Mind Map

When I set out to make this mind map I was still a bit confused on how exactly to approach it. I decided to take it in steps and the project unfold itself. I was worried I would not be able to think of a topic however thankfully I noticed how one of my friends was absorbed by his phone for a good 20 minutes texting. I began to think about texting and its purpose in our society, I wanted to weigh the pros and cons and figure out my true feelings about texting. It did not take long before my true feelings revealed themselves, almost all the words stemming off my central topic were negative. The first issue I ran into was writing down words that popped into my mind even though they had no apparent relevance. For instance some of the words towards the end were; google, Sigourney Weaver, France, and Donuts. All of which had nothing to do with "texting" or solving my original problem. It was not until later after I decided chose to narrow my mind map to "texting Alienation" that I was able to actually see the benefit of a mind map.

It was during the 2nd mind map that I had my first AHA! moment, I realized that every word I came up with was a logical result of Texting Alienation. I would of never been able to connect these words originally to my central topic without actually doing the mind map. It was actually kind of cool to realize that I always connected these words to texting and without the mind map would of never realized my true feelings. Unlike the first mind map the second one was amazingly more difficult to doodle for. I found myself unable to think of doodle for the majority of words. I also found that I had a greater abundance of words with my first map, the 2nd map however smaller contained words that actually made perfect sense to me.

I learned that texting is convenient to society and skips over what some would say are the unnecessary parts of communication. However I think that texting when in front of others can have its consequences. I often find myself texting when with friends and completely miss their entire conversation. Or they will ask me a question I will have no idea what they asked. I was at dinner the other night with my family and everyone was texting at the table, When i realized this i put my phone down and called everyone out for it. Seems like cell phones are making life more convenient but at the cost of losing one's appreciation for their surroundings. I also find that texting has its own culture. If you don't respond to a text in a certain amount of time people begin to wonder why. I remember I was texting this girl i was interested in and one of my friends was telling me how it would actually make me look better if I intentionally waited longer to respond. Even though I already new what I wanted to say I intentionally waited, making it appear I was more busy than I actually was. I also have found that text have to be between a certain length unless your telling a lengthy story. One of the major positives about texting however is the ability to find out quick answers from a more knowledgeable person, or if you forgot something from the past and a friend can remind you. You almost need a real good reason or immediate reason to call someone today, texting is just less intrusive.

p.s sorry for the doodle of the non responsive person... someone somehow convinced me it would be a good doodle.