Philosoraptor
This is an attempt to propel myself into the mentality of writing. I have a paper due in twelve hours. I have half a sentence and a stream of quotes written thus far. To get the creative juices flowing, I shall brain-dump about the classroom and classmates around me. Brief interjections of brainstorming for my essay may appear, but may be ignored (unless you have read “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, know anything about the decolonization and attempted economic globalization of the Caribbean islands, or watch a lot of documentaries.)
Classroom Observation #1: White board doodle.
Creativity is a dragon, a UFO, a meteor, UV rays, water cannons, a narwhal, word bubbles, the Corwith Cramer, and a force shield. This image is not, however, a unique one. For all its seemingly random assemblage of characters/images/symbols, is there not a common theme to the study room white/black board fantastical frame? I swear every such “can’t think” creation I’ve seen has followed this similar form: an image of the very subject or idea you are trying avoid and then an entourage of calamities and impossibilities. The alien spacecraft is a standard. The large reptile is a must (often Godzilla or some form of play on the man’yōgana monster relating to your doodle’s theme). And each of these images comes bearing a back-story, an element of popular knowledge that makes them acceptable if not expected contributions to the “random” compilation. Similar to the power of the internet meme, or the retelling of well-known stories in Greek literature, allusion prevails as the dominant determinant of human creation, communication, and humor.
Enter thoughts on allusion:
It’s the reason all Middle English literature is packed with Christian imagery. It’s why Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, hipsterhitler, and xkcd comics are so successful. Allusion plays upon the common understandings of a particular culture/subculture/social group, either by retelling them as a support to a new idea (Billy Joel) or inverting them for the poignant and guaranteed shock of it (hipsterhitler). Using popular allusion ensures a certain kind of response from your audience, assuming they have the same understanding of the event or idea to which you allude.
http://xkcd.com/123/
Allusion also seems to serve as a socially dividing and distilling mechanism. Xkcd.com, for example, is a “webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language”. Many of the comics require a certain understanding or at least exposure to subjects like physics, math, or computer science. If you don’t get these topics, you probably won’t get these comics. In this way, the device of allusion distinguishes between those who are ‘in’ and those who are ‘out’ of this particular group. Understanding becomes the social capital of the allusion-driven space. Instead of needing to look the same or act the same, people can rally around knowing the same stuff. Social media, like facebook walls and twitter feeds, allow these selective allusions to be circulated among established groups, strengthening connections based on arrogance of understanding and expulsion of “outsiders”.
This concept is in no way new. Greek literature, as mentioned above, mostly retold stories that had been passed through popular knowledge by word of mouth. Authors simply reworked common cultural understandings into new stories, using allusion to legitimize their medium and support their message. This form of in-clan connection was crucial for a society which thrived from stanch exclusion of and battle with the “other”.
So, basically what this train of thought just showed me is that people will make people different even if they are not inherently different, proving that the human need to distinguish and discriminate transcends visual distinctions like race and gender and age, even ideological and abstract differences like religion and culture and orientation. Humans need difference, not for its beneficial pluralistic contribution to the overall productivity and health of the species, but to sort out who is can come in the clubhouse and who can’t.
The next question, I suppose, is why can’t we make a clubhouse with enough seating for everyone?
Probably something about the need for deep human connection that requires too much time and effort to make it practical to meet and greet the entire race and still achieve meaningful relationship in a single lifetime. Wouldn’t that be ironic, If our need for closeness with a few dictated a distance from a majority, which we happened to select based on difference. I suppose spatially it makes sense.
It is really alarming how long I have been sitting here and how little I have written (on the real paper). Organizing and beginning are truly the hardest parts. Maybe I’ll throw some philosoraptor in on these Caribbean islands and see what she can do.
I only responded to one classroom observation, but I think that’s really all I have time for right now. Stay tuned, I owe you another blog this week, mom and dad.
We celebrated a 21st birthday by jumping in the Atlantic at night! I went in twice, of course.
Explanation of the synonyms/slashes included in this blog: one of my shipmates recently called me a “right click in Word”. Which means I just list all the applicable or nearly applicable synonyms in a sentence when I haven’t taken the forethought to chose between them. Human thesaurus. Compliment? I say ‘yes’.
My hair is currently the color of forgotten cotton candy and elementary school lip gloss. AKA pink.
Oh, and that study aboard thing I’m doing…on-land classes end this week! Then I will retire to the Massachusetts home of fellow Logger, Cat Jenks, just long enough to ship all my excess winter gear back to Washington. We will fly to Key West, Florida next week and board the Corwith Cramer in Feb 16. Thus ending all shore (and internet) communication until March 25. Gah! I’ll give you as much time as I can before then, interwebs. And I promise the next blog will be a formal report on the state of things at SEA.