Lindsay, I absolutely loved this post. You brought up so many good points regarding communal growth.I mean, humans are social beings after all. What are your feelings toward the statement “You must learn to love yourself before you can love others?” Where would that fit in? Do you believe it?

Lindsay,

I enjoyed reading your post. I completely agree with your standpoint that “people are our paths to happiness.” The part in your post that touched me the most was your last paragraph, especially when you write of purpose and how everyone plays into the way we build up our happiness. Because this is third quarter, my bitter-sweet side starts to come out more so I just want to relate this post to high school. I do believe that the people I have gotten to know this year have truly made me happy and felt that my life had been more purposeful. I am going to be sad when we all part, but we can all look at this experience as four years that we all impacted each other in special ways whatever that may have been. Thank you for your post.

-Thomas K.

Lindsay,
I haven’t really thought about our dependence on family and friends which makes your topic unique. Insecurity and isolation are negative affects of the lack of social interaction and I agree with you when you said, “By believing that we need to be independent to be fulfilled, we are keeping ourselves from connections that we need in our lives,” because creating those bonds with people is crucial in becoming who you are and being happy. I really liked how you strengthened your argument by going into reproduction saying it’s a necessary part of living. Here is an interesting article that goes against your argument that I found interesting https://www.elitedaily.com/life/motivation/why-you-should-never-depend-on-anyone-but-yourself Looking forward to your posts to come.

Hi Lindsay! I really enjoyed reading your post and I think you highlighted very important issues. The security of our elections is crucial, therefore we need to have some sort of voter ID laws. However, these laws can lead to discrimination resulting in an unfair election. As many of us will be voting soon it is imperative that we make sure we have adequate laws set in place in order to insure that we have fair and valid elections. I think people need to educate themselves more on this issue especially because voting is one of the most fundamental things within our political system. Here is a link to an article I think you would find compelling!
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx
Tess

Hi!
Really interesting article! I like how different it is ( I would not have thought to write about it, yet it is still incredibly prevalent.) I think ID laws are such a tricky thing to balance, because we want as many people as possible to vote, but we also want it to be as easy as possible for people to vote, without any extra hassle. Here’s an aritcle about voting and women’s rights.
http://www.lwvutah.org/
thanks,
Lexi

Lin,
I absolutely agree with you. Whether or not it is an honor it is for no one to decided besides those whose culture is being depicted. There is clearly a large degree of separation between kids dressing up as native americans and the Red Skins mascot but I think a hard line needs to be drawn on this topic. Strict rules are hard to come by and I usually disagree with them since most of life is so circumstantial. However this is a rare case where I am comfortable putting my foot down. Im surprised you did not bring up the red skins mascot or the name change of Columbus day in your article. However much i agree with you I think your argumentative article should address the other side of the debate. I think your position would be much more persuasive with clear examples, anecdotes from affected communities, and a dismissal of the opposing opinion.
Thank you from a wonderful read! lots of love!
– missy

Lindsay,
I found your question interesting. Humans are such social beings, that being in social isolation is something that we don’t really think about and doesn’t occur naturally easily. As you said, “Everyday we make hundreds of connections with others, and they bring us different emotions.” If you wanted to go deeper into this question, the I thought of the extreme cases that would be documented. A source (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-does-solitary-confinement-do-to-your-mind/) goes through solitary confinement and “In one study, he found that roughly a third of solitary inmates were “actively psychotic and/or acutely suicidal,”” and other side effects. With this information in mind, I agree with your conclusion that we need human contact and interactions at a rate in which our social skills don’t atrophy. If you do continue on this topic, I’d be very interested in reading more.

Lindsay,
I found this post really interesting, because I never really thought about the topic of human connection being something that our happiness depends on. I believe that humans and all animals need communication with others to survive, and it is rooted in us at a young age. By being close to our mothers ever since we are born, we learn to feel human connection, and how beneficial it is. If a child is not held or comforted or communicated with by their mother or anyone around them, that child may grow up with learning deficiencies, psychotic disorders, and socio/psychopathic tendencies. The Harry Harlow experiment shows how communication and comfort is needed at such a young age and is ingrained into our instincts as we grow. https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/psychological-studies-harlows-monkey/
Great post, and I hope to read more about this topic from you!

“Is it possible to be happy alone?” Yes, it is possible for humans to find happiness in their own company. I agree with you that being with people we connect to helps us become who we are today. Humans are capable living without any human contact, but there are consequences when severing these ties. In the article https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2017/why-too-much-solitude-can-be-bad-for-you.html, people become depressed when there’s no one to connect to. I believe our own loneliness causes us to talk to ourselves when no one is around. Do you think our need to express ourselves causes us to talk to ourselves? There are also emotions that humans don’t want to feel alone, like lose of a loved one, trauma, and less than. These connections make us feel important, and I think that’s why humans crave socializing when lonely. Do you think if smartphones didn’t exist, children would be more happy? I’d like to come back and hear more about what you have to say about this topic. If you continue it.

Lindsay,
I saw your headline and knew immediately I would be interested in this topic. You keep the reader interested with varying of sentences and syntax of referring to information from professors. Truly, I was under the impression one can survive and do well alone. This absolutely changes my opinion on the matter because of all the information you offered. You made a great point when you reference emotions having a large impact “whether we want to, or not.” Great job with the interesting question and more than satisfactory answer.

Dear Lindsay,
I am satisfied with the points and argument made in this post, because of the standpoint you took it from. What I mean by this is how you used evidence to support your hypothesis from a high standard resource. Many people often have a claim and nothing to back up their statement leaving it to be irrelevant to others, because all it is is an opinion. However, I’m not fully convinced/believe what is being said, because everyone is very different from one another.
A quote that really stood out to me was, ” I don’t think it is possible to be happy and fulfilled without social connection. We need other people to bring the life into us. Our brain needs social connections to survive and thrive.” This brought attention to my eyes because, not everyone wants to be social, they are more secluded and independent. You do not have to have social connections to bring happiness into your life if that isn’t the type of person you are.

Dear Lindsay,
When I first read the headline of your post, it instantly intrigued me. The points you made in this post were excellent and defended the point you tried to make well. One thing that you said that was interesting me was: “Often times we walk into a conversation in a horrible mood, and we leave feeling happy, other times human interaction brings us down.” because as a social species, our interactions with other effected our emotions since the time we first appeared on this earth.
Regards,
Emily

Lindsay,
I am intrigued by your post because I find it interesting that individuals crave for social connection. As humans we naturally interact with society on a daily basis. As stated ” I found that connections are more than what we want, they are what we need. “‘Being socially connected is our brain’s lifelong passion.. ” This statement makes me think more in depth. Numerous people thrive to be socially connected, but not everyone is alike. We all have different thoughts, could this truly be how others feel? I believe that your post may apply to many, but not all.

I agree, Lindsay. I think that having a twin would be fundamentally life changing, and would allow for a deep sibling reltionship. I think that they are more dependent on people, because they grew up knowing that they had the best support one can have. I think that they find themselves loved in a different way then other siblings. I think your understanding
of twins is incredible, and think that this is very well done,

Lindsay, I think that you have great insight on this topic. I myself have a girlfriend who is also a twin and it is interesting to compare her life to mine. Also my mother is a twin too and it is cool to see what you write here. Thank you for sharing and I will look more into this!
-Casey

Lindsay,
You mentioned that twins either take on a lead role in the family, or a younger role. I’m curious, what would you say determines that decision? You said you took on the younger role, is that because your sister was “technically” born first, or is there other factors?

Averi

I really like this post. I think that this makes perfect sense and I could see how having a twin could change the personality and roles that each twin plays in their family. I also could see how growing up with somebody you are so close too could make you dependent on other people and relationships. I think its interesting to see how twins will go out of their way to have their own identity and personality apart from there twin. I have seen many friends who are twins do that as a way of being their own person and often this will lead to the twins being totally different people. This article talks a little about it if you want to check it out. I would like to hear more about what you think changed you as a twin and how you set yourself apart from your twin.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jun/02/twins-identical-genes-different-health-study

Lindsay,
This is definitely an interesting post. Though I know a few people who are twins, I never really thought of the role they play in the changing family structure. However, I do see how having a twin could affect this, and how it could affect your personality. In your post, you mention how some twins grow up to be more introverted people, while others tend to be really social and make friends easily. I think part of that also depends on the other family members and how you are raised. A twin may be used to being with their twin more, and if the rest of their family is more social, that could make them more extroverted because that is the environment that they grew up in. Thank you for your post. This is definitely an interesting topic and I’m looking forward to your future posts.

Lindsay,

I am intrigued by your post because I have many friends that are sets of twins, and I think the concept of how you can grow together, yet also be very different is interesting. One thing that you said that stands out to me was when you talked about how twins in the future look for a closeness with other people, because they are so used to having someone so close to them 24/7. Your post reminds me of my sister’s 2 best friends who are twins. One of them definitely acts like a baby, and the other acts like the first born. They are very dependent on each other but also have their own traits that separate them. Thank you for sharing this post. I look forward to seeing your next piece of work because your voice really shines in your papers and your understanding of the personalities of twins is very intelligent.

Lindsay,
When reading your post it made me think a lot about my position and involvement in my family. I also am a twin and before reading your post I didn’t think twins could take on such opposite characteristics in a family dynamic but thinking about it now, I see examples of this throughout my relationship with my twin. Not only is my twin brother physically much bigger than me but I also see him looking out for me in similar ways that an older brother would. thank you for your post. This topic is interesting to me and plays a big part in my life.

Lindsay,
I loved this post because I am a twin! While many of your points were interesting and accurate, I wonder if you could find anything on whether the gender of the twins effects the relationship differently? Speaking from experience, I have a twin brother, and we are not similar in personality at all. That would be an interesting point to add!
Great job, I love this topic!

Dear Lindsay,
I am really intrigued to hear more about what you think about a twin relationship being as you’re a twin. One part that really stood out to me in your post is how twins act like the oldest or the baby, this made me think because I’m the middle in my family. I was thinking about how twins that are middle children would act. I was wondering if they’d act like the middle children in the family but the oldest and baby in the relationship of the two twins. Overall, I really think that this is a very interesting idea and I think I might look into it myself.