Hw 30: Psychological and Philosophical Theorizing of cool

What are the sources of this sense of meaninglessness but also of the need for a sense of meaning?

An existentialists perspective on life typically asks the question "what is my meaning for living." It can be a haunting and depressing to think that everything is pointless when life is limited and your whole existence will be forgotten when the last person who knew you will die. People today have gone to the extreme measures to prevent being unnoticed or forgotten, for instance aspiring reality t.v. stars pulling stunts for attention, authors writing overly personal autobiography's and celebrities doing the unthinkable to stay in tabloids.
Although not everyone yearns for a purpose in the universe, there are other ways people seek acceptance and recognition from smaller crowds.

It can be concluded that everyone, in some shape or form needs that feeling of being wanted. Women seek it from men, men seek it from those more powerful them themselves, and the powerful seek awe from everyone. Large corporations promote products and release advertisements that are meant to attract customers by telling them they have an answer to a problem they NEED to fix. They use pop culture to lure people in, and some buy into it so they can fill the emptiness inside them with new toys that should either distract them from their inadequite lives or bring them one step closer to happiness. Whats ironic is how the CEO's go to these lengths to beat out the competition so they can make massive amounts of money , filling a hole of their own emptiness. Its like a never ending cycle of desire. But where did this need for meaning come from?

Many factors of American culture add into the younger generations obsession with beauty. Many straight women are corrupted to believe that a source of happiness comes from having an attractive, fashionable sexy demeanor envied by other women and aroused by men. Thanks to all the constant advertisement for products and programs that are supposed to help women acieve such a goal quickly and efficiently, women have become beauty perfecting maniacks. One New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/fashion/03Boyer.html) shines a light on ways females figure would boost their self confidence, meant to make them happier and more likely to succeed. But for women to be constantly striving for perfection could lead to a never ending strain or unmet expectations and lack of achievement.
Valerie Boyer thought “If someone wants to make life a success, wants to feel good in their skin, wants to be part of society, one has to be thin or skinny, and then it’s not enough — one will have his body transformed with software that alters the image, so we enter a standardized and brainwashed world, and those who aren’t part of it are excluded from society.”


Albert Bandura is a Professor and Stanfors University a while simultaneously an author of Psychology, having written his first book Adolescent Aggression in 1959.

(Quote from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html)
Theory:
"Behaviorism, with its emphasis on experimental methods, focuses on variables we can observe, measure, and manipulate, and avoids whatever is subjective, internal, and unavailable -- i.e. mental. In the experimental method, the standard procedure is to manipulate one variable, and then measure its effects on another. All this boils down to a theory of personality that says that one’s environment causes one’s behavior."

Bandura did a study and analysis on the personality and aggression in adolescence. He conducted an observational learning study to test his inference at personality as an interaction among three “things:” the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological processes. These psychological processes consist of our ability to entertain images in our minds, and language.

People in this society observe the actions and lifestyles of others, mainly those they wish to be more like such as celebrities and trend setters, and do what their told to be more like them.