The Post-American World, Final Blog

The book I read for literature circles was The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. There were a lot of key ideas in this novel, such as how the 'rise of the rest' would affect America and what we could do to not fall behind in such a time. Among this claim, there were many sub-claims about what America is doing wrong now and what they must change, for example how we are living in our own little cocoon. Some of the key ideas in this novel relate to some in the book Cognitive Surplus. As a reference, I used Addie's blog since her response made me think about the content I had recently read in mine.

In that novel, the use of adjacent possible was said to be a major theme, using the past to assist with the future and help with making important decisions. This can be related to my novel The Post-American World because in order to succeed in a new era, America will have to look back in time and learn by example of how other countries were able to maintain power among the globe.

Captured Thought: Learning matters!

This is something I have been thinking about for awhile now and it was recently brought back to my attention when doing an AP Psychology writing assignment, in which we had to free-write about our learning experiences (what influences it, how we learn best, what we enjoy learning about most).

Presently, I feel that students are disinterested in school more than ever before. With so many more television shows to watch and music to listen to, learning seems to be the least of everyone's priority. While the media is becoming a teenager's primary source of information and a tool for "knowledge", books and newspapers are a thing of the past. Why would anyone want to sit down and read a book with no photographs when they can easily access the same on the internet? Of course there are exceptions: those who attend school with anticipation and excitement to learn something new.

There is so much to be gained by just simply paying attention in school. It may take a lot of patience and will-power to stay awake during lectures or when the lights are off, but it is extremely rewarding to know that you understand class material and are able to talk about the information outside of school, if you choose to do so.

I find it shocking that many students either do not seem to care about current events or just have no clue about what is going on in the world. Admittedly, I at first did not know about what was happening in Egypt until brought up in class. However, I then took it upon myself outside of class to research the subject and understand the importance of those events. The same can be said for the crisis in Libya currently.

The so to speak ignorance of many high school students is very sad. It is sad how they little they care about expanding their mind and empowering themselves through the use of knowledge.