Faith

    I was in the middle of watching my favorite Television show the other night, "Dexter", when the idea of faith was introduced. A rather odd topic to focus on given that the main character is a serial killer, but i couldn't help but think about what one of the characters was saying on the idea. A character by the name of Brother Sam was explaining that, "Its human nature, you gotta believe in something. Haven't you had a problem so big that you couldn't handle it on your own?". These word's struck me as very interesting because i had never before really explored the idea of faith and believing in something. What is it that causes people, be it American's or anybody else, to have faith and believe in something of a higher power?

    I believe that faith in the religious sense is seen most in the case similar to what Brother Sam was talking about, when one has a problem bigger than themselves. A conflict or question where they cannot seem to find a resolution or answer to. It also seems like people turn to faith in times of peril and hardship.

What causes people to have faith?  Is it human nature to believe in something bigger?

Chance

    As many Americans have already realized, the McDonald's Monopoly game is back again. I mean how could you not notice this with the suffocating number of billboard and television advertisements. After looking at a few game pieces I found myself confused at how exactly the game works, especially since I had never heard of anyone who has won anything more impressive than a free hamburger. After doing some brief research I came to the realization that this was truly one stupendous business scheme. Let me begin first by explaining how the game works:


1.) You order food.
2.) You peel off the game pieces that come stuck on the wrappers of your food (game pieces only come on select menu items, generally those of a larger size).
3.) You either win a small food item or become confused at what you do with all the random colored monopoly game pieces you now possess.
4.) If you care enough you can keep collecting colored game pieces till you have 3 of the right color, street, and winning number combination
    
    The odds of instantly winning $500 are 1 in 824,142. The odds of instantly winning $10,000 are 1 in 206,035,400.  The odds of winning the ultimate prize of $1,000,000 by collecting the game pieces of Park Place #341 and Boardwalk #342 are 1 in 618,106,200 and 1 in 3,141,832,163. If you have not yet noticed it by now, your chances of winning even five hundred dollars are stacked heavily against you. This game also reminded me of another highly improbable opportunity to win, The Lottery. So I wonder, Why do Americans keep trying to win something where the odds are so stacked against them?
    
     It's because it is an American value to beat the odds and be the underdog, the cinderella story. It is something that most American's greatly admire. It is something that we strive for in society, to be the person that sets them self apart from the others. Being in the spotlight is what everyone envy's. 
    
     Another reason people buy into these types of "games" is for hope. Similar to religion, these types of things become rituals for people, and gives them a sort of hope and optimism. It helps them to believe in something more. Although nearly all of the people who invest in these little games win less to nothing, it is defying the odds and hope that keeps them coming back for more.

  

Walking on Thin Ice

I just finished watching 60 Minutes on CBS about a young man, Alex Hannod, who lives his life rock climbing solo without any source of rope or protection. He has set records all over the United States, and his ability to risk his whole life to climb the face of a mountain truly amazes me. The whole interview was focused on his climbing, how people view his risks in the climbing world, and finally how he lives out of his van on less than one thousand dollars a month. This was all incredible to me, and I immediately thought of how similar he was to Chris McCandless. Like McCandless, Alex Hannod dropped out of college and just left to go pursue his passion of climbing in the wild. What I found most interesting about this interview though, was that they never focused on his childhood or his relationship to his family. As part of the audience i was really interested in how his family viewed his lifestyle choices. This realization made me think about the choices interviewers and directors make when telling the stories of other people and conducting interviews. I saw Alex Hannod's story as inspiring and truly incredible, but i wonder had the interviewer taken a different approach to the story maybe i would think differently. Watching this interview really made me think about how each story can be crafted so many different ways, and each way really does make a difference on how the audience will view the story.