Everyone Is Good At Everything Analysis

Improved Essays
The essay focuses on the idea that everyone is a specialist and that every person is good at everything, which is false because if everyone were specialists, then your own voice would be depressed.

The essay focuses on the idea that everyone is a specialist and that every person is good at everything, which is false because if everyone were specialists, then your own voice would be depressed. Bret Easton Elis, the author, says, “All we’re doing is setting ourselves up to be sold to — to be branded, targeted and data-mined.” Society wants us to be the same and to accomplish this, they make us believe we are all special. Then, if everyone is special, no one is. We are taught to think and express ourselves in ways that won’t offend anyone since that takes away another’s specialty. Then Elis throws in a twist, “Now all of us are used to rating movies, restaurants, books, even doctors, and we give out mostly positive reviews because, really, who wants to look like a hater? But increasingly, services are also rating us. Companies in the sharing economy, like Uber and Airbnb, rate their customers and shun those who don’t make the grade.” What Elis is saying, is that not only are we comparing ourselves to others and companies to other companies, but
…show more content…
Bret Easton Elis says, “All we’re doing is setting ourselves up to be sold to — to be branded, targeted and data-mined.” Society wants us to be the same and to accomplish this, they make us believe we are all special. Then, if everyone is special, no one is. We are taught to think and express ourselves in ways that won’t offend anyone since that takes away another’s specialty. Our freedom of speech is being stripped away in certain aspects. We are not allowed to say anything offensive, but we can say whatever nice things we

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The audience for this essay was supposed to be the professor, but anybody that reads it instantly feels like they become a part of the…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    First draft: Rosenblatt Summary and Response In “We Are Free to Be You, Me, Stupid, and Dead” Roger Rosenblatt discusses the views of freedom of speech. He uses examples to show different people’s views on freedom of speech. He also adds his own opinion throughout the article. I may or may not agree on some of the views.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether it is family, friends, or even a significant other, a lot of millennials depend their relationships on technology. Most use multiple social media programs to connect with the rest of the world and can text each other hours on end. Yet they cannot hold a face-to-face conversation without being so distracted by their devices. So from the anecdotes that author Howard Rheingold wrote in the article “Look Who’s Talking”, he reveals how Amish community treats technology in a different way. Rheingold was able to prove that Amish people are not just a bunch of technophobes, they have deep philosophical reasons why they choose to not integrate technology in their everyday lives.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    African American Literature African American culture in the United States of America started with the cultural traditions of many African ethnic groups. This culture is distinct and part of American culture. The principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System (U.S. Census Bureau) defines the African Americans as “people having origins in any of the Black race groups of Africa.” This culture is native to the descendants in America of survivors of the Middle Passage. The Africans were not able to practice their cultural traditions, practices, values, and beliefs in America.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Living in a world where entitlement seems to be a growing problem, McCullough, in his “You’re Not Special” commencement speech attempts to open the eyes of the audience to the true reality of life. McCullough uses this pivotal moment in life, high school graduation, as a great tool to get his theory of everyone has the same worth; no matter the case. McCullough’s eye opening speech uses many things to prove his theory by listing numerous statistics and facts. McCullough’s use of emotion firmness in his idea really helps make him believable by striking down many counterarguments at the same time, tone and . The comparisons and references to historical national events and real life examples really make one think about how they think of themselves compared to the world.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As new students enroll into college they tend to find out what they really want to do in life but in this case this is about the protection of that student. Some students want the need to feel like they are safe from anything that can harm them. Some think that being hurt can be used by words or even ideas that students don't agree with. This is something that is currently happening on college campuses today. To be convinced that something like this is happening to college students two authors went ahead and found some interesting research to show that this is actually happening.…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a Millennial, I can testify to having overly-cautious and more protective parents than my parents experienced. After speaking to my parents, they also fully agree with this statement, largely in part to increasing media coverage and knowledge as to what is, and is not, beneficial or safe for children. The authors go on to describe how trigger warnings prevent the expansion of new ideas and proper education. I completely agree with this, as students cannot learn with the censored lectures and speeches given on college campuses; students need to hear differing ideas and opinions to expand their knowledge and formulate their own opinions. “The Coddling of the American Mind” also explains how trigger warnings make the problems of over-censoring and hypersensitivity worse by spreading fear and fostering a thinking style that harbors anger and resentment.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Senioritis Reflection

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I’ve decided to write my reflection about Essay 2 “explaining a concept.” This essay was my best work and I felt like I had fun typing this essay. The concept that I wrote about was “Senioritis.” I liked the idea of talking about something that almost everyone in high school could relate to, including me. This essay made me think about more than just the topic, it made me think about my opinions.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Everyone is different, from looks, attitude, athleticism, and so much more. Each human has their own ups and downs, and each person works to improve themselves. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, individuality is seen as harmful, something that encourages jealousy and low self-worth in others. However, individuality is needed to move society forward: through personal achievements and talent society will improve as a whole.…

    • 1983 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    They Say I Say Analysis

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In the book, “They Say, I Say” chapter fourteen discusses the necessity for tertiary education. The fundamental focus of chapter fourteen is to determine whether or not higher education offers the bang for your buck. The chapter initiates disputes beginning with the article, “Are Colleges Worth The Price of Admission?” by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus. This article conveys a controversial issue of the rising cost of admissions and the descending quality of college education.…

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary of “In Defense of Prejudice” In the United States, it can be seen almost anywhere that societies are becoming more and more conscious of the words they use to describe people, in the case of accidentally offending someone. However, when some words are determined as being “hate-speech” and are deemed criminal, the notion of free speech begins to be altered. With certain words now being treated as legitimate violence against another, where does one draw the line when considering one’s constitutional right to free speech, even when that person is obviously prejudiced? In Jonathan Rauch’s essay, “In Defense of Prejudice”, he argues that instead of eradicating all forms of prejudice in the United States,…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Imagine this: a world where by saying the wrong thing you would be ridiculed, receive jail time, or be labeled as racist. What kind of world would it be if one word taken wrong or offensively could cost you your reputation, job, and close friends. I hate to break it to everyone, but this is the world we are living in right now. Many people have become apprehensive about saying the right thing. This is a direct result from political correctness.…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Animal Farm Equality

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This incident in its funny way brings out the basic unnaturalness and dilemma of the philosophy of equality-if understood literary as meaning that all are equal in talents and skills. The pigs, who consider themselves as the wisest of all, take themselves upon the organization of the farm. They compose the standards of their new framework called Animalism on the wall. The standards are decreased to Seven Commandments for the animals to remember effortlessly.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Freedom of speech”. This contentious combination of scribbled visuals and vertebrate vocalizations varying throughout globalized groups of grown gorillas has been an agent of domestic conflict in contemporary countries since the Enlightenment Era. The definition is clear and yet, the interpretations are blurred. A sheltered college freshman enslaved to supposed honor will proclaim themselves to be the great progressive defender of the disenfranchised and demand that the rights of their fellow human beings be wrongfully censored and stripped away in order for the oppressed to feel secure – despite many would-be silenced individuals having played no part in the social persecution of the suppressed. For the eagerly righteous, such a mass weaponization…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The modern amenity that I chose to give up was spending lots of time on my phone. So far I am going about 6 hours without touching any social media. So far it has actually been challenging. A lot of times I find myself reaching for my phone, to check it but I always need to catch myself before I do that.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays