What Planet Do You Live On?

One of the few things that can instantly annoy me are right wing pundits. Whenever the Daily Show is featuring a clip from one of those guys, I cringe. Obviously, it’s because of my politics.

But I’m beginning to think about the people who agree with the likes of Limbaugh and O’Reilly and if this was ever possible before media fragmentation (I know, this idea is so 2 years ago).

My classmate had this idea that information creates communities, which until now, I did not understand the impact. While multiple viewpoints on a idea is ideally very good for the sake of getting the full picture, I think the opposite has happened. The communities that are created by this information are too strong. People simply choose the viewpoint they agree most with and shut off everything else. It’s the exact opposite impact that choice is supposed to have.

My problem with this is that now we can’t agree to one reality. Everyone is living in their own little world and when something comes up that demands discourse and debate, we spend all our time arguing about how to define the problem rather than fixing it. Nothing happens and everyone starts blaming each other. It’s a frustrating process that’s easier to laugh at than doing anything about.

On Racism

A couple of weeks ago, a class discussion led to the topic of racism. It was an emotionally charged situation where everyone was defensive about their experiences and views on racism.

The reason why it was so emotionally charged was because no one was listening to one another. I feel that people seemed threatened when people offer a different view/experience with racism because it calls into question the validity of their own – for example, two black people having completely different experiences or a white person saying that they have experienced racism as well (in the form of reverse racism). So when we start sharing our experiences with racism it becomes a forum where everyone wants to inform/educate everyone else without listening to anyone else.

I know this seems like a hard pill to swallow. Even with my own politics it seems hard because if I give time to a perspective that I think is false, I justify it. But consider perceptions. Perceptions are just as if not more important than reality and they play a big role in how we experience race in this country.

Popular Opinion v. Expert Opinion

During a meeting, a friend and I stumbled upon the idea of popular opinion versus the expert opinion

Current thinking on this is that popular opinion is where it’s at with UGC, comments on Amazon and that creepy Beacon thing on Facebook. The opinion of the people is to be trusted more than whatever the authority figures try to dictate.

However, I do know that in the area of web search, Google is the conclusive authority on which websites are the most relevant.

But consider this.

I don’t think it is common knowledge that the way Google ranks websites is more social than we think it is. Its popularity, while based on a lot of things, is highly influenced by links, visits and content – things that are controlled by people. I remember an old co-worker telling me this story about an SEO contest and the winner being the person who just published their thoughts on the contest. So really, we decide what should come up first when you say Google “bowling balls”. But the process to make that happened has been branded under Google and its algorithm.

Similarly with Amazon, the recommendations that it makes is presented in such a way that it feels like the company is drawing the connections for you. However, a lot of that is based on what you’ve purchased before, what other people have purchased before and what you’ve browsed for. You made that recommendation to yourself.

These two are examples of companies that are very successful because of their ability to serve their customers. How do they know what their customers want? They’ve already told them! So as brands/companies/experts are sweating these details, there may be some sort of judo move that allows them to reclaim their stature.

How Was Your Fish Today?

Late last night I sat down in front of the TV with the intent of staying long enough to finish my soup before I went back to work. But I got caught with this film (How Was Your Fish Today?) about a writer who gets writer’s block and starts living the life of the character he created.

I started it maybe half way in and it was very surreal and strange at the same time as it was filmed documentary style. The plot took the writer (and his character) to Mohe, a desolate Chinese village near the Russian border known for the Northern Lights.

The reason why it’s so interesting is because the writer and his character had this idea of Mohe was like based on textbooks from grade school and word of mouth. The imagery of an artic village without electricity, untouched by civilization was used as a means of inspiration/curiosity and as a sanctuary for another. It ties in very closely with a project I’m doing for class where I have to market Canada as a tourism destination to the world.

Right now, we’re looking at imagery and myths. What kind of myth can we give to Canada and what tone should that myth be told? These images and myths about places don’t usually come from marketing. Instead it sort of exudes itself through culture. A lot of the American myth was constructed through bits and pieces of the culture we export. And a lot is also constructed through people’s experiences and how they retell those stories to their friends (In America, they have hamburgers the size of your head! No kidding!).

The reason why this film is still stuck in my mind is because it seemed very aware of what I just talked about. It had tourist friendly photography of the landscapes. It showed parts of Mohe that it look very relatable but also things that made it seem strange and exotic. And it even had a part where a guy was talking about turning his house into a hostel and getting a computer with internet connection so people can book rooms from abroad.

I’m just saying.

中国嘻哈，北京 vs上海

I somehow stumbled upon a series of videos on Youtube documenting a freestyle battle in Shanghai. They brought in a couple of Beijing rappers and let them loose on stage with the Shanghai guys and this is what happened:

Man, it’s so vicious. A lot of different ways to say I’m gonna fuck you up, fuck your girl and straight up fuck you. It’s interesting that all the Beijing guys are dressed kind of thuggish (if that’s possible) and the Shanghai guys look like random dudes off the street.

If you watch most of the clips, MC Jverson (Shanghai) seems to dominate a lot of the battles, but he just sort of shouts obscenities and really going at people. There was a guy from Hunan that was trying to calm things down. And another Beijing guy that used his time on stage to say “we’re all in this together” (sadly, that’s how long they lasted). And the last clip, Young Kin (Beijing’s finest!) steps in and rips Jverson a new one.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful feud.