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What is Blue? and other Post Postmodernist Thoughts

1000 Pennies for Your Thoughts - NARA - 534149
1000 Pennies for Your Thoughts - NARA - 534149 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of my many hats is online university instructor. I teach courses in Media and Music History. In my Media in American Society class, we discuss many aspects of media, including truth in media, media conglomeration, marketing, advertising, and the like. 

Today my students had an intriguing discussion/debate online about news and partisan politics. The debate was a healthy one, with some students claiming that they see all sides, others describing their favorite political pundits, and others lamenting the lack of authenticity in the media today. In the end, the fact that there would be no answer to today's questions, largely due to the lack of authenticity and the inability to trust anything in print, online, on a TV, spoken by a political leader, etc. etc., I brought up a short discussion on postmodernism, postpostmodernism, and its effects on American culture. 

Here is a small snippet that I thought would be interesting to share:


A simpler way [to explain]: The sky is blue. You grow up being told that while you may think the sky is blue, it may very well be green or red, or perhaps you have a special color-blindness that only lets you see blue and does not allow you to see the sky's true color. This is taught from all sides: parents, school, society, government. You grow up, then, knowing that you see that the sky is blue but that the next guy very well may be right when he says it is a lighter blue, fuchsia, or even striped with polka dots. After all, how can you believe that what you are seeing is the truth when society has embraced the idea that blue may not be blue or may only be blue to some people and not others or may very well not even exist, another possibility. In the end, the sky is blue, but until you grow to accept that there are absolutes in life, like the sky is blue, you will forever doubt your own opinion and the opinion of others to the point that you yourself may someday exclaim, "The sky is green!"

Just the thought of the day...
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