NIKE

REEBOK

ADIDAS

Marshall McLuhan states that in the media, "medium is more important than the message"

He says,

'what' we say is not as important as 'how' we deliver it.

the medium has the power to change the way we live and experience the world.

this is one theory about the media i greatly agree with and support. i can show you many videos or flashy pictures to support or express my point but i'm gonna use 3 vey simple pictures instead...

these 3 pictures that i have used are of 3 sports brands: nike, reebok, adidas (in this order)

just by the example of these 3 pictures, anyone who looks at them i feel will find reebok most appealing to buy although all 3 are very well known brands!

what do think about these pictures? and the theory?

live in relationships

Recently we had a debate in our English class about cohabitation, which in other words is known as live-in relationships. This assignment got me thinking why people have oposing views, and the only answer that came to mind is culture and nuture. Culture includes and influences our beliefs, our understanding, programming of our mind to an extent, our patterns of thinking, feeling and behaviour too. Culture is passed down generations. Nuture basically defines our environment and our up bringing. This is only one simple question amongst the millions that is greatly influenced by our culture.
For me personally, I do not think cohabitation or a live-in relationship is wrong in any aspect or manner, but yet it is not something that I want for myself or would agree to. Honestly i have no real concrete 'logical' reason for this. I think it's just the way I've been brought up and the culture imbibed in me.
However many people have very different views about live-in relationships. what is your view? how much do you think this view is affected by culture? do you think culture influences our thoughts and decisions?

us :)

There are many more conecpts, pertaining to groups and group communication which im going to compare to my 'group'; a group of 12 girl friends :)

what is a group?
A group has been quoted as "a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent,developing shared patterns of behaviour and a collective identity" by Trenholm (2004).

why communicate in groups?
1)need for inclusion, 2)need for control, 3)need for affection

- Wiilim Schutz

group think

1) illusion of invulnerability
2) believe in group's own morality
3) shared stereotypes
4) collective rationalisation
5) self censorship
6) illusion of unanimity
7) pressure on dissenters

our group is interdependent sure... but we don't have a collective identity, not even close...
we're a group of 12 girls which by the number anyone can tell that we obviously cannot be the same or think the same, therefore collective or similar identity doesn't even come into the picture.
the need of control doesnt really feature in our group, and even if it did it'd be practically impossible... the need of inclusion and affection is present in everyone... personally i think we just came together because we accepted each other and all the many many many differences very affectionately :)
we aren't invulnerable nor are we cohesive... we have numerous different values and beliefs and different cultures too... all of us dont have the same stereotypes about most things, nor the same views, they differ more often than not... pressure on dissenters which mean pressurize people who dare to speak up, which in our group is zero, everyone just says anything and everything they wish to! self censorship, as supposedly expected is completetly lacking too... everyone in our group of 12 is prominently different and unique in almost every way... we clash and have different opinions and views about most things, we have different interests, dislikes, routines, type of friends outside our circle, cultures and more but yet the there exists no illusion of unanimity... our group is literally unanimous in ways where we need the support of each other... we accept each others differences and most importantly support each other in everything although a few might have a different opinion about certain things... no matter where we are and after how long we meet or talk it always feels the same... same closeness, same affection... our friendship and love has no boundries :)
do you have a group? what is your group like? if not what do you think of groups you've noticed or observed?

why?

Interpersonal relationships are very important in each of our lives. Interpersonal relationships can be any relationship between any two people, such as two friends, parent and child, a pair of lovers... any two...
However relationships between a girlfriend and boyfriend are commonly known to generate most interest and enthusiasm and therefore these are the kind of relationships i've decided to talk about.
Although, usually i can think up many many answers and reasons for why people, would engage in an interpersonal relationship, when i was asked the very same question, i was left word bound...
I have realised that answers and thoughts of people of different ages and at different stages of their lives vary greatly. Not only answers to this question but also their view of what they want out of a relationship or how serious they would like this relationship to be...
All in all it is very interesting to find out all these varied answers...
So let's try this...
Why do people engage in an interpersonal relationship?
what is the very first thing that comes to your mind first at hearing or reading this question?
what is the answer that comes to your mind after pondering upon and thinking about this question for some time?
after you have your answers... think... why?
(don't forget to include your age or at least a boundary such as between 10-20)

what do your eyes see and what does your mind think?!

Subjectivity of interpretation is inescapable despite the commonalities, and this is very clear due to these two pictures.

Every person who views both these pictures will have a different interpretation for both, that is for sure... There could be numerous reasons for different interpretation of these pictures which could be due to cultural differences, ie people from different cultural background might have differed interpretations and perceptions of these pictures due to their different cultural influences.

It could also be a result of the non verbal cues portrayed in these pictures, perceived differently by varied kinds of unique people. nonverbal cues are an extremely influential source of meaning which occurs when a stimulus other than words creates meaning in the mind of a communicator.

In technical terms, there are many types of non verbal communication. In this case however, the two dominant ones are Kinesics (gestures or body language) and Haptics (touch).

I feel that these two types of non verbal communication are most prominent in helping the viewer to perceive and interpret these pictures because body language of each of the two people in each picture is extremely different and contrasting from the other which almost forces the viewer to feel differently about both the pictures.

Haptics, i.e. touch, only amplifies the difference and body gestures. The touch in both is visibly different which helps exxagerate the body gestures.

You might have thought very differently of these two pictures, however they indeed are both of two professional massages in process, and yet look different and give the viewer different impressions... why?

what was your interpretation/perception and why?

horoscopes... farse or perception?

A typical, prominent subject significantly affected by perception is the horoscopes' section published in newspapers, magazines and online. There are a section of people who faithfully believe in these, another section who believe it to be a complete farse and a third who partially believe in published horoscopes... communication and behaviour are based on our perception rather than on reality and every individual interprets messages differently. I think the best evidence of this theory are horoscopes and how all different people view, interpret and imbibe these 'future predictions'.
The sender (i.e. the author/writer), communicates his message (non verbal writings) via various channels/mediums as stated above, and through this the writer communicates and tries to express the words in a way he/she wishes the reader to percieve and interpret these messages.
However, "perception is the process of selecting, organising and interpreting information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we recieve" (Seller & Beall, Communication Making Connection, 1999:31) which explains how every reciever decodes these same messages differently...
what is your take on horoscopes?

Matchmaking agencies

I came across this article titled ‘American flies to S’pore to find a Vietnam bride’ in the newspaper ‘The New Paper on Sunday’ (Pg 6).

I do not expect everybody to have read the article or even want to read the entire article and so I plan to include the main points in my post and keep this discussion a more general one instead of focusing only on this specific article.

The American, Mr Stomp stated in an interview, “The girls I had relationships with just did not share my values. With a Vietnamese bride, you know exactly what to expect- a person who values love, family, marriage and commitment.”

With four failed relationships, this man chose his bride to be by simply seeing her picture on a matchmaking agency’s website stating, “As soon as I saw Thu’s picture, I knew she was the right girl for me. Her smile was pure and innocent”

What does a picture on a website really communicate?! Besides the ‘looks’ criteria, does it affect your logos (logic)? Pathos (emotion)? What can you really know by looking at a person’s picture although her culture is known to have the values that appeal to you?
In the article it is also mentioned that language between them is an obvious problem which they dealt with by talking in short easy-to-understand-phrases when they spent time alone for the first time.

Language is one the most important mean of expression and hence communication. If two people are from completely different cultures and backgrounds language problems make everything more difficult so how can a man who wasn’t able to communicate his values to women in his own area be able to communicate and live with a women whom he not only is a stranger to but also can’t freely interact with?!

In my opinion choosing a girl or deciding to marry a girl by simply looking at her picture is completely ridiculous, and when your cultures are completely different it makes it far worse. I think good, effective communication, through language and more is very necessary for strong and lasting relationships. Therefore in this case I find it rather astonishing how these two human beings can subject themselves to spending their lives with another without having prior intense interaction as well as having grave troubles with present and future communication. (The idea of subjecting oneself to a matchmaking agency is another topic of ridicule all together).