Seeing is Believing

[imaerehw14]

WARNING: This is a medium-long read. If you take the time to read it, I would really appreciate feedback!

 

 

 

Hello, I am Imaerehw14, or Dave if you wish. I am a senior in high school and I participate in Debate and Forensics. This year I am trying something new, Original Oratory (OO for short). OO is a competition where I write, memorize, and recite an 8-10 minute persuasive speech on any subject. I have written mine, and I was looking for some feedback. Any and all constructive criticism is very appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing is believing. This is a common phrase weve all heard, but what does it mean? The truth behind these words is much stronger than simply suggesting only what is tangible is real. Many believe it is an exhortation to believe only that which we can see, hear, touch, taste, smell, or understand is reality. The truth is that we cant help to believe that only tangible ideas and objects are real, its the way the mind works. The conflict between imagination and reality has been an eternal battle, but in the recent years with the advances in technology and the changes in the education system, the decline in imagination has been steadily increasing.

 

Technology has a large audience, and that audience willingly suspends their disbelief to accept what is put before them. August 1, 1950 was arguably the first day of the decline of imagination as we know it. This day is special because this was the airing of the first full length animated series; a childrens cartoon. Crusader Rabbit was a fun-loving rabbit who always got himself into predicaments, and with the help of his friends, he eventually got himself out of the situation and everyone lived happily ever after; until the next Saturday morning. The cartoon was a great success, having 195 episodes in the first two years. Many other stations had noticed the success this fun loving rabbit had in the ratings, and had begun to adopt similar shows. This is what started the progression from imagination to stagnation. We now had something to occupy our minds, instead of allowing our minds to occupy us. Mercutio, from the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, said I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain. When you sat in front of a television and let your mind take in everything that was presented to you, there was no room for imagination. Everything was shown to you frame by frame, leaving little for the mind to interpret. In the 21st century, it is hard to stray away from technology. Cell phones, TVs, computers, iPods, and video games all present your mind with information, leaving you little to decide on your own. Of course we cant blame this all on technology. The education system also has a share in this endeavor. In 1965, the federal government enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This act had six sections that outlined how the government was going to regulate the act of learning. The act was passed with the intention that it was to be reauthorized every five years to meet the current standards. The current reauthorization of this act is the ever popular No Child Left Behind Act. Ever since 1965, the education system had some sort of mandated curriculum or test the students of their respective states had to pass with the fear of lost funding somewhere in that state if they did not meet a satisfactory rating. This led to the current style of education we all know today; teaching specifically to the test. This method is the epitome of the public education system. You enter your class, you take out your book, you take notes from the current chapter, you study for the test on Friday, you take the test on Friday, and you repeat the cycle the next week. Information is learned, but experience is not. When the information is fed to you, you have no time to wonder what if. You gain no experience and learn no lessons, you merely take what is thrust upon you as fact and dont question or experience the information you are learning. At the end of the day, you might know the concept of a general idea, but you will never be able to experience something like you would if you had just imagined how it would happen and take a chance with actually partaking in the educational process.

 

Why is it that our brains function like they do? Well when we read or hear something, images start to form in our brain. The images, the meaning of the images, and our emotional response to those images are formed by the interaction between three parts of our brains. The reptilian part of our brain controls our fight or flight reaction and our emotions, our midbrain controls our cognitive sensory processing, such as sight, and our neocortex is in control of high-order reasoning. When these three parts of our brain start to work together, ideas, images, and emotional responses are generated together at the same time; this is imagination. Because of the images we have seen on TV, in movies, and on the internet we have no need for our midbrain to function when creating an image in our mind. We have more than likely already seen the image somewhere else, therefore our brain doesnt need to go into the process of creating that image, it just recalls that image from the images you have seen on TV, in a movie, or on the internet. At the same time, we are looking into our cerebrum for the information that we have already learned via the teaching-to-the-test method of education. If we already have had that information implanted in us, then there is no reason for our neocortex to reason and come up with a solution. In short, because of technology and regulated education, imagination ceases to be important to us because we already have the images, the meaning of those images, and the emotional responses to those images pre-planned. In time, this destroys the ability to imagine since we are just recalling previous events that we take for fact. Robert Bly, author of Sibling Society, explains the repercussions of the decline of imagination. Consequently, the decline of imagination leads us to rely ever increasingly upon the very cause of the problem. It takes more of the same visual gluttony to be entertained. If all we know is excess, where will we find the beauty of balance and simplicity in the stories that we tell? As Bly stated, we will just need to keep feeding ourselves images and information to keep up with the steady pace of our declining imagination.

 

How do we fix this? Is it even possible to reverse the decline of imagination? First, we need to recognize that technology is part of the problem. Technology provides many great benefits to our culture and society, but when it gets to the point where it takes over our lives and starts to degrade imagination, something needs to be done. Only after we recognize the problem can we look for a solution. But even after accepting that there is a problem, were still at a stand still. What is the solution to the problem? It would be ridiculous of me to stand up here and ask you to throw your TVs out the window, unplug your computers, sell your videogame systems for scrap metal, and chuck your cell phones into the river when we all know that tonight after I get home, I am going to watch TV, get on the internet to check Facebook, play my new video game I bought last week, and text on my cell phone. I think the true solution to this problem is moderation. Sure, we like to think that we dont watch TV all that often, or we dont get on the internet all that much, but if we really thought that, we would be lying to ourselves. The Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society came out with a report in July of 2008 that stated the average internet user spends at least 3 hours a day of online recreational use and that the average American spends 1.7 hours a day watching TV. So if we simply moderate ourselves and cut those numbers in half, we could be using that extra 2 hours and 20 minutes a day doing something that could enhance our imagination, such as reading, doing any form of art, or creating music. Even the sky isnt the limit when you are using your imagination. Secondly, the only way to fix the problem in the education system is reform. Paulo Freire was an education reformist in the 20th century who promoted learning through experience rather than the accepted theory of teach-to-the-test. Freire thought that if you learned through experience, you actually gained more knowledge because you learned through trial and error. Learning through trial and error is more beneficial because you will be able to understand the right and wrong way to do something rather than just being taught what is thought to be the right way. If you have more knowledge on a subject, you are more likely to succeed in that area. If you can teach children at a young age that failure is not an option, rather, an inevitability, then you will be teaching them something that they can take with them for a life time.

 

Lets look back at the problem. We see children sitting in front of TVs at a young age, learning that it is okay to accept everything they see as reality. I mean, why not? Its not like anyone is telling them there isnt a yellow sponge living in a pineapple in the ocean. As they grow up, the same thing happens; they are given information in school that they are expected to learn for a test. Why question a single theory taught in a book that they know is going to be on the test? Questioning the information presented would do them no good since the tests are already pre-made from the mandated curriculum anyway. There is no inherent benefit to question the lesson if there isnt going to be a change on the test. Imagination ceases to be useful when imagination is frowned upon. So next time you are presented with something, dont take it as fact. Ask questions, think about other possible scenarios, and create your own theory on the subject. Because remember, seeing isnt always believing.

[Hawks]

It's interesting, and I do enjoy the Mercutio quote (my favorite character in the play). Since this is a persuasive speech/essay you wouldn't add this but maybe you could address the point that the No Child Left Behind Act also helped children with disablilities... but I'm not sure how you turn that into supporting your position.

 

 

 

Anyway, it's very good and it was interesting to read as well.

[imaerehw14]

Thanks for reading :)

 

 

 

I see your point on the NCLB point, it wasn't 100% bad, but for my speech it really isnt that good of an idea to put anything positive. Trying to maintain cognitive dissonance while at the same time praising a cause of my problem would be impossible to achieve.