Sad to Say Goodbye to One of the Best Classes I've Ever Taken, But Let's Reflect

As I said in my title of this blog, I am really sad that Critical Thinking is already over. I think this is the first time I have actually genuinely enjoyed a class and still learned a bunch of information that I will continue to build upon and use throughout my entire life. Before this class, I was already skeptical about media and how much I use it because as I watch my little brother and sister grow up, they continue to make media consumption the biggest priority, whereas when I was their age I would be playing outside or doing arts and crafts projects. Ever since I noticed this, it made me wonder whether or not technology was going to replace kids hanging out with each other in person and playing outside with chatting over the Xbox or DMing on Instagram, etc. This just made me realize how big the role that media plays in our world and the generations to come, and how it could eventually diminish the concept of face-to-face human interaction. (Check out my Society's Downfall post!!!)

Now I don't think that media consumption is bad, but I certainly don't think it's completely beneficial to society for the reasons I've stated above. In the beginning of the school year, I was on my phone a lot: texting, stalking people on Instagram, watching Snapchat feeds, catching up on Twitter, and watching a bunch of TV. Now although this is pretty much every tennaged's media consumption checklist, I got tired of seeing what other people were doing while I was reading what they were doing, when I should have been up and doing something, etc. After I made this realization on how useless social media was, I deleted all of my apps (I did try to download them back because I was bored, but I had no storage). Anyways, I still check Twitter or Instagram maybe once a week or two just to catch up on what my friends are doing, but I don't know if I'll be able to limit myself this summer to only two since I won't have school and homework every day...

Also, my media consumption isn't totally social media, I watch a lot of TV, maybe too much at times. Even though I probably shouldn't be watching TV so much, I won't stop because it's something that makes time go by so much faster and keeps you on the edge of your seat (as long as it's a good show). What I'm trying to say is that I still consume a lot of media everyday from the TV, but now I've been able to apply the characteristics of a critical thinker to the shows and ads I watch. Sometimes it bothers me how much I notice about Madison and Vine in my favorite TV shows, like how American Njnja Warrior puts the Pom logo on the bottom of the pool contestants fall into after they fail an obstacle. And during these shows, I usually can't wait until the next day to see the recorded version, so I'll sit through the commercials and point out all the appeals and techniques that the advertisers are trying to throw at viewers, along with the target market profile they assume for this product. I noticed this a lot in Apple's commercial with the girl chopping the onion because they assume that all people who buy Apple products will be very smart and create videos that look like art with ease, as well as that when people buy the product they will suddenly make a video and go viral (which is definitely NOT the case because almost everyone has an iPhone, even Starace!).

Finally, being able to examine all the things I mentioned above with my critical thinking skills has really allowed me to be cautious about the things I buy and whether or not I need them or that the advertiser is making me think I need them to be pretty, smart, funny, etc. Having these characteristics makes me feel like a very educated consumer, which helps me decipher whether or not to buy something. Being an educated consumer is a very important so that people can understand once you buy the product, you won't instantly feel a significant change that is going to make your life so much better than it is now because the material you're buying is just a thing!! It's not living, and it's not doing anything to make you feel better, so once people realize this, they can ignore those implicit messages given off in commercials and just buy a product for the quality of the product.

Thank you so much, Starace, for an amazing last semester in Critical Thinking that I will use for the rest of my life! You should really try to make this class a year long because I don't think a semester is long enough. I hope you have a great summer, and I'll see you next year! :)

Peace out world!!!!
-Ashleyyyyy