UM Honors Blog 2021-2022

 In the Orwell reading Orwell discusses the importance of making ones writing clear and making it known easily what is being said. I think this is important in writing because although we are left to interpret writing for ourselves there are certain circumstances in which interpretation can be dangerous. It is important for a reader to be able to read a writing and be able to know clearly what is being said. As a philosophy major this has been made clear to me through the many ambiguous readings I have read during my time in undergraduate. It is the job of a philosopher to ask questions instead of answers so much of the reading in philosophy is unclear and open ended. Although this is a good thing in philosophy in many other subjects the text should be clear. One should be able to read a work and know what is being told to them through the text. Orwell makes it clear that an author should purposefully make the purpose in their works clear. I found this interesting because we always...

 In Politics and the English Language,  Orwell gives sound advice on how to communicate clearly through the written word. Yet why should one communicate clearly writing? There are two reasons. First, one writes clearly to preserve integrity. If a writing is hard to understand, then it is easy to deceive. Orwell contrasts good writing with the language of politics. "If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy...when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself. Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidarity to pure wind" (Orwell 9). Second, one writes clearly because clarity in language happens to be beautiful. "[The English language] becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts" (1). One finds it much more appealing when an au...

 As someone who is an avid reader, I would love to be a great writer. Alas, I’m not. I am working on it though. I feel like my worst mistake in writing is that it’s a lot of fat and not a lot of literary meat, and I have a tendency to use pretentious diction and meaningless words, which Orwell very ardently argues against, especially regarding politicians. I think it’s quite obvious today that politicians are very good at persuasive speech and hiding their true intentions behind a lot of fanciful words and “is designed to make lies sound truthful…” (Orwell). I have a special fondness for Orwell’s writing (I know I have yet to read 1984 but it’s gonna get read over the summer, I promise) and I like that even though Orwell argues against all of these bad writing habits, he still gives us a way out by changing our habits over time. Blogger is not working for comments so here they are… Emory: Good post, Emory. I definitely agree when you say that if writing is hard to understand, it is...

Orwell was talking and politics and English, and the only thing I could think about while reading this was how I accidentally made up a word. One day, I was explaining a situation, and I tried to use a word that was a love child between the words "combined" and "amalgamation". I ended up saying a word that was not a word. I still got my point across, but my friends didn't tell me that it wasn't an actual word until the end of freshman year. So, I feel like I can make up words and still convey the same message across. 

        As one of my favorite authors, Orwell has scarily discussed and predicted many of modern society’s problems throughout his popular works. In “Politics and the English Language”, Orwell discusses the importance of words and the meanings conveyed by them. When one begins to change what a word means, the foundations of language begin to shift as well, which opens the door for rulers to recreate words and their meanings to their liking. This is a prime concept in Orwell’s famous novel, 1984 , where the ‘Ministry of Truth’ actually creates propaganda for the city. In modern times, people have so distorted the definition of truth that it has no weight anymore. The same applies to gender and race, which are now becoming subjective when they were never meant to be. Whoever is in control now has the power to direct language in the way that best suits them, and in the wrong hands can have disastrous consequences, especially when applied to freedom of speech. If a ruler...

Upon reading the end of Silence , readers are left questioning if Rodrigues made the right decision by apostatizing. There are many valid theological assumptions that can be made one way or another about his decision. However, I see inspiration in the obedience of Rodrigues. Even though his decision brought him pain and suffering, he was obedient to the point of death as Christ was for us.  Even though his decision included trampling the image of Christ, he did so to save the other Christians. Situations like these often raise questions about morality versus what God wants us to do. It could not help but make me think about similar situations, such as people in the Bible lying in order to save brothers and sisters in Christ or how people during the Holocaust lied about hiding the Jews in order to save them. While keeping the faith is important, listening to God is crucial. Even thought the decision may have been morally challenging, it was indeed faithful. While it does not make se...

       In silence, as the priests and Christians in custody are asked to step on the fumie, one of the men is shot. “What he could not understand was the stillness of the courtyard, the voice of the cicadas, the whirling wings of the flies. A man had died.” (128) Nature does not reciprocate human feelings or values. When great evil happens, life goes on as if unchanged. Sebastien can’t understand this because it goes against traditional wisdom, if one does good, God will reward them with good. God is all-knowing and all-powerful, so why wouldn’t he help. Sebastian is left to wonder why God is silent in all this.      Even in God’s silence, I think that he still is still there. When the priest is told he will apostatize the next day, he begins to think about what brought the other Japanese joy in this suffering “... there was joy in the thought that he was not alone. In this very sea those two Japanese peasants, bound to stakes, had endured the same suf...

      Rodrigez's denial strikes me in an oddly personal manner. Tortured physically and mentally, it takes threatening the safety of others for Rodrigez to denounce his faith. He does it for the sake of others with full knowledge he will be condemned for this. He is willing to take on Hell for the Earthly safety of those around him.      When I was a child and much more passionate about traditional Christianity I had frequent thoughts of willingly giving up my Christianity and entering Hell if it meant the salvation and safety of those I love. Of course, as a human, I do not have this power. Yet the thoughts persisted. If asked today if I would do the same still, I think I would say yes.      Rodrigez gives up something that has defined him for so long, his faith. He gives it away to save others. As a child, I had thoughts of doing the same. Today, if I knew it would actually work, I would most likely do it. It is a form of selfishness, but i...

 Silence creates an interesting point of view for us as readers. As we read this story of one having to lose faith to save others we continually think about how sad it is but the dark reality is that Christians are still be persecuted today. This persecution is not a story of the past and is still being faced by many Christians today. Although this is a sad reality it also shows the faith and courage of those willing to risk their lives to spread the word of God. It shows how much faith those being persecuted for their faith truly have. We are lucky in the United States to have religious freedom through the Amendments but there are others in other countries that are not lucky enough to be able to exercise their religious beliefs freely. This is often a reality we do not want to face but must. As we read this work we must remember that this is still taking place today. We must recognize the courage and faith of missionaries and people being persecuted for their faith.  I commen...

               This is one of the main questions Rodrigues asks himself when forced to confront the image of the fumie. To justify his behavior, Rodrigues claims that Jesus would have apostatized himself to save these people, and in fact was even telling him to do the same. Personally, I do not believe this is the case, although I have no hard feelings towards Rodrigues for doing what he did, and I do not think that this necessarily compromises his faith.             Essentially, Rodrigues ultimately apostasies to save those around him from suffering. Jesus is faced with this same predicament numerous times throughout the gospel, as the Pharisees and rulers continually try to get him to give up his ‘act’ and admit he is not the Messiah. Obviously, Jesus never does so, but Rodrigues may argue that this is because Jesus was not faced with someone else’s life being on the line for his actions, ...

Throughout "Silence," the main theme has been silence. There is the silence of men, the silence of nature, but most poignantly, the silence of God. Multiple times, Rodrigues has cried out to God in frustration. Why has God remained silent through all the suffering of the people? Such a prolonged silence makes the scene at the end of chapter nine all the more noticable.  Rodrigues is faced with the decision to apostatize. The  fumie is placed at his feet and, as he raises his foot to take the step, the long silence is broken.  "And then the Christ in bronze speaks to the priest: 'Trample! Trample! I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot. Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men's pain that I caried my cross.'" (Endō, 183).  This is the only moment in the story in which God breaks his silence. Why is it that this is the moment? Rodrigues denies Christ by Christ's own command. Something about...

 The ending of Silence was very heavy. It was disheartening to read about how Rodrigues not only had to disgrace himself to save the lives of his fellow Christians, but he also is bound to live a faithless life. From the point of view of the Japanese, I suppose that it makes logical sense that Rodrigues would be forbidden from continuing his priestly ministry and even from evangelizing and publicly practicing his faith. (Just to clarify, this is NOT to say that I sympathize with the persecution of Christians! However, when looking at the situation from their point of view, it is the prerogative of the Japanese officials if they do not want Christianity to spread in the country, and I am not surprised that they would impose such requirements/restrictions on the apostate fathers.) It was extreme, though, for the Japanese government officials to limit the mobility of these men, even to the point of disallowing them to return to their home countries. I thought that this was a particula...

      Kichijiro is one of the most interesting characters in the entire story. He is very much not the most likable character but I can’t help but feel sorry for him. Kichijiro is in the position he is in because of his own actions, but at the same time I feel pity for him.     Kichijiro keeps begging the priest to forgive him but the priest keeps refusing him. While reading, I can hear the pain in Kichijiro’s voice and the painful begging he is doing. This reminds me of Esau in the Bible when he is begging his father Isaac for a blessing. Both were begging for something that they could not get. Both were as sincere as they could be to get what they wanted. Unfortunately, no matter how much they begged, or pleaded, or cried, they could not get what they desperately wanted. In cases similar to these, I sometimes can’t help but feel sorry for them, even if they aren’t deserving of it.  I commented on Haylee’s and Emily Otts’ post

       Silence did not end anything like I wanted it to. Which, being an avid reader, that is extremely frustrating. Many times when I'm reading I find myself wondering (not even necessarily meaning to) why the author did not do this and did not do that or chose to have a character take a different path. But isn't that life most of the time? We have plan A, and we really like plan A, and then something comes along to knock us off course. Now we're heading in a completely different direction that we really don't like and yet things are almost entirely out of our control. To bring a little psychological aspect into this, a lot of times we fail to realize just how much the people around us and the situations we are in affect our life. We like to think of ourselves as autonomous creatures who do as we please (especially in America's extremely harmful individualistic culture) and yet that autonomy is nothing more than an illusion. It makes us feel better, it gives us a s...

      AHHH. This ending has left me more questions this answers. Because I cannot answer the moral dilemma of whether it was right or wrong for Father Rodrigues to apostatize, I am going to discuss another topic: Kichijiro. He is so easy to hate. He betrays Rodrigues again and again. He apostatizes again and again. However, he keeps coming back asking for forgiveness. As Judas is to Jesus, he is to Rodrigues, EXCEPT Judas does not ask for forgiveness. Does Kichijiro deserve forgiveness? No. I do not either though, and yet, the Lord gives it to me again and again. Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Kichijiro betrayed Rodrigues for 300 pieces. I betray Jesus all the time in the way of sinning for free. Thank God he is so forgiving, unlike men, or I would be damned. P.S. I commented on Emily's and Raygan's posts.

      Yet another not so happy ending. Obviously the fact that the priest  ended up apostatizing was disappointing but not surprising. I really was rooting for him all the way until the end. I say this without judgement though because I cannot even imagine what it is like to go through all of that. I do think it admirable that he did not fear any personal harm. Only when it came to others being tortured did he choose to apostatize. He was faced with tough questions and excruciating mental pain on top of physical pain. However, I would like to focus on what happened after the fact. He was promised freedom from imprisonment and torture. However, he did not get to just walk free. From then on he was basically a servant or slave to the government. Everyday he had to further inhibit God's movement through the country. It wasn't just one event of apostatizing, but a daily thing. Even though he endured no more physical torture, he still was their servant and had to go ...

           In Chapter 8, we see the priest Rodrigues trample on a fumie, finally apostatizing. Leading up to this, Rodrigues constantly tells himself he will not do so. Over and over, he convinces himself that he will not. However, when he learns that people are suffering because he will not do so, it breaks something in him to where he finally does so. The Japanese had a cruel tactic to get the Christians to apostatize, leading even the most faithful missionary, Father Ferreira, to apostatize. While Rodrigues is in the prison, Ferreira even tells him that Christ would do the same to help those people.           This gave me a lot of questions. First off, would Christ actually do so? I do not think he would refuse to apostatize or actually do it. I believe He would have an answer similar to when the Pharisees tried to catch Him in a trap with the question of giving money to Caesar. I do not know what He would do, but He would h...

The last part of Silence really struck a chord with me. Rodriguez ends up denying his religion in order to be released, but that was a lie. The priest renounce God and saved multiple lives. ( I do not know if I could believe that one man renouncing his faith could stop the torturing of other Christians, but I like the concept.) It was a hard decision to make, and God helped him through it. I really liked when God explained how He went through troubles on earth, so He can handle having a picture of Himself being trampled on. I also enjoyed how the idea of God suffering with us was brought up. Since finals are around the corner, it is hard to stop and think about how God is with us. Even through trivial things like a quiz, God is with us through all of our troubles.  I commented on Josh and Braylan's posts.

     Silence ended close to how I expected. A lot of our class theories ringed true but of course some things ended differently than expected. I expected Rodrigues to die so that was a bit disappointing only because I hate being wrong. Enough said about this, I was intrigued by something far more surprising. Kichijiro came to ask for repentance! I did not see that coming. He was brave in the end, brave enough to endure being beat and yelled at just to see the Rodrigues. He risked his own skin for once to be pardoned for his sins. He confessed. Of course Rodrigues starts mumbling about Judas when this happens. He seems to still think lowly of Kichijiro even though he has humbled himself and risked everything to come confess. Is he really Judas?      I would say no! Judas killed himself rather than confess. Rodrigues recalls Judas killing himself on page 175 and was trying to draw connections between Judas and Kichijiro. There are no connections to Judas beca...

 At the beginning of Silence , Japanese Christians are shocked when Ferreira, a long-time missionary, apostatized due to persecution. They were so surprised because he served as a missionary for so long and had held a great example of resilience during the persecution Japanese Christians faced during this time. However, this example shown when the novel begins sparks a great theme about humanity.  People change whether we like it or not. Some people change for the better, and some people change for the worst, and some people change simply because they are exhausted and human. In the example in Silence , Ferreira likely changed his mind about missions because he felt he had no other choice. People are imperfect and struggle with emotions, and they use whatever means necessary to save themselves at these breaking points.  When people change, we are surprised and sometimes take it personally. However, it is notable that we try to understand why. People go through hardships t...

 I will be one of the first to admit that I am not a strong person. These missionaries and villagers in Silence  are super strong. They go through many kinds of torture, and I do not think many people can go through that. Of course, I would not renounce my faith, but I would not be able to last long. In short, it would not be pretty. I can handle rumors and losing friends and family. I would not like to try it out, but I think I can survive more "domestic" threats to Christians (at least in the United States). I have the urge to go into detail about the physical torture, but I am too tired. It is too late for my rant on that subject. I commented on Raygan and Emory's posts. 

       To say I am excited to read this book is an understatement. In a perfect world, I would have studied abroad in Japan in high school or taken a trip there after I graduated. The Japanese people have been on my mind and heart since before I received a call to missions in high school. Their history, language, and culture are so beautifully unique due to their stand-offish nature throughout the ages.      As seen in Silence, they are a secluded island nation that keeps to themselves even to this day. While Japanese media has become popular in the West, and Japan seeks to modernize, it still is distinctly Eastern. Reading through the eyes of priests who have a heart for these people as well has been interesting so far. Unlike in modern times, where I find myself they had little resources outside of what was reported by missionaries before them about the Island they were about to call home. They knew little of the nuances of the rich culture they foun...

In Silence  thus far, Rodrigues and Garrpe have had to do a lot of hiding in fear of their lives. Yet despite the peril Rodrigues seems find meaning in what he is going through. "Never have I felt so deeply how meaningful is the life of a priest" (Endo, p.31). Furthermore, he finds joy in his and Garrpe's work, even though it comes at a high risk. "I thrilled with joy as I listened to the solemn voice of Garrpe as he recited the baptismal prayers. This is a happiness that only a missionary priest in a foreign land can relish" (Endo, p.38). Then on page 45, Rodrigues makes a striking correlation between his sense of meaning and his sense of joy. "Feelings of joy and happiness suddenly filled my breast: the feeling that my life was of value and that it was accomplishing something" (Endo, p.45). It looks as though the priest finds his joy when he finds that he is accomplishing his purpose in life, in spite of the surrounding danger . This relationship bet...

 We always talk about tenure in jobs and this idea is visited in the first chapter of the book. It talks about how the problem with their journey has been with the rector of school. They said he greatly opposed the journey and this posed a problem for them because of how long he had been there. It specifically mentions he had been there for ten years. I think this is interesting in that it relate to our lives today. There is so much weight put on experience and time. This is one of the major reason college students now intern and get jobs in the field they want to enter. Although this beneficial I think it creates added stress on college students already trying to obtain a degree. This added stress often times can also cause burn out in college students. There is immense pressure put on college students to out do their peers.  I commented on Samantha Tedder’s post and Raygan Boster’s post. 

      The word that has stuck with me through everything is resilience. The one thing that stuck out to me the most in this first section of the book was all of the villagers resilience. Despite all of the turmoil and persecution they were going through, they never once broke. They kept the missionaries a secret and treated them with love and high respect. Even when faced with terrible punishments, they still never revealed them. Even when faced with the biggest rewards, again they never  slipped up. I have the upmost respect for people like this all around the world. I cannot even imagine being faced with this. Also, when they were asked to spit on the crucifix and say horrible things about the Virgin Mary, they couldn't do it. This shows a true devotion to God and their Christian faith.      Also, the missionaries in the prologue showed this resilience as well. They were put through real and horrible torture, but still did no...

 "Silence," the title and the theme of Shūsaku Endō's work is constant throughout the story. Even in the first four parts, the word "silence" has been used numerous times. The meaning of this word seems to be twofold.  In one sense, the meaning of the word is literal. When the Samauri come to interrogate the village, Garrpe and Rodrigues see them coming through the trees. "Not a sound could be heard...even the barking of the dogs has suddenly come to an end, and Tomogi was like an ancient, abandoned ruin" (Endo, 51). This silence raised the tension of the passage set a tone of forboding for the reader. When the peasants are brought before the Samauri, they must keep their silence in order to protect the Christians. "The peasants stood erect, silent. Men, women, children--all were silent" (53). The word used twice further emphasizes its importance. The figurative use of "silence" seems to point to a deeper spiritual state. This deepe...

 In Ch. 3 of Silence , Rodrigues watches the baptism of a baby. He says that the child would “grow up like its parents and grandparents to eke out a miserable existence… would live like a beast, and like a beast it would die. But Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt—this is the realization that came home to me acutely at that time.” (p 38) Rodrigues makes a very good point. It’s so easy to do things for the good people but we as Christians don’t always like to do things for the people that are corrupt and seemingly “too far gone in their sin”. It’s so easy to do things for people that we know and love but then the moment we have to do something for the people that maybe we don’t like for whatever reason, we make excuses to not do something for that person. (I am preaching to myself on this one.) I commented on Emory’s and Abigale’s posts.

       There are two things that I want to point out that came to my mind while reading the beginning of Silence. The first is that it is almost unimaginable for modern western minds to comprehend the sheer magnitude of persecution that Christians faced in Japan. We immediately are repulsed when we read accounts like this and rightly so. The thought of another human being enduring such hate and anger and pain simply for what they believe is horrifying. We live in a time where so many people are timid about what they believe for fear that they might be ridiculed. And yet, that pales in comparison to what Christians have had to endure in Japan. While we face our fears to be vocal about social justice and equality when it comes to wage gaps and gender, religious people have faced severe discrimination and degradation in Japan. Many American Christians suffer from a persecution complex. What I mean is this: majority of Christians in America like to use the term persecuti...

       The Great Commission is instructed to every Christian :    " Go, therefore, and make disciples   of  all nations,   baptizing   them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19). It is evident, even in the first few pages of Francisco Garrpe's and Sebastian Rodrigues' introduction, that the two young priests truly feel an admirable responsibility to fulfill this commission, specifically in Japan. They desire to fulfill this calling so much so that they long for Japan, make sacrifices to get there, and make endless sacrifices while there. They put themselves in danger time and time again to to tend the seed of Christianity that has been sown in Japan "lest it wither and die" (27). Juan de Santa Mara, another young priest who desired to go to Japan with Garrpe and Rodrigues but could not due to illness, expresses the responsibility they all feel when he says, "In that stricken land, the Christi...

      The prologue of Silence  begins by explaining the persecution that the Christians in Japan are experiencing. It details some of the forms of torture used to apostatize the Christians, only wanting them to denounce their faith, but not kill them. In order to still torture them without killing them, the Japanese got creative, such as slowly pouring boiling water on them. They experienced slow, cruel torture, with no clear end in sight unless they denounced their faith.       I can only admire these Christians for clinging to their faith in the midst of such agony. They truly believed death was better than rejecting Christ. They knew that a better treasure awaited them on the other side and that God would reward them for it. This made me question, do I actually have that strong of a faith?      I believe this is a question most Christians in America need to actually consider. God has allowed us to be in a country where we do not ...

 "Silence" is a book that I think tugs at my heart in a manner quite different from those we have read in the past. This is because it is part of the history of any Christian. Christian persecution is not an abstract concept nor is it made up. Christians really did have to endure brutal challenges. In "Silence" we see that Japan is a brutal land. The leaders hunt the Christians. They want them dead. The priests who go there have nothing to personally gain. They just want the people to hear the good news of Jesus. It is so important to keep this mind when reading. They gave up everything and risked the little they did have just to potentially tell others about Jesus. A culture without Jesus, is nothing short of being absolutely brutal. It is the influence of Christ that brings about any lasting change.  Something that peaked my interest is the reactions to the challenges. Each character Rodrigues, Ferreira, Garrpe, and Kichijiro reacts differently. Rodrigues pushes f...

              This reading was one of my favorites we have done this semester, and while there were numerous concepts of theology and literary importance, one of my favorite things I noticed was the way Sebastian Rodrigues viewed the face of God as opposed to how Parker and his wife viewed it in “Parker’s Back”. This is largely because we just read it, but it was interesting to see the concept repeated in this reading in a new light.             Unlike Parker’s wife, Rodrigues views the face of Jesus as something he can idealize and loves to think about. He states that as he speaks to the Japanese peasants, he is often reminded of this face, and wonders what it looked like when he was preaching on the Sermon on the Mount. He loves imagining the face of Jesus, and just like in “Parker’s Back” he discusses how the face of Jesus has been presented in numerous different ways ...

       Positive psychology is an interesting concept but as with all things, I believe it should be balanced out. Although focusing on the positive elements in a patient’s life is great, it teaches them how to practice gratitude and contentment, I think it could become dangerous if that is the only method utilized for the patient. Most people who seek out mental health professionals are struggling with their mental health for one reason or another. Sometimes the thing preventing the patient from living a contented life is trauma. Now, I am sure there are many tools to work through trauma, this being said there is a certain point at which the patient needs to address the trauma that is hindering them. It is not a pleasant or positive experience but it can be necessary. If a patient were only taught that they need to focus on the good in their life and ignore the trauma they will end up suppressing those negative emotions.  Suppression should not be the answer. Wh...

      In the prologue of “Silence”, we learn that Ferreira has given up his faith in Christ due to the persecution he was experiencing in Japan. Persecution is something that is horrible to have to deal with. It involves torture to the highest degrees that is intentionally designed to break anyones will that is unfortunate enough to have to experience it. It is logical to assume that anyone who is just threatened to have to face this torture would immediately renounce their faith and just quit. However, we know from the prologue, as well as history and the Bible, that there are plenty of Christians that refuse to renounce their faith while facing persecution, and in many cases they die as a result.        Persecution is probably the worst thing that a Christian might have to face. For those that have to face it, God has promised to reward those that stay strong in their faith and refuse to renounce it. If persecution was easy to deal with, I don’t...

Wow. I am only 47 pages in, and this reading is probably my favorite so far from this whole semester. It is well-written and engaging, and reading the story makes me feel like I am in Japan with these missionaries, anxious to know what the next step of their journey will be and whether danger may or may not befall them. The tense nature of their circumstances that could be changed at any moment by the arrival of the local authorities makes for a thrilling account. Also, I truly believe that the story could not have been told in a better manner than by the missionaries themselves. The journal entry format allows for an introspective look at the doubts that Rodrigues and Garrpa will experience through the trials of persecution at the hands of the Japanese, a style that will no doubt serve to connect us as readers to the material and to call to mind moments in our lives in which we have perhaps had doubts about Christianity. Such an approach will make the questioning of faith and inevitab...

  I enjoyed this week’s reading for multiple reasons, but largely because it looked away from mental illness for once. Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and other more serious illnesses have become much more prevalent, as they were increasing during 1999 when this was written (on that note, I would love to see what he thinks now after the dramatic increase in these illnesses during and because of COVID). In spite of this, Seligman focusses instead on how best to help those who do not suffer from mental illnesses. In this way, I believe that people who do not have these illnesses may at times feel neglected by psychology and receive no attention for what they’re doing in life. This then makes them feel like their ordinary struggles have no real bearing, or that perhaps there is something wrong with them for not having these types of illnesses or problems, since these illnesses have essentially become the new normal. Because psychology has become a more healing-based scie...

Of all the views presented in the psychology readings so far, Dr. Seligman's presidential address provides the view that aligns most closely with Lewis' Abolition of Man . Seligman introduces positive psychology as "a reoriented science that emphasizes the understanding and building of the most positive qualities of an individual: optimism, courage...and social responsibility" (Seligman, page 1). He does not merely have 'positive feelings' for those qualities in a subjective way; he seems to believe that those qualities objectively merit  that description, that they are positive qualities whether one feels that way or not. For example, the ethic aggressors do not seem to act as though 'social responsibility' is a positive quality, yet it remains positive. In the terms of Lewis, those qualities are inextricably tied to the Tao . "Those who know the Tao  can hold that to call children delightful or old men venerable is...to recognize a quality which...

 As a whole, I enjoyed reading this address because of its overarching theme: optimism. All is not grim and unchangeable; instead, hope is offered. While some mental health conditions cannot exactly be prevented, it is true that taking charge of one's life, health, and well-being by means of psychological knowledge can be preemptive measures to keep certain states of distress from happening. This mindset shows that not all is lost, and it displays the fact that developing various conditions over one's lifetime is not a foregone conclusion. Emphasizing that psychology does not have to be entirely about responding to setbacks, Seligman says that he strives for "a new social and behavioral science that seek to understand and nurture those human strengths that can prevent the tragedy of mental illness" (p. 2). I really like this approach to psychology that Seligman puts forth because it taps into the resilience and fighting nature of the human spirit. I also like how this...

    "Entering a new millennium, we face a historical choice. Standing alone on the pinnacle of economic and political leadership, the United States can continue to increase its material wealth while ignoring the needs of our people and of the people of the rest of the planet. Such a course is likely to lead to increasing selfishness, alienation between the more and the less fortunate, and eventually to chaos and despair." Record Scratch     Woah, woah, woah. This was written when??  Checks paper like I'm on a TV show.     1998?? Hold on, hold on. Is this dude still alive? One google search later        He is. Oh my goodness he must be saying "I told you so" so  very hard today. This was written 24 years ago (yes I had to use a calculator shhh.) Wow, I mean. Just, wow. This is so incredibly on the nose with American society today. I mean talk about prophecy. You can look just about anywhere and see this. Whether it be the 1% or ...

 Within the address what I found most interesting is the idea that psychology has gotten far from its roots. It sights happiness and productivity as the roots of psychology and says it has changed its main purpose to curing mental illness. Today when someone hears the word psychology they often think of mental illness and I think this is due to an increased awareness of mental illness in recent years. I think it is interesting that this address was written in 1998 and we are still seeing this today. In a way I think the end result of curing a mental illness is happiness and productivity and learning how to maintain and get back to a state of happiness. This is why I found it interesting that he distinguished the two as separate things. I think if the main goal of mental illness is cured or made better the end result is the maintaining of happiness and the ability to return to a happy state. I think that in todays time it could be detrimental to separate psychology and mental illnes...

 In Seligman’s address, he says that “since World War II, psychology has become a science largely about healing. It concentrates on repairing damage within a disease model of human functioning. Such almost exclusive attention to pathology neglects the flourishing individual and the thriving community.. When we became solely a healing profession, we forgot our larger mission: that of making the lives of all people better.” I really like how Seligman makes the point that psychology’s purpose is to make people’s lives better rather than just to heal people with mental health issues.  What do y’all think? I commented on Emory’s and Song’s posts.

 After reading the 1998 APA President’s Address, the second main focus of the address stood out to me. Seligman’s emphasis on rebuilding the positive aspects of psychology through understanding how to better the human life overall revealed a different perspective that what is typically associated with psychology. Ordinary people without much knowledge of psychology view studies surrounding mental health as how to fix the negative aspects and weaknesses of people. Psychologists are known for wanting to help people who are mentally ill and weak minded, having conditions that have a crippling hold on their entire lives. With all this being said, Seligman brought forth a different connotation of psychology than what many people like myself would assume the focus of the study is.  Because we assume so much about the negativity behind mental health, we forget that the positives are just important. In his address, Seligman emphasizes many areas of life in which people should be able ...

"What can psychology do?" (Seligman, 2).  While reading Seligman's address, I was struck by the bluntness of this statement. What is the purpose of psychology? What is it's benefit. Seligman introduces us to the answer to such questions in the President's Address. Seligman asks his major question in the wake of political upheaval. He makes the point that psychology and polotics go hand in hand. Seligman says, "I submit to you that we can train today's young psychologists who have the courage and the humanity for such work to better understand, predict, and even prevent such tragedies" (2). Understanding human nature is an avenue to creating peace. I find it interesting that the main focus of this address is to direct the view away from psychology as a simply a medicine. Rather, one is to understand the practical relational value psychology has and use it to bring about unity. According to Seligman, psychology is "the building of what makes life ...

 Yes, I wrote my previous blog post on the wrong topic; because, I misread the schedule. Whoops! What I will now write about is psychology in teenagers. If you have heard any of my ramblings about vintage fashion, then you most likely heard me explain how teenagers did not really have a fashion culture until the 1950s. I feel like the case is the same in the APA President Address of 1998. Let me explain. I do not know much of the field of psychology in the late 1990s, but I do not think that teenagers had their own subgroup of understanding much like the 1940s fashion. My brain is practically fried right now, and I still have a final to study for. Sadly, this is all I can write and think on this topic right now. I commented on Emily Otts and Haylee Lind's posts.

           In his address from the APA 1998 Annual Report, Martin E.P. Seligman speaks of how the youth of the time should be the happiest ever, and yet the opposite is true. He says it is the great paradox of the 20th century. A mental disorder that used to mostly affect people in their middle age has now become associated with early teenage years. Even though this speech was over twenty years ago, I couldn't help but notice just how true that statement reads today.           With depression once being a thing of adulthood and not adolescence, it made me wonder, were we, as teenagers, forced to grow up too soon? Personally, I know I have had to due to many unfortunate events in my life. I also know others who have. But those are only specific examples. Not everyone has experienced what I have experienced at the same age. However, I do believe that, as a whole, teenagers have been forced to grow up faster, and that has led to d...

Before reading Seligman's address I tried to take in the gravity of what he was writing and who he was writing it to. This was the president of the APA writing an address that nearly all if not all psychologists in the US would lead. That is insane. Instead of talking about how good the area of psychology was doing at the current time, or highlighting breakthroughs that had been made, he puts out an address that shines a light on the positive side of psychology. I know at least for me when I think of psychology and therapy my mind immediately envisions people who are struggling mentally. They need help and that is what the area of psychology is there for. But that's not all that psychology is good for. Just like Seligman was pointing out, psychology can pave the way for a brighter future for all of mankind. Not just can it help heal people with mental illness and give them ways to live their lives, but it can push those that are healthy to be the best that they can be. That is ...

      Seligman states that we can train future psychologists how to prevent future tragedies anyhow to help people pick up the pieces that are left when tragedies do occur. I think this is really important for those involved in the tragedy itself and the families affected by association. For example, those involved in fighting a war are obviously majorly affected. Mental affects are likely if they do make it out and they need all the help that they can get to be able to live close to normal at home. However, the families of these people are also greatly affected. Living with the stress and fear of their loved one away at war can break your mind. Not to mention witnessing the effect the war has had on their loved one once they return can be heartbreaking and sometimes even dangerous. Providing help and support to these people is vital. Psychology can really improve this help and support. Seligman says, "We can train psychologists to help pick ...

       Seligman's speech was exceptional. I agree with him that psychology can be much more than treatment for the mentally ill. It can help expand the mind and as a result, the life of anyone.  Seligman dubs this concept, positive psychology. Positive psychology concentrates on building the individual. He called this the "roots" of psychology.  Sounds like philosophy if you ask me. Yes, I am going to ride that train today. Psychology needs philosophy just as much as it needs science. Science can analyze, observe, and create solutions. Philosophy on the other hand, asks the questions of why something needs to be addressed and why something is the way it is to begin with.       Family is one area that was addressed in the speech.  The questions of how arise in positive psychology. How should one raise a family? How can one become the best spouse, parent, sibling, or person? Philosophy asks and science aims to conclude. Positive psych...

    I am not a psychology major; I am an accounting major which means I take a lot of business classes. My mind is geared towards business so while reading through Seligman’s address I could not stop thinking about the things he was saying from a business perspective.   He was saying that psychology needs to go back to its roots to make life better for everyone instead of just treating and helping the mentally ill. From a business perspective, this sounds like he wants to expand and go into different markets. He does not just want to reach the mentality I’ll, he wants to reach everyone. The intention seems to be one of helping others and not one of a more traditional business decision to make more profit. Nevertheless, what he wants to do is a business related decision of expanding his reach into other markets. The markets that I am referring to are the mentally ill market that psychology is already serving and the not mentally ill market that he want to get into. He ...

      This article was an intriguing read. Seligman's opinions on preventative health care taking a healthier balance with healing health care are refreshing amid America's plethora of miracle drugs and treatments. Of course, some things cannot be prevented or predicted, but with the continued research on the root causes of illnesses, humanity is learning how to better avoid poor health.      Within Psychology, Seligman suggests that happiness has science that can and should be discovered and studied. He hopes this new science will create an art form for living a healthy life. Something that can be taught and replicated, mastered even. This outlook on health can be seen in today's self-care culture. The idea is that taking care of yourself sets you up to do everything else well. In a balanced life, this is not self-centeredness but actually very thoughtful for one's community. Giving others your best self can almost only be positive for everyone around. Sel...

 You don’t have to read too far into “Parker’s Back” to meet the focal point of my post. Parker introduced himself to Sarah, but he never told anyone his full name. Sarah was skillful in using her tone in order to catch Parker off guard and convince him to give her his secret. I know that his name was not that big of a secret in our eyes, but Parker explains how he has never told anyone what his initials stood for. All of a sudden, he spills the beans to a girl he just met! Later on they marry. How did they get together? I have no clue. My only theory is that Parker was a guy who was fond of the chase. As in, Parker liked getting things that he was told not to. Sarah played hard-to-get, and Parker fell for it. Now he is described as living in a marriage that he is not the fondest of. They even got married in the County Ordinary’s office since Sarah did not like churches. She even influenced his back tattoo. For someone that he claims that he does not like, she sure has a good grip ...

       Martin Seligman, PhD, in his 1998 APA president's address says that "positive psychology" cries out for psychology's attention. He defines positive psychology as a "reoriented science that emphasizes the understanding and building of the most positive qualities of an individual: optimism, courage, work ethic, future-mindfulness, interpersonal skill, the capacity for pleasure and insight, and social responsibility" (1). I have got to say I really like this idea of positive psychology. It threw me off a little when he talked about the fact that psychology has moved too much towards the area of curing mental illness because I believe it is extremely important. However, his focus on positive psychology is not to stop curing mental illness but to prevent it, which is, arguably, far better. It is a worthy cause to seek to discover what makes humans happy, and then to teach those discoveries to the population so that they may seek happiness. Seligman proclai...