James Macay
Prof. Kitana Ananda
ENG103
October 1, 2017
My Research Topic
Considering a research topic was interesting because it gave me a chance to consider my surroundings. Having ridden a bike in the city for longer than I can remember, I have developed the nature of observing my surroundings. Being on a bike means that I am in the street often and in doing so, I’ve noticed an unfortunate reality of the people around me. Everyone is frustrated. Most people have trapped themselves in their own bubbles. They go about their commutes in a very antisocial manner. Why is that? There are hundreds of people around us at all times in New York City, why not socialize with someone? Or does this simple fact cause people to be antisocial? From personal experience, the lack of personal space can make me feel the need to form a metaphorical blockade around myself. Often this leads to me being lost in my psyche without realization of why.
This concept is interesting when considering the environment because in other places like Chicago, a place I visit often has a much different environment. The city itself is not as crowded all around, but in the areas that it is crowded, the same mentality is present. In the city of Chicago people give off the same vibration of antisocial desire. But when you get closer to the suburbs, suddenly people are more inviting and open to conversing with strangers. My issue with the topic so far is that I have an observation and multiple situations responding to the same issue, but I am not sure how to make it a paper. I have to give it more thought and question whether I can make it work or not. For me it is an interesting idea that I’d like to explore because the situation can be evaluated through several perspectives. Taking a psychological look at things would also be interesting because it can really narrow down what the issue is. It can also define whether this issue can be resolved or if the issue is on a steady rise. The reason this is an issue is also because we are humans, we get carried away sometimes by basic emotions, such as anger and hate. We also lack patients which can cause us to act on impulse. It is unethical to make mere predictions of what this can lead to, unless we evaluate the situation psychologically then we can really consider what might come next.