Image Based

On my way to CHIC I was finishing Shane Hipps' book, and came across the following:

As image-based communication becomes the dominant symbol system in our culture, it not only changes the way we think but also determines what we think about. Images are not well-suited to articulate arguments, categories, or abstractions. They are far better suited for presenting impressions and concrete realities. Thanks to TV, political discourse in America is now based on intuition rather than reason. A presidential candidate is more likely to be elected if he appears likable, attractive, and trustworthy, all of which are subjective, intuitive evaluations based not on careful, left brained analysis of a candidate’s policy positions but on the right-brained impression of the mosaic television images.

It was interesting to hear some of the following comments when I asked the kids what they thought about the speakers we heard. Some of the comments were like this: "She talked too fast." "He kept doing that preacher thing...you know, the loud stuff than the whisper." "She repeated things too often." Of course, I would find myself asking, "Okay, but what about the content of what they said?"

It was encouraging to see that the kids could talk about the content of what was said and interact with it, but it did seem that they reacted first to their impression of the speaker and their style. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. In the end, at least from what I could tell, the Spirit was at work and it showed. Are their implications for me in recognizing how the kids reacted first? I think maybe there are. I think.