The conversation today about the Hopi vases in
To Be of Use reminded me of something in my life. In my own little world, I have something that I think I want turned into an artifact in a museum later, or at least a book on the shelves of a library. I started a personal journal when I was in 4th grade and have kept it up consistently since then. I occasionally would think about the purpose and use of my journal. It has always served as a stress reliever and a sort of confidante who can't talk back, helping me emotionally stabilize myself. But then I'd wonder if I meant for the journal to serve other, different purposes after enough time has passed for it to be substantial. It would certainly be a memory aid for when I grow up to help me remember things I had forgotten. But then, if it survives long enough, it could serve as a historical insight into the life of this person living in this time period, experiencing these certain world events, living with this technology, and using language in this way. (Or I'm being naive and the journal won't help at all... who cares that much about me, really?) That's why I try to write at least a little bit on historical events and slang and iPods and such. I'm not sure if the people who used the Hopi vases and Greek amorphas thought like this and intended for their objects to become artifacts in museums later, but this all just comments on how everything has some uses, then different uses, and context definitely impacts the use.
I'm going to make an absolute statement. And please, offer any contradictions to it, because of course nothing is absolute because Toulmin said so, but as of yet I can't think of anything. So, I think that everything in this world has a use. People, places, animals, ideas. That use might not be the person's intended use, but the object has a use all the same. That desk was intended for writing and sitting, but might be used as a murder weapon aimed at Tara's head. Even things that are seemingly pointless maybe were made for the purpose of being pointless. Any exceptions to this statement?
-- tori
P.S. I'm sorry it's so long! I tend to ramble...
"I've never kept (or been tempted to keep) a diary of any kind, and I'm not even sure I'm going to keep this one, but I thought I'd better try. I find it's a peculiar business, because, though I'm supposedly only writing for myself, I feel impelled to explain who I am and what I'm doing here. It makes me suspect that all diarists are in fact writing not for themselves but for posterity."
ReplyDelete-The Story of B, by Daniel Quinn
Yes, I agree that everything is useful. Everything was made for a purpose. Even something that seems pointless to one person might be one of the most useful things in the world to another person. Looking around my room, I cannot find one thing that would not be useful for something. Even though things like statues and decorations may seem useless, they are used for just that purpose, to decorate and make a place look more pleasant.
-Audrey
In an attempt to disprove your absolute statement, I shall try to think of three completely useless things.
ReplyDelete1) Digimon (remember those?) - a knockoff of Pokemon
2) Purple Ketchup - the most unusual condiment I have ever seen.
3) Digimon spontaneously generating out of purple ketchup - an idea.
-Colin
I don't know what Digimon is, but purple ketchup is for people like me, who hate ketchup but love the color red. Its use it to create an easier-to-hate condiment for me.
ReplyDelete-Alexa
I would like to refute Colin's first useless thing on the grounds that someone made a lot of money off Digimon.
ReplyDelete-Bryce C.
I form one enjoyed purple ketchup as a child and would argue that it was not useless. Digimon spontaneously coming out of purple ketchup may be useless however.
ReplyDelete~Becca
Like Bryce said that someone made a lot of money off of Digimon, somebody made a lot of money off of purple ketchup, from people like Becca, who think that anything purple is automatically better.
ReplyDelete-Audrey