Nial Ferguson's TED Talk

Niall Ferguson asserts the several factods leading to the success of the West in comparison to the rest of the world. The six major “apps” (factors) that led to this Western domination are scientific revolution, property rights, modern medicine, consumer society, and work ethic. I agree with Ferguson when he mentioned that the list of these 6 factors were unable to be condensed, since they all played a powerful role in the the West becoming powerful. I also agree with him in that it was not geography that lead to this domination, since geography has nothing to do with the ideas developed within a region. I also found it convincing that a reconvergence will occur once these non-western powers obtain the six killer apps to step back into the competition. This will be interesting since it may greatly affect our economy since materials from China are bought because labor there is cheap. Once Chinese laborers get to the point where they are paid just as much as American workers, our debt might become much more difficult to pay off.

Fabian Fucan's Attack on Christianity

Discuss the various religious, cultural, historical, political, and social aspects of Fabian Fucan's attack on Christianity

Fabian Fucan uses various religious, cultural, historical, political, and social aspects in order to carry out his attack on Christianity. Fucan mentions how Christianity is trying to get rid of "The Law of Buddha" in Japan, which is evident of his religious aspect of the attack. In the social aspect of his attack on Christianity, Fucan mentions how Christianity will cause the destruction of the social structure in Japan. Additionally, Fucan goes on to mention that politically that Christian countries are taking over lands in Mexico/Central America. Furthermore, Fucan also mentions how Christianity prohibits murder, which is contradictory to the religion since killing people happened while conquering other lands. Culturally, Fucan mentions how Christianity is bringing down Japanese culture. Overall, Fucan asserts many points that suggests his attack on the religion.

Page 710 Response

On the basis of Equiano's account, what measures did the crews of slave ships take to ensure maximum profits from their business of transporting human cargoes?

The crews of the slave ships would go very far in order to maximize profits from their business of transporting human cargoes. For example, they would whip slaves that would not eat food - this would ensure they remained strong. Slaves would also be chained so that they were unable to commit suicide. Basically, both these methods were meant to keep slaves alive and attempted to maximize profits.

DBQ Reaction

This was probably the hardest essay in my opinion. It was probably because I did not carefully review the directions before coming in on class friday to take it. However, I was uncertain as to if I was getting points or not when I was writing. The time limit was also very constraining so that was another issue; it was difficult to write 3 well developed body paragraphs without going over the time limit. I think with practice I should be able to handle it however.

Promotional Videos

I would assess a promotional video on the basis of the information it provides and the time in which it is give. Information is the most important in a promotional video, so you actually know what you are doing or buying. However, information should not be too detailed or specific and should just underline the main idea of the subject being advertised. Next is the way in which it is given - and by that I mean how this information is displayed. Is it just a dull a boring promotional video that lacks enthusiasm? Or a video that shows people speaking with confidence. Another important thing to some people might be comedy - it sure does grab a lot of attention, but personally, it would not affect my decision on doing or buying something. The time is the next most important thing next to information, are the advertisers spending 10 or 2 minutes? A video too long or short would be bad.

Personally - I really liked Aman and Hiren's promotional video the most. They displayed a concise, confident, and informative presentation that did not stray away from the main idea of the video.

Overall I believe the two main factors that alter my perspective would be time and information given, although too much information is bad. 

Lies My Teachers Told Me - Christopher Columbus

I find Loewen's argument convincing for many reasons. First off I do not buy the fact that textbooks are trying to sympathize with Columbus. This is due to the fact that the textbooks remain very factual for the most part, and do not show any biased opinions. Bentley and Ziegler do a good job of presenting Columbus since they show how he influenced global trade. Most textbooks ignore the fact that other explorers such as the Vikings may have reached Newfoundland America before Columbus did. The bias of many textbook is evident because they leave out the fact that ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians sailed around Africa and traded with the Canary islands before any other European explorer might have. However I do like how Bentley and Ziegler portray Columbus, because they are not as biased as most textbooks and they do mention the impacts of Columbus's voyage that were unintentional and intentional.