6. Crocodiles 2024

What comes to mind when you think of “power”? For many, power conjures images of authority figures: presidents, monarchs, company executives, and so on and so forth; people granted important positions or titles who have immense control. Others think of power from the inside: the power to make choices for oneself, the power to speak one’s will. However, in his article, “ What Is Power, Really? ,” Rick Miller explores an alternative perspective, breaking power down into several key aspects. First, power is “influence.” But not just any form of influence; true power comes with the sort of influence that “resonates and uplifts” other people. Offering support is more important than getting support; “service is the highest form of leadership.” And of course, if you can achieve this, people will naturally gravitate towards you and be willing to listen to you, just as you listen to them. In order to influence others, a powerful person must have “insight.” This means being able to thoughtfully ...

One of the United States’ Constitutional tenets is freedom of speech—the right to “articulate opinions and ideas” without “fear of governmental retaliation or censorship.” In fact, freedom of speech is written into the nation’s very first amendment. We benefit from this piece of legislation every single day whether it's debating political ideologies with our friends or even writing blogs like this one. But we often struggle to appreciate how privileged we really are: billions must keep their emotions and feelings locked within themselves to avoid a death sentence. Take North Korea, for example. Out of its 26 million inhabitants , only 1 enjoys the right of free speech—Kim Jong Un. If anyone else even questions his authority, they are sentenced to life in prison, which, in North Korea, is equivalent to endless torture. The country has 1.3 million active personnel who enforce the autocratic rules. That’s right behind the US, which is at 1.4 million , but the critical difference is N...

 I intend to keep this blog quite short today. Not because I am lazy... or because I am still a little sick... or because I just don't know what to write as we start to leave this "power" theme in the past. But because, in reality, I feel myself wasting so much time by the minute. I overestimate the amount of time I have until the 10:00PM deadline, yet I underestimate the rate at which this time passes on. I focus too much on the time I waste, or the amount of time I have left to complete a task. When it comes to writing blogs, I spend many hours wondering if my thoughts are even comprehensible to my own audience, trying my best to perfect my craft.  On hot, unproductive summer afternoons, I think that I have all the time in the world to dwell and overthink, completely unaware that the hours I spend doing such bed-rotting activities are getting tossed away. The following chilly evenings, (which are really just times when the sky is pitch black at 5:00PM) are then spent re...

As individuals of today’s society, it is hard to deny the fact that social media has become a vital part of our day-to-day lives. From Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok, social media not only allows people all over the world to connect, but it has also become an essential tool for businesses and organizations. With millions of people using social media platforms, social media provides a way to better customer engagement and digital marketing for companies. Social media platforms facilitate user connections and content sharing, ultimately improving customer engagement. Through customized advertising and campaigns, this digital marketing tool has revolutionized the way businesses connect with their target audience. Businesses are able to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty by cultivating relationships with customers and producing interesting content, which will improve their entire marketing plan. A company that has been benefiting from this fairly recent technique of advertising ...

Open AI's ChatGPT vs Google's Gemini It seems we cannot go a day without seeing the power of AI and how its power will revolutionize the world. Many companies spearheading the AI revolution include Nvidha, Open AI, Google, Microsoft, and startups such as Reid Hoffmen’s emotionally intelligent chatbot PI or Mustafa Suleyman Inflection AI. Thus, this leads to the observation that the company that is farthest in the race for sentient AI will be the company which will hold most of the power in the future. To find out, I decided to conduct a test on two of the most intelligent chatbots currently: Open AI’s ChatGPT 4 and Google’s Gemini. Each chatbot will be prompted to provide the definition and real world use cases of tokenization. I first prompted chatGPT by asking for a summary on tokenization and cryptocurrencies followed by their respective use cases for real world applications (to ensure I do not receive a zero and get referred to admin for academic dishonesty, I have opted to...

 It is not surprising to know that most, if not all, of the top earners in the world would spend millions of dollars on time if they could buy it. Why? Why spend money on something everyone has? Because everyone has it. The ability to gain access to more time than others would allow these billionaires to utilize that time in any way possible, whether productively, spiritually, or for sleep. Regardless of how they use it, the power time posses is undeniable. However, what if there was a way to do this in real life? How can someone add time to their day? Time management. At first, suggesting time management is the power all billionaires crave may seem comical. According to Harvard Business School, millionaires " spen[d] more time engaged in active leisure (e.g., exercising and volunteering)" rather than "passive leisure (e.g., watching television and relaxing) and allocate time to tasks  "they had more control. " Clearly, time management is vital to success if th...

Let’s take a journey down memory lane. I want you to remember your greatest accomplishment. Now, remember the process that you experienced to reach that point. Those hopeful thoughts you had each day—the thoughts that made every second invaluable. Where would you be without those dreams? Imagine how those visions changed your life and shaped who you are today.  Our lives are driven by the goals that we set for ourselves. They help us navigate the arduous paths to realize our dreams and make success that much sweeter. By simply imagining where we want to be, a weight of worry is lifted off our shoulders. That image of getting a good grade, or earning a large amount of money, or obtaining that dream job. A single picture has the power to motivate us to make it a reality.  Imaginations and dreams have incomprehensible power that has proven to be essential to the modern world.  Thomas Edison was inspired by his dreams to light up the world. Mary Shelley had a dream that becam...

PBS   Our Biggest Influence            Throughout the course of our lives, big or small, we encounter numerous things that have an impact on us. One of our biggest influences are our parents. All individuals with a family are born to a mother and father who have their own personalities and characteristics. Acquiring physical traits as offspring are a given but adapted personalities can dictate the course of our lives.         If a certain child has a short-tempered father or mother, chances are they are short-tempered also. Without even realizing, as we grow older, we absorb the attributes of the people we are surrounded by. That's why the quote "show me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are '' is so famous, because it is known to be true. We truly become the company that we choose to surround ourselves with. But even more than our friends, it is our parents who we spend the majority of our lives with. Unconsciou...

Curiosity is our most powerful weapon. It drives society forward. And it has been for the last two thousand years. 384 BCE: Aristotle proposed the geocentric model. Although Nicolaus Copernicus would prove him false eighteen hundred years later, Aristotle ultimately influenced a new understanding of the human being and its role in the context of the universe. He inspired a religious resurgence that’s rippling effects can still be felt today. If it were not for the undying curiosity of this one man, we would be nowhere near where we are today. Curiosity overpowered religion in the 16th century. When Copernicus embarked on a journey to satisfy his doubts about the universe, he ended up creating a permanent rift between religion and science. Copernicus was deemed a “fool” and “hectic” by some of the highest-ranking religious officials—who, at the time, held authority nearly mirroring royalty. Nevertheless, he chose to defend his heliocentric model and influenced the next several generatio...

The abuse of power is an unfortunate reality that pervades various parts of society, often leaving a trail of injustice and exploitation in its wake. While using power responsibly can bring a positive change, its misuse can have devastating consequences. This is particularly evident in the entertainment industry and politics, where individuals entrusted with influence frequently succumb to the temptations of their positions, leaving a stained legacy in their wake. Celebrities, adored by millions, often find themselves in positions of immense power and influence, yet, all too often, this power is exploited for personal gain or to perpetuate harmful behaviors. For instance, the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct that have plagued the entertainment industry in recent years. Celebrities like former film producer Harvey Weinstein and former professional boxer Mike Tyson are high-profile figures once idolized by fans who have been exposed for using their status to manipulate vulnerabl...

A quote from Everything I Never Told You that represents my current feelings. I would be lying if I said that I was not looking forward to reading Everything I Never Told You . From the many bitter murmurs of my peers–often complaining about the chore of writing essays related to the book–I have quite the collection of mixed reactions towards Everything I Never Told You: “The story drags on for too long,” “The plot really confused me,” “It’s honestly better than The Great Gatsby.” It was undeniably entertaining to hear them argue on their answers to comprehension test questions in casual conversation. But even then, not once did I bat an eye at the difficulties this APENG unit would have in store for me. After all, I admit that I have plenty of knowledge on one of the underlying themes of this book. The power of keeping secrets. This knowledge I claim to have has been gathered throughout my entire life. My experiences I’ve shared through my many interactions build on this knowledge. W...

  If you travel outside the United States, chances are that you’ll still come across American products or companies. For example, one can easily find a McDonald’s or KFC nestled amongst porridge shops and teahouses in Beijing, looking just a little out of place. And of course, it’s not just Beijing. American franchises and culture are spread across the globe through the presence of Disney, Hollywood, American fast food, and so on and so forth. Image from  History Some experts believe these to be examples of facets of soft power, a country’s ability to influence others without resorting to coercive pressure — as defined by Joseph Nye Jr., the political scientist who coined the term in the 1980s ( World101 ). But soft power isn’t always as seemingly innocuous as a burger shop. Just look at the Cold War, a nonviolent conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that was effectively a battle of soft power. Each of the two global superpowers tried to promote their cultur...

 Pre-school, Elementary, Middle, and finally High school.  This is the education path for the average American. Some attain a bachelor's degree, fewer complete their master's degree, and a tiny percent of the population earn a Ph.D. Why do we have so many systems to help people achieve a higher education? Do we need to attend prestigious universities to educate ourselves? Do we need to attend college at all? Do we even need to be educated? We all start from the same place, crying infants who sleep over fifteen hours and only drink milk daily. However, then we begin to comprehend language and develop motor skills. Once we display signs of being able to socialize with other children, we are placed in daycares where we hone our social and mental skills and ability to live without our guardians. Uptill this point, we have no societal pressures to perform exceptionally at anything besides behaving well and are very in tune with our desires. For example, whenever a baby wants to wat...

Good Deeds Sometimes Go Unpunished Last weekend, my family and I decided to watch “Marshall,” starring Chadwick Bosemen who plays Thurgood Marshall, an accomplished civil rights activist and the first African American Supreme Court Justice. Marshall holds an impressive resume as he argued 32 cases in the Supreme Court where he won 29 of them—his most famous and impactful case was Brown v. Board of Education. Marshall spearheaded the NAACP’s (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Legal Defense department. The movie focuses on one of his first cases, the State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell. Spell, a chauffeur, was convicted with raping Eleanor Strubing, his boss. The trial was set in Bridgeport, Connecticut—an extremely conservative and racist town. Marshall believed that Spell was wrongfully convicted and feared he would receive an unfair trial.   Source Marshall traveled to Connecticut where he requested foreign council due to the scenario. The judge, however...

Knowledge. What is it? Some may consider knowledge to be a quantifiable concept, others might say it cannot be truly measured. Nevertheless, I think most people can agree that knowledge is identifiable.  However, I want to focus on the power that one holds by being knowledgeable. Everything in our world is driven by knowledge.  Those who deal with technology need to KNOW how it works in order to develop it. Those who construct our buildings need to KNOW the best way to have stable structures. Those who provide entertainment should KNOW how to perform well in whatever media they are in.  Knowledge is a fundamental aspect of society. As a result, it holds immense power because our world would be nothing without it.  This power is visible in the school environment, where knowledge is the essence of everything. Schools demonstrate the importance that society places on wisdom. For the entire first part of our lives, we attend school to learn and gain knowledge. Therefore,...

The Turning Point                                                                       Powerfully Possesed      Throughout our childhoods we experience countless events that we continue to remember as we get older and journey through life. These memorable and worthwhile events register in our brains and as we proceed to age, experiencing new memories moment by moment, small reminders placed in our daily lives take us back to meaningful places and circumstances we otherwise wouldn't remember.      We have all endured numerous positive things, but it's more often the negative occurrences that have the most detrimental effects. The reminders that allow us to relive these affairs trigger emotions impersonation of what our minds and bodies went through in those moments. Due to this a major...