Shopping For Pleasure, Other Spaces

     The article "Shopping For Pleasure, " did a very good job of describing the similarities of religion and consumerism. It also went into detail to describe the metaphors involved, and the differences between metaphors and other forms of spacial comparison. In the context of the article, religion was viewed as a negative force that was trying to persuade people. The analogy between religion and consumerism is strongest at this point, in that both need to advertise to obtain customers. Religion advertises the gift of an afterlife to its followers, and consumerism must persuade their customers that their product is the best. 

     The article "Other Spaces," was a deeply philosophical argument as to the place of both real and figurative spaces in our society.  It outlined the differences between utopias and real spaces, and elaborated on the concept of time. One of the interesting points to me was the mentioning of the second law of thermodynamics. The law says that in a state of isolation, the entropy will always increase. This statement is important not only for the study of thermodynamics, but for our basic understanding of time. Time is such an elusive concept that has been proven to be entirely relative, not concrete as was first hypothesized for many years before Einstein. When a system increases in entropy, the disorder of the system increases. For example coffee cups never come back together when they fall off of a table, the arrow of time is always pointing in a single direction, allowing the cup to break but not return to its normal state. The article uses these concepts to make the claim that spaces have a personal time and meaning to them, as well as a societal meaning. Places, such as hotel rooms and bars, have their own set ideologies in society. We have a good idea of the atmospheres in both places before we ever step foot in the space itself. But, once closed off from societal influences, the personal time overtakes the normal, societal time, and people may change their activities or personalities. Spaces may be used differently when the user is not under a state of observation.