"Oh, Great Spirit, keep me from ever judging a man until I've walked in his moccasins"

I think this sentence means that before judging someone that is different from us, we should try to put ourselves in their place. Try to do as if we were the other so that we could easily know what happen "inside" the other.

This is exactly what the teacher (that we've seen in the video documentary this Tuesday afternoon) wanted to show, in order to make children and even adults to not do to the other what they would not do to themselves.

It was really interesting to observe the difference between children and adults. It was more acceptable, to me, that children take time to understand the discrimination situation, but it is not so simple to understand the lack of expression or rather the lack of defense of the discriminated "blue eyes" group. Why do they not react? The hopeless ... it is exactly like a Greek tragedy, when your destiny (actually built by humans) takes totally possession of your life.

If people act like that in a school could you imagine how it is in the real life...

" Happiness " as the Topic that I Prefered...

For many reasons, I preferred the unit of «happiness» .

First, because nowadays that 's a very famous topic. Indeed, people struggle so hard during all their life for finding the wonderful techniques that will make them feel happier.

I also appreciate this part, because it provides us the point of view of different researches and scientist which allowed us to know much more about the happiness in various level.

This section, made me think deeper about the notion of happiness in a real life. Are we more or less happy than we pretend to be? Are we really conscious about this phenomenon?

Well, it doesn't meant that this unit answered to my questions (which means that I have to find them by myself) but it opened the doors to them.

Since, my position toward happiness is maintained in the same level: Nobody is really happy. Happiness is just an illusion that we think we require for enjoying the well-being. If we would be happy we would not try to achieve mountains of goals - in a ceaseless basis.
My most important question is how can we be happy in this planet ?

Maybe we should just be neither happy nor unhappy.

....

Population

(photo: from Geety, Allianz, India)

• My mother's parents had 9 children and my father's parents had 5 children. As to my parents my mother has 2 children and my father has more than 2 children (not sure about the number). I would like to have as many children that I could have if it is possible that I bring up them. No matter the number of children that we have, the most important is that we can bring up them with all the love and care that we can, so that they will become the BEINGS of tomorrow.

• The population of my country, Guadeloupe, is composed mostly by people from African origin (in the past, many Africans were deported in Guadeloupe, they were used as slaves for the plantation of sugar-canes for example). They also have some Indian communities in the island. Currently, Guadeloupe has a population of about 435,000 habitants (click here for more demographic details). Guadeloupe is not composed by many people, so there is, I think, no problem of spaces.

• The consequences of a significant population shift in Guadeloupe from the rural areas to the urban areas are not really visible. But there is not particular matter. Those who are from the rural stay at the same place and try to live in a proper way in the area. As Guadeloupe is not a country but an Island, it is quiet easy to be in both areas. I actually lived in the rural area. I liked this area because it is quiet and truly natural with animals in various places. I may notice that, according to me, if you want to go further (which means discovering different things), staying in the rural side would not lead you to this purpose.

Lecture : " Dinner With Darwin or How I Learned Everything I Needed to Know About Methodist" Dr. Rees Kassen

The first day, after I saw the lecture of Dr Kassen, I have to say that I found it really not interesting. Maybe because he talked so fast so that it was quiet impossible (for me) to understand his explanation.

But I have to mention that even thought I met this problem his presentation was well organized: (i) an historic part, (ii) the explanation of his discoveries (iii) a smart conclusion.

Well, after having taken a look in his web site and in a couple of articles that treat about him and his research, I have actually thought that his discovery is amazing.

For more information about "Pseudomonas Fluorescens" check this web site: http://www.science.uottawa.ca/~rkass574/

The Novel Project - Point of View

Concerning the Novel Project process I would say that its first part which is the part of discussion in groups, was interesting (level 3) because it allows each others to express themselves about what they've read and what they think about the various chapters. I was impressed by the different manners in which we explain the meaning of all the different details: It was different but so similar...

The presentation part was less interesting (level 7), maybe because of the complexity to explain the basic and important information to every body.

I have to say that this project provides me more confident about my reading. Unknown words do not afraid me anymore thanks to Cross bones (lol). Well, I think that when I will have more free times (because now it is an impossible mission) I will definitely read an interesting English novel.

Critical Thinking Lecture

Nowadays, it becomes a real deal to find mediums that share honest information. Thus, it is more and more important to know how to analyze the information that is given in the different mediums which are available in the current era. That was in a certain manner the goal of the lecture we participated in on last Thursday. I think that one the most important activities of a critical thinker is to ask him (or her) the good key questions, so that he (or she) could have an effective point of view toward the authenticity of the information divulged.

As people who are in a democratic country, we can say that we have the chance to get a diversity of information. Nevertheless, we don't know how to take advantage of this particularity...we are just unable to control the huge amount of the mass media news... we just absorb the information without thinking and THAT is an important issue in the current societies.

I was very interesting by this lecture; not because I've learnt more in the basis of critical thinking but specifically because the lecturer proposed us important questions that we need to consider before judging an article or TV news for example.

Thanks to Amanda Strong for having presented this lecture to us.