After camping, I realize how much we rely on technology. We are almost helpless without it. Its a scary thought to think that we are getting more and more dependent on technology for a few reasons. Technology glitches, technology is dependent on electricity (at this time) and technology has the potential to be stronger than us.
Technology glitches. I was on facebook today and it was not working nearly as well as I wanted it to be. It kept freezing and shutting down and it was not allowing me to do anything I wanted to. Why is this such a problem? In the future we may depend on technology to keep us alive. The world may be so inhabitable to humans that we'll need technology to feed us and give us fresh air. We may have thousands of nanobots within our skin and organs keeping us healthy. The technology we have now is deadly already. A car goes off the road, an airplane falls from the sky and other technologies kill people every day. This is completely different and most likely less deadly than technology being within us. This may mean that a glitch means death...an electric surge means heart attack or lung failure. We could have new disease that are emailed to nanobots in our system or emailed to our computer that can send a signal to our nanobots. Its a scary thought to be completely depended on something that was made by human hands.
Technology is dependent on electricity. In order for us to depend on technology, we need to develop a new way of energy use. We can't use technology that needs batteries or electricity. We can't rely on something that will die before us definitely if that is inside us. Those of lower socioeconomic class may not have the money to upkeep the nanobots in their system and without an independence of electricity, the nanobots will need continuous upkeep.
Technology has the potential to become stronger than us. There are robots that adapt. There are robots that learn from interactions. There are robots that can hear, see and feel. These are all just steps away from overcoming humans. A robot that has the senses of humans could be created to have faster reflexes and a stronger core. This robot alone would be able to take out entire troops of people. What if a world like the Terminator really started to develop? Would we be able to stop the progression? Robots may develop the skills to reproduce themselves. At that point, it would be nearly impossible to stop them. Especially if we have developed robots with an independence of electricity. Our own development may be our destruction.
Camping was an eye opener. I feel as though I would be able to live without technology, but the majority of the people I was with were completely helpless without it. Is this the direction we want to see our species go?
Monday, May 25, 2009
Where am I?
Its an interesting question to ask. At first its really simple: I'm sitting in my room. The problem with that answer is it says very little about where I truly am, so a better answer would be this:
I am sitting in my room. Its located on Western Washington University's Campus in Bellingham, WA.
Still this answer is hardly adequate. Can you find me if you left where you are now? This gets us to another pressing point; have you not already found me if you are reading this?
We are in multiple locations at all times. We are in multiple physical, digital and emotional locations at all times. For instance, back to the physical, I am in my room, on my bed, in the USA, on Earth or on Western's Campus. Emotionally my mind is no where near my room...I'm thinking about my date, my day, the fact that my feet hurt, school, work, my future and my friends. Digitally I'm on the internet so I'm on my blog, on facebook, on msn and I'm on Western's website.
Where am I? I really can't answer that. This seemingly easy question turns into an extremely ambiguous unanswerable question.
Where am I turns into a question of my identity, location, personality and mind packed into three words. If I told you everything on my mind, where I am physically located and the digital worlds I am involved with, you would know every aspect of my life.
We are more than just "where are you," "how are you," "where you from" and "what's up." Its about time we expanded our question database to include more in-depth or specific ideas behind them.
I am sitting in my room. Its located on Western Washington University's Campus in Bellingham, WA.
Still this answer is hardly adequate. Can you find me if you left where you are now? This gets us to another pressing point; have you not already found me if you are reading this?
We are in multiple locations at all times. We are in multiple physical, digital and emotional locations at all times. For instance, back to the physical, I am in my room, on my bed, in the USA, on Earth or on Western's Campus. Emotionally my mind is no where near my room...I'm thinking about my date, my day, the fact that my feet hurt, school, work, my future and my friends. Digitally I'm on the internet so I'm on my blog, on facebook, on msn and I'm on Western's website.
Where am I? I really can't answer that. This seemingly easy question turns into an extremely ambiguous unanswerable question.
Where am I turns into a question of my identity, location, personality and mind packed into three words. If I told you everything on my mind, where I am physically located and the digital worlds I am involved with, you would know every aspect of my life.
We are more than just "where are you," "how are you," "where you from" and "what's up." Its about time we expanded our question database to include more in-depth or specific ideas behind them.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Filth
The Filth is, oddly, one of the hardest books to post an entry about. As of where I am at in the story, it is extremely confusing. There is one thing that I could talk about though: the use of innocents as a means of making the "deviant" seem more so. It is more prevalent in the beginning of the graphic novel than throughout it, but there are a few examples. The novel starts with an innocent conversation about how bad smoking is. As the image pans out, the characters are talking about smoking as they are about to murder someone. They pit this "issue" against a serious and gruesome offense.
The next example is on the next page. Greg is buying porn in a small shop. As he is buying the porn, there are two school girls within feet of him. It is pitting the essence of purity against something thought of as gross and immoral. This battle of innonence continues a few pages later when Greg is picking his nose and eating it. Picking his nose is against all social norms and disgusting. The picture pans out a little and there appear to be Mickey Mouse ears on his head. This could mean a lot more than just pitting innocents against the grotesque, but I may get into that in a different post. The last two examples in the beginning are right as Greg is getting on the bus and once he is home. Greg is holding his porn as he steps on the bus. An elderly lady is just stepping off the bus as he waits. This evokes a sense of guilt in the reader. You know he has the porn and he's so close to an "innocent old woman" (innocent solely because we veiw the elderly as innocent). Once Greg is home, we meet his companion Tony. Tony is a cat. He is an elderly cat and Greg loves him with all his heart. Tony starts masturbating with the cat just feet away from him. This is the last obvious example of combining innocents with deviance. All of these make the deviant behaviors seem more dirty and uncomfortable.
The Filth is an entire book full of confusion and art. It is graphically amazing and full of interesting concepts and texts. I find it intriguing that sex is so prominant in the novel. As you read, there is sex on nearly every page. Is this the world we live in? America is extremely sexual as well as sexually stunted. We talk about sex and seem to see sex a lot, but we are afraid of nudity. Even sex education classes, students look at drawings of male and female genatalia because supposedly anything else is porn. America has a fucked up concept of porn. Anything about the human body is porn. We have movies where every few seconds a person is blown to pieces by a bomb, but once a movie has full frontal male nudity it is nearly pornographic. America's concepts of porn and its embarassment by nudity creates this country of people afraid of their own body. This is where The Filth is different. Although it pushes the boundaries between porn and art, it is not afraid to go there. The interesting thing though is that The Filth still does not show full frontal nudity. On some pages it even sensors the genatalia of the person. Even novels pushing the boundaries are trapped in our nude-hating society.
The next example is on the next page. Greg is buying porn in a small shop. As he is buying the porn, there are two school girls within feet of him. It is pitting the essence of purity against something thought of as gross and immoral. This battle of innonence continues a few pages later when Greg is picking his nose and eating it. Picking his nose is against all social norms and disgusting. The picture pans out a little and there appear to be Mickey Mouse ears on his head. This could mean a lot more than just pitting innocents against the grotesque, but I may get into that in a different post. The last two examples in the beginning are right as Greg is getting on the bus and once he is home. Greg is holding his porn as he steps on the bus. An elderly lady is just stepping off the bus as he waits. This evokes a sense of guilt in the reader. You know he has the porn and he's so close to an "innocent old woman" (innocent solely because we veiw the elderly as innocent). Once Greg is home, we meet his companion Tony. Tony is a cat. He is an elderly cat and Greg loves him with all his heart. Tony starts masturbating with the cat just feet away from him. This is the last obvious example of combining innocents with deviance. All of these make the deviant behaviors seem more dirty and uncomfortable.
The Filth is an entire book full of confusion and art. It is graphically amazing and full of interesting concepts and texts. I find it intriguing that sex is so prominant in the novel. As you read, there is sex on nearly every page. Is this the world we live in? America is extremely sexual as well as sexually stunted. We talk about sex and seem to see sex a lot, but we are afraid of nudity. Even sex education classes, students look at drawings of male and female genatalia because supposedly anything else is porn. America has a fucked up concept of porn. Anything about the human body is porn. We have movies where every few seconds a person is blown to pieces by a bomb, but once a movie has full frontal male nudity it is nearly pornographic. America's concepts of porn and its embarassment by nudity creates this country of people afraid of their own body. This is where The Filth is different. Although it pushes the boundaries between porn and art, it is not afraid to go there. The interesting thing though is that The Filth still does not show full frontal nudity. On some pages it even sensors the genatalia of the person. Even novels pushing the boundaries are trapped in our nude-hating society.
Monday, May 11, 2009
A world unlike our own
The Robber Queen's is a book with a reverse world of racism. The beginning of the novel begins with a world of mainly people of color. At one point, Tan-Tan talks about how most people would not tell people if they had any "Euro" within them. It is a world different from our own.
This made me start thinking about racism and our country today. For the most part, all races are equal, but there is still racism in nearly every aspect of our country. There are still white men in the most powerful positions (with the exception of Obama now), most media has mainly white people, the lowest socioeconomic classes are filled with mainly people of color and our textbooks still only incorporate white American history. This is not the worse part thouggh, one of the worst beliefs in America today is that racism is dead because Obama was elected. This is a misconception that only a white person could hold. This is why the world of the Robber Queen is so interesting. I think it would be intriguing to see all the white people in America live as a minority. I think they would learn a lot.
If suddenly there was a shift in racial power, would racism cease to exist? No. Even in the Robber Queen racism is still prevalent. It will be a long while before racism can be fully overcome. We, as humans, love to segregate and create heirarchical systems. Racism will only truly be gone when there is only one race. When all humans have been together long enough that all races mold together if our race is still here that is.
This made me start thinking about racism and our country today. For the most part, all races are equal, but there is still racism in nearly every aspect of our country. There are still white men in the most powerful positions (with the exception of Obama now), most media has mainly white people, the lowest socioeconomic classes are filled with mainly people of color and our textbooks still only incorporate white American history. This is not the worse part thouggh, one of the worst beliefs in America today is that racism is dead because Obama was elected. This is a misconception that only a white person could hold. This is why the world of the Robber Queen is so interesting. I think it would be intriguing to see all the white people in America live as a minority. I think they would learn a lot.
If suddenly there was a shift in racial power, would racism cease to exist? No. Even in the Robber Queen racism is still prevalent. It will be a long while before racism can be fully overcome. We, as humans, love to segregate and create heirarchical systems. Racism will only truly be gone when there is only one race. When all humans have been together long enough that all races mold together if our race is still here that is.
Schools and advertisements
Schools need money, but is it ok to take cooperate sponsorship? The answer is no.
Schools are a safe haven for students. It is sometimes the only place a student can feel comfortable and safe. If a cooperation infiltrates and splatters the school with advertisements, the school becomes just like any other place. Schools are unique and comfortable because there is no advertisements trying to manipulate and influence you. Advertisements are usually gender and stereotype enforcing and that needs to be left out of schools.
Schools are a place for learning and students would not be able to separate advertisements and learning. Because school is one of the most influential parts of students' lives, advertisements would be much harder to ignore. Schools are meant for learning. Students enter the school every morning with the understanding that school is right. School is a source of knowledge and is rarely wrong. This is why advertising would be too influential. Students would take the ad as less of a "you should buy" and more of a "you must buy this product." Schools need to focus on education and development of its students.
Schools are a safe haven for students. It is sometimes the only place a student can feel comfortable and safe. If a cooperation infiltrates and splatters the school with advertisements, the school becomes just like any other place. Schools are unique and comfortable because there is no advertisements trying to manipulate and influence you. Advertisements are usually gender and stereotype enforcing and that needs to be left out of schools.
Schools are a place for learning and students would not be able to separate advertisements and learning. Because school is one of the most influential parts of students' lives, advertisements would be much harder to ignore. Schools are meant for learning. Students enter the school every morning with the understanding that school is right. School is a source of knowledge and is rarely wrong. This is why advertising would be too influential. Students would take the ad as less of a "you should buy" and more of a "you must buy this product." Schools need to focus on education and development of its students.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Picking your friends is a privilege?
The last time class met we had a very intriguing conversation. We were talking about values in friendship. Whether our values were dependent on political beliefs or aesthetic similarities. The option was split between polar opposites and we were to discuss which friend we would more readily become close with: a friend who was politically identical yet aesthetically opposite or vice versa. As the conversation progressed a common theme developed. Most of the students in the class would rather someone politically opposite rather than aesthetically opposite. Most students discussed their wide array of friends from different backgrounds and political interests. They discussed the facts that their friends may have different political interests but that it was not something that was shoved in their face constantly. The argument is that aesthetics are harder to ignore.
For the most part I agreed with the class. I want friends who are similar to me, but political values seemed to be much more important to me than the rest of the class. After thinking about it a little more, I realized that it is because political values effect me much more than the majority of the class. I am a second class citizen. As a Gay male, I have fewer rights than a heterosexual. This is why I value politics. There is no way I could be emotionally close to a person who does not believe in same-sex marriage or adoption rights. This is why picking your friends is a privilege.
I can have friends from all different backgrounds, identities and beliefs, but the moment I hear that they are against Queer Rights they move from friend to acquaintance. This is the only political belief that has that much of an effect. No other value directly effects me personally, so I am not fully invested. This is why the class could have friends with all beliefs. They can separate themselves from their political beliefs. They do not have to worry every day if they will be treated equally in the future. They do not have to worry that if their friends don't believe in Queer Rights that maybe their friends believe that being Queer is a choice. This is probably the same for a woman who has had to have an abortion or a student with immigrant parents. If a woman has had an abortion, it is very unlikely that she would be able to be friends with someone who is totally against abortion. It becomes less of a political belief and more of a personal attack.
Aesthetics are more about comfort. You can be yourself and not worry about your friends thinking you are weird if you have similar aesthetics. This comfort is a primary value for friendship. I agree it is extremely important to feel comfortable around your friends. Friends that are opposite you aesthetically are much harder to feel comfortable around. It is not impossible though. It is all about understanding. If you open your mind and really pay attention, you can understand everything about a person. They may be different but once you understand them you can build that comfort. This comfort is impossible to create if my friend does not believe in Queer Rights. I will be uncomfortable no matter how hard I try. This is why politics are much more important to a minority. The majority has the privilege of ignoring political difference.
For the most part I agreed with the class. I want friends who are similar to me, but political values seemed to be much more important to me than the rest of the class. After thinking about it a little more, I realized that it is because political values effect me much more than the majority of the class. I am a second class citizen. As a Gay male, I have fewer rights than a heterosexual. This is why I value politics. There is no way I could be emotionally close to a person who does not believe in same-sex marriage or adoption rights. This is why picking your friends is a privilege.
I can have friends from all different backgrounds, identities and beliefs, but the moment I hear that they are against Queer Rights they move from friend to acquaintance. This is the only political belief that has that much of an effect. No other value directly effects me personally, so I am not fully invested. This is why the class could have friends with all beliefs. They can separate themselves from their political beliefs. They do not have to worry every day if they will be treated equally in the future. They do not have to worry that if their friends don't believe in Queer Rights that maybe their friends believe that being Queer is a choice. This is probably the same for a woman who has had to have an abortion or a student with immigrant parents. If a woman has had an abortion, it is very unlikely that she would be able to be friends with someone who is totally against abortion. It becomes less of a political belief and more of a personal attack.
Aesthetics are more about comfort. You can be yourself and not worry about your friends thinking you are weird if you have similar aesthetics. This comfort is a primary value for friendship. I agree it is extremely important to feel comfortable around your friends. Friends that are opposite you aesthetically are much harder to feel comfortable around. It is not impossible though. It is all about understanding. If you open your mind and really pay attention, you can understand everything about a person. They may be different but once you understand them you can build that comfort. This comfort is impossible to create if my friend does not believe in Queer Rights. I will be uncomfortable no matter how hard I try. This is why politics are much more important to a minority. The majority has the privilege of ignoring political difference.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Other Factor and Disney
Watching the propaganda that Disney releases onto the world is an eyeopener. It makes me think a lot about what I'm watching, and it makes me think critically. The last one we watched in class was about the immune system and vaccination. What it was really about was encouraging children to back up the war effort and support efforts to increase weaponry and going to war. It was very blatant to me and the class, but what about the stuff we watch today? We don't think at all about the influences it has over us.
Its not that its not propaganda anymore but that it is harder to see. I was watching the news yesterday and it was talking about the Swine Flu. I agree that the Swine Flu is a scary concept and that it could start a pandemic, but what are the news channels actually trying to do? Scare us. There is a huge debate about the borders and it just so happens that at the same time a possible pandemic breaks from Mexico. Seems intriguing. One of the news stations actually stated that that is "why we need to have strict border patrol." Its not like Mexico came up with the Swine Flu on purpose just to attack America. Is Swine Flu as scary as everyone is making it out to be, or is it a political strategy to shut down the borders?
Fear tactics seems to be the most common form of propaganda. Using fear to create an "other." Its like the defense for keeping Lesbians and Gays out of the military. The argument is that it will destroy the morale within the troops. Why you ask? Not because the troops are homophobic or because Gay people can't fight as well...no...the reason is that the troops will not feel comfortable in the showers. No joke. The main defense against Gays in the military is that they will peep at the other men or women in the shower. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1A-DLhx3Po This is a video of Elaine Donnolly, one of the most influential people in the fight to ensure that gays can't be in the military. This tactic would seem as though there is no way that it would work, but so far America has agreed. It seems as though our generation needs to start thinking critically and look past the fear tactics the media uses. We need to try and think for ourselves.
Its not that its not propaganda anymore but that it is harder to see. I was watching the news yesterday and it was talking about the Swine Flu. I agree that the Swine Flu is a scary concept and that it could start a pandemic, but what are the news channels actually trying to do? Scare us. There is a huge debate about the borders and it just so happens that at the same time a possible pandemic breaks from Mexico. Seems intriguing. One of the news stations actually stated that that is "why we need to have strict border patrol." Its not like Mexico came up with the Swine Flu on purpose just to attack America. Is Swine Flu as scary as everyone is making it out to be, or is it a political strategy to shut down the borders?
Fear tactics seems to be the most common form of propaganda. Using fear to create an "other." Its like the defense for keeping Lesbians and Gays out of the military. The argument is that it will destroy the morale within the troops. Why you ask? Not because the troops are homophobic or because Gay people can't fight as well...no...the reason is that the troops will not feel comfortable in the showers. No joke. The main defense against Gays in the military is that they will peep at the other men or women in the shower. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1A-DLhx3Po This is a video of Elaine Donnolly, one of the most influential people in the fight to ensure that gays can't be in the military. This tactic would seem as though there is no way that it would work, but so far America has agreed. It seems as though our generation needs to start thinking critically and look past the fear tactics the media uses. We need to try and think for ourselves.
Just a Drink
What if we lived in a world where perfection was just a sip away? All you have to do is take one drink and you can change your abilities, appearance or anything you wanted to. Is this possible? What would it do for our world?
Let's explore the possibility first. At the moment, we know that it is impossible. In the future though, it may be. There are so many amazing things right now that are similar, but not as advanced. We have pills and lotions and ointments to better our bodies. If we add some nanotechnology to these, they may turn into the "magical" drink that seems so far fetched. Little machines that could eat away our fat. Nanobots that could boost our immune system and help attack threats to our body. It would be a whole new world.
The fact that it could be possible doesn't necessarily mean it would be good. Its interesting to think what would happen if everyone could be perfect with just a drink. Would it eliminate all our problems and free us from discrimination? Absolutely not. With technology comes more problems. If we had a bunch of tiny little bots within our body, new diseases and problems would arise. If something happened and all our nanobots were to disappear or get destroyed, our body would be weaker than ever. Because we had nanobots doing all of the work since we were born most likely, our body would be completely dependent on the bots to make us healthy. We would surely die without the help of our nanobots.
Discrimination is a another story. It seems that if everyone is perfect, we would all be on the same level. This is where freewill comes in. Those who choose not to be perfect would be harassed or ridiculed simply because they didn't want to fit into the norm. Even in Ribofunk, this issue is touched on when Cassio makes a comment about "hating fatties." He says he doesn't understand why anyone would allow their body to do that when they don't have to.
Those who don't change their body aren't the only ones that would be discriminated against. There would be this hierarchy of who's "more" perfect. In our world, the human race is not capable of living without hierarchy. If everyone of us looked exactly the same, it would come down to personality hierarchy. In Ribofunk, even those who do change their body were in a hierarchy. It was all about who was making your drink. The best drinks had the best and longest lasting effects. Dez talks about the different gangs of people. Each group had unique abilities and strengths, but Dez only cared about the Body Artists. They were the "best" group. They looked perfect and had amazing abilities. We can never escape discrimination.
Perfection is never perfection. No matter what we can do with our body, we will never be considered perfect. No one is at the top of the hierarchy. Although this nanobot booster drinks are plausible, I'm glad I don't live in a world where they're a reality. I don't know if I want to experience the chaos that is sure to accompany these "easy" boosts. Nothing ever comes easy.
Let's explore the possibility first. At the moment, we know that it is impossible. In the future though, it may be. There are so many amazing things right now that are similar, but not as advanced. We have pills and lotions and ointments to better our bodies. If we add some nanotechnology to these, they may turn into the "magical" drink that seems so far fetched. Little machines that could eat away our fat. Nanobots that could boost our immune system and help attack threats to our body. It would be a whole new world.
The fact that it could be possible doesn't necessarily mean it would be good. Its interesting to think what would happen if everyone could be perfect with just a drink. Would it eliminate all our problems and free us from discrimination? Absolutely not. With technology comes more problems. If we had a bunch of tiny little bots within our body, new diseases and problems would arise. If something happened and all our nanobots were to disappear or get destroyed, our body would be weaker than ever. Because we had nanobots doing all of the work since we were born most likely, our body would be completely dependent on the bots to make us healthy. We would surely die without the help of our nanobots.
Discrimination is a another story. It seems that if everyone is perfect, we would all be on the same level. This is where freewill comes in. Those who choose not to be perfect would be harassed or ridiculed simply because they didn't want to fit into the norm. Even in Ribofunk, this issue is touched on when Cassio makes a comment about "hating fatties." He says he doesn't understand why anyone would allow their body to do that when they don't have to.
Those who don't change their body aren't the only ones that would be discriminated against. There would be this hierarchy of who's "more" perfect. In our world, the human race is not capable of living without hierarchy. If everyone of us looked exactly the same, it would come down to personality hierarchy. In Ribofunk, even those who do change their body were in a hierarchy. It was all about who was making your drink. The best drinks had the best and longest lasting effects. Dez talks about the different gangs of people. Each group had unique abilities and strengths, but Dez only cared about the Body Artists. They were the "best" group. They looked perfect and had amazing abilities. We can never escape discrimination.
Perfection is never perfection. No matter what we can do with our body, we will never be considered perfect. No one is at the top of the hierarchy. Although this nanobot booster drinks are plausible, I'm glad I don't live in a world where they're a reality. I don't know if I want to experience the chaos that is sure to accompany these "easy" boosts. Nothing ever comes easy.
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