“Modernity- An Incomplete Project” made some interesting points, but I had a very difficult time truly understanding some of the things Habermas says. One idea of his I did find to be relevant to today’s society, if I understood it correctly.
Habermas compares the expert to the professional. Using art as his example, he explains how people are beginning to not just take any word for it. There are experts, who devote years to a specific artwork or type of art while there are others to with much less education, but have developed their own interpretations of these same pieces of art and also have their opinions listened to. As Habermas says on page 106, “The reception of art by the layman, or bye the ‘everyday expert’, goes in a rather different direction than the reception of art by the professional critic.” I believe Habermas is trying to say that anyone can love art, but that does not automatically make you an expert.
I feel this relates to modern society a great deal. Anytime anyone shops online there is usually a button that says “Rate this Product” or “Write a Review.” We live in a culture that is always encouraging us to participate in feedback, somehow making us think we are the experts on these products. Think of the countless number of products that are bought because of connivance or its in our price range or just out of habit; now what if the people buying them wrote reviews saying it was the best. Do we take their word for it because they have used it and had their own life experiences with it, or do we actually get out of the house and go compare and decide for ourselves? Maybe our culture has become to trustworthy of each other and we should really just leave the reviews for the experts.
Good post. Even though you said you had trouble with the reading you still picked out one idea you truly understood. I liked how you delved into the idea that we are a culture where everyone can be the critic.
2 comments:
DBA123, Habermas
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“Modernity- An Incomplete Project” made some interesting points, but I had a very difficult time truly understanding some of the things Habermas says. One idea of his I did find to be relevant to today’s society, if I understood it correctly.
Habermas compares the expert to the professional. Using art as his example, he explains how people are beginning to not just take any word for it. There are experts, who devote years to a specific artwork or type of art while there are others to with much less education, but have developed their own interpretations of these same pieces of art and also have their opinions listened to. As Habermas says on page 106, “The reception of art by the layman, or bye the ‘everyday expert’, goes in a rather different direction than the reception of art by the professional critic.” I believe Habermas is trying to say that anyone can love art, but that does not automatically make you an expert.
I feel this relates to modern society a great deal. Anytime anyone shops online there is usually a button that says “Rate this Product” or “Write a Review.” We live in a culture that is always encouraging us to participate in feedback, somehow making us think we are the experts on these products. Think of the countless number of products that are bought because of connivance or its in our price range or just out of habit; now what if the people buying them wrote reviews saying it was the best. Do we take their word for it because they have used it and had their own life experiences with it, or do we actually get out of the house and go compare and decide for ourselves? Maybe our culture has become to trustworthy of each other and we should really just leave the reviews for the experts.
Good post. Even though you said you had trouble with the reading you still picked out one idea you truly understood. I liked how you delved into the idea that we are a culture where everyone can be the critic.
-Starfish
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