Whenever a stranger talks to us like Andy says we become frightened. Mostly due to the fact that it is not the norm and it catches us off guard. It triggers a sense of fright and uncomfortableness. I think this is mainly due to the fact that most people live on their feet waiting for the next bad thing to happen. So we think if we put up a shield we will be ready to fight the moment it happens. However some of these stranger might help us when that shield doesn't work. When we are stuck in a fire, robbed or are health is at risk it isn't probably going to be the people we know the most. But the strangers who we have hardly any relationship to. So the way we treat the strangers one day may change the second we realize we need their help...
Abe: I can see where you are going but I think you need to make it less vague. I don't know if this question can be proven or have a direct answer. A suggestion I have is to maybe say, How many people stay friends with the ones made in high school? What is the percentage of child divorcing parent? If you have any questions, let me know and I will try to rework your question differently. Also it might be easier if you pick friends or family. I think the two subjects make it more difficult to find solid answers.
Mohammed: I really like your topic. I just don't know how much it can be answered directly. I think you should try to revise the second part and just answer that one. Maybe a idea for a new question could be: How many more suicides have happened since the world of Facebook, myspace and Twitter was created? How does this compare to 10 or 15 years ago? I was reading an article about a girl who committed suicide because of the website formspring...It might be interesting to see how the pressure of these websites is affecting the stability of especially teenagers.
1.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sept_11_2001/health_and_environmental_issues/index.html?scp=5&sq=firefighters&st=cse
On September 11th 2001 not only did strangers assist the people in danger but risked their own lives. For the ones who survived their health did not go back to normal. They increased the risk of cancers and other diseases. It's interesting that we never think about these factors when a stranger talks to us, will they be the one to save my life? If we did question this though maybe that would change the way we treat strangers. By classifying them as impostors we are atomatically assuming they are bad people. Maybe if we weren't so frightened by the abnormality of the unknown our lives would feel less incomplete. (Navarro, Mireya. "9/11 Health and Environmental Issues News - The New York Times." Times Topics. Web.
2.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/doctors_without_borders/index.html?scp=1&sq=doctors%20with%20no%20borders&st=cse
What is interesting about this organization is that the people they help either accept the strangers or tell them to leave. Since the United States isn't a third world country we are less inclined to be helped by those around us. Although I am sure in third world countries the people in need of help will take it without question. The people working with Doctors Without Borders, are there to medically assist the suffering but also observe to see why the suffering may have initially started. It seems as though the people don't mind the medical attention but when the criticising starts the strangers can pack there bags... (Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Doctors Without Borders News - The New York Times." Times Topics. Web.
3.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/obama-thanks-families-of-slain-police-officers/?scp=3&sq=police&st=cse
Obama shows thanks to those who risked their lives for other strangers. Something interesting to question though is, do we view our uniformed citizens as strangers? Is there a difference between someone who could suddenly turn into a life saver verses someone who does it as their job? Maybe.... but what if that person who does wear a uniform starts up a casual conversation when the uniform isn't flashing, and you look at them as if they are out of their mind. However in reality if they were nonexistent our live span would most likely be much shorter. (Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. "Obama Thanks Families of Slain Police Officers - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com." Politics and Government - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com. Web.
4.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/would-you-help-an-injured-stranger/?scp=3&sq=strangers&st=cse
The talk of the homeless man who saved a woman who was being robbed has been quite a conversation recently. I think it is mainly due to the fact that homeless people are alienated from most of the population. They are looked down on as lazy and helpless. What if what happened to this man happened to you though? I wouldn't want to be left on the street drowning in my own blood. The fact of the matter is though is this man was originally just trying to help a stranger and then the strangers around him didn't have the decency to help him in return. Most of the answers from this survey were shocked by the choices that were made in this incident but if they were in the moment would they honestly look at this stranger and help him as they said they would? (Ojavlo, Holly E. "Would You Help an Injured Stranger?" New York Times (blog). 27 Apr. 2010. Web.
Hey sarah, I like you question and what you are purposing that we are closer to strangers that we are aware. but i think that the question is still hard to write a paper on. What are you going to use as proof. I would suggest that as a question where you can have a quantitative answer. Show on in studies ___ percent of people would do so and so in real life. What percent of people would save a strange in distress even if if can as a risk to their own life? i don't know if that is any better but you might want to consider that. just ask me if what i'm saying doesn't make sense
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