Assignment 4A

Brainwashed !

For this weeks blog assignment, we had to read Seth Godin's "Brainwashed" which can be reached at http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed .

    The reading talks about acknowledging the lizard.  But what does that mean? What is a lizard ?  Well, the lizard is basically code for something that is called "the resistance" .  Well....... that explains a lot, but now what IS resistance ?  The article talks about what exactly resistance is, and explains that it is the voice in the back of one's mind that tells one to "not do that because it is wrong" or to follow instructions without thinking outside of the box.  The moment fear strikes our mind, and we worry about not doing the right thing, resistance occurs, and can be a serious blockade for those who can't look past it.  I think there is a lot of truth behind this, and that it really makes a lot of sense.  So, as a counterpart to the lizard, or the resistance we may experience.  It is said that we MUST acknowledge this barrier, this obstruction, the lizard.  We must acknowledge when the lizard becomes a problem in our genius of making art, so that we can dismiss it, and move on with whatever needs to be done.

    One part of the reading that really spoke to me was the part about failing.  It is said in the article that one must prepare him or herself to fail, especially in public.  For myself, failing is terrifying, and something I try to avoid at all costs.  But, it is absolutely necessary that one fails, and gets used to it in society today.  It is also important that we prepare people for failure, and show people how to react and know what to do in failure.  It also demands that we fail with grace.  There are a few examples of failures, with the idea of explaining how failure is common, and like I stated, necessary.  However, I am still scared of it.  Something I need to work on.

    I think that these notes are important in the production of this blog.  As frustrated as I can sometimes get while composing what seems like blog after blog. However, these thoughts such as failure, and forgetting the risk of failing does apply to my entries.  I think that it is definitely necessary to have to make these blogs, because it has forced me to learn how to use various parts of the internet, powerpoint, garageband etc..  I like computers, I like knowing how to use them, and this sort of expands my knowledge on a broad basis of technology that i probably wouldn't have taken the time to learn on my own.  I think this kind of stuff should be required for everyone, not just media students, especially in the age of computers.