Exploration Five: Nick Reed

The article that I decided to review was titled "Luxury is Just Another Weakness". The point of this article on Mr. Money Mustache's blog is that luxury is a drug. It is to be dabbled in, but in no way shape or form one should consume and fixates one life around the concept of having "fancy" items or a multitude of stuff that equates to a high value. The want for luxuries is what makes us human, but Mr. Money Mustache points out that seeking to maximize the luxuries you have in your life is borderline insane.

This article does a couple of things very well. First, the writer, MMM, establishes a connection with the audience by stating that even he is guilty of indulging in luxurious items. Then, he states that his luxuries are ones that he has for a specific reason of writing and keeping up with various tasks on his blog. More simply, his luxuries are for the benefit of himself and are important for work. Now, one could argue that a luxurious car would be important for their work because they have to travel a bunch, but MMM does a great job of calling to the attention of the next great thing in the article; luxuries are to be used in moderation. The fact of the matter is that when someone drives a luxurious car or live a luxurious lifestyle, then someone could become accustom to this luxurious way of living and it will be hard for this person to find living easy. As we all know, luxuries are expensive and when someone will spend most of their free money on luxuries, then that's when they'll find that they'll have no money. 

Something that the article does not do is effect those who exist in the minority, or those who can afford these luxuries and have money to spare. He leaves these people out of the audience because he probably knows that the rich won't be on a blog that is talking about money advice. Although this may be true, MMM pokes fun at the lifestyle of the rich and is kind of contradictory to the rest of blog's message of being economically sound and rich in many ways.

The article that I'm talking about can be found here: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/29/luxury-is-just-another-weakness/

One Website that I visit regularly is Youtube, but one of the channels is particularly interesting and I watch and enjoy it's content regularly. The channel is ran by and called Zach Anner. The channel features a man with cerebral palsy, is in his thirties, and is a comedy focused problem. But the channel is much more than what appears superficially. The channel is all about overcoming your challenges and living a life that's worth living. Zach specifies in many of his videos that we only get one life and some have more of a head start than others, but life is all about making the best of every situation and leaving your own personal history behind that others will admire. Zach has made many guest appearances on shows like Oprah and in New York Magazine. Zach also is about to release a book title If at Birth You Don't Succeed where he provides an inside look at his life and his optimistic look on life in general

You can learn more about Zach's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZachAnner
and can learn more about and pre-order his book here: http://zachanner.com/

This is a picture of the man himself: Zach Anner

Exploration 5- Jireh White

The main purpose of Mr. Money Mustache's blog post "How to Make Money Buy Happiness" was to explain the reasons behind why we buy the things that we do. He came to the conclusion that everything that we do in life, including spending money is to promote our own happiness. Mr. Money Mustache talked about how the material things that we buy have little to no value if they don't make us happy or give us a good feeling. He also addresses the issue of how people with high incomes even have financial worries. This ties into the fact "that people with money in the bank (or its more Mustachian form of productive, growing investments) receive much more happiness from it than people with the more fleeting pleasures of a high income or high levels of consumption of stuff or experiences (Mr.Money Mustache, 2014)". He explains that the reason for this happiness is that having money keeps you at peace and prevents you from worrying or being financially stressed. Therefore, his biggest argument is to keep your money and avoid spending it on unnecessary objects because it the best way to contribute to your well being.

In my opinion, this blog post lacks statistical evidence on the ideas of why we buy things. I think statistics would greatly improve his argument and would show the percentage of people that can relate to what we know is true. The points highlighted in this post are strengths because I thin most people could relate to it in some way. I also liked the fact that he uses his own life example of a bigger, more expensive house didn't make him feel happier than the smaller home he was moving to. I especially agree with him when he says "The dollars bring peace, because they eliminate the worry of not having enough of them (Mr. Money Mustache, 2014)". This quote reminded me of a saying by Kanye West that says "having money is not everything, not having it is". Overall, I found this article useful because when I think about it, I tend to be more comfortable when I know that I have money to fall back on. The concept of this post challenges me to save more and spend less

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/04/14/how-to-make-money-buy-happiness/


The video that I chose is called Early Bird vs Night Owls made by a Youtube channel called AsapSCIENCE. I liked this video because I think it is very educational as well as entertaining. It also gives us good insight to actions of the brain and how our sleep patterns are influenced by genetics. In my opinion, this is valid for us because as college students, sometimes we don't sleep like we should. The sleep deprivation that our age group has can also have a negative effect on our grades and socialization. It shows similarities and differences between the two and how it impacts us in daily life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPJ0729NVjw

Exploration Five From Ruksana Kabealo

I decided to review Mister Money Mustache's article "Great News: You're Allowed to Have Only One Kid". The main purpose of this article is to let readers know that it's okay to have only one child. This article's greatest strength is its acknowledgement that having children is an extremely personal decision. Mister Money Mustache isn't preaching that you have only one child, he's just acknowledging it as a valid option. He states that the number of kids (if any) anyone has is up to them and their partner, but he also does a good job of refuting the one other thing that might influence that decision (societal norms). He also shares his own personal experience, by explaining how having only one child has worked out well for him and his wife.

I agree with Mister Money Mustache's stance on children. I firmly believe that the decision to have children, as well as the number, is a personal decision and shouldn't be influenced by anyone other than those involved. I'll admit, back in the 1800s when the survival of children couldn't be guaranteed, it might have been unwise to only have one child. But this is the 21st century. The negative mindset surrounding only children is outdated. In addition, there's a huge body of research that heavily suggests the stereotypes surrounding only children, that they're more selfish, spoiled, and antisocial than other children, are completely untrue. [1] [2]

The article is useful because it can function as an eye-opener to readers. It forces readers to consider an option they might never have considered otherwise. This article can trigger the same epiphany in readers that Mister Money Mustache himself had.

The article in question can be found here: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/09/10/great-news-youre-allowed-to-have-only-one-kid/ 

A website I highly recommend is Cartogracy.com. Cartogracy.com presents an interactive map of the current conflicts going on in the world. It breaks down the conflicts by trending and inactive, the general category they fall into (public unrest, insurgency, or war), and their causes (political, ethnic, economic, religious, or international). Upon selecting the conflict, you can find out the number of casualties, the number of people displaced, the goal of the conflict, the opponents, an up-to-date summary of the conflict, articles about the conflict, and recent news regarding the conflict.

A breakdown of the Boko Haram conflict, as presented by Cartogracy.com

The main reason I enjoy this website is due to its scope. Even though it doesn't provide all the information relevant to a conflict, it provides you with a quick overview of the status of all the major conflicts going on in the entire world. The website is updated weekly, providing users with relatively recent information. Another great thing about the website is that it provides you with links to recent news articles written regarding the conflict, allowing you to explore a conflict in greater depth. This website is important to me because it helps me stay aware of the major conflicts occurring throughout the entire world, not just those occurring United States. A link to the website can be found here: http://www.cartogracy.com/

Sources:

[1] Frank J. Sulloway, "Birth Order, Sibling Competition, and Human Behavior." In Conceptual Challenges in Evolutionary Psychology: Innovative Research Strategies, edited by Harmon R. Holcomb (Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001), pp. 39-83.<http://www.sulloway.org/Birth_Order_(Sulloway-2001).pdf>

[2] Sandler, Lauren. "The Only Child: Debunking the Myths" Time. Time Magazine, 28 July 2010. Web. 4 October 2015. <http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2002530,00.html#ixzz2jdfI1mAh%5D>

Exploration five by Jessica Stafford

     The thesis of Mr. Money Mustache's "First Understand, Then Destroy Stress" is suggesting that you really try to understand your stress and what is causing it and then make small changes in your daily schedule such as setting a timer to take breaks in between working and not to make stress seem more complicated to cope with than it truly is. In this article Mr. Money Mustache discusses how he did not really encounter much stress as a child as he enjoyed the bike rides he took to work each day which helped in relieving any stress as well as having a low stress job. But he claims that he wrote this article focusing on writing tips that he would have give his younger self to deal with stressful experiences. Some of the strengths of this article include providing several resources that people could find in a library that discuss the effects of stress and how to handle stress but also including the main idea of each article to allow readers to get an overview of what each resource is about if they may be interested, as well as allowing readers to better relate to the article by consistently using a casual tone throughout and providing examples from his personal life of times when he encountered stress. Lastly, he also absorbs the reader's attention and keeps them intrigued by making humorous remarks such as, 'Oh... nice try there, stress. I know what you're trying to do. But I'm not taking your shit today.' One of the weaknesses of "First Understand, Then Destroy Stress" is that he refers to "Mustachianism" to try to strengthen his ideas but never really defines this term to the reader so the point he is trying to establish is blurry. I agree with the ideas stated in this article, I believe we need to take the time to understand where our stress is coming from and make adjustments to eliminate or reduce those stressors. Mr. Money Mustache describes how in high school he would sometimes get stressed over low grades on tests, I also used to get stressed over this same reason in high school and still continue to in college but have realized that I stressed about some tests more than I needed to as I did not take the time to relax and think about why I was actually worried. This article is very useful and can be used as a great tool for people who need tips about handling stress and also for suggesting other articles that discuss managing stress and avoiding it.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/29/first-understand-then-destroy-stress/

     One of the resources that I find very useful are John Green's crash course videos that can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse. John Green has several videos that discuss topics such as Science to subjects like English. Each video is fairly short and use an energetic tone to keep your attention for the full length of the video but the videos give just enough information on the subject that you need and give the information, on the subject, in a different way than maybe the way your teacher taught you. These videos make a lot more sense for me on subjects I didn't quite understand when the teacher taught them to me. In high school, my Chemistry did not explain the topics we learned in class very well and I still struggled to understand even after discussing the topics with my teacher individually. But one of my friends brought John Green's videos up to me and after watching his video about the Chemistry topic I had trouble with, I understood a lot better and was able to successfully complete problems that I had struggled with in class. One of my English teachers even used to use his videos when she could tell that we were confused about what she was discussing and would use John Green's videos such as the one about "The Great Gatsby" so we could hear the information presented in a different way.

John Green in the typical setting of each of his videos.

Exploration 5: Fear is Just a Chemical from Rachel Hopper

     Mr. Money Mustache opens his article "Fear is Just a Chemical" with a skeletal structure of an important molecule in our bodies.  Being a pharmacy major, I know that the molecule is hydrocortisone, a steroid hormone that comes from the adrenal gland.  Our adrenal glands produce this hormone in response to stress, as well as fear.  He says, "This is Pure Fear.  Not quite as scary as you imagined, it is?"  The image of the steroid hormone was the big reason I was intrigued to read the article as well as choosing it for this assignment.  His reasoning for this image is to convey that hydrocortisone is our natural and chemical way that we respond to stress and fear.  It took a nightmare to realize how powerful it was and how it can influence us greatly.  This influence hinders us from things in our life and that doesn't really help us.  It interferes with us expending our circle of friends, expending our horizons, making a financial or career move that could be for the better, or just challenging ourselves in general.  Like he says, "Like most things in life, it's not worth being afraid of."  He challenges his audience to confront what they are afraid of because "Action Cures Fear".  I feel that he is referring to being unafraid and fearless as a life skill, almost like being decisive, ambitious, or determined.   His ultimate point is that fears should not be taken into account when making decisions.  It's like making decisions based on any other emotion.  He illustrates that life without fear is a life where one is better off.  

     This article makes many good points.  His strength is his approach.  He approaches fear as something as simple as a microscopic molecule that circulates our bloodstream from time to time.  Putting it in that perspective helps his argument that fear should not be considered when making decisions.  His weakness, I feel, is that he doesn't ever really acknowledge any contradicting ideas.  Do I agree with this?  Yes, but not entirely.  Emotions do have a way at hindering us from things in our lives.  I think that having emotions like fear, stress, worry, sadness, or any other emotion is all part of being human.  I also think that the best decision making is done with a clear mind, free from clouds of emotion.  I believe that there should be a balance.  I think everything about life is about balance.  Would peace of mind exist without fear, stress, or worry?  There is a time for everything. There is a time to be fearful for the future, to be cautious for the things to come, and to set aside emotions and be clear-minded.  I agree with him that decision-making is the time to be clear-minded.

         Here is the link for "Fear is Just a Chemical" :  http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/23/fear-is-just-a-chemical/

         One resource I really value and truly find interesting is TED Talks, specifically the TEDMED division. TEDMED is a conference that focuses on health and medicine.  These are conferences people actually can attend, and I would honestly love to go to a conference at one point in my life, if not as many years as possible.  Being a Pharmacy student, I found this very interesting.  I first came across this when a mentor of mine had shown me a video and then I went looking for myself.  One universal theme of TED talks that I've noticed that these talks emulate is perspective.  The TEDMED talks specifically give new perspectives on surgery and patient care.  Watching these advances and revolutions in the medical world is absolutely incredible.   Listening to these professional who are in the workforce currently and seeing things from their perspective makes me excited for the future, my own future and the future of the field.  What will the medical field be like when I finally graduate and receive my degrees that I have been working so hard for?  The possibilities could be endless.   This resource can be useful to any student interested in going into the medical field.  Whether you are a Pre-Med student, or a Biomedical Engineering student, or someone who is just curious and wants to be informed on what is going on in the world, this is incredibly useful, informative and even entertaining,  TED talks in general have many different categories as well like technology, business, science, global issues, and fine arts.  Anyone can find something that they are curious about and learn so much about it by watching a talk.  

        These TEDMED talks are about revolutions in surgery so there will be pictures and footage that they will show.  So if you are a sensitive to that kind of material, be cautious because there will be some examples throughout these presentations.  http://www.ted.com/talks/quyen_nguyen_color_coded_surgery

http://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_surgery_s_past_present_and_robotic_future

TEDMED conference taking place in 2011

Exploration Five- Brianna Moore

For my exploration five I chose the blog post It's Winter...Get Out and Enjoy It! The main thesis of this blog was, instead of sitting inside your warm and cozy home you should go for a walk sometimes and enjoy the cool, crisp air. In this blog Mr. Money Mustache talked about how he would go out at night and just walk, sometimes run and if he felt daring sprint! With this walk he was able to clear all of the stressful thoughts and just enjoy the moon and stars. With winter we experience inconvenience because it gets cold and we no longer want to ride our bikes or walk anywhere because it is too cold. One thing that he did that I thought was interesting was that he said "You step outside and suddenly your world expands dramatically. There is a black sky far above." He then goes to talk about how it looks like the moon is directly above you, but actually it is moving around the planet. His strengths in this blog post is that he believes in it so strongly that it shows in his writing, and he also gives a lot of personal explanations to explain his main thesis. His weaknesses would be that he uses some of the same words over and over but that might be part of what he does. I personally do not agree with what he is saying because even if you do not go outside during the winter, that doesn't mean that you can't be active. All last winter I was running on a treadmill almost everyday, even though I did not like it at all, I was still being active even though I was not going outside. This was useful because it made me think that even though I don't like the winter that it wouldn't kill me to take a walk in the cold, crisp air sometimes. It also proved that once it starts to get cold most people trade out their exercising for a blanket and Netflix instead of staying active throughout the whole winter.  

http://goo.gl/scVu4A

If any of you are like me and sometimes you don't understand everything that your professor or teacher is teaching you at the time. In my junior year of high school, my chemistry teacher was also the basketball coach...so he wasn't the greatest teacher in the world! To get through the class I used Tyler Dewitt's YouTube channel, he took the topics that my teacher made complicated and made them simple. It really helped me with chemistry and it still helps me today. I like to use it because he makes his videos interesting with drawings and the way he edits his videos makes me want to watch them instead of dreading them. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/tdewitt451

Exploration 5 links for Part 1. From Mike Lohre

You'll find Mr. Money Mustache link to list of all posts, so you can pick one, here.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/all-the-posts-since-the-beginning-of-time/

Mr. Money Mustache.  Really.

Skim, surf, browse through some titles and find one you really want to read and review.  They are all short so, if you are feeling lazy, don't spend too much time trying to find the shortest.  Ha ha.  Once you find one, claim it by telling us you want it and writing the full title of that post in the Comments section here.

Here also are links to the other sites I showed you, just in case you are interested in them and find them helpful.

Have fun, and really use your writing to explore ideas.  We''ll all learn more!

Mike 

Scotty Kilmer channel
https://youtu.be/tbhHcxscu4Q

Houston mechanic Scotty Kilmer

Veritasium and Derek Muller
https://youtu.be/2KZb2_vcNTg

Derek Muller, founder of this channel and someone who is thinking about how to make science engaging, on YouTube.