Recognizing Default Responses

Throughout the semester I have noticed when writing my blogs on the media, my discussions and my line of reasoning I have reverted some of my views back to what I have been taught but also what I have learned since maturing.  We as children learn from our parents what right and wrong is we learn what is acceptable and what is not. We learn these concepts and use them to make judgments on different issues, these judgement are not based on evidence or merit but purely on what we were taught. I recently had an example like Dr.Young did, I was working at the hospital when a Physician told me a story when they were at a resort and wanted to eat at certain restaurant outside, however they noticed that their were people drinking alcohol outside and did not want to expose their children to this behavior.  This is a prime example of how ethnocentricity affects even the most educated people. The other people in the room that heard the same story stood in amazement of how someone could judge people based on something they don't agree with thus making them atrocious people.  As I have had life experiences and have been in different places my views and opinions have changed from what was previously a learned behavior. 
We as humans react differently in every situation and to react appropriately we must be able to adapt.  Adaption means changing to accommodate any situation, for me this was a lesson that took many years to learn however I have finally caught on. For example when I saw something when I was younger I would rush to judgement and determine what I deemed the best solution, this was based not on fact or evidence but a default response. As I have grown older and have experienced different parts of the world my judgement is no longer the same. I have gained a greater respect for the people and world around me, the biggest lesson I have learned is that differences in people, views, opinions are what make people special. The saying that if everyone were the same the world would be a boring place is exactly the truth. Our differences are what makes us unique, we many at times clash with those of other views but we still can find common ground in other interests. When writing on the media, I realized I couldn't just speak my mind and opinion I had to back my words with evidence and facts, and many times facts can be twisted with opinions.
 I have related this to a phrase from a TV series and the phrase has always made perfect sense to me - "Once you attach an assumption to a piece of evidence, you start to bend the narrative to support it." This is what we do in our daily lives we look for reasons to justify our reasoning without actually having facts first. My first on the media was based on the Zika virus, my assumption was that the disease was infecting the world and caused birth defects and citizens should be aware and cancel their trips to foreign country's. The information I gathered was from the media. This hyped the effect of the disease only made the public hysteria worse, as I wrote in my blog when the H1N1 was exposed their was mass hysteria in the U.S. and people lined the E.R. because they thought they had been exposed. However after listening to the discussion and gathering my own facts, the media hyped the illness to be much more than it is, my default response was incorrect and I had no logical reasoning to support it. After gathering evidence for my blog I found that I was wrong. When I did my first constructive video I knew the NSA was trying to protect the american public but at what cost ? I knew who Snowden was but I could not yet decide if he was a traitor or whistle blower.  My assumption was that this was for the good of the country and to protect the people but after some research my response developed as I gathered factual information and began looking at it from a different perspective and adapting my views. I had later come to decide that what the NSA was doing was illegal and unethical. The world we live in is based on our perception, and always has been but our perceptions can evolve with being better informed and having an open mind, listening to others opinions can influence us to make more informed decisions on which to base our opinions.