Reflection Post on Consumed

Although I personally do not agree with all of Benjamin Barber’s ideas presented in Consumed, there were some arguments that began to stick. One of which is the idea of Easy over Fast where Barber states children are more prone to take the easy, fast, and simple way whereas adults used to be more prone to talking the hard, long, and complex way. In our present day society however, Barber shows how adults are becoming more like children due to the Infantilism ethos and therefore are taking the same path children are. He states “Ours rewards the easy and penalizes the hard. It promises profits for life to those who cut corners and simplify the complex at every turn” meaning our society encourages and supports the easy, short way(Barber 87). To make things worse, society now allows certain qualities or attributes in a person that were once seen as unacceptable, “Lying, cheating, and deception (especially self-deception) are features of the human condition” and are now being more acceptable since it gives people are legitimate reason for taking the easy way. After reading this and letting it sit for a while, I was slowly starting to see this in my everyday life. Even though most of Barber’s arguments are not the same as mine, I do understand the significance of the Easy over Hard idea. At school I see a lot of people copying each other’s homework in order to obtain the desired grade, but by not doing to work (by taking the easy way).

However, this is one of the very few things I found in this book that I actually enjoyed. I personally believe Barber uses to many useless words, like the first sentence of the book, “In these paltry times of capitalism’s triumph, as we slide into consumer narcissism, Shakespeare’s seven ages of man are in danger of being washed away by lifelong puerility” (Barber 3). There is so much word salad throughout this book, it makes understanding Barber’s overall thesis incredibly difficult to read and learn. I found myself taking an hour break after reading for almost an hour to fully understand what Barber was trying to convey. What made me very upset too was that Barber only suggests options to solve the problem at hand, which he has spent almost 280 pages discussing. I do realize that a solution to such a problem is quite difficult to do. So although there are many things that I disagree with that Barber states in Consumed, there were some arguments that I tended to see in everyday life. The constant word salad made the book difficult too, but as I read on, the book became more suitable for reading.

Barber, Benjamin R. Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. Print.

Reaction Post to Present Shock as well as Issac and Ishmael

I thought Present Shock  was an interesting, but had the feeling of a textbook. There was so much information within the book, that it was hard to realize which points were really important ( The same goes for all of the examples he used ). I also did not like how the book was simply split into five chapters, which were then divided again into sections. Despite my dislike for the format of the book, Rushkoff was able to discuss important topics and shed some light on valuable information. I personally believed Rushkoff's view on chapter 5 was insightful. I had never realized the true effects of present shock until Rushkoff explained how end of the world scenarios occur, "The hardest part of living in present shock is that there's no end and, for that matter, no beginning. ti's a chronic plateau of interminable stresses that seem to have always been there. There's no original source to blame and no end in sight. this is why the return to simplicity offered by the most extreme scenarios is proving so alluring to so many of us" (Rushkoff 247). I always thought these type of scenarios only occurred by someone posting a blog or article on the internet saying the world and civilization as we know it would end by said means in order to obtain more viewers/followers.
This is similar to what was said in the West Wing special Issac and Ishamel. In the show, the actors explain how many believed society would collapse when we as a civilization reached the year 2000. An idea was spread that terrorists would have a massive attack ready right when the clock struck twelve. Though this did not actually occur, it is quite obvious now that the cause of such a belief was present shock. Situations like this is where I realize how important it was to read present shock and its affects on society, and although I did not personally like the book as a whole, it brought up many key points.

Rushkoff, Douglas. Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. New York: Current, 2013. E-book.

Reaction Post to A Moveable Feast

      A Movable Feast was an interesting book to say the least. I personally found the book to be nothing more than the recollection of Hemingway’s life in Paris while meeting many famous authors of his time. Almost every chapter he met someone new, or simply discussed a topic with a friend. Plus, at the end of each chapter, Hemingway seemed to give a different meaning to the text that was just read. I thought the book was not very interesting compared to the other books we have read, but I can say A Moveable Feast did teach me more about style than Neil Postman did.

      It is quite obvious one of Hemingway’s most used literary devices is Polysyndeton:

Scott told me about the Riviera and how my wife and I must come there the next summer and how we would go there and how he would find a place for us that was not expensive and we would both work hard every day and swim and lie on the beach and be brown and only have a single aperitif before lunch and one before dinner (Hemingway 182).

The constant usage of Polysyndeton made it very hard to keep my interest in certain topics. With such a direct style of writing, I was able to understand what was occurring, but I had little interest in what, I felt, was a cause-effect relationship. Whenever there was dialogue, Hemingway was able to portray them in a simple way, while at the same time with purpose. Whenever characters talked, it was as if the person/people was/were real. In short, Hemingway’s style was very direct and personal, his imagery rich, and his words simple, making the overall book easy to read despite the fact there were many ideas conveyed.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. New York: Scribner, 1964. Print.

      Reading The End of Education was an experience I will never forget. Neil Postman was able to question almost every work attitude I have towards school in a matter of 200 pages. Postman brought up what I believe is the main reason students work hard and go to school, which is to earn a well-paying job. What he calls the god of Economic Utility, I call my motivation. The god of Economic Utility states, “If you will pay attention in school, and do your homework, and score well on tests, and behave yourself, you will be rewarded with a well-paying job when you are done,”(Postman 27), which is what I, and many more, do. I had always believed that my hopes and dreams would come true if I did as Postman described. However, after reading The End of Education, all of my work ethics were questioned.

      Why should I be working so hard if there is no guaranteed reward? What is the importance of all this work, if I cannot be guaranteed the job to feed myself? Questions like these came to me throughout the book, and although they are quite difficult to answer, I found them to be enjoying. Neil Postman helped me realize why education is so important, and why I need to go to school. I went to school solely because I was motivated to go to college and after get a job that would allow me to do most of the things I wanted. I can remember when I was in 7^th grade, and wished I had and Audi to drive when I was older. For that entire year, I went to school and completed my homework without complaints knowing that slowly but surely, I would be able to work my way to my goal. Now that a well-paying job is not certain, my motivation is gone. Postman, however, was able to enlighten me with a reason to go to school. The reason is the most important thing, not the motivation. Whatever reason you choose, it helps keep you going and working, even when you are not motivated. The reason helps show what kind of person you are, and what you are going to be. From this book, I have revised my work ethics, and changed my goals in life to better fit reality. Even though a well-paying job is not going to be waiting at the end of the rainbow right when I get there, Postman showed me how there will be more in the long run if I educate myself.

Works Cited:

Postman, Neil. The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York: Vintage            Books, 1996. Print.

How Sleeping Affects Your Grades

      It is your senor year in high school and you are loaded with homework. Every single day you have homework in Math, English, History, Spanish, Science, and more. Whenever you come home, you realize that you will have another sleepless night trying to finish all the homework. Even after putting so much time and effort into studying, you still manage to do badly on your quizzes and tests. Plus, you keep trying to not fall asleep in the middle of class! You have tried to negotiate with your teachers to lower the work load each night, but all they say is, “This is the college life! We are preparing you for the future! If you cannot handle this easy homework, then you will fail in college!” or something along those lines. Then, after a long day at school, the cycle repeats itself.

      This kind of problem seems to be occurring throughout high school and college. Most students are worried about their grades and try to finish all the homework at night, which makes them have very few hours of sleep. Despite the effort, these same students still get bad grades in their classes. More and more research studies show that daytime sleepiness has a large impact on academic success as well as concentration, attention, and mood. Depending on your sleep habits can change your day and grades. According to Michael J. Breus, who is a clinical psychologist and specializes in sleep disorders, students who average C’s, D’s, and F’s sleep on average 40 minutes less than students who earn A’s and B’s. He also states insufficient sleep leads to daytime fatigue, ADHD, and a tendency to doze off in class. Therefore students who sleep more, have earlier bed times, and later weekday rise time have higher grades whereas students who sleepless and go to bed later tend to have lower grades. Imagine if school started an hour or two later. It would be beneficial to everyone! From the studies above, students would therefore naturally get higher grades than they were before.

       In college, the same problem is arising. Some students made remarks that it is normal to stay up all night to finish a paper or study for an exam. However, in college, work load is not the only reason students are having trouble sleeping. With new independence, constant social lives, visitors passing by the rooms, and more distractions, it is very difficult for students to sleep. Early morning classes do not help the case either. According to the Washington Times, James Maas the guru of college sleep has found a solution. Mr. Maas was able to speak at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in 2007 and convinced the school to start classes back from 7:55 to 8:30 and asked to cut sports practices and homework expectations ten percent each. The results of this change were a decline of student visits to the health center, seventeen percent more students taking time for a hot breakfast, and an overall increase in GPA. Sports teams also saw good years even with this change.

      So many great things can come about in our society from a small change in time. With an increase in sleep, students in college and in high school will have higher performance in both grades and sports. The big question is why has this change not occurred throughout the nation? A reason is because of age. Children of younger age, like kindergarteners, tend to wake up very early in the morning and are very active. So for schools that have High school and lower/middle school combined, the change cannot occur. However, according to the Baltimore Post Examiner, students need to learn how to deal with early mornings since many jobs start around the same time as school starts. The main argument is schools are trying to prepare students for the real world and the work environment students will have in the future.

      What if school start time was pushed back though? Take a look back when you were a senor. If schools took a similar approach to what Mr. Maas was suggesting, student life would not be so difficult. The homework load would be smaller than it was before the change, problems focusing in class, either from lack of concentration or fatigue, would decrease, and grades would go up. Life would also be easier for teachers because they will not have to waste precious teaching time to wake a student up who were sleeping in their class. Plus, teachers would not have to explain why so many students are doing poorly. Overall, many people see the huge benefits of having schools start later, but there are still some who believe earlier starting times create a maximum teaching opportunity. Due to the difference in ideas, most schools are at a standstill on this topic and therefore no change has come about. 

Works Cited :

• Breus, Michael J. "Back to School, Back to Sleep." WebMD. MERCK, 2 Sept. 2004. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. <http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/fixing-sleep-problems-may-improve-childs-grades-and-behavior>
• Flanagan, Jason. "Do schools really need to start early? How about Parenting 101 classes instead?." Baltimore Post Examiner. N.p., 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2013. <http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/do-schools-really-need-to-start-early-how-about-parenting-101-classes-instead/2012/12/04>
• Pope, Justin. "Colleges wake up to notion that better sleep means better grades." The Washington Times. N.p., 3 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/3/colleges-wake-up-to-notion-that-better-sleep-means/?page=all>

Language and how it is Devolving

Is Language Devolving?

      With the growth of television and the decline of Typography, one can see that language as a whole is slowing devolving. According to Amusing Ourselves to Death, during the 1600s, reading and writing was highly encouraged in the colonies in North America. The book goes on to say, that this encouragement was for all classes, not just the nobles. It also states that the common people were able to understand high diction speeches given by politicians, and then made their decision after. This was, however, before the television was invented. When the T.V. was first created, its popularity skyrocketed, which in turn lowered the ideas of reading and writing.

      According to Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, the T.V. shows a type of discourse that abandons logic, reason, and sequence. Neil goes on to say that the information through the T.V. is not coherent, irrelevant, and does not contain any context, whereas Typography makes the human mind classify information, create inferences, and reason. Lastly, Neil states that T.V. is harming society for three reasons. First, children cannot learn information at school due to the fun, lively environment child T.V. shows create, like Elmo’s World. Second, the average American watches four and a half hours of television a day, which adds up to about twelve years of a person’s life. And third, the T.V. causes disinformation, which means everything that is important in a piece of information is lost. With the television causing so many problems within society, it is obvious that Typography and language as a whole is devolving. To truly engage in the reading and writing world, one must understand the meaning of the words he/she is reading, weigh ideas, compare and contrast topics, uncover lies, and connect one generalization to another. However, the T.V. pollutes public communication and its surrounding landscape, simply feeds information to it’s audience, fragments topics to show only a portion of it, and breaks the continuity of context. Language is clearly devolving due to television, and this is most clearly seen in reality shows. Within reality shows, curse/swear words are now common and words that do not even exist in the dictionary are used in everyday life. Not only that, but the Television, and its ways, are being copied by both the radio, and the newspapers, leaving language with no hope of recovery.  With the youngest generation being caught up in television, these habits in the decline of language are only going to get worse, and worse.