Tuesday, September 25. 2018

Today's schedule is CDAB

D & A Block Human Geography - Today we'll look at the Key Issue "Why Does Development Vary among Countries"? To do this we'll look at the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development:

• a long and healthy life, 
• knowledge and 
• a decent standard of living

Earth’s nearly 200 countries can be classified according to their level of development, which is the process of improving the material conditions of people through diffusion of knowledge and technology. The development process is continuous, involving never-ending actions to constantly improve the health and prosperity of the people. Every place lies at some point along a continuum of development. You'll have two really big thinking questions to work on for me connected to this topic:

1. If you were to create an index of development, what indicators would you use, and why (look at the UN HDI Indicators for Canada in the week 7 booklet)? How would you weigh each indicator? Could your index be used around the world, or would it be mostly relevant to our society?
2. The HDI is used to measure development at a whole-country level. Is it adequate to measure development within a country? Why or why not? (Another way of thinking about this: Are there minority groups that may be “glossed over” by the HDI?

B Block Criminology - Today we start with our first quiz in the course...RELAX I'm sure you'll do fine. There is a bonus question for you should you choose to complete it will be on the last page of the quiz for you. After the quiz, we will focus on the roots of violent crime. So what is violence? The World Health Organization defines it as

“The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal development or deprivation.” 

Now we know what crime is, so violent crime would be an act of force or power against a person or a group which results in injury, death or harm that society sees as repugnant and codifies as illegal behaviour. Okay so why does it happen? Time magazine asked that in 1993

It's tempting to make excuses for violence. The mugger came from a broken home and was trying to lift himself out of poverty. The wife beater was himself abused as a child. The juvenile murderer was exposed to Motley Crue records and Terminator movies. But do environmental factors wholly account for the seven-year-old child who tortures frogs? The teenager who knifes a teacher? The employee who slaughters workmates with an AK-47? Can society's ills really be responsible for all the savagery that is sweeping America? Or could some people be predisposed to violence by their genes?

Today we grapple with those questions. Where does violence and violent crime come from? We'll look at personal traits, ineffective families, evolutionary factors, exposure to violence, cultural values, substance abuse, and firearm availability to see if they are factors that lead to violent crime in Canada.

Now I know it's about War but this Crash Course asks whether humanity is naturally war like (aka Violent)