Food for the Brain Gregory Rodriguez, the author of “Truth Is In The Ear of the Beholder” shares his ideas of why there are rumors and how rumors are able to thrive because people who believe them are “predestined to believe them” (Rodriguez 484). Rodriguez supported his ideas with other’s work and gave examples to support his ideas. Throughout Rodriguez’s work he left readers questioning more about why people participate in listening and/ or spreading rumors. The reason why rumors are listen to and spread is because societies want answers and will accept rumors as answers; it doesn 't matter whether they are right or wrong as long as our curiosity is fed. “Rumors can only thrive in those predestined to believe them” (Rodriguez 484) is what …show more content…
Psychologists are studying the anatomy of rumors at Fitchburg State College and have found results that suggest that rumors thrive because they are able to create the same anxieties that make societies spread rumors (Goleman 487). One Psychologist stated “A rumor is a kind of hypothesis, a speculation that helps people make sense of a chaotic reality or gives them a small sense of control in a threatening world” (Goleman 487). Society’s curiosity turns into anxiety which makes societies strive to gain control of the …show more content…
These three-folds would drive rumors to spread and came from ones emotional needs. The three-folds are wishful thinking, fear, and hostility. Knapp explains three different reasons why rumors are listened to or are spread. Societies have this wishful thinking that rumors will satisfy because it has given them an answer rather than not knowing anything. There is also fear that drives societies to spread rumors because when one is fearful that is what is on their mind so that is what they will share about and they want others to know of the possible fears for their own sake. An example of how fear drives rumors is the old tall tale about how people will get aids if they swims in a public pool (Goleman 489). There has never been any proof to say this rumor is true but this is a rumor that has been passed down from generation to generation and has caused people to fear swimming in public swimming pools. The last reason for spreading rumors from Knapp is hostility. Hostility from the truth. Societies have all of these conspiracy theories that circulate and that have been heard so many times that even if societies were given hard evidence to show that the theories were just rumors people would struggle with believing the evidence. In those cases there is a hostility towards the
Gabriel García Márquez, 1982 Nobel Laureate, is well known for using el realismo magical, magical realism, in his novels and short stories. In García Márquez’s cuento “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” García Márquez tactfully conflates fairytale and folklore with el realismo magical. García Márquez couples his mastery of magical realism with satire to construct a comprehensive narrative that unites the supernatural with the mundane. García Márquez’s not only criticizes the Catholic Church and the fickleness of human nature, but he also subliminally relates his themes—suffering is impartial, religion is faulty by practice, and filial piety—through the third-person omniscient narration of “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes.” In addition to García Márquez’s narrative style, the author employs the use of literary devices such as irony, anthropomorphism, and a melancholic tone to condense his narrative into a common plane. García Márquez’s narrative style and techniques combine to create a linear plot that connects holy with homely.
Jose Vasconcelos’ “La Raza Cosmica” is definitely not what I expected, it required multiple reads to understand José Vasconcelos point of view. The essays turns out to be pretty racist, as his theories are buried under explanations and reasoning’s that are hard to comprehend. In my opinion Jose Vasconcelo gets too caught up in metaphors that detract from his true meanings and theories. “La Raza Cosmica” reads more like a science fiction than a call to unity or nationalism. If Jose Vasconcelo had published this book as a work of fiction with the same title, I believe he would have accomplished both his goals of writing the book and explaining his theories to the general public as George Orwell had done with his novella “Animal Farm”. Jose
The article “Anatomy of a Rumor: It Flies on Fear” by Daniel Goleman, was first seen in the New York times in June of 1991. Goleman, a highly accredited psychologist and science journalist, pulled new information from studies done across college campuses. The end results of many suggested that “rumors are kind of opportunistic virus, thriving because of their ability to create the very anxieties that make them spread, and to mutate to fit new situations” (487). Rumors have been spreading for thousands of years and the need to figure out their anatomy and how to reduce the severity of them is ever growing. Anxiety plays a large part in the creation of rumors and the to what extent they are thought to be true. According to Dr. Ralph Rosnow,
In “The Achievement of Desire,” Richard Rodriguez references Richard Hoggart’s book The Uses of Literacy in order to explain his experience and struggles as a student by comparing his story to Hoggart’s story. Rodriguez introduces Hoggart’s personal experience in order to justify his behavior at home and school. Rodriguez considers himself to be a “scholarship boy” because according to Hoggart, a “scholarship boy” is the student that is a good student but a bad son (518). At a young age, Rodriguez began to develop ideas and costume different from the ones his parents taught him; Rodriguez indifference to the Hispanic culture caused him to physically and mentally alienate from his family members (515). Hoggart did not have Mexican descendants but he still alienated himself from his family, as he believed he had to accustom to a life in school that did not match his life as a son (518).
It is clear that the film Prisoners of Silence holds many illustrations of concepts explained by Social Psychology. While the examples of belief perseverance and the confirmation bias are specifically pointed out here, one could find numerous others. This shows that one can examine situations and events occurring around and within one's own life and see Social Psychology at work.
Chapter 6 of part I of The Stranger concluded with Meursault’s conscious decision to shoot an Arab because of the physical discomfort the Arab’s knife caused him. The significance of the ending of part I is that it was the first demonstration of Meursault’s awareness of the possible consequences of the act that he committed. This awareness continues into the second part of the novel as he is arrested and trialed. The reason for Meursault’s trial is the murder of the Arab. His insensitivity towards Maman’s death and lack of a social conscientious are factors that contributed to support further investigations, but are not reasons to trial him because they have not ‘harmed’ society on a way that he could be arrested for. For example, if Meursault
Lying has become an inevitable part of human nature. We as humans use it as a defence mechanism to benefit ourselves, or to manipulate someone else to get what we want. These exact scenarios happened in the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism. These are prime examples of people using lies for their own motives. One case had people accusing innocent people of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death at that point in time. The other was slightly different in the sense that it was more of an ideological war. Rather than people feeling threatened by an evil force as they felt with witchcraft, it was the idea of communism that frightened people. They both tie into each other through how they started and the end result of them.
Many media outlets tend to focus on sensational information that will get more readers and might even cause a small-scale panic for some people. However, they also tend to reject any relevant information that might give people a better knowledge of the subject simply to entertain readers.
That’s the thing, they are rumors, and none of it was true. But that still didn’t stop them from saying or believing them.
Sometimes when a person has such a strong desire for an idea or theory to be true she end up convincing herself that it is and that’s how a part of biased and fake new arise. After that person publish those fake news, another person who shares the same perspective will automatically adopt and accept that information and correspondingly reject all other facts that contradict what they believe in. And
Let’s start with the media. Almost everyone uses some form of this and therefore it is everywhere. This is the best way that we have in order to receive knowledge of what is really going
Fear is a necessary evil. Born out of the evolution of emotion, it serves to prevent irrational and dangerous activity. However, today, stress is no longer related to gathering food or finding shelter; it is related to business efficiency, interpersonal relationships, and other modern trivialities. As the world becomes more connected, fear and paranoia spread more rapidly. However, even though new technology has expedited the diffusion of negativity, humans have communicated for thousands of years. As humans began to think in a more complex manner, they began to worry. New communication methods and worrying combined led to humans sharing worries, which snowballed into larger scale paranoia. The social dynamic that leads to paranoia can
Everyone has fear, and then people told stories to explain our fear. Take “Bloody Mary” as an example. “Bloody Mary” is a game that people need to stand in front of a mirror with a candle in hands, and whisper “Bloody Mary” three times. After bloody Mary appears in the mirror, if she is happy she will tell people anything that they want
With the advent of the Internet we now have a global version of the game of ‘whispers’ that allows misinterpretations, lies, and half-truths to spread like wild-fire!
Something we can’t avoid is news. We see it and hear it every day. Whether it’s from a family member or you catch a glimpse on some guy’s phone on the train, we all see it. However most of us only stick to one news source, which is fine but as it may be, we end up catching an ancient virus you might not have heard of. Confirmation bias, only sticking to one news source and listening to only what you want to hear. This is part of the fixed mindset and can prevent you from accepting other people’s opinions. Despite that this might be something an abundant of you might want to avoid and there are ways to protect yourself from this virus that has infected many people around the world.