Entry #6 Legendary Spartans

Have you heard of the Spartans? Throughout the world, the stories of the legendary Spartans and their culture continue to be told from generation to generation. Their legacy is well known and respected throughout the world. Men of war look up to their military strategies. Others look down upon their way of living. Either way, the Spartans are famous across the land for many reasons.

Here is an image of a Spartan warrior from a movie called 300. This is how Spartans looked as warriors.

Spartans at Their Finest

Spartans are famous for their way of living. They had one of the strongest armies found in Europe. They challenged the Persians who outnumbered them 10-1 and yet they managed to live out numerous days. The way the Spartans fought was with a shield wall that couldn't be easily penetrated. Every warrior was whole with the entire unit. No matter how many Persians came at the Spartan army, the wall would not collapse. The warriors were taught to move as one and fight as one, that way no army could take them down. The only reason why the Spartans lost to the Persians is because they got surrounded. If they hadn't gotten surrounded, the Spartans would have won that war.

Here is a visual of how the shield wall looked. This tactic was efficient and was proven when the Spartans took on the enormous Persian Army.

With a superior army comes with great costs. In the Spartan lifestyle, only the strongest of men and women were allowed to live. If a boy or girl didn't meet the requirements of being a Spartan, then they were killed. Boys were separated from their mothers at an early age for military training. Only strong and capable boys made it through training. The others died within the process of training. It was survival of the fittest in the Spartans' eyes. In order to create a strong society, only strong and capable people were allowed in it.

This Spartan boy is in the process of being separated from his mother and on his way to military training. While this is a harsh lifestyle for our age, back then it was for war and city defense preparations.

The Judgement of Spartans

People in our current society believe the Spartans to be cruel and evil. The idea of killing off unwilling children is bad in today's world. This is true, but some of their lifestyle can be seen used today. Military leaders still use tactics that were created from Spartans to help win certain battles. Regular people are sometimes influenced by the Spartans. For instance, athletes today try to do their best potential just like the Spartans did for military training. The Spartans were strong and athletic, which is what some people today try to become. In general, while the Spartans lived a cruel lifestyle, people still look up to them in numerous ways, whether they be for physical or mental strength.

Entry #5 Sight Into The Future

My Own Personal Reaction

After watching a clip from the movie Wall-E, I felt disappointed and terrified. I was disappointed at the fact of how lazy humans had become and how dependent they were on technology. They couldn't even walk or stand upright. In the beginning part of the clip, a blonde man fell off his chair and couldn't get up. Without Wall-E's help, the man wouldn't have been able to get back into his chair due to his obesity. I also felt terrified at the fact that this clip could resemble our world in the future. Technology is prospering in our world today and is continuing to grow. The possibility of our world becoming the one seen in the clip is true, which is scary. I myself wouldn't want to live in a world where people couldn't walk or keep themselves glued to a monitor. 

Here is an image of the man saved by Wall-E. I feel terrified and disgusted at the sight of him being physically handicapped by obesity. 

Scary future

The fact that the life seen in the clip from Wall-E can become our future is terrifyingly acknowledged and can be proven. Today, people have become more obese due to processed foods and beverages that are unhealthy for consumption. The numbers of obese people are continuing to grow due to the sales of unhealthy items, such as candy and soda. People can get addicted to the taste of sugar and continue to consume large quantities of foods and drinks that contain sugar in them. Too much sugar leads to obesity.

Another factor of this becoming our future is that no one exercises as much anymore. People like to sit around and do nothing in our modern world with the introduction to technology. People can drive cars to travel instead of walking or running to destinations. Technology also prevents people from having to go around to talk to people. Cell phones and laptops allow people to communicate with each other without having to move. Overall, technology can make people not have to move to get to places or do certain things.

Here is an example from the clip that shows how humans in the film depended on technology to do certain things. In this case communicate with one another and to watch other people.

Last Words of the Truth

The clip from Wall-E does contain commentary that is relevant to our society. The part where the man asks Wall-E too take his drink can be seen in our day and age. People seem to rely on others to do work for them, like throw away garbage. Instead of doing it themselves, people rely on others to do their dirty work. In conclusion, this clip from Wall-E shows people how the world can change to be like the one seen in Wall-E's world.

Entry #4 The Best of Bears

Have you ever wondered about bears? Their purpose in life? What they do? Bears are often seen as nuisances and trouble-makers in people's eyes today. People often see them as large, furry animals that do nothing but eat fish and sleep during the winter. Well these accusations are all false. Bears are much more than what people expect.

Bears At Their Finest

Bears have multiple purposes in life. One of them is to help keep the balance of the environment. Bears are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals, not just fish. Some of these foods include berries, carrion, deer, honey, shrubs, grasses, moose, salmon, and other plants and animals within their environment. Since bears eat both vegetation and animals, they help keep their populations from being too high. If bears didn't exist, carnivores and herbivores within their homeland would have to work harder to keep a natural balance of populations. 

These two photographs reveal that bears eat both meats and plants to survive. The upper photo shows a bear catching a trout for food. The bottom photo shows a bear eating berries, one of a bear's favorite foods.

Bears also keep predators at bay as far as population goes. Animals compete for food so that they can survive. Survival of the fittest. Bears are the largest carnivore within their territory, so whatever other carnivore is within the area, they have a tough competition. Wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, badgers, and wolverines are several of the carnivores that have to compete with bears for food. These competitions can be fatal. For example, if a bear brawls with a single coyote, the coyote could possibly die. That's how bears keep a balance between other predators.

This is a great visual of competition seen in the wild. Bears and wolves fight one another over food or territorial space.

Overall Picture

People may think bears are large, lumbering giants, but they are more than that. Bears keep wild environments balanced and at bay. If it weren't for bears, many plant and animal species might have population problems. Herbivores and carnivores would overpopulate, which would, in effect, wipe out plant species. Overall, bears are stabilizers of the environment and the plants and animals that live in them, not pointless, fish-eating giants.

Entry #3 Cell Phones Today

Cell Phones in Current Society

Just recently, I was browsing the web in search of some interesting knowledge. I came across a very intriguing article that showed information on cell phones and their usage in today's society. It revealed interesting facts and ideas about how the online world used to be compared to now. Here is the link.

The author of the article, Aaron Smith, described how most people think of "going online" being a laptop or computer term. However, today people can say it is a smartphone term as well. I myself think that "going online" can be used for both computers and smartphones since both are popular in today's society. Smith even stated in his article that, "[nearly] two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners, and for many these devices are a key entry point to the online world". That's quite a large amount of people. This shows that more and more people are turning to smartphones as our society prospers. 

The article also shows how dependent people are towards smartphones. Several graphs and percentages are shown to help reveal how dependent certain groups of people are to them. For instance, it reveals, "15% of Americans ages 18-29 are heavily dependent on a smartphone for online access". When I was younger, computers usually were depended on for online usage, but now it seems that smartphones are taking their place.

This graph is from the same article that Aaron Smith wrote. This shows how some people believe their phone is dependable or not. It also shows if they are beneficial or not.

How Useful Aaron Smith's Article Can Be

I feel that this article can be useful in a great amount of ways. First, it gives us a great visual on how smartphones are changing today's society. People went from using computers for online purposes to using a cell phone instead. Prosperity in cell phones is showing to be a replacement for computers because of their mobility. This article also can help people reflect on how they are compared to the rest of society. Since the article has visuals and graphs about people around the world and their cell phones, other people can see where they lay with the rest of society, whether it be good or bad. I myself found out that I'm both dependent and independent with my cell phone, making myself neutral in society's eyes. Lastly, it can help persuade us to use our cell phones more often. After looking at some of the statistics within the article, I found myself wanting to explore my phone more. The statistics show that smartphones are more of a benefit than a burden, plus that they contain useful items and knowledge.

The Way I See It

Overall, the article U.S Smartphone Use in 2015 by Aaron Smith is both interesting and helpful. If people looked at this article, they can get a better understanding of how smartphones are beneficial to our society. I myself have gotten a better view on how smartphones are useful for our prospering society. This article can be beneficial for all.