Exploring Girls' Role Models

Here is the link to our video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoosP0XiEms


Group Members: Nicholas Thee, Taylor Stock, Savannah Ball, Dakota Wappes, Molly Hampton

Games and Such

Let me begin by admitting that I have been a gamer my whole life so my opinion on this topic is more than likely biased, but I digress.  Some of the arguments presented in class and in the reading I find to be very true and for some key reasons. The first portion I find true is the optimism that comes from video games. As I alluded to in class I am myself a bit of an optimist and I personally would contribute some of that to the experiences I have had vicariously through gaming. The feeling of an epic win is a real thing that exists in most games or else you weren’t attached to what you were attempting to accomplish and that’s just bad game design.

            I also happen to disagree with the opinion presented by the class that video games couldn’t help us solve world problems. The world’s problems are not only solved by the fruition of ideas, but also by how we mold the generation to come after us. Video games are a perfect platform (video game pun) for displaying basic values to children. Video games can also frame certain current events in different ways. Take the example of army games. Some games portray America as the good guys in a bang bang shoot em up sort of way. While on the other hand there are games such as The Line in, which your fellow American soldiers become your enemy as they abuse the local populace.

            So in the end Mario taught me two things. First even a small Italian man can jump three to four times his own height if he tries (optimism), and second that a princess (or prince) always deserves saving (values?).

Fun info graphic:     

Food Can Have Good Genes to

One of the portions of both the documentary and literature during the food segment was genetic manipulation of food. The closest we got was the satirical idea of the tomato carrot, which in my opinion doesn’t create an accurate depiction of food and genetics. The main idea that was really missed was the benefits of this practice, which in this case outweigh the disadvantages. This is because new genetically crafted seeds hopefully have the ability to pull developing countries out of their current stagnation. This is, because once each household in the developing world can quit focusing on creating it’s own food the members of that household can move on to bettering their community with more socially productive activities.

            Many critical studies point out how at this moment we have the power to feed the world. The only problem with this critique is that this does not avoid the problem of dependence in the international community. So these seeds that grow in any environment need to be readily available so that the food can be sold at local prices rather than just shoveling in free products that stop the economy of a country from growing on it’s own.

            The only thing blocking this from happening is what we know as protective business tactics. So America holds it technology to it’s self so that there are no international competitors (at least within developing countries). So there is the possibility that mass production tactics could be useful in saving lives, but the same people that create this technology also extort it for profit rather than doing good. 

Coping with Failure

There are few ways for me to describe my feelings on war and what it is as a societal institution, but something I can try to explain is why war is exemplified in the media. So like we talked about in class we have become a society that just accepts war as an okay outcome. Whither it is dolls or games we see war become something that’s not costly when it comes to the cost benefit analysis of going to war. In the end though war is a failure of communication and politics and I assert that we use positive images of war to be able to cope with that failure.

            So we are all American and support our men and women and arms, but what happens when we disagree with what they are sent to fight for. Well in all actuality nothing really. Years after 9/11 once emotions had calmed down we found out that most opinion polls now show that Americans really didn’t want to go to war, but since that outcry was not accepted by our leaders we went anyways.

            Some people may find my opinion critical and contradicted with most of the comments made in class during the war segment. Before I unleash the prowess of other peoples arguments I think it might be important to point out what we base our claims off of. Not to say that others claims and comments are not legitimate, but the stark lack of knowledge presented when I asked two simple questions that actually prefaced America entering the Middle East creates an interesting contrast between knowledge and opinion. This lack of general knowledge explicitly proves my point, because when we begin to cope with negative images one of our most likely actions is to accept the positive views of our negative actions. So I guess the moral of the story may be to educate yourself before you till your frame of the world to far in any one direction.   

Cool Song that pertains to post: 

Information Deprivation

It is interesting how a lack of historical education can allow people to accept the bliss that is feed to them. It seemed as if everyone in class had an opinion on the recent wars in the Middle East and their coverage, but when I asked two simple questions a total of seven people raised their hands (that doesn’t count me). In the end though I don’t blame people for accepting what the media tells them as self-evident truth its not like we can all go report for ourselves. It gets even worse when the class ends on a low note with no answer on how we can go out and find the truth for ourselves.

            I have found one answer for my self at least, which is to try to consume as much information from as many different viewpoints as possible. This can be done by simply reading many different sources from America, but by also reaching out to other countries for information. But you even have to be carful when doing this, because as we all know some countries have a positive and negative view on America. In the end this may not be effective in informing you on what’s actually going on either.   

            In the end no matter what we do I think we will all find a different conclusion on what the truth behind a situation may be. So class may not have ended on a low note, but an explainable and unavoidable situation. I think we don’t need to focus on solving the problem of controlled media, but rather reach a realization that all speech will always be persuasive no matter who frames it or how its framed. So there is no “answer” to this problem just something we can accept and move on to debating each other’s opinions and may the most persuasive always win! (Sorry I’m a closet sophist you can blame Aristotle for that though) 

The art of being cool (or the mindset)

Today in class I learned a couple of key things that I didn’t pull from our reading about being “cool”.  The first and most important is that cool is a state of mind and if your trying to be the cool then you are doing it wrong. The second thing I learned is that criticizing hipsters (I can’t believe hipster appears without a red line under it!!!!) seems to take a gratuitous amount of cursing. The third thing was a point I inferred myself that is also pretty pessimistic. Overall I think finding cool as something you can achieve starts as a self esteem complex, because if being cool is truly unattainable than we should learn to all be comfortable where we are. A perspective that is so quickly passed up in society is that true individualism comes from acceptance of all people, and taking note that all people includes your self and the image you may portray to others. Once we accept that we may never be the “cool” society wants us to be we can figure out that we are all individuals no matter what we wear, believe, or make at home rather than the grocery store. I think this relates to Frank’s argument, because this means that a true counter culture may be just as unattainable as cool. This comes idea comes to fruition in the fact that the ideas I previously stated (finding your own individualism) are only achieved in our society through consumerism, which means that the corporate American can easily create what is rebellious or different for every generation. In the end I think it all comes back to one question do you know who you are, and if you don’t then you might want to take sometime to figure it out, because if we are never comfortable in our own skin (which is impossible if it is made for us) then we may never reach the top of Maslow’s pyramid of needs (self actualization and or reaching your full potential).