Out of class #2

Luke Buehrer
Out of Class Essay #2
1st Draft

Dumb Talk

No one argues that the world has changed drastically in the past decade with the rise of technology. When technology comes up, almost every one has an opinion. Some people like Clive Thompson feels that technology is pushing literacy in new exciting directions. Where others like Sven Birkerts feels that “We are experiencing in our times a loss of depth—a loss, that is, of the very paradigm of depth. A sense of the and natural connectedness of things is a function of vertical conscience.” What he basically says here is that we are losing depth and wisdom, because of new conveniences technology offers. I wonder if technology is doing what Birkerts suggest (loss of wisdom) to peoples social lives? Maybe social interaction and communication skills are becoming less important with the new ease of technology, making peoples social and communication skills shallower and less meaningful.
Texting and chat rooms are now a huge form of communication. With cell phones people are now able to carry on conversations from almost anywhere, at any distance and at any time. This seems like it would be a good thing. First it makes communication much more efficient, allows for more social interaction, and can promote relationships. But I wonder if it really is hurting instead of helping. Texting is now more common than phone calls, it’s quicker and allows people to hide behind text. Where people once had to practice carrying on real life conversations, texting offers relief from possible awkward situations. If something uncomfortable comes up, you just stop texting; you don’t have to try ending the conversation. This encourages immature behavior and shallow interaction.
Nicholas Carr, author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” notices a developing trend caused by the Web, “The more they (literate types) use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing.” He is saying that the ease of sites like Google and Spark Notes is making reading for extended periods of time harder and harder. It seems to me that this same principle may be true for communication. Like skimming over different texts, you can skim over different conversations in chat rooms, never fully committed to one. This possibly leading to weak skills on carrying on lengthy talks, similar to reading long books or articles. Carr suggests that this inability to read leads to stupidity (hence the title). I wonder if these chat rooms could do the same? If people rarely carry on in deep conversions how could they develop vertical thinking? Yes, personal reflection and resonance is a big key to gaining wisdom, but without others to bounce ideas off wisdom is hard to grasp.
Another more apparent way technology (primarily Texting and chat rooms) is hurting us is just the content of the conversations carried on. Particularly true with teenagers, the conversations revolve around shallow self-center garbage. Since they have access to this all the time there is little effort put forth to have a meaningful talk. When this technology was not around, people had to either write a letter, or call a person up. The only way you would do this is if you truly had something of importance or meaning. You wouldn’t write a letter to a friend saying you were just “hanging ‘round doin’ nothing.” Technology has made communication something that you do when your bored, just to entertain, not gain depth.
One of the biggest things that annoys me with sites like Face Book and Myspace is that it allows you to have friends and a “social life” with out ever leaving you computer. I know lots of people with hundreds of on-line friends, but they don’t know half of them. They just like the idea that they are popular. I personally don’t partake in these sites. I think that to have a social life you must go out and do stuff with others, not just sit around blabbering to people how bored you are. With out real life interaction I find it hard to see how you can call these on-line friends true friends. Relationships are built off of past experiences together. This is hard to accomplish on-line, some people manage to meet on-line, get engaged on-line and first see each other on their wedding day. I don’t know the statistics but I am sure they don’t have the longest marriages out there. Although these sites can help spark relationships, true relationships occur off the computer.
Chat rooms and texting from every angle I look, seem to hurt people social, and communication skill. These sites promote easy escape from awkward situations, encourage skimming of conversations that ultimately leads to poor communication skills, let people blabber on about them selves, reinforcing immature habits, and also kill true social lives. These sites really just add up to a lot of dumb talk.

Standing Before a Window RR#7 Jeff Richmond

Susan Sontag in her paper “In Plato’s Cave” brings my attention to task on my interaction with still media, photography. I appreciate photographs, but I'm not sure if I have ever thought about how they influence my life, or how they express meaning. I’ll admit I had not given much thought to the influence of photos in my life as I have always seen more influence from video.
Sontag brings up the idea that the photo is a new medium of seeing the world. Almost to say that it is a new bit of software for our minds to understand our experiences. “In Plato's Cave” Sontag starts by inferring that we started to learn from the images photos gave us access to. It seemed not to be the images themselves, but the ideas framed in them that gave strength to the influences they had on our mind, and I'm sure our culture as well. Sontag's statement “This very instability of the photographing eye changes the terms of confinement in the cave, our world” is a reference to how much of the world is photographed. Not though, how much is photographed, but how much those photos have changed how we see the photos we take.
Our scope of reality changes by the ideas captured by the eye of the camera. I often think about the influence that video has but seeing still images reminded me that there are forces that seem almost more primal in experience. The still photo reminds me that video came from somewhere, photography, and that seeming simpler objects can give a coarser and seeming more real experience.
There are places on this planet that are almost covered with pictures. We have a varying understanding of these still pictures, and those pictures influence our relation to other pictures yet. Is there a feedback loop here, a prophecy playing out in a memetic landscape? One can only notice how these images influence the way we see the world and threw that influence we must take into account the fact that our way of seeing things change, dramatically, over time. Still photographs are a window into the past, but I seen now how they might also be a window into the future as well.

Reading Response 6

In reading, “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution” by Cynthia Selfe, I noticed that she mentions “the computer network that spans the globe will serve to erase meaningless geopolitical borders, eliminate racial and ethnic differences, re-establish a historical familial relationship which binds together the peoples of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, or location” (Selfe 194). This essentially means that people expect the expansion of the internet to unite the world. Because of the internet’s ability to connect people anywhere in the world instantaneously, it is natural to try to divine the effects of the internet in the future. It seems that there is a common humanitarian believe in a future utopia, a world were all the differences in the world are erased.

In order to unpack this idea, one must ask, “What separates people from one another?” In truth, Selfe gives the answer. Geopolitical borders create two disparate countries and racial and ethnic differences have been the sources of countless atrocities throughout history. Through a screen, all these differences are erased. Whatever the result would be however, would be so wildly alien to the way our brains are traditionally programmed that we would never actually create such a future. This “global village” completely undermines the hidden values in American society. Americans place great importance on the idea that with hard work comes great reward. Having worked hard and earned great rewards and privileged status in the world, it seems highly unlikely that Americans would willingly surrender the advantages we have worked hard and fought for. All personal interest aside, all patriotism would be extinguished as well. This internet utopia future of the global village, really reminds me strongly of “Imagine” by John Lennon. This song, while full of hope and idealizing a utopia is really advocating communism, another word that strikes a hard note in American hearts. Communism in theory is a very sound system, however it generates dictators like Stalin and Castro, so one may ask, if the internet community comes to life, who is the new leader of the world? Unpacking the hidden connotations is a very useful tactic for predicting how the public will receive the idea. Many people may think that the internet utopia is a good idea. Looking at the surface of it, it generates images of happiness and togetherness of the world. However, the cold hard reality is that we are divided. Sometimes because of these differences we can live life separately and in peace, rather than forcing our ideologies down one another’s throats.

Reading Response 7

In reading Susan Sontag’s “In Plato’s Cave”, Sontag states “Photographs furnish evidence. Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we’re shown a photograph of it” (Sontag 5). This seems very ignorant of Sontag to make this claim. In light of new technological developments in computer-generated imaging, it seems very illogical to apply the “see it to believe it” philosophy anymore. Humans are very visually oriented and therefore, when shown an image, our brain tells us that this must be true. However, everything we see in an image must be re-examined to determine legitimacy. Often, this process happens instantaneously, the brain tells us “no, this could never happen” or “I can believe that”. If the first response is generated, we must seek more proof in order to legitimize the event that the image is capturing. It is essentially the same thing that Robert Scholes advocates for in analyzing video texts. Analyzing visual text is the same thing, we must look for discrepancies in the image that would alert us to the possibility that the image is forged. Sometimes in scandals or other high media attention events, the proof is not legitimized before it is taken public. Such actions can be dangerous. The public viewing the image will respond as though the evidence is concrete proof because that is what they believe it is. Such things can cause great damage because a lack of digression.

However, if we can accept that without further proof, visual evidence is inconclusive what is there left? If we cannot trust our eyes to deliver accurate information without further skepticism, what can we use? Sounds, tastes, textures, and smells can be manufactured as well, therefore what do we have left to use? It almost seems that the only thing left is human instinct. But people need hard evidence to believe these days. As the years go by, people are less and less prepared to take things on faith. Therefore, in order to produce solid proof, we must once again turn to technology. Science and technology; just as they can be used to create illusion, can also be used to gain enlightenment. Only through scientific process can we legitimize information.

By disagreeing with Sontag, I have used logical process to find an alternative to photography that constitutes solid proof. I find it necessary to examine what constitutes belief to the human mind. By understanding what causes people to believe something, it makes persuasion as well as analysis of information, much easier.

Travis Upper

In the article “in Plato’s Cave” by Susan Sontag she goes throughout the article and letting her viewers see the bunch of metaphors that she uses in her article. One of them is “the old fashioned camera was clumsier and harder to reload than a brown Bess musket. The modern camera is trying to be a ray gun.” What that means is that Susan is trying to show a similarity between the two completely different objects. I feel that the comparison is a good one because I have seen documentaries on the revolutionary war and how the brown Bess was the main weapon of choice for the average infantry man. It also when into great detail that they would have lines after another to shoot because it took so long to reload the musket. Susan does also bring out a good point that the modern cameras are trying to be like ray guns. Now days with a digital camera you can take pictures quickly and reload even quicker because you have a memory card. I feel she has a great idea beginning to bloom here. If she can get people to see the difference in the 18th century than the 21st century than she may get support about the photography.

In this article by Susan Sontag she says “the old fashioned camera was clumsier and harder to reload than a brown Bess musket. The modern camera is trying to be a ray gun,” it makes me feel that she is not putting in any evidence to convince me that the camera is like a gun. I feel she is not taking into consideration that most people probably don’t know how fast a brown Bess reloads or a camera in that era of time. The gun is very different than the gun now days and I feel she does not even mention the fact that the camera is very slow at reloading and is very clumsy.

The countering strategy I used was that she did not use enough evidence to support her claim. To make her article better and more intriguing she should add the evidence of how long it actually takes for an old fashioned camera to work and how long it takes to reload a brown Bess. If she did that I would be impressed and would agree with her that the camera takes a very long time to reload.

Reading Response # 6

            For the majority of citizens of America, there is a great deal of pride surrounding the freedom of each individual regardless of religion, race, gender or social class. While the aura of American values is held strongly in a citizen’s mind, Cynthia L. Selfe believes that the mass media is instilling other ideals into our way of viewing America. In what she deems “the Land of Equal Opportunity narrative,” Selfe presents the idea that society is held to specific expectations through ads. The suburban home with a white picket fence, a white family, two children and a dog is just an example of how the ads resonate with America’s citizens. Her evidence is provided in a series ads and revises the narrative to what she calls the “Land of Difference narrative” promoting that the story “is present not in what they show, but what they fail to show…There is a remarkable absence in all the images of people of color, and poor people, and people who are out of work, and single-parent families and gay couples and foreigners.” Selfe is conflicting with how ads in the media actually represent how diverse our country is.

            While Selfe makes a strong case for her claim I have to respectfully disagree. Today, diversity is valued more in America than during the time of publication of her book.  There are a vast number of ads and visual images depicting the diversity of America. I almost find it a little cheesy when you an ad has a female Asian child, a white male child, an African American male in a wheel chair, and a middle eastern female child all playing together nicely or sharing an experience. I don’t find this image cheesy because it is not possible. I find it cheesy because the large amount of these images portrayed in texts books and schools. I can remember seeing these at a young age and over the years thinking that they were probably done on purpose to reinforce how diverse our country is. It may have been different for Selfe growing up but for my generation, it is extremely hard not to notice the portrayal of diversity in the mass media. During this current recession, there are plenty of ads depicting people out of work, as well as single mothers.  What ads may have failed to show at one time of America’s technological life, ads are showing them now and in great abundance.

Reading Response 7

In Susan Sontag’s essay “In Plato’s Cave”, she writes a passage comparing the camera to a car and to a gun, explaining how the camera “Is as simple as turning the ignition key or pulling the trigger.” Further on Sontag describes how cameras are addictive and that “To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a sublimated murder – a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.” After reading this passage, Sontag’s views on pictures seems to be that they are so simple to take of anyone, at anytime, and anywhere. But her views on pictures being taken of someone other than your self is a complete violation of that person’s life, and it makes them feel utterly uncomfortable with themselves and with their thoughts of themselves. I disagree with what Sontag has said, and I believe that taking pictures is not murder – it is a way of expressing to people your personality and your likings, things like that. Pictures are proof of memories and they allow you to go back and remember stories that you ordinarily wouldn’t remember from thoughts. If you were to not allow anyone to take photos of you, those memories would be lost. I understand how if a random stranger wanted to take a picture of you, it would make you feel slightly uncomfortable. But that is how you come out of your comfort zone – by letting others see you for who you really are. It can be said that people “put on a show” around others that they do not know. But photos allow you to let go of yourself and be how you truly want to be. Sontag might have exaggerated how taking photos is like murder. That seems far-fetched. Maybe if she hadn’t said that, I would have agreed with her theory. I chose this passage to argue against because I had opposite views than Sontag had. She had some strong claims throughout her essay, and it was a bit difficult to find one to argue against.

Memories of the Past

In her story In Plato’s Cave, Susan Sontag explains that a camera is like a “predatory weapon.” She discusses that, “like guns and cars, cameras are fantasy- machines whose use is addictive.” She also adds that, “there is something predatory in the act if taking a picture. To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a sublimated murder- a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.”
Sontag is basically saying that cameras are like guns. That they cannot physically hurt someone, but it’s the concept of a camera that relates it to a gun. She is saying that they are “predatory” because a person with a camera is capable of knowing something about someone that they themselves are not capable of knowing. She also states that photographing people turns them “into objects”. My interpretation of what she means by this is that is that people are really their mind and personalities, not their bodies. And when a picture is taken of them, all you really see is what’s on the outside, not the inside. So judgment could be made on them based on their outfit, hairstyle, ect. But what’s really important is who they are as a person, and photographs take that away.

Sontag makes a good point; however she fails to see the true meaning in picture taking, memories. Pictures help a person remember and event or time that they may not remember otherwise. It also helps one remember more vividly. If you can capture the moment as it is, it is easier to recall what happened. Also, emotions experienced during that event can also be remembered by looking at pictures. Photographs also allow people to share their experiences with others. It allows for not just telling someone about a trip or event, but showing them. Instead of trying to picture what you are describing in their mind, they can see and actual picture while you explain it. Pictures also act as a sort of souvenir because it is a memory of the trip or experience. Our lives are made up of our memories of the past. If we forget the past, we forget who we are. Photographs can help us remember our past, especially the best moments.

Part 1.) In the video "Growing up Online" by the directors Rachel Dritzen and John Maggio, which aired on Frontline, is based on reasons that the internet is affecting the younger generations. The main idea of this video is that parents are unaware of what their children are doing on their computers or phones and that the parents do not understand how to use these modern technologies as well as their kids do. Parry Aftab the executive producer of WiredSafety.org states "Everyone is panicking about sexual predators online. That's what parents are afraid of; that's what parents are paying attention to"(PBS Par 10). It has been brought to our attention also "My parents don't understand that I've spent pretty much since second grade online, I know what to avoid" states one ninth-grader (Par. 9). Adults, who have less time on the internet than the average kid, do not understand what kids are doing online and don’t know if the kids know what is ok and what is not ok to be looking at. What adults don't understand is that the internet has more issues than just preditors. At the same time though some students and or kids engage in behavior that isn't quite accepted and then post these things on sites such as Youtube so everyone else can see what they have done. A mother herself, Evan Skinner, knows these things are happening and tries to stay involved in her kid’s lives as much as she can. But at the same time we learn from her son Cam that going too far into this can in turn lead to less of a relationship. Cam a high school student was participating in going to a concert and they were traveling on the train. They were being rude and were partaking in drinking alcohol and just not doing smart things. They had posted the videos on an internet source and it didn't take long for Evan Skinner, Cams mother, to find it. She then wrote a letter to the whole student bodies parents and it really compromised the two of theirs relationship. Cams friends didn't trust him after this and lost a lot of them due to this action his mother took. Evan Skinner says "I remember being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets, but it's really hard when it's the other side"(Par. 6) I will admit there is much bad on the internet and it can really persuade people to do for lack of better words stupid things. There is a lot of good that comes along with the internet and I just think the best thing we can do as a Nation is to educate the children better on what is good and bad on the internet and try to keep close to what they are doing but at the same time not to close. It sounds so easy but it really takes a lot to find that medium ground and it’s really what is needed to make sure our children are truly staying safe on the internet.
Part 2) Internet has had very little change in my life because I have been on the computer since I knew what computers are. Every day I talk to people via Facebook and Myspace. The internet is becoming my source of communication more than it use to be, but the internet has always been a form of communication in my life. One thing that is changing in my life due to the internet is my access to videos. Since Youtube has become easier, and more widely use, I can search for videos related to anything that I need. It doesn’t matter if it is a music video, a song being covered, a motorcycle video or even a how-to video.

Summary of Growing Up Online

The internet is full of surprises; we indulge ourselves in a world of socializing and presenting to others online. In the film “Growing up Online”, directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio we see that teens are exposed to internet socializing more than adults do. Typically students have a double life on the web, and their parents know nothing about it. They will post graphic pictures of themselves and even have online relationships. Parents typically feel that the internet is consuming the lives and attention of their children to an obsessive need level. The internet has changed the way families get together, it is almost as if everyone is in their own world and parents don’t have any control as to what the teens are in. for kids and teens, the internet is a safe haven. It allows them to hash out their problems and issues online to a nearly unlimited amount of viewers. Video posts and forums help engage the teens into seeking comfort amongst others.

A prime example of myself becoming detached from my family members and others is when I am at home, back in Snohomish, I found myself either texting frequently or constantly surfing the web on either facebook or on a paintball forum website that helped me become more appreciated amongst other paintballers. I spent more time doing these then anything productive. It was something I could do and it made me happy. Being with my family members wasn’t good enough to me. (Mike)

An example for me is that whenever I would go to my dad’s house to visit, I would spend most of my time on facebook or random sites in general because it was almost like normal company wouldn’t suffice for me and I felt like I had to know what was going on with all my friends all the time. I would detach myself from the rest of the house and seclude myself to the computer room for a majority of the day. (Beth)

summary and examples provided to you by:
mike kingma
beth brummel

Metaphores of Photography/ In class discision

Functions of metaphors for Photography
1. The camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood.
2. A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened.
3. It is an Event: something worth seeing- therefore worth photographing.
4. Like a car, a camera is sold as a predatory weapon-one that’s as automated as possible, ready to spring.
5. To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves.
6. A photograph is both a pseudo-presence and a token of absence.
7. Photographs express a feeling both sentimental and implicitly magical: they are attempts to contact or lay claim to another reality.
8. They give information, they make an inventory, to tell one what there is.
9. Cameras are fantasy-machines whose use is addictive.
10. Act of non intervention, tool of power
11. Photographs are interpretation of the world.



To give knowledge to people to understand what is happening.

It connects to Birkerts project because it does not give any depth to where we might see someone getting beat, but we don’t know why they are being hurt.

The importance of photography to understanding what is happening.

By Jason, Kyle, Karen

In Plato's Cave metaphors and insights

Alyssa, Lara, Diljeet

Functions of/metaphors for photography

-To collect a photograph is to collect the world
-The photograph is a book, obviously the image of an image
-by converting experience into an image, a souvenir
-picture taking is an event in itself
-the camera is an observation station
-like a car, a camera is a predatory weapon
-it is a thin slice of space and time
ect.

-Photography can be both positive and negative, depending on the photograph and/or the experience. Photography is complicated. We view photography as an act of capturing a memory or an experience. You can look back at a picture and re-feel the moment or remember something that you have forgotten. Pictures are also a way of sharing your experiences with someone else using more than just words.

notes to "In Plato's Cave" Jeff, Kaitlin, Michaela, Kim

Functions of /metaphors for Photography(Jeff, Kaitlin, Michaela, Kim)
-Pseudo-presence and a token of absence actually analogy pg16 “Like a wood fire in a room…”
-Talismatic uses of photographs of sentimental and implicitly magical- attempts to contact or lay -claim to another reality
-Brings news of some unsuspected zone of misery
-Memorable than moving image, neat slice of time not a flow
-Ideology that determines what constitute an event
-Event are not events unless named or labeled
-Phallus
-Guns (predatory weapon)
-Fantasy machine
-Tool of power
-Claim anther reality
-Experience
-Event
-Reinforce morals
-goad conscience
-numb us to horror (desensitize)
-furniture
-ownership
-violate
-mini-reality
-proof/furnish evidence
-fill in blanks
-corrupt
-nostalgic/ elegiac
-extended family
-momento mori/ immortilizing
-interpretation/ imposition
-separate/ small units (infinite)
-sooth anxiety/ buffer from unfamiliar
-possess
-replace experience (becomes event)
-certify experience
-accumulation of trophies
-act of non-intervention

The impact difference between an image and a video. example of the girl screaming. in the photo, she will always and forever scream whereas in a video she will eventually stop whether she is about to die, she will eventually stop screaming.

Growing up online

The video text "Growing Up Online" mainly focused on how much the younger generation uses the internet. Studies have shown that an astonishing 90% of teenagers are using the internet and those numbers are still growing. One story is of a young teenage boy who was in middle school. He was getting picked on at school so, he turned to the internet. He chatted on the regular social networking sites with what friends he had. His parents knew he wasnt the most popular kids in school, but they assumed all was well. Until one day they found that he had committed suicide. "I clearly made a mistake putting that computer in his room. I allowed the computer to become too much of his life." Cyber bullying has become more of a problem today with how many teens are on the internet how. We look at young kids as victims because there might be sexual predators, but I feel that there is a larger problem with cyber bulllying.

Since the increase in the use of the internet teachers in schools have noticed an increase in students who struggle in class. Its almost as teachers have to become entertainers to keep the students attention. The internet has made it a lot easier for students. Instead of researching in the library for hours to get enough information the students can spend 30 minutes on the internet and ready to write a paper. This has made it easier for students to plagerize. Steve Maher a Social Studies teacher asks, [Is plagerism that bad to and extent]? He thinks about the fact that with todays job opourtunities we should encourage students to take information from other people, change it around into our own words, and publish it. The internet has changed the way we think. It should also change the way and how we teach. The internet has had a huge impact on our society, I just hope its for the better.

Part 2
Hi my name is Courtney, and I'm addicted to Facebook. I feel that the biggest way that technology has impacted my life would be the use of social networks such as Facebook. It has come to the point where everytime I'm on my computer I log in. Recently my Grandma got one. It is a great way to keep in touch, but I also feel it is almost made for the younger generation. I dont wish for her to see everything on my Facebook page, but that doesnt really stop me. The use of technology has allowed me to Facebook whenever I have my cellphone on me, which is always. It is a huge distraction and takes away from time I should be working on something diligently. If I have ten minutes extra in the morning I will check out my Facebook rather than picking up my room. I dont blame technology for my use of Facebook, but I look down on it because it encourages me keep checking up on it. I think that so many of us today use Facebook on a regular basis because we are such a social generation. We grew up like this and its what we are used to.

Reading Response 6

In Cynthia L. Selfe’s essay titled “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution”, one of the passages that Selfe brings to my attention is when she introduces the second narrative, that being the Land of Equal Opportunity and the Land of Differences. The statement that Selfe says about the Land of Equal Opportunity is that, “it is, in fact, at some level, a romantic re-creation of the American story and the American landscape themselves – a narrative of opportunity in an exciting land claimed from the wilderness, founded on the values of hard work and fair play. It is a land available to all citizens, who place a value on innovation, individualism, and competition, especially when tempered by a neighborly concern for less fortunate others that is the hallmark of our democracy.” (302) In this passage, I believe that Selfe is depicting the American image as being peaceful and harmonic, like a way that is only seen as good. Everything is done equally and fair with no one being put down and no discrimination. The way Selfe is describing this American story and landscape is in fact no way reality. I completely disagree with what Selfe has said, and at no time in history has equality ever been present, and most others do not care for those who are less fortunate because it is them who are not in the less fortunate’s shoes. What Selfe sees as the Land of Equal Opportunity is the complete opposite of what the world is and always has been. There is discrimination, poverty, racism, and everything in between. The ways that the world views the American lifestyle to this day is a disappointment. For example, advertisements shown on billboards, television shows, and the media found on the Internet – the main sources to how the world is described to us – only display the false hopes of what Americans want the world to be. People who are too afraid to understand the real world use these methods to keep from stepping towards reality. I believe that if America could really see how citizens are being treated, differences could be made, and maybe one day every citizen can truly be treated equal and equal opportunities can be achieved. The countering method that I used was arguing the other side, and my paper ties in to this strategy because I took the passage from Selfe’s essay and argued against her claims.

Reading Response #6

In “Lest We Think the Revolution Is a Revolution” by Cynthia Selfe claims that technology has created a general idea of what people think America is. She mentions of two narratives, “Land of Equal Opportunity” and “Land of Difference. The first narratives describes this idea of how America was a exciting land of opportunity, where it founded because of the “values of hard work and fair play” and that it was available to anyone who had any “value on innovation, individualism, and competition”. She advocates that this “Land of Equal Opportunity” of America becoming open to anyone, meaning open to all men, women, different ethnicities, class and whoever peoples connections may be. America stands for the strong faith of “traditional values” to which many people know as the America Dream. Anyone who comes to America knows of this American Dream which consist a family living in a home with the white picket fence and a two door garage. This idea of the American Dream can be achieved by hard work, playing fair and using all the opportunities that are given to person trying to achieve it. I agree with what Selfe is saying about this American Dream because of my experience with this. American has given my family and I many opportunities to succeed life here in America. It has given my parents jobs to work very hard and to provide us with many things like clothing to wear, food to eat, education, and especially a roof over our heads. Even though some tough times have hit America, they don’t let us suffer; they assist us and keep us from going homeless. Now I have taken a job to help pay for my education, expenses of a car and insurance and to keep myself afloat in this tough time by helping out my mom by doing this.

I think Cynthia Selfe is mistaken because she overlooks the bigger picture in what America has offered and the all the history behind it. The “Land of Equal Opportunity” hasn’t exactly applied to most people with the American Dream and the American culture experience has told us otherwise. Self mentions how this American Dream applies to those who work hard, fair play and utilizing the opportunities given but she forgot to point out about America’s history on slavery, deaf education, women’s suffrage, immigration, labor unions and poverty. These parts of history explain that not everyone is given equal opportunity and the people involved with our history have had it harder to get equal opportunity than others. Never before in history has America ever had a black president until Barrack Obama proved that when he entered elections and eventually became the 1st black president in history. Until he entered office, all previous presidents were white males and women are still fighting their place in office and jobs because men still don’t see that they have the right to work besides the idea of them as housewives. Immigration is still a big issue, because America is having double standards on deciding who can enter America when they want people here from anywhere else. It has been hard for many people especially Hispanic people. Immigration and assistance from America has been rough on them. I keep hearing the news about the south borders between the U.S. and Mexico and how they are not letting cross the border. Also, it has been rough for Hispanics to prove they are worthy to work in America because most of them have taken jobs that others don’t like to do.

I used countering in my paper by using “they say/I say”. I used this countering because it was a nice format to tell the reader what my point is and how I countered Cynthia Selfe with a piece from her passage. It helped me to argue the other side of what Cythnia Selfe said.

Reading response #6

Travis Upper

In the essay “lest we think a revolution is a revolution,” by Cynthia Selfe, one passage sticks out to me. “technology will help us create a global village in which the people of the world are all connected.” I feel that is true because the internet is showing us the new way to bring people together all across the world. People will be able to see what is happening hundreds of miles away with just one click of a button. The global village that Selfe is taking about is the connection of the world through the internet. What she means by that is having peace throughout the world because of the internet. I believe she has a good idea about the global village. She brings into this that Americans want the global village to work, but doesn’t bring any effort into actually trying to bring the village into a reality not just a hope. I feel that Americans are using this idea to gain knowledge of foreign countries in their own living rooms. Selfe also agrees with me because in her essay she says, “Americans use technology to become world travelers, to learn about-and acquire knowledge of-other cultures, while remaining comfortably situated within their own living rooms and, thus, comfortably separated from the other inhabitants of the global village.” Basically what she is saying is that we all want the global village to work, but we have separated ourselves from the global village because of the internet. The internet makes us able to gain knowledge of other countries while not going and actually seeing it for yourself. Selfe also tells us that the global village is being created by the internet, but the internet is also making it possible for Americans to Cheat the village by using the internet.

In the passage “technology will help us create a global village in which the people of the world are all connected,” Selfe uses that to explain to her viewers that the internet will create the global village. I disagree with that because I feel the internet will not create a peaceful village, but create a world war. I feel that way because in my English class we have been reading a lot about the internet and how it is affecting its viewers. I feel that the internet will cause countries to want to be in charge of it and will fight a war to see who gets to be the one in charge of the internet. I feel it will only be a mistake if we allow the internet to become a powerful icon in the world.

Growing Up Online Summary

Part One:
The internet. It’s a whole mew, alternate world where anyone can escape to. You have a whole new persona where no one knows who you really are, but love your alternate ego. Or, you can show a side of yourself, your real, true self. The real you you’re afraid to show to everyone around you. Either way, it’s a place where you can express and expose yourself in any way you choose to show it.
In the documentary “Growing Up Online,” a PBS Frontline broadcast directed by Rachel Dertzin and John Maggio, tells the story of many American teens on how their lives are growing up in front of a screen and how adults are dealing with this generation gap between them. Erin Skinner, a mother or four, said, “I remembering being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets. But it’s really hard being on the other side” (PBS). It was mentioned that the internet is the biggest generation gap since rock and roll. The net is the most reliable source for communication. 90% of teens are online and the number is still growing (PBS). If you aren’t online, you’re out of the loop. Greg, a teenager that is a internet users, states, “You need to use the internet to talk to your friends because everyone uses it. It’s like a currency. If you don’t use it, you’re gonna be at the loss” (PBS).
With that generation gap, it’s harder for adults to understand and communicate with their children. Not only the adults at home, but as school as well. Teenagers are use to sitting in front of a screen so it isn’t a surprise to see a projector in classes around America. They won’t be able to focus with a teacher talking in a plain voice, writing facts on a chalk board (PBS).
Although the internet is a way to keep in touch with friends and family, there are other things out there that can be hurting teens. Parents are concerned predators, stalkers and cyber bullies. Parents are fearful for their children, but many of them would say they aren’t stupid and know what to avoid. A nine-graded said, “My parents don’t understand that I’ve spent pretty much since second grade online. I know what to avoid” (PBS). But online predators aren’t they only concern. There are sites out there that encourage bad behavior like eating disorders, inappropriate sites with adult contents and even sites for unhappy kids, telling them the best way to kill themselves.
The internet might have brought some good times to this day in age, but it also brought some bad. It’s hard enough for adults to understand the mind of a teenager, even though they went through that stage themselves; it’s even harder when teens now are isolated in their bedrooms, in front of a computer or TV screen and they don’t even know what their kid is doing at all.

Part Two:
If I were to write a story on how the internet and digital media have affected my life, I would focus on probably the music area. Although music have been around forever, for me, it’s like an addiction to know the latest hit, who’s debut album went to #1 in the first week, what did this artist mean when they wrote these lyrics, what’s the newest technology being used in the recording studio. I just have to know.
I mainly use the internet as my source to find the information I want. When I was younger, I remember just listening to the radio, buying Cds and watching music videos TV. Now, I’m on sites for artists, records labels and technical equipment for recording music. I’m always downloading (legally) the last track from an up and coming artist. It’s an addiction to know and learn more. I also spend a lot of my time at record stores, talking to owners and go see under ground bands, sneaking backstage to hopefully talk to them about their music.
Of course, all the time I spend researching and looking, I’m usually stuck upstairs in my bedroom rather than being downstairs with my parents. They understand the passion I have for music, they don’t understand the reasoning for it. Like how people have said Myspace and Facebook is addicting, finding the newest track from James Morrison, Adelitas Way and Flo Rida is mine.

Response #6

Luke Buehrer
Reading Response #6

Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution, by Cynthia L. Selfe, focuses on different narratives that Americans have made up about technology. “Like most Americans, however, even though educators have made these adaptations, we remain decidedly undecided about technology and change.” What Selfe is basically saying here is that when it comes to technology, we have feel that technology is both good, and bad, so we are undecided, and have little opinion feeling that it is either great or horrible.
This claim that Selfe brings does not represent Americans the way I see it. The way she states her claim (although it sounds nice) makes every one seem like they have no opinions on technology. I know for my self, and others this is not the case. There are people that believe that technology is the greatest thing ever, and that it will solve all the worlds’ problems. There are those that think that technology, especially the Internet, which has brought nothing but hurt, and bad things. People believe that technology is killing literacy, destroying depth and leading to a shallow world, while at the same time people state that this is simply a paradigm shift in literacy, and that it is bringing us back to the age of reason and augment, the age of the Ancient Greeks (A New Literacy, Thompson). People think it is hurting social lives, because all you do is sit and chat back to each other, never going out side. While still others claim it has helped their social life, they now have hundreds of on-line friends. I personally think that technology isn’t as good as lots make it out to be. I find no satisfaction wasting hours on end chatting with on-line friends. I don’t believe that technology is going to make the world a better place, maybe faster and more efficient, but not help where we really need it.
Selfe’s statement on what Americans think of technology is quite simply wrong. You probably have an opinion of technology and so do almost all Americans. The opinions vary from extremely against to very for it. Selfe over oversimplifies our views in to one single view, which is definitely not the case. A better way to communicate this message would be “Americans have many opinions for and against technology” not “Decidedly undecided.” This over simplification could turn off readers to her ideas, which is the last thing you want.

Culture You Silly Thing. R-R #6

I often find myself musing over modern mythology. What we as a culture believe in, how we see ourselves, how we view our reality, or our day to day life, and even our moral compass. Cynthia L Selfe approaches most of these topics to some degree in her paper “Lest We Think The Revolution is a Revolution,” but from the stand point of media (mainly advertising.) I feel she does an amazing job of shedding light on, not only what we think of ourselves as a collective, but how we reinforce and/or shape these narratives through advertising.
One thing that caught my eye in C. Selfe's paper was a comment about our cultural memory as Americans. The statement “Cultural memory is a potent one for Americans, and these ads resonate with the values that we remember as a characterizing that golden time” seems to infer (to me) our cultural memory is imbedded deep in our minds. Not to say it is truth, or that we are built to act this way, but to say that maybe a part of our social organization reinforces our cultural narrative. The word in her quote “remember” draws my attention especially. I can not see her saying that we all remember these experiences ourselves, more that through media, we see these things as the way things are/and have been in the past. All of this makes my head swim with the ramifications, is someone guiding our social/cultural memory?
This is America. The heart of the capitalistic world, and we are (seemingly successfully) getting the rest of the world to conform to our way of life. I feel most of our population gets its identity from the media that saturates our nation, and the rest of the world is shaped by this media. We are (the mass majority) a nation of peeople unaware of a media that is only trying to wring every last dollar out of th populous it can. As well it is molding us as a nation, like clay, into the consumer platform of it's choosing. I feel that many people do not stop to look up from their fast food and their “reality TV” programing to examine their life well enough to resist the way media programs us.
This is where the word “remember” scares me in Cynthia L Selfe text. It draws me to the conclusion that we are having our memories changed. Memories that we don't even have! How deep is this corruption of thought? C. Selfe slowly drags out many of our cultural narratives for us to reexamine, but I feel that she does not point at the implications of these pressures fully. Her point was to shed some light on our conceptions of technology, in beneficial social change, but I feel that her point was to unmask a larger idea. The idea that our identity is being shaped by our media. Shaped, for the most part, without our majority of our populations notice.
With us pushing our American way of life on other nations, how will the way we (as a world) identify with ourselves change. Will we be told who we are more, or will people tell themselves? Myself being one that tries to see what is meant by our media not what is said I can see how difficult it will be for many to start to examine their world view, but I am hopeful. Culture has always shaped our world view, but the amount of access we have had to that culture was different. Now with television and the internet everywhere we are at its access more. One can only hope the technologies that are at our access as often can be of benefit to us.
Only when we take value in shaping our growth will we truly grow. Our technology may give us an opportunity to “culture” that value. I am not a sentimental fool, and I do not hold faith in many things, but in this I do.

Response #6

When English instructors get together and try to talk about technology the reason why it usually ends up discussing change is because well technology changes, according to the article processing power becomes twice as fast every eighteen months. I think that the conversation goes in this direction because of how we as people, teachers and students can relate to the pieces of technology we use to get our tasks done. In the article by Cynthia Selfe “Lest we think the Revolution is a Revolution”, they say that each time discussing the matter they come to the conclusion that their undecided, they don’t know really what to think about the ties between tech and change. Most cases when it comes to school the students often know more about technology than that of the teachers, so my assumption is that even for anyone it may sometimes be hard to keep up with the revolution or change as most people would say. From the article the beginning text tells me that the pieces of information provided were that from years ago, I believe that they are accurate assumptions but I’d want to hear from the same people their thoughts on how between then and now has changed or supported their opinion, what would they have to say about the issue today.
Frankly I could see how all this ties into English using computers and such to incorporate learning in the classroom. My thoughts on this subject is to just try and keep up and be informed on all related issues involving the tech revolution change. We can’t stop it or say that we’re only going to use a certain type of technology and never upgrade or adapt to possibly make things easier; we just have to play along and while this might conflict with teaching there will always be some way of improvement.

Growing up online

Growing up online
By Emily Levelle
I watched a documentary called “Growing Up Online.” Frontline. Dirs. Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio. PBS. The documentary was all about how the internet and computers have effected are generation and how for teens especially it has become more of a lifestyle then a tool. People known longer use the internet just for homework or games it is used for communication you use it to meet new people the internet has become it’s own world were people can portray themselves as who ever they want to be. In the class rooms teachers have had to become entertainers to keep the focuses of there class. Because students can so easily get the information else wear. When watching growing up online they talked about a girl named Jessica long who was shy and kind of awkward but when she was online she was Autumn Edows a gothic model and artist. She was able to do what most people would love to do and seemingly change everything about themselves. There was a lot of similar opinions coming from the parents, and as a child of the technological generation I thought some of them were honestly being a bit dramatic. One of the moms from new jersey I understood her concerns but see was so sure if her daughters used the internet they were going to get a stalker. I can here her reasoning especially with all the media hype about online predators, but I just feel like maybe she should look and see if she is more afraid of her daughter making a wrong call. It didn’t seem that she was taking the time to see how these social networking sites work not everyone can be a persons friend they need the persons permission. They interviewed two female professors they seemed to second this view saying how most kids know better. I can understand a parents concern especially if they haven’t grown up online it might seem like a scary abyss that there children are playing on the edge of but in actuality what the two women professors were saying is that with a little common sense it isn’t. It was interesting to see the effect the internet has had on parents and how kids can be keeping secrets from there parents yet showing the rest of the world. They also in the documentary faced the subject of cyber bulling. And how that can be just as hard as being bullied face to face and can even cause some teens to turn to suicide. Over all I though PBS did a fantastic job addressing this new digital world we live in today and the effect it has taken growing up online.

After watching this I really had to stop and think about how the internet has effected me. And honestly I can’t say it has, only because I don’t know a life without it. Social networking sites are great when used with caution they have allowed me to stay in touch with friends and family that live far away. Growing up online is the only thing I know I really can’t imagine a world without internet. Am I saying the world wide web is perfect no, but I do believe it is a great communication tool as longer as you use common sense.

Reading Response #6
I have always believed in the power of technology to lead our society in the right direction. I accept, even hope that there will always be change, knowing change is essential to growth, and I understand when I see resistance to change, as beliefs and comfort zones give people a sense of stability.

The book Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies: A Review
addresses this issue, and more. Chapter 16 Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution Images of Technology and the Nature of Change: by Cynthia Selfe states, “we remain decidedly undecided about technology and change…we fear the effects of technology, and the potent changes that it introduces into familiar systems.” “Because our culture subscribes to several powerful narratives that link technological progress closely with social progress, it is easy for us – for Americans, in particular – to believe that technological change leads to productive social change.” She focuses the issue further by adding, “…existing social forces actually work to resist change in connection with technology; how they support the status quo when technology threatens to disrupt the world in any meaningful way.” So now, according to Selfe, it is because of these narratives that I believe technology leads to productive social changes.

The powerful narratives she discusses in this chapter are:
The Global Village and the Electronic Colony.
The Land of Equal Opportunity and the Land of Difference and,
The Un-gendered Utopia and the Same Old Gendered Stuff.

Because the first two narratives are written as support for the third and the subject of the third narrative it is the focus of this chapter of the book in Part III: Ethical and Feminist Concerns in an Electronic World, it seems appropriate to give a closer consideration to the narrative of The Un-gendered Utopia and the Same Old Gendered Stuff. This narrative is the belief that computers, and computer technology is gender blind, allowing students the same opportunities regardless of gender. Selfe quotes a study showing “Computer games are still designed for boys; computer commercials are still aimed mainly at males; computing environments are still constructed by and for males.” I have to admit, I hadn’t realized the truth in this observation because it fit a familiar and comfortable narrative.

I believe she allows her biases to overcome her reason when she opines, “we might have to learn how to understand people outside of the limited gender roles that we have constructed for them in this country, that we may have to abandon the ways in which we have traditionally differentiated between men’s work and women’s work in the market place, that we may have to provide men and women with equitable remuneration for comparable jobs, that we may have to learn to function within new global contexts that acknowledge women as Heads of state as well as heads of households.” She reveals her own limitations in the third person when she writes, “we find ourselves as a culture ill equipped to cope with the changes that this Un-gendered Utopia narrative necessitates.”

When a highly educated writer uses inflammatory language such as, “It takes energy and careful thinking to create a landscape in which women can participate in roles other than those of seductress, beauty, or mother; and in which men don’t have to be bikers, or abusers, or rabid techno geeks, or violent sex maniacs.” I am offended that someone would believe these limits of men or women exist, and the society I live in does not believe this. If a woman believes she can’t participate in a role other than seductress, beauty, or mother, she needs help, she is not healthy, and it is not a cultural problem. I admit to being a biker, I have no problem with it. I am not an abuser, I am not a rabid techno geek, I am not a violent sex maniac. I have never had the slightest urge to be, or in Cynthia Selfe’s words, “have to be” any of these things.

Her bias and intention was apparent upon my first reading of this text. I was shocked and offended by her misandry. I was surprised by the anachronistic views of an educated person (even for a 10 year old book). When she quoted Andrea Dworkin I was reminded of her feminist mindset, “All personal, psychological, social, and institutionalized domination on this earth can be traced back to its source: the phallic identities of men.” Cynthia Selfe’s description of herself is revealing, Nomadic Feminist Cyborg Guerilla.

The countering strategy I used was Arguing the Other Side. I believe her biases overcome her reason in her vision of gender inequality and gender roles. I also used Uncovering Values in researching and defining values that were undisclosed and undefined.

Not as Connected as We Think

As stated by Cynthia Selfe in Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution, “One of the most popular narratives Americans tell ourselves about computers is that technology will help us create a global village in which the peoples of the world are all connected- communicating with one another and cooperating for the commonweal. According to popular social narrative, the computer network that spans the globe will serve to erase meaningless geopolitical borders, eliminate racial and ethnic differences, re- establish a historical familial relationship which binds together the peoples of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, or location.”

Popular narrative is saying that technology allows for better communication with the people outside our own country. People that we normally would not have access to communicate with. It’s saying the communication could be brought about without “borders” or racism. That we must work together as one, and technology can do that. Americans are trying to create a “Global Village” with more communication between people around the world.

The truth is, we, as Americans, are only seeing part of the other world. The part that we want to see. We are scared of the truth because it’s not pleasing to us. Technology (the internet/ computers specifically,) allows us to feel as though we are connected, while staying away from the “dirty” stuff and getting up close. We can see pictures of it and try to understand what’s going on, but unless you experience something in person, you wont really feel the true emotions. We don’t smell, feel, or see in- person, the truth. Cynthia also gives her opinion that, “it is easy for us- for Americans, in particular- to believe that technological change leads us to productive social change.” It’s simple minded for us to believe that technology will solve our problems. If were trying to communicate with the rest of the world and help them because they need our help, the Internet is not the solution. What we think is helping is actually contributing to the problem and making it worse. A lot of Americans talk about the global village and “one world”, but never act on it. Talking about it wont solve anything and it’s not going to happen on it’s own. If something’s going to change people need to be aware of what’s going on and the fact that we think we may be helping, but were not really doing much at all.

Reading Response #6

In Cynthia Selfe’s “Least We Think the Revolution is a Revolution” Selfe writes about how people look at advertisements about technology and how this affects people as a whole. She states many popular views and thoughts on advertisements and cultural backgrounds as well as her own views on such things. Selfe states that only focusing on the positive changes that technology can bring may mask how social forces work to resist such changes. The third narrative that Selfe covers is about “The Un-gendered Utopia” and “The Same Old Gendered Stuff” in which she compares specific gender usage of technology in 1990 to that of social narratives of the 1950’s. “A third potent narrative that Americans tell ourselves about technology and change focuses on gender- specifically, this story claims that computers and that computer-supported environments will help us to create a utopic world in which gender is not a predictor of success or a constraint of interaction with the world” What this narrative is basically saying is that advancements in technology will make it so that men and women will both be able to use computers successfully without being thrown into social classes based on gender. Selfe most clearly disagrees with this popular narrative. “Computer games are still designed for boys; computer commercials are still aimed mainly at males; computing environments are still constructed by and for males…computers are completely socially determined artifacts that interact with existing social formations and tendencies…” So in other words, Selfe believes that the complete opposite is happening than what America wants to believe, or that our social classes haven’t really changed from the 50’s.
I disagree with Selfe’s view that technology is playing into social formations because she seems to overlook the fact that people change and adapt to what is new and important. Her countering of the popular narrative of the un-gendered utopia does not completely hold up to today’s standards, eleven years later. Computers are not something that are dominated by males, why just the other day I saw a dell commercial selling a computer specifically designed for the working mom. I think that Selfe was being small minded when she said “It is clear that fewer girls use computers in public secondary schools than do boys, especially in the higher grades.” This is certainly not true today. There are just as many girls on the internet as there are boys, maybe even more so on social networking sites. I just don’t agree with Selfe mainly because I don’t believe that her article really has much meaning in the now.

Michaela's Reading Response #6

In Cynthia Selfe’s “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution,” is an eye opener to how a lot of people think America is. One narrative in the article talked about “Land of equal opportunity” and “land of Difference.” Those two statements are very powerful. America was founded on the values of hard working people and fair play. It also was founded by brave fighters who fought to help protect this land and people with similar views on how they wanted America to be ran. America is open to everyone, meaning to all man, women, the different kind of races, class, and whoever peoples connections may be. America has a fascination with strong faith in these “traditional values,” of the American dream. The American dream is having a two car garage, a white picket fence, and a family. Americans can achieve this dream in America by what was stated above of working hard, being fair, and using all the opportunities that’s provided to them. I understand that America has provided my family and I a place to live and having many opportunities to succeed in life. My dad works hard and has helped put a roof over my families head. He pays his taxes and doesn’t let us go hungry. Even through hard times America has helped my family out through assistance and not letting us go homeless. I myself work and pay bills, help out with household needs and continue to go to school. With America providing me financial aid, I don’t have to worry about working 40 hours a week and struggling to survive. America has helped many others besides myself and am proud to be an American and help America out.

I think Cynthia Selfe is mistaken because she overlooks the whole picture of what America has offered and all the history America has. The American cultural experience tells us differently. The statement land of opportunity for all is really only for some people. The reality Cynthia forgot to mention about America is the history with slavery, deaf education, women’s suffrage, immigration, labor laws, are all here to remind us that America hasn’t been the land of opportunity for all for many years. In America we never had a black President till the 2008 elections in which he won and took office in 2009. That says a lot about America. All 43 other presidents were white and all were males. Women today still have to fight to keep their place in the office because some men still to this day don’t see women having the right to work besides in their homes as housewives. Immigration here in America has always been an issue. America has a double standard telling they want people here from anywhere yet when they get here it’s another story. Not in all cases but in a lot of them. I see all these issues as a women and being part Mexican. I have been in the system getting assistance because my mom not always being able to get a job because of not finishing college. Yet we don’t have founds to put her in school. Maybe now the chances are better but it has always been a struggle for her. I understand that America is a great place to live but has over time. Things take time and when America was first founded it was not perfect and still isn’t.

I used the countering in the they say I say. This countering because it seemed easy to get my point across. I think the way I countered what she said worked for me to put things in place. I took what she said and went the complete opposite.

Growing up Online

Part 1.) In the video "Growing up Online" by the directors Rachel Dritzen and John Maggio which aired on Frontline brings up into considerations a lot of main points about the internet and the effects it has on our youth. The main in this video is the fact that parents are unaware of what their children are doing on their computers or phones and not really knowing these technologies as well as their children they cant understand what their children are engaging in. Parry Aftab the executive producer of WiredSafety.org states "Everyone is panicking about sexual predators online. That's what parents are afraid of; that's what parents are paying attention to"(PBS Par 10). It has been brought to our attention also "My parents don't understand that I've spent pretty much since second grade online, I know what to avoid" states one ninth-grader (Par. 9). We as adults are blindsided by all this information that there are such thing as online predators that we stress upon this fact that we need to know every little thing the kids do and who they talk to. What we don't understand is that the internet also has so many other fears on it from chat rooms to talking about how to starve yourself and how to get through that grueling experience. At the same time though some students and or kids engage in behavior that isn't quite excepted and then post these things on sites such as Youtube so everyone else can see what they have done. A mother herself, Evan Skinner, knows these things are happening and tries to stay involved in her kids lives as much as she can. But at the same time we learn from her son Cam that going to far into this can in turn lead to less of a relationship. Cam a high school student was participating in going to a concert and they were traveling on the train. They were being rude and were partaking in drinking alcohol and just not doing smart things. They had posted the videos on an internet source and it didn't take long for Evan Skinner, Cams mother, to find it. She then wrote a letter to the whole student bodies parents and it really compromised the two of theirs relationship. Cams friends didn't trust him after this and lost a lot of them due to this action his mother took. Evan Skinner says "I remember being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets, but it's really hard when it's the other side"(Par. 6) I will admit there is much bad on the internet and it can really persuade people to do for lack of better words stupid things. There is a lot of good that comes along with the internet and I just think the best thing we can do as a Nation is to educate the children better on what is good and bad on the internet and try to keep close to what they are doing but at the same time not to close. It sounds so easy but it really takes a lot to find that medium ground and its really what is needed to make sure our children are truly staying safe on the internet.
Part 2.) The internet has changed the view of my life completely. Some good and some bad but at the end of the day they have all changed my life in a positive way. I know me personally had a strong addiction to a computer game throughout high school called World of Warcraft and made me practically waste two years of my life. I would log onto this fantasy world and play with online friends and would just not care about the actual real world. All I saw was this virtual world with millions of people and I became indulged in what it could offer for me. On the other side of the spectrum I overcame one of the biggest obstacles I have experienced in my life. I wasn't just fighting to get out of this addiction of playing upwards of 14-18 hours a day, I was fighting for my family and the friends I had lost through this experience. I became a stronger person through this and now understand something more about me about how easily it is to get addicted to something of this stature. Then I look at things like Facebook which I may spend a half an hour on a day and I look at how many people this site has reconnected me with. I now am going out and having a good time with these friends that I haven't seen in years and just having a good time and I couldn't even imagine how hard that would be if I didn't have one of these sites such as Facebook or Myspace to help me. All in all there is a lot of bad in the internet its all about the way the person uses this media and what they do with the internet sites they visit.

Is google making us stupid.

Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making us Stupid?" mainly focused on technology and how it affects us today. Carr refers to how he began to notice after his inclined use of technology it has become harder for him to stay focused on a book for a long period of time. Deep reading became a struggle for him. He has also found some of his friends were feeling the same way. People us the internet to obtain information quick and easy rather than researching for books and articles in the library. Studies have shown that people who do visit websites rarely read more than the first or second page. Have people looked to the internet to escape deep reading? Carr states, "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (2). Carr is explaining how he used to do research very in-depth, but now because the internet makes researching so much faster and easier Carr just skims the surface looking for information that he needs. This is most likely true for many people. The internet has in fact replaced deep reading. The loss of deep thinking isn’t the only thing the internet has changed. Carr goes on to explain how the internet and the type of reading we do has changed the way our brains think. We used to think that the brain was fully developed in your early twenties. Now we realize this isn’t true. The brain is always changing; altering itself. James Olds states, "[It] is very plastic" (4). our brains ultimately begin to take on characteristics of the tools we use. So the human brain is altering itself to be like the computer. The computer is so many tools wrapped up into one. It is a calculator, radio, TV, calendar, among others. Is this why our brains are beginning to see quantity and immediacy over quality?

My Super-Long "Growing Up Online" Summary

Part 1
The documentary “Growing Up Online” gives viewers an inside look into the online lives of teens who were born into this age of computers, and have never known anything different. This PBS Frontline video is directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio and aired on January 22nd of 2008. A common theme seemed to keep appearing amongst the parents in this video, which was that they didn’t really understand their teen’s activities online. The documentary addresses many of parent’s fears, such as online predators and overexposure of their children; both what their children are seeing and what their children are showing. However, we also see a different side of the online socializing which seems to be much more prominent, and yet not at the top of most parents’ list of worries, as we hear in the case of Ryan, who was bullied mercilessly both off and online.
Although Ryan’s father taught him how to defend himself physically, his father was unaware of the psychological aspect of Ryan’s bullying problems. Ryan’s father told Frontline: “I allowed the computer to become too much of his life” (PBS). Ryan turned to “suicide help sites” to try and solve his problems, sites which instead of talking you out of committing the act instead encouraged you to do so. Although Ryan’s story is not how most cyber-bullying ends, there are other ways which it can effect teens. At Chatham High School in New Jersey, several girls told Frontline that after being provoked on Myspace by several other girls from the high school, they confronted each other and a mass fight broke out. Ironically, this fight was videotaped and posted online (PBS).
The subject of internet use is present in most households across America, parents who don’t understand their teens use of computers often will either just stay out of it or try their best to protect their children by closely monitoring their every online move; which is no easy task. One mother, Evan Skinner, was especially adamant on keeping close tabs on her children’s internet use, admitted that she remembered having secrets as a teen but that “it’s really hard when it’s on the other side” (PBS).
Danah Boyd of Harvard University’s Berkham Center for Internet and Society told Frontline that it’s not a question of taking online activities away or even trying to make the internet a perfect, innocent place but more a “’question of how we teach ourselves and our children to live in a society where these properties are fundamentally a way of life. This is public life today’" (PBS). Many teens rely on the internet not as a thing separate from their everyday lives, but as an extension of their lives. The online world is their way of keeping in touch with friends, learning about themselves and the rest of the world. Not to mention the increasing amount of school assignments which require the use of the internet (PBS). It isn’t something we can ignore nor can parents take it away; the important thing is teaching children and teens how to be responsible while on and offline.
Part 2
Like most teens in America today I probably don’t realize the impact that the internet and digital media has actually had on my life; it’s always just sort of been there. Although most of my life my access to the internet was very limited (I was allowed to write a couple words at the end of my mom’s emails to family) today I can honestly say that without social networking sites I probably never would have went to high school or college for that matter. As an ex-homeschooler I know what’s like to live way out in the hills and not see anyone except my parents for days or weeks on end. It wasn’t until middle school that I had any friends that weren’t also homeschooled. After being persuaded to make a Myspace account (and hating it) I thought that talking to more people in person would be a good change for me. Now even though I don’t use those social networking sites very often, I still appreciate them as making a huge impact on my life. My current boyfriend of 3 years even asked me out via Myspace, so without it who knows where I would be today?

Reading Response 6

The Future Depends on Changes
A passage from, “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution,” written by Cynthia Selfe. Selfe states about the illustrated ads called the “Land of Difference narrative,”-is present not in what they show, but what they fail to show. There is remarkable absence in all the images of people of color, and poor people, and people who are out of work, and single-parent families, and gay couples and foreigners. If citizens of all kinds are to have access to technology and the opportunities it provides, we do not see such a narrative imagined in the Land of Difference narrative; if technology is to improve the lives of all Americans regardless of race and class and other differences, our collective ability to envision such a world is not evident in these images.
What Selfe is basically saying here is we need to expand our advertising to include everyone that makes up our society. Not to limit our advertisements to show only a specific group of people based on the color of their skin, their level of income, education, or marital status. The world is changing with the use of technology and in order for the world to grow and expand with technology; we need to drop the stereotyping of citizens and except everyone equally.
Although I agree with Selfe up to a point, I cannot accept her overall conclusion that we as Americans would limit a person from pursuing a desire that they want to achieve. I have noticed a slow gradual change to media advertising. For example, President Obama’s, (who is our first African-American President of the United States) words of encouragement to return to college. By offering federal grants and financial income to help with furthering educational goals. Also, college advertisements; are offering online training, classes available to take around work schedule, and the people in these ads are colored, both genders, and middle age with children. So I do believe change is occurring, but it occurring slowly in order for American to adapt to change. Women today are not just homemakers; it is very much a reality to see them in the work force, and many times the man staying home to care for the children. It’s all about how far you want to look outside the “box.” I also foresee the first woman president is not very far from happening.

The countering strategy I used was IV. “Yes/No/Perhaps but…,” to show that I understood where she was coming from in her statement that she had wrote ten years ago, and also to illustrate how society has been changing since she wrote this. In order for change to happen it takes time and encouragement from others to allow this to happen.

Reading Response 6: Lest We Think The Revolution is a Revolution

Cynthia L. Selfe is the author of “Lest We Think The Revolution is a Revolution” . In her essay she states the popular ways in which people view advertisements and their thoughts on our cultural background. Then she goes and states her views on what she thinks our culture is really like and what advertisements are saying. The first narrative in her essay has two parts the “Global Village” and the “Electronic Colony”. When writing her first narrative she describes ways in which people are seeing different cultures through different technology. Cynthia L. Selfe states, “One of the most popular narratives Americans tell ourselves about computers is that technology will help us create a global village in which the peoples of the world are all connected- communicating with one another and cooperating for the commonweal. According to this popular social narrative, the computer network that spans the globe will serve to erase meaningless geopolitical borders, eliminate racial and ethnic differences, re-establish a historical familial relationship which binds together the peoples of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, or location”. Through this quote I see that Cynthia L. Selfe is saying that having social networking sites and the internet will help the world become connected. Meaning the world will be one happy family. I think Cynthia L. Selfe is mistaken because she overlooks the strong feelings of distrust and antagonism some countries have toward one another. Also she doesn’t realize that on many social networking sites people are mainly writing to friends and family. People don’t always talk to strangers or people they don’t know that are half way around the world. People all around the world may be using the internet but that doesn’t mean they are using it together. Even though people are starting to communicate more with other countries in order to help them it doesn’t mean everyone will. Recently the United States has found ways the help with relief in Haiti. That is one out of many countries around the globe. How much of a bigger disaster is it going to take to get the whole world united? Some cultures we don’t even know exist until we go on the internet and look them up. But what do we do with the information once we receive it? The answer is mostly nothing. When have you gone online and found out someone was in need and did something to help? We see ads almost every day saying we should help someone or we should donate to a cause. We see commercials for kids in Africa and Haiti with little to nothing asking for help. We also see commercials for the ASPCA asking you to help injured, unhealthy, and abandoned animals. Have you picked up the phone to help? Once everyone in the nation lends a helping hand then we will truly be united and one big happy family. I used the arguing the other side strategy and my response shows this by proving in many ways why she is wrong and many things she may not have thought of.

The now generation has been on computers from early childhood and associates communicating through Facebook or MySpace almost like a type of “currency” states Greg Bukata, one of the many teens interviewed for the Frontline production Growing up Online. There are many compelling, insightful, and educational points in this attention grabbing documentary which was co-produced and co-directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio. Growing up Online brings attention to how and why teens and younger use the internet as a socializing tool and a way to become someone they are more comfortable with as an identity. One of the many fears of parents is the easy access to harmful Websites and predators on the internet; insight into the amount of privacy and discretion needed to protect them is not many youngsters forte. The video shows interviews from freshmen, juniors, and seniors in high school and the majority explained that they know to just delete and block another user, that is unknown to them, who asks to meet up somewhere.
Cyber bulling is also pointed out as being a problem among middle school students, which in one case ended in the suicidal death of the very young Ryan Halligan. John Halligan (Ryan’s father) shared this with Frontline, “The computer and the Internet were not the cause of my son’s suicide, but I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain that he was trying to deal with that started in person, in the real world.” The possibility of getting hurt is real with almost everything anyone does in life whether in the real world or cyber life; what matters is if the generations using the Internet are taught the same types of safety rules to live by as they are about looking both ways before crossing the street and never go anywhere with strangers.
Growing up in a single parent family with three siblings, I wasn’t able to get into the everyday use of computers until I was 18 and living on my own. Learning how to use and what is available on the Internet came from a crash course by a co-worker; the rest was learned by trial and error. The use of Web life has not become such a huge staple of an identity for me as it has engrossed the generation that is late teens early twenties and the now generation that has been learning how to count and read using the family computer. It is very hard for me to sit at the computer for long periods surfing looking for nothing in particular, just passing time. I am most certainly not one of the many who can’t go longer than a few minutes without updating a status or emailing or texting a friend about what is going and wondering if they are missing out on something. I am the type that can go days or weeks without contacting friends and family. Being able to appear offline when on Facebook would be an awesome feature because sometimes I just don’t want others to know that I am online. For me the act of taking a book and blanket to the patio is way more entertaining than jumping online to catch up with friends I just saw or talked to hours ago. Knowing how to use all the technology that computers offer is an important part of the now and future for many, but it is just as important not to lose the ability to do things the old ways. Being able to move forward means knowing where the start was.

Modern Man in 2020's

When I was smaller, I was exposed to a very interesting fact that I indeed tried to apply. It sounded like this: “The younger a person is the easier it is for him to learn information, learn how to behave and implant positive habits into his, her life. It is much harder to do so when that person grows up.” Which might be a good thing because if he is on the right track then negative influence is less likely to affect him, her. So I was teaching myself how to act properly, as well as it was done by my parents. But the interesting fact, that we read in the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, is that even a grown up can be rewired. Especially when it is being done is small doses creating a positive feeling – necessity for efficiency being fulfilled meanwhile nothing is triggering the realization of side effects caused by such a useful tool.

Today my question is this: If the adults are getting rewired then what is happening to us - younger generation? Who is that modern man of 2020’s? Personally, I don’t know, hope it’s not what it looks like it will be. Due to the position of present cultural level that was influenced by mass progress in technology, time is counted faster which makes people impatient media entertainment deflates compassion and a lot of positive feelings in general.

The world needs to understand that technology doesn’t only affect cultural lifestyle it also brings that factor of “to get everything out of me, you need to think like me”. A super perfect shot, with a bulls eye exclamation to it, was done by Nicholas Carr who used clock as an example to prove how it changed the way a society thinks and it’s fascinating to think that he is right. As soon as clocks and all sorts of watches became available to average people, that useful tool brought efficiency and showed changes the rhythm of life. Now everything needs to be done on time and when the time is right. Not only that the language changed a bit people started “living by the good clock”. What is mean is:

“Charley it is time for you to sleep”

“But I don’t want to sleep mommy”

“What are you talking about? It’s 9:30!”

Or

“Oh I need to go get lunch”

“Why?”

“Because it 12:30 and I haven’t had lunch yet”

And so on…

People start doing things not because they need to but because it’s time to do that. Necessity and instinct is put to the side and not practiced so that is why we got instructions on basic appliances and goods. People don’t think as much and don’t analyze they act in correspondence to directions and rules without making personal choices. That little time counter is connected to a chain of changes that are fueled by other things as well.

And if our grandparents were rewired than our parents grew up with it and it has become something usual, so usual that it takes us some time to understand what the one who has notice it means. So if our parents are being rewired while thy use internet for us – youth, it’s not even a process we face. It is the process of being wired which take not time to take place. What is meant by rewiring here is that it was proven by a group of scientists at the UCLA Research Center that a typical reader who can read and actually submerge into text has no or very little distraction rate as long as no exposure to internet took place. As soon as the person became comfortable with the internet (in the lab it was 5 days) the scanner showed that the brain parts that were active in non-deep readers matched the brain parts on typical readers which wasn’t the same before. That clearly shows that the change took place and the change is visible throughout the culture. It is hard for the modern generation to read books and novels. Because the ones who use internet have created a habit of jumping from one piece on information to another. And that is true in me too, before we got a computer I use to read books and be fascinated by them. Overfilled with emotions and mixed feeling I couldn’t understand why people don’t read that much. Time has passed now I am a photographer/graphic designer and the use of internet is constant in my life and I don’t feel that way anymore, I don’t want to read books, I always want something else I always need more, and need it quick. And just like Nicholas Carr was saying about the change in his reading habits “I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” for many internet users. But what if that reading was never a struggle because you were not exposed to it? Then the price of that sort of internet like mindset habits will leave a poor effect on the days of modern man of 2020’s… We will just have to see!

Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making us Stupid?" mainly flocused on technology and how it affects us today. Carr refers to how he began to notice after his inclined use of technology it has become harder for him to stay focused on a book for a long period of time. Deep reading became a struggle for him. He has also found some of his friends were feeling the same way. People us the internet to obtain information quick and easy rather than researching for books and articles in the library. Studies have shown that people who do visit websites rarely read more than the first or second page. Have people looked to the internet to escape deep reading? Carr states, "Oce I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (2). Carr is using a simile for how he used to research a topic thoroughly, but now with the conveinence of the internet he only skims through the surface of each subject only taking the information he wishes to use. This is most likely true for many people. The interent has in fact replaced deep reading. The loss of deep thinking isnt the only thing the internet has changed. Carr goes on to explain how the internet adn the type of reading we do has changed the way our brains thinkg. We used to think that the brain was fully developed in your early twenties. Now we realize this isnt true. The brain is always changing; altering itself. James Olds states, "[It] is very plastic" (4). our brains ultimatly begin to take on characteristics of the tools we use. So the human brain is altering itself to be like the computer. The computer is so many tools wrapped up into one. It is a calculator, radio, TV, calendar, among others. Is this why our brains are begining to see qantity and immediacy over quality?