Digitalization is always advancing whereas the population is starting to get lethargic by using the digital devices. Where as in the past, most people would have to work and spend their time walking all over the land to get the information that is available today. There are automobiles and the internet that people can access to, which can help them find the location that they want or need and that it is easier. As the digitalization progresses faster, people have started to forget the time and strength wasted ways, which are the old ways of what people do in their daily lives. Digital representative devices are starting to lose the traditionalism that we have by replacing it with new dominance and brainwashing us with the word "efficiency".
Arguments:
Digital representative devices have replaced the old ways of doing a lot of the activities and leading people to use less and becoming lazy. Using instant messengers such as Aim, Skype, and MSN to communicate are wonderful programs that allow people to speak to each other without being with together with each other. However, that prevents the words that people wish to speak to be as truthfully and with feelings as possible. The messenger programs are similar to walls, or "mediums" (Yu Xi) that allow people to not face the problems or what their instant reactions would be if they are talking with that person face to face. For example, through using a messenger, I can not be absolute sure if there was anything wrong with the person that I am chatting with. And even if they do have something wrong, that person can tell me that there is nothing Comparing to that, if I am with that person and talking to s/he, I can detect if there might be something wrong from her/his mood and facial expressions.
The digital lets ourselves to do what we want; but can suppress our feelings if we want to or can be that we say what we are thinking but the person on the other side can end up interpreting differently. Using those digital may avoid us trouble but it can end up with additional trouble if we say words differently than what we are blocking. A lot of the teens say different statements unlike what they are actually thinking because maybe they do not want to face the truth. I think it is better to pass through these mediums that we have and show more honesty out into the world, rather than hiding. It should be a better choice to talk with that person in reality and facing those problems because there are more interactions and communications with gestures, expressions and the feelings from our voices.
Digital representative devices are isolating people physically in their room, creating a sense of idleness around them and making our bodies weaker. In the videos that Andy Synder’s classes have created where a camera is set in front of the student to record how they are expressing as they are sitting in front of their camera. One point that I notice in a lot of their videos are the inactive actions and their faces shown as bored expressions. This shows how a lot of the teens, in this example, that even though we may be enjoying it in the inside, it may not show it on the outside. To use a computer, one must sit on a chair and looked at the screen constantly to get the information that one needs. When using a computer, people can detach themselves from the physical world, making their outward appearance to be discrete from what they are really doing. The programs and functions in the computer have filled the enjoyment into their mind, but due to the period of isolating themselves, their bodies have led to inactivity, making them weaker. In the past, even when computers and other technologies have started producing, a lot of the peoples’ works are still needed to be done with their strength and hands. However, now that the technology equipments have progress, many people’s physical activities have decreased. This suggested that, digital life can give us entertainment in our mind but it slowly destroys our bodies.
Television is much more fun to watch than reading a book. Our minds are very bored right now and it is just the right time to watch television. We use the remote controller, then sit down on the couch, turn on the television and change to a channel where we can watch a show that is interesting. We sit there for the whole show, thinking that it is funny but I don’t think a lot of us do actually get up from their seat to do something else. To stretch themselves before they numb their body parts. In a lot of the shows, people would sit in front of their televisions all day and do nothing but stared at the screen. We could have done something else but they don’t which I think the reason is being that our laziness has build and chose not to do it. Sometimes we want to be distracted from the reality and are comfortable in front of the television. However, television makes us dumber because not a lot of us think about the meaning behind the shows (if the director did intend on putting any). “Television is the biggest brainwash, I will say” Bao Lin said, when I asked her about why people sit in front of the television and not do any other things. We watch television because we are mesmerized with what’s on the screen, causing us to not move our bodies. Similar to sitting in front of a computer, we start losing our physical build because not a lot of us exercise when watching television. Our minds have been led to “sit and relax” than “work hard”.
Internet is faster than reading through a book. People want to get the information fast and through internet, resource is convenient. However, reading in a library, one can’t use a find button and search for what they want or Google. Websites such as Google, and yahoo has enormous amount of information that other people in the world has contributed it. A lot of us, especially the teenagers go to Google to find the information because it saves time. Internet is efficient to surf on the web to get all the information and it is faster and less expensive than travelling there to find it ourselves. Therefore, people want their lives to be easier and resourceful by using the digital available to them.
Digital representative devices have lessen each generations writing skills and language skills. I think it is also the big corporations and media’s fault because they have created these digital and brainwashing us with lovely ads to show how useful it is when it is only causing our most basic skills to decline. In school, we need to write essays with effort that the grammar and spellings are correct. Even though we are still using our pencils and pens, we are starting to change into using keyboard and mouse to do our writing. We are using keyboards to type because we think it is faster and programs such as Microsoft Word help us lessen our work by providing us the dictionary and spell checking. Technology has already become a part of our body parts.
This connects to Feed, where it is an allegory about modern teenagers whose minds have been taken over by the media and the digital. The Feed, a transmitter that has been placed in their brain was a very good entertainment device for them; they can chat with others on the Feed and no more need to use your fingers to type, you can just order your supplies and needs from your Feed. The teenagers basically have the Feed to do everything for them (with money and power). If they need to write, the Feed would get write for them. However, as I read on, the teenagers are not doing the tasks, like writing, themselves, but the Feed are. They are turning dumb because the Feed that is doing all the work for them. They are being consumed by the Feed and I think they are more of the guinea pigs that are an huge experiment (for the big corporations and the media) than they controlling Feed since they, or more like their parents that have bought the Feed for them. The teenagers in the book don't need to fix everything on the paper they would write unlike the past where the people have to memorize more of the grammar and vocabularies.
Then texting came out, and others such as blogs, we can shorten the words of how we write them. For example, "what" can be turned into "wat" and "lol",and "rofl". This connects to how Feed is because the teenagers there would say "shit", "brag", "mal", and other slang words rather than the actual words. In a way I think it is because we want to get through the conversation faster because we have to wait for their responses then write our responses. Unlike talking with each other face to face, words just pour out faster than the texting machine can go. This makes us lose what the school is trying to teach us, to write sophisticated and be a professional. Our manners in talking has lessen because of the way we learn from each other (depends who we are learning it from); and when popular sayings come, we begin to say it, which replaces what is actually the appropriate way to say it. I think because of that, our behavior and our standing in the society has changed because the adults are not trusting the younger ones with how our language skills and writing skills are going toward. Now, to prove ourselves, we need to work harder or the future for the younger generations wouldn't be great.
Like in Wall-E, we are being controlled and brainwashed by the Digital Representative Digitals. In Wall-E, Earth has become a trash land and machines were build to fix the mess, which was the Wall-Es. But all the humans have boarded on a spaceship where even though a human pilot is piloting it, actually, it is a robot that is doing all the work. The humans on the ship was drawn as fat people who are always sitting on the chair. Even though there is a pool and a gym, no one noticed it because the technology has everything in front of them so they do not need to move around. This connects to how we are, in reality because we have all the information that we needed from the computer and we sit there, let them find it and we have it. We are walking less because there are automobiles to bring us there and if robots were built and everybody has them, I think it will be like Wall-E. In the past, we walk almost everyday to get information and we are living shorter now because we are not exercising as much as we would in the past. We have to work to get everything and build it by our hands. Now that we have technology to do it for us, we just need to sit back. I think the trash land in Wall-E are connected to real life because we are becoming trash as well since we are not using the resources, or having any big solutions to fix it.
In Feed, the Feed is the one brainwashing us because whenever they want or think about something, the Feed ads pops up, and tells them which one is a good product. But think about it, we build the Feed but now it is the Feed that is controlling us. The technology is telling us which are better rather than having us see the actual merchandise. We order it online, expecting that it will be great but once we get it and used it, we start getting bored. Like shopping for food, I would see my mom look over the vegetables and fruits for a long time before deciding. She will walk here and there, wondering what would be good. But in Feed, we are not physically there to look at the product, and with the comparing price and functions button, we can see which is better than which. Similar to Titus in the end, he was buying random things or of the same color pants in a fast speed, which shows when our minds are in a not calm state, we tend to do, for example like Titus or shopping like crazy, which helps profit others, such as the big corporations. For rich people like Titus, they don't really care about what they are buying rather than thinking whether it is cool or not. Digital helps us to become efficient in buying or trading objects with each other but it is controlling our point of view. This shows how digital persuades us with proficiency as well as in dominating what we can do.
Connections:
[Under Construction - sort of]
OPV:
In the “Everything bad is good for you” excerpt, Steven Johnson said that watching television raises your emotional IQ, which helps you in reality to interpret others expressions and emotions. However, television still brainwashes us with advertisements and the shows that they have created doesn’t mean that it is real. It can be a lie, like a lot of the advertisements are if we think deeper into it. We can be watching the show to learn about expressions from the people but the people in the shows are actors for most of the genre in the entertainment world. This demonstrates how a lot of the shows that we believed in a lie created base on people who act, being directed by people who imagined.
Everybody wish their lives would be easier, including me so people tried to advance every type of technology and digital devices as fast as possible. We still learn our history but because we don’t want to waste out time, we use what’s new and cool. We remember only some details of what’s in the traditional way because digital has replaced it with their nice images and attraction for us to follow them. Therefore, I think it is best to notice what we are forgetting about. What the people in the past have created for us, we should still remember about rather than throwing them away because we want “efficient” to be in our lives. Happy doesn’t always mean easy.
Conclusion:
We are being "ignorant" (Andy S.) and we are just looking at the things on the surface and what's in front of us. We looked forward to the future but we have forgotten whats in the past. We use whats efficient to replace what's old, and we replace whats new with whats boring. These digital representative devices that we use let us forget a lot of our past, pushes us to use our lives to go faster, convenient and efficient.
Work Cited: [Under Construction]
Feed
Everything bad is good for you
Andy Snyder's blog
Wall-E
Bao Lin
Yu Xi
Jia min,
ReplyDeleteYou have alot of arguments too, and the transitions between your paragraphs are great. I thought the signifance makes you think. I agreed with it.
The evidence is well organized. Add a little more to the opposing point of view. What you have so far to rebute it is good.
I would say add on to connections but you'll probably do that anyways. You have alot of interestin points. I'm interested in seeing how it'll look like when your done with all the editing.