Chapter 11

This chapter had a lot of facts sprinkled in the text alongside the theories. I am going to talk about some of the facts that this book talks about and what I think those facts mean. "There is much more crime on TV than in the real world.." (pg. 306). The quote goes on to say that people who do not look at crime statistics are viewing the world as more violent than it really is. I do not agree with that. Maybe if the person does not watch the news it is possible. I have never watched an episode of "Law and Order" and have decided that the world is a terrible place. I think it is irresponsible for this book to put "facts" in this book that make people look like mindless idiots. "Despite earlier predictions that the internet would rapidly surpass television in popularity...(pg. 316). This quote goes on to say that television is stil the medium of choice for most Americans. I have to agree once again. With YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix streaming movies and television shows I think the television is being surpassed. For instance I read the news on my computer, watch shows I missed on Hulu, and stream movies with Netflix. I watch television for the most part to watch sports and Sons of Anarchy! Soon television will only be used to play video games. Once I can stream a football game live I will only watch it online. That last statement is a bit much but I refuse to believe that the internet is not rapidly surpassing television as we speak. I know that was a complete rant rather than a post but isn't that what blogging is about?

Television as a cool medium

I do agree with Marshal that the medium is the message. I was confused about what this meant at first but now I understand it and I agree with this view. I agree that television is a cool medium. I get so much of my information and entertainment from television. It is really sad if you were to really think about it. I love watching sports and I never miss my favorite show "Sons of Anarchy". I find myself getting closer to the characters of the show every episode I watch. I try and predict how the character is going to react when faced with certain situations and find myself fighting mad when something bad happens to a character that I like. I do watch a lot of the History channel as well. I find it easier to watch television and learn about history than read about it. When they do re-enactments of pivotal moments in history I find myself wanting to know more about the topic. Even though the acting in reenactments is usually terrible it still paints a visual for me and along with the dialogue I am able to learn a lot. What I found interesting is that the author mentioned that we watch television in the privacy of our homes. The author links this to how personal our relationship is with television as a medium.

Cyber Friendships

I did not get a computer until I was already in high school. By that time I was not really computer savvy and seen my computer more as a tool for school rather than a social networking device. I do not IM, Myspace, or Facebook. It is not that I do not like the concepts of social networking it is just that I choose not to use it. I have not had a friendship that exists exclusively in cyberspace. I have work acquaintinces that I only talk to through email. Does that count? I believe that there are a few differences in face to face frienships compared to cyber relationships. I am a very sarcastic person and I feel that it is hard to convey my sarcasm through written words. I am a very animated person and feel that my words alone are not powerful enough to get across my point. Also it is easy to misread or mininterpret what is being written to you. I find myself reading emails and wondering if it was a joke or a serious comment. THings like that really anger me. I prefer face to face friendships rather than friendships that exist merely in cyberspace. As far as people I deal with while I am at work I would rather deal with them through cyberspace only!

Filters

Duck's theory does make sense to me. His realtional disssolution model is very relevant. Each phase is something that I can relate to. Especially the grave dressing phase. This is the phase in which each party evaluates what the relationship meant to them. They break down the things that went right and the things that went wrong. I do think they should change the name of this stage to the reflection phase. There are a few characteristics and behaviors that lead me to judge someone as unattractive. The worst is when a girl has a bad attitude/rude. Also when a girl likes to gossip about other people, that is also something that is unattractive. There are always people that I eliminate by using sociological and pre-interaction cues that I later reconsidered. When I first met the secretary at my work her nonverbal behavior made me think that she was a rude person. Then as I started to see and interact with her more i noticed some cognitive cues. It turned out that she is sarcastic and she seemed close to her family. As I noticed these things about her it made me rethink my opinion of her. Also when I see someone that points at people I automatically think that I am not going to like that person. I dont know if that is wierd but it is true.

Rigid Role Relations

All of these patterns would be hard to change and all could be potentially damaging to a relationship. I do think out of the three the most difficult to change would be rigid complimentary. I think it would be hard for one of the parties to give up control and it would be hard for the other party to start taking control. Then what happens is the parties are so fed up with it all that they end up resenting one another. I think having a submissive symmetry is a terrible way to have a relationship. It is great when you can both respect one another, but the inability for either person to make decisions just sounds frustrating. Also when a person is submissive all the time and they finally blow up it can get ugly. I had a friend with a submissive attitude and one day she went crazy and it was very damaging to a lot of friendships. As far as the most damage potential to the self-esteem I think it would be competitive symmetry. The book says in athletic training this could be a good thing. But I think in the terms of a relationship it can lead to an abusive relationship. If both parties are constantly competing it can take a lot out of a person. Then if one of the parties becomes submissive because they do not want to compete anymore it can lead to the competitive nature of the other party to start becoming abusive. All of these rigid role relations seem to fit into all three of the questions. I think that I could have switched around all of the answers and would have been able to write about the negative affects of all of them.