Since I have been living in the dominant culture all my life, I have to totally dependent on technology. Without technology I would have no idea how life would be; no computers, electricity, TV, etc. I can't say that I can't live without technology because in the past people have survived without it. With all the growing technology I have assumed that everything will be computerized. This is because people are trying to improve their life or make things easier. The conflicting ideology is computers and the new technology is hard to use. That is why many people shy away from using this technology, especially computers. Another conflicting ideology is that technology improves people's lives. Living in Canada, a peaceful country most people don't realize that technology can cause a lot of destruction. With all the new technological advances, people are able to create weapons. For example bombs can be created by information provided by the Internet. The destruction technology causes can be due to not having censorship of the information provided. The above example would be contradicting to the ideology that we cannot trust everyone in our society with destructive powers. A good example would be the possession of guns and bombs and still this ideology conflicts with the idea of caring guns for protection. This only goes to show that ideologies are often conflicting.

There are certain disadvantages of technology as well; all upsides have downsides. For example, although we have cars...with this invention we have inherited pollution. This is reflective of the dominant ideology where nothing is for free. There are always consequences for the thing we do.

The ideology that everyone is a thief if given the chance is reflective in this assumption. This ideology could be seen in our culture; the existence of the police force, the scanners in stores, etc. Another ideology reflected by the existence of the police force in our culture is that people can not be trusted be keep order on their own. Laws and jails in our culture reflect this ideology. The existence of jails in our North American culture reflects the ideology the major rules. Who's to say that people in jail did something wrong, they might have done something against the law; but does that mean that they did something wrong? Does believing something with only minority's supporting the idea mean that it is wrong? The ideology that everyone want to fit in with the majority branches of from the last ideology. People purchasing brand name clothing, luxury cars, and houses are examples; people purchase brand name clothes to demonstrate they " fit in" to a certain class the upper class. Why do people want to belong to he "upper class" in our culture?

A dominant ideology in our culture is that people are innately evil. They will steal, cheat, and lie if they can get away with it. We just simply have a lack of faith about other human beings. This is reflected in our large dependency on police and the justice system. We assume that people will only act in their own interest if they don't have the "law" to protect them. Even in school, courses such as biology, anthropology, and ecology we are taught that all-living organisms are selfish. Because evolution reflects for the most efficient trait, and even though organisms do cooperate, it is for selfish reasons. These goes against the ideology that people are generally good. It is really true that "one bad apple spoils the bunch." Does this mean it is easier to be evil than to be good? What is it that makes evil being easier than being good? The answer to these questions is that it is harder because there are "rules" to follow an order to be good. These rules are set by the Bible and are accepted by the dominant culture. The Bible is so trusted in the dominant culture because supposedly the stories are from real life experiences in the past. Therefore by definition any old book that tells stores of true experience is one to live by. This shows the contradictions that society lives by...that is probably why so many religions exist in the world.

We Would Find Plays in the Library

A dominant ideology in Canada is that the library is one of our greatest sources for information. In school, we were all taught that we could find all types of literature in a library, including plays. Every time you have to do research we were always told to look in the library first. Also, most schools in this country also have a library, which holds most of the books in that school.

In North American culture, we believe that books in the library can provide us with information to increase our knowledge. In researching books, this is precisely our goal. To increase our knowledge, which ultimately leads to getting ahead. So why does our culture place so much emphasis to get ahead? I think our dominant culture has the ideology that those who are ahead are those who will succeed. In succeeding, we will be able to enjoy life more fully. I think success also can lead to the ideology that people are rich are successful.

The ideologies that if you were educated you would receive a high paying job. This ideology came from high paying jobs such as dentists and doctors, where it takes on average a decent amount of school to reach their degree. On average, people know that doctors and dentists make a lot of money. Personally I think dentists make a lot of money because I paid for one, I KNOW! There is an ideology that if you make lots of money, you're happy. This ideology probably came from the relationship between worry and happy. People in our North American culture believe in the ideology if you have no worries, you're happy.

Books Needed Would Be In Certain Areas & In a Certain Order

Along with most of the other assumptions that I had, this too comes from my past experience with libraries. Elementary was the first time I was exposed to literature research, in other word research that involved me going through a library and looking for information about a particular topic I chose. We were taught how to use the card index which was also arranged in alphabetic order, from 'A' to 'Z'. We were also shown that books that were closely related, in terms of topics would be found in areas grouped together. This and the fact that I all libraries I have been in since elementary have continued to arrange book and information in this fashion is why I have carried this assumption.

The dominant culture is big on organization. This is probably because the more organized something is...the understandable it is. For example, when watching a movie it's easier to follow and understand if it follow some form of order i.e.) chronological, then a story line goes in chronological order. Another example of this is the method in which we are taught in school. Math teachers for instance must find a certain way to teach students so that they learn basic information before they are able to use this information in application problems.

Organization in the dominant culture is also, seen as an effective time saver. The phrase "time is money" realistically describes the ideologies held by the dominant culture. Since time is something that can never be reversed or stopped people want to fit as much into the little time they have. Money is another important part of today's life style. People want to be rich. This richness signifies power and status that has become fashionable to have in this culture. There is also significant amount of respect that goes with being rich, which too is very desirable in this culture.

Living in North America the English language is the dominant language spoken and written. The alphabet is a set of 26 symbols, which arranged in different orders serves as a method of non-verbal communication. The children in this culture are taught to write and read and overall understand these symbols, which too are arranged in a specific order (ABC�XYZ). Putting books in alphabetic order or even articles into an encyclopedia in the same manner is regarded by most as a practical way of organizing subject matter. This is because everyone in Canada knows the alphabet, thus they should be able to quickly find anything they are looking for. If one was to arrange things in order of most current event, relevance or even importance no would be able to find anything. Considering the fact that not everyone finds similar things important. Also, something important to person now may not be as important later down the road.

We Have to Sign Out Books Before We Left the Library

The assumption about signing out books before you can take them home is another assumption that I had going in to the library. I, as does the dominant culture, see this as a practical way of ensuring the safe return of a book. Making sure that people sign out books before they leave has become a very effective way o doing this. In other word this is a method of ensuring what is yours is returned.

The dominant North American society teaches a clear sense of "mine" by which they mean things that belong to you and only you. You may borrow anything, so as long as you have asked and been granted permission to do so. Not only are physical objects, but space is also considered a possession. For Indian culture, in contrast, all possessions in a home belong to everyone. In this culture we are taught that "mine" is something that belongs to everyone in the family.

I think spaces such an important part of this culture because there is so much of it. In comparison India is so overly populated people cannot take claim to their own space. And because of this people in India have a grater sense of togetherness then is present in this society.