Does your cultural background affect your ability to listen to others? Check this out and "free-write" your comments by clicking "post a comment" above to receive up to 15 points (due by class time next week). Full credit will be awarded to those who provide an insightful, well-thought out comment free from grammatical and spelling errors.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Listening
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42 comments:
I find it very interesting that this program shows how much people's decisions can be twisted by a group. It seems like we are stuck in an almost endless cycle. People are almost always going to be divided in different belief groups. If these groups manipulate what they think as much as this article suggests, then we are going to be at a constant disagreement. I think that appearance doesn't make as much of a difference as this program suggests. For example, a "redneck" mayor who believes in strict gun limitations, would not be able to convince the NRA that he is correct, even though he has power and belongs to a similar group as many members. If we could all work together to be open minded and present facts for everyone to decide on their own, then we would live in a much better place. However, with people fighting and disagreeing like they are now in the world, this seems near impossible.
In the video, the speakers expressed that no matter how important the speaker is or the data that is presented, people will not agree unless it goes along with their beliefs. I think that my cultural background and my beliefs affect my ability to listen to others. Where I am from, which is Webb City, Missouri, makes it hard for me to believe global warming is a real threat. The winters have been colder. Even in the spring, there has been snow. Because of my surroundings, I believe global warming is a hoax. As said in the video, even positive info that threatens my belief makes me close minded. To me, experiments do not prove anything. Scientists may perform experiments, but their bias can alter the results. Between my cultural background and my beliefs, it makes it hard for me to listen to others.
-Anna Schulte
My family has been raised in southwest Missouri for four generations and the views that I currently have on the events going on in the world around me today are strictly based off of the opinions and views of my older generations. I beleive that the world has patterns, which is evident in the fact that our world was once covered in ice, and that our world will through time go through another cycle. People claim that the world temperature is rising but the record temperatures for this area were reached during the 1950's, which would conclude that we have had a cooling since then instead of a global warming. I strongly believe that our cultures and beliefs cause us to filter the information that we let enter into our minds. I know that in my personal life, I have a hard time listening to people discuss the importance of global warming.
I firmly believe that in todays society there is an abundance of information that is easily accessible. The problem is that there are blinders that we have had ingrained into us from the first days of life. These filters are based on family history, education, social status, gender, race, culture, and numerous other influences. We as people have no choice but to pre judge on some level as life is built on the foundation of experience, and without the history of our own we are but cast upon the experiences of those who have moulded us. With that said, it's hard to be a completely open and receptive audience on the idea of global warming when not one of us is old enough to remember the last ice age. ... Ed Macken Crowder Mon Evening class...
I feel like global warming is a serious issue, but the message is alway being displaced due to the lack of interest among Americans. You have the few people who are very conscience about going green whom I think would listen to, or read anything having to do with global warming. On the other hand the vast number of others who arent as interested find it hard to pay attention to the dangers that lie ahead, and most are even ignorant to these facts. Because the spokes person for global warming is Al Gore, people who are say for example, Republican might not hear as well because they are previously disposed not to listen to Democrats. Meghan Wiles Crowder Monday Afternoon class.
It's interesting that both sides can find very valid (to them) information to back up their side.
It's also notable that even adults are subject to peer pressure, and just how dramatically opinions can be swayed based on the beliefs of their peers.
Personally i think, people are so rigid in their beliefs because it aligns with their comfort zone. The sad thing is that nothing has ever been accomplished by staying in your comfort zone.
I believe in todays society we have certain thoughts that are engrained in us due to cultural backgrounds. Some cultures find it respectful to respect others, where some cultures find it ok to be non-respectful to others. Families and societies have deemed it ok to be either respectful or non-respectful. Other factors such as: education, social status, wealth, and race mold people and influence their way of life. Diverse cultures and backgrounds lead to disabilities or advantages in listening to others and their opinions.
The video can be a very touchy subject. According to the announcer, people are basing the global warning on beliefs for science. With not knowing what the scientist have done and if they have compared it to thousands of year ago til now, you would think they would have a more idea of what the world would be like, it will not or may not be exactly but they would have a more idea on how we are using the environment and whether or not we are actually causing the global warming or not. Over all, I wold have to see all of the scientists work and do my own research and keep an open mind on what I believe. Everyone should keep an open mind on any topic, fact and reasons are mostly what people base their opinions on anyway, so not show proof and go from there.
I have lived all over the East Coast and Midwest, I have seen no evidence of Global Warming. I firmly believe that noone can tell what the temp is going to be in 10 years or so. God is the only one that knows this and thats why to me Global warming is a bunch of people getting together and trying to scare others.
Carolyne Walker
Unfortunately, I do believe that cultural background does affect how you listen to others points of views. For instance, I was born and raised until the age of 15 in Webb City. I lived in Florida and Virginia (mostly Va.) until I was 38. So, I am much more liberal and listen more to different ideas than my family and those around me that I have encountered. My views were expanded and my eyes opened, I feel, by moving away at a younger age. I personally do not agree with global warming. They say that higher numbered hurricanes each season is due to global warming, but if you research back you will see that in the 1930's there was also a larger amount of hurricanes. To me, the Earth is just going through its many cycles. But, I am open to learning more about global warming and may even change my mind after this hot summer!
I believe that out cultural background can greatly affect how we view things. Sadly we can find ourselfs being opionated through the eyes of outhers. When it comes to global warming though, you need to be careful because there is so much information being tossed about that it is difficult to seperate fact from fiction. I believe that yes, our carbon footprint can and will make a difference to our planet. But you need to consider that the earth has also gone through many heating and cooling patterns throught out time, some much more drastic than what we are seeing now. In the end there isnt much that we can to to stop something on such a global scale. Just like hurricanes, volcanic erruptions, tornados, we can only try and be as safe as possible. Mother nature will always have the upper hand.
My background has affected me on many beliefs that I have, including this one. As NPR says, we tune out or modify things immediately when we receive them and base the new ideas off of what we think that the world should be like. I don't believe in Global Warming but I do believe in Climate Change. Global warming is false in my mind because we only have a few decades of accurate information to base that off of. For one thing, there weren’t people in all parts of the world to record the varying temperatures back several hundred years. I do believe that our world is changing in climate and humans have some effect on that, but not nearly as much as say a volcano, solar flares, or sun spots. I would like to bring up one little tidbit about Global Warming. When I was in grade school, I remember reading about facts that suggested that we were heading into another Ice Age. People believed the scientists then and still do even through the contradiction of theories. This leads to a very important aspect of our democracy, Individualism. We have a right to believe what we feel is right and for that reason we will always hash out our differences through the plane of politics. Also, if everybody agreed on everything this world would be a very boring place.
i agree with what Don Blankenship says about peple who believe they know what the earth's temperature will be in 10 years because no one will no matter what hypothesis they have. the earth can change whatever it wants on a dime. look at the wheather for instance. when i was in the 8th grade we got news of a huge ice storm that was going to cancel school and every kid was happy and then a few days later it changed courses. no one knew that was going to happen and therefor no one can predict the earth's tempurature in the future because it can change. now on the other hand i do believe global warming is real due to the evidence that is been happening in the past 5 or 10 years because it is happening now and not in the future. and in the video a man talks about how 98 percent of the worlds economic scientists say global warming will be catostrophic to the earth and i dont necessarily belive that. anything can happen. now i strongly believe people are intitled to thier opinion on the subject whether it is from a cultural belief or a scientific believe. in the end all we can do is try to help stop global warming if one believes it is there or not or sit back and watch what happens.
I think there are valid arguements on both sides of this issue. Many scientists have alot of knowledge and can hypothesize many things and be accurate or correct. But on the other hand how are scientists to know for sure what will happen in the future. There have been many times in history predictions about scientific areas have been wrong and it is possible that the scientists could be wrong this time. But I do believe that what people believe can be influenced by many things including religious beliefs, data, culture, what those around them believe, fear and many other things. So I think it is an individual decision to believe in climate change or not and should be left to the individual. I believe that in the future climate change will occur to some extent because common sense suggests that it will what with the growth of cities and population changing the land. With that said I think that climate change won't be nearly as bad as most scientists suggest and that it will be fairly minimal.
Your cultural background certainly affects the way you listen to others. If you are raised by parents and or teachers who stress the importance of listening to others, than you will become a listener. If you are constantly surrounded by "know it alls" than you will become immune to always arguing your side. It is important to be opinionated and to be a strong believer of something, but facts are facts, and you cannot be too stubborn to not bend your beliefs. We need to attempt to do our best to be more independent in our beliefs and become more respectful of others beliefs.
I firmly believe that your cultural background affects your ability to listen. It seems that the less something, whether it be global warming or any other issue, agrees with what you have been raised listening to you are less likely to be open to hearing it. I don’t know that I have any preconceived ideas about global warming but I’m not real sure that culturally where we live it has been that much of an issue as opposed to living somewhere like California or Florida where the weather patterns are constantly being blamed on global warming and the horrible effect it is having. I would be inclined to agree with the point that was made however that no one can predict what the weather is going to be like years and years into the future I think that some of that is a scare tactic and being used to get other people to do what a certain number of other people want the to do.
The speakers make excellent points on the topic of ones own beliefs affecting the way they take in scientific or outside information. They bring out how no ammount of case studies or data present on a subject, most peoples minds cannot be changed because of the way they were raised. Especially on the topic of global warming, where there is so many stipulations and opinions it can be hard to defer fact from fiction. Global warming can be considered just a geographical anomaly, especially since many places are recieving even colder winters than before, so they tend to fall to the side of global warming being a hoax.
Through listening to the speakers, I thought cultural backgrounds truly affect an individual's action of "decode" when they listen to any kind of information. Not only their cultural backgrounds, but also each individual's values or belief affect their mind how to accept the information that they have heard. I think the scientific problem dealing in this video-clip is more relevant to individual belief and values. I believe that the climate change going on contemporarily is based on global warming. Climate change is just the beginning event, so we should consider about it carefully and put anti-global warming action in practice to stop global warming.
I agree that your culture or the way you were raised does affect your ability to listen with an open mind. When the speaker said you listen in a "closed minded way", I really think that it is more that you listen and only choose to accept what is comfortable to you. The statement from the clip that says "believe the ideas of people more like them" is completely true in my eyes. You tend to follow people who have the same beliefs as you because, again it is comfortable. If you watch people during political speaks, you will see people in the audience already shaking their heads no before the speaker has made his point. This is because they have already made up their minds and are not willing to educate themselves on opposing ideas. If you compare the past to the present on how closed minded people are due to culture, I think we have came a long way and that people are more willing to listen to opposing sides and educate themselves before they place judgment. Our society still has a long way to go!
I definately believe our cultural backgrounds shape the way we believe. It is hard for most individuals to change the way they believe if they were raised a certain way. It's like religion. I went to a Christian church growing up and was taught a certain way from the bible. If you were to put me in a room with another person that was say a Jehovah Witness I would fight all day with that person on my religious views and swear that mine was right and theirs wrong. I know this because I worked with someone that believes her belief and I mine. We argued all day about it and came to the conclusion it was best we keep our beliefs to ourselves because neither of us were about to believe the other or change our view.
When it comes to science I am not one to believe the first thing that one says to be scientifically true. Especially when it comes to global warming. I feel that scientist make some things up to look or sound as if something is happening for a reason just to get more money for research. As for the coal company president of course he is going to say everyone is crazy for believing that we are the reason for the global warming issue because he is a coal company president and the finger is being pointed at his product as one of the causes. That is his livelyhood and he will defend it.
Wow. I should have posted a comment earlier. Most aspects have already been discussed in detail and very respectfully. I agree that the culture you are raised in effects the way you listen or don't listen to information. Everyoneone wants to be a "good boy or girl" initially and we attempt to tune out information we see as going against our upbringing. As we get older we either find our own beliefs or stick to the way we were raised. Either way (agreeing with an earlier post) we develop a comfort zone. Everyone has one. You could not survive very long without some type of comfort/security zone. As far as stereotyping individuals on how they look related to how they believe, I agree with the stereotypes most of the time. That is why they are stereotypes. It comes back to fitting in, security and comfort. If you look, talk and act like the people that have the same views as you, you will fit in better. It comes down to fullfilling your basic needs. Have you noticed that almost everyone in college is free minded, not predjudiced and open to new thing. Funny how easy it is to get along with each other when we are all alike.
The story was really interesting. I was surprised that everyone was going back and forth at each other and yet no one was really providing a valid point to the discussion. And if someone did try to provide a valid point they was shot down.
I agree that your culture or the way you were raised does affect your ability to listen. If you've been brought up your whole life to to be rascist against black people. Your problem not going to listen to a black person who is giving a speech.
I believe very strongly that our cultural background affects how we listen. It starts by influencing our beliefs. We tend to follow the same beliefs our families believed. If we are raised to be Christian, more than likely we will continue to be a Christian and raise our families as Christians. If you are in an area that does not promote the concept of Global Warming, more than likely you will not believe in it. What we believe in affects our ability to listen. When you first begin listening to the speaker in this video, if you already have a view point on Global Warming, you probably aren't going to listen as well as if you have no opinion on the subject at all.
I thought it was very interesting that it said that when it comes to new information facts may not be as important as beliefs. The beliefs we are taught growing up I think really does have a impact on how open minded we are to new information that may not be what we want to hear or what we believe. We can have all these facts in front of us but inless it is presented in a way that allows us to be open minded we will most likely reject it. Global warming is a real issue but so many people just stop listening when they even hear that because they already have their own beliefs on it or they dont want to hear that they need to change something they do to help stop it.
I do agree that your cultural background does affect the way you listen. In some countries you have always been taught to listen to what you have been told at home or church and if you don't you can be killed by not listening. Other cultural backgrounds shun u. Now days global warming is a big issue and needs to addressed but no one really talks about it in different cultures bc what they have been told before.
I think that your cultural backgrounds can very well shape what/who you believe and how you listen. The way you were raised is mostly the way you turn out as a person. So, it depends on where your from and what you have grown up around that determines what you become and how you think. When it comes to topics like global warming, what side do you take? Political models like Al Gore commit alot in this study. Al Gore, being a democrat will attract the attention (obviously)of other democrats. Religious/Cultural beliefs always reflect political views and vice versa so it boils down to your core beliefs that help determine who and what and who you will listen to.
I believe that culture can strongly sway people. When you live in an area full of culture and open minded people they tend to positively retrieve information. People raised in areas full of objection and dissagrement tend to conform with one another and are much less open minded. Culture plays a huge role in individuals lives.
hey it very ture and how you do it also
For the most part I enjoyed the video. It was a little difficult to follow because the voices kind of jumped around and I had to listen to it a few times to get the full meaning of it. I found the information interesting. I liked the part that discusses how people tend to accept what is being said when it is by someone that is more like them. it's kind of scary to think that we might be making our political choices because of the faces we see and not the information we "hear". What I found most interesting was the fact that the groups changed how they felt towards global warming based what they heard as to what the solution of the problem was. It’s also curious how the different groups form different opinions on nanotechnology based on the same facts. World view clearly has a huge effect on how we listen, absorb and accept information.
Chris Houser
I completely agree with the thesis of this discussion, people hear
information that is then processed with comparisons and contrast of
what they already know. Everyone has their own basic set of beliefs
which allows them to differentiate right from wrong in their eyes.
When someone refuses new information because it contradicts or
challenges their preexisting beliefs, it makes them feel uncomfortable
which internally sets up a rejection of said information. The idea
that information cannot be absorbed while pre-existing values override
them is very similar to defensive or selective listening. You believe
that your way is the right way and anyone else's opinion cannot be
right. People are biased in this way, that everyone assumes that
culturally they are superior to other forms of thinking. New
information can be overwhelming on its own, without other people that
you may not relate to forcing their values upon you. Immediately, when
ones comfort zone is breached, they set up a defense to ?protect?
their own values and not be diluted by the influence of others. It is
proven that certain types of people will listen more to a
representative that is similar to them, someone that they can
seemingly relate to. In order for someone to receive information apart
from their basic understanding, they must be in a comfortable state of
mind without setting up their mental defenses. Not all outside
influences are negative ones, just because something is different does
not made it bad or wrong. With this new information it should allow
scientist, politicians and those wishing to distribute a message about
new information to their audiences with a higher success rate, though
it is a matter of time before someone figures out how to manipulate
the system and start the whole ?distrusting new information? situation
over again.
Your cultural background definitely affects your ability to listen to others. Most people are very stuck in their ways and their personal views, at least I know that I am. I agree with this mainly because I know it to be true of myself. What you were taught as a child is usually what you believe to be true. I love that they talked about Al Gore in this because it is so true that political views affect how we think about things before we ever hear what the person has to say. We shut out ears to it if we know it is something supported by the opposite party and embrace it if we believe it's accepted within our own. People are stubborn and I am definitely one of those stubborn people. It shouldn't be that way, though.
Olivia Sheppard
Despite the advances of civilization disagreements still plague our ability to advance culturally. Within the last 50 year equality has been a major issue in the country. People failure to listen and understand comes from a history of being told one thing. A sudden change of what is right and wrong is sure to shock people and result in close minded and stubbornness. Our cultural background definitely impacts our ability to listen, disregarding who is speaking if we focus sorely on the topic depending on how we were raised, either religiously, politically or socially. However our parents or the culture we grew up impacted those three points is most likely going to impact how we listen to people or certain topics.
I was not at all surprised by anything I heard in this sound clip. What was said about people being close minded is true and it definately affects how a person listens and learns. You cannot convince someone who has prejudices about something to think a different way without first appealing to something greater than their prejudices. However, I would like to pose a different argument. I would like to say that there is no such thing as a truly open minded person. To be truly open minded would be to be free of (or at least able to accept and possibly even conform to) all obligations, morals, codes and everything similar. Also, generally when someone says that they are open minded, it does not mean open-minded but instead liberal. A good example of this can be found from the sound clip when the narrator started talking about the solutions to global warming. Generally, when someone accepts that global warming is real they are seen as open minded or more enlightened (enlightenment being something that comes with being open minded). However, when more nuclear powered entities were proposed as the solution to global warming the people who at first saw global warming as a problem then changed their stance. If global warming were truly a problem, and the acceptance of that fact showed open-mindedness, then would not the open mineded thing to do be to explore all possible solutions, and not just the ones that please oneself? Because to reject any idea before first hearing it fully and pondering the idea for oneself would be a close minded thing to do. So to conclude and to keep myself from rambling any further, I would say that culture does affect one's listening and learning abilities, but I would also like to state that I believe there is no such thing as a completely open minded person; or at least if there is I have not met them yet.
Culture absolutely effects your views on things. Culture is what has shaped us into the people that we are today and everyone has been effected by it. Once someone has their view point set, it is going to be very hard for someone to change that view and probably the only way that they will be abel to change that view is to back it up with facts. In this instance it is hard to back up your view with facts because like one of the men said in the report, no one really knows what the weather is going to be like in 20 years and what the cause of that weather is going to be.
The main points within this slide show are ones that should be expected from any crowd, and are more commonly known as 'common sense'. Certain characteristics of a speaker appeal to different crowds that have different expectations. For example, someone who is running for a public office and hold an open forum is expected to be well dress. Someone who is not confined within this expectation does not appeal to a large portion of the crowd; it loses the attention of the audience. An even better example is while in my History 101 class, my instructor informed the class that he is not very tolerant towards the Islamic faith. Immediately after he made that remark he became a less effective speaker to me, or I became a less effective listener. I found that his view on a certain type of faith was bothersome, and conflicted with my own, I was defensively listening. These are all prime examples of how cultural background affect your ability to listen.
It is interesting that so much controversy surrounds the topic of Global Warming. So many people firmly believe that human activities drastically affect the atmosphere, but I tend to think that the opposite is true. NPR radio has stated the issue well. It is easy for a person who grows up in a school where Global Warming is taught, then assume that it is a real threat to the planet. Then again, it is just as common to have a person who grew up not believing Global Warming, sometimes because of the environment that they grew up in, to view it as a hoax. From my perspective, I must ask the question, how can Global warming be true? I don't believe everything that modern science tells me and therefore i must remain a sceptic upon such a Earth-shattering topic as this! Furthermore, I think that if Global Warming has not destroyed the planet yet, then why should we assume it will in the future. But I am getting of topic. I really think that cultural differences drastically affect the opinions that individuals maintain, based upon the views that they have held from the environment that they are familiar with. Yet, I also think that it is unreasonable for any single opinion to be forced upon the common American, for example, when a person who holds a different opinion can reinforce thier ideas with useful evidence!
I do believe that your cultural background affects how you receive information. I find it difficult to accept information from a person or organization that goes completely against what I believe to be morally right, mainly due to the fact that I have no confidence in what they are saying. My personality is one that desires facts to back up a theory - and I find myself digging a little deeper when it is a topic that I am interested in. I found this article to be very interesting.
I disagree with the idea that your cultural background affects the way you listen to new ideas. I believe that some people choose to be closed minded. I do believe that new ideas can be influenced by your family and what their beliefs are. Some people come from a closed minded family, but that individual can be very open minded. This can make the new information seem weaker because the family would not support the new idea. However, this could make an open minded person look into the new idea further and come up with their own conclusion. This was an interesting topic.
they are so true
In Monday class 6-9
MMeier
I believe tat everyones opinion is shaped by the people and objects around them to a certain degree, there are exceptions to that in all cases but overall people are rasied with certain standards and that will always be imprinted on there mind.
Man in general learns from experience whether positive experience or negative. A while ago people thought the global warming was just a myth, not until we started to experince the wrath of climate changes.
We also tend to think certain individuals are more belieavable than other. Like in my culture, a religous leader is more believeable and can easily sway a group of people on whom to vote for in the government.
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