My Ishmael Q&A #2

1.Anthropomorphism is an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics. What I think Ishmael is applying it to, is how animals are different than humans. What I mean by this is that, we differ when it comes to our "territory". Ishmael says that non-domesticated animals do not see anything as their territory, they simply leave their scent somewhere, specifically where there are resources that they both want and need. But once the resources are gone, they leave the area whereas humans stay, look for resources and bring them back to their territory. He also says that humans misunderstand what animals do because we personalize it and put it into human terms instead of putting ourselves in their shoes. He says,"'They carve out a piece of real estate and say, 'This territory is ours, and we'll defend everything in it'". We all (as humans) look for some place to call our own, whereas animals move from place to place and do not care for territories.

2. In this chapter Ishmael leads us through the evolution of the Awks on planet Calliope. They start out as Awks and then some evolve into Bawks and then a few evolve into Cawks. These Cawks live in tribes and have a cultural heritage. They practice the strategy of ‘Erratic Retaliation’.

a. How does Ishmael define ‘Erratic Retaliation’? How does it work in the case of the Cawks?

Ishmael defines 'Erratic Retaliation' as a peacemaking strategy. He says this works in the case of the Cawks when they learn to settle their differences. They will learn to do this once other species do so, but those species also wait for another species to do the same before them.

b. Why is Erratic Retaliation a peacekeeping method?

Erratic Retaliation is a peacekeeping method because their is no violence, it simply is when a species settles their differences and learns to live in peace.

c. Why don’t the Cawks just annihilate each other instead of just doing the occasional attacks?

They do not annihilate each other because of their strategy of Erratic Retaliation. Both tribes know that if they attack the other will retaliate, and if they kill them it would defeat the purpose of it.

Ishmael Q&A

1: What are Ishmael’s two general rules on how to identify people from our culture? Do you agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture? Why or why not?

Ishmael's two general rules on how to identify people from our culture are, to see if they see themsleves as a flawed and doomed cluture or if all their food is owned, in other words, under lock and key. I do agree with Ishmael when he says that people from all over the world are part of the same culture. I agree because although people seperate themselves into different "groups", we all have the same fundamental goals and beliefs.

2. Ishmael disagrees with Mother Culture’s voice that says that humans are inherently flawed. After reading through page 66 of My Ishmael do you agree or disagree with him? Why?

After reading through page 66 of My Ishmael, I have to disagree with Ishmael and say that humans are inherently flawed. I agree with Mother Culture because we believe that everything has to be done the right way. If we find a way to do something and get comfortable with it, we immediatly forget about other ways to accomplish things; if we see some way that is different we immediatly judge it as bad or wrong. We do not see that it is simply just different, and just as normal.

3. Ishmael uses a parable of Tunes and Dancers to explain his idea of Takers and Leavers. Who are these Takers and Leavers and how do they relate to American culture?

I think the Leavers are the average people of america. The Leavers are people who just do what they have to in order to slide by in the society. In other words, they just dance as little as they have to, but still get a sufficent amout of their necesities. And the Takers are the people who take "dancing" more seriously and put all their effort into helping their society and try to get a much of their necesities as possible.

Blog Post Assignment 2/23/09

To live sustainably means to support yourself and to provide yourself with all your necessities. It also means to maintain, or to keep something up.

As a fourteen year old, I do not have much freedom or independence in our society. I do not have a lot of these things because I am still very young, and I still have many things to learn and I do not fully understand everthing going on in today's world. Although we do not have all the freedom and independence that most adults have, we still have a good amount of them.

As a fourteen year old I can currently live my life more sustainably by doing many things differently. I can eat healthier, excersise, keep myself busy, and do my best in school. Doing all these things can help me live a healthy life with less problems. Doing my best in school can help me get into an excellent college which will be a benifit when it comes to getting a job and becoming successful. It is simple things like these that can make a big difference when trying to get better at living your life more sustainably.