Assignment Takeaway

ATA 5

Assignment five was about helping others, and to record their responses. Making others feel good is an easy way to make yourself also feel better. People enjoy when others do nice things for them and if you smile, you’re more likely to produce happy feelings in yourself as well. When you’re in a good mood you’re more likely to see the world as a better place and are more willing to let things that others do and say slide because you can think its a fluke or just a one off situation more readily.

Holding the door for someone is an easy way to show that people are nice and willing to help others in need. Keeping a positive attitude will help those around you also ‘catch’ a positive attitude.

ATA 3

Assignment three was about racism and how words can be hurtful. I don’t know if Micheal Richards is racist, and I will never know his true thoughts and feelings. People say many terrible things when charged up with emotions. The most hurtful things they say come out because it’s all they currently know how to feel. The words that Richards used to try and convey control over the situation, the n word, is just a word and if we destigmatize and humanize the word it can go back to being just that. Words are made to help explain and they do a good job at doing it, more words can only ever be helpful.

This man may or may not be racist, when you hurt you say the worst things. Hurting those around you are the quickest feelings to make your pain feel like it’s leaving.

ATA 1

Assignment one was about heuristics and how we view those around us through the eyes of a shortcut. I frequently make snap judgements about those I don’t know to keep myself safe while out, but also because through stereotypes I also subconsciously think such things. The recent protests from the killing of George Floyd are a good thing to draw comparisons to. Because of past interactions and expectations the police are quick to act with violence as they expect those at the protests are not going to be acting civil and are wanting to respond with violence themselves.

Police are going to act certain ways around different ethnicities because of the responses that they normally get from each one. Most people at a traffic stop act similarly and it should not warrant a different attitude or have the police take specific different steps at a stop because they think someone is more of a danger to them because of a single person who shared their ethnicity.