Essay 2 Option Choice

When we were talking in class, the idea of cultural symbolism and the tan came up. I found this idea more interesting than all of the rest and have decided to write my essay on this topic.
I will use Option 4: "Discuss a powerful symbol (or symbols) in our culture today. How does this symbol affect thinking/stop thinking."

My thesis will involve the idea that people like to use symbols to try and represent who they are. You can represent many things with a tan. You could be trying to be athletic looking, exotic looking, fake looking/well kept, or simply want to have that "California/Coastal look".
People will go so far have these perfect tans, even though they are terrible for your skin, and triple aging rates. Why do they do this? Because like all other symbols, looking at someone with a tan /without a tan is capable of affecting/stopping the thinking of others.

In my first paragraph I plan to talk about the different reasons, people may search for this perfect tan, and why it is such a cultural icon/symbol.

In my second paragraph I will discuss how this symbol affects and stops the thinking of others.

In my third paragraph I will discuss my personal feelings and the underlying argument that although symbolism in our culture is inevitable, judgement is wrong, and people should strive to be themselves, rather than get so worked up in symbols.

Chapters 9-13

Blog Chapters 9-13

Chapter 9- The Little Man Who Wasn’t There

“The more complicated civilization becomes the more conscious we must be that our nervous systems automatically leave out characteristics of the events before us”. (p 98)

It is interesting to think about the truth that we often make seeing and believing into a single process. Isn’t this what we have always been taught to do though? Just like the famous quote “seeing is believing”. If you see something then it must be true, because you are watching it happen.

Fearful words and unthinkable words are sort of silly when you think about it in the way that this book lays them before us. Words like “rattlesnake” are just words. It is the negative connotations of which we learn them in, that make them so toxic. Of course other hate words, and words related to prejudice are much worse to think about than words like rattlesnake.

In response to the question “what is a jew?”. I would say it is anybody who wishes to identify themselves this way. The rest concerning if a person does or doesn’t fit into a certain mold isn’t anybody’s business but that persons.

Chapter 10-Classification

“The effect that each of these classifications has upon what he may and may not do consititutes there reality” (107).

I get from this that classifications are really just groupings, and may or may not be relative in a literal sense. They limit our society by grouping us. It makes sense when Hayakawa makes the statement that classification is not a matter of identifying our “essences”, but simply a reflection of social convenience or necessity.

Classifications are a creation of how we feel people/ things need to be grouped to fit our societal needs. Having read this chapter, I will undoubtedly look at the idea of classifying differently.

From a societal stand point (not scientific) how can we really define truth? How can we ever know what is honestly true?

Chapter 11- The Two-Valued Orientation

It isn’t correct to think about questions as only having two sides. This is an interesting thought to me. In most cases questions seem to be answered either right or wrong. I suppose it is important to pay attention to the middle ground options as well.

This chapter runs through numerous examples of two valued structures, often using the examples of good guys and bad guys. I think we define what is good and what is bad based upon how we are raised and what is going on around us. Because of this, there can be no clear answer of what is good and bad.

“Action resulting from two-valued orientations notoriously fails to achieve its objectives” (p 124).
I feel this quote sort of sums up the ideas of the chapter. It is definitely true!

Chapter 12-The Multi-Valued Orientation

“Although we like to think of ourselves as rational beings, there are few of us who do not exhibit the two- valued orientation when we are stirred up by controversy.” (p 128)

I feel that this quote is something that people try and tell themselves is not true, but I think it is pretty accurate. When people feel passionately about a subject, they often feel there is a only a right and a wrong, while not leaving room for a shade of grey. This is a pitfall for debate, when we are arguing with one another.

Chapter 13- Poetry and Advertising

“The most important respect in which poetry and advertising resemble each other is that they both strive to give meaning to the data of every day experience.” (p 135)

I really like this passage because it is true, and I never thought about the way that poetry and advertising were similar. Both use symbolism to either sell an idea, or make us think deeper about an idea. They both make us think farther on a subject or idea than we would normally. This is what I like about both poetry and advertising-making us think outside the box.

Language in Thought and Action Chapters 5-8

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Chapter 5 –The Double Task of Language

Language has multiple tasks: Instrumental, as in fulfilling the task of communication. Also language is used to help us express our feelings.

“In addition to tone of voice and rhythm, another extremely important affective element in language is the aura of feelings, pleasant or unpleasant, that surrounds practically all words (pg 43)”
It is interesting to think about language in the terms of tone of voice and rhythm, because these influence so heavily how our words are understood and reacted to. You could be saying very kind words, in an angry tone of voice and most likely what you were saying would be taken in a negative way because of your tone.
“Almost all verbal expressions of feeling make use, to some extent, of the affective connotations of words. (45)”
This is so true and isn’t something I have thought about much before because it comes so naturally to use these words with certain connotations. Over time words have taken on different connotations that severely influence the meaning of what we say, or the way the person we are saying it too decides to take it.

I also found the passage about how the fear of death can be symbolized by our society’s fear of words having to do with death to be interesting. For example, we use words such as passed away, departed, or gone west. I always associated the use of the softer words for describing one’s passing as a sign of respect rather than fear. It definitely makes sense that some of this usage may come from our own fear.

I think the connotations of words are fun to study, because we learn so much about ourselves and the development of our language. Sometimes doesn’t take much for a word to develop a negative connotation, other than repetitive use.

Chapter 6- The Language of Social Cohesion

“We use language in presymbolic ways; that is, as the equivalent of screams, howls, purrs, and gibbering.” (p 56)
It is interesting to see our complicated language system compared to screams, howls and purrs. It really simplifies the fact that we are just using language as a way to communicate to each other, the same way that is done in the animal world. We express our desires, and feelings often through language rather than sounds or noises.

“We talk about nothing at all and thereby establish friendships” (pg 58)
This is so true, often times when I get together with my girlfriends we will sit and talk about things that would be seemingly meaningless to others who didn’t know us. However, it is talking about nothing that seems to bring friendships closer together, because just enjoying each other’s company is the most important. “The togetherness is not merely in the talking itself, but in the opinions expressed.” (page 58)

I really like the following quote for the means of summarizing this chapter:
“Presymbolic communications have this characteristic in common: Their effectiveness does not depend on the use of words. They can even be performed without recognizable speech at all.” (p 62)
What I get from this: Communication is not necessarily about what is said, but about the need to listen, be heard, and feel as if you are interacting with another person. They want to hear one another’s voices, and their own. It’s all about the interaction between two people.

The Language of Social Control -7

Words can be influential and used as a means to try and make things happen in our favor.

“The future, like the recorded past, is a specifically human dimension.” (p 65)
Dogs, for example, may know that something specific will happen every morning (in a sense knowing the future, but cannot gather something that will happen in the future from a word or command. Animals cannot really control future events.

It is interesting that the book brought up propaganda on page 67. I studied propaganda extensively in a media class, and it is so true that people react almost instantly in favor or against what propaganda is telling you to go out and buy, believe or not believe. The human opinion seems to be so easy to influence by the work of others through language and means of communication.

“Society is a vast network of mutual agreements” (68)
This is something I have never thought about, but the way we have come to be the society that we are is by many, many mutual agreements upon laws, rules, cultures, norms, etc. It makes you wonder why people tend to agree so much on certain things? Like driving on the right side of the road rather than left in the U.S.

Chapter 8—How We Know What We Know

This chapter seems to somewhat target the questions that lingered in the back of my head during many of the previous ones. Why are this just the way they are? How did so much in our society come to be inferred and understood?

“The indispensability of this process of abstracting can again be illustrated by what we do when we calculate.” (p 87)
It is interesting to think of abstracting as such a complicated act, when our brains seem to do it automatically. For example, inferring that Bessie is a cow (ex from book), by looking at her features, and actions. We are calculating in our minds.

“Definitions tell us nothing about things” (88)
If definitions tell us nothing, and only describe people’s linguistic habits, than observations must be what really tell us something about things.

Abstactions go deeper into different levels of being abstract. Psychological well-being requires the constant interplay of higher and lower level abstractions. Its interesting to think that this all goes on in our heads and we don’t seem to notice it.

Chapters 1-4 in Language in Though and Action

Chapter 1:

I found this chapter and the conclusions it made about the human beings superior development of language to be very interesting. The following quote caught my eye more so then other parts of the chapter:

“Instead of remaining helpless because of limitations of their own experience and knowledge, instead of having to rediscover what others have already discovered, instead of exploring the false trails others have explored and repeating their errors, they can go on from where others left off.”

I liked this quote because I think as a linguistically developed species; we take for granted our ability to communicate feelings and experiences. This quote made me think about how different human beings would be without the use of language and the ability to share stories and experiences with others, whether they were recommendations or warnings. Communicating our experiences and knowledge with others is in many ways the root of our survival, just as this chapter correlates language and survival of the fittest. Language has evolved, and engrained itself as a necessity for human survival over time.

It is interesting also to think about other species and their lack of both written and social language. The development of language really does seem to be what has put the human race a step in front of all other species over the course of time in which we evolved.

Chapter 2:

It is interesting to think about the fact that symbolic elements are unique only to the human race, and that animals are not capable of making any kind of symbolic connections. The first section of the chapter talks about the fact that animals can tell what something is but not what it stands for. How is this something that we can prove? We don’t really know what kinds of connections animals are making in their heads. Because of language we can communicate the connections we make, but animals cannot.

I was drawn to the discussion of how strongly we as a people embrace symbolism.
“The not so wealthy imitate these symbols of wealth; symbolize their conviction that, even if they do work for a living, they are just as good as anybody else.”
This is so true. People feel a need to fit a certain label, because of the way certain clothes, life styles, behaviors or beliefs symbolize superiority. We have made our society this way. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, but if you want to fit the mold of success, there is no escaping the want to emulate these things. As society becomes increasingly technological, with cell phones, cars etc, you see even more of this imitation.

Chapter 3:

Reports are verifiable. What is considered acceptable means of proving that something is verifiable? Aren’t we just using more reports to verify the ideas for our reports in most cases? …and at some point wasn’t everything written down based off of an inference to a certain degree, since there had to be an initial discovery of every verifiable subject?

Before reading this chapter, I had never seen reaction related words (so called snarl-words and purr-words) be analyzed. It is interesting to compare the things we say without thinking, to the growling or purring of an animal.

Thinking about one’s own bias:
“The individual with genuine skill in writing-and in thinking-can with imagination and insight look at the same subject with many points of view.”
This is so true. For me, it is very hard to respect the writing of an extremely biased author, whether or not I agree with them. Using insight to cover all the bases and points of view on a topic is much more interesting and believable reading. Being able to try an find understanding in what you are biased against will produce better writing, because it shows your ability to think outside of your bubble.
It makes the author appear to be more cultured, experienced and more educated in my opinion.

Chapter 4:

It is fascinating to realize that if we don’t know what a certain word means, we can listen to the words surrounding it in the sentence to try and uncover its meaning. It is a process that we don’t even notice ourselves using, and we probably do this more often when than we think.

“The context of each word is collected, along with the word itself”.
This part of the reading caught my eye because it is very true. The context in which we use a certain word says a lot about the message we are really trying to get across whether or not the word is even the main idea. The context in which we say things is even more important than the words we use. I think this is a good point on the subject of language, writing, and what we take from the literature we read in this class and in our lives.

Educating Rita

1) I believe the reason Frank sees education as a trap, and Rita sees it so differently is because Frank is bored and unhappy with his life. Since education has played such a large role in Franks life he resents it for making him unhappy. Frank does not like the way his students think. He feels that education has made them more like bank vaults than intellectual thinkers, to use Freire's terms. When Frank begins to see Rita starting to regurgitate information the way his other students do, he becomes angry and concerned because he was starting to fall in love with her for the way she was before. Rita had her own unique way of thinking and was very opinionated about the world before her education. Becoming educated changed her by molding her to be like the masses at the college, and at the same time taking away what made her so unique.
2) Frank begins to change as a result of meeting Rita, because I think she makes him feel important. He feels that she is beginning to really learn from him, so he cleans up his act for a small period of time. Once Rita starts to surpass the knoweledge that Frank has given her, however, he becomes angry and goes back to his old ways of drinking and being a bad teacher. He is hurt because he feels like he is not needed any longer. What she had made become alive in him, is now dead again.
3) Rita does not go to the party at Frank's house because she does not feel that she will fit in with this educated crowd, due to her social class. I think this is sort of the turning point in the movie, because Rita not only realizes that she does not fit in with Frank's social class, but she also does not fit in with her own working class husband and family. When she goes to the bar and sees them all singing the same song and not thinking intellecutally about anything she cant bare the difference between them any more and she leaves.
4) The way Rita discusses being a hairdresser and the way Rita discusses herself at the end of the movie differ because of Rita's sense of self pride and achievement. When she was just a hairdresser, Rita felt that something was missing in her life. She didnt feel like her mind was being enriched or challenged. By the time Rita is done with her education, she is able to have the power of choice. Her education gives her this freedom to chose between travel, a number of careers, or going back to her old life. This is something of which she can talk about with pride and a sense of acheivement.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

I found this article interesting, but also to be very repatative. I have often thought about the idea that technology makes us use our brains in a different way and in many cases (like texting or facebook), makes our language and reading skills regress because of the poor writing and thinking we use. However I do not necessarily agree that Google is making us stupid. Yes, when we research information on the internet, we read bits and peices of many articles but perhaps this is giving us a broader more well rounded view of a topic than we would get by thouroughly reading one or two hard copies.
I also think that any essay written on a topic of techonology seems to be heavily swayed to the prospective of the time period in which the writer grew up. If you grow up with internet, you will tend to not think it as making you stupid because it is all youve ever known. For example, since internet was commercialized in the 90's, I have had it in my household since I was about 6. Because of this life long familiarity, I dont beleive my mind has been altered very much. I grew up in a time period where the internet was quickly becoming the norm.
Overall Nicholas Carr has a good, valid point and puts forth alot of evidence that the internet is responsible for changing the way we think, but in my opinion it isnt making us stupid. It is just making our minds adapt and think differently. Perhaps more quickly and efficiently for the time period in which we live.

A Homemade Education and Education and the Autodidact

A Homemade Education:

I enjoyed this text, because of the way Malcolm X took a negative experience, like being in prison, and turned positive by using his time there to further his education and read so many books. “My reading of books, months passed without ever thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I had never been so truly free in my life.” Malcolm wanted so badly to learn, that he took his education into his own hands and started to teach himself to read and write. I felt that his passion for learning was what made his text so enthralling. I liked how at a point in time he could not read, or write, but now after educating himself, he was sharing his story with us via text.

Malcolm is the opposite of the Rodriguez in my opinion. They both found a deep passion in reading, but Malcolm was getting much more out of it. His mind was expanding and he was thinking critically rather than just being filled with information like a piggy bank. Malcolm’s experience with education made him feel free and enlightened rather than like he was losing something.
“As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students.”
I think as the opposite of a ‘scholarship boy’ Malcolm X was getting much more out of his education, because he is able to expand ideas in his mind and appreciate the education so much more. Perhaps, the idea of a homemade education is more effective than the Banking Theory. Malcolm did not see his ignorance leaving him as a negative thing, or blame education for it in the way other writers have in this section. He “attacked his ignorance”, appreciating its departure rather than blaming education for its loss.

Education and the Autodidact:

This story was much more difficult for me to read. The most interesting quote that I found in the text was “educational entitlement, is ignorant of the right to be ignorant that is conferred by certificates of knowledge.” This quote stood out to me because we were talking a lot about the definition of ignorance and how education causes us to lose some of our ignorance over the time in which we are educated. This quote seems to be agreeing with just this, and saying that in thinking your entitled to education, you are acting ignorant of your right to be ignorant (staying uneducated).

I was a bit confused in how this text switched from themes of education to themes of culture. I could somewhat follow how the idea of social class intertwined the two, but I feel like I somewhat missed the overall idea. I am sure we will discuss it in class, and it will become more clear.

The overall understanding which I gathered from this reading was that there is more to being “cultured” than being educated. So overall this essay is criticizing education? I think this quote references this idea: “ Self-made men, they cannot have the familiar relation to culture which authorizes the liberties and audacities of those who are linked to it by birth, that is, by nature and essence.”