Optimization in the Era of Covid-19 and the “Age of Extremity”
Interpretive frameworks are meant to give us a deeper understanding of concepts and texts—reading through a particular “lens” allows us to ask new questions and seek new kinds of understanding. This semester, we have employed several interpretive frameworks in our reading and writing. From the “God trick” to the “third term,” we have used interpretive frameworks to put texts in unexpected dialogues. For your final interpretive exercises, please choose an interpretive framework from one of our class texts (you may draw from the list below, but you need not). Then, use your framework to reflect on some quality of our present moment, or of your experiences within this moment. What does “optimization” look like in the era of COVID-19? Have we entered into a new “age of extremity?” You can draw from outside sources and images, including personal writing, news stories, and literary texts.
Examples might include:
“optimization,” “ideal woman” (Tolentino)
“God trick,” “visceralization” (D’Ignazio and Klein)
“third term,” “age of extremity” (Nelson)
“wayward path,” “open rebellion” (Hartman)
“zoom in/zoom out,” “critic/thought leader” (Giridharadas)
Optimization
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Optimization
Optimization requires an individual to make the best use of a situation regardless of how challenging it is. According to Jia Tolentino's "Always be Optimizing," the ideal woman has learned how to take advantage of every situation in their life. The author points out that such a woman is generic and genuinely enthusiastic. However, such optimization can hurt ther lives. The womans ability to optimize situations can be compared to the current situation amid the COVID 19 pandemic regardless of the fact that optimization hurts women.
The COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in many changes in different sectors. One of the most affected sectors is the world of business. People have to survive, so optimizing the pandemic is not an option. The optimization would ensure that the economic sector activities do not end. If companies stop producing goods, the world will experience increased demand with limited supplies. This means that the prices of the available resources would go up, and then only the rich would be able to afford basic commodities. However, the world has not allowed itself to get to such a situation because of optimization. Companies have developed mechanisms of maneuvering the pandemic. One such mechanism is allowing employees to work from home. Such a strategy would reduce the spread of the pandemic while ensuring maximum productivity in the companies. Such an optimization measure will ensure that people worldwide do not lack goods and services. If the demand for such goods and services does not increase, prices will not go up, and everyone will afford basic commodities. Therefore, optimization during the pandemic has ensured that people do not lack commodities.
Tolentino points out that women have become more aware of their roles and have taken challenging job positions that were ideal for men. The women take advantage of technology to broadcast their image and their improvements to the image (Tolentino, 2020). This kind of optimization is made to make the woman look more attractive. The work that used to be done by makeup has now become permanent through plastic surgeries. However, the optimization is made to enable women fit in society. Such indicates the level of optimization that people can engage in, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. Th...