What is Technology?

In my opinion, technology is the use of inventions that deal with science. These include TV's, computers, i-pods, and even bombs. All of these inventions use some sort of science.
There are a lot of technologies used today. One of the most important technologies are computers. Many people use computers and laptops all over the world. They are really helpful because they get work done faster and easier than usual. Also, they store a lot of work in them. Another really important piece of technology is the phone. Without phones, we wouldn't be able to contact people around the world and it would take a long time to get in touch with anyone. I also think cars are very important, because without them we would hardly be able to go anywhere. They help us go around in a short period of time. Another important piece of technology is the TV, because although they can be really bad, they also help in getting news around. Lastly, vehicles such as rockets, and airplanes are very important. We have found out so much about outer space by the space ships we have. Airplanes help us get across the world in just hours.
I think blow dryers are pretty useless. People could just dry their hair by going out in the sun, or by waiting for it to dry on their own. Vacuum cleaners are also pretty unimportant because people could use brooms just as easily. Bombs are also very stupid because they only help in killing people. They are not important. Electrical toys aren't very important because children should spend their time going outside or doing something else. Lastly, i-pods are pretty unimportant because we could get on perfectly fine without them.
AES uses a lot of technology, but it's mostly for a good use. We could cut down on some technologies like smart boards, but other than that, our laptops and computers are for a good use.

Kurt Vonnegut

The Quote:

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.”

- Kurt Vonnegut

I disagree with Kurt Vonnegut's point of view. He thinks that computers and other technology stops you from showing what you can actually become. I think that technology actually lets us show our potential. The very fact that we can make TV's, computers, phone's, spaceships, and other pieces of technology gives us the chance to show how great we can actually become. It is true that nuclear weapons, missiles, bombs, and other war technology are really bad, but there is also a lot of good to technology. Instead of looking at all the bad that technology can do, we should also realize all the good it has done for us. Now, because of our superior technology and communication systems we can actually stop these bad weapons from being used. Before, because of bad technology there would be wars with lots of war technology, but now we can stop something like that from happening. The computer can actually help us become what we can. It doesn't do any bad, it's just a faster way of doing work. When we get work done faster, and easier, we can get more of it done. This will help us show even more potential. Without technology, we would never have discovered half of what we know today, including a lot of science. This is why I think we should always look at the good side of technology. It doesn't have to be bad unless you view it that way.

End of Quarter 3 Feedback

Out of the three goals I made last quarter, I think I met all of them. Firstly, I wanted to participate more in class and I think I did that. Before, I wouldn't really say much unless asked by the teacher, but this quarter, I felt like I participated more in class without the teacher asking me. Secondly, I wanted to get to know more about places in the world other than North America. We did a lot of projects on places other than America when we learned about the Cold War and World War II. Also, when we read the 43rd War, I got to know more about Central America. My last goal was to improve on grammar, and this was also met. This quarter, for the first time, we did grammar worksheets which helped me in my grammar. I learned about sentence combing, appositive phrases, sentence fragments, etc.

This quarter, my first goal is to work on UBD, especially on the research paper. I did okay on my first research paper, but I really want to improve on the next one we do. In high school we will be writing a lot of them, so I think it will be really helpful to know how to write a good research paper. My second goal is to improve on debated and Socratic seminars. I don't do very good on the Oral Communication part of class, so I want to improve on that.
My last goal is to improve on reading and vocabulary because my vocabulary isn't very good.
These are my three goals for next quarter.

Holy War

I think the term "Holy War" is an oxymoron. This is because holy means peace and no fighting. War is all about fighting and killing. The two terms don't belong together because they mean opposite things. I don't think there could ever be a holy war because there is no way to have a war without killing and violence. Holy is basically following God's ways, or something declared as sacred. All religions condemn killing, and state that violence is not the answer so I don't think following God's ways should ever result in a war.
In my opinion, the reason why we have holy wars is because there are fanatics in each religion who believe that their religion is the best. People tend to believe they are superior because of beliefs, nationality, religion, or ethnicity. In this case, the fanatics probably think their religion is better than the rest. In order to "serve God" and show how devoted they are, those people will try to get rid of the other religions. Other people will join because they all want to serve God. There is nothing in any religion that states it's okay to go to war or kill anyone. Most religions probably do state that their religion the right way. The people who are really religious may interpret the message differently, and take the whole thing to a higher level where they kill people of a different religion. This is why I think we have holy wars.