Last night I went to the John Mayer concert in Atlanta. The guy in front of me recorded every single song on his iPhone. I'm all about taking pictures and videos to remember a special event in your life, but this guy didn't put his phone down the entire concert. During an intense moment in the concert, I looked around me and noticed that he was not the only person doing that. There were people all around me using their phones or cameras to record every moment.
For me, this was disheartening. We've become so reliant on using our technologies and social media that we've zoned out the world around us. We miss out on amazing experiences because we simply can't put the phone down. We're videoing or tweeting the entire time during a game or concert, and we miss the true experience of it all. We miss out on the artist on stage trying to connect with us through their music. We miss out on the major touchdown because we are trying to tweet about the last play.
I know this isn't necessarily about politics, but it is about media. I guess on one hand, maybe this is what our culture has become. Maybe the "experience" now includes these moments with technologies. Personally, I like to put the phone away and focus on the real-life happenings. I was able to have the experience the artist wanted me to, not distracted trying to pick a filter to accentuate my concert photo.
Just some thoughts I had.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
What is "all natural" anyway?
The popular drink Naked Juice settled a lawsuit for $9 million dollars, and is being forced to remove the words "all natural" from their labels. A group of consumers claimed that the drink could not claim to be "all natural" because it contained alternative sweeteners and soluble corn fibers. The company is agreeing to remove the wording from the labels, but they argue that the words "all natural" needs to be more defined.
I would have to agree with the company. Sure, there drinks have chemicals in them to make them taste better. All drinks (even bottled water!) do for the most part. I think the recent climb in gluten free and organic products has made this an actual issue. Does anyone care that the drinks claim to be "all natural"? Do we actually believe that?
I don't. Unless I handpicked the fruit from the tree myself, or dug the vegetable out of the ground, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the product is not "all natural." The media plays a huge part in this loose wording, especially in advertising.
Watch any commercial for, pretty much, any product and they will claim certain things that offer health benefits to get a leg up on the competition. I bought ranch dressing recently, and the label said "30% less fat!" First of all, I don't care if there's 30% less fat. It's ranch dressing, it's not good for you anyway. Second, I don't really take those labels to be fact. They are an advertising tool to draw in the consumer. Were there other bottle of ranch dressing on the shelf that I could've bought? Sure. But I picked up that one because it had a shiny sticker on it that offered me more for my money. To be honest, I didn't even read the sticker until I got home.
These claims of "truly organic" and "gluten free" and "all natural" are just terms invented by the food industry to get the consumer's attention. Do I believe that there are actual truly organic, gluten free, all natural foods out there? Absolutely. But do I think that every label at the store is 100% fact? No.
Naked Juice was right; there needs to be a more defined term of what "all natural" is before they can force companies to stop claiming that there product is just that. The FDA or someone needs to put restrictions on the definition before they can start, ethically, putting restrictions on companies.
I would have to agree with the company. Sure, there drinks have chemicals in them to make them taste better. All drinks (even bottled water!) do for the most part. I think the recent climb in gluten free and organic products has made this an actual issue. Does anyone care that the drinks claim to be "all natural"? Do we actually believe that?
I don't. Unless I handpicked the fruit from the tree myself, or dug the vegetable out of the ground, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the product is not "all natural." The media plays a huge part in this loose wording, especially in advertising.
Watch any commercial for, pretty much, any product and they will claim certain things that offer health benefits to get a leg up on the competition. I bought ranch dressing recently, and the label said "30% less fat!" First of all, I don't care if there's 30% less fat. It's ranch dressing, it's not good for you anyway. Second, I don't really take those labels to be fact. They are an advertising tool to draw in the consumer. Were there other bottle of ranch dressing on the shelf that I could've bought? Sure. But I picked up that one because it had a shiny sticker on it that offered me more for my money. To be honest, I didn't even read the sticker until I got home.
These claims of "truly organic" and "gluten free" and "all natural" are just terms invented by the food industry to get the consumer's attention. Do I believe that there are actual truly organic, gluten free, all natural foods out there? Absolutely. But do I think that every label at the store is 100% fact? No.
Naked Juice was right; there needs to be a more defined term of what "all natural" is before they can force companies to stop claiming that there product is just that. The FDA or someone needs to put restrictions on the definition before they can start, ethically, putting restrictions on companies.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Navy Yard Shooting - Thoughts
My heart is heavy writing this. As I sit here watching the news, and reading the Twitter feeds, it breaks my heart to see our nation struggling through this yet again. It feels like just yesterday I was watching news break on the Boston Bombings or Sandy Hook shooting or Aurora shooting, etc. Although it's still to be determined the details of this shooting or the suspect, I've found that the issue of mental health vs. gun control has come back up. Here's where I stand on that:
I think mental health needs to be more addressed in this country. Nowadays, people are afraid to admit that they need help, or that a loved one might need help, because they're afraid of judgement. They deny it, hide it under the rug, and ignore it until it becomes a major problem or it's too late. On the flip side, society puts such a harsh view on mental health. People have such a negative view that it's only feuling the desire to hide these mental health issues. I think until it becomes more recognizable and more acceptable in our society, the problem won't go away. I also think that it will never become more acceptable until society truly understands what mental health is.
Most people, when they hear the words "mental health issues" automatically picture a guy in a white-walled room in a straight jacket pulling out his hair and teeth. Mental health issues have been something so taboo in society that no one truly knows what they are. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure I know what they are or what they mean. I know that they need to be addressed, they need focus and attention, immediately.
I don't know much about the suspect from this Navy Yard shooting, I know the details are still being ironed out as of now. I don't know if this is an issue of mental health or not, but I do know that people are already pointing it in that direction. This issue needs to be discussed. And it needs to be discussed sooner rather than later.
I think mental health needs to be more addressed in this country. Nowadays, people are afraid to admit that they need help, or that a loved one might need help, because they're afraid of judgement. They deny it, hide it under the rug, and ignore it until it becomes a major problem or it's too late. On the flip side, society puts such a harsh view on mental health. People have such a negative view that it's only feuling the desire to hide these mental health issues. I think until it becomes more recognizable and more acceptable in our society, the problem won't go away. I also think that it will never become more acceptable until society truly understands what mental health is.
Most people, when they hear the words "mental health issues" automatically picture a guy in a white-walled room in a straight jacket pulling out his hair and teeth. Mental health issues have been something so taboo in society that no one truly knows what they are. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure I know what they are or what they mean. I know that they need to be addressed, they need focus and attention, immediately.
I don't know much about the suspect from this Navy Yard shooting, I know the details are still being ironed out as of now. I don't know if this is an issue of mental health or not, but I do know that people are already pointing it in that direction. This issue needs to be discussed. And it needs to be discussed sooner rather than later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)