Week 4 Reading Reflection

Chapter 5

1) Something that stood out to me the most in this chapter is that despite social and political unrest in Africa, there are still a small number of entrepreneurs attempting to start business there. This intrigued me because, as an entrepreneur, you can start your business anywhere you want. And you probably would want to choose a place where there is an opportunity to earn profit (which to me is not a third world country). It seems that there would be a lot of risk involved with starting a business in a developing continent such as Africa.

2) One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the two hemispheres of the brain. Throughout my schooling, the psychology of our brains has always been something that confusing me and I do not really understand how it all works. The book described how the right brain helps us understand analogies, imagine things, and synthesize information while the left brain helps us analyze, verbalize, and rationally approach problem solving. In my opinion, a lot of these functions overlap so how are we able to distinguish what our right brain does and what our left brain does. This is something that greatly confuses me. 

3) First, I would ask the author about the "arenas of creativity." Does creativity start with the arena such as idea, material or event (as told in the textbook) or does it start with the individual? In my opinion, you do not decide to be creative because you want to make a new product or start a new event. Instead, a creative person stumbles upon creating something new and innovative as a result of their thinking process. 

Second, I would ask the author about where the misconceptions about innovation came from. In my opinion most of them should not even qualify as a misconception because it is common sense that they are not true. For example, "innovation is planned and predictable." This has never been something to be believed as true and I am not sure who wrongly stated this for it to even be considered as a myth. I think the author should cite who has claimed to have spoken these misconceptions before writing them down as misconceptions.  

4) I disagree with the author about the fact that mental habits can block or impede one's creative thinking. While this may partially be true, in the end, creative people are always going to be creative. There will always be less creative people. I don't think this can be blamed on negative mental habits, I think that their minds just work in different ways than creative people's.

Top 5 World Problems

Climate change has had an immense impact on the polar bear population.

Top 5 Problems (most serious to least serious):
1. Terrorism. I chose this as the most serious problem because of how apparent it has been within the last few years. It is something that not only effects our country, but the entire world is in danger. It causes fear in the people of society and this is something that is extremely hard to fix. As terrorist groups continue to cause harm, fear will increase across all nations.
2. Climate Change. I chose this as the second most serious problem because it is another issue that effects people world wide. It is also something that is extremely hard, almost impossible, to control. It seems our world has put such a negative impact on earth that it is going to be hard to turn it around.
3. Racism. This is another issue that is hard to fix because it has to do with the way minority groups feel and it is difficult to change feeling.
4. Unemployment. It seems this will always be a world issue. Although the overall percentage often decreases, it is never steady. It seems difficult to control since it is always a fluctuating percentage. It is a direct representation of the state of the economy.
5. Abuse of drugs and alcohol in youth. I think this is an important problem, but not the most serious because it probably only effects a small portion, especially since the drinking age is much younger than 21 in a lot of countries. However, youth who do end up abusing drugs or alcohol are almost always steered down the wrong path of life. It is important to stop this before it starts.

Top 5 Solutions (most possible to least possible to implement):
1. Social media and privacy: forcing people to read terms and conditions by requiring a quiz after creating an account. I believe this is the most possible solution to implement because technology is so advanced that it would not be that difficult to create a quiz that pops up after accepting the terms and conditions. This would allow users to understand what privacy may be violated by using a given site.
2. Unrealistic portrayal of women in the media: censor advertisements more and create ads with "bigger" woman to change the beauty standard. In many ways, this solution is already being implemented so it will be equally as possible to continue. Many ad campaigns have featured plus size models. For example, Dove released a commercial campaign featuring only plus size models which . I believe ads like this will continue. Khloe Kardashian has also been an important role model for plus size. She has been an important figure who openly discusses her curves and "bigger" body.
3. Climate Change. While we may not be able to completely fix climate change, the solutions to simply unplug appliances, turn lights off, and carpool are extremely simple and easy. They end up making a large impact over time and could greatly help our planet.
4. Gender pay gap: women need to be more open to discuss their pay. If women are qualified enough, they should open up and discuss their discontent with their salary. Many women in the workforce have strong enough personalities and relationships with their bosses that they will be able to negotiate an equal pay to what their male colleagues receive.
5. Lack of human interaction due to technology: elementary schools must promote face-to-face interactions. While much of the older generations may be a lost cause, I think this solution should start with young kids and is fairly simple to implement. As opposed to using technology to teach grade school, teachers should promote the use of group work or interactions with staff members. Even adding extra recess time will help this technology issue. If it is engrained in young people's brains, they will be less likely to live on their phones in the future.