Skip to main content

Posts

Is Mother Nature a lousy mother?

Most people can agree that when outside, and surrounded by nature of some sort, it can be a comforting feeling; the pleasant sound of wind rustling the leaves, or waves gently crashing along a shore, but is nature as calm and pleasant as it seems? Take the ocean for example, all that water and it’s still possible to die of thirst, or the fact that even the calmest bodies of water could be hiding horrible current, waiting to pull you under. This could even be seen as a metaphor for life in a way; even when things seem like they are great, and nothing could go wrong, there’s always something there waiting to grab and pull you under. However, nowhere has has nature told us that the ocean is for anything but transport between islands, however people just complain when they can’t use it for another purpose. Mother Nature has also given us the bitter irony of a desert - scorching hot during the day but freezing cold during the night, rather than the usual climate of an average temper...
Recent posts

It's a matter of intelligence

There are two types of people in the world; those who believe they know everything, and those who believe they will never be finished learning. Which one are you? Benjamin Franklin once said “the doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance”, and this quote speaks to me, because only he who believes he knows all, is ignorant of knowledge. This quote is simply telling us that no man, even the smartest of all, could possible know everything, and if they said otherwise, they are arrogant and ignorant. To be ignorant means to be lacking in knowledge, meaning that if you believe you know everything that the world can offer you, you lack awareness of the ever changing world and the new knowledge it can bring. The quote is very similar to, and possibly even inspired by Socrates’ quote “True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing”, which also has a similar meaning of that it’s impossible for someone to know everything, despite what they may claim...

What does the future for the arts look like?

Back in 2015, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan advised teens against studying subjects that fall under the categories of being a humanities class or part of the arts, due to the belief it would hold back students “for the rest of their lives”, but is this really true? Prior to the recent election, 7 parties were asked, however UKIP and the Green Party refused to give any answers, leaving only 5 responses to each question, the first being what the meaning of the arts is to their party, and if their party would maintain support financially for subjects that are part of the arts. Each party responded positively about the arts, Labour spoke of how the arts helps “broaden our horizons” and contributes “a huge amount to our economy”, and they stated that they would “create a £1billion cultural capital fund to invest and upgrade the UK’s cultural facilities”, however the question remains of what this money would have been created from. Similarly, Conservatives responded that they are “st...

How does video enhance the user experience on a website?

All of the internet, no matter what site you’re on, you’re most likely to find a video somewhere on that page, but why is that? First of all, videos are more entertaining than reading a long piece of writing, and as human beings, we like to be entertained - otherwise why would cinemas, concerts, or games exist? If a website has a short video, or two, explaining what the site is about, more people are statistically likely to look around the website more, simply to watch the videos, and through this, they will take more of the information in - this is why a lot of revision websites also include videos within their sites. Furthermore, it’s much easier to sit, waiting for the video to play, and it takes a lot less effort than what reading does. Also, it’s a lot easy to show what you want to show, and create the right moods within a video than it is within writing. Sure, there’s emotive writing, but it’s videos that affect the majority, not writing. A video within a website, partic...

A look into alcohol

Opinions on alcohol vary, people of different genders, ages, races, etc, all argue their thoughts, however most of their opinions come from their culture, or from their experiences. When you aren’t drinking, but the people around you are, you tend to notice things about the people around you that you wouldn’t normally see. That’s because people sometimes change when they are under the influence. Some people claim to not drink because it makes them “someone that they are not”, however, alcohol does not actually change a person, but rather makes them lose control on their inhibitions, and strips away their masks, and magnifies their inner, or truer, personality, which is why it affects each person differently. This truer personality isn’t so much as who the person is, but is pretending not to be, but more how they are programmed to be, over who they chose to be. However what people do, is already inside them, and not being intoxicated “changing” them. This said, it is still arguab...

Breaking the taboo

Mental health has been a taboo subject for a long time, but why? You wouldn’t hide a broken bone, due to the shame of having broken it, so why are people ashamed of having a mental illness, and why do people try to hide it? No matter if the issue is physical or mental, there is no reason to hide it, as there should be no shame behind it. Yet mental health is a taboo subject? Society makes it hard for people suffering with mental illnesses to be open, as the world we live in just make people feel alone and full of shame. Over 2/3 of people suffering from mental illnesses have told someone that they feel isolated, worthless and ashamed, which is ridiculous as the mind is just another part of our body, and talking about mental illnesses, especially common ones such as anxiety and depression, should be as easy to talk about as a grazed knee. Mental health issues can affect everyone; age, gender, race, career, none of it matters, they can still be affected by mental health. Within te...

Textbooks Vs Technology

The use of tablets, or any technology, taking over from textbooks and teachers seems to be becoming a very popular subject within schools and colleges, especially as a key part of teacher training is now Technology for Learning, but it’s also a difficult subject to find one opinion on. Some people love technology within their learning, and finds that it makes learning easier and more enjoyable, especially for people with learning disabilities, as dyslexia is easily overcome with a green screen on a tablet which eases the distortion for the person. However, other people hate technology within a learning environment, as the resources should be provided by the teacher, rather than the internet, otherwise what’s the point in leaving the house and even going to school or college. There are many pros and cons for each side, however, what is better; tablets or textbooks? An automatic con of technology use instead of textbooks is the health problems associated with it, as tablets contri...