{"id":67,"date":"2026-02-17T21:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/?p=67"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:59:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:59:51","slug":"why-soc-has-laser-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/2026\/02\/17\/why-soc-has-laser-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Soc Has Laser Eyes (And Other Design Choices)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you\u2019ve poked around the rest of this site recently, you might\u2019ve noticed something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;But what, pray tell, are you barking about?&#8221; you might be asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s now a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/gallery\/\">Gallery Page<\/a><\/strong> featuring visual snippets from my book-in-progress, <em>Scrolls &amp; Screens: An Odyssey Through the Ages of Rhetoric<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, that is indeed Socrates. Yeah, he is omae wa mou shindeiru-ing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why This Book Even Exists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Scrolls &amp; Screens<\/em> is my attempt to do something slightly rebellious in this field, even though one might argue that&#8217;s subjective and I&#8217;m really not creative at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nevertheless, take rhetorical theory in all its ancient, intimidating, and \u201cwhy-is-this-so-dense\u201d glory, and make it visually ridiculous, somewhat narratively driven, but most of all, digitally aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because rhetoric didn\u2019t die with parchment. It evolved through the centuries that have passed us by without most of us even realizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From scrolls to printing presses to comment sections, and even Twitch streams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I wanted the design to reflect that evolution so that my modern audience could learn all there is to know about the meaning behind everything within their digital landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Classical Meets Chronically Online<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gallery shows a few things you\u2019ll notice immediately:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A \u201cPerfect Speaker Checklist\u201d that&#8217;s meant to feel like it was taken straight from my notebook. It was.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A timeline of rhetorical figures that jumps from BCE philosophers to 1997 internet magnum opera.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A rhetorical triangle labeled \u201cUsing Tinder.\u201d <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Socrates urging you to \u201cQuestion everything, fools.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And some dude in a toga.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ALso Man Ray ??? for some reason.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>None of that is random, I tell you. It\u2019s deliberate tonal hybridity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re so welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rhetoric has always been about adapting to its medium. So, I let the visuals mimic modern meme culture, influencer aesthetics, and algorithm-era absurdity while still grounding the crux of the content in real scholarship (yes, the bibliographies are very real. I&#8217;m busting my ass over it, so please read this mamaluke once it&#8217;s complete).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"736\" class=\"wp-image-69\" style=\"width: 150px\" src=\"http:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/12e75ef2f4fb159ff07ef36f45128ca4.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/12e75ef2f4fb159ff07ef36f45128ca4.jpg 736w, https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/12e75ef2f4fb159ff07ef36f45128ca4-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/12e75ef2f4fb159ff07ef36f45128ca4-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Design as Argument<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every design choice in the Gallery argues something, and I do hope that pokes through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Handwritten notes \u2192 rhetoric is human, as are we.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Selfie-stick rhetorician \u2192 rhetoric adapts as time does.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ethos\/Pathos\/Logos triangle \u2192 theory travels, found everywhere and applied to any situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m especially proud of the way the illustrations break up heavier theoretical sections, which will be clear once the book is released. Classical rhetoric can feel heavy, and with modern attention spans showing up to the attention span competition, only to realize their opponent is a piece of sheetrock, I chose to visually interrupt it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Humor lowers resistance to learning. Once you\u2019re chuckling, you\u2019re listening. Or, at the very least, you&#8217;re acknowledging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s rhetoric, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s Coming Next<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This book is still in progress, and at the moment, there is no specific timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next major section dives into an ongoing research study of mine on how pathos-heavy content spreads faster through algorithms than logos-driven content, and just how that dynamic shapes what we believe online, amplify and share with others, and even choose to monetize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spoiler: it\u2019s not accidental. All of those sob-stories and ragebait are meticulously placed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyhoo, if you haven\u2019t checked out the Gallery yet, go crazy, go stupid, and explore it to your heart&#8217;s content. Tell me which visual made you pause, chortle, or add me to your Death Note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some traditions deserve to evolve. This is just what I felt in my soul was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peace &#8216;n luv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ps. That&#8217;s it. That&#8217;s the announcement. No extra memes to force this announcement to be funnier, which would just be me manipulating you with pathos-driven content. Couldn&#8217;t be me. Y&#8217;all stay safe out there though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"736\" class=\"wp-image-71\" style=\"width: 150px\" src=\"http:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/5ccf15ee9092ee4fb5fd06aa4fa88b69.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/5ccf15ee9092ee4fb5fd06aa4fa88b69.jpg 736w, https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/5ccf15ee9092ee4fb5fd06aa4fa88b69-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7040\/2026\/02\/5ccf15ee9092ee4fb5fd06aa4fa88b69-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve poked around the rest of this site recently, you might\u2019ve noticed something new. &#8220;But what, pray tell, are you barking about?&#8221; you might be asking. There\u2019s now a Gallery Page featuring visual snippets from my book-in-progress, Scrolls &amp; Screens: An Odyssey Through the Ages of Rhetoric. Yeah, that&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/2026\/02\/17\/why-soc-has-laser-eyes\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7383,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[30,35,32,37,34,36,31,29,33],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-and","tag-aristotle","tag-book","tag-gallery","tag-plato","tag-rhetorical-theory","tag-screens","tag-scrolls","tag-socrates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7383"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}