1. Perceptual Differences
A person recieves a message and interprets it in light of previous experiences, values, or education. We have a predisposition to hear or not hear different messages that are sent (e.g. types of music.)
2. Selective Listening
An activity in which the listener blocks out a new message especially if it conflicts with previous information and beliefs.
3. Value Judgements
The reciever places a value on the quality or merit of a message prior to recieving the entire communication.
4. Source Credibility
A situation in which there is a lack of trust, credibility, or faith in the words or actions of the communicator. E.g. Being delegated an unusual task by a new supervisor whom you have never met, but have heard bad stories about.
5. Language or Jargon
A situation in which words, terms, or technical language may only be known by one party.
6. Time Pressure
If time pressure occur, communications are often shortened, or important parts are left out.
7. Status Differences
A situation in which there is a perception of threat on the part of someone lower in the hierachy which can prevent or distort communication.
*. Distorter
A situation in which one communicator distorts, omits, or adds to the original message, making it inaccuarte. E.g. a message is passed from person to person, and retains only 10-15% of othe original meaning.
9. Information Overload
When an individual is involved in multiple communication attempts at the same time and screens out the majority of the message. E.g. Problems at home, doctors report, two bosses calling within ten minutes of each other to give you instructions which are exactly opposite of what a third boss has told you to do and you have to show up for a hearing in five minutes.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Grassroots Muckraker and Proud Of It!
I know there's people close to Bob who call themselves "community activist." Well I'm back and I take issue with this assumption! Even the Huntsville times persons connected to corruption are "dubbed" as community activists. This is totally false because the activist they talk about only look for their own "selfish interest and those of the Commissioner not the community as a whole. These "so-called activists" need to answer why they try to silence the same voices they proclaim to represent. I'm a true grassroots voice and 98% of the others are LIARS and TRAITORS to the cause! When your household profits from corruption you lose your status as a community activist. You become "self activist and you're exactly who the enemy" wants to dub as a community leader. I'm a MUCKRAKER and true to form: I investigate corruption and then go after those that hurt the community with an unyeilding purpose like a crusader.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Ethiopia: Root Of Christian Blackness
By the fourth century, the Ethiopian Empire porfessed it's faith in Christianity and adopted the symbol of the cross as the most important sign of it's faith. Large processional crucifixes belong to monasteries and churches, while pilgrims carry pole crucifixes are the property of the priests who let the faithful kiss them for blessings. Some crucifix shows the cross bearing Adam and at the same time Christ who, as a second Adam, founded a new humanity. The rectangular base refers to Adam's grave on Calvary. Some priest also see in this base slab a reference to the legendary Ark of the Covenant which is said to rest in Ethiopia. *Numbers 12-Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Ethiopian wife, for he had married an Ethiopian. The handle represents the hope of rebirth, the resurrection from the grave. It also refers to the belief that the cross of Christ was cut from the Tree of Life. From the Coptic Christians in Egypt (who we recognize as blacks) Ethiopian and Christianity goes back to early Judaism. This is why, besides the common saints of the Christian church such as the archangles, typical Ethiopian saints of the Christian church such as the archangels, are also revered. Take the Ethiopian saint Tekla Haymanot. His portrait, like that of Gabre Manfas Qidolus, can be found in almost every church. Legend has it that the Tekla Haymanot once balanced himself on on leg between two spearheads in order to be able to keep the vow of eternal prayer. When the raised leg had died off after seven years, angels took it before GOD'S THRONE. There upon the LORD presented the saint with three pairs of wings. Also typical for the Chrisitian-Ethiopian art is the representation of Saint George, who mounted on a white horse, is driving his spear into the throat of a dragon. This picture can be found in every church on the left side of the main door to the sancturary. The counter part on the right side is usually an image of the black Virgin and Child. Christiantiy is a good thing so African-Americans should not let right-wing Americans pervert it to the point we forget or reject the ideals of being Christians.
Stereotype Threat
"Stereotype threat" is a problem that pervades American life, according to Claude Steele, an internationally recognized social psychologist and professor at Stanford University. In an insightful and engaging talk, Steele maintained that overcoming stereotype threat is key to achieving integration of our society that goes beyond statistics and "allows people to flourish in an integrated setting." Steele's basic premise is that a person's "social identity"- defined as group membership in categories such as age, gender, religion, and ethnicity-has significance when "rooted in concrete situations." Steele defines these situations as "identity contingencies"-settings in which a person is treated according to a specific social identity. As we all know when a person's social identity is attached to a negative stereotype, that person will tend to under perform in a manner consistent with the stereotype. This can be attributed a person's anxiety that he or she will conform to the negative stereotype. The anxiety manifests itself in various ways, including distraction and increased body temperature, all of which diminish performance level. Stereotype threat is not limited to historically disadvantaged groups, and that every person suffers stereotype threat in certain contexts. For example, a study testing stereotype threat among white engineering students. When the white students took a test after being told that Asians typically outperformed whites on that test, the whites performed significantly worse than they would have otherwise. While racism exists, stereotype threat is a far more pervasive barrier to a truly integrated society. A person's fear of being negatively stereotyped according to race-whites as racist, blacks as intellectually inferior, for example-creates a general level of discomfort in racially mixed settings. There is still hope because abilities are expandable and that there is no truth to allegations that a particular group lacks a particular capacity. Stereotype threat will continue as the "default setting" until steps are taken to counteract it. At an institutional level, we must promote "identity safety," implicit efforts to establish that diverse social identities add integral value to a setting.
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