Assignment 4--Eli Wrinn

This question is one that I have considered for a very long time. In fact, the feeling I probably despise most is feeling as if I have been fed ideas that are predetermined by some other group intending to benefit from it. Now you may think that because of this, I may be some sort of conspiracy theorist cynic who can be really annoying. However, I try to avoid this as well because thinking like a cynic is as inaccurate as an easily fooled, uneducated, mass consumer. Anything of this nature is a spectrum, the middle of which contains the most truthful or enlightening characteristics. However, I find the modern citizen more on the side of the spectrum of the corporate fool than the conspiracy theorist. Therefore, currently, more questions about our notions taken for granted need to be raised than the ones we question to be antagonistic or narcissistic. One area I question greatly is how much corporate advertisements have affected our daily notions, my parents have subscribed to many of these, and sometimes look to me to help clarify the truth. For example, my mom always believed that milk was very important (and still mostly does) until I found that it's health benefits have been mostly fabricated by the dairy industry's advertising through their funding of "studies" showing that it is necessary to one's everyday diet. Also, she subscribed to buying "low-fat" foodstuffs until I enlightened her to the fact that fat is a scapegoat made by the sugar industry to hide the fact that sugar is the real culprit for obesity and other health detriments. These are some food examples, however there are many others. Another is that the government could do our taxes for us except that big companies such as Turbo Tax lobby them to require citizens to do them, and therefore paying the service to do their taxes for them. I urged my mom to stop using Tax Act, however I realized that she alone could not spark a revolution. If I had time to elaborate on all of these misconceptions, I would. I also see a lot of misconceptions similar to these stem from religion, and I try avoid falling victim to these as well. If people try to paint me as a cynic, (mainly my frustrated parents) I restate the point of cynicism being a spectrum made earlier and point out that there is middle ground between being a "sheep" and a jaded skeptic, and I reinforce where she stands on the spectrum. I also point out that she is making a slippery slope argument about my credibility.