“This is much, much, stronger than a visual experience, which tacitly distances you, places you in a transcendent, removed position, rather than embodying you at the center of a new context. My question here is: why are acoustic spaces so effective in this regard? What is it about sound that is so potentially immersive? I think it has to do with how we register it—how it affects different areas of the body and mind than visuals do. Affect is a tremendously important dimension of experience, and one of the most difficult to achieve in a visual environment.” (Davis, Acoustic Cyberspace)

The word choice throughout the talk is very sophisticated and gives us an extravagant taste of his opinions. This paper was a complicated read and though I didn’t understand all of it he used good evidence to make his point. Throughout the talk he uses various sources of evidence such as the radio, sounds from earlier years to now, and the different meanings of words to emphasize the importance of sound on our generation. This quote also implies the importance of sound over visual experience. Sound is very important to our generation and has become a way of individualizing ourselves. Individuality and uniqueness are two important topics in our world today and I believe music is one of the many solutions we have created to form an identity for ourselves. But I disagree with the fact that visuals aren’t important because I believe they are just as important as sound. First impressions aren’t made by sounds but by looks, and the way we interpret the world around us is a balance between the visual and the acoustic. It says acoustic spaces affect us in the body and mind but so do visuals. I believe that visuals can equally make me a feel an emotion just as a certain sound or song does. At the end of his talk, Davis says, “all popular music functions, particularly for young people, as a way to construct and define a whole worldview.” And I completely agree but what about visuals? The way we perceive this world isn’t clear-cut into acoustics and visuals. Instead it is a combination of the two. Only with a combination between sounds and visuals can we completely understand the world around and make our interpretations of it. Some may argue that those that are blind or deaf can only perceive one way or the other and that they are successful. I agree but when we have both doesn’t it make it a more wholesome experience? God gave us five senses so why not utilize them all to understand ourselves and our surroundings better?

“For example I quoted Chion in the paper when he says, “Sight is generally what we rely on for orientation, because the naming and recognition of forms is vastly more subtle and precise in visual terms than with any other channel of perception.” I used this quote to explain how when watching movies, we focus on the images and characters that we see. This would lead you to conclude that, “The idea that recognition is more precise in visual terms leaves little purpose and reason for using sound and narration in films.” (Nordstrom, First Major Paper)

Megan directs her paper toward other 121 students and her writing was simpler to understand. Once again this author quotes how visual images plays a vital role in our life but here she says that the visual images impair our ability to pay attention and focus on sound. This may be true, but I believe that sound enhances the visual perception and that the visuals enhance the sound perception. I believe that both sounds and visuals and all of our other senses play a vital role in how we perceive the world. Megan gets her point across by using quotes as evidence. The quotes are sophisticated and help get her point across.

 

Relating the 2 quotes:

Both quotes emphasize the importance of either sound or visuals but neither of them emphasizes the importance of both. I believe that both sound and visuals are vital to understanding the world around us.