The first thing that I want to talk
about in this post is the effect of having different points of view. For class last week, we had to watch a Ted
Talks video which focused a great deal on Google and how the search engine
really works. What I had learned from
the video is that your search results depend on location, the device on which
you are searching from, the web browser you are using, whether you are sitting
or standing, etc. I had no idea that
that was how it worked. The example the
man provided in the Ted Talks video, was he showed the audience two different
men both searching for “Egypt” in Google.
One man got a bunch of news links about crisis in Egypt, and protests in
Egypt, while the other man got travel links, and Egypt Daily News; completely
unrelated topics. Learning that this is
what Google does when you search for something bothered me. By them doing that, it no longer allows you
to have a different view point.
For
one of my other classes, Innovative Systems Design, I had to read any chapter
of “Da Vinci and the 40 Answers” to read and understand. I chose at random and happened to choose
“Chapter 6: View Point.” What this
chapter of the book said is that by changing your view point, or the way you
look at situations, may allow you to come up with something even better than
you expected. It lets you look at
something through a different set of eyes. So when I watched the Ted Talks
video I immediately thought about this chapter and compared them. By Google narrowing all of my searches the
way they want to, they are now forcing me to see whatever I am searching for
the way they want me to. How am I
supposed to broaden my horizons, or expand my mind, this way?
The
other thing that I want to talk about in this post is the idea of “actions
speaking louder than words.” Over the
weekend, I was with some friends and we got on to the subject of religion,
which led someone to say, “It’s not about what Jesus did, what’s more important
is what he said.” Whether I agree or
disagree with my friend is irrelevant, but I just found him saying that funny because
all anyone ever hears is “Actions speak louder than words.” But do they?
Then I thought about Facebook.
Does the action of “liking” someone’s post or picture mean more to them
then actually telling them that you like their post or picture? Sadly, these days, I think it does. All that matters anymore is how many “likes”
a person can rack up. I admit, receiving
“likes” on my post, or photos, is a little ego booster, but I really do not
think that those “likes” are more meaningful than an actual, face-to-face
compliment. One example that comes to
mind is from about two weeks ago. It was
Bid Day for the sororities here at Stevens, and we all had to meet in Walker
Gym to meet our New Member class. I wore
a new romper I had bought a few days prior, and everyone loved it! I honestly have never received so many
compliments face-to-face in my life! I recall being so damn flattered all night,
what a great feeling. Sometime
afterwards, I posted pictures from that night on to Facebook. I mean, it got some likes, whatever, but
nothing at all like how I was complimented beforehand. I just don’t understand how a “like” could be
considered a higher compliment than someone saying, “You look great today!”, or
“I love your (insert any object or feature about the person here)!” How much we care about the number of people
who see whatever we say and do on social media, is very sad. Sure I’ll like your photo or something if I
happen to see it online, but if I then see you in person, I will be sure to
tell you honestly that I actually like whatever it was that made me “like” your
post from before. Social media has
forced people to remain in their shells, and is keeping them from going through
that real life experience of simply getting to know someone without having a
profile to view along with it. So what I
am trying to say here is that, when it comes to using social media(s), at least
for me, actions absolutely do not, and will never speak louder than words.
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