What Question/Problem did you choose?
Why do humans primarily judge themselves on arbitrary numbers that provide no depth to how good of a person they are?
Why did we choose this topic and why does it matter to us?
We chose this topic because we felt that there are three distinct environments where we feel this question should be addressed: academics, athletics, and body image. This topic matters to us because of Heather’s battle with an eating disorder (body image), our history of playing sports throughout our lives (athletics), and our attendance at an academic institution whose members pride themselves on their high grades rather than their personality and community involvement.
Problem Details/Description
The academics and grades are numbers that students are judged by every day. People are considered smart for getting higher grades, but in reality, the smartest person doesn’t get the best grades, i.e. Albert Einstein or Bill Gates. In athletics, you are judged by your assists, goals, or hits rather than how well you do the tasks that are unquantifiable, like defense in baseball. You could lose your roster spot because you don’t have a lot of hits even though you are one of the best defenders on the team. With body image, a person is judged on their height and weight. Models have to be a certain height or weight in order to keep their jobs and individuals of all ages and gender are judged everyday by their peers based on their outward appearance rather than their personality.
Associated People/Places/Things
1. Teenage Girl
2. Scale
3. Dinner
4. Dining Room
5. Bathroom
6. Student
7. A Test
8. Classroom
9. Baseball Player
10. Scoreboard
11. Locker Room
Borrowed Strategy
Artist Name: Zhang Huan
Title: Family Tree
Attribute/Strategy Borrowed: In this pieces, the artist, Zhang Huan is written on and covered in names, stories, writing etc. until his entire body is covered in ink. In the end, he is no longer identifiable as himself and instead has been overwhelmed by names, numbers, etc. similarly to how humans in today’s society are often judged via numbers such as weight and their grades that actually say nothing about the individual as a whole.
