1. Fashion
In: Clothing choices
Out: Social approval
Factors: Trends; Creativity; Price range
Feedback: Compliments; Staring
Leverage: Trends – Wear something that is a fashion trend now that is really impractical; Wear all the current trends at once

2. Communication
In: Gesture
Out: Recognition
Factors: Loneliness; Social norms; Distractions; Environment
Feedback: Response; Comfort/ Satisfaction
Leverage: Response – Respond inappropriately (yell or cry); Do not respond

3. Transportation
In: Body
Out: Body
Factors: Time; Access; Safety
Feedback: Word of mouth; Customer satisfaction
Leverage: Time – take an indirect route; Do not change position (not moving Point A to B)
*Note/Question: How does this affect/ critique the system?

4. Commerce
In: $ $ $
Out: Good/service
Factors: Want; Need; Access
Feedback: Customer satisfaction
Leverage: Access – Take too much for $ value; Affect others’ access

5. Eating
In: Food
Out: Energy (?)
Factors: Hunger; Availability
Feedback: Full/Satiated
Leverage: Hunger – Eat past ‘full’ or when not hungry; Food – Eat no food or eat ‘non-food’ material

6. Pet
In: Food; Care/Shelter
Out: Love
Factors: $$; Distractions; Time
Feedback: Pet shows affection/respect to owner; Pet wants to play; Pet allows petting/cuddling
Leverage: Time – Spend all day w/ pet instead of only feeding it.  Does pet get annoyed?

7. Education
In: Person; Attention
Out: Demonstrated Learning (Papers, Exams, Work, etc.); Knowledge
Factors: Time; $$; Availability; Resources
Feedback: Grades; Personal satisfaction
Leverage: Demonstrated – produce nothing

8. Personal Relationships
In: Person/Self
Out: Companionship
Factors: Time; Vulnerability; $
Feedback: Closeness
Leverage: Vulnerability – Don’t get vulnerable; Time – Do not be available

9. Artistic Production
In: Effort
Out: Product
Factors: Time; Materials; State of mind; Cultural demands
Feedback: Public reaction
Leverage: Materials – Create something out of nothing

10. Cleaning
In: Effort
Out: No mess; Clean sanitary surfaces
Factors: Time; Materials
Feedback: Space; Relief
Leverage: Effort – Spend time but make few changes to relieving mess.

I chose to basically become an animal for one day, or at least communicate like one. I realized that knowing how to speak in the same language as the person you’re talking to was a huge advantage. Sure, body language and gestures may get your point across, but it tends to lead to misunderstandings, frustrations, and awkward moments. My experience reminded me of the Tower of Babel affair and the reason the tower was never completed. Once all the laborers spoke different languages and couldn’t communicate with one another, the tower became a disaster. I found that not being able to talk meant I was often left out of conversations and I was able to slip away quickly and quietly without anyone noticing. If I wasn’t with a group of friends, I would go unnoticed. It was as if I had lost my “voice” in this world. And I basically did. With my voice removed, I learned from this exercise that if I didn’t speak my mind, get my ideas across, reach out to people, it’s really easy to be brushed aside.

Another side effect which I found interesting was that when I did make sounds, the sounds tended to be contagious. My friends around me would also start acting silly and bark or meow back and soon we would just become a band of animals.

After the whole experience, I thought it would be really funny if this way of communicating could really become another “language”. I created a spreadsheet/instructions manual to teach other people how to “talk in animal” so they would be able to understand my “language” as well.

Here is a list of systems in my life. Underneath each system I have also added ways in which I can mess up the system by changing something about the feedback:

1. Cooking:
   Input: Hunger
   Output: Satisfaction
   Feedback: Talent/skill
   Other Factors: Diet, time, peopleCook dishes have never cooked before for a day
   Only cook what I can make within 5 minutes.
   Assemble all pics of food I have eaten over the past few years (I always take pics of new things I eat/ cook)
2. Communication:
   Input: Necessity
   Output: Knowledge gained or given
   Feedback: Urgency
   Other Factors: intelligence, language, personal vs. professionalRespond to all email, text, etc, that I receive within a day
   Speak with a thick Indian accent for a day
3. Religion
   Input: Belief
   Output: Tradition
   Feedback: Passion
   Other Factors: Family, culture, time, dedicationTry reading a religious text that is not from my religion
   Attend another religions’ meeting
4. Language
   Input: Idea
   Output: Communicate
   Feedback: Audience
   Other Factors: Culture, Family, Friends, Location, SpeciesSpeak Tamil to everyone for one day
5.  Transportation
   Input: Leave
   Output: Arrive
   Feedback: Distance
   Other Factors: Weather, Time, CompanyVisit a PAT public meeting
   Walk to all destinations regardless of distance
   Wait for 1 specific bus the whole day
6. Hygiene
   Input: routine
   Output: Clean
   Feedback: Tolerance (of feeling dirty)
   Other Factors: Family, Friends, Responsibilities, SocietyDedicate 2 hours for brushing my teethe
   Bathe in ice cold water for a week
7. Study
   Input: Confused
   Output: Understand
   Feedback: Skill
   Other Factors: Interest, tiredness, timeAttend academic development
   Attend study sessions for 1 day (even if I do not take the class)
8. Relationships
   Input: Lonely
   Output: Support System
   Feedback: Maintenance (keeping in touch)
   Other Factors: Who?, Family, Professional vs. Personal, memories, grudgesRespond to all email, texts, social media, that I receive in a day (even if it is spam)
   Write letters to everyone that I have not kept in touch with
9. Reading
   Input: Curiosity
   Output: Knowledge
   Feedback: Time/speed
   Other Factors: Interest, personal vs assigned, genre, lengthOnly read Magazines for one day
   Read texts that are not assigned and are not interesting for me
10. Sleeping
    Input: exhausted
    Output: refreshed
    Feedback: Time
    Other Factors: work, tiredness, Parents, schedule, rulesDo not sleep for a night
    Sleep with hourly interruptions
    Spend a day where you sleep for an hour, work an hour, sleep, work, sleep, etc
11. System That I changed for 1 day:
    Self – improvement
    Input: Need to Change
    Output: Become a better person
    Feedback(negative) : criticism
    Feedback(Positive) : Praise
    Other Factors: work, professionalism, self-esteem, confidence, societyIn this system, I found it interesting that the system has clear negative and positive feedbacks. However, People most often seek to improve themselves through criticism even though positive reinforcement (praise) is proven to work better. I believe that this system is closely tied in with societal norms or pressures; if someone seeks praise then they are labelled as narcissistic, over-confident, and more. It is also hard to receive praise since we are not trained on how to graciously accept it. To break this system, I spent a day trying to let everyone on my contacts list know what great things they’ve done for me or just how special they were. After getting past the initial discomfort of writing such wonderful things and sending them out to be judged, it was interesting to see the different reactions.
    Here is a link to the post which Documents this experience: teach.alimomeni.net/2014spring1/?p=4024

In: desire to succeed
Process: schoolwork
Out: grades
Change: Write in Cursive instead of print.

In: Motivation to improve
Process: Practicing Guitar
Out: Improvement in skill and self-satisfaction
Change: Play with Teeth instead of hands

In: Need to carry items to class
Process: Storing all of books and folders in backpack
Out: Ability to carry many items around
Change: Carry things with little purse

In: Tiredness, wanting to rest
Process: Sleeping
Out: Replenished energy
Change: Sleeping with stuffed animals instead of blankets.

In: Wanting to absorb more knowledge
Process: Browsing the web
Out: learned knowledge
Change: Learning from a book instead of from a laptop.

In: Hunger/Food
Process: Eating/Digestion
Out: fulfillment
Change: Eating only vegetables.

In: Desire to reach a location
Process: Transportation:
Out: Reaching the destination
Change: Walk everywhere instead of going by Vehicle

In: Social Norms
Process: Behaving in acceptable ways
Out: Ability to fit in
Change: Eating on the table from the chair vs. eating on the chair from the table

In: Wanting to connect with people online
Process: chatting through online
Out: self-satisfaction and connection with old friends.
Change: typing in chinese instead of english

ONE DAY:
In: Desire to communicate with others.
Process: Greeting/talking to others.
Out: Recognition, Reciprocation
Change: Communicate using only animal sounds

A short clip from my day…..

In this assignment, we were asked to change one system in our lives. I chose to focus on something that I had been thinking about this break; the system of communication in our society. More specifically, I was thinking more along the lines of how we are more willing to offer criticism rather than praise because of societal pressures. Especially when someone is looking to improve themselves, it is more often that they do it through criticism (negative feedback) rather than praise (positive feedback).

Therefore, for this assignment, I decided to send positive feedback to everyone on my contact list. Granted, this list is very small since I am apparently an unsociable person who isn’t in the habit of asking for numbers. However, I found it interesting to reconnect with people I never talk to anymore (like my freshman room mate) and to offer them things I noticed were their strong points or praise for things they have done for me in the past.

This is a master compilation of the texts I sent and received texts back from :

More Documentation: I printed out the texts I received back and mounted them so that each has their own iphone – like frame.

This was an interesting project for me since I sent out texts early that morning and was receiving and sending out even more throughout the day. It was especially nice to hear from people who I have not kept in contact with and to hear the nice ompliments I got back in return. One of the more surprising things turned out to be that people who I am friends with but not very close to replied instantly whereas people who I am extremely close to still haven’t replied. I suppose it has to do wih ‘no words needed’?