First, I commented on Albert's blog, because I also really despise having to work. Albert's post was about homework and the lack of need for it sometimes. I basically said that I agreed with him, but could see easy ways to extend his points further into the education system. I felt that though he explored his own opinion very well, it wasn't quite a 360.

"Well...

First off, I agree with you at a fundamental level. The way classes are now, more intelligent people have to suffer and plow through busy work and don't receive any benefits. In math and most of our classes in general, once you understand a concept, no amount of practice will help you. In fact, I wish you would extrapolate this further and talk about how teaching in the Math, History and Health areas esp. have essentially become a agenda advocated by the government to decrease unemployment rates by paying people to dig holes in the ground.

Now, I'm not necessarily saying this is true, I'm merely pointing out that with the combination of simply reading from the textbook in class and students that get things more quickly, some teachers seem to be useless in the learning enviroment. Why not just buy a textbook? Why have a teacher? This of course isn't always true, as one can see in areas that requires critical thinking (i.e. English, foreign languages and more experimental and groundbreaking sciences) rather than mechanic understanding, a teacher for guidance and to start discussion is necessary. In other words, meaning of life as opposed to simple arithmatic requires instruction.

I feel that too much help from a teacher can actually stunt a student's learning ability in order to jam a few facts into their head. For instance, it is shown that potential ESL students end up doing better in all areas of learning when not receiving support from an ESL teacher.

Of course, not discussing all of this is not your fault, as I have simply strayed from the topic at hand: homework.

Let me say that, in some places, I feel you did not do the topic justice.

The way I see it, your blog post isn't quite a 360. It is rather similar to mine in that it is largely a critique. While you do occasionally indicate that requiring homework is good, you always either define the instance when homework is good to fit your view, or just return and counter the point. For example, if you say that homework is good, you will turn around and say that homework is only good when it is necessary for learning (i.e. for those behind in class). In this way, you serve to only push forward your own viewpoint by the end of your post. While I agree with most of your points, I feel that this is not a 360. However, it is a good exploration of your opinion and how you came to believe it."
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Second, I posted in response to Daniel's 360, as my mind connected it to religion as soon as I read it. The idea was basically that faith in people is taken advantage of or used to create a larger power. Examples of this are Daniel's Band and the influence of the Pope in Medieval Europe.

"Hello Daniel,

I reacted differently than Ali did upon reading your post, I was reminded of God.

Now for atheists, God doesn't have any power s/he doesn't have any direct control over our lives and we simply don't recognize a need for belief in him/her.

Of course, for theists it is the exact opposite, God has a definite hold over their thoughts, actions and lives in general. For one thing, attending church/temple provides an additional social aspect of a person's life and religion has been used as a social tool to control people's lives.

And, in this way, religion and thus the idea of God has much influence in daily life. It is common for a Christian mother to pray to God when one of her children becomes ill and it is natural for the mother to become overcome with thankfulness when her child recovers. Misdirected respect for God thus strengthens said mother's belief, as well as religion's hold over her life.

Relating back to what you said, her individual faith in God continues to spur religious development allowing for more children to become "educated" and thus increasing the power of religious institutions. That is why successful relgions have a supportive base and thus can advocate things like religious wars and disbelief in logic. (Though both of those things are increasingly becoming things of the past as humanity has become more educated)

In this way, every individual matters as, like you said, they contribute in order to construct a greater power (in your context, music).

Overall, good post."