I got glasses at a very early age because I probably watched too much television or played too much game boy and I now wear them to aid with my vision problems. My glasses clarify the otherwise blurry world I would have to experience 24 hours a day, not being able to decipher anything, would not be able to pay attention to anything the professor writes on the board, I couldn't see who people were, and I would only be able anything within a few feet of my eyes. So I thought I was pretty grateful for this marvelous invention.
Over the years we have discovered how much of an impact media has on our lives. It is literally everywhere. Many studies conducted say we are exposed to anywhere between a few hundred to up to 8,000 advertisements and opportunities to be an observer of any type of media. We see media everywhere we look, they range from the logos on everybody's clothes, billboards, television ads, and the incredibly annoying pop-ups and sidebar blinking advertisements on all sorts of websites. We are exposed to more media than we should be, and our generation especially has endured probably the most exposure because we grew up during the time of the tech boom and we probably spend the most time in front of the television or the computer.
The problem starts off with the political socialization theory where they target the young audience, adolescents who are just old enough to make up their own minds about the nature of politics and social movements and falls into the cultivation theory which is the cumulative impact of the media on the public. This definitely talks about our generation, we grew up with media screaming in our faces, who is to say that we are not shaped by the media? Theorists say that it is this extensive and long term exposure to media that has the real effects, and I think being exposed our entire lives qualifies. What could we do or what can we do in order for us not to be taken prisoner by the media? It is possible to avoid such influences and be mentally stronger, but there are so many different people who are susceptible and easily influenced by anything.
I ask my question again, was it worth it to get my glasses and be able to see clearly the incredible abundance of media around us?
WOW thats all i can say to this post it brings you one way and then send you back another great job. I wear glasses too and teh whole point is for you to see teh world around you more clearly. With that being said you should have them even though the media dominates most of what you will see through them. It is kind of impossible to get around teh only thing you can do is take it as it comes and be affected by the media you want to be affected by.
ReplyDeleteNice selection of artifact.
ReplyDeleteI was delighted in the first paragraph, however, was lost in the second and third. The shift towards media saturation is too sudden that I could hardly see the connection with your theme --the glasses.
In the end it started to make sense to me. But I still wonder: don't you put on your glasses to see your friends, parents, loved ones also? Don't you put on glasses to participate in sports, eat food and perform other main daily activities? To give up glasses seem to be too extreme an argument to make--maybe giving up your TV or computer is more like it.
It's really cool concept, though. Wish you could developed more towards the notion of glass--the history of glasses, the evolution of glasses, the culture of glasses, the fashion of glasses; would have been really fun:)
c.
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ReplyDeleteOh, also, the post is put up one day late. Hope this is your only offense.
ReplyDelete