Media Alert

In each module, we try incorporating video, book, music, gaming, or movie media into our topics. I have collected a small list of available media for students to preview. Some items are free, and some require a streaming service subscription. Please review the ones you can, or if you know of another one that fits our topic, I would love to have it offered. 

Our Objectives for this activity: 

These videos do not reflect the entire culture. Sometimes, I tried to find the most extreme versions to push our boundaries.

An (S) symbol will indicate material added by students. If you have one you would like me to add, message me or add it to any of your initial posts or replies.

Human Nature

"Nature hath made men so equal in the faculties­ of the body and mind, as that, though there be found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body or of quicker mind than another, yet when all is reckoned together the difference between man and man is not so considerable as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he. For, as to the strength of body, the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination or by confederacy with others that are in the same danger with himself...From this equality of ability ariseth equality of hope in the attaining of our ends. And therefore, if any two men desire the same thing which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and, in the way to their end, which is principally their own conservation and sometimes their delectation only, endeavour to destroy or subdue one another." ~Excerpts from "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes

Here’s a modern vernacular translation of that excerpt: (Note: Modern AI Systems remove the seriousness of Hobbes's ideas, being in Hobbes's book, he is very serious that man will MURDER man without mercy if they are in survivor mode. The below-modernized version removes the lethal impact of Hobbes's words.)

"Nature has made people pretty equal in body and mind. Even if one person is obviously stronger or smarter than another, when you consider everything, the differences between people aren’t significant enough for someone to claim they deserve something that someone else can’t also claim. As for physical strength, even the weakest person can find a way to defeat the strongest, either through clever tricks or by teaming up with others in the same situation. From this equal ability comes an equal chance of achieving our goals. So, if two people want the same thing that they can’t both have, they become enemies. In pursuit of what they want, which is mainly for their own survival and sometimes just for pleasure, they try to destroy or overpower each other."

Biracial

Rebecca Hall's Brief But Spectacular take on ‘Passing’ and racial identity (4 mins, YouTube)

Chinese


Gen Z meets Beethoven

India


Philippines


Science meets Nature


Virtual Reality? 

=======