Assignment 4.

(The following is a response to Seth Godin's "Brainwashed", which can be found by going to Change This, a web site determined to deliver all things non-sequitor.)

In Seth Goden's article "Brainwashed" he discusses his concept of layers of self-innovation or reinvention. Though he details seven layers, two of them stuck out to me in particular:..

ACKNOWLEDGE THE LIZARD:

I felt that Goden's point in this section was a bit lost in his attempt to use clever lingo, but I feel like I ultimately understand what he was getting at.

Goden says that the lizard, or "lizard brain", is that instinctual part in all of us that tells us to follow the code, and fears lack of acceptance from society. Goden believes if we acknowledge this primal part of our brain, that we will be able to move past it and progress beyond.

In a way, I guess I would agree with this. I tend to be the type of person who likes to acknowledge a problem rather than ignore it, and this certainly goes for the flaws that I find within myself. I believe someone is always better off identifying their faults than trying to ignore them.

CONNECT:

I agreed strongly with what Goden had to say about connecting. The internet can be a tool for endless pass-times, or can be a tool, that if utilized in the right way, can connect one to the rest of the world. Even when I am on Facebook I try to be aware of the fact that I am on the worldwide domain. On YouTube, I try to make decisions as if my audience could be anyone out there, though only some of my videos have hits in the thousands.

This concept of connecting goes deeper than just media connection, though, in my opinion. If we connect with people and the world around us, then those people can become tools in our own progress. Connectivity is key to success.

DISCUSSION:

I believe that most of Goden's suggestions are good ones, though they tend to be one-minded. It is a good idea to connect, but for a lot more reasons than Goden has listed. Within the concept of connect, Goden focuses almost exclusively on media. He could easily have gone further to explain how media connects people.

I suppose he does this a bit, but I found most of the sections a bit unfulfilling. Overall, I do believe that Goden's suggestions are good, though. It never hurts to be aware of one's self and the world around them, and all of Goden's suggestions seem to revolve around this theme.

JAC...