tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115239596071344853.post1255710304234132041..comments2012-04-25T22:11:38.050-07:00Comments on Collective Catatonia: Floundering for Purchase: The Paradox of Water and Diamonds in MediaJared Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842376102110342947noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115239596071344853.post-3439793782234117522012-04-25T22:11:38.050-07:002012-04-25T22:11:38.050-07:00Thanks Chris, and I agree with every point you mak...Thanks Chris, and I agree with every point you make. By way of explanation, I only had the vague notion that there was some unifying thread present in everything we've discussed from Baudrillard to Odysseus to the Arab Spring. But I could never nail it down so for the outline I started basically editorializing chunks of the narrative arc on faith that something would arise from that text. I finally realized what it was at around 11:00 pm on Monday. By then all I could do by then was point to it by putting it in the title. I came across the paradox of diamonds and water by accident. I was fact checking an underlying premise concerning theories of economic value and clicked a link that took me to a Wikipedia entry. It's an analogy used to illustrate the concept of marginal utility. After reading that, the realization fell on me like a ton of bricks. At the center of the debate over the legitimacy of new media versus print media, and likewise the main tensor in my personal experience is the underlying competition between disparate theories of economic value. I see them as seducing each other back and forth like regime changes.<br /><br />Whatever grade you give me please know that, on a personal level, I got an eleventh hour reprieve. I now have a primary academic theme that I can weave the rest of the project around.<br /><br />Thanks for the class. Hope you have a good summer.<br />DeleteJared Magillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11842376102110342947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9115239596071344853.post-91592313440635313262012-04-25T21:31:52.106-07:002012-04-25T21:31:52.106-07:00Jared, I your fluid and poetic style engaging and ...Jared, I your fluid and poetic style engaging and your topic rich and promising. But, as usual, I have some "boring cop" questions & concerns. One is that your thesis promises to cover the role of media in society (we had also discussed revolutions); however your problem section lacks specifics and your working outline reads like a personal memoir rather than a plan. <br />That's not to say I don't like it, but that I would like to see more specifics on the academic aspect of your project. <br />Also, there should be a lit review.<br />That said, you are perhaps our most creative and literary of students, and I think your project will be fascinating.Chris Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06930307643456350430noreply@blogger.com