ENG 2150 Gimme Shelter: the spaces we live in

Hello!

After discussing what it means to be a true New Yorker in class I was inspired to expand my ideas and this blog post is the perfect place to do so. Clichés about New York include; “The Greatest City in the World,” “The Big Apple,” “If you can make it here you’ll make it anywhere.” These clichés  might sound cheesy (especially to a New Yorker) but hold their own truth/value and are a source of inspiration for hundreds because New York is the place where dreams come true!

So what does it mean to be a New Yorker? I don’t believe there is one perfect answer, we all have our own thoughts and opinions thus the concept of “New Yorker” is the same for everyone but the analysis and conditions of what it means to be a “New Yorker” will vary and always be different from one person to the next.

In The Colossus of New Yorker, Colson Whitehead states “You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.” I think this is a great way of thinking about the concept because I have had many moments similar to the statement. I think the city is constantly changing and is especially evident when I walk down a street I haven’t been on for a few weeks and all of a sudden I can pinpoint the changes, the new stores, and remember what used to be there not so long ago. I think Whitehead’s analysis is a great way to define what it means to be a New Yorker and is relatable.

When we were thinking about what it means to be a New Yorker in class the first thing that came to my mind was; you are a New Yorker when you know the city like the back of your hand, can give directions to others, and the ability to get from point A to point B multiple ways. Navigating a city is hard if you are not accustomed to it, we all see tourists having to stop and ask for directions, or constantly pulling out their map. A New Yorker knows the layout of the city, is familiar with the transportation system, and is comfortable walking out the door knowing they won’t get lost (but if we forget our way around a particular neighborhood because it can happen to the best of us, a quick look a Google map will get us back on track!)

I really enjoyed hearing what you (my classmates) thought it meant to be a New Yorker and I found myself agreeing to almost everything you had to say! This proves that there isn’t a right or wrong answer and being a New Yorker is multiple things, some more subtle than others. Some ideas that stuck out include: being a New Yorker is when you no longer stop in awe to look at the skyscrapers, or all the ads in Times Square, when seeing a “man riding a bike in pink underwear” isn’t shocking but in a funny way normal (only in New York :-D) and when what was once exceptional becomes ordinary. I think this is a great analysis and it proves true when you can walk down a street and differentiate a New Yorker from a tourist.

Being a New Yorker can be seen as an elite club that not everyone can join, however once you become part of New York there is no going back because nothing can compare to what has become your home!

-Angelika Pienkowska

Author George Simmel describes the majority of those living within a metropolis as being, “blase.” The constant external and internal stimuli that one experiences during everyday leads one to eventually become jaded, or totally un-phased by their surroundings. This advertisement I found definitely reminds me of what we talked about in class. Its an ad for Lego with just one block and on the bottom it reads, “imagine.” This made me think of Simmel’s use of blase because the company, one of which has been famous for such a long time, doesn’t put much effort into advertising their product here. It seems almost apathetic in the sense that everyone with a little kid or knows a little kid knows what Legos are. The Lego company wants its audience to create their own image for what legos should look like by just putting the word imagine in the bottom left corner.

If this is what Lego was aiming for I could see how people in a big city like New York could relate to this ad. People who see this on a billboard don’t need to see anything more than a Lego symbol, or a simple block. They don’t require any fresh or attention grabbing ad. Everyone, according to Simmel, is sort of numb to their environment, so an ad as simple as this may be as sufficient as any other.

This video speaks to some of the issues Colson Whitehead brings up in the first section of The Colossus of New York relating to authenticity and ownership in urban environments.  We will discuss it in class because I’m curious to hear what you think.  In particular, what is it about the “Harlem Shake” videos they’re shown that upsets the people interviewed here?  Can you relate to their sense of offense, or does it seem like they’re making too much of a silly meme?

The phrase “Stream of Consciousness” explains the thoughts and feelings that constantly and infinitely passes through our mind. I related this idea of the Stream of Consciousness literally to a drawing of a Stream of Consciousness that I have found on Google. As I looked through the pictures of examples of stream of consciousness, this drawing “The Stream of Consciousness” by Jayzuck (I guess a nickname) looked the most fitting. The drawing is of an individual flowing along with the fish in a river/stream.

When I think, I just don’t think of one thing, I am constantly thinking of random or thought of things. It is not thought of bit by bit but rather feels as if it is a continuation of one thought to another, meaning we never ever stop thinking when we are conscious and our thoughts flow like water. That is why I believe the idea of stream of consciousness is depicted by this drawing. The fish in the stream of consciousness is our feelings and thoughts that can change with the individual since everyone thinks and feels differently. However, the fact that the state of consciousness flows like a river, changes constantly and is infinite is a fact.

The main idea in William James’ The Stream of Consciousness is that thinking is an ongoing, complex process that involves all of a human’s abilities. It is more than just feeling and sensing; it is how we analyze and interpret surrounding issues. James heavily emphasizes that our thought process is in constant motion – we are never not thinking. Even if there are gaps between our thoughts, such as during sleep, we still join previous thoughts to our next conscious thoughts. Although there are many things in our world to think about, we choose to focus on a specific subject. James proposes that we view our consciousness as a whole, rather than in bits and pieces leading up to complex thought. It is impossible for us to imagine simple thoughts because our daily routines are composed of complex thoughts. That is the foundations for which he builds his concept that consciousness is a consistent, ongoing stream.

I think that doodles in notebooks during class are the ideal example for James’ chapter. Although our notes are fixed on whatever is written on the board or what is being discussed, our mind still wanders. These wanderings, many times, result in doodles that have nothing to do with the class topic. This is a prime example of how our consciousness is always on the go and very complex. If our mind is able to linger on different thoughts at once, it proves that humans are incapable of visualizing simple thoughts. This proves James’ theory of a stream of consciousness and that it is better to think of consciousness as a whole, rather than puzzle pieces that build up to it.

Below are some doodles that I believe represent dual thinking processes at once.

“Everything (he kept saying) is something it isn’t. And everybody is always somewhere else. Maybe it was the city, being in the city, that made him feel how queer everything was and that it was something else. Maybe (he kept thinking) it was the names of the things. The names were tex and frequently koid. Or they were flex and oid or they were duroid (sani) or flexsan (duro), but everything was glass (but not quite glass) and the thing that you touched (the surface, washable, crease-resistant) was rubber, only it wasn’t quite rubber and you didn’t quite touch it but almost. The wall, which was glass but turned out on being approached not to be a wall, it was something else, it was an opening or doorway–and the doorway (through which he saw himself approaching) turned out to be something else, it was a wall. And what he had eaten not having agreed with him.”
(E. B. White, The Door, 1939)

I am indeed always thinking about my conscious and did always realize how one thought became another. The transitions so subtle that we don’t notice the ongoing thought processes. I will literally stop and try track down how I got from thinking about tanning to the cookie monster (“Oh I look so dark, the sand is so hot and lucky to be under the sun all the time, at least sand can’t get fat, look at me, ew, it’s the chocolate chip cookies, oh remember the cookie monster from sesame street, yes, they made it the veggie monster now for a reason!). That’s probably what I would stir up if I were laying under the sun in Florida! Well that’s what minds do. We see that in the short passage above, how ones imagination is in fact always building on and on. The mind is constantly stirring up something up, an emotion, and observation, etc. We can see that in the passage, he is jumping from one idea to another. First he is thinking about the city, and then he connects it to names, consequently thinks about different names, onto rubber and so forth. It is all his perception and his way of identifying.

The way we identify things, or the way we perceive them, is what makes everyone’s conscious special. As William James also tries to explain, these thoughts are always personal. Our conscious creates our experience; it’s personal. This is what makes our experiences unique. I may look at a table just think oh it needs to be cleaned, there are crumbs, whereas my sister will look at it and just think yes, there’s the table, I can sit and do homework. We both see a table but think different things. One may block out everything they see, and just focus on one thing that is meaningful to him or her and build on from there. Thoughts shape our experiences and our experiences may also shape them.

The man in this picture in on a quest for everlasting knowledge. He is going through thoughts and ideas that the unfocused and untrained mind cannot comprehend. In the picture, you can see that he is thinking of many things at once which requires intense concentration. William James describes the stream of consciousness as a concept in which the person is in a state in which he/she is able to experience the ”analytic method”. ” The analytic method will discover in due time the elementary parts, if such exist, without danger of precipitate assumption.” To me this picture shows what the person is undergoing in during a stream of consciousness. They are constantly searching for greater knowledge and purpose and their search never reaches an end, only rest stops. The person is more focused and is able to ”analyze” simple rudimentary elementary parts to form a greater complex picture.

Syed Hannan

When I first saw this image, I thought it was a simple picture of monkeys. Then, I realized that they were saying something to us. This image of three wise monkeys is known throughout the world. It means “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.  In my country, people say that is the best way to live because they explain the gestures by “I don’t hear anything, I don’t see anything and I don’t say anything”.  By looking at the image, I have the intension that a better life supposed to be this way. As we know consciousness is connected with awareness so we can say the three wise monkeys try to tell us how to be aware in the world.

Consciousness is a topic that truly gave birth to the field of psychology from the already established field of philosophy. As William James put it, consciousness is in fact not a brick wall. It is not a single whole thought comprised of many small thoughts. Instead, a more appropriate metaphor is it being a stream. One thought flows into another thought which flows into yet another thought. Although each idea is traveling, it remains still a stream or a entire body of water while constantly moving.

Even now, you are reading my blog post and thinking whatever thought possesses your mind at the present time. Whatever this idea in your head may be, it will soon be gone. If not now, then in ten minutes. If not in ten minutes, then in an hour. All thoughts come and go, yet they are still a part of your entire consciousness. Surely, in an hour or perhaps even tomorrow, you will be able to recall these thoughts that you possess currently, for your consciousness, although moving, is comprised of all thoughts that have come and gone in your life.

I used the following passage of J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”:

“And the band started playing one of those really slow songs, like “Stairway to Heaven” or “Freebird” that probably have really great lyrics or something but the song itself just is awful-just awful. Then this real phony guy, with the hair all slicked back on the top of his head stood up with the Sax and did a solo. I almost died. I mean, almost completely died right there. It had to be the cheesiest solo I had ever heard. I mean he was swaying back and forth and he closed his eyes like he was really getting into it and all, but it was the fakest thing you ever heard. It was like something out of a bad Howard Johnson’s. I swear, he must record Muzak for a living or drive a forklift or something.

Old Jean was getting into it, though. She was humming along and swaying to the song and practically just swaying her own dance out there. I mean I’m a pretty good dancer but I hate slow songs. There’s nothing you can do except just sit there and hold her and move her around and wait for the song to end. I would have rather just sat down and ordered another drink and waited for something else but not old Jean. She wanted to dance everything. Up real close to, so I could smell her breath. She didn’t smell bad or anything. Don’t get me wrong, she just didn’t smell quite right. I mean girls should smell a certain way-like baby powder, new clothes and perfume. Something that was girlish, y’know. Jean, I swear, smelled like a fruit salad or Old Spice. I hate Old Spice. I mean I like Jean fine, y’know. She’s great, but I just couldn’t smell her.

Christ, I must be nuts. All of a sudden I start to imagine myself as the old sailor in the Old Spice commercial. Right out there on the dance floor. I start to think about coming home from the sea and bringing in the duffel and that song. It must have been the goddammed saxophone because that goddam song is running through my head “Dum dum de dum dum, dum di de dum dum da di dum dum” I see myself coming home to this really cute girl and wearing a sailor suit or something. I’m crazy. I mean, I’m really nuts sometimes.”

Holden’s internal monologue is the epitome of William James idea of stream of consciousness.  While Holden’s original reaction to the song being played is to critique the absurd reactions of others in the crowd, he inevitably ends on the thought of his own insanity.  William James argues that we all fall victim to constant thought, “like a bird in flight.”  Holden’s thoughts, like a bird in flight, are continuous and often unconnected, one thought leading to another and then another and so on.  This is not only apparent in the passage above, but in the entire novel.

James also argues that stimuli may not extract the same feelings from different people.  This is quite apparent from the reactions to others’ reactions to the song.  While Holden views the music to be horrible and associates it with nothing but bad feelings, people around him sway to the music.  Although we cannot hear the thoughts of the others, we can assume, from their body language, that they are enjoying it.