chapter 11 - post 3

I do agree with McLuhan in that television is a cool medium. T.V. seems to provide enough of an image to paint a picture. Since television is not a direct interaction with the person, there are key things that are left out of the encounter. When people are face to face, there are qualities that are more noticable than if you were to watch them on T.V. This leaves room for personal interpretation. This is where things get tricky. Since everyone interprets things differntly, many different opinions can be formed. Logic plays a key role because if a person knows how to properly fill in those blanks to their advantage, then they can be viewed in a postive light. I never realized how tricky T.V. actually is!

chapter 11 - post 2

The concept that I found to be very interesting in this chapter was the idea of selective listening of the reciever. I never really thought about it, but it is true that we all interpret the same information differently. It made me curious about whether different cultures gather different information from the sender also. It would be interesting to do a study where people from different cultures each watched the same commercial, and then explained what they got out of it. That sort of information would greatly benefit advertisement agencies. Many companies spend millions of dollars to sell their product, but it the reciever of the information is not able to interpret the information the way that the company had intended, then it's a huge waste of money.

chapter 11 - post 1

I personally have not had friendship that was formed exclusively in cyber space, but I have had many friendship that have developed because if the internet. Recently a friend of mine from middle school found me on facebook. We hadn't been in contact for over 10 years, and in the mean time, our lives had completely changed. The internet really made it easy for us to get to know each other better. The best and worst thing about the internet is that people usually discard much more personal information. I learned so much more about my friend in a very short amount of time. While chatting online, I feel like people are able to create an alter ego. They have time to think about what they want to say before they say it, and are able to delete or change words around however they like. For me, it is very difficult to talk face to face about personal issues, but online, I don't have the fear of a reaction. I mean, if worst comes to worst I can always log out. For the first month that my friend and I were reunited, it was great. We were learning so much about each other and finally set up a time to meet in person. When we finally met up, it was very awkward. The conversation did not flow as easily as it did online, and the topics that we discussed were very general. Body language was also an issue. It was very awkward to make eye contact. It's funny, because I had learned so much about my friend during the previous month, but it was as if I was meeting a stranger for the first time. The tone of a persons voice gives different meanings to what they say, so while something may be a joke online to one person, it is a serious matter to the other. I personally have no formed a cyber relationship for this reason. In my opinion, you aren't able to fully know a person until you spend time this them in real life. You may be able to gather a great amount of information about who they are trying to be, but until you spend a large amount of time with them, and are able to form your own opinion of who they are, you don't know them very well.

chapter 8 - post 3

I really enjoyed all of the information about interviewing in this chapter! I feel like it is a topic that is never really covered in school and should be! I have learned most of the information over the years, but it was nice to hear exactly what to do. I personally would love to take a class that teaches how to be better at interviewing. It was also nice to see the list of typical interview questions. A list like the one provided would be very useful while preping for an interview. In interviews, I am often thrown off by the questions, and end up answering with ridiculous answers. It's frustrating because by being thrown off, I am not able to "sell" myself to the best of my ability. I usually walk out of the interview asking "why didn't I mention...". Many of my skills and qualifications are not expressed because of my nerves! This chapter really gave me a heads up on how to relax a little more. I plan on keeping this book and looking over this chapter before my next interview!

chapter 8 - post 2

In my opinion, the environment that an organization is placed within, plays a huge role in determining the success of the organization. SJSU is a key example of this idea. San Jose is known for being a technologically advanced city that embraces diversity. I think that this image is also seen through out our campus. When I was applying to SJSU I remember being blown away by how many majors they had to offer. I was also very happy to see that SJSU embraced cultural diversity.

Since SJSU has been around for over a hundred years, it is almost as if the environment has adapted around the University, rather than the University having to adapt to the environment. Over the years, restaraunts, shops and housing facilities have poped up within the city. Some people may view this as a negative thing because something was lost with the construction of such sites. On the other hand, San Jose has been a thriving city for so many years that it seems as if the city fully supports the idea of providing more for the students on campus.

I recently heard that there has been talk of transforming SJSU into a UC. The only reason why it is supposively unable to happen is because there is not enough room to expand the school. If the school was to expand, and chose to tear down buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years, then there might be some ethical problems. Overall, the organization should support the ideas of the city, and the city should be represented through the organization.

chapter 8 - post 1

Many of the etiquette rules listed in the chapter have annoyed me at one point or another. The rule that I see broken most often is the rule about privacy and cell phones. The other day I was target and I overheard someone talking on the cell phone very loudly about a friend sleeping with someone else. It not only made me feel uncomfortable, but also caused me to view the woman on the phone in a negative way. A few months ago I also encountered a cell phone issue. I was at a movie theater and was in the middle of watching a film when I heard a cell phone buzz. Even when phones are on vibrate, they still are distracting. If that wasn't bad enough, the woman decided that it was an intelligent idea to answer the phone and have a conversation during the movie. The entire theater turned around and looked at her like she was crazy, but she carried on like nothing was wrong.

Another rule that I see broken quite often is the answering machine rule. I hate when I call people and they have a very annoying ringback tone. I also get annoyed when I call someone for the first time and they don't include there name in their voicemail message. It bugs me because I never know if I have the right phone number, or if I am leaving a voicemail with a random stranger. I have to admit that I am guilty of having a random ringback tone, and do get embarrased when someone important calls. I know I should fix it but I don't know how to make it go back to a normal ringtone now :o(

As for call waiting, I think this issue depends on the circumstances. For example, if I was just shooting the breeze with my mom and someone very important called on the other line, then I would put her on hold. In contrast, if I was on the phone with someone very important, and someone else very important called, I would think it would be rude to click over so I would just call the other person back. Luckily, not too many important people are in contact with me so I haven't had any major issues with call waiting :o) I do get frustrated when I am put on hold for a long time though, so I try to be respectful by not doing that to people.

chapter 6 - post 3

In this chapter, I found the concept regarding "tests" to be very interesting. I never realized it, but it is something that always happens in relationships. I know that I am personally guilty of performing all of the tests listed in the text. I also realize that when a person crosses the line or is not on the same level as their partner, then it can totally mess up a relationship. For example, if I was to perform the seperation test, and my partner became very serious and told me that he wanted to spend every second with me for the rest of my life, and I wasn't ready for that sort of response, then it would scare me away. In contrast, if I was to perform the jealousy test and my partner didn't seem to mind me flirting with other people, then I would think he didn't care about me enough. It is very difficult to find someone who can give you the response you are searching for, and it is also difficult to understand how to respond to such tests. This is the aspect of dating that I hate. I wish that people could just say how they feel rather than having to guess what their partner wants them to say. It's a very frustrating game that I hope to understand better one day.

chapter 6 - post 2

In my opinion, the pattern that would be the most difficult to change would be rigid complementary. The reason why this patter would be so difficult to change is because both parties have to agree upon changing. If one person chooses to stop being the dominant one, and the other person doesn't agree to step up and fill that role then there may be issues. I also think that this pattern would be the most damaging to a relationship. I know that I personally would get tired of being in control all the time. On the other hand, there are certain areas where I would like to have total control. I would like my partner to share the "control" roll with me so I wouldn't get bored in my position. The pattern that is most damaging to a persons self esteem would be competitive symmetry. I deal with this pattern everyday. At first the pattern motivates me, but if I don't end up on top of the situation, then I feel like a failure. Since it is impossible to be the best at everything, I tend to get very discouraged. After a while of never ending up on top, it starts to kill your self esteem.

chapter 6 - post 1

After reading about the filtering theory, I now realize that smooth interaction cues are what attract me to other individuals. I tend to be very shy while meeting someone new, and if I have an easy time talking to a person, I tend to feel more comfortable. Most of the people who I end up being romantic with usually are able to unintentionally motivate me to speak or laugh. In my opinion, preinteraction cues are not as important. I keep an open mind about everyone and try not to make judgements about physical features. On the other hand, when men display specific personality traits that I dislike, then I typically form an opinion about them. For example, if I was to walk down the street and someone was to yell out there window at me, then I would not be interested in them romantically because their action was disrespectful in my opinion. Incidental cues are important because it is very difficult to form a relationship with someone you can never talk to, and almost impossible to have no interaction with someone you see 13 hours a day. I do believe that it is possible to make a relationship involving distance work, but it is very difficult to do.