Assignment #8

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Brainwashed

In Seth Godin’s article “Brainwashed”, he talks about Acknowledging the Lizard. When he says this he is talking about the need for us to ignore “the resistence” that keeps us from being creative and stepping outside the lines. In the section titled “Be Generous”, he basically talks about how we need to share our ideas in order to grow as artists and gain support and power because it’s free in this idea-driven economy. By being generous you will make connections that can lead you to higher places. Which leads me to the section “Connect”. Godin says that today’s digital world offers us a chance to get connected with people and artists that we would not have been capable of years ago. Now is the time to take advantage of the new world that is developing.

The blog that I have created this quarter is clearly linked to the layers I just discussed above. The idea and purpose of a blog is clearly to communicate with others. It is to publish your thoughts and feelings in a way that anyone can access them. Today’s world seems to be on a verge of something new; as the article states we formerlymanufactured items for our livings. Now it seems as if Americans are beginning to think for their careers. This blog gives an opportunity for those of us who have not been socially connected digitally to dabble in this technology. It also demonstrates the concept of being generous. I am not currently getting paid for this blog, although it is perfectly normal for bloggers to get paid for their thoughts. I have never considered myself to be a drone to the system we live in today, and for years I have voiced my opinions on how I do not agree with the education I am seemingly forced to participate in. Many of my teachers throughout high school did not agree with my ideas and therefore wrote me off and labeled me things such as “slacker” and “lazy”. Those who were capable of looking past the system they facilitated seemed to recognize my potential and realize that I was far from those labels. I thank those few. As to whether or not these exercises make me a better creative artist/person/student, I believe that they are very beneficial to what I want to do with my life. I refuse to live a mundane life and I will not settle for anything less than what I want to accomplish. These activities, whether the lectures or the lab projects, hold my interest and can be seen as practical real world experience. It’s true that we are learning the very basics of the careers we wish to pursue, and I for one believe I have more developed skills than what we’re learning in labs, but they are very important building blocks. It is plain to see that what we are doing and what Professor Williams is trying to convey is relevant to building our career and ourselves in general. Once realizing that, as the article says, we must convince ourselves that we can do better. We can push ourselves outside our comfort zones; acknowledge the lizard as Godin says. It’s one thing to sit and believe with all your being that you can achieve whatever you wish; it’s something completely different to have the ability and the motivation to set out to do it.