What are the most significant things you learned about yourself and your peers through the course of your research?
I discovered what a need there is for more thought about faith in the lives of middle-adolescents, who so often focus on nothing other than school, sports, friends, and fun. Many teenagers are quite unsure of their faith, even if they identify with a particular belief system, and there often is a lack of depth of understanding even in those who are more certain in their faith. School is a hard place to help though, as whatever is done causes many to lose interest, especially if it is required.
Another significant thing that I learned is how great the differences between people are, just looking at the research we did. Some are agnostic yet think about what they believe over 7 hours a day, others are Christian and think about their faith 0 minutes per day. Some have good morals in their behavior yet are very unsure of their faith, others are disrespectful while having a strong idea about their beliefs. Often it is hard to observe these things just on the surface, and so conducting interviews and sending out surveys can be very insightful. There is a great deal of doubt and many misconceptions that live in the minds of teenagers pre-occupied with life.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Observations IX
Tradition
In a country where individualism and freedom are highly prized, it is interesting that certain traditions, such as Thanksgiving, are celebrated is pretty much the same way all over the country. Why is it that tradition is an exception to the "rule"? Do Americans actually put more weight on traditions? Or is using a unique stuffing recipe enough individualism to satisfy people?
Turkey
Normally, we set our meat on the dinner table pre-cut and never catch a glimpse of the bird or other animal that once held it. Why is it that on thanksgiving this suddenly becomes acceptable? It's not even just acceptable, you find the picture of the roasted bird all over the internet, on napkins, cards, on the table and more. Isn't it slightly odd that we do this? Are there vegetarians who protest against it?
Holey Table!
Tables. The large, flat surfaces on which we place our food, computers, homework, junk, found all over the world. We often fail to notice the details or uniqueness of these furniture pieces. For instance, did you ever stop and wonder why it is that many picnic tables, such as the ones at school, have diamond shaped holes in them? Is it like that so that food and other things that fall from the sky don't remain on the table and fall through the holes? Who came up with this genius idea? And why don't we ever recognize that?
In a country where individualism and freedom are highly prized, it is interesting that certain traditions, such as Thanksgiving, are celebrated is pretty much the same way all over the country. Why is it that tradition is an exception to the "rule"? Do Americans actually put more weight on traditions? Or is using a unique stuffing recipe enough individualism to satisfy people?
Turkey
Normally, we set our meat on the dinner table pre-cut and never catch a glimpse of the bird or other animal that once held it. Why is it that on thanksgiving this suddenly becomes acceptable? It's not even just acceptable, you find the picture of the roasted bird all over the internet, on napkins, cards, on the table and more. Isn't it slightly odd that we do this? Are there vegetarians who protest against it?
Holey Table!
Tables. The large, flat surfaces on which we place our food, computers, homework, junk, found all over the world. We often fail to notice the details or uniqueness of these furniture pieces. For instance, did you ever stop and wonder why it is that many picnic tables, such as the ones at school, have diamond shaped holes in them? Is it like that so that food and other things that fall from the sky don't remain on the table and fall through the holes? Who came up with this genius idea? And why don't we ever recognize that?
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