Your Devices Are Listening to You

As I was reading the long article "Smart talking: are our devices threatening our privacy?" it became obvious to me that devices listening and recording everything you say was not very well known to most people.  Maybe because everyone does not understand exactly how their products work, but it makes sense they are always listening because the amazon echo would always have to listen for voice commands to work.  As people are concerned about their privacy so much, would it really be that hard to give up a voice command speaker for the sake of their privacy?

People seemingly are now just realizing that everything that they are doing is being recorded, but this has been done for a long time.  Websites use cookies to track down all your activity, which is mainly used to target ads in which you would be interested in.  Many apps on your phone will say that they take records of many things which is said in the terms of service agreement that no one reads.  Its not really all that surprising that almost everything we do on our electronics are recorded, and possibly seen by the government, but what are your thoughts on the privacy issue?

-Josh Fernandez

Are Naps Beneficial or Harmful to Our Health?

     An interesting debate that came up as I was scrolling through Room For Debate was "To Nap or Not to Nap" and discussed whether or not napping is beneficial to our health. Debater Jerome Siegel argues that a nap isn't always the best choice and when people oversleep they tend to have less of a lifespan than people who lose sleep. He also explains that you may nap when you want, but take into consideration of the possibility of getting too much sleep.
     Jerome Siegel makes a good point, yet I still agree with Sarah C. Mednick and her argument that naps are great for us. She states that naps enhance visual, motor, and verbal skills while caffeine decreases two out of three of those: verbal and motor skills. That goes to show that naps work better than coffee does!
     Personally, I love taking naps every now and then because they can leave you feeling more refreshed and awake once you wake up. The things we do throughout the day can sometimes just be so draining, and naps allow you to cool down, relax, and wake up feeling much more alive.
                                                                                                          -Brooke Wiersema

Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?

     One of the debates that I read on Room for Debate was "Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug" and many people have different opinions on the topic. One of the debaters, Ethan Nadelmann argues that marijuana isn't actually a gateway drug because the vast majority of people who used marijuana don't ever try any other hardcore drugs. On the other hand, Robert L. Dupont argues that marijuana is proven to be a gateway drug. He explains that nearly all heroin users used to and are still doing marijuana and that someone who uses marijuana is three times more likely to use heroin.
    Personally, I don't view marijuana as a gateway drug because of the fact that many people who do use it don't ever start using harder drugs and that many marijuana users only ever use it on occasion. However, I do believe that people who are easily susceptible to addiction can easily become heavy marijuana users and eventually move on to harder things, so for certain people it may pose a threat and they should definitely avoid the drug. What are your ideas on the topic? Do you believe that marijuana is or isn't a gateway drug?
                                                         -Brooke Wiersema

Should hackers help the FBI?

A very controversial topic I spotted on room for debate was one titled "Should Hackers Help the FBI". This debate was sparked due to the tragic San Bernardino shooting that occurred in 2016. When the FBI obtained one of the shooters phone it turned out to be an iPhone. As we all know iPhones are notoriously reputable for having a strong security system, thus the FBI struggled to unlock the iPhone. They pleaded Apple for help, but when they refused to assist them, the FBI turned their attention to hackers.

When the hackers were successfully able to open the iPhone this posed a new threat to apple, but a new light was shun to hackers. A vast amount of people mask all hackers to be some sort of evil figure, however many of them aren't. Under the public's façade for hackers, most want to utilize their special talent for good.

According to debater, Katie Moussouris, a hacker uncovered security holes in a hospitals medical pumps alluding to an unprecedented recall of the device by the  USA's FDA. In fact a program has been implemented for hacker's called "Hack the Pentagon". Essentially the program incentivizes hackers to find any flaws in their systems and they are rewarded with cash.

Overall I believe it is a great idea for hackers to help the FBI. Hackers will be able to demonstrate their talent while doing it for a good cause. In addition it can possibly create more jobs for tech savvy people.
-Bryan Mijangos

Using Migrants for Interest

While reading one of the long reads about how the media framed the way we see the migrant crisis, the article mentioned an interesting point about journalists that get migrant stories. The refugees' words are left up to the interpretation of the reporter. The reporter can make it as dramatic or falsified as he/she wants and no one would ever know. There is a higher risk of this happening because of the interest in depressing stories of hardship and despair. It's almost like these migrant's stories are being glamorized in a way for the audience to empathize and make steps towards taking action. I suppose the end result is beneficial for the betterment of the migrant situation but this begs the question of whether or not this is ethical. It is also worth noting that this article focuses on the migrant situation of Europe but does this apply in the United States?

The Downsides of Mandatory Foreign Language

At Princeton University there is a proposal to make foreign language apart of their general education classes, which would require all students to take a foreign language. This would still be the case if said student was already fluent in another language. I find this to be problematic for numerous reasons. First off, the notion that language has to be taught in schools is a flawed idea. Many people learn nothing or very little from their time in a foreign language class because the way this country teaches languages is all wrong. Very few people can learn a language by reading it and learning its grammar rules. Although I believe that learning another language is beneficial the state many need a reformed curriculum for foreign language or better yet they could teach a foreign language when students are very young and better equipped to take in the information. How could the curriculum be changed to make language an actual learning experience?

The Purpose of Brave New World

From some of the posts I've read on here(don't want to list specifics so it doesn't appear like I'm targeting anyone personally) regarding Brave New World it seems that some people are missing, what I think is, the actual point of the story.  This book isn't suppose to be a normal story which explains it's abrupt and arguably dissatisfying ending.  From my perspective, the point of the book was to simply give a glimpse of a possible future with a story being crafted to accompany that viewpoint.  In other words the story was only present to show off what our world could turn out like rather than being a traditional story where the "greater evil" is destroyed by the end of the book.  If you read some other novels that are in the same category as Brave New World then you'll see some similarities in what their focus for the story is.  For the most part a dystopian novel that acts as a prophecy will focus on an exaggerated aspect from the current time.  For Brave New World that aspect was the pursuit of happiness.  Other examples are in 1984(another dystopian novel) where the focus was on a "Big Brother" government where the government controls absolutely everything and Fahrenheit 451where the aspect is the absence of books and the lack of pursuit for knowledge/free thought.  If you read Fahrenheit 451 then you'd remember that that story also didn't have a fully fledged ending.  That was because the point of the book was to get you to imagine what it would be like if books were suddenly banned and the world was morphed around persecuting those who seek knowledge and want to go beyond the set borders of happiness put in place by that society.  1984 was written in a time where the scars of fascist and communist regimes, both totalitarian like the government in that book, were still visible.  Fahrenheit 451 was also written when the regimes of these ideologies were heavily prevalent and was inspired by how both of these governments destroyed books that contained any knowledge they viewed as "dangerous".  Brave New World was written as sort of an anthesis to 1984 where Huxley conveyed the idea that it wouldn't be an outside force that would subjugate the masses but a willingness expressed by the common folk who simply wanted to "be happy" after a devastating event(in the book it's the 9 year war which is meant to parallel the first World War, a lot of literature post-world wars was heavily pessimistic due to the results of the wars).  Notice how the main point of these books reflect the aspects of the time they were written.

What do you guys think the point of the book was? -Luis Mondragon