Final Blog

I am profoundly interested in the Cartesian split. I knew what it was pretty vaguely before this course, but did not fully understand it at all. Like all Cultural Studies students, I pretend to know the many authors and texts that are constantly referenced in class. I had read some Descartes, but I honestly did not really understand the pervasiveness of the Cartesian split to contemporary political and cultural rhetoric until this class. After we close read the meditations, I began to notice the Cartesian split lingering in so much of the material I study.

The Cartesian split interests me a lot because it is an example of a very Western worldview, Western Individualism in particular. The Cartesian split privileges the mind and the individual's will over the body and it's physical limitations. Furthermore, body is thought of as a sometimes misleading entity that shouldn't always be trusted. I see the Cartesian Split as very related to American notions of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps," or using your mind and will to push you beyond any limitations that you face and achieve success.

The Cartesian split is very related to how to view our bodies and interpret the things our bodies try to tell us. Many feminist environmentalist scholars site the body as a locus of knowledge, as something to be taken seriously, and as something that has the ability to help us move beyond racism, sexism, trans/homophobia, and ableism. Scholars such as Stacy Alaimo, Susan Heckman, Donna Harraway, Nancy Tuana, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Alison Kafer, and Winona LaDuke, among many, many others, encourage this way of thinking that allows us to take our bodies seriously without falling into the confines of essentialism.

Our class's discussions of free will and addiction really illuminated how the Cartesian split still lingers today. For example, in the drug unit we saw how some still view addiction and drug use as a choice, and we saw how Eve Sedgwick describes addiction as an epidemic of the will. Also, with drugs, we saw how mental illness and medication for it is still highly stigmatized and often viewed as a lack of control. In the food unit we saw how compulsive eating, dieting, and sugar consumption can all border on obsessive and blur the lines of addiction. However, culturally, we view obese people with much less sympathy than drug addicts. In the digital unit we saw how social media can also be addictive, lead to decreased happiness, and affect the minds of children. We also saw how we tend to think of social media as something we can exercise our free will over, but if it doesn't make us happy, why do we still use it?

Overall, the Cartesian split between mind and body has entirely permeated our culture. Even if literature or theory takes an anti- Cartesian stance, Descartes is usually referenced in conversation with whatever the author is speaking to. I loved using the Cartesian split as a lens with which we can view and critique our culture and contemporary epistemology.

Blog Post #12: Takeaways

I think that a main point I’m finding myself take away from the class is, if I understand it right, the gist of Benjamin’s theory – claiming that we’re using old epistemologies in handling and operating new technologies. I think that this manifests in a lot of the different topics we’ve covered, from: drugs in the water supply; the high-sugar, high-carbohydrate, corn-infused foods that we’ve come to see as normal; increasingly pervasive social media; and direct-to-consumer advertising. These are each pretty separate instances, but they are connected I think by overwhelming evidence implying that we don’t yet know exactly what we’re doing with these technologies, especially in controlling how they’re affecting us physically and mentally.

Moreover, I think it’s notable that each of these examples has been normalized to us over varying periods of time, but mostly since the beginning of the second half of the 20^th century. For a long time, we’d gotten along well without drugs in the water supply, and high-carbohydrate diets, and social media, and direct-to-consumer advertising – but now, we’re suddenly wrestling with how we should attempt to filter out these drugs (or at least minimize their adverse impacts), fight heart disease and cancer while keeping our unhealthy and unsustainable (but delicious and addictive) diets, promote authenticity and mental well-being despite ever-present social media that seems to incentivize unhealthy behaviors, and possibly limit advertising which seeks to stuff down our throats various drugs that we might or might not need.

I’ve taken away from this class that the conditions surrounding our everyday lives aren’t as normal as we’ve been led (or persuaded) to believe, and that, for the sake of our individual well-beings, we should each consider taking steps in limiting how these factors affect our daily lives, if not advocate for proper societal control over them. I’ll be thinking twice the next time I drink from the tap, eat a Dorito, log onto Facebook, or ask my doctor about whatever medication I saw advertised on YouTube – despite the limited agency I have in exercising alternative methods in living everyday life.

Blog #7 Shamefully Late

Okay, Economix. Fun/interesting/mind-boggling cartoon filled book with so much information I take Advil before reading it to prevent the later headache. There are a lot of points that Goodwin makes in these images and it's kinda hard to keep them all straight. There was definitely a few different points that he made that stood out the most to me.
In the section titled "The Era of Limits (1966-1980)" He discusses competing monopolies and advertising. I think this is a really important section for all to understand because over time it can most definitely save money as well as put into perspective the tactics that these companies take in order to achieve a maximum revenue.
In a few strips, he discusses monopolies. "Every brand is a government protected Monopoly. You can  make and sell Cola, but if you call it Coke, you're going to jail. Monopolies have the power to charge more. Next time you're in the drugstore, check out how much less generic acetaminophen, pyrithione zinc shampoo, and loratadine cost than the exact same thing as brands added (Tylenol, Head & Shoulders, and Claritin, respectively).
It's actually really interesting how many people come up to the pharmacist with a box of generic and brand name of the same drug wondering if they are the same. Most times she won't even look up and just say "Yup" and they'll walk away. It's really just crazy to think that we associate so many of these brand names with whatever illness/disease someone has. Have a fever? Take some Tylenol. Have a headache? Take some Advil. Got a stomach ache? Take some Pepto-Bismol. I just realized now that in the beginning of this blog I literally wrote how I was going to take Advil to prevent a future headache, Ha. In your closest drug store, you'll notice that there are 3-4 different daily allergy medications available. They are all a little chemically different, but serve similar purposes. Xyzal, Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec are popular brand name medications in which there is a generic for a relatively cheaper price (and potentially higher quantity) available right next to it or underneath it.
Today, we associate a brand name most with how we can treat a disease/disorder/headache/flu/etc. It's really interesting how that came to be, but it is clear that we are not completely understanding of the difference between brand and generic. Comparing 2 boxes of the same chemical components yet most would pick the brand name because of how we associate it with our illnesses. People, they are the same thing. Ask a pharmacist, a doctor, hell a worker at the store, and they will tell you the same thing.

Blog 6

I hail from the city of sin, the fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Now, we are famous for gourmet restaurants, world renowned chefs, as well as tons of little hole in the wall places that get tons of publicity, but the best thing about eating in Vegas is the buffets. It is not true, but it feels like there is a casino on every street corner. In fact, I think wherever you go in town there is a casino about ten minutes away. Every single one of those casinos has a buffet in them, toting about a different type of experience they offer. Even though they are a tremendous waste of food, I LOVE BUFFETS. There is nothing that gets my friends, family, and I more excited than going to a buffet. Sampling all different types of cuisines in one eating experience cannot be beat. Where else can I go to eat a hamburger and orange chicken? I think buffets really feeds into this more is better attitude that we as Americans get. I see it time and time again, someone filling their plate high just because they can. Sometimes I see them eat one or two things off of it before pushing it to the side. It is a huge waste of food, and yet they are still in business. People keep going to spend their hard earned, or gambled earned, money on these places. These buffets are heavily advertised all around the tourist traps, luring them in with the promise of the best all you can eat deals this side of the Mississippi. I do not think this behavior will ever change. The buffets create the need and the supply. They have crafted themselves into this Vegas experience that tourists need to have and they are going to be here to stay. 

Final Blog

As a theater and BSE major, I really kept my majors separated in my mind. Having them mix would add a whole other level of stress to my life, or so I thought. This class was really eye opening because I had to analyze what my science brain does and believes in with my culture side of my brain and how it learns. The thing is, there is no one thing really that jumps out to me that I've learned this semester. The biggest change that I have felt is how I learn has changed. Listening to my peers and how they view certain subjects has really opened my eyes to the different viewpoints I am missing. I found myself more and more interested every class. My favorite unit had to be the technology unit not only because I am a slave to every single piece of technology I own, but because at that point, my mind was open to all these different ideas. What I am taking away from this class is a new mindset. I can marry the cultural aspects of my brain with the science parts with little to no mess. It was a privilege to learn these lessons the way I did.

Final Post!- Kayla Snell

I think one of the main things I will be taking with me from this class forward comes from the blog post "How can you believe this shit?" It's a question I have been asking for years and I won't stop asking the question after this class. Things that seem illogical to us make perfect sense to others, leaving us bewildered. It gets even worse when these differences in opinion are manifested not as opinions, but as fact that's either correct or incorrect and whoever yells the loudest is the winner. This happens whenever I hear about creationist theory of dinosaurs and humans existing at the same time (or dinosaurs never existing at all), my dad's adamant argument that we're not having global warming, but in fact global cooling, and even when discussing sugar addiction in this class, because frankly, I don't agree with it. The question is, how do we argue our case, or do we even try at all?

Since I worked on fad, or "science backed" diets so often this semester, I can focus on that for the remainder of this blog post. I remember just before presenting my team's background report on the topic, I was looking through the slides and rehearsing one last time before going up in front of the class. A classmate noticed my slide on the keto diet and commented on how someone in this very class absolutely adores that diet. That moment was a good reminder that the things I am presenting as fact are not something that everybody sees as such. I had assumed that everyone in this classroom, educated, in college, capable of critical thinking, had come to the same conclusion I had. Whoops. Even so, I still went up in front of the class and presented my thoughts, complete with a slide called, "Why the Keto Diet is a Terrible Idea."

The biggest takeaway from this class for me personally, is that people are not going to change their minds no matter how much of our logic we throw at them. As a result, I don't think a good approach to an argument is to get the other person to change their minds. It will be my job to think more critically, and if it is something I feel like I am right about, others will have to find out that I also am not easily swayed. After all, perhaps it's a good thing that people don't change their minds very easily, or they risk becoming gullible and falling into every trap that comes their way.

Final Blog Post!

This class has been a treat for me to take in my final semester. The diverse topics covered made this course engaging and enjoyable. For me, I think my favorite unit was the food unit. Being someone who comes from a family with an agriculture background, this is the stuff that always gets discussed at the dinner table after a long day outside. This class pushed me to dive deeper than the surface topics. I enjoyed being constantly asked "why?" or "why not?" and "what does this mean for us?" because those were not things that were brought up, ever. It was interesting to listen to and interact with people who had backgrounds that were different from mine from debates about Monsanto, to whether or not diets and eating organically and GMO-free are reasonable or a load of BS. Ultimately this class has prepared me to present well-informed opinions, support them with facts, and to acknowledge viewpoints that differ from mine. There aren't two sides to everything, nothing is simple, and we as a society need to recognize life's complexities in order to get anywhere. We need to be able to have discussions like the ones we've had in class. While I often felt that I came out of class feeling like I had less of a grasp on reality, I think I learned more about my critical thinking self than any other college course I've taken.

Blog #10

While much of our discussions in this course have definitely talked about how the internet creates trouble. As the internet becomes smarter, we're beginning to be able to weed out false information. However, the ability to do so still relies on the reader having a critically thinking mind. Being in college, most if not all of us are taught to think critically about the information presented to us. However, before the dawn of the internet, those in the generations above us have not received the same knowledge or ability to weed out information that comes from unreliable sources. I remember time and time again as I went through K-12 education being warned about checking your sources when looking for information on the internet and to always be wary of what Wikipedia has to say. As the 2016 election illustrates time and time again, the dangers of false or misleading information being spread on the internet are relevant and frightening. It's interesting to find that the source of this spread does not come from the younger generations, but those who one could reasonably expect to also have a critically thinking mind--those older than us. They're older so they're supposed to be wiser right? So how do we combat this? I really like the feature that Facebook has begun to roll out in order to stop the spread of false or misleading information on their domain. The feature flags articles that show up as things that may be bias or misleading and tells you more information about from where the article originates, gives related articles, and includes statistics about how this article has been shared and how many times it has been shared. If there isn't much information, it can be deemed unreliable. While this tool is in its early stages, I think this tool has the potential to do good things in the spread of information, but I would like to see this feature rolled out on a larger scale.

Blog Post #9

When I think of something insane that's got a decent following, I think of InfoWars with Alex Jones. It's become a kind of funny thing within my friends group to sit down and watch compilation videos of the insane stuff that Alex Jones says with a drink in our hands. Honestly, I think that's the only way I would be able to get through his madness. With his crazy eyes and shouting voice, it's not hard to see how he grabs people's attention. With your attention now on him, he can shout whatever nonsense he wants and whether you disagree with it or not, now you've listened. Alex Jones started out as a talk radio host through which he developed and cultivated his brand--those on the far right who believe conspiracy theories. He catered to them in his early days, and has not stopped taking advantage of them since. He has his own brand of dietary supplements which he markets through the insecurities of those who listen to him (isn't that scary?). At this point, he doesn't need to advertise his talk show anymore because he continues to make most of his money by selling these mystical diet supplements. With him already having his target audience wrapped around his finger, it's easier to see how he still goes on and how people can believe him. They've put their trust in him to steer them clear of all the things they are afraid of and in exchange support him for all he's got. If you've got the chance to read articles on how Alex Jones' InfoWars show and website are operated, there's plenty of stuff out there to read and it's kind of fascinating.

Final Blog - Syeda

I’ve always been science heavy in my thinking and in everything I do.  Aside from faith, I tend to rely on science before I accept movements or claims for truth.  GMOs being bad?  Well, it seems that research in favor of them outweighs any research--so yeah, right mhm, next.  It’s already a tired argument.  Why do we still have to have a discussion?  And organic foods?  They might be good, but where’s the proof that they’re worth the price hike?  Global warming?  The evidence is there, why would I ever believe otherwise?  So I tend to be cut-and-dry with the facts presented to me, without necessarily thinking of the depth behind certain details and products.  As such, our discussion of GERD bothered me a lot.  I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but it felt jarring that something that is marketed to treat a physical condition, like omeprazole treats GERD, has so much room for capitalism and unethical business practices.  First, the fact that GERD may not be a legitimate medical condition but has medications to treat it amounting in the range of billions of dollars in profit, and second, that Astrazeneca produces omeprazole’s enantiomer esomeprazole, even without increased clinical efficacy, and patented it just for more profit, doesn’t sit right with me.  Plainly, it’s completely oppositional to my world-view that something with intentions that could be so pure, to help people with medical conditions, can instead be so predatory and unfair.  I’m used to wars that claim to liberate a region but only work to serve that invader’s own interests so the idea isn’t new, but the application to medicine remains more jarring because I'm starting pharmacy school at University of Illinois at Chicago this Fall.  It had me thinking, this is what I’m spending my future on.  How much of my field is like this?

So going forward, my biggest take-away from this class is that I’m fortunately and unfortunately more skeptical, and perhaps more realistic and critical of the information that surrounds me.  It’s depressing to acknowledge that the world isn’t motivated by benevolence or good intentions, but rather by greed and selfishness, but at the same time, this empowered me to realize that there’s always an underlying motive or bias behind products or ideas that are sold to us.  Whether it be omeprazole or the Iraq War, we are sold ideas of good health or ideas of freedom, paying for one product and supporting another with tax dollars and political support.  Now, it’s a matter of finding out what that bias is rather than questioning if one exists in the first place.  With this in mind, I truly do feel that I am a smarter and more realistic consumer given the ability to question the “why?” behind everything.  There are always connections between science, culture, politics, and economics, and now, it’s a matter of deciphering what those connections are.

Blog Post #8

August 7th, 2008. I distinctly remember the very day I received my first cellphone. At this point, I had already set-up Facebook and Twitter accounts, though neither hold quite the same nostalgia for me as the day I got my very own cellphone. A bright pink LG flip phone became mine on that day, and this access to technology and the internet at the palm of my hand has shaped me into who I am today. 

I was the very last of my friends to have one, so I felt so good finally being in the loop with them again. As soon as I got home with my new accessory, I posted my number to my Facebook wall with the message "txt me!!" I was so excited. Immediately the texts came pouring in from those I was close with to those I barely knew. Years would pass and I would upgrade to another of the latest phones, hopping aboard with the dawn of the smartphone. When I finally got my hands on a smartphone, I was doomed. I let myself become so consumed by it all. I studied less, stayed up later at night to play games or watch stupid YouTube videos. Productivity went down pretty significantly. I also became more and more concerned about how I was presenting myself on social media. I became obsessed with self-image and it led to some pretty destructive behaviors. I think this became a huge source for some of my anxiety in social settings. I always worried I would say the wrong thing, post the wrong thing, or not appear cool enough for anyone to want to get to know me. Coming from a small town where my graduating class was about 150 people, we all knew each other and there wasn't room to hide. However, I found that I could hide behind social media and create an identity that would help with all of those worries. I became that person through high school and ended up really unhappy with myself and who I came out of it as. I've spent a lot of time since coming to college trying to figure out who I really am because I came here not really having a sense of identity and that was really hard to deal with. I still work on putting down my phone in order to have the best social interactions possible, but others being attached to their phones makes it difficult. We've all seen those groups of people who all sit together and don't talk while they stare at their phone screens. I think I can say that we've all been there at one point or another. We're losing our ability to interact with each other and that makes me wonder what that'll say or do to the future of the human race.

Blog #7

For me, reading Economix was a good crash course to something I did not think I was really interested in. As someone studying something completely unrelated, I hadn't taken an Economics course since high school. One thing I always enjoyed from that class was talking about markets and competition. Particularly in the section where they talk about price wars, I am reminded of two gas stations back home that are constantly at odds with each other. I live at the edge of a rural area, between a Reservation and a small city. The two have historically not gotten along very well. On the outskirts of the Reservation there is a tribal-owned gas station. Across the street, where the boundary lies, the other gas station sits. Typically the one in the bounds of the city sets the gas prices for the area. However, the other gas station has taken a liking to lowering their prices by 2-3 cents in order to attract more business to their side. This causes the other gas station to lower their price, too, and a price war ensues. This has been going on for as long as I can remember, and I remember asking my dad about it every time we would drive past. He had his own opinions on the matter, but last summer things got crazy for the Fourth of July. What started out as one of their price wars ended in all of the gas stations in the general vicinity lowering their prices way beyond the lowest anywhere else in the county. Gas prices lowered to around $2.00 for all of the gas stations in the area and people began to flock from all over the county just to fill up with gas. My dad, not wanting to miss the fun, took all the gas cans he had and a trailer, setting out to fill up. While economics in general has never really interested me (though it definitely should!), this particular facet of it has always fascinated me. While my dad made pretty decent sense of it all growing up, Economix was a good refresher to this information, but gives me a much deeper, more satisfactory answer to some of the questions I remember asking.

Last Blog Post! Let's Talk Meitu

The thing that shook me the most over the course of this semester was learning about Meitu. It’s one thing to use snapchat filters when talking to your crush to make you look cute, but to have a culture that is completely obsessed with these filtered versions of reality, so much so that individuals spends thousands of dollars on cosmetic surgery to alter their physical appearances, does not seem real. But it is.

Oh, AND THEN they make a living off of, not an educated job, but by taking videos of themselves looking prettily into the camera! This is a fantastic thing for them now (and I applaud them for profiting off the system while they can), but what happens a few years down the road when this is just a fad trend of the past and they have forever altered their appearance and have no qualifications for other employment. The Meitu life is unsustainable. It is kind of terrifying that an entire society has bought into this sensation.

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, and her sisters, have profited in similar ways, but through entrepreneurship boosted by their short-term fame and beauty. This seems like a much more sustainable, and educated, way to pursue life. By setting up profitable businesses, that can make a name in a short-term spotlight, these will be able to generate revenue for years to come. Similar things have happened with child stars such as the Olson twins. This is smart! Meitu does not seem to be. I guess I personally just don’t see Meitu as a positive thing. It is nice the way the vloggers seem to pull people into their everyday lives and offer multiple perspectives of the world, but these casual videos are so planned out and choreographed that they, much like the Meitu personalities themselves, are only feeding into the toxic “perfect image” of the world. I’d love to see a study done on eating disorders and body dysmorphia from before Meitu’s release to now. Yikes. If individuals with the money to take a professional scalpel to their face are still not satisfied, imagine what teenagers without money are thinking, and doing, about their own images.

Blog 8

Social media is so influential and so easy to get caught up in.

When I was in middle school and early in high school, I became really obsessed with youtube and Instagram. I followed so many popular ‘influencers’ and bloggers who posted content all the time, and I would watch youtube videos CONSTANTLY. I never missed an upload from a lot of my favorite YouTubers. I really fell down a rabbit hole for quite a while of wishing my life was like these people’s lives and made plans in my head (and in my journals, let’s be real) about how I was going to become a famous Youtuber and make all this money and be so popular and live this amazing lifestyle in LA and eventually have my own brand and all of this insane stuff.

As much as it’s fun and inspiring to follow all these people and keep up with their lives and their content, it can be damaging. I’ve found now I need (to keep myself sane) to do a sort of detox every few months and go on an ‘unfollow’ spree wherein I go through all the Instagram pages and Youtube channels that I follow and really think about whether I am enjoying these people’s content in a happy and healthy way, or if they’re making me feel worse about myself and my life more often than good stuff. And if I’m still feeling shitty, I make sure to log off of all social media or delete the apps from my phone for a week or more so I can really reconnect with reality and my life and the people around me that really make me happy and fulfilled in a way that can’t happen through the internet.

These social media influencers really have impacted our culture in so many ways, and these platforms continue to grow enormously for so many people. And that’s awesome for them – so many people have worked really hard to get where they are with millions of followers and their own brands and creative endeavors. The way we see advertising, the way products and brands are launched, the way people interact with ‘celebrities’ and honestly the definition of ‘celebrity’ have all changed so immensely from social media and the internet. But I feel that it really should be taught (whether in school or not) to young people just how important it is to maintain that disconnect from the internet and really place importance on the people around you and your real life. It’s great to have dreams and goals and aspirations, but it’s not healthy to constantly be bombarded and surrounded by these perfectly curated lives that just make us feel shitty about ourselves.

                So there’s my social media rant I guess – I’ve really got a love-hate relationship with this stuff.

Final Blog

This class was a lot. A lot of info, a lot of opinions, a lot of readings, a lot of ideas and concepts and, of course, a lot of science and a lot of culture.

                I happen to be one of the few in the class who is not a BSE major, who isn’t a scientist or a cultural studies person at all. I’m a designer. I’m a creative person, I’m in the college of design for product design. I plan to design furniture and home décor in my future. So what does that have to do with science and culture? What could I have gained from this course? Honestly, I didn’t know going into this. I just took it to fill up a LibEd requirement, and because it sounded like one of the more interesting choices from my limited options to fill these reqs.

                But honestly, I’ve taken a lot from this course. I think most memorable/important thing I took away from this course is that culture is woven into everything we do and interact with. Economics and politics have such an impact on literally everything – even if we rarely realize it. Most people don’t think to look deeper into everything like we have in this course to find all those ties and connections that really impact everything. Specifically for me, researching my group’s background report on food and obesity really opened my eyes to how economics and politics specifically impact food. Things like the fact that food stamps (now the SNAP program) don’t cover basically anything and makes it really hard for families to create healthy meals if they don’t have the economic resources to do so on their own. How the politics around poverty immensely contribute to the obesity epidemic as well as healthcare access and costs. Also how social media and the ‘more is more’ and ‘bigger is better’ and ‘instagram-able’ culture impacts how we view and consume food.

And to tie this into my design background, culture is a huge part of how we interact with the spaces around us and the things in our lives. With social media and digital/technological advancements, people continue to expect and demand more from their spaces, their possessions, etc. such as digitizing everything from kitchen gadgets to furniture to floors and even moving towards real life ‘smart homes’.

Basically, my main takeaway is just that economics and politics impact literally everything, and nothing is truly unbiased (not even science). And science and culture will continue to impact everything we do, see, hear, feel, taste, and interact with on a daily basis.

Thanks for a great course!

Brent Clanfield Final Blog

When I think of the past semester, the thing that intrigued me the most from this class is the idea that, basically, everything is more than it seems. Before this class, I took things for face value in many ways. The examples are endless. Benadryl is pink. I would never think anything of this. Of course it's pink! Why? Well...the main ingredient is pink? Chipotle is good for you because they have cute cartoon pigs and treat them well. YouTube Kids is, of course, kid friendly because they have the word "Kids" in the title!!

Now, I don't think I was a blind consumer before this class, but I certainly did not look as far into things as I do now. I think this is a healthy addition to my life. Why are they branding this product or this service this way? Probably to make money! Before I buy that "Fresh Organic NaturalⓇ™Ⓒ Apple" I might take a second look and realize that maybe this GMO apple from Turkey is actually the better AND cheaper option. Now, maybe this means I'll be more cynical, but I think this class has taught me that, in doses, cynicism is healthy. Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. A healthy amount of analyzing is important. My group was also always trying to incorporate a more international perspective to what we were studying. This is also valuable I believe. The cartoon pigs in Chipotle commercials is, in the words of Joe, a first world problem in every way possible. Overall, I have learned that cultural studies is extremely important, and fascinating, even for a biology major.

I personally am planning to be a high school science teacher. For me, I think these methods of critical analysis will be very valuable. GMOs are a perfect example of this. They are filled with science, and are a hot topic. I look forward to walking through these sort of topics with my students in the future and teaching them to look at ALL sides of topics. Don't take what the label says for granted, and don't take what a random health magazine or blog tells you as the ultimate truth either. Don't simply make decisions for yourself, but make educated decisions for yourself. I think this class is filled with important take-aways that are useful for anyone, in any walk of life, and I look forward to carrying them with me throughout my life.

Final Blog

Actually, when I decided to take this class I didn't know what to expect. I was intrigued with the name "Science and Culture", it sounded like a combination of what I want to learn about (science) and what I wish to learn about (culture).  And the part "Do what we told you and you'll do fine" in the syllabus made me confident that I should take the course (I love to have clear instructions).

I loved the diversity of topics we discussed: from really philosophical readings (hello Descartes) to the things we meet every day in our lives (brand name vs generic medicine, harmful videos on Youtube). And the blog posts expanded the circle of topics. In class sometimes you can't formulate the idea, you have some separated thoughts but you can't connect them. And at home you have more time to think about what happened in the classroom. Quite often it was difficult to get this exact topic you want to write about, to find correct words that will express your thoughts. But it was an interesting and useful time of exploration of the world and of yourself. 

Also, as an exchange student, it was an interesting experience of noticing some cultural differences. The poster section was the most representative part of the course. Some problems groups presented are universal: water pollution with products of pharmacology, internet privacy and its intervention in all aspects of our lives. And some were really American for me: sugar addiction, problem of huge portions of food. Sometimes I just got lost, especially with all American brand names everybody knows. Here I realized how actually we are bounded by these names, we are just too used to them and we are skeptical to the new names that we can't recognize.  

It was a unique experience of unusual class process.  This class is one of amazing memories I'm taking back home. 

Final Blog

There have been a lot of ideas that have stuck with me throughout this class, often because they scared me. I feel like I understand better how complex relationships between science and culture relate, especially through conversation with a group from such diverse fields. One issue that especially stood out to me throughout the course is just how much money is tied up in environmental regulations. In reading Economix I was super freaked out by the power of the corporation over not just businesses, but the earth itself. Someone mentioned on the last day of class that there are many more manufacturing regulations in Europe than here in the U.S. It was a reminder that just because that is the way I have always known things to work here doesn't mean that our intertwined system of science/culture/money/power is necessary. So in that way this conversation both scared me and gave me hope, because now I feel less in the dark about this issue that will hugely affect my life.

Studying Winona LaDuke also reminded me that 1. this problem is so much bigger than I realized, and 2. it is possible to fight back. I was really inspired by her work and I feel like I have a better handle on how to take concrete steps towards concrete (scientific and cultural) changes. This class in general has given me that feeling of deeper understanding and greater confidence, but this issue in particular has me really fired up and ready to fight it where I can.

Thanks for a wonderful class!

Final blog post (Andrew Krump)

My primary takeaway from this course was gaining an ability to critically examine science. Going into the course, I had a clear view of science as existing outside of human motivations and representing an objective understanding of reality. The course actively required that I consider the impacts of economics, politics, and individual biases in the study of science and the popularization and implementation of its findings.

The best example I can think of is our analysis of pharmaceutical sales and how pharmaceuticals are marketed. The development of a new medicine seems purely scientific, but in the context of our capitalist system, there are underlying economic motivations that help shape which medicines get developed in the first place.

Especially in the context of over the counter (OTC) drugs, a critical observer has to come to terms with the intersections of the science and economics of drug development/marketing. I found that Zzzquil is priced much higher than generic Benadryl even though they are the same molecule. There is no doubt that marketing has overtaken science and pure medical efficacy in many cases of drug marketing.

This led me to have to accept that science can never be "pure" because science requires actors, who have underlying motivations and biases. This is not to say that science doesn't strive for objectivity, but rather that objectivity is an ideal, not the actual state of things. Science and technology are used to solve problems and these problems are heavily influenced and defined by economics, consumer preferences, politics, and the ideology of the scientists in question. To say that science exists outside of the influence of these forces in practice now seems a lot more naive than when the course first began.

So in summary, my main takeaway is a deteriorated belief in the story that we are told about science: that it is purely objective and does not have an agenda. So long as science is carried out by humans, there will always be an agenda. Aspects of this are scary, but it also reiterates a hopeful message: we are using science to solve problems that we define. We all have a responsibility to help define the most positive problems for science to solve then. Through better education and acting out well-informed purchasing decisions, I think this is possible.

Final Post - Hermans

I can't believe this semester is coming to a close already. I personally really enjoyed this class, especially compared to my other classes as I just felt intellectually stimulated without all the anxiety and cramming that my other classes gave me.. I found myself getting reminded of ideas and causes that I really care about and have thought about in my own time. Many the topics on medicine and food. How our society has come to the point where any unhealthy lifestyle can be curable with additive chemicals and how American's continue to consume huge amount of additive sugar daily probably without even realizing it, basically because of capitalism. I'm so glad I was able to take this and get stimulated by other classmates' ideas again, and work with a really amazing group that came up with a really interesting background report, debate topic, and poster.

Final post :(

Reflecting on back through the semester, there is one theme that has stuck with me more than all the others.  When we talk about consuming and products we normally think about the items we consume as the products.  But what we do not see is how theses items were marketed and sold to the real product, us.

In every way of life, people are the real products!  We cannot produce something without it being geared toward someone, and as such everything as a purpose to be sold to us.  Often we need to be convinced that we need these drugs or lawn mower.  This has stuck with me because I think it really challenges how people look and a normal capitalistic society.  People do not look at themselves as the product because they believe themselves to be better than that.  Reality shows us this is false.  With every click of an "I agree" or "allow" button we sell ourselves to make it better easy for companies to truly understand their products.  I think this is the relationship we have fallen into with consumerism and we have grown numb to ads made for us and accepted them as the norm.  In this way it is fascinating to watch how society accepts things to make their digital life easier.
 
I am not sure what to take away from this change in society.  Personally it creeps me out knowing how information is used by companies to understand people, it makes me feel like I am in a mental study.  I guess from this class, the themes discussed, I take away awareness.  Aware that the companies do not want people to change, they want us to keep living in a consume all end all manner, because they will just make it possible for their products to be happy in life.  The best example in my opinion was the Lary the Cable guy clip.  Keep living your unhealthy life and do not worry, we got your back with this drug.  I think about family members who are over weight and take heart medication when our family has a rich history of heart disease.  To me it would make more sense to live healthy and not solely rely on drugs to save them. 

blog 12

Over the course of this semester, I learned a lot about everything. It is sort of hard to pinpoint my favorite thing because most of the topics we discussed were presented in a quite interesting way.  If I had to pick a topic I think it would be food and drug advertisement. That is probably the most general thing, but just learning more about how advertisements reflect our culture (Or maybe our culture reflects advertisements) was super interesting. Sometimes I like to live in my ignorance and believe that whatever a commercial or ad is telling me is the actual truth. After this class, i have a hard time getting back to that point. The thing is i don't really miss my old mind set.

Commercials are forever ruined for me. But in a way, they are more fun to watch now then they were before. Poking holes in the advertisers' tactics is a way to keep my brain stimulated while watching my mind dulling shows. Basic analytical skills I learned in this class have the potential to save me thousands. I guess I am forever in y'alls debt.

I am already somewhat of a skeptic but now my skepticism is backed up with knowledge. That way, if anyone try to call me crazy i can just laugh them off because i know that I am just more intelligent. I am now more aware of the fact that everybody that is advertising has one ultimate goal: profiting.

Thats not to say that I don't realize some people are actually looking for drugs and foods to benefit the world. It would be pretty hard for me to forget that, I am a umn Cbs driven to discover student that is constantly surrounded by research.

Basically, I have struck the perfect balance and can live my life knowing I am making the supreme decisions when it comes to what I put in my body. You wont manipulate me to get my money!

Final Blog - Mohamed

Although many of the topics we discussed required me to think deeper than usual, one of the most interesting was the drug trade discussion. Before discussing this topic, I never really thought about where hard drugs come from, or how they affect the lives of those who grow them in other countries. A lot of people will argue that since these hard drugs are obviously very damaging to our society, people should just stop making them. But unfortunately its never that easy. 

I always like to keep an open mind, and I encourage others to do so as well. For many of the topics we discussed throughout the semester, there was always more than one viewpoint. In this case, we in America see drug users and immediately start to judge them. But we don't know how that person got hooked on to drugs. One very dumb decision can change your life forever. But you never wake up and decide to go get hooked on meth or crack or whatever. At the end of the day, its a bad choice, and instead of judging, we should be encouraging people to get help. 

The other viewpoint comes from those who are selling the drugs. Many of the people who synthesize these drugs in other countries do it because they simply have to. They know that what they are doing is negatively affecting so many peoples' lives around the world. But if they did not make these drugs, then they wouldn't be able to support their families. Additionally, in many of those countries, medical care lacks in many ways. Because of that, they use those drugs for pain relief and so on. The same goes for those who sell drugs here in America. Many of them sell drugs because of how and where they are brought up. They never got a good education and the community they live in doesn't have many opportunities for jobs. So they turn to drugs, because its truly their only way to make a decent living. It's hard for us to put ourselves in their shoes, because most of us don't grow up in those conditions. 

At the end of the day, it's just better to be open-minded. 

It's the Final Blog Post

So it all ends here, huh? A whole semester has gone by and now it's time to roll back the footage and reminisce. Well, guess I'll do my part. Here's a topic that seems to have stuck with me: GMOs . GMOs have, and forever will be, a contentious topic. Granted my group and I did a case study on it but the reason why it stuck with me was because I never cared to pick a side. Everyone will keep arguing about it until conclusive, solid evidence backs up either side and at the moment GMOs have yet to prove that there are no long term side effects, so that will probably take a while to figure out. Therefore, it seemed kind of pointless. Still, I was never against GMOs because they seemed like a useful technology to have if there were ever food shortages in the future. Yet, it wasn't until class when a classmate pointed out that there are underdeveloped countries that are currently going through food shortages and nothing is being done to help them out. I had to scratch my head as I pondered that point because she was right. She also brought up another good point that food shortage isn't a problem, it's actually a lack of access to food that is the underlying issue. We waste food all the time so clearly there is a deficit in the food availability department because this is a broken system here.
However, there were cases where they did try to implement GMOs for the public, like the yellow rice incident. It was suppose to help the vitamin deficiency but in the end, protesters stormed the GMO facility and destroyed most of the crops. In this case, fear became the major opponent of a helpful solution. This seems to be a common theme among the debates with GMOs since anything to do with genetic tampering is seen as dangerous and unnatural. That's why GMOs made an impression on me because it all comes down to science and an innate fear of the unknown.

Last Blog Post

We have talked about so many different topics in this class and raised so many questions I had never even thought of before. One concept that has really stuck with me the entire semester was semantic contagion from the very first reading of Carl Elliot's "A New Way to be Mad". I had kind of heard about this in my AP Psychology class two years ago, but it was never defined like this. When I first read this it just made sense and connected so many pieces of information in my mind. It really intrigued me because it made me wonder if any disease is real. It made me question reality, which seems to be the whole point of this class. I would absolutely love to do research on semantic contagion and see how it affects otherwise healthy people. If a disease isn't named, does it actually exist? In class we talked about support groups, questioning if they actually help or if they reinforce the idea of this disease. This seemingly simple question blew my mind. I felt extremely naïve in this class because of all of these new questions. I always though support groups did exactly what they sound like, support you. Now I still wonder, are they supporting the people or the disease?

At the beginning of this class, I was asking myself, what does culture have to do with science? Shouldn't science just be a constant thing, no matter the culture? From this course I learned that our upbringing can affect how we see the world significantly. From this specific topic, semantic contagion, I learned to think more critically and question everything. Why does our culture accept depression as a mental illness, but still treat those with this illness like it is their fault or it's something they can just "get over"? Is depression actually as common as it seems, or is that just semantic contagion? Why is it weird for someone to want an amputation to feel better, but not weird for someone to want part of their nose cut off to feel more attractive? Why can't amputations be elective surgeries, like nose jobs?

I think this concept summarizes the course pretty well. How does science shape our world, and how does our culture affect the way we see this world? Like I said earlier, this class has caused me to think more critically about everything. I have so many more questions now that I don't just accept the world as it is, I question why it is like this, what made it this way, why do I see it like this, etc. This class ended up being more philosophical and challenging than I thought it would be... and it was great.

Final Blog Post

We've talked about so many different, abstract things in this course and gone so in depth in them in so little time that I think it will be hard to remember a lot of it - just because there was so much incredible information. The one thing that I doubt I'll forget anytime soon is the very first thing we talked about - apotemnophilia. This was such a bizarre concept that I had never heard of before andit was just crazy enough to pull me into this course and hold my interest through every topic that cme after it. It really set the tone for me on how this class was going to go. I started out thinking, "this is weird," but quickly moved to, "well, they aren't hurting anyone else, so we should let them do what they want." There is so much more behind this, though, than what's at the surface, and I think that truly embodies what this class is about.

I think this is a perfect example of how science and culture are so present in our world. Why do people think it's so insane to want to cut your leg off? They don't think it's that wild to cut part of your nose off to enhance your facial beauty. That got me thinking - has plastic surgery led to this fetish? And how did plastic surgery gain popularity? Did people think that was crazy when people first started getting nose jobs? Science is constantly advancing, and why shouldn't we use it to enhance features of ourselves to increase our self-confidence and happiness - whether it be by making my nose smaller or having my arm surgically removed? When does our culture move from calling this apotemnophilia and start accepting it the way we've accepted other forms of plastic surgery?

This single concept summarizes this course very well. How has science shaped our world, and how do our cultural standards shape our idea of actions others are taking? It has caused me to take a second look at things in this world that I would call "weird." Why is it weird? Is it really insane, psychologically insane as some suggest apotemnophilia is? Or is it just different? A future cultural norm that we are waiting to evolve?

The Final Blog :')

Well folks, we’re finally here… the last blog! I’m not even trying to suck up or be cheesy, but I can honestly say that this class has taught so much. I never thought I would enjoy blogging, but it’s given me the chance to express myself in ways that my other classes have never let me. Of all the topics we have discussed, I think the technology unit was the most eye opening. My group did both our background report and debate around this topic, and I was fortunately able to become much more informed about internet privacy in the process. I don’t mean to be selfish by using my own material for this blog, but conducting the research for this specific topic was the most extensive and my knowledge of the topic grew exponentially more than the other topics. Basically, I knew nothing about my internet privacy, so I learned a lot relative to the other topics.

There are so many reasons that we should be concerned about our internet privacy, yet I never gave it much thought until this unit. It’s shameful to say but I’ve always just agreed to all of the Terms & Services on my various applications without much thought. I try to be conscious of my digital footprint, but we have become so reliant on technology that it’s difficult to manage and really keep track of everything I’ve passively agreed to put out there. I do my best not to overshare on the personal stuff, but the internet still knows a surprising amount of stuff about me. If you were paying attention during my group’s background report on Internet Privacy, you may have seen all of the miscellaneous details that Facebook knows about me (and everyone that has a profile). While some details I chose to share (i.e. my birthday, my hometown), there were other details that I didn’t directly disclose, and things that Facebook was able to discover about me just based on my activity. It was a big reality check.. I really had no idea that they were able to gather that much information about me. I would even describe myself as fairly cautious compared to other social media users, so I can’t even imagine how much of other people’s information is out there. Overall, the technology unit has advised me to be a LOT more cautious than I have ever been before, and in the future I know I’ll be better with what I disclose.

It’s been real you guys, and to quote one of my favorite feel-good movies

Blog Post #12 (Final)

My favorite reading from this class was "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I have always been a food junkie, but this book changed how I viewed food. I guess I should not have been surprised to learn that the food industry is primarily driven by economics, but the situation was worse than I had imagined. I was disturbed that the food industry strived to produce as much food as possible in a quick and cheap way without any regard for ethics or morals. It made me wonder where our food comes from and what are the health and environmental consequences of eating conventional food? Organic food is not a much better choice either since it is a marketing scheme. It isn't completely organic most of the time and places a larger strain on the environment than conventional food. American consumers are eating food that is cheap (which is great), but is it worth endangering our health and nutrition as well as the environment. The most powerful message from Michael Pollan's book is we are what we eat. I think most of us have heard this message our entire lives, but like me, never put much though into what those words mean. Eating meat and produce that has been ethically produced is much better for us; our bodies can tell the difference!

 A few months ago, I went to Ruth's Chris Steak House. It is probably the fanciest steak house I have ever been to. When I looked at the menu, I was shocked that they serve only corn fed beef. Since it was such a nice steakhouse, I had thought that I would be able to find grass fed beef, but that was not the case. When I asked the server about the meat, he proudly told me that all of their beef is USDA certified only corn fed. If I had not known any better, I would have assumed that cows actually eat corn and love it.

The problem is that people do not know how their food comes from a farm onto their table and many people are still convinced that all food is the same. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to sustainable food and not everyone can afford it. I am hopeful that as long as there is a growing trend in getting sustainable food or food from local farmers we know, more options will open up to consumers. In fact, there is a new farmer's market oriented grocery store called Fresh Thyme near our campus in Prospect Park!