New Media 11 Challenge – Adam Merbah
Judgment Before Understanding
We have become accustomed to forming opinions and judgments before understanding and educating ourselves. Whether it be about a subject, a place, or a group of people, some would like to refer to our incomplete perceptions as ‘’The single story.’’ After learning about the general idea of single stories and stereotypes through videos and articles we went over in class, Ms. Shong assigned us the New Media 11 Challenge. Similar to Michael Wesch’s experiment with his Anthropology 101 students, we were each paired up with someone different from you and getting to know them through a series of questions. I was paired up with Oscar and we both went through a series of questions to get to know each other. During our conversation, we covered a lot of topics in order to recognize our differences and similarities. Surprisingly, we had more 
in common than I ever would have expected. I realized that first impressions can only go so far.
On the topic of first impressions and stereotypes, In Chimamanda Adichies Ted Talk, she explained her single story view of Mexicans. The things she saw on the media made her think that Mexicans were abject immigrants. One day, Adiche went to visit Mexico. On her first day, she felt a slight surprise. She came to realize that Mexicans were ordinary people having a good time. They were going to work in the market place, smoking, laughing, and working. She put herself in a foreign situation and pursued the idea of opening up and understanding. At the end of the day, Adiche only came to realize 
the danger of single stories. Like she says in her speech “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.”
During Michael Wesch’sHow To Stop Hating Video, he says ‘’ Open up to others and try to understand why they love what they love.” At first, being assigned with a random partner seemed like it would be a little bit awkward and uncomfortable. After getting to know Oscar, I was surprised about how much we had in common. I realized that being with people different from you isn’t a bad thing. What Wesch is saying is that maybe the things we think we hate might become enjoyable if you find a deeper meaning to it and that there is more to people than we think. Who knows, maybe it will be the thing that has been missing in your life. I wasn’t dreading the idea of being paired up with someone random, but I also wasn’t the most excited. In the end, I came to realize how enjoyable the experience was. Honestly, I’m looking forward to doing another project 
similar to this one in the future.