I focus on Social Justice. I am unique in my obsession with it. I could write for days upon days, words upon words, and books upon books of just Social Justice. I thrive, live and feed off it. It is infused in me as I am infused in it. This is the difference between my blog and that of Brian’s blog “Must Warn Others” as, I am sure, is the difference from many blogs.
His blog also seemed very different organizationally. I had a lot more smaller posts with small and large paragraphs. His is very much large posts with large paragraphs. He likes to have very thought out singular posts that he can pour into, whereas I am one for writing all my ideas and connecting them somehow in a later post.
We seem to have touched on many of the same things. We both questioned the concept of “I” and were enthralled in our conversation about pornography. A lot of our posts were very similar. This class really makes you question the world that you’ve grown up in. It makes you even question questions. The difference is that Brian focuses a lot on the physical: photographs, technology and porn. I focus very much on the psychological: social constructs, emotions and the mind. It’s interesting reading him connecting otherness to photography. He makes very awesome points that I really didn’t explore myself. I thought about it a little while reading Radical Alterity, but didn’t really focus on that aspect of the book. The fact that a “photograph isolates the object and does not allow (us) to see what is happening before or after” is a very valid point. We look at photographs as truth, but in reality they are nothing but a representation of truth. This is far from truth. It is like saying a simile is reality when in fact it is the representation of reality. Even the smallest minutest details of photographs can only possibly be truth for the nanosecond the photograph was taken. Nothing is the same from one time to another therefore the instant after the picture is taken, it is not reality. We shed cells, change expressions, move and mold. We are not the same from second to second nor can we ever be exactly the same as we were. After reading Brian’s blog, it really got me thinking about photography. I find it intriguing that this class can inspire everyone from completely different aspects of their lives.
It makes me wonder if the differences come from social justice. Is it the fact that I am a minority that I focus on social justice or is it that I have been trained in social justice and see it in everything? It is as this class has done on my perception of the world. After all of the classes and trainings I’ve had on social justice have transformed everything I see and hear into social justice or privilege. Because of this class I see everything further. The class has done the same for Brian. He has combined it with his experiences and life as I have combined it with my experiences and social justice. Reading many different blogs it seems that the majority of the class took away one common theme: reflection.
We have all renewed our interest in reflection. This class has required us all to look at everything critically. Question the Status Q. Question the “different.” When in doubt: question. Use your thoughts and your opinions. Don’t be afraid to stand against the norm. Don’t be afraid to stand out. Don’t forget the small. Don’t ignore the large. Critical thinking is our friend. Nothing is our enemy. The best visualization of the values taken from the class is Plurk. Everyone explores such unique outlets through Plurk. They use the 140 character max as a means of being creative. Very few of us viewed less as a boundary and more of a freedom. We were able to learn and express ourselves in an all new way.
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