What’s the point?

Ian Simpson 

Eng 1121-D435

02/16/2023

Project 1: Discourse Communities 

WHAT’S THE POINT? 

Ian Simpson 

Eng 1121-D435

02/16/2023

Project 1: Discourse Communities 

WHAT’S THE POINT? 

Who am I? I am a student who likes and dislikes. I could be a part of a million Discourse Communities and never know. Discourse communities are a “Collection of people or groups that work towards a common goal through communication.” So basically whatever shared goal or community you feel belongs to you, can be associated with a discourse community. Other examples so I don’t lose you are gamers, nurses, athletics, cops, friend groups, family, fashion groups, BLM, etc… 

It’s hard to choose which discourse community I’m a part of. Nonetheless, I feel a strong belonging to Anime, gaming, discoverers, and WOKE communities. I don’t know how many people will agree with me, but being a New Yorker is a discourse community. We speak differently and have different perspectives about the world. We’re kind of in our own box, so no wonder why people all around the world try to imitate us. In my anime and gamer community, we use slang or reenact scenes we like. I feel a strong connection to this community because of the Allies I Recruited, and the time and money I spent. If I get all the money and time I spent back, I’ll still go play/watch anime and games.

Back in my day, there weren’t too many gamers, nor were there anime watchers. A lot of people got bullied and picked on, it was classified as “not cool”. Gladly I never experienced both sides of the table. I was always cool and curious, so I got along with different discourse communities. I played apex legends and GTA a lot, most times I’d chill in the “parties” and chop it up with the guys. But if you didn’t notice, that’s how we talked in the party chats. Party chats were communities or groups on the game, where you could speak to 8-15 people at once. And if you weren’t invited you get kicked out. I know people can be harsh on the game, but it’s kind of like the real world, because if you aren’t liked or accepted even if you feel in your heart that you are. People will just push you to the side like you’re nothing but dead weight. 

Even though I’m a part of many different discourse communities I dislike a couple. Any community with a leader that’s not open-minded fails to see the bigger picture, in my opinion, no one can progress and better themself. I left groups in the past because the feeling of belonging slowly faded away. It might be because as you get older you change or as time passes you realize a difference. However, I realized that I belonged with people who see the world in a different light. As I got older the only thing that really could capture my interest was exploring and finding the truth. Like me, many people ask the question: what’s the point or what purpose do I have? These might sound like suicidal questions but it’s not, we ask these questions because every day we feel like we’re being lied to and the system we fell into from birth just doesn’t feel justified. 

When I was younger, me and my family would take a trip to Jamaica for a family reunion, every day we go somewhere new. Well, it was new to the young me because my family was from jamaica so they knew the terrain pretty well. Not to toot my own horn but I was always a leader, I’d get my cousins and we’d explore parts of the woods looking for mangos and something new. I created code words to use in case we got in trouble and codes for when we wanted to slip through our parents’ defense to have an adventure. I used to call it adventure time. One time after we got in trouble for disappearing for a long time, our parents told us to stay in the room. But the adventurers in us couldn’t stay locked up, so we made a plan in front of them using codes and keywords that only we could understand. 

As soon as they left the room we put the plan in motion, we locked the door and one person would stay in the room as a lookout. The rest of us went through the back. What were we exploring for you to ask, well mangos of course. They were so sweet and juicy, we felt like it was worth the risk. Story short the mission was successful and our parents never found out. Other than the adventures we went on, I always liked watching people explore new environments and listen to podcasts from people who explain the “truth”. They explained what the government was hiding from us and the reason behind certain events in history. During the rise of tiktok I learned a lot from different discourse communities that do podcasts, I felt comfortable knowing that I wasn’t the only one fascinated with discovering and learning. If you couldn’t tell, I feel a strong connection to the people who seek the truth and like to explore the unknown.

At the college I attend, I major in mechanical engineering. I don’t feel a part of this discourse community but I believe knowledge is power. I feel that mechanical engineering can come useful in the future, other than that I have no connections with the people or subject. I feel like Perri Klass from “HERS (She’s your basic LOL in NAD)” Because even though this college community might be welcoming, there’s still slang/lingo you have to understand. For example, “decimal points cost money,  which means Every tolerance should be made as loose as possible while still maintaining the design integrity of the object.” The people in my major know what they want, and all have goals like building their very own car or working for big companies. I don’t know what road I’m walking down, but I hope I find the right path. Looking back at the discourse community I’m a part of and the couple I’m surrounded by at my college, I realize that I don’t belong there and it isn’t about discomfort. I just don’t have a connection to them and the explorer in me has an unanswered question. What’s the point?