Persuasion

Today in class, we discussed the difference between being convinced and being motivated. I have never thought about their being a difference among the two even though the divide is quite substantial. I have always known they weren't the same word and when it was the right time to use each word but never have I truly thought about it. I have been convinced of plenty of things or ideas in my life and I would like to say that once I have learned all of the facts I am motivated to do something about a big issue. But I can't. I tend to become motivated over ideas that are not exactly great ideas (like feeling the motivation to make posters because the reward would be a prettier room) and I'm convinced about things

I would say I'm a pretty easy to convince. All it takes for me to have an opinion on an issue would be a news article with about one easy to remember statistic. I will take this opinion and run with it for a bit and finally will do extensive research on it before I figure out my exact stance. To get me motivated is a different story. The only motivation I have is for my own gain. I have been convinced about the atrocities of certain things but have never felt motivated to help unless it is relevant and if I can related it back to my own life in some way. If someone wants me to do something, they have to make sure I can apply it to my life otherwise I don't think I will be that helpful or useful.

I find that I am my biggest motivator. I am not a fan of people telling me what to do. In fact, I remember jump roping outside last summer and my mom poked her head through the window and said "You should probably continue moving in between jumping sets to keep your heart going. Don't just stand there." I don't think I have ever stood stiller than that moment after she gave me that advice... In fact, I think I even tried to stop breathing heavily so my chest wouldn't be moving as much. Even over little things like that I have to be the one who makes my own decisions. My mom convinced me that I probably should keep moving in between sets when she told me that but I need self-motivation to put it into action. Looking at that example, it seems incredibly childish but I enjoy being self-motivated. I give myself an incentive to get things done. I tell myself that I will be able to watch my favorite show only if I get my paper done in time.

Motivation and being convinced of doing something are two completely different things. Being convinced is understanding what the issue is and being motivated is taking action on that issue. One deals with your head and logic whereas the other, I believe, deals more with your heart and emotions.

Fonts

While reading this week's chapter, I was struck by just how much typography affects a piece of writing's message. When I was younger, I always used to mess about with the different fonts that were available on Word and wait until I found the "prettiest" font. I was a big fan of Comic Sans... Looking back I realize that using Comic Sans was a mistake for most pieces I was creating. It is not exactly the most professional font and quite frankly with its over usage it isn't even slightly funny. It has recently been getting a lot of flack from internet communities and people in general because it was used for everything and people thought it was "quirky". Quite frankly, I feel quite annoyed when I see it for those very reasons. 


Helvetica (the font I'm now using) is now one of the most widely used fonts ranging from the print on ads for Target to U.S. government documents. It was created by Mix Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, both from Switzerland, in 1957. There was even a documentary about this font that was released in 2007, which was the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of this style of writing. I did not have the time to spar to watch the entire film, which is on YouTube, so I settled for watching the trailer.


Nothing was spoken in this trailer but it still left me with a lasting impression: What has Helvetica told me today? Quite a lot I'm supposing. I'm not an expert on distinguishing fonts and I don't pretend to be. But after doing a little bit more research on this font, I found an interesting quote from Wim Crouwel said, "Helvetica was a real step from the 19th century typeface... We were impressed by that because it was more neutral, and neutralism was a word that we loved. It should be neutral. It shouldn't have a meaning in itself. The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface." I never once thought about font in that way. It should not be dictating what the meaning is but rather allow the words to do that itself. 


Instead of letting the font do the talking, you should let your words create meaning. Looking back on some projects that I did during younger years, I think I took advantage of crazy fonts and let them cover up some of my bad writing. Or just let the fonts take over the entirety of the project. It's easy to use a font like Chiller to make a section seem creepy or scary but it takes time and a mastery of words to create a scene like that without using font as a crutch. 


With that being said, I definitely think that fonts are incredibly useful and fun. They can set a tone for a piece or an advertisement, direct our attention to important parts, and make it appealing for people read. It's just important that people don't use fonts, such as Comic Sans, to make others think you are quirky but use them to further enforce their statements.

Save Your Conversations for the Right People

In my group of friends, my roommate, Caitlin, and I seem to be the odd ones out. Every time we go to lunch or out to any meal for that matter, the topic of math and/or physics is bound to come up. Those topics always seem to crop up under the strangest circumstances. It doesn't matter what was being talked about earlier because the topic of discussion will somehow change to a more logical and scientific conversation. This would be an example of a "normal" conversation:

Me: Wow this soup sure is good.

Them: Well, if you figure that the soup is the same density as a cubic meter of sand particles, you can determine that the chemicals in space are of the same velocity so the equation would be E = (-6U^%)+(8Tx#!).

Me: Sweet. 

Other Them: Ah I don't know about that because of Bedpostcupboarddoor's theory of space refrigeration.

And I just proceed to drink my soup and offer absolutely no opinions or say for the next 15 minutes while they debate that and then talk about computer programming and C++. Fun times. Caitlin and I have been putting up with this since September. We sometimes ask to change the conversation so we can all participate. But we never complain about it because we know that they are genuinely interested and excited to talk about science-y things. We just enjoy our tasty meal and have discussions that we care about with different friends later on in the day. 

About a month ago, I found out about One Direction and Caitlin and I have been in love since. Ah, I can't resist boybands. Adorable. There is just something about them that makes them fun to follow and listen to their pop music. So since this little discovery, Caitlin and I have been talking quite a bit about One Direction and their interviews and lives, etc. And when I say quite a bit, I mean literally every second of every conversation. In fact, even as I'm writing this Caitlin is on page 189 of One Direction facts (I have already finished reading all 924 facts). Ah the lengths, us college students will go to to not do homework. We have noticed that our friends have been becoming a bit annoyed with this constant bantering about our favorite boyband (we have converted one guy however). 

Caitlin and I began to feel kind of bad for constantly talking about them but when we were at lunch with them today we realized that they have been doing the same thing to us for months. They know we have no interest in science and yet it is always talked about. We don't want to hear about their religious views or lack there of. But we did for six months. We have told them that it is not something we wish to discuss because it leaves people out. And we had been doing the same thing with One Direction. I realized that sometimes you have to put aside what you might be interested in for the sake of others involved in the conversation. I wouldn't want to exclude people from having a good time at a meal or just in general. Caitlin and I have decided to be less polarizing with our conversation topics and we hope our friends will do the same.

But honestly would you rather talk about this: 

Math and Physics Things

Or them:

One Direction

Everyday Language

After watching the example of the controversy video today in class about how much Americans know about the government, it made me wonder just how much I knew. While they were conducting the interview the only question I was unsure of was "Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?". I decided to take a different quiz online to see just how much I knew. Unfortunately the site I ended up taking this quiz on was not as "legit" as I would have hoped. Fortunately, I only got five wrong. Not as bad as I had expected but considering I only took Government and Politics last year I was hoping that more information would have been retained. 

I don't find it surprising that many citizens aren't fully aware of how their government works. Anytime I see news about the government or politics in general it the articles seem to be filled with hate and harmful words. Heck, look at the current political stage we have right now. Rick Santorum is everywhere. Santorum is on the rise for being one of the most despicable people to consider themselves a Christian in my book. His rhetoric is full of bigotry and at times it seems he is spewing pure stupidity. His latest gem being, "President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob." Since when was going or wanting to go to college considered a snobby affair? He did elaborate, however, and say that there are many Americans who work hard everyday. But then he followed it up with, "that aren't taught by some liberal college professors trying to indoctrinate them." Whelp, that's a great stance. It should be noted that Santorum has many degrees and his kids are going to college. I don't think his stance on higher education is going to reel in the votes. 

Actually after writing this blog, I truly don't find it surprising how Americans may not pay attention to the news. I began looking through articles that I have only read the headlines to and began reading about new laws they are trying to pass and quite frankly it is disgusting. Ignorance truly is bliss. My roommate was not pleased because I began ranting to her about it and she was unable to complete her Econ homework in a timely manner. But this just gives to a stronger argument that citizens must be aware of what's going on in their country so they can fight for their rights and make sure they aren't taken away. We can't be complacent. Must make use of rhetoric and get our wants and ideas out there! Wooooo America

Site I got the questions from: http://cltr.co.douglas.nv.us/Elections/100QuestionTest.htm

Article about Rick Santorum: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120301/A_OPINION0608/203010303/-1/NEWSMAP