hw 31 exploring methods of m,m,c,a and aggrandizing the self

Part A 

so this weekend i was at my friend's house and i noticed he was looking at his shoulder for a while. so i asked what he was doing. He told me that he had just got a tattoo on his shoulder. I began to ask him why he got it. he said, " Its hot man, and i wanted a tattoo for mad long." it was a tattoo of a sort of a star that had a vanishing point. So i was asking what's it suppose to mean, he sort of got distracted because he was playing playstation 3. So i moved on. i looked in this little sketchpad he had and there was a picture of the tattoo that he ended up getting. so i thought to myself that he actually thought about it and it has to have some significance. Then my other friend came and he is good friends with the other kid. Turns out they both got tattoos on the same day and i think the same spot. They have known eachother for really long and now that they are adults, they go everywhere together. They are like brothers. Maybe the meaning was like instead of being blood brothers, they are like ink brothers now.

I thought that by him not telling me about his tattoo really symbolized something to me. t told me that maybe the meaning of it may be embarrassing to tell people and that it maybe is just soething between him and his friend. It can have a lot of significance or it may have no significance but i will be asking him about his tattoo this week. 

hw 30

What are the sources of this sense of meaninglessness, but also of the need for a sense of meaning? People are constantly wanting to be things so that they can be viewed and judged by others. whether we like the ways that we change, or we dont, it is a constant thing that happens especially in America. Deep down we know that our lives are going to end, and that we all live meaningless lives. No matter what we do, we cannot change that. these sources of meaninglessnss come form the ways that we learn from others and can depend on how we were raised in this world. A big source of this meaninglessness comes from early childhood. Sometimes we are neglected by our parents, when this becomes a constant thing to live with, we react to that by feeling like we don't matter. The need for meaning can also come from our times of being neglected. Some of us grow as people and decide that we will no longer be that other person who lived and died and nobody noticed except for a few people. people want to feel like they matter by walkng into this house of cool. this is a place where people go to feel unique and to sort of learn the ropes of things to do to be cool, like being relaxed, having a sense of humor, looking good, etc. Once we can harness all of this, we feel like we matter because we stand for something,sort of like we play on a team and that is the cool team instead of being on the neutral team that noboy pays any mind to. now there are millions of people, mostly teens who play on this cool team and feel that sense of meaning. since people labeled them as cool, they now have a role to play in life, and that's the cool kid role that everyone wants, the role that's involved with poplarity and being noticed on a daily basis, also being respected is another reason why people feel like they matter. most humans share this feeling of emptiness, and try to reverse that feeling by acting a role sometimes that people admire. The war hero who was sent to kill people and not be jailed for it because they are doing an honorable thing for their country. Their sense of emptiness is gone for this role that they are now war heroes. humans never live their lives in a way that can be respected and recognized. If someone wanted to live in a tribe in a remote area, that wouldn't be considered cool. You would be scolded. so instead, that person does what other people expect him to do, which is, go to school, graduate from college, get a great boring well paying job, have a family and a house and die somehow. This person never experiences their ideas of what cool is, but of what other people's idea of cool is. They feel this sense of meaning though because they did what the majority of society wanted, but they haven't lived their life. they have just wasted it for someone else. This was a passage i found descibing how we regret the way that we live. "Another fresh approach, regret theory, was proposed in 1996 by Adrian Tomer and Grafton Eliason. Regret theory focuses on the way in which people evaluate the quality or worth of their lives. The prospect of death is likely to make people more anxious if they feel that they have not and cannot accomplish something good in life. People might torment themselves with regrets over past failures and missed opportunities or with thoughts of future accomplishments and experiences that will not be possible." Regret theoryRead more: http://www.deathreference.com/A-Bi/Anxiety-and-Fear.html#ixzz0a0OVGnNe. My way of intertwining this with my writing is that basically we regret many things that we do in life. We don't focus on the true ways that we want to live, becuase it may not be something that other people feellike was a good way to live. we continue to please other people by living their ways so it is sort of like we are giving those people a second life. A way to keep their legacy alive on earth. A way to be remembered long after they die. we always say this thing like, "make them proud." or, "they would be proud of you." We incorporate this with our senses of powerlessness and meaninglessness. So in order to create a sense of meaning in our lives, we look up and listen to this higher power than you, which makes a great impact on you, especially if you are listening to someone who is influential in your life. Therefore when you grow up to live a certain way, a way that the saying of, "they would be proud of you," would come into play. yet we aren't proud of ourselves and we arent happy with ourselves, making us still empty inside, and always finding newer ways to fufill this emptiness, so this sense of meaning, never ends. Freud's theory suggested that at birth, a baby is acred for and always wanting the attention of their caregiver. This is how the baby gets it's sense of meaning. they feel on top of the world by getting everything they so desire, which is being spoiled, but they don't know that. once these children gow up into teens and further on, they feel alone. They are put into the real world and need to fend for themselves. It seems like they are meaningless because they are new to the real world where they are now in competition with thousands of other people. This competition can be for anything, a new job and a new position within a job, this is mainly what people in the work or strive for, because with this title, you gain respect and more meaning in life. Viktor Frankl described our meaninglessness as a vaccum. he said, " If meaning is what we desire, then meaninglessness is a hole, an emptiness, in our lives. whenever you have a vaccum, of course, things rush to fill it." he goes on to say how we fill our vaccum with stuf so that we get some sense of satisfaction, but it is a superficial satisfaction that can only last for so long. I would agree with frankl and his theory because i see it a lot today and how majority of the people i am around, live lives filled with things that can't provide an extensive happines, but a short happiness before it has to be replenished with another happiness. We all fall under this theory of living meaningless lives which we all try and make meaning of. Some people can succeed at making meaning of their lives, but they have had to live very long and endure many of life's tests to ultimately discover a meaning for their lives. But yet many people haven't thought about their meaninglessness because along with those thoughts, come greif and shock of how they live, and people become anxious and a bunch of other things. It is tough for people to think about the meaning of their lives, and some people never find true meaning or even a true satisfaction for their lives. They just find a vaccum.

hw 29 merchants of cool

Is it evil to help the corporations to manipulate the minds of young people for the sake of profit?

This a very interesting question to me. These companies are said to be harming our youth by putting out these messages that advertise anything they choose to please. As long as you are able to see, then you will be manipulated and engulfed in this wave of ads.  Today, now that t.v.'s are a worldwide phenomenon and this idea of cool has erupted into a massive necessity for millions,  although it is evil, it cannot and will not stop. by helping the corporations to manipulate minds of young people is what keeps our country running. Without this, our economy will tank and many people will be left without jobs, so in a way, it is safer to to be evil than it is to be good.

Should advertising to young people be banned? Up to what age? Or all ages?

Advertising to young people should be banned. I think that kids will soon learn enough about how our society runs, when the become older, i don't think its ok for people to advertise to young kids because that is how kids become spoiled and grow up wanting everything they see. These companies survive on children and their needs. Toy companies are always advertising because if not, they will become bankrupt. It is an ongoing cycle for people. When you have kids, expect one of the first things they see, to be an ad, especially if they are watching tv. This cannot be banned. If it had to be banned, i think that it should be banned until you are at least 20 years old, so that now everything you want, should be worked for and not just given to you, but then again you will want so much more because you have missed out on many years, but it will also be hard to get what you want especially if your jobs suck. It won't matter what ages it is banned at, people will grow up wanting more and more

What specific manipulation techniques work best on the specific insecurities and emotional needs of young people, according toMerchants of Cool?

a technique that always works on people is to throw a party. to hype something up and to generate a buzz always seems to work, because of many reasons. It makes insecurities go away for a short time in your life. Like in the video during the sprite party. People were dancing and on camera. They felt cool for that 20  seconds of spotlight and all they thought about was promoting yourself as cool. Since you were there dancing with cameras around you and listening to the coolest songs, you don't feel insecure anymore, because you weren't there but your friend was. Also to create a product based on a couple of peoples likes, is also a way for companies to make money and manipulate us. They create a product based on what people really like to see. Such as the new droid cell phone. The ads were attacking apple saying that their product was way cooler because it does things that the "iphone don't" This proved as a pretty effective technique because it struck the minds of people since the commercials didn't show the cell phone. it only had a website. When i went to the site, they didn't show the phone. all together, nobody saw the phone until the release of it. This was the most interesting thing i noticed. the company was smart in knowing that people on verizon will buy the phone because of suspense around it. Then when people got it, they weren't happy so, people are getting angry, while verizon still controls you and laughs in your face with your money in their pockets.

hw 28 informal research

http://www.whatiscool.org/

this is an article about the ways that cool is used. this article has many sections on cool and the one that i looked at was a section called how to be cool. the page was about all the steps you can take in order to be cool. the first way was to know your limitations. i think this is a good rule because sometimes people try so hard to be cool that in fact they become annoying and people thin you are uncool

http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=338

This was an article on how cool is all about a revolutionary change in culture and technology. In the article the writer speaks about how or if cool can be viewed as being an intellectual person.  i think that the way this article was written was very advanced and whoever wrote this was pretty educated.

http://www.fenichel.com/Cool.shtml

This article is about the ways that that having cool gear contributes a lot to your coolness. The author said that sneakers and attitude are a way to seem cool. I can sort of relate to this because i like to buy sneakers just because to me they look cool but i am also being sucked in  to this world of followers and kids who are hypnotized by a superficial happiness

hw 27 interviews

This guy was also in the park just sitting down by himself. we asked him, whats cooler, macs or pc's. quickly he said, "pc's because they have been around for longer." then we asked him, what does cool mean to you? He said, " Thats a hard question, i think being hip and trying not to go down the same path as others. someone who can go through the struggle and still come out with a smile on their face, is cool."


This was another guy in the park just sitting around, so we walked up to him and asked if he had some time for a survey, he said, "sure whatever." So what's cooler, macs or pc's? He said," macs are cooler, they are more fun. We asked, so what does cool mean to you? He said, " cool is a hard question. Being nice i guess is pretty cool." Our last question was, Do you consider yourself to be cool? He said, " i consider myself to be cool because i am a good person. i can't pinpoint cool on one thing so i don't know"








This one one of the people who My group interviewed. she was sitting in the park eating her lunch. we asked her if she wanted to be a part of a survey , and her immediate reaction was, "wait, where's this going??" we told her it was for our high school class, so she agreed. one question she was asked was, whats cooler, macs or pc's? Her response was, macs because they are for more artistic people. Another question was, What does cool mean to you? She said," Cool to me means to be fresh. to be different. style and food is cool because we live in nyc and that's a big part of new york." Our last question was, Do you think you're cool? "yea i think so. i try and embrace everything i have and always do new things. Ithink i am because i follow my own path."





One guy at the park was sitting down and was just looking around. we asked if he wasnted to be interviewed. He said sure. we asked him whats cooler, macs or pc's? he said, " macs, i don't know why. We also asked him, who is the coolest person in your life right now? He said, " my brother is, he's my best friend." Then we asked him, do you think you're cool? "yea i think so, I'm a fun guy so yea i think I am pretty cool.

Ok so my first question is, what do you think it means to be cool?

friend: to look good, to dress good and to get girls.

Do you feel like youre cool? if you do the why?

friend: hell yea man! I dress fly but not too crazy and i get girls, and i look good. Remember to say that.

haha ok whatever. Do you feel comfortable with the way that you portray yourself with clothes to make you feel cool? or do you do it to show off and get noticed?

friend: well both because I feel confident and comfortable, and to get noticed by people. To get attention.

Do you feel unique or do you feel like a follower?

friend: unique.

How do you feel unique if you dress a certain way so people can notice you. Also many people dress like you. How do you feel unique?

friend: I feel like you're interrogating me for something. I feel like you are violating my rights as an american citizen!

How?!?!

friend: i don't know.

Okay thanks for your time.