...ago seemed impossible to change. A single minuscule spark can kindle an entire forest fire. Honourable judges, teachers and fellow students, my name is Talha Shaikh, and today I’m going to talk to you about how a single person, just like the spark, is capable of influencing the entire world. I am going to discuss how someone can make a difference, people who have influenced our world for the better, and evidence that proves it’s possible. Firstly, how can someone influence the whole world? The change has to start with you, then your community and then eventually the entire Earth. Paul McCartney said “Think Globally. Act Locally.” This phrase urges people to consider the wellbeing of the entire planet and to take action in their own communities and cities. Think globally reminds us to think about the bigger picture, and act locally tells us to do something in our own neigbourhood to create positive change. There are many ways that we can adapt to have a positive influence in the world. We can work towards being more eco-friendly and overcoming global warming by planting trees, recycling, conserving water and electricity. As well, we can raise awareness of social issues such as child labour, poverty etc. Raising funds and awareness for people suffering from various diseases, is also a great way to start making a difference. Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” To make a positive change you have to be informed...
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...Waiting On the World to Change Same ol’, same ol’. False promises, more talking, less actions, and there is no change. It’s like now a day’s people just sit back and do nothing at all to help with the current situation of the economy and government. Politians persuade you to think like them and say things that just convince you to vote for them. The day comes when your vote puts them in office and they are just sitting there drinking some coffee. That’s the person you voted for. Then again, you turn your television on to see the news, what do you see? War, natural disasters, terrorism, or politians having an affair with their secretary? You don’t see much about how a whole city’s children received a new school funded by a celebrity or having people actually keep their promises. Then there are those who spend every penny on someone whom they do not know in Africa, South America, or in the Middle East to keep them fed and dressed; yet no matter what they do, it just isn’t enough to help them have a better life. Around the world, many foundations’ priority is helping others in need of food, education, and shelter. Those people and foundations are making this world a better place but how come it feels like nothing changes? There is still corruption in governments and awful things going on that it seems for every step forward, the world takes two step back. We aren’t moving forward because no one is totally fulfilling what they are meant to do to change the world. Yes, I am guilty...
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...things to different people, right? But for me, living your life a happy life is when we feel we are fulfilled in what we were born to do. One example is that you influence others. Let’s wrap it up! Some people see it as their task to change the world. They will settle for nothing less. Marx wrote: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it. Whether this is the first occurrence of the metaphor “to change the world” I do not know; it is certainly one of the most famous. It belongs in a tradition, by no means conned to Marxists, in which wanting to change the world is seen as a noble motive. It seems to invoke a distinction between those who are content merely to live in the world, taking it as they find it, and those who have the courage, imagination and energy to want to change it, or who see it as their obligation to do so and do all their best to change it. Consequently, making a difference to other people’s lives is very different from the above statement. Fortunately, it is easier; just make it simple and natural. We are all gifted with a unique set of skills and abilities. With those abilities we can make extra-ordinary things happen in the world around us, or not. It is completely up to you whether you want your life to make a difference and what difference you want your life to make. Many people set lofty goals for their lives and want to be remembered as visionaries, they want to change and save the world. Others want to be...
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...you that you cannot buy those clothes because you are too short or too tall, or that your stomach hangs out or that you’re too skinny. Sadly, this happens all of the time, people are judged based on the things that they cannot change. This is a big deal in society today, and a lot of people are trying to fix it. But why can’t the same be done for people with physical or mental disabilities? It’s sad to hear that children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children (HealthDay news). Doesn’t that bother you? Doesn’t it scare you that you might be living in a world like this? Or that you might...
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...Throughout time, things and people tend to transform and develop into something more outstanding. The world of technology has increasingly changed for the better. The world previously had no such knowledge of what a computer even was and now everything is all about technology. Over time the world has become resourceful and gained plenty more knowledge. Most people would agree that the world has altered for the better. However, some things have not changed for the better. Throughout history, people have drilled into one another brains that thin is beautiful. If someone doesn’t look like the model on the front of a magazine then there must be something wrong with them. Some might not be accepted if they don’t look like those models or to be...
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...There are many things we see in the world. Harsh words, broken families and most of all hurt people. To find these people and to try and help them is not only a hard task but it can also change someone for the better or the worse. Right now in my eyes i see that people are not only hurting but they also have no sense on where to go. They do drugs, bully, and attack others and people do nothing to help others. These people need someone to help them not harm you. To find a way to show them everything in a better life is something we need to find. To find people who can change the world to make it better. To stop murderers, to create happiness and to make a difference. That’s the people we need. Now I can understand how the people who hurt others...
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...From the day we born, we enter the game of life. Like all games, the game of life has specific rules we need to play by. The game of life can be competitive and can be a lot of fun. We can choose to sit at the sidelines and marvel at how other people play or we can be a player by ourselves. We can choose to play the game of life to win or to play ‘not to lose’. There are many aspects that make up our game. We have the career game, the relationship/family game, the money game, the lifestyle game, the health game and the spiritual/moral game. Many people believe that it is almost impossible to win at every game. You can win some and have to lose some of them. However, the author of this book Adam Khoo has written the ways to win in all the aspects of our life. It is not impossible as there are many success stories despite of so many struggles and obstacles. All you have to believe in yourself and follow the set principles and strategies continuously. The book “Winning the Game Of Life” contains some of the key elements that those successful people use to practice in their lives. You cannot only sit and see what is happening around you and cursing your luck why these happened to you. There are so many hidden issues that these successful people have to went through. This set of principles can lead anyone to the desired goal and bring success in every phase of the life. 1. Success is a Journey Success cannot be gained instantly. Someone cannot say I am a successful person by just...
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...Digital Histories English Author Arnold Bennett once said, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts”. Change is hardly ever easy. Some people change for the better but are constantly being held back by their past decisions while others change for the worst. What would today’s society be like if change hadn’t ever occurred? The human race would most likely be extinct. So why hold back people who wish to change their lives? People should not expect that others are going to stay the way they are for their whole entire lives: most people change as they grow. It’s not like in before times where, “if a teenager went through ‘a phase,’ generally only his or her family, friends and teachers would know or remember. Those days are gone”(Gerwitz). It’s not necessarily the individual’s fault that his or her life is on display to the world, it’s a new digital age. This digital age is seeming to create an unforgettable history. It is not right to critique individuals on the basis of their digital histories, especially in today’s social media era where nothing can be permanently forgotten once it has been published on the internet. As time goes on, the social media gets broader. Everyone can know your waking movement and thoughts; just by the pictures posted online. People no matter who they are, are being exploited for the videos and pictures they have posted. Everyone goes through a rough phase and before social media no one else would...
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...intends to help Oliver escape. This information is relayed to Sikes and shortly thereafter, Nancy is beaten to death. Nancy is a morally ambiguous character who wrestles with making the right decisions. She serves as a common Dickens character who tries to do right but gets crushed by a cruel world. In Dickens’s world, people grow and change over time and can be easily influenced by the world’s vices. People enter the world innocent and rational, but as they age, society seeks to break them. Still, Dickens believes that some, like Nancy, can free themselves from society’s influence and become more compassionate. Dickens lauds those who reflect the created order by showing concern for the needs of others, regardless of social standing or background; he also believes that humans can become corrupted by the world, so discovering inherent goodness is a struggle. People enter the world innocent and rational, and society quickly preys on them. Society strives to form each person into what it wants, changing how people grow over their lives. Scrooge of A Christmas Carol was once compassionate towards others and becomes hard-hearted after tragic events. He lost a sister and grew stingier, driving those in his life away. He comes to believe his responsibility was to himself. Dickens wants to show how being self-absorbed causes people to care only for themselves and not for others. “At the heart of Carol, Dickens had an economic message. A society in which the masters are concerned only...
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...71% of 6450 the people that took a survey said they hide their gender or gender transition to avoid being discriminated. Many people who have come out as transgender, gay, lesbian, or bisexual are overlooked and discriminated from the world. Most of the world we live in has prejudice views of the LGBTQ community because people view change as a negative topic rather than being positive and accepting.There is much prejudice around this community and not are aware of all the hate and discrimination towards these people. The LGBTQ suffers all this just because they are unique and it has a toll on them both physically and mentally. It has become such a large and current issue are ignored or known about though nothing has been changed. The world...
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...Through the use of many cords and melodies John Mayer composed an impactful song to the world that would draw people in to listen and take action. “Waiting on the world to change” since it was released in 2006 still to this day is widely recognized for its deep message Mayer was trying to deliver out to people. Just like “Waiting on the world to change” Mayer has many songs on his album that was released in 2006 “Continuum” that would rise up in the charts and make him the known artist he is today. John Mayer as a child was always very involved with music learned how to play several instruments by the inspiration of others. Mayer loved music, especially blues as can be heard from all his songs in which they all share a melancholic tune. As a young man in high school one of his first gigs was at a local blues bar with a band he had been currently been a part of. Although he only played guitar at the time Mayer was still songwriting. He learned how to write after being hospitalized at the age of 17 with a mental issue even though his illness was destroying his body his creativity kept flowing allowing him to find his newfound passion, songwriting. All these action leading to his first debut of his album in 2001 “Room for Squares” in which he would receive Grammy nominations for the song “Your body is a wonderland” and the public eye would be drawn towards Mayer. After this Mayer would release many albums and singles that would lead to the fame he has today. In my opinion, John...
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...Social Change Tina Medina SOC/100 May 2, 2016 Andrea Harris Technology and Social Change This essay is about technology and social change, which are two things that have a huge impact in our world today. Ramey (2013), "Technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and extracting of materials. We use technology to accomplish various tasks in our daily lives, in brief; we can describe technology as products, processes or organizations.” (para. 1). According to "Social Change Defined" (n.d.), "Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and cultural values and norms.” (para. 1). Now that we have the definitions of technology and social change it is easy to see how they are related. No matter where or what you are going in your life it has been impacted my technology some way and have socially changed how we accomplish things in our everyday life. Some examples; checking out at the store can now be done through a self-checkout lane, you no longer need a map to travel with GPS available in your car, and people can work from home because of computers and advanced technology. All of these technology changes have made people learn new ways to complete tasks throughout their day and social change has occurred. Impact of Technology in Society Computers, cell phone, and the Internet have changed are lives drastically and is a part of everyone’s life in one form or another. Communication across the world can be...
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..."Leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not." – Leonardo Dicaprio at the U.N Climate Summit The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced. Its consequences are already visible all around the world. We now face stronger storms, bigger floods and droughts, the temperatures is worsening with hotter summers and colder winters, the spreading of tropical diseases, melting of ice and the rising seas. And this is not where it stops; these events are all projected to get worse in coming years unless we stop using the atmosphere as an open sewer for the 98 million tons of global-warming pollution that we pour into it every single day. Pakistan is no stranger to the consequences of Climate Change. In the past few decades, Pakistan has been severely affected by Climate Change and the impacts on human lives have become more significant since the 1990’s. Floods are the new normal in Pakistan, occurring every year with no action from the government. Several hundred people have died in floods every year. The flash floods of September 2014 has killed nearly 280 people and injured more than 500 in Pakistan affecting more than 2 million people. The flood surge was so big that authorities had to blow up dikes to divert swollen rivers and save cities from raging. But this thereby flooded nearby farming areas, displacing tens of thousands of people. With all the loss and destruction by climate change, still no action is being taken by the government of...
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...situation. People formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the perceived existence of evil forces. - Oxford English Dictionary: The American Historical Review - 1909 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of the phrase "conspiracy theory" occurred in a 1909 article in The American Historical Review Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? - A sense of control There are number of factors, but probably one of the most important ones in this instance is that, paradoxically, it gives people a sense of control. People hate randomness, they dread the sort of random occurrences that can destroy their lives, so as a mechanism against that dread, it turns out that it’s much easier to believe in a conspiracy. Then you have someone to blame, it’s not just randomness. - Psychological forces (VS evidence-based thinking) Psychological forces like motivated reasoning have long been associated with conspiracy thinking, but scientists are learning more every year. On the other side there is the evidence-based thinking which most of the people who do not believe in these theories have. o Motivated reasoning Motivated reasoning is an emotion-biased decision-making phenomenon - Expand the conspiracy Another common trait is the need to constantly expand the conspiracy as new evidence comes to light. An example of this is the climate change conspiracy theory which states that the climate changes are not...
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...relationships whereby, one and one’s community establish identity; knowledge of self and others, knowledge of the world and how we are to be in the world, and what various versions of those worlds mean to ‘us’ and ‘them’” (Malloy, 2011). Every individual person represents a culture of their own within the society they live in. Jack Weatherford estimates that “the globe stands divided into roughly two hundred independent countries or states, but these contain somewhere around five thousand different nations or ethnic groups” (1994, p.226). With so many different cultures out there, people of a particular society cling to their culture and hold to it with extreme importance. Even through times of modernity that pushed for a world culture, the number of different cultures did not homogenize and mesh together. On the contrary “ethnic and cultural identities grew stronger…and accentuated differences to become more varied than ever” (Weatherford, 1994, p.8). Cultural anthropology studies that behavior and the relationships between people within a culture. Those people who are outside of a particular culture are considered ‘the other’. Cultural anthropology is the study of this ‘other’ in relation to what is familiar. That which is different to us is intriguing and enticing. Through all of the differences however, culture is what truly matters in the lives of all people. Culture reflects what we...
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