Johnathan Gonzalez: Alain de Botton

First I want to start off with this blog. I don’t know why none of mine appear, but hopefully they will start to show up. I can’t find any of my previous blogs, so I’m kind of upset about that. I don’t want my grade to be affected by a technical error, not a lack of effort. But now to the good stuff.

The video we watched last class was very interesting. I thought the concepts Alain discussed were valuable pieces of information that we can all apply towards our own lives. Accepting the fact that we dont have control over everything in our lives is a healthly state of mind. I’m pretty sure its a good way to release stress, and to not get overworked with, what if questions. I like the fact that Botton added humor to the discussion because it would have been dull and boring if he had’nt said funny remarks. He says not everyone can succeed. Botton believes this is a nice thought, but impossible. There are to many factors that affect our lives. Accidents, sickness, and random events are just some of the factors that are obstacles for our success.

As for the next project, I think it’s a bunch of hoopla. Times change, and so do the way people act. This person talking about the Google Generation doesn’t understand that people don’t need to read as much anymore. We have the internet for any question we may have. This might seem like a lazy view, but it’s the truth. Sorry his books arent sellling now that we have the internet, but its called CHANGE. His argument would probably be, “but what would you do if the internet all of a sudden stopped existing?” I would say, “the same thing as you. Panic.” A large portion of today’s business, documents, records, etc. are stored in the internet. The only constant thing in life is change. I think he should read a book on that, in my honest opinion.