Week 16; Post 3

3). What did you learn over the course of the semester? Please give extensive detail.

Over the course of the semester, I learned many things. I really have a stronger grasp on how to handle conflict and what to do in a conflicting situation. I enjoyed the projects that we did. It was really beneficial to me to be able to try out the methods in my personal life. I also never would have know how I handled conflict without tracking my conflicts and tracking how they changed over a few weeks. One concept that I realized that I will use in any conflict situation is the S-TLC system. After learning about it, the steps to handling conflict made more sense. I think that the greatest thing that I learned this semester is how beneficial conflict is. Before, I thought that conflict was unnecessary and troublesome but now I see its benefits and I see how important it is to how people grow as individuals. I really learned a lot in this class.

Week 16; Post 2

2). Summarize what you liked most and what you liked least about this class.  In other words, what were the strengths and weaknesses of this class?  Would you recommend this class to other students?  Why or why not?

This class ran kind of hot and cold for me this semester. I really enjoyed the material and I really enjoyed the concepts but for some reason, I just have not been able to do well on the quizzes and tests. I have studied and read the material and done all of the assignments but for some reason, I just couldn’t get decent grades on any of the quizzes. I guess I can attribute that to senioritis. Other than that, I don’t know if I enjoyed the structure of how we did the posts. I have taken a lot of online classes and this was the first to use an outside blog source and the first to require such strict posting rules. The topics were enjoyable to write about but the fact that I work 3 jobs plus school full time made it hard to post them 12 hours apart when I normally just do all of my schoolwork on Wednesday and Sunday. I will definitely recommend this to other students because while it was tedious, it forced me to stay organized.

Week 16; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 16 in its entirety, answer the following question: Why do you think people have such negative views of conflict?  Do you think that as people know more about conflict, they fear it less?   Why or why not?

I think that people have negative view of conflict because they associate it with fighting and confrontation. Many people are afraid of what might happen when it comes to fighting and confrontation. They think that it will always end badly. These negative thoughts and emotions give conflict a negative connotation. I think that if people start to learn and know more about conflict they will definitely fear it less. If they are more knowledgeable about how conflict can help them and be beneficial to how you communicate. There is a lot to learn about conflict, but if you learn how to deal with conflict in a positive manner then it can help raise confidence and increase communication skills. Also, the more that you deal with conflict rather than avoiding it, the easier it will be to deal with it. I definitely think that the best thing for people to do is to learn more about conflict and maybe examine themselves and how they deal with conflict.

Week 11; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences

One topic that I found really interesting this week was the topic of Revenge. It is something that some people really have a desire to partake in and some people just don’t. Personally, I never really had any desire at all to participate or seek revenge on anyone. It is something that I just never really thought was worth my time. BUT I know tons of other people enjoy the aspect of getting revenge. One of the girls I coach for cheer came to practice not too long ago with a crazy story of fun teenage revenge. I guess one of the boys from school came and set fireworks off in her front lawn. It upset her parents and upset her. So both of her parents, a friend of hers, and her all climbed into her dad’s truck and set off to get their revenge. The found a road kill opossum scraped it off the ground with a shovel, drove it to the boy’s house and left it on the hood of his car. The next day everyone knew and everyone knew to not mess with her or her family. In this case, revenge is sweet, but I have seen too many times that it just causes too much hurt.

 

Week 11; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 12 in its entirety, answer the following question:  When have false attributions you have made about another exacerbated a conflict situation?  Have there been times when making accurate attributions about the other has helped you?

Chapter 12 is all about false attributions. According to the text, an attribution is “an inference made about the causes of another’s behavior.” That means a false attribution is a false assumption made about the reasons for someone else’s behavior and an accurate attribution is an assumption about the cause for someone’s behavior that ends up being true.

At one point, my manager at one of my jobs was being rude and was just difficult to work with. I kept thinking that it had to be because of something that I did or that she just had decided that she didn’t like me. I didn’t really know why either of those things would be true but it seemed like the only reasonable answer. It turned out that there was a new position opening up and the company was going to ask me to fill it. She was acting like that because she wanted the position and was upset that I got it over her even though I was technically below her on a hierarchy. This was a false attribution that I made.

An accurate attribution that I make often has to do with my boyfriend. He is generally a wonderful person to be around and does not like any type of confrontation, but every once in a while he gets upset and yells at me for little or no reason. When this happens, it means he is hungry. There has never been a time that I’ve been wrong about this, it is definitely an accurate attribution!!

Week 11; Post 1

1). Going back to Chapter 10, answer the following question:  Do an internet search using the terms forgiveness, reconciliation, and revenge.  What kids of sites do you find?  Which term produces more results?  Why do you think that is?

When I looked up Forgiveness I found “About 55,300,000 results.” There was everything from forgiveness in the encyclopedia, forgiveness and religion and forgiveness in psychology. The most common thing though was music videos for songs called Forgiveness.

Reconciliation got 51,900,000 results and all of the results were definitions, encyclopedia entries, and religious websites. It seems that most of every link that was not a definition or description of the word, was about reconciliation with religion. There was the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Reconciliation Ministry, and The Sacraments: Reconciliation.  

When looking up revenge, I found mostly links to the ABC show (amazing show). The first 3 pages of my 264,000,000 results were all about the definition and/or the show. Towards the end of the third page there was one video of a driver taking revenge on another driver…Other than that, nothing.

The term that produces the most results is Revenge. I think that is mostly due to its staggering results for the TV show and the use of revenge in video games (there was a ton of links to video game revenge ideas).  

Week 10; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

One topic that I really enjoyed this week was the concept of online communication. I have done some research in the past on online communication as nonverbal communication such as emails and instant messaging but now days, online communication is so much more. Less than ten years ago, there was tons of online communication. I definitely had two email addresses, 5 or so screen names to IM people, and a MySpace. Most communication was through written word like emails or IM’s or comments on a social media site and every once in a while, people would use a webcam. When I used to webcam with someone, It was mostly just looking at them and then IMing them. It was not common to use the microphone feature at all. Now days, we have access to all of those same technologies as well as new technology. All of these new technologies have taken nonverbal online communication to a whole different level, online communication is no longer mostly non-verbal. Skype, Facetime, and even Chat Roulette that use the internet to connect people nonverbally. I feel privileged to be a part of this era where people get to use so many different and new types of technology!

Week 10; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 10 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Is there an event in your life that you find difficult to forgive?  What is it?  What makes it so difficult to forgive the other person?  If you are not experiencing a difficult event now, describe a past event that you have found difficult to forgive.

I feel like this question can be directly related to the question we had a couple weeks ago about trust and if we ever found it difficult to trust someone again. I tend to always forgive people, especially for something that was completely an accident. One thing I always say is that I will forgive but will not forget. I have a great memory and I definitely use it. I always forgive people but if it they did something bad then it is hard to forget what they have done. For example (same example as my trust post), when I was younger, I had a boyfriend who cheated on me. I quickly forgave him but it was hard to forget what he had done. Every time he went out I was skeptical that he was doing something that he wasn’t supposed to. So while I forgave him, I lost a bit of trust in him.

Week 10; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 9 in its entirety, answer the following question:  If you are a member of a social networking website such as Facebook, think about the way you use it.  How do you present yourself?  What impressions do you hope people will get from reading your profile?  Have there been times people have posted something to your profile that you wished they hadn't?  How does this relate to conflict and communication?

Facebook is one of those things that people do not always think about before they use. People really just post whatever the feel like and do not realize that there might be consequences to what they say. I know that there are a lot of companies that check your Facebook when you apply for jobs, I have even heard of places going as far as handing you a computer at an interview and asking you to log in to your Facebook account so they can look at everything. When I use mine, I really make sure that I am being appropriate. I coach school age and high school sports where a lot of the girls that I coach want to be my Facebook friend or their parents do. So I really try to represent myself in a professional manner. I try to not swear (too much) and the most “inappropriate” thing that I will post will be a picture of me with an alcoholic drink…but never me drunk! I think this is because of years of cheering on a team in high school and at SJSU where online, I am representing my team so I learned at a young age to be “appropriate.” This relates to conflict and communication because Facebook is now a main form of communication in this world and having negative Facebook postings can create conflicts such as jobs not wanting to hire you. Also, things can be misinterpreted on Facebook and therefore make you look bad!

Week 9; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of managing stress in this chapter. Most of my life, I have been someone who allowed stress to get to me and really change my mood. When I was in 5^th grade, my mom started allowing me to take “personal days” where I stayed home from school to just take a break. As I got older, it got worse. The last guy that I dated was typically in a bad mood and his negativity stressed me out. I think that a lot of my stress stemmed from that.  He was older so I felt that I should look up to him and take what he did as an example of what I should do. I felt like since he was always negative, I shouldn’t have to “grow up” yet and that included reducing my stress or negativity. It was definitely a more teenage outlook. When we broke up, I took it upon myself to have a positive outlook. I started doing a lot of the things that the book suggested. I started saying no to things that would stress me out and not benefit me, I asked myself if I was happy and if I wasn’t I would look at how to be happier. Soon the effort helped me reduce a lot of the stress in my life!

Week 9; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 8 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Are you a person who tends to blow up, do you express your anger calmly, or do you simply not express it at all?  What are the outcomes of expressing anger in this way?

I have always been a mix when it comes to anger. There are some people that I can calmly express my anger to, but only in some situations. Typically, I express my anger about other people to my boyfriend or my mom. I have no problem telling them how I feel, but when it comes to being angry at one of them, I tend to hold it in until I blow up. I really put effort into this not happening. I always try to express as I get angry, even to them but sometimes I don’t want to deal with it, so I hold it in and do not express anything until I blow up. When this happens, I tend to get really emotional and so does the other person. In the end it causes more harm than good and I realize that I should have just addressed the situation when it first happened.

Week 9; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 7 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Look at your work and school commitments.  How might you apply each of the "three solutions" to improve how you feel about your job and school?

Each of the three solutions are designed to help us manage stress. The first solution is to approach each task with a positive attitude. If we feel like they are tasks that we want to complete, then we will not feel so negative about doing them. The second solution suggests that we treat work as a game. This way work is fun or more like play than work. The third and final solution is all about combining work with play. Instead of trying to turn your work into play, integrate it into play. When it comes to school, homework and tests are often a negative task for me, so I really do try to come at them with a positive attitude. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I have never been successful at turning homework or quizzes into games or play but I have had success integrating them into play. Mostly television. I have always worked better when I watch something that I enjoy while I do homework. This way, I can relax and enjoy my time but also get work done. In some ways this makes it hard because it takes me a lot longer because I am distracted, but I tend to be less stressed in the end.

When it comes to my job, I do not really get stressed because I am currently working as a coach and typically, my work is play.

Week 7; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

One concept that truly stood out to me this week was the concept of Unhealthy Trust. Unhealthy trust is being too trusting in others. People who are too trusting can be gullible and believe outrageous things that others say. I thought that it was really interesting that there is actually a name for this! All my life, I always find it unhealthy for many people (usually girls) to just trust everyone and everything that people say. It makes people come off as stupid a lot of the time because being that gullible means that you typically aren’t thinking. For example, when I was a freshman in high school, my best friend looked up to her brother and hung on his every word. He was a few years older and definitely took advantage of this. One night he told her that they were going to go “hunting for a rare animal” (I forgot what he called it) out on Hicks Road (it is a windy road that has rumors of murders and all kinds of things). So she trusted him and he took her out there. Taught her how to make the animal call and as she got out of the car to call for the animal, he drove away, leaving her in the dark, in the woods, in a scary location. He eventually came back and got her while laughing about how gullible she was. She clearly was not thinking about how a) dumb of an idea it was and b) how there definitely is not a “rare animal that you can call for at night” out there.

Now, I am definitely someone who trusts a lot of people but I do not think that I do it in an unhealthy way. I tend to always want to see the good in people and trust them but I do understand when they are not being trustworthy.

Week 7; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 6 in its entirety, answer the following question:  How does it feel when you are in an unbalanced power relationship?  What is it like to have more power?  Less power?

To me, life is all about balance. It is the motto that I live my life by and I even have the word “Balance” tattooed on my foot. In general, balance is one of the most important things about life and I really try to use balance in all aspects of my life, especially my relationships with other people. Power is something that everyone needs to have in every relationship. For example, in my relationship with my mom, she has more power than I do because she pays for school and my insurance still. These are things that I would definitely struggle paying for on my own and therefore she will have leverage over me when it comes to anything. But I balance it out by having more power over her in the way that I help my family. I have a younger brother (10 years old) that I often have to take care of when my parents want to do something. I always have the power to say “no, I’m too busy to help” and that is a power that is extremely helpful to me. The balance between the two powers works out quite well for a balanced relationship! When it comes to my romantic relationships, I think that power is divided equally between the two of us.

Week 7; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 6 in its entirety, answer the following question:  When have you ever lost trust in someone?  How did you react to the loss of trust?  How was the trust restored?

 

I have never truly lost trust in anyone. My family has always made fun of me because I tend to have too much faith in people and tend to believe in the best in all people. The closest thing to losing trust in a person that I have ever experienced was once when I was younger, my boyfriend at the time cheated on me. It proved to me that when it came to instances involving other girls, I could never trust him again. We eventually made up and trust was restored in some aspects of our relationship. I trusted him when it came to things that involved school, family or our relationship in general but when it came to other girls, I did not trust him around them anymore. After a few years when I started college, I started to trust him more again; but it may have been because in general, I was pulling away from him by that point.

Week 5; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experience

After reading chapter 4, I really was drawn to the idea of S-TLC. Everyone should really take this concept into consideration when talking to each other. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen conflicts arise because people try to talk to each other but they don’t take the time to stop. Stopping is extremely important because it allows the conversation to not just be about one person. Communication has to have more than one person involved for it to be effective, so stopping to allow another person to be involved is important. Listening is another extremely important function of this. If you aren’t listening to the other person, there is no conversation happening, it is just talking back and forth. To really be able to respond to someone, you have to listen to what they say. I currently coach a high school cheer team. All of my girls are extremely respectful, but lets face it, they are teenage girls and typically they talk over everyone around them. While other coaches yell at their athletes to listen or to pay attention, I constantly yell “stop.” This really gets their attention because I am not asking them to do anything...at all…just stop doing everything. Typically this works, because by stopping what they are doing, they can prepare themselves to listen, to what I have to say, talk to me about it, and communicate. If I never stopped them, they would never really take a second to listen.

Week 5; Post 2

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2). After reading Chapter 4 in its entirety, answer the following question:  What are you thinking about when others talk?  Do you concentrate on what they are saying or do you think about your own ideas instead?  After listening to someone, can you write down most of what that person told you?  If not, why?

When others talk, I really try to be respectful enough to listen but there are times when I really just think about my own things. For example, typically in large groups, I tend to get lost in conversations. Also, when people are giving speeches, I really have a hard time paying attention. If I am having a one on one conversation with someone and am thinking about my own ideas, they are typically scenarios that have happened to me that are similar to what that person is describing. That way I have a story to connect theirs to, I have something to say back and I am at least somewhat thinking about what they are saying. If it is a one on one conversation, I may not be able to write down word for word what they said but I can definitely paraphrase it! If I can’t write it down, it was probably because I was distracted by something around me and if that was the case I would ask them to repeat themselves!

Week 5; Post 1

1.     After reading Chapter 4 in its entirety, answer the following question:  How hard is it for you to stop a conflict?  If you find it easy to not respond automatically, what advice can you give others who have trouble with this step?  Whether you find this step difficult or not, what ways do you prefer if you try to take a "time out"?

When it comes to stopping conflict it is hard to say...Honestly, all conflicts are different and the differences decide how easy or hard it is to stop a conflict. If speaking in general, I think that it is not too difficult for me to stop conflict. I typically respond automatically and am more than happy to do so. Any advice I give to someone would be again, handled in a case by case basis depending on the situation. Typically though, my advice would be to not make rash decisions. It is always important to think about things before you make a decision or an action. Most of all, don’t let your emotions get the best of you. A lot of people let their emotions fuel a conflict and they do not always stop and think before they communicate. Sometimes people need to take a time out and step away from the situation for an amount of time. For me, I recap. I will recap the entire conflict and analyze each part of it with whoever I am having the conflict with. This allows us both to talk about it rather than argue.

Week 4; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

The idea of being a mediator really stood out to me in this chapter. My entire life I have been a mediator and have used other people to help mediate when I have a problem (typically if I am fighting with my mom). But I like that in this chapter there was a system to how to help mediate; the system had rules that if followed, make mediation easier. I liked this because it clarified that some of what I am doing is already on track when I help people but it also helped me expand my options on how to approach situations. One thing that I like is setting the tone for the mediation. There was also the idea of setting rules. I like this because it will allow people to talk without being talked over. Overall, I think that mediation is something that everyone could use at one time or another and I think that as a communications major, I have the right tools and knowledge to help mediate other peoples situations.

           

Week 4; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 11 in its entirety, answer the following question:  How might you use techniques such as fractionation, framing, reframing, and common ground for solving problems that don't involve interpersonal conflicts?

So my mom is a real estate agent and lately I have been spending more time with her as she shows houses and just does business in general. When she shows a house to someone, no matter the condition, she lets them know what they are getting for the money. She will fractionate it down to how much money it is per square feet, how decent the neighborhood is, what the ratings for the schools are, etc. This breaks down the ridiculous price of a house into smaller, more easily tracked numbers. Then if the house is a “fixer upper” it is easy for her to reframe the situation. For example, one house I helped her show a client was just a mess; it smelled, was dark, had clowns on the light switches and was just overall creepy but she reframed the description and immediately told them “this home is a lower price because of it’s condition and has great bones. You could remove the carpet and then paint it and that would eliminate the smell, the dirtiness and the clowns and you would feel like it was a brand new home.” By reframing the situation, the couple realized that this home might actually be the right choice for them. When it comes to finding common ground, this is something that real estate agents go through in many different parts of their job. The buyers have to come to common grounds with their real estate agent on what houses are the right ones for their price and the buyers also have to come to a common ground with sellers to agree on a price!

Week 4; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 11 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Why should communication majors make good mediators?  What might lawyers and psychotherapists find it difficult to effectively play the role of mediator?

Communication majors would be good mediators because of their ability to communicate in multiple ways. Communication majors learn to identify and understand nonverbal communication, verbal communication, compromising, interpersonal communication, etc. These skills will give communication majors the ability to adapt to many different people and their types of communication. It also will allow a communication major to listen to both sides of an argument or debate. After listening to both sides a comm major would be able to use the skills that they learned such as problem solving and decision making to help mediate the problem. Lawyers and psychotherapists do not have the same training. They do not learn to listen to the way people talk, only what they say. Also, both lawyers and psychotherapists tend to focus on only one side of the problem. Lawyers would take one side and try to make it a stronger, more persuasive argument so that side could win. Psychotherapists will focus on solving the problem for one person without solving the problem between the two people. So in all, a communication major would make a better mediator.

Week 3; Post 3

3). Pick one concept or idea from this week's assigned reading and discuss it.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

One concept from the reading this week that really stuck with me was non-assertive communication. When I was in high school, I was chosen to be captain of my team. My old coach recently told me that it was because I don’t involve myself in other people’s conflicts but I do help resolve them. I never really realized that there was a concept or term for this but it was something that I connected with. I typically enjoy helping people solve problems and conflicts. I have been like this for as long as I could remember. My parents used to claim that I should be a psychologist so that I could help people. It isn’t exactly the career path or major that I have chosen but I really do think that by choosing communication as my major, I have contributed to increasing my ability to help people and also increased my desire to!

Week 3; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 3 in its entirety, answer the following question:  Sometimes abusive parents say they merely teach strict discipline.  What do you think is the difference between pushing and disciplining a child?  When do people overstep their paternal authority to punish their children? 

I think that the line between discipline and abuse is not as fine as many people act. Strict discipline can be used when a child is misbehaving and will eventually result in an outcome that will be better for the child. Abuse is something that has no positive outcome. Abusing a child whether it is done with words or physical actions as strict discipline will not teach a child anything but fear and just because they are scare does not mean that they respect the rules. I think that learning that our actions have consequences are a great tool for discipline but it should not ignite fear. A punishment for wrongdoing is also something that a child should learn from but if they are just punished in general, they are not learning from it, especially if it is a normal occurrence. In all, I think that parents who are abusive punish without thinking about how this will help their child learn to not do it again, instead they are just trying to scare them into not doing it again. While a parent who is disciplining a child for wrongdoing will have a reason, and explanation and the child will know why they should not do that next time.

Week 3; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 3 in its entirety, answer the following question:  In dealing with conflicts, do you find that you tend toward one orientation over another?  Are you satisfied with the outcome of conflicts when you act from this orientation?  Do you favor the orientation all the time or are there exceptions?

When I deal with conflict I definitely tend to use a relationship orientation. I am not necessarily a big people person. I have a few very close friends and my family. Any conflict I have are with those people. I also do not like fighting. I think that going to bed angry with someone tends to cause tension in the rest of your life so I really like solving conflict. A relationship approach allows me to get my point across but also be respectful and considerate of others. I am typically satisfied with the outcomes of my conflicts when I use this orientation. There will always be exceptions where it doesn’t work as well as I’d like but for the majority of the time, it works. I do tend to favor this orientation unless I am at work where I cannot be as demanding when I try to make my point.

Week 2; Post 3

3). Pick one concept from the reading this week and discuss it in detail.  Be sure to relate the concept/idea to your personally by using examples from your life and/or experiences.

 

The idea of natural born conflict is a concept that I really enjoyed in this weeks reading. I think that the idea of nature vs nurture has always interested me and I have typically always sided with things being nurture related. But when it came to the idea of conflict as a natural born trait, I can definitely see the nature side of this. I think that people are born with a desire to create conflict. It is a human’s way of doing things the way that they want to or to express their own opinion. My example in the first post was about how toddlers always want everything that someone else has. It is something that I come across every day. I coach kids of all ages and the young ones all have a desire to take things and just say no because they can. Naturally, kids want to play with the toys that other kids have and their instinct is to just take them because they feel like it is their right to have it. This is a naturally occurring conflict. Saying no is another natural conflict. Most kids learn the word and what it means very easily but since most of the time, they don't have a lot of control over their life at a young age, they want to take control by creating conflict and tell everyone no. When it comes to solving conflict, I definitely think that is a nurture trait. Solving conflict is what makes conflict valuable and how well you solve conflict will determine how valuable your problems solving skills are later in life.

Week 2; Post 2

2). After reading Chapter 2 in its entirety, answer the following question: In what ways do you take a non-process view of communication, relationships, or conflict?  How can you change your thinking?

My entire life I have been known to go overboard in trying to find the good in people or give them the benefit of the doubt. I will never forget one time when my family was in Tahoe and driving, my little brother (who was probably 4 at the time) pointed out that the guy riding his bike next to us was not wearing a helmet. My parents instantly, with no process, tried to praise my brother for knowing that this was wrong; they said something about how "he wasn't very smart because it isn't safe to ride without a helmet." I went into defense mode and responded with "well maybe he fell before and broke his helmet, now he is just waiting for his new one to be mailed to him." It was a weak case but in my head, it sounded a whole lot better then calling some random person dumb. So when conflict arises in my life, I always am the one to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt and find a way to get over it or forgive him or her quickly. It is a struggle in my life to accept that some people are just not being smart or did do something wrong on purpose.

Week 2; Post 1

1). After reading Chapter 1 in its entirety, answer the following question: Some argue that humans have an instinct for conflict.  Do you think it is an inborn trait?  Does it make use more or less human?  If it is innate, is it a valuable asset?

 

I definitely think that conflict is an inborn trait. It is a quality that many other species do not have and it makes humans…well, more human. At an extremely young age, people naturally start to create conflicts. There’s a saying for toddlers that goes “If I want it. Its mine. If you have it. It’s mine. If I’m looking at it. It’s mine. If it is near me. It’s mine” and so on. This desire to constantly take things, especially when someone else wants them is a toddler’s first step towards creating a conflict (if you can’t tell, I work with kids). It is something that no one taught them to do; they wanted those things and did what they had to, to get them. So to me, it is definitely something that we are born with. When it comes to whether or not it is a valuable asset, I definitely think so. Conflict and resolution go hand in hand. Problem solving is a skill that people learn from resolving conflicts and it is a skill that is needed in many different aspects of life or work. So in all, conflict is an instinct for humans and it is valuable once people learn to solve conflicts!

Hello

Hey everyone, welcome to my blog! My name is Bianca, I am a graduating senior and am EXCITED! I currently work a few jobs; I am a gymnastics coach for pre-team and competitive gymnasts, I coach high school cheerleading, and I just got a customer service job at a State Farm branch. I cheered at SJSU for a few years and wish I could continue (the only reason I don't want to graduate). Another thing is that I am one of the Comm Writing Consultants, so if anyone needs a paper reviewed, let me know! I can try and help you while also completing my hours.

Have a great day and I hope you enjoy my blog.