Blog #5

These blogs are all about being honest, so that's what I'm going to do.  I can 100% say that I would not be able to live in a shack in the woods, by myself, for a year.  Because of my personality and the way I am, it would not be possible.  I am not dependent on people, but I do not like to be by myself.  Don't get me wrong, I CAN be by myself, but I do not enjoy it.  I like to be able to hold conversations or just have the presence of someone with me, we don't even have to talk.  I don't like the feeling of being alone.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I'm sure if I did try this year long challenge I would find out a lot about myself.  I would be able to see that we do not need technology to function.  Or, it could result in a completely different way.  I might realize, Hey! I do love technology and I can't live without it!  And if that's who I am, oh well. 

I hope that the consequences of technology and corporations in the real world do not end up like they did in "Feed".  That would be a shame, because everything was ruined and the people were a waste.  However, there were a lot of similarities between the characters and the characters' lifestyles that are parallel to the way of American's lifestyles of today.  Such as; lesions vs tattoos, m-chatting vs texting, and the feed vs a cell phone. 

Post #4: Dumbest Generation

In response to the articles we read and the videos that we viewed I would have to say that I somewhat agree, yet there is a large part of me that disagrees.  The part of me that agrees uses the argument that there are a lot of people in our generation that can be categorized as dumb.  They spend all their time on facebook, socializing or they are just plain ignorant to the world around them and make embarrassing remarks as the Miss. Teen contestant made.  It is comments like these that older generations use to base their opinion on the whole generation.  This is unfair.  My counterargument would be that there is a large majority of people in our generation that are intellegent, hard-working human beings that do not get the credit they deserve because of the technology that we were and are being brough up with.  I believe that all generations will judge the generations that come after them no matter what generation is being considered.  I'm sure when our generation is old enough, we will be calling the generation after us dumb as well.

This generation may seem dumb to people like Bauerlein because we can adequately use the technology that is thrust upon us.  Our generation is extremely technologically savy, where generations before us never had to be, because they did not have the technology that the competitive world has today.  If our generation does not keep up with the new developments in technology, then we will fall behind. 

Lee Drutman's article "The Dumbest Generation' by mark Bauerlein" was quoted "...the new digital world really is changing the way young people engage.." I'm not entirely sure that this is a bad thing.  We can communicate with people throughout the world and gain perspectives and knowledge that we would not be able to obtain without technology.  Sure like Bauerlein said, we use the internet for socializing, but we also use the internet for education.  It is hard to have a class now-a-days that doesn't have any integration with the internet.

Blog #3

While reading Culture Jam and watching Second Skin you can quickly realize how swept up into technology one can truely be.  Second Skin demonstrates how you can truely be yourself, or the person you wish you were, inside the virtual world. Culture Jam goes to show how many people actually like being able to hide behind the facade that they put up when online.  Many people who are gamers choose to let who they really are shine, as opposed to being afraid they are being judged by who they really are.  In the film many of the people were quoted saying something along the lines ".. that we can be who we really are in the virtual world and make lasting friendships.." I think that this is true because the gamers that become friends online know that they have common interests with the other gamers.  I do not believe that the online world is real, however the friendships made can be real.  Gamers do take a chance when they become friends with people that they haven't met, but they are willing to take the chance because they believe it is worth the risk to find someone, whether for love or friendship, that has the same interests as they have.  Although it is a common stererotype, gamers are not the only ones who are obsessed with technology.  Culture Jam  goes on to say that everyone is obsessed with technology, and I believe this to be true.  If we would all just take a second to step back and re-evaluate our lives, we will see that technology rules our lives, no matter who we are.  I think that cyberspace will always be a place for people to get away, but I also believe that it can sweep you up and never spit you back out.  Dan from the film is an exception, he was able to escape cyberspace, but not all are that lucky.

The Media- Blog #2

After reading the sections of "Culture Jam" and "It's Gotta Be the Cheese" I realized how sterotypical everyone looks at the United States.  I think that "Culture Jam" and "It's Gotta Be the Cheese" are extreme generalizations that are about the most extreme cases thoughout the United States.  Not everyone conforms or is identical to everyone else, like in "It's Gotta be the Cheese", and not everyone is detached from nature or on medication like "Culture Jam" seems to depict.  There are specific people in the media, like Lindsey Lohan, the Kardashians, or the Jersey Shore cast that make the viewers assume that this is what the United States is all about.  However, this is untrue.  There are many citizens who do not conform, and there are many citizens who refuse to be a part of the media driven society that tries to brainwash the rest of us to think that what they say is what is best.  Although conformity, detachment from nature, and medications are basic topics from the readings, they were the sections that stood out most for me.