Maggie Nelson's 'Great To Watch'

Advancements in technology have produced a world in which one is constantly looking at images or watching a video. Whether for enjoyment or to fill a void caused by boredom many people scroll through their phones aimlessly viewing a multitude of images. Maggie Nelson discusses these notions of spectating in her narrative titled “Great to Watch,” where she presents two different views of what “spectating” really means. She first views it as an action that provides a false sense of empowerment where one passively views through constant scrolling. Later she claims that active spectating gives one a mechanism to become aware of both themselves and the environment. Malcolm Gladwell presents his idea of the environment in his narrative titled “The
One views character as the qualities and traits that make a person who they are. While discussing what makes up one’s character Gladwell states that “character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together” (Gladwell 160). By stating that one’s character is “loosely bound” it implies that one’s character is malleable and can be shaped. These “habits and tendencies and interests” are free to develop, changing the experience of the self while being molded within the environment, altering the overall traits of an individual. Nelson complicates this through her notions of spectating. When presenting what happens when we truly spectate something, Nelson states that “the world presents us with a composition in which a multitude of meanings and realities are available, and you are able to swim … in that … sea of multiplicity” (Nelson 311). Through spectating, an individual gains new perceptions of the world by revealing new “meanings and realities.” Nelson’s metaphor of being able to “swim” in a “sea of multiplicity” implies a sense of freedom. An individual has a choice in one’s newfound perceptions of his or her environment, and this choice is not binding. One could freely “swim” between perceptions, living within the boundaries an environment presents. Through one’s new perception of the world, an individual is able to
These strategies need to be implemented constantly or else context will regain power. Those who disagree would argue that individuals never have the ability to gain an extent of control over one’s context. However, the strategies presented by Turkle offer ways to gain power through active spectating. Without ways to overcome “the age of extremities” humanity will be sentenced to Nelson’s expectation that humans will be bound by two destinies of constant banality or terror. In the current state of modern technology image flow is inevitable, but how we approach image flow is what matters. By keeping pragmatic mindset humans can give action of passive spectating an active component. Active spectating is the key to gaining control over one’s own experience of the self. Therefore humans need to keep actively spectating the world around them and thinking abstractly to gain new perceptions of the world. This is the only way to overcome a world where everything is categorized. All in all, the use of strategies to live within the boundaries an environment presents is to actively spectate the world, unlocking new perceptions that will grant humans the ability to choose one’s own