Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Ahmad Al-Arabiy (part 2)
They reached Condolousia in the afternoon. Ahmed had no plans what so ever. While he was getting off the ship he accepted an invitation from Osama to come and stay with him for a week. “My family are staying in London, they won’t be here until end of August, they are attending my step-sisters graduation” Ahmad had a wired looking face and with a sleekly way asked “ohh congratulations, what is she studying?” “Graphic designs” Bin Laden answered. Ahmad in a sarcastic way “A typical Saudi girl, I don’t know the story is with Saudi girls and graphic designs”. Osama answered Ahmed “in Sara’s case “my stepsister” she was always a graffiti artist so she was trying to do something more with the drawing talent that she had and I think she will be a great and a successful graphic designer”. This is what Ahmad wanted to know exactly, his stepsisters name Sara. Most of the girls Ahmad knew were studying this Major and he felt that he was attracted to them in a weird way, and he had a theory that they are just studying that to show that they are from a high class in the society. Osama’s step-sister Sara Bin Laden a well known girl from that same city that Ahmed & Osama came from. She is one of the most beautiful girls there. Ahmad knows Sara through a friend, and for the cultural reasons he didn’t want Osama to know that he did.
“A Type of Gossip about the World”: How to Value Stereotypes
My first choice to do my masters was the United States of America. I’ve been there lots of times and I consider myself “an America guy” instead of being “a Europe guy” (loves to go to America instead of Europe). But I changed my direction because of the 911 incidents. What happened there was something that changed lots of things in the world, big political things and even small things like some thoughts in our heads. For example, I was afraid that when I went there people would not treat me, “a Saudi”, as they would have before that incident.
Clearly, first imprisons are important to most people in the world. When they’re getting an interview or getting married or meeting someone for the first time, they try to be themselves in a good way. But what if those people you’re going to meet already know what you are, exactly? What if they have you stereotyped? What are you going to do? How are you going to be yourself in a good way if they see only the picture in their heads and not the real you?
Stereotype, as Robert L. Heilbroner, who was a professor of economics at the New School for Social Research in New York City, defines it as, “a kind of gossip about the world, a gossip that makes us prejudge people before we ever lay eyes on them” (date, page). The above example of my Saudi life is explained by what Heilbroner says, but in a surprising way as well: while I was afraid that I would be stereotyped in the United States, I just discovered that I had stereotyped them as well. In my head I had had the gossip, from some friends and family members, that when I went to the States, they wouldn’t treat me as good as they should and they would think that I was a terrorist and I would hear things like, “Sorry, but we chose you randomly to get in the central inspection” so I guess what I was doing was prejudging too; In fact, I was afraid of it happening to me while I was doing it at the same time.
Heilbroner, an economics professor, published “don’t let stereotypes warp your judgments” in Reader’s Digest, which means he was writing to society in general and not a particular group of people. Although we may say that stereotyping is a natural way of thinking, Heilbroner writes that there is a problem when stereotyping, instead of observing, becomes the way for discovering. He also uses the word “mentally lazy” to describe the people who stereotype. In a more academic definition of the term, he says “stereotypes are one way in which we “define” the world in order to see it. They classify the infinite variety of human beings into a convenient handful of types towards whom we learn to act in stereotyped fashion” (date, page). That is, although stereotyping is actually a necessary part of thinking and learning, it can still cause trouble. It might be prejudging people, and even worse it sometime can be a racism issue.
An extreme example of such a situation would be the story told by Bruno Bettelheim, the psychology professor, whose essay “A Victim” tells what happened to him while he was a prisoner of the Nazis in 1938. The story he writes gives an answer to the earlier question, “what are you going to do?”
Bettelheim was a Jewish prisoner in a German concentration Camp, and with the background and policy we can understand that the Germans stereotyped all Jewish people to be liars.
His story starts when most of the prisoners got frostbite, and they all wanted to go to the clinic to get medication, but the guards won’t let them get in the clinic. The prisoners started to make up stories to try to get in and they all failed because basically they were doing exactly what the guards were expecting them to do according to their “stereotyping”. Bettelheim had no plans to make up a story and tried to break the stereotype by showing no emotions; thus his only reason to get into the clinic was “I have to work”. He got into the clinic by what he would call “interpretation of the data”: he avoids the stereotype by not giving the guard what he expected of him as a Jewish prisoner. So now Bettelheim was using the stereotype against the ones who were stereotyping him.
Most of us don’t live in situations like Bettelheim’s, thank god – the closest we can come to such trouble is trying to get into a nightclub, or in Saudi Arabia, going to the mall on weekends (it is not allowed to single “males” like some nightclubs where they don’t let singles come into the club; they only allow couples). But even so, there might be something similar to Bettelheim here. Just like those prisoners, some of these people try to get in by different ways; they try some words or acts, most famously, the “I’m on the phone” act, or the other, “I know someone inside”. But both of these ways are well known by security guards and they never work. What does it take to successfully get into the club or the mall? What does such a person do?
One way that Bettelheim described was breaking the stereotype by not showing any emotion and using the stereotype against the one who is stereotyping you. But I don’t think that this would work in these situations.
Brent Staples, an American journalist wrote an article, “Black Men and Public Space” that was published in Harper’s Magazine in 1986. He writes about black men and how they are stereotyped. The interesting part about his article can be the answer to the question “what does a person who is being stereotyped do?”. Staples is suffering from a stereotype because he is a black man. People usually think he is a criminal. He tells his story, and it’s obvious that he can’t change what is on people’s minds. But he tries to create new things that can help him in his situation. In his words “I now take precautions to make myself less threatening”: he gives more than one strategy he uses in some situations, for example, whistling classical music.
Thus, while Heilbroner addresses prejudice from the point of view of a non-victim, Bettelheim and Staples add a different perspective and they write about being victims. We can say that a victim is more involved in the case than a non-victim, but I agree with both writers. And I say that although stereotyping is bad and makes you mentally lazy, it is important that people don’t deny stereotypes and ignore them. They are also being lazy by ignoring, and that will cause them trouble. It is important that they know what is going on in the world and know the gossip going around. People already have an image of you even if they never have seen you; they have a picture of you in their heads, so at least try to know what your image in their eyes is before meeting them, so you know what are they thinking about you before meeting you. As Heilbroner says “Life would be a wearing process if we had to start from scratch with each and every human contact” (page).
In the end I’m a Muslim so I have to Quote my Prophet Muhammad in a speech he did 1400 years ago and it was about stereotyping “All mankind is form Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor black has any superiority over a white ------- EXCEPT BY PIETY AND GOOD ACTION”
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Ahmad Al-Arabiy (part 1)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
أمك ثم أمك ثم أمك ثم أبوك "Michael Phelps"
Michael Phelps won his historic eighth gold medals out of 8 races, With 14 in total, Phelps now stands alone in sports history with the most Olympic gold medals. He did what NO man on earth has done before. The thing that amazed me is his mother. After every race he wins, he just looks at her and smiles. My title, one of our prophets’ saying, “Your Mother,,,,, Your Mother ,,,,,, Your Mother ,,,,,, Your Father".
A guy came to the prophet and asked him, whom one should love, respect and be their friend the most? The Prophet said, “Your mother" they guy asked then whom? The prophet replayed "then your mother" and he asked again and the answer was "then your mother" after repeating the question 3 times the prophet said “then your father.”
We have lots of things in our religion about mothers and fathers and its always saying the mother first. My mom used to tell me look at the successful people you will find most of them good to their mothers. If your mother is happy and if you’re going to do something that your mother will be proud of, god will help you doing this just for your mother. Michael Phelps is a great example.
He made history, and every time he is doing it the 1st one to look at, his mother.
I love you mom and I hope you’re proud of me being here in Canada and trying 2 get my masters
I wish I can put your head up in the sky just like Michael did with his mom.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Mohammed peace be upon him
"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's pretensions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue. If ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports".
- Bosworth Smith
Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London 1874, p 92.
"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level".
Michael H. Hart
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History,
New York: Hart Publishing Company Inc. 1978, p 33.
“How could naked men, riding without armor or shield, have been able to win … and bring low the proud spirit of the Persians?” This question was asked by a monk called John Bar Penkaye, he was working on a summary of the world history in the 680s, and he was musing about the Arab conquest of the Middle East, he was further struck that only a short period before the entire world was handed over to the Arabs.
Those are quotes form books I looked at when I was doing my research; as you can see the names, they are not Muslims. This is the reason I quoted them.
It started in Mecca, The Arabian Peninsula. Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) was born in 570 A.D. Like most of the people of that era, he was not educated (he could not read or write). On the age of 40, Muhammad begins to receive divine revelations (Words of God) through Gabriel. This was the Quran which guides the Muslims until this day. Other sources that guide the Muslims are Hadith & Sunna. Hadith is a separate compilation of Prophet Muhammad other sayings (other than Quran), and the Sunna is a compilation of his actions. The prophet is 63 years old, and he is performing Hajj. And he gives his will known speech in front of 100,000 Muslims “The Farewell Sermon” he starts by saying “I might not see you after this year” and he says “You would be asked about me (on the Day of Resurrection), (now tell me) what would you say? They (the audience) said, “We will bear witness that you have conveyed the message, discharged the ministry of Prophethood and given wise and sincere counsel.” He then raised his forefinger towards the sky and pointing it at the people and said, “O Allah, be witness. O Allah, be witness”. On that very day the following ayah was revealed where Allah says, “Today I have completed your religion for you, and I have perfected my favor on you, and I am satisfied with Islam as a religion for you” Gods’ words.
This was the completion of the religion. Now Muslims will continue what the prophet was starting to do. Before the prophet dies he was getting ready to send Muslims tribe to Persia. He died before sending them, so the new Khalefa Abu-Bakr carried on with what the prophet started and the Muslims started to conquer the world.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Chines, Japanese and Korean what is the difference
Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Can YOU tell them apart?
I wanted to write something about me not knowing the difference between Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I googled the topic, and this game came up. I didn't play the game, but lots of people did, and I'm going to post some of there comments.
Sorry guys. But really until last week i didn't know where my classmates were from. I didn't know any one from where they were except for Chie Reveves because the story of CHII CHII NAMI NAMIII.
. .
.
.Take the test!
alllooksame.com
Some say it's easy to see. Others think it's difficult-maybe even impossible. Who can really tell? That's what we want to find out. We'll show you a series of 18 pictures of CJKs. Select which country each is from and see your score. *And if you're wondering whether or not to take offense, remember: alllooksame is not a statement. It's a question.
Some of the reply for this subject
· Damn, I only got 3-18 right...this is HARD!
· Damn. I really sucked at that 6 out of 18
· Here is something to consider:"Chinese" actually includes a lot of different races and languages (that is spoken language - we have one written language). The major ethnic groups are Han Chinese. But off course there has been interbreeding. "Chinese" should be used in the same way as "European" and not in the same way as "English" or "French".Japanese people live on an island and have had a long history of isolationism and are quite unique. However, some of their culture is derived from China. Buddhism was brought to Japan by the Chinese and also their script. Someone once told me Japanese people are Mongoloid but I am not certain if this is true.I am never certain of someone's race until I hear them speak
· 5/18, damn, that ***** is tough, they make weird faces tho, which to me makes it harder.
· 11/18!! But I’ve been living in Korea for the last 2 years...
· Wow I thought I would actually do very good on this. Apparently I was wrong. I only got 7/18 right! Very VERY hard test.Fun though! Dugg.
THAT’S IMPOSIBLE!
· They all look Asian to me.
Those are the people who took the test talking not me.
Sorry every one but now I'm starting to hear that arabs look the same too. So you can write a blog and do a test about us also lol.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
My brother's blog (The Environment)
After the class, I went back to my room asking myself questions how don't I know anything about our Saudi environment. It’s all about general information. Why haven't I ever read anything about our air, that it is polluted or I haven't ever talked or got in a dissection with any one of my friends about some things that are polluting our country?
My brother have a blog, he started writing 2 month ago. He is trying to put a new subject every week, the subjects are from around our community. We can see them every day without thinking about them. He is just giving his opinion on those subjects. And I'm so lucky the last 3 blogs he wrought were about WHY AREN'T WE TALKING ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT.
He started by saying that he never thought about the environment. He use to be one of the people who say “people who are thinking about the environment are Tree Huggers and they have nothing to do”.
What made him start thinking about this subject was his trip to China. He saw everything there colored gray even the people and the trees were grey colored of the highly pollution they were living in because of the huge boom in industries they are having. The second reason was a documentary produced by Al Gore. The documentary was about the changes that might be happening around the 50 next years or less.
He could not stop thinking about his kids and what will be happening that time.
We are facing a real danger if we didn't change our way of living. Ice is malting all over the north and South Pole, Greenland is falling down in a terrifying way and if it despaired a huge change will be happing on the earth. We might get in an Ice Age.
The whole world is starting to think about what is good for the universe except for us Saudis. All over the world we find thing recycled or a place to put the recycle dump in but we have no such thing.
One more thing, before couple of month ago there was The Global Green Day. We haven't seen anything that have been done or said about this subject in the Kingdom. While our government is always interested in any global event; such as, the Police week or things like that.
Even when the government is talking about smoking, they are not mentioning the environment; they are just talking about the health and what problems may be caused by smoking.
In the end our religion and our prophet said many things about this particular subject by the meaning of his saying ‘when you are in a war don't harm any trees that are in the your way’ and ‘if the end of days comes and your planting a tree don't stop and plant it’ and those two saying can give us a great motive to be friendly to the environment but.......
HOPE WE WILL BE BETTER SOON