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We let companies and corporations dictate our actions and beliefs — we let them determine how we live our lives.

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we? who

are How can we, as designers, use rhetoric to improve the world around us? I see it as fairly evil to push agendas based on your beliefs, but is it the fault of the designer for using rhetoric, or is it the fault of the consumer for their naivety and disregarding their autonomy?

Both, probably‌ the world should be perceived in shades of grey (not just black and white).

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Rhetorica utens or manipulation?

Aren’t they kind of the same thing? The aim of rhetoric is to influence and shape people’s opinions and actions. I might be having a bit of an existential moment here, but is anything truly genuine anymore? Does everything have a hidden agenda? Are we all just cogs in this capitalistic system, being mindlessly herded toward unnecessary purchases and persuaded into believing our opinions and values are our own? Is there truth to anything? Advertising reminds me of high school. As a high schooler, I was somewhat of a blank slate: young, impressionable, and naive. I’d buy clothes based on trends (brought on my advertisements) and my beliefs were largely impacted by the people around me. This is presumptuous of me, but I feel like everyone has, at some point in their life, been wholeheartedly disconnected with themselves — with their identities. I really struggled with self image and identity for the first 22 years of my life.

So,

who are you?

Are you secure in your sense of self, or do you feel the need to act or think in a way that aligns with a certain group of people? In a way that presents you inauthentically? Why do you like the things you like? Is it because you were persuaded to like those things or is it something that genuinely appeals to you and who you are?

Are we what we purchase? What we put into our bodies? What we wear and decorate our homes with? Who we spend our time with? Are humans just reflections of each other? Is anything original?

Maybe our

fatal human flaw is that we are all too easily

influenced.


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