(1). Module 10 Artifact

The reason why I liked this artifact is because I consider myself someone who follows all social norms, all the time. I don’t like to be weird or different when I am in a crowd. I mostly prefer to sit in the background and not draw any attention to myself. In one-on-one situations, I am used to doing everything I can to make sure that I do not draw extra attention to myself. 

I had to go out of my comfort zone to complete this artifact and the result was kind of hilarious, which is why this one was my favorite. I had my husband with me and we could not stop giggling at the reactions of people as I tried to eat with my mask on. My waiter even said to me, “you do not have to eat with a mask on, you can take it off.” 

(2) Module 4 Artifact

The video, “Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death,” is extremely relevant to the current state of the world that we are living in. Everything that is portrayed in the media ranges from one extreme to the next. I think that taking a step back to recognize this made it an impact-full artifact, which is why it was my second favorite. Anything that provokes thought and insight is key when it comes to creating a lasting effect.

(3) Module 7 Artifact

A common saying is, “practice what you preach,” and I think that it ties in with feelings of dissonance. When we think one thing but behave in another way it creates a pull of something not feeling right. I liked this assignment because it made me think of how I address inconsistencies.

A really common inconsistency is me knowing that I need to eat healthy to feel healthy, but decided to eat unhealthy anyways. I often create excuses in order to justify acting against my beliefs, and I think that others do it a lot too.

(4) Module 9 Artifact

I found myself erasing my search history on my computer after doing this assignment. Looking at personal ads on the internet made me feel a little bit weird about how we look for partners. This is one of my top artifacts because I thought it was interesting to look at what kind of partners people were looking for. Below is a screenshot of the preferences that I found to be most consistent (after cycling through the inappropriate ads), I chose to include only posts that were not inappropriate in nature.

(5) Module 5 Artifact

Another artifact that I found to be insightful was the one on self-enhancement. I use a lot of self-enhancement techniques to try to make myself more appealing to nearly every single person around me. I smile, make eye contact, dress professionally, ensure that I remember names, etc. I feel like I care so much about what other people think that I find most social situations to be exhausting.

On the other hand, I think that self-enhancement is important in some situations; like job interviews. A person would not want to go into a job interview and be sloppy, not smile, and have bad breath. They want the job so it is common to use techniques to make yourself more appealing.