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UNDERSTANDING HUMANITY

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UNDERSTANDING HUMANITY

The word “humanity” reminds me of the first time I heard in high school that humans are higher animals and monkeys are our cousins. I remember being irritated by the fact that we were even referred to as animals, despite the qualification “higher.” I’ve learned my lesson.

In my previous post about “lessons from animals,” I discussed some of the characteristics that some animals exhibit that humans also possess.

 

A definition of humanity could also help us understand what distinguishes humans. So, what exactly is humanity?

I looked up the definition of the word “Humanity” in various dictionaries and discovered that the definitions are given based on a variety of factors ranging from the human’s physical characteristics to the qualities the human possesses or is expected to possess.

 

The Collins English dictionary provides the following definition of humanity:

 

1. All human beings collectively; the human race; humankind

2. The state or quality of being human; human nature

3. The trait of being compassionate; kindness; benevolence

 

Understanding humanity may imply viewing the human from three different perspectives: species, behavior, and global identity.

 

HUMANITY AS A SPECIES;

This definition considers humans to be animals called Homo sapiens, which means higher animals, and this tends to distinguish humans from other animals due to some characteristics that humans possess. These characteristics include the ability to reason, imagine, learn and understand different languages, and develop technology and advancement. While the lesser animal kingdom has remained relatively unchanged over time, humans have been able to shape the world with their creative minds and imagination to the point where even some wild animals have been domesticated, and many inventions have been created by human imagination to make life easier on the planet. Humans have even been able to visit planets other than Earth.

 

Another aspect that distinguishes humans from lesser animals is their ability to create objects that are larger than them, objects that defy gravity’s laws, antibodies, vaccines, and weapons. The ability of humans to hybridize with other animals, plants, and machines has resulted in the development of robotics and artificial intelligence.

The human mind and imagination have also created technology that transcends time and space, such as communication platforms like Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Meetings can be held in the air using these platforms, with all participants visible regardless of their location or time.

 

The evolution of human activities is also evidence of the human race’s superiority. Communication used to be mostly between people, but it has evolved since the invention of telephones, radios, and televisions. The same message could be delivered to a larger audience all at once. More inventions continue to emerge from the human mind’s imagination, the hybrid of the human and machine, and human intelligence; there is no end in sight. This makes humans the superior species!

 

THE HUMAN BEHAVIOR;

This aspect examines human ethical behavior as it relates to their displays of kindness and compassion for one another. Kindness and compassion are the fundamental values that are used to define humanity. This is the ability to care for one’s fellow man, to save life, and to choose life over death. This is so important that it is the Red Cross Movement’s primary goal. This distinguishes humans from other species. This is also the definition of humankind given by humanity.

 

I saw an older male lion kill some lion cubs in order to gain access to their mother, the lioness, and because the cubs belonged to another male lion in a documentary about lions. Humanity, by definition, will naturally not commit such an act. This is why, when someone acts inappropriately, commits murder, or injures another, the question “where is your humanity?” is raised. Some of these evil acts committed by humans against other humans are the result of abnormalities in the brain or faulty backgrounds, beliefs, and trainings.

 

Although there have been some negative evolutions and advancements in the area of human ethical conduct, some laws and rules have also been put in place to curb excesses that may impede humanity’s fundamentality. For example, there are rules for the act of war, punishments for murder, and laws that govern every action in this regard.

 

HUMANITY AS A GLOBAL IDENTITY;

This is the global identity definition, which assumes that every human, regardless of location, religion, culture, beliefs, attainment, color, and so on, has a stake in the world because they are a part of the people on the planet. It regards all humans as a single group sharing a single planetary home.

 

Although this definition has been threatened by various circumstances and challenges in the world today as a result of a display of selfishness, superiority, and political prowess, the fact remains that we all face similar challenges such as violence resulting in war and crises, threats to our health and immune system, such as the Pandemic, dangers and risks from our technological inventions, such as climate change as a result of our inventions, and how to coexist.

 

Looking at the definitions of humanity above and the happenings in this same world we live in today, the wars, injustices, domination, cruelty, abominations, all kinds of evil and human rights abuse, one cannot help but wonder, WHERE HAS OUR HUMANITY GONE?

 

However, there is hope if we can reason like the saying below;

 

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 

Perhaps the part to play in reversing this evil trend toward our precious humanity is to heed the advice of Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

 

 

 

 

Sources 

https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2019/07/30/power-of-humanity-being-human-now-future/

ROLE MODELLING

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Who was that person you wanted to look like, act like, or imitate as you grew up, and what was it about the person that you liked, is it the person’s shape, clothing, or behavior? That person could be your role model. I remember having similar feelings as a child; I wanted to be like one of my teachers because of the way she speaks; after a few years, I had another role model; I noticed I kept changing role models, and now I have different role models for various reasons. People have also told me that I am one of their role models. In my street, I have been approached, particularly by young girls, and my daughters have told me that they want to look like me when they reach my age. This tells me that we are all role models to different people in different places and capacities for a variety of reasons.

 

When you realize you are a role model, you feel a sense of sudden responsibility. These ladies who approached me on my street explained why they wanted to look like me; one of them assumed my youngest daughter was my only child because my older children were in school; she admired my clothing and shape; I later informed her that I have other grown children, and she was surprised. This awareness motivates me to exercise more in order to stay in shape, and I also make an effort to dress appropriately before leaving the house; you never know how many people are watching.

 

Who is a role model?

“A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term role model is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires, an example of which is the way young fans may idolize and imitate professional athletes or entertainment artists.”– Wikipedia

 

There are different types of role models;

  1. A peer, either older or younger than you, who has done, or is doing better than you in a particular job or career, and whom you would like to emulate. These people serve as positive role models.

     

  2. Another type of role model is one who has the qualities of a positive role model, they may have achieved what you want to achieve or exhibit behaviors you want to emulate, but you discover that their values are quite different from yours, so trying to emulate their process may not be in your best interests, but you were able to discover that you may be on the right track before desiring to be like them. This will motivate you to take the next step on your own. This type of role model is referred to as a reverse role model.

     

  3. The third type of role model is someone who is in the same situation as you, doing the same job, but not doing well. When you study their lifestyle in order to avoid making the same mistakes they have made or maybe making, these people become anti-role models for you. These are examples of people who failed for reasons that you later discover and try to avoid so that you can succeed where they failed.

 

What type of role model do you want to be? If you want to be a positive role model, you should have the following characteristics:

 

– In your daily pursuit, be passionate about what is important to you and what distinguishes you from others.

– Maintain consistency in your actions, values, and beliefs.

– Be brave, calm, and confident.

– Improve your communication skills and your ability to assist others. Make time for people and make yourself available.

 

Role modeling requires a great deal of learning and observation on the part of the observer, as well as a willingness to impart knowledge and communication skills on the part of the role model. If you are a parent, you may want to start at home by being a positive role model for your children. It takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice, but it is well worth it in the end; additionally, children learn more through observation.

 

“By being a living role model of what you want to receive from others, you create more of what you want in your life.” Eric Allenbaugh

 

   

 

 

 

Sources 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbostoncouncil/2019/01/02/the-three-types-of-role-models-everyone-needs-in-their-career/?sh=254fd7d0408d

https://changing-point.com/what-kind-of-role-model-are-you/

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

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The Bible tells a story about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, which surprised some of them. One of them, Peter, refused to have his feet washed by his master, instead sarcastically asking him to wash his entire body. This was Jesus’ demonstration to the disciples of the importance of servant leadership.

 

What is Servant Leadership?

“Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership where the leader’s main focus is the thriving of their company or organization. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people.”– Wikipedia

 

Servant leadership is a philosophy that was founded by Robert .K Greenleaf and one of the points he made about being a servant leader is the ability of such a leader to see that those who are served grow as individuals, become healthier, wiser, and freer, and eventually become more servant leaders themselves. In this manner, servant leaders replicate themselves.

Servant leadership is a unique find; most people want to lead because they want to be popular, to be served and revered by the led, rather than the other way around. These leaders fail to recognize that by putting the employees first, both they and the organization stand to benefit more because when the employees grow personally, the organization grows as well due to the commitment and dedication demonstrated by satisfied employees.

 

If you want to work for a company that has dedicated and satisfied employees and customers, you should look at the management to see if the leaders are servant leaders. If you can tell who the leader is within five minutes of entering an organization, that leader may not be a servant leader.

 

What actions should be observed in an organization to determine whether it has a servant-leader type of management?

  1. Examine the organization’s mission; does it include any phrases that mention having a positive influence on both employees and customers? You can figure this out if you take the time to read between the lines.
  2. What are the values of the organization, and are employees’ beliefs and values respected?
  3. Are employees carefully chosen, what are the requirements for recruiting employees, and is cheap labor valued over service?
  4. Is employee development an important part of the organization’s focus? Is employee development a top priority at your company? If the answer is yes, the organization recognizes that it is impossible to give what one does not have; employees can only give what they have. Better training results in improved service.
  5. Is the organization concerned about the community in which it operates, and do they contribute to its development?

 

How do you recognize a servant leader?

– A servant leader is one who listens to understand and solve problems.

– A servant leader demonstrates compassion, sympathy, and understanding; he can put himself in the shoes of others and demonstrate empathy.

– A servant leader can ask the led to participate in important tasks, thereby working as a team to serve a mission greater than themselves, sharing victories with them, and not taking the glory for themselves, thereby making the led feel important.

–  A Servant leader recognizes and appreciates the efforts, gifts, and talents of those who are led. They can also offer emotional support and encouragement to the leader.

– A servant leader uses persuasion and influence rather than manipulation. They accept and act on the led’s wise input.

– A servant leader can communicate to the led that they are both equal humans capable of facing the same challenges; this instills confidence in the led because he does not have to assume that the leader is a superior human.

– A servant is capable of communicating the organization’s vision in such a way that the leaders can internalize it and work in accordance with the vision.

– The servant leader must be proactive and foresighted in order to collaborate with the led to achieve a common goal.

– A servant leader does not shift blame or shift responsibilities but rather demonstrates a sense of duty and obligation. They demonstrate a strong sense of accountability and discipline.

– A servant recognizes and nurtures each team member’s ability to blossom and develop. They accomplish this by motivating, inspiring, and encouraging those who lead.

 

If you intend to know if you are a servant leader then take a look at the led, are they free around you, are you approachable? Are they free around you? Are you approachable? Do they appear to be in better shape than when they first started working with you? Are they wiser and more courageous, capable of confidently taking on responsibilities in your absence?

 

I’m sure the servant leader thing is all about garbage in, garbage out; as a leader, you reap what you sow. If your leadership style is self-serving, you will attract followers who are self-serving as well. The followers or the led will look out for themselves as well and put up eye service, becoming pretentious whenever you are around. This is a very unhealthy state for any organization because customers will suffer and the organization will not grow.

On the other hand, if you are a leader who seeks to serve the led, you will undoubtedly attract followers who will eventually become servants and eventually servant leaders.

 

“The first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.” – Robert Greenleaf

 

“But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.” – Mark 10:43 ESV

 

 

Sources 

https://leaders.com/articles/leadership/servant-leadership/

This 22-Year-Old Programmer Taught Herself To Code & Launched 2 Startups

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This 22-Year-Old Programmer Taught Herself To Code & Launched 2 Startups
Akshaya Dinesh Spellbound founder

As a computer science major at Stanford, Akshaya Dinesh’s future felt pretty much laid out: “I thought the next step for me was to become a software engineer and get a job in tech,” Akshaya recalls.

Akshaya, 22, grew up in the New Jersey suburbs and learned how to code at her parents’ suggestion the summer before high school. She became a prolific hackathon participant and had her sights set on working for a major tech company like Facebook or Google someday. “I kind of revered the Silicon Valley stereotype,” she says.

In college, Akshaya immersed herself in the tech world and landed coveted internships at Microsoft, Bloomberg, and even a flying car startup. But as she got closer to her goal, something felt missing: “I wasn’t really feeling the impact of my work,” Akshaya says. “I was building a super tiny feature in a huge organization where I couldn’t interact with my users.”

So Akshaya decided to make something of her own. In March 2020, she built Ladder, a networking app for Gen Z professionals who were struggling to find tech jobs and internships during the pandemic. Ladder took off among her peers and, through a startup accelerator, attracted high-profile investors like Tony Xu of Doordash and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. At 19, Akshaya dropped out of Stanford to pursue startups fulltime.

“Being able to create your own vision and see that come to reality is something that is so rare in the workplace in so many different careers,” Akshaya says. As an Asian American woman occupying a predominantly white male space, she’s had to cope with her share of “small hurdles” and microaggressions as a founder, she says.

Akshaya is already onto her next company, Spellbound, a B2B product that incorporates interactive user experiences embedded inside of the body of emails. “My goal with the company is really to build an extremely successful large business and sort of prove to the world that you don’t need to be a white man to accomplish the same types of success,” she says.

Here, Akshaya shares how she fell in love with coding, how she copes with impostor syndrome, and her advice for developers who have entrepreneurial aspirations, too.

How’d you learn to code?

“The summer between middle school and high school, I just was super bored and had nothing to do. It was my parents who encouraged me to try to learn a new field. They basically were like, ‘Here, try to learn Java. Just pick it up and it’ll be a good skill in your toolkit.’

My parents weren’t developers, but they worked at companies where they saw that programmers were getting so many opportunities. They witnessed that there was clearly a huge demand for programming. I really owe it to them to give me that initial push. At the time, I was super against it: I never wanted to be an engineer; I thought it was not the right role for me. I’m very outspoken, and I wanted to do something where I could interact with people more.

So I unwillingly learned Java and hated it. The first language that I learned after Java was JavaScript, because I realized that Java wasn’t enough for me to actually build anything of use. I wanted to make a website — the very first website I built was a personality quiz. I actually used Codecademy to learn JavaScript for that website.”

Why did you stick with it?

“The reason why I ended up falling in love with computer science was through hackathons. I saw a hackathon sticker on somebody’s laptop, and I googled, What is this hackathon thing? I discovered this crazy world of these 24-hour events where it’s like a fun sleepover, you get to meet totally new people, and just go build a product. It was only until I had started to apply my skills in coding to actually building real-world applications that people could use that I started to see how insanely powerful it was. I became absolutely obsessed.

Throughout my four years of high school, I ended up going into about 45 hackathons, which was a lot of sleepless nights and traveling across the country — even the world. Attending these events all by myself put me very outside of my comfort zone. At most of these hackathons, I was one of very few girls there, so I felt very, very lonely.

If it wasn’t for Codecademy and attending hackathons, I would have quit after day one, because it was just so boring to me at first. Writing if statements and while loops, I was like, This is pointless. Getting to see how cool it is when people build a real-world application is what inspired me to keep going.”

What was it like launching your first company?

“I ended up starting my first company, Ladder, by accident. When the pandemic happened, everybody was sent home from school, and a lot of internships and job opportunities also started to fall away. It started out as just a simple side project meant to help my fellow students get new career opportunities and mentorship. There was so much demand and interest that it turned into a product that could almost resemble a new type of LinkedIn for that demographic.

The hardest step was getting something in the hands of users and getting their feedback. At most of the hackathons where I built all these cool projects, I never got to the point where I was confident enough to actually put it out into the world — they were all just works in progress. I was always worried like, What if they find bugs? Or what if they don’t like it?

It was super intimidating. There was a huge learning curve for me to dive into startups and understand how this entire world works. I had no idea how to raise [venture capital] funding or how to hire someone — I was barely a student myself, because I had only done 1.3 years of college.”

How’d you cope with that impostor syndrome?

“What I realized was that the most successful founders have an insane amount of confidence in themselves, their story, and the product that they’re building. Even if that confidence isn’t yet totally deserved, I think portraying that competence is honestly what gets people excited about your mission.

The female founders in my network — like, friends who I’ve helped fundraise or introduced to my investors — the first thing I tell them is, ‘When you enter a pitch meeting, just assume that you’re also a white male, and you have all the same privileges.’ You can warrant the same ruthless confidence that anybody else has.”

Did people treat you differently as a young woman of color?

“There are small biases and micro-patterns that I notice. At my last company, I had a male co-founder, and sometimes if we didn’t have our titles on LinkedIn, people would reach out to them as a default, or they would assume that I was a non-technical co-founder. There’s always the assumption that I don’t know how to code and I had somebody else that’s helping me on the technical side.

For some reason, when I fundraise for my company — even though it’s a totally normal B2B SaaS company that has nothing to do with women — I tend to only be introduced to the female partners at VC firms. That was a really weird thing for me to encounter, because I’m pretty sure other founders aren’t only getting introduced to a certain demographic of partners.”

What advice would you give someone who wants to build a product and launch a startup like you did?

“The first step to being an entrepreneur is getting validation in your idea. A lot of programmers become very obsessed with making the perfect product, fixing every single bug, and building every single feature. They spend six months building this incredible product, and they launch it only to realize that nobody actually wants to use it because they weren’t solving a real problem. For everything that I’ve worked on, I’ve always tried to validate before I even write a single line of code.

For Ladder, I ran some no-code experiments using existing platforms to try to mimic some of the functionality and see if I could get engagement out of my users. Only once I had seen the really positive signs of success in those early experiments did I then go and write my first line of code and build the real product. Probably the biggest pitfall that programmers turned into entrepreneurs have is they tend to write code a little bit too early.”

Interview has been edited for clarity.

Catalog Home | Codecademy

If you’re not sure where to begin or what to learn next, this is a great place to start. Check out our top coding courses, Skill Paths, and Career Paths.

Word of the Day: germinal

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Word of the Day: germinal

The word germinal has appeared in three articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 21 in “Got a Covid Booster? You Probably Won’t Need Another for a Long Time” by Apoorva Mandavilli:

Researchers showed last year that the elite school inside of lymph nodes where the B cells train, called the germinal center, remains active for at least 15 weeks after the second dose of a Covid vaccine. In an updated study published in the journal Nature, the same team showed that six months after vaccination, memory B cells continue to mature, and the antibodies they produce keep gaining the ability to recognize new variants.

“Those antibodies at six months are better binders and more potent neutralizers than the ones that are produced one month after immunization,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led the study.

Can you correctly use the word germinal in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how germinal can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

Do You Like Getting Dressed Up?

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Do You Like Getting Dressed Up?

Do you like getting dressed up? When was the last time you did it? What did you wear?

What if you were invited to be a guest in a restaurant that required you to wear a suit or a dress, or that warned: “Upscale fashionable dress code strongly enforced”? Does that sound like fun to you — or not?

One unusually warm evening in the West Village, while other New Yorkers were outside walking their dogs in sneakers and T-shirts, a family of five sat primly in the front window of a formal dining room, each of them garbed in a stylish blazer. A couple in a velvet corner booth wore suits — his navy, hers powder blue. Pearls gleamed, freshly buffed shoes glowed. When a fashionably dressed couple stopped in momentarily for a peek at the menu, the sight was jarring: They were wearing jeans.

That everyone was in full feather at this restaurant, Les Trois Chevaux, was no coincidence. They had been instructed to do so the previous day in a text message that read like a manifesto.

“At Les Trois Chevaux, we revere the style and finesse that can only be attributed to having New York swagger,” it said. “We expect our guests to arrive in proper dinner attire, and for you to celebrate the style that downtown New York City can bring.”

Lest there be any confusion, details followed: “Blue jeans, shorts and sneakers are strictly prohibited.” Diners were “kindly” requested to wear jackets. For those without a jacket, a vintage Yves Saint Laurent model would be provided. Anything else? “Absolutely no flip-flops,” the chef and owner, Angie Mar, emphasized in an interview.

“Something that I feel tremendously is missing from New York over the past five or six years is that old-school flair that I love,” she said. “It is important that we bring that back.”

During a pandemic in which many Americans have traded their tailored slacks for leisure wear, dress codes are making an unexpected return to the dining room.

Over the last two years, several new restaurants around the country have opened with policies on expected attire, some stern (“upscale fashionable dress code strongly enforced,” warns a text from Olivetta in Los Angeles) and some vague (“smart casual or better,” advises Catbird in Dallas).

Some are aspirational: “We expect our guests to bring their best,” says Kitchen + Kocktails in Chicago. Others seem to allude to some disturbing prior incident: “Clothing emitting offensive odors is not permitted” at Juliet in Houston.

Whatever the particulars, the calculation is the same — a belief that many diners are eager to dress up again after an epoch of record-level dowdiness.

“Everywhere we went, people were walking around in sweatpants and T-shirts and their hair was not done,” said Rosea Grady, the general manager at Thirteen, a high-end Houston restaurant founded by the professional basketball player James Harden that opened in March 2021. “We wanted Thirteen to be a place where people put their best on.”

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Lesson of the Day: ‘How to See Faces Everywhere’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘How to See Faces Everywhere’

This lesson is a part of our Accessible Activities feature, which aims to welcome a wider variety of learners to our site and to The Times in general. Learn more and tell us what you think here.

Featured Article: “How to See Faces Everywhere” by Malia Wollan

Have you ever seen an image of a face where there wasn’t one? Perhaps in a fire hydrant or a rock pile or a house? Believe it or not, this is a natural thing all humans do.

In this lesson, you will learn how and why people tend to see faces in everyday objects. Then, we invite you to experiment and try to find faces in your surroundings. What can we learn about human nature through this exercise?

Take a close look at the images below taken by George Etheredge, a photographer for The New York Times. What do they all have in common?

What you just experienced is called “face pareidolia.” Watch “Why Do We See Faces in Objects?,” a short video from the Science Channel, to learn more about this concept.

As you watch, answer these two questions:

Here are 10 words you’ll read in the featured article that you may be unfamiliar with. How many of them do you know?

1. attune (Note: You’ll see this word in the article as “superattuned,” which means to be very attuned.)
2. illusory
3. phenomenon
4. adaptive
5. moniker
6. aimless
7. gender
8. inanimate
9. visage
10. predominantly

Find out what they mean and practice using them with this list from Vocabulary.com.

Read the article here online, or in this PDF with the vocabulary words linked. Then answer the following questions:

1. The author writes that humans are “hypersocial” animals. Break down this word into its two parts: “hyper” and “social.” What do you think it means? What is one example from the article that shows that humans are “hypersocial”?

2. Why are humans wired to see faces, according to Susan Wardle, a scientist who studies face pareidolia?

3. What does Wardle say is the secret to seeing more “illusory faces” — or images of faces, even where there are none — in your everyday life?

4. The author writes, “Don’t be surprised if you find yourself gendering these inanimate-object visages as predominantly male.” In other words, people tend to think of the illusory faces they see as male instead of female. Why do you think that might be?

5. What part of the brain activates when we see faces in objects? Why, at first, might our brains think of these faces as threats?

The author ends by encouraging readers to “Let yourself delight” in the faces you might see in sandwiches, storm-drain covers, buildings and more.

So give it a try: Go out, look around and see how many images of faces you can find in everyday objects.

Remember Wardle’s advice: “Just stare out, not looking at anything in particular, and allow yourself to see patterns.”

You might even take a camera and photograph the faces you see. Put them together in a slide show or video, like the one you viewed in the warm-up activity, and share it with your classmates.

Then, reflect on the assignment with these questions:

  • How easy was it for you to spot faces in objects?

  • Did Wardle’s advice work for you? What else helped you see faces, even where there might not be any?

  • Did you, as the author suggested, find this exercise delightful? Why do you think that is? What did this assignment reveal to you about human nature?

  • What further questions do you have about face pareidolia?

Want more Lessons of the Day? You can find them all here.

Should the U.S. Be Doing More to Prevent Child Poverty?

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Should the U.S. Be Doing More to Prevent Child Poverty?

In her guest essay for the Opinion section — “We Pay to Keep the Old Out of Poverty. Why Won’t We Do the Same for the Young?” — Bryce Covert argues that the United States should provide a safety net for children similar to the one that exists for older adults. Ms. Covert writes:

The United States has an incredibly high child poverty rate.

Nearly one in seven children lives in a poor family. By comparison, fewer than 10 percent of adults are poor, and under 9 percent of those age 65 and over are. Child poverty also doesn’t fall evenly across demographics: 71 percent of poor children are Black, Hispanic or Native American.

But child poverty is not a problem without a solution. Americans may roll their eyes at being constantly compared unfavorably with Western European countries, but in this case we aren’t just bested by the usual suspects. The United States is a pretty extreme outlier. Out of 40 countries, America ranks 38th, behind not just Finland, Denmark, Germany and France but also Slovenia, Estonia, Russia and Mexico.

There’s a very simple reason for this: We don’t give parents enough money to raise their children. Or at least we didn’t until last year’s expanded child tax credit payments that proved we could if we wanted to.

Some have blamed single women choosing to have children out of wedlock and “the decay of the American family” for poverty, in the words of the former representative Michele Bachmann. But the shapes and sizes of our families can’t explain our high child poverty rate. “Across countries, child poverty rates are pretty similar in terms of the poverty that’s there before the government does anything,” Jane Waldfogel, a professor of social work at Columbia, told me. Even with the comparatively paltry wages low-income Americans earn, the country still has similar poverty levels to others just based on income alone, before the government offers families benefits.

Ms. Covert then describes how the United States has addressed poverty among the elderly:

By contrast, we’ve spent significant resources over the past half-century on alleviating elderly poverty. Social Security is the greatest anti-poverty program we have in the United States. It kept 26.5 million people out of poverty in 2020, most of them seniors. Unemployment insurance, the safety net program that clocks in next, lifted 5.5 million people above the poverty line. We rarely talk about it this way, but Social Security is a form of direct cash payment to all Americans once they hit a certain age.

“It’s not rocket science,” Dr. Hoynes said. When it comes to how much we spend on the elderly, “we look pretty similar to other countries.” The United States simply spends less on a permanent safety net for children.

Students, read the entire guest essay, then tell us:

  • Do you think the United States should be doing more to reduce child poverty? If so, which of the programs that Ms. Covert outlines seems like the best idea to you? If not, where do you think the responsibility to reduce poverty falls, other than with the federal government?

  • Ms. Covert writes that the U.S. government is willing to spend money to prevent poverty among the elderly, but is “much stingier” when it comes to children. Why do you think that is?

  • Do you think the United States should provide direct payments to families to help them raise their children? What are some benefits of these “child allowance” policies? Can you think of any downsides? With both in mind, do you think that the expanded child tax credit should have continued past December?

  • Why do you think the child poverty rate in the United States is “a pretty extreme outlier” compared to that of many other countries? Do you think it should consider some of the social programs offered by other countries, such as universal health care or child care, or early childhood education?

  • Ms. Covert raises counterarguments suggesting poverty persists because Americans are “unwilling to work” or because single women have children. How does Ms. Covert push back against these counterarguments? Did you find her reasoning, or any of the counterarguments, compelling?

  • What do you think are some of the long-term consequences of child poverty, which disproportionately affects children who are Black, Hispanic and Native American?

  • What is one statistic that stuck out to you from this piece? Why did it resonate with you?

Writing a Short Biography With Obituaries

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Writing a Short Biography With Obituaries

5. What, if anything, do you find inspirational about the person’s story?

6. Now, read the obituary as a writer. What do you admire about the way this piece was written? What is your favorite line, and why?

Now, it’s your turn: Write an obituary for someone — perhaps someone you knew personally, a historical figure you are learning about in school, a character from a novel you are reading or anyone else whose life story you’d like to tell.

1. First, you’ll need to do research. You might read newspaper articles or biographies, watch or listen to interviews featuring your subject, or talk with the person’s family members or friends.

(If you’re speaking with someone whose loved one has recently died, remember to approach the conversation with compassion. When Neil Vigdor, a Times reporter, calls someone who has lost a family member or a friend, he starts by saying, “I’m deeply sorry to be reaching out under these circumstances.” Then he asks to hear more about the person who died.)

2. Next, you’ll need to identify the most basic facts of the person’s life and death. Here is part of a tip sheet from The Times’s Obituaries desk on the essential information every obituary should include:

Date of death

Place of death

Age at death

Cause of death

Full birth name, and place and date of birth

Education

Military service

Marriages, to whom and when; and divorces, if there are any.

Names of parents, siblings, spouse or companion and children. Numbers of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The more biographical background the obituary can give, the better. For example, how did they start their careers? Details like education and military service should be given when relevant or interesting. If possible, give the names and occupations of the subject’s parents, as well as his or her place and date of birth.

But you don’t want your obituary to just be a list of dry facts. Add what journalists call “color.” What made this person’s life interesting? In “How to Write an Obituary,” Malia Wollan interviews Victoria Chang, a poet who wrote obituary poems after her mother died, and gives examples of these kinds of details:

“Everyone is special and quirky, and I think the best obituaries capture the essence of those qualities about each of us,” Chang says. What things did she collect? What did she love to eat? What brought her joy?

3. Finally, it’s time to write. The format of an obituary is often uniform. Ms. Wollan describes it this way:

An obituary tends to have three distinct parts: the beginning (name, age, date of death, cause of death [if possible to include], work, education); the middle (anecdotes that celebrate the person’s life); and the end (so-and-so is survived by, which Chang calls “a very efficient way of saying who’s grieving.”)

Also, consider the tone you want your obituary to have. Ms. Wollan continues:

An obituary is for the living, but you should consider the sensibilities of the deceased. How would the person want to be remembered? “Imagine what they would write about themselves,” Chang says. It’s OK to be funny. “There’s a lot of humor and oddity, strange tensions and funny stuff about people and the things they do together,” Chang says.

And if you want to get creative, instead of writing a traditional obituary, make a slide show of the person’s life with photos and text, put together a mixed media collage or write an obituary poem, as Ms. Chang did for her mother. Share what you make with your class.

If you want to learn more about obituaries in The New York Times, the documentary “Obit” is available on Amazon Prime. You can also listen to this interview on NPR with two obituary writers from The New York Times.

How do you turn your passion into your purpose?

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How do you turn your passion into your purpose?

Learn how an animal lover became a voice for the voiceless.

“Finding a passion is great. But having a purpose is even greater.” In the Philippines, Karen is living by these words as an animal rescuer and advocate. Like most goals in life, turning your passion into your purpose is easier said than done. But through her hard work in the Animal Behaviour & Welfare course offered by the University of Edinburgh, Karen has done exactly that. And she wants you to know that you can, too.

Passion

As an accomplished actor, athlete, and animal lover, Karen is no stranger to passion. You could say it’s a prerequisite for her. So when Karen found out that, just like people, animals can be discriminated against, she couldn’t stay offstage or on the sidelines. Karen’s love for animals motivated her to take action.

Process

Looking to change the lives of animals for the better, Karen found a course from the University of Edinburgh on Coursera and began to build the skills to make an impact. Through her Animal Behaviour & Welfare course, Karen learned about the current state of animal cruelty around the world and how much more global awareness is needed. She discovered how animal welfare organizations can focus on unserved parts of their community.

Purpose

Since enrolling on Coursera, Karen has started to spread awareness of animal neglect, abuse, and abandonment. She’s also proposing different projects for different communities to help animal welfare in her country. Karen has become more confident in speaking publicly and sharing her knowledge online and offline. She’s now actively participating in different forums and telling others about her personal experiences.

What You Can Do

Just like Karen, when you find a new passion, you can do what it takes to give your work a new purpose. This can be a life-changing experience. It was for Karen. If you’re inspired to pursue new opportunities and ready to learn the skills you’ll need, you can come to Coursera to follow your passions and discover your purpose.

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