Burke's idea on terministic screens is an ideal that is practiced in our
everyday interactions. We unconsciously place ourselves and others into
specific categories that essentially determine how open we will be with
them. In the case of Burke, this means that we assign people terms, and
based on those terms, appoint specific stereotypes based on what we have
heard, seen, or encountered with the group, which ultimately determine
if we identify with them or not.
This idea of reference and recollection, is consistent as humans because
our brains store most new encounters as a extension of our previous
encounters with any given person, place, or thing. This is why word of
mouth is believed to be the most reliable form of spreading information
or learning about a new place. While our minds love to naturally build memory and refer to these memories whenever possible, this is actually
crippling and limits our level of acceptance of other people and
consequently makes humans closed off to certain people or prejudice.
Any given person will generally fall within multiple
screens at any give point. Like an Asian man from California. He
will be able to identify with men, Asians, people from California, and of course his age range. So he ultimately determines which screens
that he wants to fall within at any given point and time. This allows
him to identify with a larger group of people based on the situation.
Jewls
ReplyDeleteYour understanding and explanation of how Burke's Terministic screens works is very clear and concise. These screens are what help develop past and present memories but also develop an inconsistency in how we determine or judge another persons character. I think that when we predetermine an assumption about a specific person, it is effected by memories of the past and past experiences with similar people. But i feel like it is hard to give a predetermination based off just looking at the person. One experience with a Punk Rocker could be completely different from another Punk Rocker. I believe that limiting your level of acceptance limits the knowledge you can obtain. We learn based off new experiences, so how can one obtain this new knowledge without being open to listening or learning from someone different. Although we tend to stick with our "heard", or other like us, I feel like not expanding the people you surround yourself with, closes off a person from new opportunities and experiences; and without these, one limits themselves to what the can achieve. Great Blog post.