Friday, September 21, 2012
YOLO vs Carpe Diem
In my Comp and Rhetoric class today, we watched a student put on a presentation about YOLO. The question was raise, "Has YOLO replaced Carpe Diem?" Carpe Diem, which is usually known to mean "cease the day", is usually a positive saying encouraging people to do something meaningful today, because tomorrow is never promised. We discussed that YOLO, meaning "You only live once", could be the carpe diem of our generation. However, actor Jack Black tweeted, "YOLO is the 'Carpe Diem' for stupid people." The more we discussed the more we started to see Jack Black's side. We discussed in class that YOLO is normally a justification for doing something stupid, which is actually the complete opposite meaning of Carpe Diem. I thought that was very interesting, and if your not sure how you feel about YOLO, take a glance at your Facebook newsfeed, or the Twitter hashtag for YOLO and make your own decision. I think I'm with Jack Black on this one.
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I agree with Jack Black. I don't know about other people, but when I hear YOLO I roll my eyes. When I hear Carpe Diem, my eyes light up. Can you imagine "Dead Poets Society" with YOLO instead of seize the day? Oh my...
ReplyDeleteOh, the Dead Poets Society reference is such a funny example! I like the idea of a phrase as justification. It's like officially stamping something as permissible. To me, YOLO isn't the most inspiring phrase, and yes, I most often see the "#yolo" under ridiculous (yet sometimes impressive)drinking photos or stories. It's fascinating that they are almost identical in meaning, but not much at all in terms of context. This would actually be an interesting writing prompt for HS students.
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