The High’s and Low’s of societies guessing game

That one thing you have always believed to be true, you probably weren’t actually told the rest. As we hear one side of a story, we often ignore how there is still a whole other side to it. What we hear through social media and what we hear from others, we often just assume that it is correct. In a very popular TED talk Chimamanda Adiche, a feminist, writer, Nigerian and storyteller said “What the discovery of African writers did for me was this: It saved me from having a single story of what books are.” When we are young, we can be very vulnerable and impressionable to the world around us. Adiche explains how as she grew up reading British and American books, she assumed that they were the only lifestyles in books. The characters in the books always lived different from her but she never really much of that until she was introduced to books   But once she realized that there are books with people that do the things like her and look more like she did exist, she no longer thought that books had to be only the American-British lifestyles. I think this quote is something so relatable for so many. We all are so unique and especially for POC they more commonly have less representation. But, if we put into young POC’s mindset’s at a young age that they can do and be anything without their race being a factor for someone else’s approval. Because they see someone like them doing everything like everyone else.

In a video by proconorg, they explain how “ we often find it too difficult or time-consuming to really think critically.” When we get information we assume it is right, especially knowing that we have these algorithms that feed us the information we are categorized to see. When you get a video that pops up on your feed that’s about something you’ve never heard much about but is targeted to you. You may just assume it is true without even seeing any actual evidence. However, there may also be hidden biases, that we don’t believe to be true. Evidence is something that people need to find to be able to distinguish the truth, because without it how can we tell what is real and what is fake? They mention how when we go grocery shopping and look in the fruits and vegetable section, we don’t always consider the realities and questions. Where are they from? Are they locally sourced? Organic? All these questions are some of the more common things you think but what about thinking more critically. What does it mean if they are the same but are from different places? Is local better? What does organic mean? People don’t often stop to ask these bigger questions and think more critically about everything around them and their reasons.

In the popular Netflix documentary, ‘The Social Dilemma‘ trailer they state a very shocking fact of how “fake news travels six times faster than true news.”We have become very much dependent on social media and technology overall. It has become one of the most used sources of communication that we have. But now, with all the media there is, we have to focus on the fact that we have many people storing all of our information, gathering it, and even potentially selling it to others, legally or illegally. However, when we join social media, we end up agreeing or consenting to their terms and conditions which always seem to be so long that people think ‘hey everyone has already agreed to it so why shouldn’t I?’ There are some people, mostly lawyers who will take a deeper look into what is really in the terms and conditions and how these companies may have more rights to our information than we thought they did. Even those who have helped create popular social media apps have said how they think it is has become quite dangerous, not only with strangers but also with so many young minds as their users. Social media has definitely helped shape and grow society’s standards, both good and bad. These standards can be very harmful to everyone whether it’s mentally or physically. However, social media is also something that has helped us connect to people around the world and gives us access to learn and grow our perspectives on different cultures and lifestyles around the world.

In Michael Wesch’s video on How to stop hating (Country music), after he took some time to learn some country culture and begin to appreciate he says that “we need songs like this to put us in touch with the sacred stories of life.” Sometimes when you first hear a story or a song, you may just brush over the meaning behind the words instead of looking deep into them to see the truth. When Wesch was listening to the lyrics of an Alan Jackson song, he realized that all these country songs he listened to have a meaning and something that many can relate to. If you think about some very popular songs and you really listen to the lyrics, you’ll hear how they are about a breakup or losing something or someone.

Even if you don’t actually relate to the same experience the song may be portraying you start to resonate with something personal to your life or yourself. Now after Wesch claims that he doesn’t enjoy country music, he begins to realize that maybe it’s because he hasn’t taken the time to appreciate it as much as he had the songs that he does enjoy. The Alan Jackson song reminds him of his childhood and how he relates to the lyrics of leaving and wanting to put it behind him but now instead he feels the connection that everyone else in the line dancing room feels too.

The single stories we have on others can be changed when we do our bests and put in the effort. As Adiche said, “…show people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” If we keep seeing something like a group of people a certain way, we may just start to assume they are all the same or that they all become the one thing that a few of them truly may be. Although, it is not always right to do so and can cause harm or bad situations because instead, we should be looking at people from a fresh view each time. We can’t always depend on social media and people that we believe to have that one story to tell us their whole stories if we do not try and correct our mistakes.

If we are to truly learn to see the bigger picture and listen to the whole story, and not just a small little detail. But instead looking to see the truth and looking for that piece of evidence or more aspects to the story. While spending time getting to know my ‘other’ in my New Media 11 class, I learned that the assumptions that I made for them in my own mind were not as I thought. Just like how when Adiche was younger she thought that characters in all books were like the British and American books she read when she was younger. But instead, she later learned how there is so much more variety and that there were books that she could relate to. When getting to know my other I learned some new things I have in common with a then complete stranger that I would have never imagined. Learning to see the full story is a very important aspect of growing up and maturing to become a kind and well-rounded person. Acknowledging differences away from stereotypes and single stories, help to make society better than ever.