9/21/16

Prompt: "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak." Sun Tzu

This quote is a philosophy of strength. Weakness is a perception of the ones who feel like they are of greater tolerance, mystique, and character of another. Strength is a symbol of power, dominance, and resilience and we show strength depending on the standards. People can be strong in numerous ways, whether it be through childbirth or war, people can be weak when seen as cowardly or not assertive. Tzu is an icon of the idea of strength and he cites how weakness is a perfect cloak for strength. While, at the same time, the portrayal of strength is a great way to deceive others into thinking one is not weak. In modern day, one can see this as an example of leaders like Kim Jong-Un. Un tries to display strengths by testing bombs, missiles and by threatening other countries around him. In reality, whenever Un gets challenged on his claims, he backs down, demonstrating exactly what Tzu is trying to get across. It is human nature to try to appear stronger rather than weaker, especially in today's society. It seems like today it is frowned upon to show any moment of weakness or fault, so instead people decide to falsely display acts of strength. Tzu is correct on the basis of his argument if it was a situation of war, but on normal terms, Tzu's quote leads to a bigger issue of the lack of transparency humans tend to feel in today's society. 

JB

Mark Zuckerburg

Does the subject of what we care about matter? Zuckerburg says yes but has done nothing to make that a reality to us. In fact, Zuckerburg probably makes the “issue” worse. Since the inception of social media like facebook and myspace, the most petty instances and events become headlines across hundreds of peoples computer screens. Zuckerburg has no right to comment about the significance of popular interests. Has Zuckerburg made shining a spotlight on more important/significant events a top priority? No, his priority is to bring the top 30% of the world to laugh at the silliest/stupidest videos that is trending on the internet. Who cares if the most relevant interest is a dying squirrel in front of your house if no one is willing to make a signifigant change in what is happening in more unfortunate events? Zuckerburgs view is similar to many powerful leaders who are not willing to send their own son to war but is completely fine with sending their whole male population to war. Power does not give the right to comment about the worlds problems to people especially if he or she is not willing to help out the cause.

Prompt: "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." -Andy Warhol

Fame has become the goal. People crave it, sensationalize it, and let themselves go just to have a glimpse of it. Warhol is expressing that as fame becomes more coveted people will try to become famous for different and irrelevant reasons. Whether it be scaling the Trump tower during the election cycle, or doing something crazy in an interview, Warhol foresees more of this kind of behavior. He is not wrong, but one has to define the meaning of famous. For some, being famous in their neighborhood is enough, while for others fame can only be national or even global to count. I think fame and celebrity is an illusion. There is a reason why celebrities despise their fame at some points. Simple things like taking your dog to a park or getting some morning coffee can become spectacles and events for the people around them. One has to wonder if fame is a human characteristic of needing to glorify others in order to feel worse or less of oneself. In today's society, some people are famous for no apparent reason, which enhances Warhol's statement because he is predicting that more people will become more famous for doing less. In an ideal world, fame would only be attributed to the hero's of the world, the fire fighters, the volunteers, the people that make our world a better place. Fame and recognition needs to start transitioning from glorified celebrities to people who really do change this world for the better.

Jack B