Part 1:
Dear Mr. Lasn,
I am writing you because I have just finished reading your book "Culture Jam," and I have a few topics which I would like to bring up that I connected with, as well as a few that I found to be a bit foreign. I am currently a student at the University of Vermont, and I am an Environmental Studies major, who has spent many semesters toiling within the realms of consumerism and media marketing (I worked for a food & beverage consultant for two years), and I found your book like that of William McDonough's "Cradle to Cradle," to be an experience in new methods of thinking.
On that note, I find that the most inspiring topic you discuss is that of our disconnection with the natural world, through media inspired internalization and commercialization of natural experiences. The means by which corporation's use media and the environment to sell things, to as they put it "create an experience" with their product, I find to be one of the most haunting facets of your novel.
I have a few disagreements with the manner in which you develop and portray your ideas, and I found that even though you state in your book that "someone has gotten into our brains. Now the most important task on the agenda is to evict them and recover our sanity," but other than pointing out certain aspects of media's influence in our lives you fail to really delve into how to beat the system. Perhaps the honest answer is that there is no straight answer, I understand your book to be that moment of realization for the reader, rather than the blueprints for a revolution.
You, like McDonough, question the manner in which the industrial age gave birth to the domination and removal of nature from the American psyche, but where McDonough gives examples as to the manners in which people are tearing down the old system with new designs and models for the future, I felt with your book that I was only finding a means in which to fear what I already knew existed. I need some positivity, some means by which I can stop disconnecting completely, and instead connect and dissent, to create change rather than dissolve defeated.
Cheers,
Pete Moseley
Part Deux:
The end of the Corporation I found to be just as scaring as the first half. If I had to state in one word or phrase why I found the second part horrifying I'd have to say I'd put down, "Competitive Intelligence Professional." What the Hell! So freaky. "The Death of Birth."
I loved the battle between the news crew and the Fox studios over what was news, and who controlled it. But I hate that they lost, same with the loss of control over life, the idea that we have so much life that's patented in our country makes me sick to my stomach.
Probably one of my top five documentaries I have seen in the last year. Up there with Food INC and the likes.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Week 8: Culture Jam Continued & "THE CORPORATION"
Culture Jam & Final Thoughts
1) First I'd like to say that the entire time I was reading this book I found myself questioning every purchase I have made and its connection to media placement, or peer influence, and it can be pretty scary not quite knowing the difference between your personal preference and that preference which has been sold to you. The idea that the American consumer is really a Manchurian consumer, is a pretty difficult pill to swallow.
2) Also the story Lasn told about the neighbor who slowly transformed from a very open and outgoing person to a reserved, net addict was certainly an example in its extreme. However there are many forms of this addiction, and in some ways everyone who uses the internet has some attachment or connection to one or many of the nets many facets. I knew a kid who had destroyed his computer, when he "woke up" and realized that he was spending all of his time on chat rooms, and online games, and was missing important things in reality. He was very much like the woman described in Lasn's book, not knowing they forgot to eat, not showering so as not to disconnect. VERY SCARY.
3) Now that I am on the subject of connection and disconnection, I'd like to mention that I don't think there is a way to disconnect completely know that the media world has become some kind of omnipresent entity. Would disconnecting be considered anti-social? Can these MUD's or multi user domains, be considered social environments, or is it simply a veil? Security in the multiverse should be considered at all times, you are never truly alone. You have no way of knowing, if where you are surfing, who you are speaking to, what you are looking at, is private anymore, and who or what is watching and for what reason.
4) I found the section on selling an experience, creating emotion, especially the section on Princess Diana, and how the mass public who lacked any real care for the British Royal family, thought that Diana's death was the greatest loss in our lifetime. The idea that she sold an experience to the public even today seems vile to discuss, but in reality I don't think my family knew anything of Diana other than her media stories, and for some reason I do remember them being incredibly distraught at her death, as if a loss in the family. Very Strange.
5) Lastly, "MOST OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS ARE RED HERRINGS." The idea that we are expending all this energy doing little things for the environment, recycling and such when the only way to effect real environmental change is to attack the source of the pollution, waste, and so on. Lasn wants you to rise up, and acknowledge that you cannot create change sitting at home.
The Corporation:
-the idea that the corporation was a subordinate to the people, but that it developed the thirst for more power, the need to absorb and spread. If you can't deprive a person life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (14th Amendment), well then that applies to a corporation as well, opening the floodgates for exploitation of people, places, and things.
-limited liability explains a lot, jeez.
-designed to think about stock holders, not about stake holders (the community), the idea that we created these corporate persons who now have the right to control and destroy as they please.
1) First I'd like to say that the entire time I was reading this book I found myself questioning every purchase I have made and its connection to media placement, or peer influence, and it can be pretty scary not quite knowing the difference between your personal preference and that preference which has been sold to you. The idea that the American consumer is really a Manchurian consumer, is a pretty difficult pill to swallow.
2) Also the story Lasn told about the neighbor who slowly transformed from a very open and outgoing person to a reserved, net addict was certainly an example in its extreme. However there are many forms of this addiction, and in some ways everyone who uses the internet has some attachment or connection to one or many of the nets many facets. I knew a kid who had destroyed his computer, when he "woke up" and realized that he was spending all of his time on chat rooms, and online games, and was missing important things in reality. He was very much like the woman described in Lasn's book, not knowing they forgot to eat, not showering so as not to disconnect. VERY SCARY.
3) Now that I am on the subject of connection and disconnection, I'd like to mention that I don't think there is a way to disconnect completely know that the media world has become some kind of omnipresent entity. Would disconnecting be considered anti-social? Can these MUD's or multi user domains, be considered social environments, or is it simply a veil? Security in the multiverse should be considered at all times, you are never truly alone. You have no way of knowing, if where you are surfing, who you are speaking to, what you are looking at, is private anymore, and who or what is watching and for what reason.
4) I found the section on selling an experience, creating emotion, especially the section on Princess Diana, and how the mass public who lacked any real care for the British Royal family, thought that Diana's death was the greatest loss in our lifetime. The idea that she sold an experience to the public even today seems vile to discuss, but in reality I don't think my family knew anything of Diana other than her media stories, and for some reason I do remember them being incredibly distraught at her death, as if a loss in the family. Very Strange.
5) Lastly, "MOST OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS ARE RED HERRINGS." The idea that we are expending all this energy doing little things for the environment, recycling and such when the only way to effect real environmental change is to attack the source of the pollution, waste, and so on. Lasn wants you to rise up, and acknowledge that you cannot create change sitting at home.
The Corporation:
-the idea that the corporation was a subordinate to the people, but that it developed the thirst for more power, the need to absorb and spread. If you can't deprive a person life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (14th Amendment), well then that applies to a corporation as well, opening the floodgates for exploitation of people, places, and things.
-limited liability explains a lot, jeez.
-designed to think about stock holders, not about stake holders (the community), the idea that we created these corporate persons who now have the right to control and destroy as they please.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Week 7: Culture Jam
After reading the beginning to the book "Culture Jam" by Lasn, I found that I do agree in almost all respects with his views on advertisements, corporations, and societies general disconnection with nature. However, it is with these sorts of topics, which I start to find myself spiraling into the same sort of general social pessimism every time I am confronted with the dark facts of the world around us. The nature of our current society, and the cogs which turn the wheels within corporate AmericaTM, are working below the surface yet surround us, strangling our ability to manage our lives without influence at all turns, and it is this knowledge which breeds my pessimism.
However, I did think that Lasn made a number of quality points in the space of nearly 40 pages, his view on our disconnection from nature, surfing the television as a means of brain numbing, and the general fact that our everyday lives are managed by strangers (to an extent.) I think the best way in which he presented his point, other that the quote where he discussed the Earth as kin rather than an item to be used, was the quote, "When you cut off arterial blood to an organ, the organ dies. When you cut the flow of nature into people's lives, their spirit dies."
However, I did think that Lasn made a number of quality points in the space of nearly 40 pages, his view on our disconnection from nature, surfing the television as a means of brain numbing, and the general fact that our everyday lives are managed by strangers (to an extent.) I think the best way in which he presented his point, other that the quote where he discussed the Earth as kin rather than an item to be used, was the quote, "When you cut off arterial blood to an organ, the organ dies. When you cut the flow of nature into people's lives, their spirit dies."
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Week 6: Facebook & Media Minds
Facebook Article
1)Thesis: Facebook and the like are destroying peoples ability to make human connections.
2)Observations:
I think it is important to understand the aspect of Facebook that is most dangerous is that it follows our most deep seeded social requirements, our thirst as human beings for social interaction, however with Facebook the connects made are simply superficial, the virtual world interaction. Thiel makes reference to the sad fact that instead of dancing, drinking, and having fun with friends people end up surrounding themselves within this media environment so as to stay connected when in reality there is no connection at all. I also found that Thiel's argument on the terms of Facebook's privacy profile, and its connection to big brother falls directly into my feelings on Facebook. I spent two years off Facebook when I found out in an email, that although I had deactivated my account, that in cyberspace it was still in existence, floating in the ether.
I disagree with the terms in which he discusses the future of Facebook and its destructive capacity on the social connectedness of the future. I also disagreed with the way in which he wrote the article, very accusatory and it seemed less intelligent and more crackpot the further you moved down the article.
"Making of a Media Literate Mind"
I really liked the premise of corporate story telling, and its ability to shape the consumer and cultural marketplace. I also agreed with the mindless absorbtion discussion, in terms of readily available media in all facets finding ways to seep into our consciousness.
Killing Us Softly 3
1) Ovulen 21 "Works the way a woman thinks... By weekdays, not "cycle days'"
2) 3000 ads per day, and 3 years of life spent watching tv commercials
3) Women as objects/things, less than human = inevitable violence
4) Sell more than things, but an image
5) Does your husband wish you had larger breasts?
6) The more you subtract, the more you add.
1)Thesis: Facebook and the like are destroying peoples ability to make human connections.
2)Observations:
I think it is important to understand the aspect of Facebook that is most dangerous is that it follows our most deep seeded social requirements, our thirst as human beings for social interaction, however with Facebook the connects made are simply superficial, the virtual world interaction. Thiel makes reference to the sad fact that instead of dancing, drinking, and having fun with friends people end up surrounding themselves within this media environment so as to stay connected when in reality there is no connection at all. I also found that Thiel's argument on the terms of Facebook's privacy profile, and its connection to big brother falls directly into my feelings on Facebook. I spent two years off Facebook when I found out in an email, that although I had deactivated my account, that in cyberspace it was still in existence, floating in the ether.
I disagree with the terms in which he discusses the future of Facebook and its destructive capacity on the social connectedness of the future. I also disagreed with the way in which he wrote the article, very accusatory and it seemed less intelligent and more crackpot the further you moved down the article.
"Making of a Media Literate Mind"
I really liked the premise of corporate story telling, and its ability to shape the consumer and cultural marketplace. I also agreed with the mindless absorbtion discussion, in terms of readily available media in all facets finding ways to seep into our consciousness.
Killing Us Softly 3
1) Ovulen 21 "Works the way a woman thinks... By weekdays, not "cycle days'"
2) 3000 ads per day, and 3 years of life spent watching tv commercials
3) Women as objects/things, less than human = inevitable violence
4) Sell more than things, but an image
5) Does your husband wish you had larger breasts?
6) The more you subtract, the more you add.
Assignment #5
Ad Nauseam Sections 5&6
I found these two sections of the book, equally if not more disturbing than previous chapters, simply because the discussions on the evolutions of brands, and marketing seems shocking. I always had a feeling the subliminal marketing gears weren't always turning, but I am certain they exist in ways which weren't mentioned in the book. The real scary part is that although people understand that this technology in media is in existence, whether on purpose or simply because advertisements are trying to define a motto, or a brand and by definition it has to be grabbing and stay with the consumer.
For section 5: my question is why are people so afraid of the campaigns towards subliminal messaging advertisements, when by definition advertisements are meant to do that very job?
For section 6: my question is how do you know if you have fallen victim to the nature of advertising and the lure of brand marketing? How can you honestly tell anymore whether you enjoy the consumed item, or you just liked the label and then grew to enjoy the product.
Twitter Article
1. Thesis: to defend twitter's ability to connect people to the now, and to define the less than evil nature of this media network.
2. Agree 1: I agree with Johnson on the fact that twitter can be used as tool which promotes certain positive ends, environmental, social and so on. The idea that you can have a forum for any number of ideas which can be picked up and tweaked by the masses is impressive.
Agree 2: I also agree with Johnson in the fact that unlike Google, twitter gives people a forum which is connected to the current of information in the now, and that it allows people to stay in touch with whats happening around the world at this very moment.
Disagree: I disagree with Johnson on the topic of Twitter's perfect presence that the nature of twitter is for stronger connectedness rather than true social distortion. I believe and as we have discussed in class, that Twitter and other social media like Facebook spread our ability to connect socially very thin. We have less and less time to think independently of the masses, because we are immersed in it 24 hours a day.
Personal Use: I worked for a company which had begun using Twitter last summer, as well as the increasingly popular LinkedIn, which is a corporate job search and connection forum. Both of which I thought in the beginning were fruitless exploits of a company looking to spread their name around the technological highway. However, I was incredibly surprised at the speed in which is paid off, as a consulting firm, we had emails and more hits to the company website on the month we had installed twitter and linkedin, than any other month in the companies 15 year history.
5 things from merchants of cool
1. teens disposable income
2. paying "trendsetters" to create buzz and marketplace for companies
3. women=sexy men=macho/violent, wrestling? come on.
4. TV ups shock value, reality & TV melding
5. marketing strategy = manipulate teens world
I found these two sections of the book, equally if not more disturbing than previous chapters, simply because the discussions on the evolutions of brands, and marketing seems shocking. I always had a feeling the subliminal marketing gears weren't always turning, but I am certain they exist in ways which weren't mentioned in the book. The real scary part is that although people understand that this technology in media is in existence, whether on purpose or simply because advertisements are trying to define a motto, or a brand and by definition it has to be grabbing and stay with the consumer.
For section 5: my question is why are people so afraid of the campaigns towards subliminal messaging advertisements, when by definition advertisements are meant to do that very job?
For section 6: my question is how do you know if you have fallen victim to the nature of advertising and the lure of brand marketing? How can you honestly tell anymore whether you enjoy the consumed item, or you just liked the label and then grew to enjoy the product.
Twitter Article
1. Thesis: to defend twitter's ability to connect people to the now, and to define the less than evil nature of this media network.
2. Agree 1: I agree with Johnson on the fact that twitter can be used as tool which promotes certain positive ends, environmental, social and so on. The idea that you can have a forum for any number of ideas which can be picked up and tweaked by the masses is impressive.
Agree 2: I also agree with Johnson in the fact that unlike Google, twitter gives people a forum which is connected to the current of information in the now, and that it allows people to stay in touch with whats happening around the world at this very moment.
Disagree: I disagree with Johnson on the topic of Twitter's perfect presence that the nature of twitter is for stronger connectedness rather than true social distortion. I believe and as we have discussed in class, that Twitter and other social media like Facebook spread our ability to connect socially very thin. We have less and less time to think independently of the masses, because we are immersed in it 24 hours a day.
Personal Use: I worked for a company which had begun using Twitter last summer, as well as the increasingly popular LinkedIn, which is a corporate job search and connection forum. Both of which I thought in the beginning were fruitless exploits of a company looking to spread their name around the technological highway. However, I was incredibly surprised at the speed in which is paid off, as a consulting firm, we had emails and more hits to the company website on the month we had installed twitter and linkedin, than any other month in the companies 15 year history.
5 things from merchants of cool
1. teens disposable income
2. paying "trendsetters" to create buzz and marketplace for companies
3. women=sexy men=macho/violent, wrestling? come on.
4. TV ups shock value, reality & TV melding
5. marketing strategy = manipulate teens world
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