Week Four (A)

"Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself"

In this post, I'm going to talk about several of Seth Godin's proposed ways to reinvent yourself, as discussed in his article Brainwashed.

#4: Acknowledge the Lizard

Our brains have been trained not only by our own lives, but by the lives of our countless ancestors. "The lizard brain," as Godin refers to it, is afraid of what might happen if we don't follow rules. It is afraid of being laughed at, and afraid of taking risks. Steven Pressfield refers to this concept as, "the resistance." "The resistance" is why, when faced with the opportunity, we choose to follow rules instead of follow our creativity. As artists, we need to always acknowledge this feeling so that we can ignore it.

#6: Fail

The idea behind this method is that in previous generations, it was common practice to distance yourself from art, holding a certain nonchalance to remove yourself from any risks. Businesses were based on low-risk endeavors so as to avoid financial losses.

Today, though, the market demands risk in return for growth. Businesses can no longer remain competitive without risking failure, and artists can no longer benefit from fear of failure, or a fear of "the lizard brain".

Why does this matter?


I would say that both of these ideas can be applied to our blogging project, although not as well of some of Godin's other suggestions. "Acknowledging the Lizard" can definitely be applied to blogging. To really provide  interesting and unique opinions and writings, people need to be confident enough to listen to their creativity instead of the lizard brain. "Fail" could be related in the same way. Failure needs to be a risk if someone wants a great reward, although that idea isn't as applicable as the other point.

I think that the blogging project is undoubtedly a good idea, encouraging students to read about new concepts  of learning and creativity and expressing their creativity through intuitive prompts. I believe that the blogging project will help me increase my ability to express creative thoughts and improve my understanding of important terms in the media industry.