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.