Daily Question #1

Q: You accidentally discover an invention that can immediately help millions of people; but only if you act immediately. On the other hand, if you just wait three months, you can secure a patent and get rich. Which do you choose and why?

A: I would choose to help millions of people immediately because it is the right thing to do. This would advance people and civilizations to have better technology and health care. There would be relief in Haiti and more advanced technology in third-world countries. The less developed countries would be just as developed as the Great Eight. The Great Eight is a group of the eight most developed countries in the world. The countries would work together to make more advancements in the world to better all of society.

What is history?

Q: What is history? Which theory of history is the most beneficial?
A: History is made up of many subjects and events, and can have many different definitions and meanings. History is defined as “the continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future” (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). Basically, what this quote is trying to explain to people searching for historical information is that history is the continuation of events that are happening in chronological order. History is also defined as a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes” (http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/02088/introduction.htm). In other words, history is made up of all different events, small or large; significant and minor, that happened in the past and could still affect the people of today and the people of tomorrow positively and negatively. History is made up of people’s true stories of the past, as well as stories of the well-known empires and civilizations, such as ancient Rome, Greece, and England and the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas, that people read about and can experience fully and in detail in a textbook, on the computer, or on the news. “The author Jared Diamond, in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, stressed that geography determined the destinies of civilizations and the history as a whole,” (http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/02088/introduction.htm). The meaning of this quote explains to people that geography can determine history completely as a whole. Geography can have various effects on history by changing events and in some cases changing cultures over time. This is somewhat true because if you have good, fertile land, like the Fertile Crescent, then you will have a prosperous civilization such as, Greece and Rome, and with a prosperous civilization comes technological advancements such as, writing, paper money, automobiles, mathematics, computers, and cell phones, and when the people who live in that village or city have technological advancements, that civilization becomes a bigger, more involved part of history. Geography can also affect history in negative, unproductive ways. People trying to start a civilization in a barren land, such as a desert land, will find it hard to prosper and thrive because no crops will grow and there is no water source for the people and animals that must be domesticated to have a prosperous civilization. Technology advancements could be slow or minimal, if existent at all in these countries, villages, or civilizations. These areas may be poverty stricken and take much more time to develop than the area where geography has helped the civilization, people, animals, and crops flourish and thrive.
The best theory of history is the Linear theory of history because it is the easiest theory for modern day people to understand and take valuable information from. The Linear theory of history also helps the person gathering information about a certain place, such as ancient Rome, Greece, England, and civilizations such as, the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas; narrow the information down to not just the history of Rome, but a certain part or certain people from Rome. The Linear theory of history gives the person trying to find information every aspect of the place’s history; it gives them the government of the country, city, village, or civilization, the background of the people that reside in those places, the important, notable people that came from that country, city, or village, the crops and goods produced there, and the geographical state of the country or civilization. The Linear theory of history lays every piece of information, and even pictures, out for the person or people conducting the research to gain a better understanding of history. Linear comes from the Latin word, linearis, which is translated into created by lines. A person can simply look at a timeline and see all of the events that happened in history in chronological order. Linear history lays everything out so people can access the information they are looking for more quickly.

The Linear theory of history is a better theory of history than the Cyclical theory of history, the Hegelian theory of history, and the Vortextual theory of history for many reasons. The Cyclical theory of history is defined as “a doctrine that all events occur in cycles that are more or less alike” (http://frank.mtsu.edu/~nboone/theoryhistory.pdf). This basically means that throughout history events will continue to repeat themselves in cycles. The Hegelian theory of history is defined as “the monist, idealist philosophy of Hegel in which the dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis is used as an analytic tool in order to approach a higher unity or a new thesis,” (http://www.answers.com/topic/hegelianism). The quote is basically saying that you have a thesis, an antithesis, and a synthesis. One event leads to another event and so forth. The Hegelian theory of history is based on behavior and relationships of varied cultures and how these factors have affected history. The Vortextual theory of history resembles a vortex starting with a large event such as, the Renaissance age, and then moves down to smaller events such as, the Dark ages. The Linear theory of history is better than the Cyclical theory of history, the Hegelian theory of history and the Vortextual theory of history because it is much easier to understand and tells the person looking at the timeline the specific events that happened with additional information on each event, while the Cyclical theory of history, the Hegelian theory of history and the Vortextual theory of history do not lay any information out, in a clear picture and can be more confusing for the person or people trying to use the Vortextual, Cyclical, and Hegelian theories of history to conduct research instead of the Linear theory of history. The theory of Cyclical history, the theory of Hegelian history, and the theory of Vortextual history are exceptional ways to gather information about history, but the Linear theory of history is the most helpful theory while trying to gather information on certain events, people, empires, and civilizations in history.

Is Change good or bad?

Q: Is 'Change' a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?
A: Change can mean “an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another” (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). This basically means that change is when someone or something makes someone else or something else different, for the better or for the worse. Change is also defined as “to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/change). This definition of change is telling the reader that change makes many things, such as humans, animals, nature, and the future course, different. This is true because most humans, animals, plants, ecosystems, and the future course have experienced change or will experience change. Humans experience change every day. You can change many things about your life such as, your friends, your clothes, your appearance, your mind, your outlook on life, other people, the world, yourself, and the way people interact with each other. Some changes you make effect your future course such as, changing jobs, changing your mind, and changing colleges just to name a few. These changes can affect a person’s future course positively and negatively. A person can change his or her mind about a relationship and their future would be completely different from what it could have been. Some decisions that parents make for their children can change their child’s entire future; the environment that they live in, the type of school they attend, the activities they are allowed to participate in, and the type of friends they are allowed to associate with. All of these decisions can change a child’s development and can also change their life’s path. Animals also experience change; from evolution to habitats. Animals have evolved into what they are today and are still evolving. They can change from living in water to evolve and live on land. Birds must fly south for the winter because of the cold climates in the north. They have to find a new habitat in the south to stay at until spring comes in the north and the north is warm enough for the birds. Ecosystems change by trees being cut down, water being polluted, and the country side being urbanized. All three of these examples also affect change in animals. If the trees animals live in are being cut down, the water animals live in is being polluted, and the country sides where animals live are being urbanized, than the animals will either die or have to find a new place to live. Nature goes through changes every couple of months. The seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall, are the main change for nature. Winter, when everything is dying, changes to spring, when everything is being born again. Spring changes into summer, when it is very hot and humid. Summer then changes into fall, when the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees and the weather is getting cooler. Finally, fall changes into winter, when everything is dead. The future course can be changed by simple decisions such as, changing your route to work to a more dangerous short cut, or very large decisions such as, changing your college career which leads to changes in your work environment. Change is constant, and you can always count on change to help or hurt a situation.
Change can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Most people are afraid of change because they think it can only lead to trouble and unfortunate events. Other people are afraid of change because they like to keep things the way they are; people like their own comfort zone and do not want that comfort zone to change or be tested. If people could learn to accept change they would teach themselves how to prepare to adjust to change. Change would become a positive, accepted occurrence, and may even become something they would look forward to. As we look back over time, we can identify many positive changes throughout history. Change can be a good thing. Taking away segregation and giving African Americans and women the rights they deserve helped make America a more equal place to live in. Laws have changed over time to adjust to out changing world. These changes have in some cases, improved the law and in some cases have brought as negative impact. Change can help people realize their full potential. Someone can look at change from a negative perspective, but have change end up helping them by testing their limits and making the person step out of his or her comfort zone to experience something new and different. Change pushes a person to work harder and by working harder, the person learns more about themselves, the environment they live in, and the other people around them. The person will see things they have never seen before because of the change taking place in their life. Change can also be a bad thing, though. Change sometimes moves to fast for a person to keep up with and the person does not know how to handle the situation. Some people become frustrated and respond to change in a negative, unproductive way that affects their life very badly. If a person is constantly experiencing change, they will need to adapt to the change and find a way to adjust to it. Most people like things to stay the way they are because they are used to the mundane, average lifestyle that they have come to know. When people think odd or unusual thoughts, they do not act the way they are expected to, or they do not live the way others around them think they should, every person they know is experiencing change; a change that other people think is wrong, but could turn out to be beneficial to themselves and others in the end. I believe change can be both good and bad, depending on the person, circumstance, and environment.

Significance of megaliths

A megalith is a prehistoric memorial consisting of a large stone. It comes from the Greek words 'megas' meaning great and 'lithos' meaning stone. Megaliths have been found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America. These structures are found all over the world and are believed to be dated from the Christian era to the Medieval era. These were mostly found in western Europe. Megaliths can help us understand the history of a certain place and culture of that people. Historians can study megaliths and see how a certain place was run and how that civilization worked. They can also see how the people interacted with each other and what kind of traditions those people had. We can also see the type of religion the people followed, polytheism, monotheism, or atheism, and branch deeper into that type. We can look at megaliths and understand most of that civilization.

Significance of the rise of agriculture

The rise of agriculture is significant because agriculture made great advancements in society. After the hunter-gatherers realized that farming farming was easier and required less moving they created small villages and farms to live on permanently. From these small villages grew larger cities and more technological advancements. Using animals to lighten a person's workload on the farm by domesticating them was another advancement. Only replanting seeds from the biggest and healthiest crops made farming easier and more prosperous for the entire village. This helped stop diseases and keep the people in the village healthy. In around 5500 B.C. in Europe wheat and barley from the East were being cultivated. This moved gradually toward western Europe. In 3000 B.C. the ox-drawn plow begins to significantly advance Europe's agriculture. When people realized that they did not have to follow animals to find food they had more time to focus on medical and technological advancements.

John Story

1. John, the strongest kid in school, does not tie his shoes.
2. John picks on the other kids.
3. John chases the kids, but slips out of his shoe.
4. John falls, rolling down the biggest hill in town.
5. John has to go to the emergency room because of his injuries.
6. John does not bully anymore kids and always ties his shoes.