Writing as a Process of Valuing

I think the idea of value at it is first introduced plays heavily on the selfish nature of human beings. Meaning is constructed upon how much value the words have to the audience, though I would argue that the characteristics of the boy in the second scenario are not things that we outgrow. Deep down, we all still want people to desire the same things we do, making it that much to attain. Along with the example of the photos of grandchildren are thousands of others: spilling personal detail on social networking sites, calling into talk radio, most reality television. The words never have as much meaning for your audience as they do for the speaker, yet human beings continue these public displays of emotional information in order to get attention. However, I do think our perception and reaction to our audience changes over time, as the examples show, as we grow in our writing, we advance in commiserating with our audiences and appealing to their value systems.

I agree with the assessment that making meaning is an act of valuing, and the examples given made me consider just how much conflict there is in the word because of ignorance to others values. From something as small as Jeanne's argument against those who denounce homemakers, to something as large as the Israeli-Palenstinian conflict, the value is so often placed in the words used in argument. This is problematic as the statements from one side have little meaning to the other because their value systems are so drastically different. A problem worth addressing, though it often seems unsolvable.