FIRST PERSON PLURAL-TEAM UNICORN/BRANDY

Honestly if the four authors from this unit were to get together it would be a very interesting conversation. Jill Bolte Taylor is very focused on the differences in mannerism when it comes to technicalities of our brains, while Joan Didion is a person who just lives life to her own understanding. I believe that each would agree that the idea of ourselves stems from those inner thoughts and conversations. There is no ‘singular self’ but a melting pot of our own experience that creates who we are and our different personalities. These are what able us to know ourselves and who we truly are as individuals. In ‘First Person Plural’ Paul Bloom says, “They have different desires, and they fight for control—bargaining with, deceiving, and plotting against one another.” I agree with what he is saying but at the same time I disagree, because for the most part each part of ourselves is working in sync with the other, essentially balancing themselves out. Alice Walker on the other hand is someone I can relate to more, she changed as time progressed and came to realize her different sides. She had an injury to her eye at a very young age and that totally changed her perception of herself. Though she seemed different on the inside, throughout the story she would say how everyone told her that “You did not change.” When she got her eye corrected it was like something clicked inside of her and, “Almost immediately I become a different person from the girl who does not raise her head.” That is when I understood why everyone felt the way they did about her and I can relate on that level. I used to look completely different when I was younger and I feel like I am trapped within myself just trying to be released. So, I supposed I would lean more towards the ideas that Paul Bloom and Alice Walker were portraying in their stories, stories that were relatable to my own ideas of self.

School allegedly tried to ban students from speaking Spanish

HEMPSTEAD, Texas —

A Texas middle school has found itself in the middle of a heated controversy over student rights, educational practices and multiculturalism.

According to KHOU-TV, the principal at Hempstead Middle School is on paid administrative leave after trying to ban students from speaking Spanish in class.

Students say on Nov. 12 Principal Amy Lacey announced over the school intercom that students could no longer speak the language in the school's classrooms.


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Stroke of Insight-On Keeping a Notebook by Gaby O'Connor-Team Pegasus

“Jill Bolte Taylors Stroke of Insight” , “On Keeping a Notebook” by Joan Didion

I believe that the internal sense of self comes from different places depending the person and time. Each person has his or her own, very personal sense of self and it may change as time passes by.  It changes as we grow up.  It comes partly from how we were raised and partly from the people around us growing up.  It continually changes with life experience.  Probably at some point in our lives we might feel that we are a completely different person than we were when kids for example.  We realize that the person we were somewhere in the past is completely different from the person we are at the moment.  That is why in the beginning of the reading “On Keeping a Notebook” she tries to remember why she wrote all those notes in the past. She ask herself  “Why did I write it down?” , “What was it I wanted to remember?”,  “How much of it actually happened?”.   Something that seemed very important at the time doesn’t make sense anymore. I believe this happens because we are completely tied to the moment and the world around us.  That is why Didion repeats several times “That’s how I felt it”. That is how she felt in the moment. That is how she perceived her reality.  It was her reality, nobody else could possibly understand what her thoughts were, not even herself several years after that.  I believe that if we really want to understand our sense of self from the past, we should write complete thoughts using a diary, instead of only notes.

Jill Taylor’s self of sense is entirely biological and possibly a matter of choice. According to her, we have two opposing senses of self in the left and right hemispheres of our brains and in a healthy person they become one by communicating with each other. She describes the right hemisphere as having a sense of self tied to our relationship with the world around us and always in the present moment. Whereas, the left hemisphere is described as completely independent from the world around us and always thinking about the past and the future, but never the present.  In contrast to the language Didion uses about the past and present with regards to her sense of self, Taylor never once mentions her childhood or family members as contributing to her identity. Instead, as one might expect from a neuroanatomist, she only talks about our sense of self as a product of our biology.  I like the way she describes the consciousness of the right hemisphere as being the perfect moment.  How the right hemisphere forms all this pictures to create a whole. Meanwhile the left hemisphere takes all these pictures and organizes the details of each of our thoughts.  I agree with her opinion that we will live in a happier world if we were more conscious of our right brain.

Jill Bolte Taylor,  My Stroke of Insight

I think, after watching this recollection Taylor has of her stroke I can safely say the answer to the question, "are there multiple versions of us at various times and places," is yes, there are.  Taylor describes in immaculate detail the morning of her stroke.  The pain she felt in her head, seeing herself in a completely different way, almost as if she was looking down on herself from above.  She talked about no longer being able to distinguish her arm and how it blended in with everything around her.  She said, "I was an infant in a woman's body."  
How amazing it would be to have such an out of body experience such as this one.  To lose even the most basic information and still be able to step beyond it and realize how incredible it is.  
To answer the question, an example that comes to mind is when Taylor talks about each hemisphere of the brain and the specific function of each.  She says "Our right hemisphere is all about this present moment."  This is the part of the brain we use to understand, appreciate, and enjoy where we are right now.  We aren't thinking about the past or the future, just being where we are.  The left hemisphere takes the past and the future and dissects the details of details of events that have occurred or will occur.  When you are at a party with friends, you generally won't sit in a corner and mull over every single thing that happened that day; you'll want to be up and enjoying where you are and who you're with.  That is one version of you.  After the party, you go home.  Things are much calmer and the scene isn't so intoxicating.  Here is another you.  The reflective side of your brain has been switched on and you begin to relive the events of the day.  You appreciate the little things that made you smile.  Yes, there are multiple versions of ourselves but ultimately, as Taylor says "Right here, right now, we are brothers and sisters on this planes, here to make the world a better place."    

Internal state of mind "hippie thoughts"

The way we portray ourselves to the world is all controlled by our beings. We have modified the way we talk, the way we act, even the way we dress. Jill Bolte Taylor said, “ we have the power to choose moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world” We have full control, but our world has modified us, but in for some instances, a positive way. We all have a tendency to have multiple versions of ourselves. Although we are not changing as a person or in our personality, we still alter the way we talk. For example, I have realized that with certain people like, my bosses, I will speak in a more proper way. My personality has not changed, but it is out of politeness to speak to authority in a respectful manner. Also, with friends, most people tend to have a more laid back personality. I have realized many times that I do feel like I have multiple personalities because of all the different types of people I have talked to. With some people, there are sometimes certain things that you have to alter when you are speaking to them. It is just a sense of comfort for myself.

                         I do think that our internal state of mind changes as we get older, our thoughts are completely different from the way we use to think, when we were just toddlers. There’s scientific facts about how the mind of a child compared to an adolescent or adult is like two minds from a completely different planet. Children don’t perceive things the way we do. Their logic is not correct and they are very unaware of the theory of mind. Children don’t know that not everyone is thinking the same thing as they are, and they can’t perceive things from another person’s point of view. As we get older we do learn these things and are able to have a more complex state of mind. I don’t know where our internal state of mind came from, and I don’t think anyone really knows. We were born with it and are not able to understand the feeling of not having one, so there’s no exact reason to why we have one, but I do think our internal state of mind allows us to have our own full personality. I am the only person in this entire world who knows me better than anyone. Our mind allows us to have our own thoughts and worries, which can give one a sense of individuality and it’s a more private relationship that I cherish. If I were to not have my own internal mind and have none of my own thoughts, there would never be a sense of yourself and aloneness.

                                As Joan Didion said, “we are talking about something private, about bits of the minds string too short to use, an indiscriminate and erratic assemblage with meaning only for its making. And sometimes even the maker has difficulty with the meaning”. The way she describes our minds is as being private and something only ourselves can experience, we will never be able to fully describe to someone the way we are feeling or the thoughts we produce. And sometimes we are not even able to decipher our own thoughts. For our minds are so complex the explanation to things are unseen. Leaving ourselves with confusion about why we are who we are, and the realization to what makes each other different. I believe that we can reach a sense of separateness from the world, a lot of the time this destination can be reached by meditation or just the simple process of “zoning out”. But you can also think of this in a sense of individuality and being separate from others in the world.

"The Cosmopolitan Tongue: The University of English," John McWhorter

I agree with the statement, “Not having the language does not make him any less true to what he is.”  Although, in contrast, I think in order to have a greater understanding of our lives and the things that mean something to us, our language is an invaluable asset.  

I remember a particular instance where someone was describing to me a word in German.  With this particular word, there is no exact, definite translation.  The closest we have come to describing this in English is through some variation of the phrase, “A beautiful moment, derived from an exquisite accident.”  This left me wondering if I could fully appreciate and value the meaning of the word I was trying to understand using language, or if, to truly gain the power of this word, I needed to be able to understand a completely new language.  This left me feeling limited and powerless.  I felt as if I could not truly grasp what this word meant.  I felt frustrated.

So, I believe that in order to truly understand the value of a word and to have a definite and clear meaning of what these words mean to us, we need language.  We must have a clear and concise understanding of the most complex, and the simplest words, simply to be able to appreciate them and understand their meaning.  To use them in conversation and to use other words to describe the more complex phrases.  Language is a gift and I think we need to seize our entitlement to utilize it.

Chase Hayes Team Yeti

Memories in my mind are extremely difficult to put together, and it is fairly rare that I can actually put one together in some sort of cohesive timeline.  I  like to say that I have a Dr Suess imagination.  One particular memory that I have that really stands out to me was the day I had finally saved up enough money to buy my project car, a 1977 white Stingray Corvette.  I had already been talking to the guy about it, so he had everything ready to go when I showed up with my check in hand.  To him it was just a car that had been sitting in his barn for the past fer years, but to me she already had the name "Stacey". The paint wasn't the greatest, but I still could see the sun glistening off the freshly washed surface.  The interior was hot from sitting outside for so long, and the red leather seats were extremely warm when I got in.  All that didn't matter, because as soon as I got in, the loud thud of the door closing made me even more excited.  I started cranking the car, and even though it sounded like it was having trouble turning over, eventually the loud, pounding roar of all 5.7 liters gave her life.  The steering wheel seemed to grip my fingers perfectly, and while the gearshift took some coaxing, when it made that familiar drop in the transmission I knew I was in business.  Every time I walk up to this car I get the same feeling.  I can still see the car as the first time I ever drove off in her.  The brown driveway and green bushes seemed dull in comparison to the bright white and flashy red interior of my favorite car I've ever owned.

McWhorters argument about how the death and evolution of language is more based on geography than culture seems to make a lot of sense to me.  When he mentioned that Native Americans would not feel any less of their culture just because they don't necessarily speak the language anymore,  I remembered a friend of mine in particular who is almost 100% Apache and Comanche through his families.  He is extraordinarily proud of his heritage and of his culture, even though he was raised in Florida and speaks fluent English.  Not having the language does not make him any less true to what he is.  When McWhorter says that he is sad languages are dying for aesthetic reasons, I'd have to say I agree.  it isn't particularly necessary for us all to have over 6000 languages all over the world, a d I would certainly be easier on people if we could more effectively communicate with each other, however the beauty of the languages is that they were made by the culture.  Even though the culture wont fail to live on, a part of it does die when the language fails.