TOW #7 - Article: Why You Should Keep Your Head in the Clouds

In this CNN article by TED talker, magazine co-founder, author, and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, Gavin Pretor-Pinney argues that we should appreciate clouds more as well as strive to understand them better. The article begins with the current connotation that clouds often bring with them as we get older: sadness, gloom, or almost always something negative. He says that this is an injustice and that carefree pastimes we enjoyed as children such as cloudspotting may be even more crucial today. Pretor-Pinney argues that in today’s digital age, cloudspotting, “...is an activity that legitimizes doing nothing.” (Pretor-Pinney) Which, also according to Pretor-Pinney, will in turn bring us more happiness. He states, “Happiness comes not from a desperate search for stimulation elsewhere but from finding what is intriguing, surprising and ‘exotic’ in the everyday stuff around us.” (Pretor-Pinney)

Pretor-Pinney argues that clouds should not only be enjoyed an appreciated more, but better understood as well. He states that the one conclusion that all sides of the climate change debate agree on is that clouds represent the, “...greatest uncertainty in scientists' attempts to predict future global temperatures.” (Pretor-Pinney) He then continues to expand on the possible ways in which clouds can influence our atmospheric temperatures stating that clouds can either reflect the sun’s heat or trap the earth’s warmth. 

Ultimately, even though I agree with his opinion, I would say that Pretor-Pinney failed to achieve his purpose of convincing his audience that they should appreciate clouds more as well as strive to understand them better. He appeals to logos through the climate change angle and appeals to pathos through the carefree childhood pastime aspect, however fails to back either of the claims with direct evidence. The inclusion of some kind of study or data that proves cloudspotting, or a similar activity, actually decreases stress or has some kind of benefit would have greatly strengthened Pretor-Pinney’s claim.

TOW #6 - Article: Data-Mining Our Dreams

In the New York Times article titled Data-Mining Our Dreams by author and scholar Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D., he discusses the timeless concept of whether dreams are just random sequences that occur in our minds while we sleep or if the dreams we experience actually hold any significant meaning. He begins the article by giving context to his argument that dreams do hold significant meaning by introducing the more widely accepted theory among scientists: dreams are meaningless. However, Bulkeley argues that very recent research with more modern technology that he himself has taken part in goes contrary to the currently accepted theory. He then continues on to describe the method which he and his colleagues use to conduct their research and “data-mine” people’s dreams. While the research taking place right now only proves that relatively basic factual information about the dreamer can be obtained or “mined” from his or her dream, such as major hobbies or important relationships, Bulkeley’s goal is that he and other researchers will soon be able to learn not just surface-level information about the dreamer based on his or her dream, but subconscious information about the dreamer as well.

In order to achieve his purpose of convincing his audience that dreams do hold some significant meaning, Bulkeley uses several examples of real information he himself has “mined” from peoples dreams to support his claim. By far the biggest and most obvious appeal being made in this article is to logos, through his examples and use of research. At the very end of the article, there is a short blurb that gives background information about Bulkeley himself stating that he was, “Former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams [and] is the author of ‘Dreaming in the World’s Religions: A Comparative History.’” This is also rather obviously a very strong appeal to ethos by establishing him as a credible author who knows what he’s talking about. While I feel the article would have made a more lasting impact if the blurb describing Bulkeley’s credibility was at the begging of the article instead of the very end, I do believe that he was successful in achieving his purpose by primarily appealing to logos using factual evidence and research.

Spinning top totem from Inception (2010)

TOW #5 - Visual Text: Anti-Child Abuse Advertisement

While there are many advertisements for raising awareness of eating disorders, domestic violence, and animal cruelty, seldom are there very many for child abuse. This advertisement, created by the ANAR Foundation, seeks to do just that: raise awareness of and help those suffering from child abuse. However, it does so in a rather ingenious fashion. By utilizing new imaging technology, this ad allows two different images to be seen on the same surface. For children who are possibly victims of abuse, the ad shows an image of a child’s face with bruises and a number to call if they are being abused and need help. However, for adults and possible abusers themselves who are most likely taller than the average ten-year-old, the ad displays an image of the same child’s face but without the bruises accompanied by a message that states, “Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it.”

The ad itself appeals very heavily to pathos through use of an image of a very innocent looking young boy who can be assumed is a victim of child abuse himself. Due to the general nature of abuse and violence especially on the innocent, there is also a very powerful appeal to ethos as well through a right versus wrong medium. The ad may also help adults who have never considered whether the way they treat their child to be abusive or not to think twice about how their actions may be perceived by others, including the child him or herself.

Overall, I found this advertisement to be very effective through its obvious appeals to pathos and ethos and its less obvious yet innovative dual message to victims of child abuse and the abusers themselves.

Link to video explaining the advertisement and how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6zoCDyQSH0o

TOW #4 - IRB: Section one of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

After having read just the first section of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I’m already hooked. The introduction to the book starts off in a lone Pennsylvanian town named Roseto in which only around two thousand people live, all of who are Italian immigrants from a village of the same name in southeastern Italy. At the time, heart disease was an even larger epidemic in the US then, and was the number one killer of men under age sixty-five. However, in Roseto, virtually no one showed any signs of having this disease. Scientists and phycologists tested the residents to see if it was their diet, genetics, or exercise habits that was what allowed them to so effectively avoid the disease, but found that none of those were contributing factors. Instead, a doctor named Stewart Wolf discovered that it was their culture that allowed them to resist the disease so well. The societal norm of having three family generations under the same roof, saying hello to people as they walk down the street, sitting out on one’s porch simply enjoying the day, etc. The discovery was groundbreaking by adding the entirely new concept that where we’re from and who we surround ourselves can actually affect the state of our health. Gladwell then states, “In Outliers, I want to do for our understanding of success what Stewart Wolf did for our understanding of health.” (Gladwell 11) In the next chapter, he uses the example of professional hockey players’ birth months as an example of a previously unthought of factor to success. He uses actual teams’ roster information that includes their birthdays to show that an overwhelming majority of professional players are born in either January, February, or March. Why? Because the cutoff date for hockey leagues that precede the professional one is always January 1st. This means that as children, someone born on that day as opposed to someone born on December 31st of the same year will have a significant physical advantage of someone nearly twelve months younger. Then they will be selected for a better team, receive better coaching, practice more, and their advantage grows. Ultimately, it results in the best players virtually all being born early in the year due to an unearned and unfair advantage simply because of the cutoff date. These are the underlying factors of success that Gladwell attempts to point out and have his audience notice primarily through the use of statistics and specific examples.

Image courtesy of The New York Times