Attribution bias

Throughout this week we had to observe our behavior and more specifically observe how much we use a certain bias. I chose to observe my attribution bias, which led to interesting results. I know some cases from my past where I have truly thought that someone is just lucky when they get something and I worked hard if I get something, but I didn't realize that I do it almost every day.

Most common ones were usually to do with school work results.When I got a good score for example in geography then I worked hard for it, but if someone got the same result or even better one, then in my mind they obviously hadn't worked as much for that as I had. And it even made me feel a bit disgusted.

We also had a visit by a university, where a woman shortly introduced us to a few students who study in their school and again I discovered myself of thinking how those people probably just bought themselves in because they were just lucky to be born into a rich family, but if I am going to get into that school then through hard work and effort.
On Friday we had a huge football and volleyball match between the boarders and school staff. I was playing on the volleyball team and gave all that I could. "That was just a lucky hit","She didn't even do anything","I at least tried to do something" and similar thoughts went through my head that evening quite a lot.

Last thought was at The Plonchet Fair we visited this Sunday, where people got to throw 3 balls at cans, and had to knock them over. When they got some cans down then in my mind it was again obviously because of luck because there is no way they had put as much effort in throwing the cans down as I did. 

This all shows us how egoistic our mind is and how evil it may be towards others, but as we try, how can we really know who is actually just lucky and who has  put their heart and soul into the task?

War

Who is the real terrorist?

Recently I saw a very interesting video about war and terrorism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jHQkfZT4Qw

In this video a young American university student is having a debate with a fellow Islamic classmate. She claims that Islamic countries are plagued with terrorism. But her teacher brings out and the boy explains the point that USA might be just as much of a terrorist than Islamic countries.

The word "terrorist" derives from the word "terror" as in the person who causes terror. So, how can we measure the amount of terror one country has caused? Who here is to blame?

The most biggest source to search for terrorist right now is exactly as mentioned in the clip, the wars going on in Afghanistan and nearby places. Who there is really to blame for war? Is it the Americans who claim they are there to free people from their awful regime but actually might be there causing terror just for the oil? Or is it the Islams who have caused many bombings killing thousands, but might be doing it just to get the Americans out of their homeland?
How do we know what truly makes a person a terrorist?

I think that as a bystander we seem to agree, with who is the terrorist, with a country we have more in common. But as a person living in one of the fighting countries then of course the terrorist is the one doing harm for us. We never seem to just stop for a second and think of the cause  and aim of one or other attack. We never seem to think that maybe there might just be a problem in us not the country we are fighting with. We don't realize that we might be the terrorist. But then again how can we be completely certain that it is or isn't us?

Terrorists can even be seen in such "simple wars" as civil wars or up-rises. As in people starting a war and terror towards the government because they have been terrorized. Many might say that in this case it is the government that has been unfair and terroristic towards it's people. But considering for example event's going on in Bangkok right now, then I would say the government and the people are terrorizing each other equally. How do we know who here is really to blame in terrorism?Who is the real terrorist

Vase sketch

     On Monday in class we had to draw a picture of a vase our teacher put in the middle of the class. No more instructions were given and the results of pictures were very various.

Here is the picture I sketched.

Since no further instructions weren't given, I decided to use a realistic approach. In this picture I tried to reflect everything as I saw, leaving nothing out. You can see the flowers in the middle of the sketch. I think that although the flowers are in the middle of the picture, they aren't drawn with enough detail and energy to make it look superior.

But realistic approach wasn't what everybody did. The methods varied as well. Most people just drew the vase as a single object and tried to sketch the flowers with as much details as possible, leaving out everything surrounding the vase.

The way I drew the flowers shows that I literally draw what I see, as in seeing is a strong sense perception in my case. I think the picture might also show that the way I see the world is that I like to see everything in the picture and see the wider perspective, not just focus on little things.
If I was asked to pick the best flower out of all the sketches my classmates did then I would base my knowledge of beauty on amount of details in the picture and the angle of the picture. 

Aliens

       

The theory of aliens has been around for thousands of years. There are countless numbers of evidence that lead us to believe that there is something more in this world than we can understand with our senses. 

But where did it all begin? How did the human race come to a conclusion that there might be something else out there? Well, some people say that it wasn't just a thought, but we lived and communicated with them years ago.

 For example Incas have a temple complex in Tiwanaku, Bolivia that have carvings of every race in the world including one different one-the Gray Face.Firstly, how did the Incas, who had not traveled the world seen different races, and who is the race behind the gray face that looks so similar to a person but is not?

Many people say that the similarity comes from the fact that aliens created our aunt-sisters and formed us to look like themselves, but who are we to say whether it's true or not.

Also one point where all the theories come from is that there are many conclusions that take in to thought the fact that the technology during some time period wasn't evolved enough to make cuts or other carvings in stone as it is only possible now. For example the lake Titicaca hides an ancient temple that has the ideal mathematically precise cuts and whats-more considering the time it was made and including the geographical facts applied in that time, it is nearly( not to say completely) impossible, because it was all under 30m of water.

In those two cases (Titicaca and Tiwanacu) when we leave out all the mathematically precise carvings and other aspects we still have other and much bigger things to consider. The astronomical accuracy. Every building and every gate is set to lay in a precise place. Just like the pyramids are set to match the astronomical sights and also the Stonehenge. 

There is practically no way it was possible for the people living in that era with their technology to know all the astronomical facts and much more, there is no way that people with their technology would have build those magnificent and massive objects. Although there are a lot of speculations trying to figure out how everything was built there are still some holes in those theories. For example scientists came to a conclusion how the Stonehenge was BUILT, but the whole theory collapsed when they had to figure out how did they get the materials. As it turned out the massive, weighting about 50 tons, stones we're brought from 160 miles distance.

So this all makes us think if we had any help from visiting creatures or not. Did they share their astronomical knowledge with our aunt-sisters? Is the human race just an experiment for them and they gave us a start and are now observing us?

Also may having these kind of creatures with more advanced systems lead people to think of them as gods and lead to having an effect on today's spiritual society?

In today's society aliens appear to us in another way. Many people claim to have seen a bright light or a group of lights formed into a certain shape in the night sky that they cannot explain. This story would not usually have bias, but the story becomes investigateable  when the same story is been told by different people from different habitat areas. And this happens quite a few times in a week. There are about 40 UFO sightings around the world EVERY DAY. And in many cases when being talked to airway companies or even NASA they don't confirm having any of their machines up in the sky. NASA has also spotted some very strange objects in the sky that can't be just unconfirmed enemy planes, due to their size and advanced technology that we can see in their movement. 

There are also a lot of alien sightings and  (not to be confused with UFO, as in UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object) where people claim to have seen a strange creature that no one has ever seen.

But how can we even be sure what an alien looks like? How do we recognize it? Where is the point of realizing that a creature is different enough not to be either a human or an animal? 

When maybe aliens designed us to look like them, then why can't they be among us? How can we sure that the nice lady next door isn't a visitor from a different planet?

How do we know whether they are cute and cuddly or evil and want to cut us open?

New Specie of Alien - Night Crawler? - YouTube

Here is a video of a backyard camera recording in a house in America that captures a weird creature walking across their backyard. May this be truly an alien?

Also the evidences include crop-circles. 

There are a lot of speculations about Area51. Some people say it's only a myth, but as many people know it's not. We can see it's existence on the map, get information about it on Wikipedia and the life going on there( cars moving in and out etc.) in TV. Then again how reliable are those sources?

 But I don't think the big question here is whether it exists or not, but what exists in there. And also I wouldn't be so worried about a place I know exists but a place no one knows exists.

 People say that Area 51 is the place that hides the biggest secrets of USA, or maybe even the world, and mainly it is related to UFO's and aliens. The UFO spotting rate near that area is larger than in any other place in USA.

The video I posted beforehand, that talks about "night crawlers", is a great example of how intrigued people are about this subject. The amount of movies, TV-series, comics,books, paintings, merchandise, etc. based on aliens and UFO's is countless.

Here are just some few examples.

Movies

• "War of the worlds"
• "Men in black"
• "Star wars"
• "Independence day"
• "Hitchhikers guide through galaxy"
• "Cowboys and aliens"
• "Race to Witch mountain"
• "Alien vs Predator"
• "Transformers"

 

Books

• "War of the worlds"
• "Hitchhikers guide through galaxy"
• "Ender's game"
• "Stranger on a strange land"

TV-series

• "Star trek"
• "Stargate SG1"
• Stargate Atlantis"
• "V"
• "The X-files"
• "Babylon5"
• "Battlestar Galactica"

Considering everything we say aliens have done and are capable of doing, then we can see that aliens may just be an excuse to sights and happenings we cannot explain. Maybe we know there is nothing there and just try to blame something on aliens because we just want to believe that there is something.

But then again with today's technology how is it so hard to explain such simple questions?

News and more

So, yesterday I decided to see what's going on in my home country Estonia. I didn't expect anything extraordinary,because nothing actually really happens in Estonia. But the first news that came on and that were quite shocking.- two Estonian girls in their early twenties were caught in Peru trying to take over boarder 6kg of cocaine. Of course they were arrested and are now waiting for the Estonian government's decision to save them from Peru's famous jails. But those changes seem quite small and they might be thrown to jail for 25 years.

Something local and really important in Estonia right now is regional elections, that have brought up a lot of trouble. For example our head of capital is trying to gain popularity among older people by opening churches. And for the opposite some politicians just tear down their competitors posters and fill them with leaves. This all, in my opinion just shows what people are willing to do just to raise a few bars higher in the social status. Most of them, as history has shown, don't fulfill much of their promises and their job isn't harder than mine or yours. So the question is, do citizens make their political decisions only based on what they've been promised or do they truly see what's happening on the background?
For the bias on the elections we can see a serious role in media. There is a party in Estonia who is not liked by many Estonians or young people due to their involvement with Russia. The owner of the main news broadcasting show is also against that them, because he is a member and a great supporter of another party. That all means that the news can't deliver anything in  bad manner of his party and everything is turned against the competitive party.

But on the lighter side the moose-hunting season in Estonia has begun, that means soon the tables of every Estonian will be covered with fresh moose-sausage. Also, during the international teacher's day Estonia's best teacher award was given out..

Compared to the events going on whole over the world right now, then that is all just a small fraction of it. Right now we have two big news events- the USA Government Shutdown and the war in Syria.

The Government shutdown is broadcasted allover the world as it affects all of us in a smaller or bigger way. But not everywhere is it been broadcasted the same way. For example here are few paragraphs- 

Hubert Wetzel in Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung

"What we have seen in America for the last few years already is the self-destruction of one of the world's oldest democracies. And the great tragedy is that this work of destruction is not being perpetrated by the enemies of democracy, not by greedy lobbyists or sinister big donors. America's democracy is being destroyed by those who ought to support and preserve it - by voters, parties and politicians... Nobody knows whether the country will still be solvent in three weeks' time. The bitter truth is this: politically, America is bankrupt already."

In this article they are trying to express how doomed America is an how it's every Americans own fault. This article is clearly not neutral and is trying to make people think like they do, as in negatively about all of the situation and the whole America.

Editorial in the Hong Kong Economic Times

"The US' party struggles are repeating a cycle again and again and becoming more intense, which keeps eroding market confidence in the US' debt. Although an impasse should be overcome this time, a big disaster could be played out sooner or later... US politicians keep adding gunpowder to the US debt bomb, and once it explodes, it will not only severely harm the US, but will become a major threat to the global economy."  

As we can see then China isn't looking for who to blame, but they are more concerned about the future and how it will affect their, already gentle, structures. 

Editorial in The Washington Post

"Americans' respect for their Congress has, sad to say, diminished in recent years. But citizens still expect a minimal level of competence and responsibility: Pay the bills and try not to embarrass us in front of the world. By those minimal standards, this Congress is failing." 

This American newspaper shows us the thoughts of many Americans, they are disappointed in their government and see that the Congress is failing. Somehow I think this post does provoke people against the government by stating how everything is collapsing.

All of the news above show criticism towards everything that's going on, and it would be hard not to do that do. With everything already going on in the world the shutdown isn't making it better. That is what every country probably agrees with.

More article parts from all over the world are available here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24363471

Brainwashing the youth

I think this picture shows us one of the approaches of seeing education. As in the true meaning of authority. It’s true that the teachers are smarter than the students, otherwise there would be no use for teachers, but how do we know if the knowledge we receive from them is true? Certainly we shouldn’t ALWAYS question the authority, but when do we know is the right time?

Also all that we are told might just be a way to shape the youth's way of thinking and the way of seeing

the world into a form that is "better for the society" and better for the government.

The way of changing the youth into  a form that is better for the government is been around a long time. Here are 3 pictures of children who are taught how to think and their way of understanding the world is shaped. The little Nazi kids have no idea of what the raising of the hand TRULY means and for them it is the way world has always been.

Also the children writing on a bomb might find it honorable and a privilege, not thinking about the consequences it may bring.

 But that is not their fault because they have all been taught that way and for them it is normal. 

 So the question remains: Should we always question the authority and if not always then how do we recognize the right time?




Or maybe you are being brainwashed by me right now?