"Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of." Discuss.
Prejudice, according to the dictionary, is the intolerance of or dislike for people because they belong to a specific race, religion, or group. This is an unavoidable phenomenon in our society. We all grow up hearing different views on people belonging to races or religion different from ours. The term socialisation is used to describe this. Since young, we have heard various issues, predominently notorious ones about other races from our parents and therefore developed this racism. The stories, just like diseases, are passed on from one generation to another and this attributes to the prejudice which can never be got rid of.
Because many people have a narrow interpretation on a particular idea, it is likely that they will stick to that idea. We all think that we are the best and hence excludes other people who are different from us. The mindset is deeply rooted and very difficult to eradicate.
For example, not long ago, the sports shows on cable TV employed female hosts like Jamie Yeo and Charlie Webster. Although it is a breakthrough for these female hosts, they have received derogatory comments. Some sports fans even lament that they are just eye-candies. This is a perfect example to illustrate the point. People just assume that women have no knowledge of sports and dismiss them quickly. But in real they may perform equally professional as men do.
Thus prejudice will be in our society forever because there are too many differences among different groups of people. It is not easy for us to accept other cultures, languages and rituals. However, we can create a harmonious environment by being amiable and approachable to people and not judge them by their colours.
29 April 2007
19 April 2007
GP Blog question
YouTube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. Do you agree?
From 2006 onwards, YouTube has become a phenomenon. Video clips on random issues can be viewed by people for free. Not even is registration needed to view the video clips. Hence as more people frequent this site, advertising companies see the great opportunity to advertise their products on YouTube. After all, YouTube receives 20 million visitors every month.However, the rising popularity of YouTube has also made it the centre of criticisms. Many people believed that YouTube has no ethics and that it has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. I agree to this because the YouTube effect has created many confusion and propaganda.Many of the video clips are posted by individuals acting on their own. In the process, inaccurate infomation is disseminated. For example, there is a video clip on health issues like encouraging women to do a monthly self-exam for breast cancer. In which the message sent to the public is in the form of a hip-hop song. However, a researcher said that many of the new therapies touted were unreliable and unscientific. One clip even attribute breast cancer to abortion.
There are also random video clips like a baby laughing or a grandfather telling his life stories. Such videos are mainly for entertainment purposes. For videos which touch on political issues are also unreliable. Many videos could be produced so as to manipulate public opinion. How will we know that, for example, a video showing a Chinese shooting a Japanese is true, when actually the video is produced by the Japanese to gain people's sympathy? The YouTube effect has hence brought about mixed feelings. It is hard to know what to believe. This is a problem about ethics, where moral principles are concerned.
In any case, I think YouTube is definitely not a site for serious work. It is fine to browse the videos but the general public should be aware of the issues and not be easly manipulated.
From 2006 onwards, YouTube has become a phenomenon. Video clips on random issues can be viewed by people for free. Not even is registration needed to view the video clips. Hence as more people frequent this site, advertising companies see the great opportunity to advertise their products on YouTube. After all, YouTube receives 20 million visitors every month.However, the rising popularity of YouTube has also made it the centre of criticisms. Many people believed that YouTube has no ethics and that it has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. I agree to this because the YouTube effect has created many confusion and propaganda.Many of the video clips are posted by individuals acting on their own. In the process, inaccurate infomation is disseminated. For example, there is a video clip on health issues like encouraging women to do a monthly self-exam for breast cancer. In which the message sent to the public is in the form of a hip-hop song. However, a researcher said that many of the new therapies touted were unreliable and unscientific. One clip even attribute breast cancer to abortion.
There are also random video clips like a baby laughing or a grandfather telling his life stories. Such videos are mainly for entertainment purposes. For videos which touch on political issues are also unreliable. Many videos could be produced so as to manipulate public opinion. How will we know that, for example, a video showing a Chinese shooting a Japanese is true, when actually the video is produced by the Japanese to gain people's sympathy? The YouTube effect has hence brought about mixed feelings. It is hard to know what to believe. This is a problem about ethics, where moral principles are concerned.
In any case, I think YouTube is definitely not a site for serious work. It is fine to browse the videos but the general public should be aware of the issues and not be easly manipulated.
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