Description of A Thing
I don’t even remember what year I received this sketchbook of mine, however I do know that my
sister gave it to me. It’s black leather exterior and textured covers are cold to the touch as the
loose air in my room smacks against it. With some dust gathered, it’s been a while since it was
open last, finding memories within which had been forgotten. Stored away in a gray and blue
“memory box” was where it was found. The pages are filled with all sorts of erratic ideas I had
during my highschool years, mostly hypotheticals and “ifs” that wouldn’t or couldn’t be answered
with the timeframe. It’s worn around the edges with no label on its face to tell you whether it was
upside down or not. “Without a care in the world”. This description of the sketchbook is one that
fits it perfectly as there was no need to organize thoughts or information; just draw or write in it
simply without a care in the world. When opening it up, I see my messy handwriting on the pale
yellow pages, detailing my hypothetical plans for the future and unrealistic hopes to study on
math I had yet to perfect. The black and blue streaks would be written across states I had
visited for college trips, on the highways, restaurants, or at school, broadly stroking over each
topic that was found, eventually making its way back home. As I touch the book, I start to
remember the memories and laughter made, the people who would eventually become friends,
and the ones who would be lost during this time. A record of simpler times, where we didn’t
have to think about wearing blue and white masks, who you were sitting next to, and if you’re
still going to be able to attend classes because of mandates. This single book contains my most
painful, my happiest, my favorite, concerning, pitiful, delirious memories and ideas which I
cannot replicate but think back on. This book which is the size of a textbook, yet fewer pages, is
what made me the present self, and is something which has completed a cycle in my life. With
many years to come and go, I hope I can once again look and reminisce at the failures,
success, and trivial bouts I had within myself. It was fun, my Sketchbook.
Amy Tan Response
I ended up choosing Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, and the reason for this is because the relatable experiences such as speaking for your mother on the phone because they can’t communicate well in english, have also happened to me. I find that this essay progresses in its story-telling and effectively reaches its goal of relating it to the reader and using various ways of tone to elaborate the events described. One instance of this is when she goes on to explain how when she was on stage, she realized her way of speaking didn’t match the same when compared to speaking comfortably with her mother, eventually leading her to write a book called the Joy Luck Club, which would be written for her mother, as she was the intended audience. The essay also touches on the topic of what “broken english” was and how it wasn’t like a language or accent needed to be fixed. This itself made me realize that we all write differently and come up with what sentences to write differently; that there is no correct way of typing, writing, speaking, or anything of the sort, as long as the message you’re trying to convey is understood by the target audience. You could use jokes that only the audience acknowledges or understands, Or even use references which would confuse others. Reading her essay made me realize a lot of things and was genuinely good to reflect on afterwards and it was one of the major reasons why I decided to pick this one out of the three options provided. It’s not like the other essays weren’t good either, once again, It was more relatable for me and I was just able to reflect on it better. As Amy Tan said, sometimes phrases like “The intersection of memory upon imagination” just don’t sound comfortable, and I learned that overly sophisticated phrases like these are uncomfortable for both the reader and viewer.
The article “A famous argument against free will has been debunked” talks about how the brain seems to make decisions for us before we are even conscious of the choices we make. It goes on to state how the it’s like we are being controlled by the brain rather than us being in control of it. However as it neared the conclusion it informs us that its not the brain being all-knowing to the point it can act out an action before us knowing it, but this is due to the experiences we have that relate to the scenario. Think of it as information that was previously available, then it was saved, and acted out as soon as it sees something similar that can arrive at a conclusion effectively. This reminds me of RAM in computers as it stands for Random Access Memory which saves information which was “experienced” and makes use of that saved background information until it’s needed so that the processing is done more efficiently and effectively. Some ideas which this gives me is that we can use this type of general idea on Artificial Intelligence for various instances, and in fact, it’s already being used in the markets of today. Telsa has a “AI Training” program which they feed information to the AI, such as simulations of car crashes, reckless drivers, and human-like interractions, and is then output into the cars “FSD (Full Self Drive) Beta” The predictive nature and learning experiences between the brain and machine is something which can be both beneficial and detrimental to how we function, and this is what I was left with as an impression and result of reading this article.
Response To Article (2)
I’ve read the “Stop Raising Awareness” article and I do agree with a lot of points mentioned. Some of these points that I agree with is the fact that if someone is told to do something just like that, there is a likely chance that they will not do it. Why? It’s simply because that’s the way that we are “programmed”. Humans like things that are convenient to them without thinking too much of the repercussions, however this then leads a problem to arise and that goal of attaining a balance that was offset due to the “convenience” suddenly becomes a worldwide issue and people suddenly “care” about it. However this is not true. The only reason why we “care” for it is because it is convenient for us to blend in with the crowds of people that actually do care. Doing so allows it to be convenient in the social sense. We follow trends not because we believe in them or their cause, but to feel a part of something and that’s one of the reasons why these campaigns that push for this action end up in failure if someone of high social standing doesn’t support it or advocate for it. The only things that these awareness campaigns have taught me is that they are annoying and a hassle to deal with as its an inconvenience set on your life which doesn’t benefit you in any way, plus we don’t really learn a lot from it, only the general idea that it is bad and things need to change, however because we’re not being given a true choice to pick what we want to advocate for, it’s all the same as “useless information” to a majority of people, which defeats the purpose of the campaign as no one cares anymore and no one is changing their actions.
