How the goals I established helped me grow as a learner.
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The goals I set for myself in my Fallout Learning intention helped me remain focused throughout and served as a roadmap to reach my goals.
My main goal for this project was linking my work to prior projects to expand my own thinking. My goal also connect to my VMV as when we started the year I specifically set out to practice my critical thinking by challenging myself and my thinking.
I believe I accomplished this as I managed to link my learning from the Manhattan project to most of my assignments. What I didn’t expect though was how I managed to expand my own thinking through my Zettlekasten.
My Zettlekasten allowed me to take notes on both general and specific topics which really helped me aquire extra knowledge on subjects I felt passionate about. This lead me to study the Nuremberg Trials and the Cuban Missile Crisis in detail. I also used my permanent notes to form ideas which built upon my limited knowledge of ethics and the Law.
That connection between different subjects served as a great way to challenge my thinking and I plan to continue this in future endeavours.
My Understanding of the Cold War fear and its effects.
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The Fear present during the Cold War took many forms but some historical events perfectly exemplify how fear was weaponized.
The formation of the Warsaw Pact showed how fear can even motivate the strongest of nations to take action. When NATO was formed the Soviet Union feared a loss of it’s influence in Europe so they formed an alliance through the Warsaw Pact to avoid that.
While that even showed fear only on one side the Cuban Misile Crisis displayed how fear influenced both America and the Soviet Union to act. America feared Soviet Nuclear Missiles being close to it’s border while the Soviet Union feared Cuba would be taken over. In the end this mutual fear motivated them to compromise and prevented the destruction of both countries.
Currently we can see this same fear present in most nations around the world. This is as most nations currently hold nuclear power not in hopes of destroying other nations, but in fear of not being able to defend themselves.
How Fallout helped me understand the Cold War on a smaller scale.
Fallout allowed me to better my understanding of the Cold War by showing me what this would’ve looked like for the average person.
There’s a couple of specific moments in the book that helped me understand the Cold War in a different kind of way. What all of these moments have in common though is that they highlight the fear real people felt. Be it Ronnie’s irrational decisions because the world might end at any minute or how Scott’s father over prepared in fear of what might happen.
Strasser’s story connects to the fear attributed to the uncertainty that comes with events like the Cold War. Uncertainty affects everyone differently as some instinctively became overwhelmed and gave up all hope while others prepared for what might come. This sort of fear activates people’s fight or flight response. Which means they don’t think, they simply act.
Key Takeaways from our Socratic Seminars.
The dialogue and discussion from the Socratic Seminars helped me gain new perspectives on the Cold War while also developing my skills.
I heard many different thoughts and ideas during the seminar but one stuck with me as it completely changed the way I viewed the book we read.
I specifically recall a classmate of mine talking about how the bunker in Fallout by Todd Strasser was a metaphor for how countries nearby Russia joined the Warsaw Pact out of fear.
Similarly in the book people might’ve been inclined to support Mr McGovern’s ideas in the bunker out of fear of being forcefully removed from the bunker.
These discussions also made me rethink how propaganda could be used. In the past I always viewed propaganda as a means to control a country’s population and their way of thinking but one of my classmates brought up an interesting point which helped shift my perspective.
More specifically my classmate talked about the idea of The US giving out aid as a way to both help the country and make themselves look like the “good guys” of the war.
As a whole these discussions taught me how to think on the spot. When we first started the discussion I had thoughts and quotes I planned to discuss before hand but whenever I used them it disrupted the flow of the conversation instead of allowing it to advance.
To fix this I also began to mix in improvised thoughts which helped me actually add to the conversation. This skill will help me throughout the next project and in future endeavours.
How my pitch displayed my understanding of the Cold War.
The main idea behind my project pitch was how America and the Soviet Union painted each other in a negative light and promoted their own ideals through education. Although this was framed to be for the good of the nation it’s undeniable that the effects their actions had on restricting education and limiting new generations beliefs is immoral.
My concept aimed to express the theme of fear by displaying how both America and the Soviet Union made extreme decisions (using education to promote their ideals and demonize their enemies) thanks to their fear of one another.
I’d say the feedback stage helped me develop my idea the most. Originally my pitch didn’t really have much of a link to my prior knowledge but when it got a revision and I realized our ideas wouldn’t come to life quite yet I realized I had enough time to improve that aspect of it.
This lead to me completely changing the direction of my pitch to something that both relates to my prior work and builds upon it.
Final Reflection.
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The main theme of this project is based around this fear of the Cold War which provided me with a completely different way of thinking about it.
I started off believing fear was nothing more than how we tend to react to something which may pose a danger to us, something which relates back to prehistoric times.
Suprisingly though over the course of the project I’ve realized fear can be weaponized as this specific emotion holds the power to influence people’s actions. Meaning that it can be used to sway people’s beliefs and their views on entire nations.
Personally this project helped me grow as a learner, thinker and even a creator. As a learner I was able to expand on my knowledge of The Cold War to the point to where I now feel confortable making connections between this and future projects.
As a thinker I managed to make a lot of stretches as I challenged myself in terms of my on the spot thinking and making connections. Currently my skills in both of this aspects have grown tremendously because of this project which will help me in assignments to come.
For next time though I’d like to extend my learning by expanding on my ideas to reach a level of high proficiency on every single one of my assignments.
In my eyes this project served as an example of what I can achieve if I simply think ahead. While I may not have reached my full potential and still have room to improve I’m proud of my work and stretches and will continue to build upon them.