interact to turn children into adults.The discussion is about how these systems are not in sync anymore, mainly because of the influences that teenagers receive from the world around them. The first of these systems has to do with the emotions and sensations, and how the feelings and desires are managed. The second one is about control; this system has to do with the rational thoughts, and is supposed to inhibit impulses and govern the emotional system.When these two systems are already developed and work well together, before making a decision, the control side start to act first. The rational thoughts are the priority when the two systems of our minds are in sync.But the fact is: it is not what we can see between the teenagers today.All the mistakes are being took when they are not expected for, and it shows us that they are not ready to became adults, and still don't have lived experiences enough in their lifes to shape their skills and discernment.
As in the past, our society should use the childhood to prepare our minds and our bodies for what we are expected for when we are adults.First we should learn how to deal with the control, and then, experience the rewards when the person already know the rules and the limits. The childhood is not used for that anymore, because other things in our lifestyles became more important. This conflict between the brain's systems is the reason why teenagers commit mistakes as being pregnant when it's not time, or drink and drive and end up in a drunken crash. They know the consequences, but they didn't have the opportunity in their lifes to practice other experiencies that could shape their minds to decide between the right and the wrong, and to control the emotions. As the author Alison Gopnik said: " You come to make better decisions by making not-so-good decisions and then correcting them." The teenagers are not correcting their not-so-good decisions because they didn't learn how. The lifestyle and some points of our society should change, and maybe the school is not enough to fix the relationship of these two systems that are the cogs of our minds. When the student is at the classroom, he is listening the lectures, reading the knowledgments, but is not developing the skills that are necessary to live and deal with that while he is sitting in front of a board or a notebook.