WP2 Statement of Purpose

Our world is obviously changing. Somewhat for the better, somewhat for the worse. There are many ways to cope with the changes our generation faces. Sure we could be paranoid and base every action of our lives around helping the planet be a "better, safer place." At the same time, we could go on living our lives as we always have, which ultimately probably wouldn't have a large scale effect on the planet in all likelihood. Should we fuse the two of being environmentalist and continuing on our lives as normal together, we may get a cartoon something like this:
This "Calvin and Hobbs" cartoon depicts Calvin trick or treating. Of course this is a perfectly normal occurrence for any young boy to take part in. Artist Bill Watterson takes it for a turn in the second panel after the homeowner asks what Calvin is dressed as. Calvin responds by proclaiming himself as "another resource consuming kid..." What is interesting is the way Watterson presents this. Surely graphs and charts like the one below could depict a very similar idea on the topic of population rise, so why go through the effort of drawing a picture to go along with it?

Surely, the above graph is just as apparent of our global issues as the comic, but the cartoon is able to connect with us on a more of a personal level and is more appealing is because of its ability to hit our senses in a way that make us more likely to connect with the message. In fact the graph really is more informational and gives us more specific numbers based on Census Reports. Even with the more generalized approach, the cartoon makes more sense as a means of conveying a message due to the way people view comics over statistics. Think about one thing, how often do people sit down and read statistics, compared to reading comics? Americans specifically grow up reading cartoons. The Sunday Morning Comics are as American as baseball and apple pie. If there is one way to put an idea across to the general public of the United States, put it into a four panel storyline with pictures and have a punchline at the end. If it's really funny or portrays a good point, cubical rats will have the cut out on their bulletin boards for months.