Homo Religiosus, By John Berger

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Images are like a spinning wheel that is constantly changing as individuals experience the visual world around them. Since images assist individuals in creating a visual world unique to them, they create a limitless power of their own. These powers that the images possess can truly change the life of the individual who takes on the images within his or her mind. The language of images is the meaning behind the images that surround an individual in his or her life. These powers can exist through the personal, cultural, and political form. John Berger in his essay “Ways of Seeing.” discusses how the ways of seeing influence the connection people have to each other. Karen Armstrong’s “Homo Religiosus.” looks at the arts and disciplines of various …show more content…

The political institutions that exist around the globe set up a system in which the citizens of that area are expected to adhere to. This system that is created consists of a set of rules and laws that citizens must follow. These rules are instituted because the leaders of government want to hold a firm control in their ruling of the people. The political systems want people to conform to the expectations put on them. Additionally, political systems are created to ensure that the country is fully functioning and need the cooperation of the people to do so. However, it is not always easy for political leaders to establish strong control since citizens may go against the rules that are put upon them. Malcolm Gladwell explains the prominence of crime by the idea that “If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge.” (141) People will take on a perspective based on what they see and what they think what they see represents. The act of committing crimes works in a imitative form because “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” (Berger 50) People will commit crimes if they see that their is no punishment or repercussions for their actions similar to a cascading effect. If images of crimes like graffiti are associated with punishment, people simply won’t commit the crime. However, political systems can change this by the way they mold their regulation of the public. Political systems show that “an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment” (Gladwell 146). This is all a part of political systems controlling the public through the language of images. Political leaders like the ones in New York City described by Gladwell tried to get the public to

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