Please read or view/read at least four of these links, and write a comment on this post where you respond to one of the links. Use a quote from the material in the link somewhere in your response, but give me your ideas and interpretations on this subject, please. Make it your own.
Reading and surfing is not just about finding and regurgitating information. It's about interpreting it and giving it meaning and application in our own existence and in our own communities. Yes, information is everywhere and knowledge is at our fingertips. Yet there are no shortcuts to wisdom. You have to put in the work, the time, and the thought. I truly hope you understand this notion deeply, and strive to take your work and yourself seriously.
Your thoughts and ideas matter. Your creative actions matter, and every chance to write is a chance to write well.
I look forward to your responses. Remember, just respond in the Comments section of this post so all our responses are in one place and we can see what everyone is thinking.
Sincerely,
Mike Lohre
7 Links to follow, and our food for thought:
Lavabits is an e-mail service that offered privacy, but is now in a fight with our government.http://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/100000002488802/a-conversation-with-lavabits-founder.html
This is a classic irony. James Clapper, the Director of National Intellegence at the NSA, will lead the inquiry into his own agency's abuses and lies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/13/james-clapper_n_3748431.html
And here's an editorial calling for Clapper to be fired.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2013/06/fire_dni_james_clapper_he_lied_to_congress_about_nsa_surveillance.html
Comedian Louis C.K. on cell phones. Warning: there is some crass language in this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HbYScltf1c
This one got over 25 million hits on You Tube and was made by a young woman just trying to illustrate the distractions in tech life. It's called "I Forget My Phone"
http://youtu.be/OINa46HeWg8
This video is from Rap News, out of Australia. The same guy plays all the characters and two guys compose the lyrics, which take on a lot of alternative ideas on the internet and politics. Some of the language and gestures are crass, so be warned.
http://youtu.be/o66FUc61MvU
Finally, from OSU's student newspaper The Lantern.
http://thelantern.com/2013/10/commentary-kindness-human-interaction-lost-technology/
P.S.
Notice the style of this content. This the New York Times, and is a pretty remarkable example of the way composition is being changed by the internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/13/russia/?ref=global-home
The thing that was the most intriguing to me when looking through these links was the fact that James Clapper was put in charge to head the investigation of offencess that he himself was resposible for. The fact that this actually occured in the government is a joke and quite frankly embarrising. Putting a man in charge of an investigation of something he did makes no sence, after they found James Clapper to be guilty of certain crimes against the american public he should have been punished not rewarded. This concept you think would be a simple one to grasp, unfortunetly for our current government they cant understand that if someone does something they shouldnt do then their should be consequences for that. Not only did James Clapper spy on Americans through the use of technology but the man was directly asked by congress if he did or knew about the spying of Americans and he lied andsaid he had no knowledge of this. so not only is he a gulty spy but also a liar. I guess the next step is bring Ted Bundy back from the dead to head the investigation on his own murders. Obviously that would be a big leap from James Clapper, but essentially its the same. The fact that we let someone head the investigation of their own crimes is downright embarrising and aggrivating. James Clapper should have been punished for what he did not rewarded.
ReplyDeleteI saw the YouTube video "I Forgot My Phone" I can sympathize with her feelings which were displayed by her emotions. I cant quote anything because of the lack of dialogue but its obvious the message that is portrayed.
ReplyDeleteWe are a country of constant technology which is consuming our lives.
I babysit two girls that are in the fourth and fifth grade. Ive been babysitting them for 7 years now. When ever I come over to hang out they are constantly on their electronics and it makes me upset. I feel like I cant talk to them without them having a screen in their face.
This is why I have a rule that when im babysitting there is to be no use of electronics whatsoever unless we are watching a movie together.
I see myself at fault too. I spent hours on Netflix and infront of a screen. And it kills me that it seems like the only way to be entertained and we get bored so easily.
I have a love/hate relationship with electronics...
One thing that I found interesting in my reading was in the Rap News video. In one of his rants he was talking about if surveillance was was present in past historical uprisings. One fact that many people don't realize is that in our country's early conception, our founding fathers were committing treason and were labeled as terrorists. Who knows what would have happened to the future of this country or even the world if big thinkers like these were silenced. In the interview on the Conan talk show I feel that the comedian Louis C.K. really opened my eyes to the idea and science behind why we are so involved in technology in the first place. I could not agree with him more, I see countless people texting and driving and feel that it is because of that emptiness. As a teenager I can relate to this because I notice how we can sometimes be distracted. We have an empty void and a need to feel connected to the outside world. I think our obsession with technology has grown into an obsession and when we become disconnected we do not know how to cope with the separation. As a society, we are losing valuable communication and basic interaction skills and it is showing significantly (This is supported in the youtube video "I Forgot My Phone"). In it, the video shows everyday teenagers interacting, ineffectively, with other youths, while doing everyday activities. As Louis CK explained, we need to return to the basics in communication learning and we can start by simply being respectful and looking people in the eyes.
ReplyDeleteI read the article from the Lantern, Ohio State's student newspaper. I think what stood out most to me was near the introduction when the article mentions how people are becoming less interactive and often avoid contact with strangers. The article reads, "We lose the skills of conversation by becoming dependent on texting and friendships fall through in the shuffle of missed or ignored messages." This stood out to me because of how much I completely agree with this idea. I know the majority of my generation resorts to texting people rather than a call or meet up face to face because it is easier and quicker. This example, reflects the similar point the article makes in that we, as human beings in this digital age, are losing our basic "human interaction".
ReplyDeleteI found it also effective how the author relates their past experiences at the bank to have more "conversation" and "the niceties" that nowadays common public interactions lack.
Overall, I wholeheartedly believe that real, meaningful conversation and socialization between people is important for us. I do not know how I would make new friends and get to know new people in general without my ability to listen and make conversation with others.
"We don't know who to trust. Can we trust Microsoft, Semantic, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, Google?...How far are they willing to go or have they been forced to go to weaken their products so that the government can conduct surveillance?" This quote comes from Ladar Levison, the founder of the secure e-service Lavabit's. This eye opening conversation the New York Times had with Levison truly expressed the lack of privacy we have. Levison built this business from nothing, on the basis of holding privacy to higher standard. Unfortunately, the government intervened in his business because of the actions taken by Edward Snowden,a user of Lavabit's. As a result, Levison had to terminate his business. People need to be able to have their privacy. Someones business should be kept to their own knowledge, not some overpowering bully who essentially pulls the information out. Although the release of classified NSA files was undoubtedly unacceptable, I believe people needed to know that privacy comes at a price, literally. Levison expresses this in the quote I referenced. Facebook, Google, and Yahoo are some of the most common search engine/websites that I personally use. It is without a doubt nerve racking to know that there is no privacy throughout these domains...I know I have nothing to hide, but still, knowing that you may be being watched or monitored is definitely unsettling. This also makes me realize that there is no true freedom. The governments actions make it seem as if the basis on which this country was founded is terribly skewed. If your writing, conversations, or actions are always being monitored, then where is the freedom?
ReplyDelete"In fact, part of me worries my generation will be the last to be able to hold conversation, make eye contact and truly listen when someone is talking to them, because we’re the last generation that had to bother." I read the ohio state newspaper link and found this quote very interesting. i agree when this student says our generation is losing our conversation skills. Today in our generation, we depend on the internet for communication which eliminates face to face contact. This is even affecting how business is done. Unlike a text or phone call, face to face communication is more meaningful to me and i feel like we are able to accomplish whatever we need to do a lot better in person vs through the internet. I predict that as technology continues to advance, we will continue to lose face to face communication.
ReplyDeleteIn the article about James Clapper Obama says "We’re forming a high-level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies," he said, adding that the group would "consider how we can maintain the trust of the people, how we can make sure that there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used.""We’re forming a high-level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies," he said, adding that the group would "consider how we can maintain the trust of the people, how we can make sure that there absolutely is no abuse in terms of how these surveillance technologies are used." This makes me wonder about how they are just now forming a group to make sure that we arent being spyed on without our knowledge or consent. It makes me very angry to know that there in a very good possibly that somewhere out there someone has probably read my emails without me knowing. But also when reading to know that Clapper, a man who lied about the NSA collecting data saying they didnt when they actaully do is to form this group to oversee that stuff like this doesnt happen scares me. It makes me not want to trust anything that the group will say because he has lied once who is to say he wont lie again. What gives me some trust is that he will not be choosing the members of the group, that is for the White House to decide.
ReplyDeleteI found the article by Ohio State, The Lantern, to be most interesting. Throughout the article it discussed how our generation is becoming less and less social with others. We depend so much on technology. It is sad that often many people avoid eye contact or a simple conversation with another human. In the article the following quote stuck out to me.
ReplyDelete"While widely disputed and misattributed, the simple phrase, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle,” rings a truth that should be heard around the world. As you never know what kind of impact you’re capable of having on a stranger, no matter how insignificant your interaction may seem, focus on being friendly and making a good impression to everyone you meet."
This stuck out to me because it is true, you never know what kind of day someone is having and a simple hello may make their day ten times better. We should not lose face to face contact, and all though we slowly are losing it to technology, face to face conversations are more powerful. There is nothing we can do to stop the advancement of technology nor do many people want to, but we should try to continue the past traditions and not lose sight of them.
The article that stood out the most to me was the article from The Lantern. The article talk about how the current generation of young adults is probably the last generation to know how to hold a conversation or make eye contact. We are the last generation because early on in our lives we had to learn these basic skills because technology was not anywhere near as advanced as it is now. Younger generations are not learning these basis skills because they just learn using the new technological ways. New technologies are generally developed to create ease and improve efficiency. We often only see the pros in new technology and not the cons. The major con is that we are losing our ability to communicate because we are so dependent on alternate forms for communication.
ReplyDelete"We are guilty of avoiding eye contact with friends and strangers alike and feigning deafness when shop and restaurant owners ask how we’re doing. We lose the skills of conversation by becoming dependent on texting and friendships fall through in the shuffle of missed or ignored messages."
This really struck me because of how true it was. I work in a very customer based environment (well completely customer based... Guest Relations) at the zoo. I always try to be friendly with my customers because I know how we are dependent on them in the business. It always surprises me how little people listen to you when you are talking in a conversation. When a customer comes up to me I always say "Hi there. How can I help you?" and it is very frustrating when they reply "Good. Now give me..." They can't even listen to a simple question. They really don't care what people have to say. People just want to avoid as much communication with people they don't know as possible and that is very sad... It'd be nice if people cared about the real people that they are physically talking to and not just those inside their phone. That should change.
I re watched the interview with Ladar Levison. I enjoyed his interview a lot because "We know that those companies are working for our government. We know that they get vast amounts of money from our government, and the question is how far are they going or how far they have gone." I really think that this quote raises a fair question. These massive companies that we all use in our day to day lives are giving a significant amount of our personal information to the government without our consent. And the real question is, how much of that information does the government have? I think that Ladar Levison is truly an american hero. He stood up for what he believed in even though it wasn't the easy choice. And that's the reason that we should all look up to and admire his actions regardless if we agree with them.
ReplyDeleteIn the YouTube video of "I Forget My Phone", it shows how technology, mostly phones have sort of taken control of our everyday lives. We use them to do everything, from talking to friends, playing games, for entertainment, paying bills, and more. We don't really acknowledge our surroundings when this happens. I see a lot of the younger generation having phones or even iPads to play on today and it saddens me how they don't go out and play with each other, but sit inside on a nice day. I had also seen on the news about a girl texting and walking at the same time that fell into a hole because she wasn't watching where she was walking. It brings up the question of how valuable that text is to you, like texting and driving. I think when we're socially interacting with our friends at parties or just hanging out, we should use technology as less as possible, so we can enjoy what's actually in front of us, rather then something that can be seen later on our phones.
ReplyDeleteI watched the video "I Forgot My Phone" and I completely agree with how that girl is feeling. It's like no matter where you go you cannot escape technology. While I was watching this I was going back and forth. Yes people should know when to put their phones down but there are also times where we want to have them out to capture memories like birthdays and events. So to me it's a little controversial yes we want them, at the same time it's ruining our society. Although this movie clip was mainly silent, there's no dialogue to quote. After watching this movie, it's very clear that technology is becoming a problem.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Louis CK video about how he hates cell phones. He does a great job of incorporating ideas about society into his comedy and brutally honest truths about us as human beings. "Kids are mean because they're trying it out. They write 'you're fat' and they think 'that was fun, I liked that'". The kids don't feel any empathy because they can't see the person's face they are insulting. It's unfortunate that this is the generation we are starting to raise. I find it crazy when I see little kids in elementary school with iPhones. They are not learning any social skills that are essential for life.
ReplyDeleteThe article that stood out the most to me was the Lantern. Throughout this article it talked about the importance of face to face communication and how a barrier through text messaging and such is creating a problem. The one thing that stood out the most to me was when the author Caitlin Essig said " In fact, part of me worries my generation will be the last to be able to hold a conversation, make eye contact and truly listen when someone is talking to them, because we’re the last generation that had to bother". I completely agree with this statement because most of our generation is already transforming to texting versus meeting face to face and talking. I also feel I fall into this category sometimes too because it is easier to send a text or a phone call rather then having to drive somewhere to meet up to talk.
ReplyDeleteThis article was important to me because like many others I do need to work on communicating better with others face to face rather than hiding behind your cellphone. Not only is this important in every day to day life but also I'm your workplace like Caitlin discussed in the article. It's not a fact of your too scared to meet up in person and talk, it's the fact that our generation and generations to come are just too lazy to have that face to face communication when you can shoot someone a text in 2 minutes.