Thoughts

1. Ralph Waldo Emerson once penned these words (or something close to it): “Do not say things. What you are stands over you the while and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” In other words, a person’s actions will tell much more about her than her words. We know others by their courage or their cowardice, by their diligence or their idleness, and by their kindness or their cruelty. Interestingly enough, we find we are inspired by the courageous, diligent, and kind of heart; and yet turned away by the cowardly, idle, and cruel. Why is this true? I believe it is because we see something in the former that we seek for ourselves. We want to become more than we are, and when we see others who personify that dream, we are moved to action. 2. The word character originally referred to the mark that was fashioned by an engraving tool; specifically, the mark you found on a coin. This is a telling definition, because it implies that the qualities that make us who we...

When you see someone smile, it’s often easy to tell whether that person is genuinely happy, or whether she simply wishes to look the part. Her countenance allows you to peer into her heart, and often, you find that her feelings are contagious. A joyous person ignites that same joy in those around her, while one who is sorrowful can spread that sorrow just as easily. Oddly enough, the same is true of writing. A person’s writing allows you access to her soul. From it, you find whether she is truly passionate about her topic, or whether she simply wishes to get by. The irony is that the person who wishes to get by can use the most flowery language and turn the most beautiful phrases; and yet the simple writer will be still more influential, more impressive, more moving, all because her conviction says more than her words alone. Like other art forms, in fact, writing is a kind of self-expression. It gives the reader a glimpse into the mind—and perhaps more importantly—the heart of...

When my parents gave me a cell phone in 1997, I was skeptical. Whether it was because I'm slow to accept change, skeptical of things I don't understand, I heard about the risks, or for all of these reasons, I didn't embrace the technology easily. I would use my new phone sparingly. Since then, there have been numerous studies about the safety and dangers of cell phone use, whether from radiation exposure or from distracted walking and driving. My students this week debate on this issue. Here is some of what I found: Researchers in a 2008 Ohio State University study compared pedestrians who walked with no technology, those who walked while listening to i-pods, and those who walked while talking on cell phones. They found that those who walked while talking on cell phones were more likely to walk into oncoming traffic than the other two groups (1). More recently, computer science researchers at Dartmouth University and the University of Bologna created an Android sma...

In the 1950’s, one man, named Erik Erickson, theorized that humans go through eight stages of development that will determine their identities. In each stage, a person faces what he called a “crisis” that must be resolved, or else problems will occur later in life. 1. Trust versus Mistrust (experienced in infancy): An infant must find whether he or she can trust his or her mother and environment. If the child can’t, he or she may not be able to form healthy relationships with others, or even themselves. 2. Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (experienced as a toddler): In this stage, a toddler tries to become independent from his or her caregiver. If parents don’t give the child boundaries and choices, he or she will feel shame and doubt (likely because he or she is so dependent on the caregiver). 3. Initiative versus Guilt (experienced from ages 3-6): A child plans and executes his or her own goals and sets his or her own boundaries (like deciding to cross a street on his or ...

Even though some of our relationships are not as peaceful or nice as we would like them to be, we still need relationships (and other people) in general. One man who recognized this need placed it in what is called a “hierarchy of needs.” This man, Abraham Maslow, wrote a book in 1943 in which he described what he believed were all the main needs that we have as humans. Physiological: The most basic needs we have, he recognized, were the basic life needs (food, water, shelter, sleep, etc.). Generally, if these needs aren’t met, the other needs are not important. If someone is hungry, he devotes his attention to getting food. Safety: After we realize this need, our next most important need is the need for safety. Humans, he says, want a predictable, orderly world where they are physically and emotionally safe. This might mean living in a safe neighborhood, holding a steady job, and living in a safe family environment. If our need for safety is not satisfied, the higher needs are...

Psychologists and others have studied ways in which we compare ourselves to each other. One man named Leon Festinger argued that we tend to compare ourselves to other people when we don’t know how good or bad we are at something (like football or playing the guitar). One way we do this is when we compare ourselves to those who are not as good as we are, to protect our self-esteem (called “downward social comparison;” example: we’re playing basketball and miss most of our shots, but we feel okay because a teammate wasn’t even given the ball). Another comparison we make is when we compare ourselves to others who are doing much better than we are (called “upward social comparison”). When we see others who appear to be doing better than we are, we can respond by trying to improve ourselves, or by trying to protect ourselves by telling ourselves it’s not that important. There was a study published in 1953 by Solomon Asch, who asked students to take part in a “vision test.” The par...

Ask what the cause of many diseases is (germs, bacteria, viruses). Only recently have we found that small organisms cause disease. Before this, physicians and others were unaware of these organisms. Still, they had to try to explain the cause of sickness. They did this by pointing to what were called “humors.” Physicians in the 1700s and 1800s believed that disease and sickness was caused by an imbalance in what were called “humors” of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile). It was crucial, some believed, that the body remained balanced; so it was important, for instance, that we not become too cold or hot, too wet or dry. If we did, our humors would be out of balance, and we could get sick. Colds, for example, were a result of too much phlegm, and throwing up a result of too much bile. If you were sick, essentially, your humors were out of balance. To restore this balance, many physicians would practice what was called “bloodletting.” They would cause a patient to bleed so ...

Roman soldiers were trained in such a way as to have a strategic advantage over their enemies. The typical military unit in the Roman army was called a legion, which consisted of about 6,000 soldiers at full strength. When approaching an enemy in battle, the infantry would create three lines of soldiers, each with gaps between the lines; in front of these gaps would be a solid line of soldiers called velites. As they neared their enemy, these velites would throw their javelins and retreat through the gaps in the lines of their fellow soldiers. The first line would then fill in the gaps to create a solid line. When the enemy came closer, this solid line of soldiers would charge. Once this initial skirmishing occurred, the heavy infantry would engage the enemy. They would throw their pila (javelin-like weapons), then pull their swords and attack. Because the army was set up in lines, one line would attack at a time. If it was being defeated, it would fall back and another would take its ...

I've made some significant mistakes this year with my leadership class, especially when it comes to record-keeping (I'm not very good at that). One of the mistakes I didn't foresee happened a few weeks ago. My student council and leadership class hosted a school "dance" for third- through fifth-grade students. Since I'd always called the seventh- and eighth-grade dances by the same name, I didn't think much of naming this one any differently. You can imagine, though, what parents began to think when I started advertising a "dance" for third- through fifth-grade kids. A number of them thought it meant the kids would be dancing with one another in a romantic manner. Instead, it involved an array of games and lots of music that allowed the kids to dance on their own. I'd heard that a few parents boycotted the dance because they thought there would be boy-girl dancing. It just goes to show that intentions and appearances can be two very differe...