Nemo, 9/20 – Make Up

I decided to write about the class discussion on Habermas because I would like to see how I have begun to understand the article a little more now that I have heard what Dr. Rog and my peers had to say about it. We discussed how Habermas is discussing traditionalism vs. avant-gardism. Traditionalism is when things have value because they have always had value. The Avant-gard is what is ‘in’ for a short period of time. I believe that our society is in a constant struggle with the balance between traditionalism and avant-gardism. Habermas nails it perfectly with the quote - “the cult of the new” (99). We believe in our culture that if it is new it is better and we have to have it because it must be better simply because it is new. We feel as though because of the advances in scientific research and technology everything that is new has to be better than the previous model. I do not know where we got this notion, probably through advertisements, but the majority of society believes this to be true. One of my friends is obsessed with the advances in technology and whenever he sees that a new type of TV, or computer is coming out he immediately starts researching everything about it and constantly talks about how he needs the new TV or computer. Even if it is a type of software for his iPhone he immediately downloads it when the new version comes out. It is sad to think that our society is just throwing away everything symbolizes our journey to this point in history. This class discussion made me more appreciative for what my generation has had the opportunity to have.