hw 31 exploring methods of m,m,c,a and aggrandizing the self

Part A 

so this weekend i was at my friend's house and i noticed he was looking at his shoulder for a while. so i asked what he was doing. He told me that he had just got a tattoo on his shoulder. I began to ask him why he got it. he said, " Its hot man, and i wanted a tattoo for mad long." it was a tattoo of a sort of a star that had a vanishing point. So i was asking what's it suppose to mean, he sort of got distracted because he was playing playstation 3. So i moved on. i looked in this little sketchpad he had and there was a picture of the tattoo that he ended up getting. so i thought to myself that he actually thought about it and it has to have some significance. Then my other friend came and he is good friends with the other kid. Turns out they both got tattoos on the same day and i think the same spot. They have known eachother for really long and now that they are adults, they go everywhere together. They are like brothers. Maybe the meaning was like instead of being blood brothers, they are like ink brothers now.

I thought that by him not telling me about his tattoo really symbolized something to me. t told me that maybe the meaning of it may be embarrassing to tell people and that it maybe is just soething between him and his friend. It can have a lot of significance or it may have no significance but i will be asking him about his tattoo this week. 

hw 30

What are the sources of this sense of meaninglessness, but also of the need for a sense of meaning? People are constantly wanting to be things so that they can be viewed and judged by others. whether we like the ways that we change, or we dont, it is a constant thing that happens especially in America. Deep down we know that our lives are going to end, and that we all live meaningless lives. No matter what we do, we cannot change that. these sources of meaninglessnss come form the ways that we learn from others and can depend on how we were raised in this world. A big source of this meaninglessness comes from early childhood. Sometimes we are neglected by our parents, when this becomes a constant thing to live with, we react to that by feeling like we don't matter. The need for meaning can also come from our times of being neglected. Some of us grow as people and decide that we will no longer be that other person who lived and died and nobody noticed except for a few people. people want to feel like they matter by walkng into this house of cool. this is a place where people go to feel unique and to sort of learn the ropes of things to do to be cool, like being relaxed, having a sense of humor, looking good, etc. Once we can harness all of this, we feel like we matter because we stand for something,sort of like we play on a team and that is the cool team instead of being on the neutral team that noboy pays any mind to. now there are millions of people, mostly teens who play on this cool team and feel that sense of meaning. since people labeled them as cool, they now have a role to play in life, and that's the cool kid role that everyone wants, the role that's involved with poplarity and being noticed on a daily basis, also being respected is another reason why people feel like they matter. most humans share this feeling of emptiness, and try to reverse that feeling by acting a role sometimes that people admire. The war hero who was sent to kill people and not be jailed for it because they are doing an honorable thing for their country. Their sense of emptiness is gone for this role that they are now war heroes. humans never live their lives in a way that can be respected and recognized. If someone wanted to live in a tribe in a remote area, that wouldn't be considered cool. You would be scolded. so instead, that person does what other people expect him to do, which is, go to school, graduate from college, get a great boring well paying job, have a family and a house and die somehow. This person never experiences their ideas of what cool is, but of what other people's idea of cool is. They feel this sense of meaning though because they did what the majority of society wanted, but they haven't lived their life. they have just wasted it for someone else. This was a passage i found descibing how we regret the way that we live. "Another fresh approach, regret theory, was proposed in 1996 by Adrian Tomer and Grafton Eliason. Regret theory focuses on the way in which people evaluate the quality or worth of their lives. The prospect of death is likely to make people more anxious if they feel that they have not and cannot accomplish something good in life. People might torment themselves with regrets over past failures and missed opportunities or with thoughts of future accomplishments and experiences that will not be possible." Regret theoryRead more: http://www.deathreference.com/A-Bi/Anxiety-and-Fear.html#ixzz0a0OVGnNe. My way of intertwining this with my writing is that basically we regret many things that we do in life. We don't focus on the true ways that we want to live, becuase it may not be something that other people feellike was a good way to live. we continue to please other people by living their ways so it is sort of like we are giving those people a second life. A way to keep their legacy alive on earth. A way to be remembered long after they die. we always say this thing like, "make them proud." or, "they would be proud of you." We incorporate this with our senses of powerlessness and meaninglessness. So in order to create a sense of meaning in our lives, we look up and listen to this higher power than you, which makes a great impact on you, especially if you are listening to someone who is influential in your life. Therefore when you grow up to live a certain way, a way that the saying of, "they would be proud of you," would come into play. yet we aren't proud of ourselves and we arent happy with ourselves, making us still empty inside, and always finding newer ways to fufill this emptiness, so this sense of meaning, never ends. Freud's theory suggested that at birth, a baby is acred for and always wanting the attention of their caregiver. This is how the baby gets it's sense of meaning. they feel on top of the world by getting everything they so desire, which is being spoiled, but they don't know that. once these children gow up into teens and further on, they feel alone. They are put into the real world and need to fend for themselves. It seems like they are meaningless because they are new to the real world where they are now in competition with thousands of other people. This competition can be for anything, a new job and a new position within a job, this is mainly what people in the work or strive for, because with this title, you gain respect and more meaning in life. Viktor Frankl described our meaninglessness as a vaccum. he said, " If meaning is what we desire, then meaninglessness is a hole, an emptiness, in our lives. whenever you have a vaccum, of course, things rush to fill it." he goes on to say how we fill our vaccum with stuf so that we get some sense of satisfaction, but it is a superficial satisfaction that can only last for so long. I would agree with frankl and his theory because i see it a lot today and how majority of the people i am around, live lives filled with things that can't provide an extensive happines, but a short happiness before it has to be replenished with another happiness. We all fall under this theory of living meaningless lives which we all try and make meaning of. Some people can succeed at making meaning of their lives, but they have had to live very long and endure many of life's tests to ultimately discover a meaning for their lives. But yet many people haven't thought about their meaninglessness because along with those thoughts, come greif and shock of how they live, and people become anxious and a bunch of other things. It is tough for people to think about the meaning of their lives, and some people never find true meaning or even a true satisfaction for their lives. They just find a vaccum.

hw 29 merchants of cool

Is it evil to help the corporations to manipulate the minds of young people for the sake of profit?

This a very interesting question to me. These companies are said to be harming our youth by putting out these messages that advertise anything they choose to please. As long as you are able to see, then you will be manipulated and engulfed in this wave of ads.  Today, now that t.v.'s are a worldwide phenomenon and this idea of cool has erupted into a massive necessity for millions,  although it is evil, it cannot and will not stop. by helping the corporations to manipulate minds of young people is what keeps our country running. Without this, our economy will tank and many people will be left without jobs, so in a way, it is safer to to be evil than it is to be good.

Should advertising to young people be banned? Up to what age? Or all ages?

Advertising to young people should be banned. I think that kids will soon learn enough about how our society runs, when the become older, i don't think its ok for people to advertise to young kids because that is how kids become spoiled and grow up wanting everything they see. These companies survive on children and their needs. Toy companies are always advertising because if not, they will become bankrupt. It is an ongoing cycle for people. When you have kids, expect one of the first things they see, to be an ad, especially if they are watching tv. This cannot be banned. If it had to be banned, i think that it should be banned until you are at least 20 years old, so that now everything you want, should be worked for and not just given to you, but then again you will want so much more because you have missed out on many years, but it will also be hard to get what you want especially if your jobs suck. It won't matter what ages it is banned at, people will grow up wanting more and more

What specific manipulation techniques work best on the specific insecurities and emotional needs of young people, according toMerchants of Cool?

a technique that always works on people is to throw a party. to hype something up and to generate a buzz always seems to work, because of many reasons. It makes insecurities go away for a short time in your life. Like in the video during the sprite party. People were dancing and on camera. They felt cool for that 20  seconds of spotlight and all they thought about was promoting yourself as cool. Since you were there dancing with cameras around you and listening to the coolest songs, you don't feel insecure anymore, because you weren't there but your friend was. Also to create a product based on a couple of peoples likes, is also a way for companies to make money and manipulate us. They create a product based on what people really like to see. Such as the new droid cell phone. The ads were attacking apple saying that their product was way cooler because it does things that the "iphone don't" This proved as a pretty effective technique because it struck the minds of people since the commercials didn't show the cell phone. it only had a website. When i went to the site, they didn't show the phone. all together, nobody saw the phone until the release of it. This was the most interesting thing i noticed. the company was smart in knowing that people on verizon will buy the phone because of suspense around it. Then when people got it, they weren't happy so, people are getting angry, while verizon still controls you and laughs in your face with your money in their pockets.

hw 28 informal research

http://www.whatiscool.org/

this is an article about the ways that cool is used. this article has many sections on cool and the one that i looked at was a section called how to be cool. the page was about all the steps you can take in order to be cool. the first way was to know your limitations. i think this is a good rule because sometimes people try so hard to be cool that in fact they become annoying and people thin you are uncool

http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=338

This was an article on how cool is all about a revolutionary change in culture and technology. In the article the writer speaks about how or if cool can be viewed as being an intellectual person.  i think that the way this article was written was very advanced and whoever wrote this was pretty educated.

http://www.fenichel.com/Cool.shtml

This article is about the ways that that having cool gear contributes a lot to your coolness. The author said that sneakers and attitude are a way to seem cool. I can sort of relate to this because i like to buy sneakers just because to me they look cool but i am also being sucked in  to this world of followers and kids who are hypnotized by a superficial happiness

hw 27 interviews

This guy was also in the park just sitting down by himself. we asked him, whats cooler, macs or pc's. quickly he said, "pc's because they have been around for longer." then we asked him, what does cool mean to you? He said, " Thats a hard question, i think being hip and trying not to go down the same path as others. someone who can go through the struggle and still come out with a smile on their face, is cool."


This was another guy in the park just sitting around, so we walked up to him and asked if he had some time for a survey, he said, "sure whatever." So what's cooler, macs or pc's? He said," macs are cooler, they are more fun. We asked, so what does cool mean to you? He said, " cool is a hard question. Being nice i guess is pretty cool." Our last question was, Do you consider yourself to be cool? He said, " i consider myself to be cool because i am a good person. i can't pinpoint cool on one thing so i don't know"








This one one of the people who My group interviewed. she was sitting in the park eating her lunch. we asked her if she wanted to be a part of a survey , and her immediate reaction was, "wait, where's this going??" we told her it was for our high school class, so she agreed. one question she was asked was, whats cooler, macs or pc's? Her response was, macs because they are for more artistic people. Another question was, What does cool mean to you? She said," Cool to me means to be fresh. to be different. style and food is cool because we live in nyc and that's a big part of new york." Our last question was, Do you think you're cool? "yea i think so. i try and embrace everything i have and always do new things. Ithink i am because i follow my own path."





One guy at the park was sitting down and was just looking around. we asked if he wasnted to be interviewed. He said sure. we asked him whats cooler, macs or pc's? he said, " macs, i don't know why. We also asked him, who is the coolest person in your life right now? He said, " my brother is, he's my best friend." Then we asked him, do you think you're cool? "yea i think so, I'm a fun guy so yea i think I am pretty cool.

Ok so my first question is, what do you think it means to be cool?

friend: to look good, to dress good and to get girls.

Do you feel like youre cool? if you do the why?

friend: hell yea man! I dress fly but not too crazy and i get girls, and i look good. Remember to say that.

haha ok whatever. Do you feel comfortable with the way that you portray yourself with clothes to make you feel cool? or do you do it to show off and get noticed?

friend: well both because I feel confident and comfortable, and to get noticed by people. To get attention.

Do you feel unique or do you feel like a follower?

friend: unique.

How do you feel unique if you dress a certain way so people can notice you. Also many people dress like you. How do you feel unique?

friend: I feel like you're interrogating me for something. I feel like you are violating my rights as an american citizen!

How?!?!

friend: i don't know.

Okay thanks for your time.

hw 25

I noticed that many stories were the same in many ways. There always was one kid wwho was the cool one that people liked, and then there was the kid stuggling to reach that level. These were similar throughoout most stories that i read.

An element of cool in some stories was beauty, while others were being rebellious and disobeying rules. These elements all were related in a way to something that most kids see on a daily basis which was interesting.

ean: your story was very interesting. i like how you show how the chaacters are sort of shallow people. overall good job.

steph: i like your story because it involes stuff that people actually do. i like how it was mainly all dialouge so you were straightfoward with what you wanted to say. overall your story was good.

leah: i like your story because your characters were introduced and had a backround to them. i like how when the two girls were next to eachother, there was a ditinct difference that you told us. overall good job.

abe: i liked your story because i found it very easy to spot the cool kids from the not so cool kids. there was a distinction between the two groups that i found intereting. also because your story can relate to some people i know which was interesting.

victor:.i like how you showed how the characters were peer pressured into doing things they didn't want to do but did it anyways, it showed how kids can be cool in another persons eyes but not feel comfortable with themselves.

hw 25

hw 24 story

Charlie looked around at his new class, the class of 2010. charlie being new to this school had to start off fresh, new friends, new home, new environment. "hey charlie what's up?" "umm hi, what's your name? "the name's Jonathan, but the people call me mr fresco, which means mr fresh." Oh thats a cool nickname to have. so how long u been here?" "Aww man ever since freshman year, you shoulda seen me then. all scrawny and bummy looking. things sure do change. here look at this picture from 9th grade. MADD bummy right?!" "yea yo that's funny." Yo charlie, you should think about joining the basketball team, you get your own hoodies with your nickname, and you get madd respect." Three weeks later charlie went to the tryouts not knowing what to expect. Once he walked in, there was a dead silence in the room. Kids looked like escaped convicts, but that didn't change Charlie's mind. "Yo charlie we playin' a game man, sit out and wait for next game." "oh alright jonathan." Practice finished in an hour. charlie played for 6 minutes but was so nervous that he didn't score a point. he fumbled the ball and got it stolen 4 times. He knew that he did bad and the chances of him making it were very slim to none. he felt like a loser after he walked out the gym. while everyone gave each-other props for their work, charlie just listened and wondered what he was doing there? (loudspeaker) Attention, people who tried out for the basketball team should check the bulletin board for their name." charlie goes to see. his name is all the way on the bottom of the list for people who made it. he begins to think that maybe the coach sees potential in him. the first game was so insane for charlie. he felt nervous and just wished he could be home. all of the kids were fast and loud. "coach, when can you put me in?" "Not now man you're not ready." "what you mean? i went to the tryouts, see if i do better this time, I been practicing." "The game is too close man, just sit down and watch." this was a constant thing that charlie noticed. he hadn't played one minute in any game. After every game, everyone went out with their girlfriends and looked so happy. "Hey coach, i just wanted to tell you that I'm not gonna be on the team anymore." "Why not man we need you." Nahh you need me to fill a spot, you can't go to a game with only a starting five and you know that. But its whatever man. Now you'll be down a replacement. You better make sure your team don't get hurt." "Aight whatever man you wanna quit then go ahead." BOOM. the door shuts loudly behind charlie as he realized that he didn't want to be used by anyone. he wasn't even happy to be playing, or sitting. he realized that people tend to take advantage when you make them happy. So he decided not to fold under pressure or do anything that he was uncomfortable doing. For charlie, Being an individual with a voice,  was cool.

hw 23 cool

A question that I have about cool, would be who labels you as cool or uncool and why does their opinion matter to us so much? People always have these impressions that other people's opinions matter more than their own. It's a problem that we have in America and all over the world, that if you don't look good in someone else's eyes, then you don't look good at all. That's why people are always trying to alter themselves, so that they can fit this "cool" frame that everyone is obsessed with trying to fit in to.

I think of cool as being someone who can make a good first impression and continue to make good impressions on people. I think i am pretty cool in my own way. I usually don't make bad impressions on people and that's why i think people think of me as cool, although i could be wrong. Cool can be anything, since there is such a wide variety of diverse people, anything can be considered "cool" from playing a sport to being a great reader, cool can also mean to inspire people in a way, i think when people say you are cool, you have done a little bit of that and have inspired someone in a way.

I think that people who change themselves to be considered cool in someone else's eyes is not cool at all. Being yourself is sort of the early stages of what makes you cool in the first place. I don't think making yourself uncomfortable so that someone else can judge you, is cool. If someone doesn't like you for being yourself, then there are many others that will accept you and your standards of what's cool.

hw 21 art

I think that my art is a hammer. All of these items can represent a hammer building a new me. In the picture you can see many devices that do the same things but i have multiples of them in different colors. 4 psp's, 2 cellphones, and tons of games on my xbox and in the drawer behind it. All of these devices have changed me and have made me more and more dependent.

My art makes me think about how i am making myself dumber in a way. i feel like i am not happy even with all opf these devices to get me through a day. I think that having all of these things are not necessary but I still have them and i barely use half of these things anymore. they are just collecting dust.

The most interesting thing about my piece was that as i gathered them togethewr and took the picture, i thought about the story behind all of these items, such as the xbox being my 3rd one because myohter ones broke. Also how those 2 cellphones wwere given to me in middle school. All of these items have a story and I found it interesting that i could make a pyramid with these things and how much money is gathered up in this one picture. This was interesting to me because when i took the picture and showed it to my brother, he went, "damn, i forgot all about those things!" then i said, "I know right!?" It was just very interesting to see all of these things together.

final paper

EQ: how has technology altered our society through the years?

Introduction:
Over the past 50 years, technology has advanced rapidly. In places, mainly America, technology is mostly the foundation on which we survive on. we have become so dependent on it that we cannot live without it. our society is fueled by digital representations. Everyday we are surrounded by it. No matter if we notice it, we are trapped in this digital world, which is having major effects on society, mainly the united states of America in which Digital representations have created a corrupted society throughout years.

Argument 1:
Our society has evolved immensly over 50 years. Americans now are living lives that are mainly stress free. Is technology to blame for this rapid evolution? people have easier lives than ever before. Americans are despised by many, because of the ways that we live. We can do anything with the technology that we have. Ours lives have become easy. People make a living through technology. Someone that i interviewed on the street was asked a series of questions and this was how he answered. "I spend about 10 hours a day digitally. Its like the society we live in now relies on tech. I mainly use it because i own my own business and i have to track many things and technolgy is very beneficial to me. I spend thousands of dollars a year on it as well." The man was well dressed and had a very nice phone, which can prove that people actually make their livings through tech. Also thwo other people i spoke to said that it was bad and wouldn't let their kids use it. An iteresting thing was that the people who were against tech were in nature. they were in the park selling fruits and had no digital devices in view. This may contribute to the idea of living natural good lives. These people seemed like they were living honest lives, while the guy on the street with the suit seemed kind of miserable and uncomfortable in a suit all day. This was very interesting . The possibilities are endless when we are given a digital device. We can mainly do anything that we choose to do. We can shop online, we can even get an education online. with the advancement of technology, Americans won't even have to leave their homes. We are despised for living such easy lives and watching other countires with people who work hard labor jobs barely survivng. Where do we see these things? We see mostly everything through technology. We no longer have to live like our ancestors use to. We have things now that can even think for us. Google search bars can predict what you are thinking, all you have to do, is give them the slightest idea of what you were thinking about. Now we have robots that can clean for us. The lives that we live are taken for granted and we don't even notice it.

Argument 2:
Technogical representations in America have also created a socitey where we do not have to communicate physically or socialize physically. We can now do these things in a virtual world. We have become less social and now can do all of our socializing in a virtual world. voices are almost no longer necessary. We are continuously upgrading to things that seem like they are making a difference in our lives. we get pulled in to these ads that say that this phone has faster speeds to getting messages across. Or we are looking at the sleekest looking device, even if its a crappy device. phones are becoming super advanced. phones with interent and cameras, also some with live t.v and even have room in them for games and music. All of this in one device can make people save thousands of dollars by not having to by t.v's or computers, but we buy these things anyways. The ways that these big corporations promote their products are working to perfection, if they are racking up billions, while we kill ourselves slowly, with the things they create. "phones damage key brain cells and could trigger the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. …Researchers have found that radiation from cell phone handsets damages areas of the brain associated with learning, memory and movement." (controlyourimpact.com). We do not think about ourselves when we are stimulated digitally,as long as we are happy, and interested, then we have no other worries.

Argument 3:
In America it is sort of like we need these things for survival, we don't know how to live any other way. Our economy runs on being one of the most technologically advanced things we have. Without that, we wouldn't be one of the wealthiest countries on earth. we stay on top of our game with these things. We wouldn't want to lose that. "At this moment in human history, we have no choice. We are 100% dependent on technology. Unless, of course, you want to go and harvest your food yourself by hand, have a life expectancy of 40 years old, and a child mortality rate of over 20% of live births."Technology can keep us humane. Unlike the 2003 blackout did. When that happened, people were looting stores, and starting fires in parks. It was like people were knocked back in to prehistoric ages. people slept on floors and walked for miles to get home. It was scary for people because they were trapped in this scary situation where technology failed them on a massive scale that caused mass chaos. We were knoced back to the stone ages. We survive on these digital representations, and that has created sort of an artifical society where people aren't their true selves.

opposing viewpoints:
Although technolongy can affect us in negative ways, it can also improve ur lives. We are always helping people through technology. Through our advancements in technology, we have saved millions of lives, we have improvwed medicines and we have helped people live easier lives with less stress."The constant improvement of digital technology has helped the economy while simultaneously reducing resource consumption and social communication in our age has lessened loneliness and helped people live happier lives." (Andy snyder.) this quote shows that people have become more active in talking and reaching out in the world. The advancements in terchnology have improved our lives so that we can survive for many more generations. we no longer have to worry about getting injured and having a high chance of dying. we can be treated and saved with ease, which we couldn't have done without the advancements of technology.


Connection:
This can connect to the book feed, because Feed demonstrated a world of people who's survival depended on this computer that was in their heads. as we saw their world was changing. As a society they were changing as well. We saw how they were trapped in this virtual bubble where people only thought about the superficial things in their lives instead of focusing on where their actual lives were headed which was when one character violet opened up everyone's eyes on the world that they lived in. this can also relate to the movie WALL-E. This movie showed how earth was destroyed by us and we had to leave our planet untill it was cleaned up by robots. It showed how people didn't want to confront their problems, they just wanted them to be solved. It showed how we weren't aware of our surroundings until we were unplugged from our digital life.

Conclusion:
Digital representations have created a society where people have lived dishonest lives. It has created a corrupted society by trapping each person in this virtual bubble, and has created a society that is hated by many but also a society that many thrive on. Its like we are all joined digitally and refuse to have it any other way.

Works cited:
WALL-E
FEED
Personal encounters
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080212215718AAyqVsL

big paper draft revised

thesis: Dgital representation has created a corrupted society.over the past 50 years, technology has advanced rapidly. In places, mainly America, technology is mostly the foundation on which we survive on. we have become so dependent on it that we cannot live without it. our society is fueled by digital representations. Everyday we are surrounded by it. No matter if we notice it, we are trapped in this digital world, which is having major effects on society, mainly the united states of America. digital representation has created a corrupted society.

Our society has evolved immensly over 50 years. Americans now are living lives that are mainly stress free. Is technology to blame for this rapid evolution? people have easir lives than ever before. Americans are despised by many, becausae of the ways that we live. We can do anything with the technology that we have. Ours lives have become easy. People make a living through technology. Someone that i interviewed on the street was asked a series of questions and this was how he answered. "I spend about 10 hours a day digitally. Its like the society we live in now relies on tech. I mainly use it because i own my own business and i have to track many things and technolgy is very beneficial to me. I spend thousands of dollars a year on it as well." The man was well dressed and had a very nice phone, which can prove that people actually make their livings through tech. Also thwo other people i spoke to said that it was bad and wouldn't let their kids use it. An iteresting thing was that the people who were against tech were in nature. they were in the park selling fruits and had no digital devices in view. This may contribute to the idea of living natural good lives. These people seemed like they were living honest lives, while the guy on the street with the suit seemed kind of miserable and uncomfortable in a suit all day. This was very interesting . The possibilities are endless when we are given a digital device. We can mainly do anything that we choose to do. We can shop online, we can even get an education online. with the advancement of technology, Americans won't even have to leave their homes. We are despised for living such easy lives and watching other countires with people who work hard labor jobs barely survivng. Where do we see these things? We see mostly everything through technology. We no longer have to live like our ancestors use to. We have things now that can even think for us. Google search bars can predict what you are thinking, all you have to do, is give them the slightest idea of what you were thinking about. Now we have robots that can clean for us. The lives that we live are taken for granted and we don't even notice it.

technogical representations in America have also created a socitey where we do not have to communicate physically or sociaze physically. We can now do these things in a virtual world. We have become less social and now can do all of our socializing in a virtual world. voices are almost no longer necessary. We are continuously upgrading to things that seem like they are making a difference in our lives. we get pulled in to these ads that say that this phone has faster speeds to getting messages across. Or we are looking at the sleekest looking device, even if its a crappy device. phones are becoming super advanced. phones with interent and cameras, also some with live t.v and even have room in them for games and music. All of this in one device can make people save thousands of dollars by not having to by t.v's or computerwsw, but we buy these things anyways. The ways that these big corporations promote their products are working to perfection, if they are racking up billions, while we kill ourselves slowly, with the things they create. Technology has become so advance that it effects evrything. In my life, i have seen drastic changes. My grandmother use to live a very old fashioned lifestyle. She had a fan, an old radio, one t.v with antennas, even one of those rotary house phones. Over thhe past two years she has upgraded drastically. Now she has 4 t.v's in total. also she has a cellphone, and has bought me a dell computer. The most interesting thing is that she does not know how to use half of these things. I think she is sort of trying to get with the program. It's sort of like she is very good at resisting these technological devices, but only for so long.

In America it is sort of like we need these things for survival, we don't know how to live any other way. Our economy runs on being one of the most technologically advanced things we have. Without that, we wouldn't be one of the wealthiest countries on earth. we stay on top of our game with these things. We wouldn't want to lose that. Tchnology can keep us in control.it keeps people humane. Unlike the 2003 blackout did. When that happened, people were looting stores, and starting fires in parks. It was like people were knocked back in to prehistoric ages. people slept on floors and walked for miles to get home. It was scary for people because they were trapped in this scary situation where technology failed them on a massive scale that caused mass chaos. We were knoced back to the stone ages. We survive on these digital representations, and that has created sort of an artifical society where people aren't their true selves.

digital representations have created a society where people have lived dishonest lives. It has created a corrupted society by trapping each person in this virtual bubble, and has created a society that is hated by many but also a society that many thrive on. Its like we are all joined digitally and refuse to have it any other way.

comment on stepanie's outline

steph,

I think that you have a very interesting thesis about how we are becoming brainwashed. I think if you were to elaborate on the point about places like starbucks providing internet to attract customers and more money, would be a very good point in your paper. one suggestion I have is to not say that we have turned into zombies. I think you should say that we have become entranced by technology and that we are imprisoned by technology and once it fails us we panic. overall i think you can have a potentially strong paper if you can create strong arguments.

hw 16

EQ: how has the advancement of technology affected society and the way that we live our lives?

THESIS:digital representation has created a corrupted society.

Argument 1: ways that life has become easier.

now that there is all of this technology out, people no longer have to do anything productive. The ways that our lives have become easier, is that now there are endless possibilities that technology can provide. People can now search for whatever they want on the internet. We can now view anything from the latest tech coming out, to taking a tour of a country all withing the comfort of your own homes. As technology becomes more advanced, we become lazier and we become slaves to our televisions and computers. We no longer have to go crazy thinking about anything, because if you can type in even a simple idea of what you were thinking about, our computers can basically read your minds and provide you with the information you've been looking for.

Argument 2: people no longer having to communicate physically, but virtually.

People are now finding ways to talk to people in a virtual way rather than communicating face to face. This has made people less social. now we can say anything we want via internet and be completely safe. People now can take classes over the internet, do meetings over the internet and we can chat with people now who have different identities now. even say one of the most embarrasing things over the internet may seem like not such a big deal because people cannto see your emotion over the internet and think of what you said as not a big deal. We can now write in abbreviations and people can understand what we are trying to say. People can basically run their lives and support themselves by using ther internet. We can now have alter egos and talk on headsets, life is so dependent on being virtual that we waste our lives stuck in this virtual world instead of living natural true lives.

Argument 3: People have become digitally depentent on technology and sociey relies on technology for everyday survival.

people have learned that technology is the foundation for the people of united states, without it, people can go crazy. if the stock market were to lose its technological advances, our economy would be shot.We wouldn't be able to trade with other industries, which would mean a decrease in money which would leave people without money, sort of like the great depression in the early 1900's. it is like a cycle and that every action has a reaction. so we wouldn't want to lose our digital lifestyles. People use technology for running businesses and for gertting things that we want. We wouldn't want to lose that. Another way that technology can keep us in control is that it keeps people humane. Unlike the 2003 blackout did. When that happened, people were looting stores, and starting fires in parks. It was like people were knocked back in to prehistoric ages. people slept on floors and walked for miles to get home. It was scary for people because they were trapped in this scary situation where technology failed them on a massive scale that caused mass chaos.

hw 15 abcdef

dear leah and steph,

I really enjoyed reading your posts. you guys both showed some good understanding of the book and of digitalization in society as a whole.

A major point that both of you guys had was that when we use devices like cellphones or play video games, we don't see what is happening around us. We are unaware of our surroundings and both of your blog posts touch on the idea that people are like zombies when using technology
Your arguments can connect to mine, because you guys both say that using technology to live our lives is bad, but stopping is the hardest part considering everything in the future will become super advanced. It will be almost impossible to stop useing technology and the book feed says that and also says how people are becoming dumber each time we hook up to our "feeds."

I think one way that both of you guys can improve in your blog posts, is by writing the simple obvious ideas, but then also thinking harder to try and make better answers that will make people think. A good way to do this would be to ask questions and keep building answers on that question. I think if you guys can do this, your blogs will be very interesting and help others with their blogs.

Both of your blog posts make me think about my life and how or what kind of world my children are going to grow up in. Even the world that I'm going to grow up in. I can consider the fact that the future is going to be very dependent on these companies making things that make our lives super easy. I can't wait until the day where i can order everything online and not ever own a set of keys to my house because i will never be leaving it. If this is what our future is going to be like, It would be hard not to conform and join that sort of society because your curiousity will take over.

Thank you guys for writing your posts and i hope to read more from both of you.

hw 14

I found this article on video games to be quite interesting. One of the points in this article was that reading for fun has declined over the past couple years and that we have to teach our kids that reading is going to be beneficial to us in the future. The author also says that parents and teachers shoulfd help their kids develop an appetite for reading and.

Another point that was brought up and on e that i agree on, is that havong good reading skills, will be helpful when searching for a job. More job opritunities arise when people see that you are a good reader, because if you are a good reader, that may mean that you are a good speaker as well.

my mix of reactions to the text was that, the author had very strong opinions about reading vs video games. i thought that when he purposly used an alternative viewpoint now staitng that video games were better than books, was pretty intertesting. The point he brought up about people being silexic and how books just project that disablility while video games don't was a good point.

the author of this text contradicted the book feed because he says that reading is good. Reading will be very helpful in the future and is a great way to spend your time, while feed says that digital is the way to live, basically saying that nobody wants to read books anymore, its not brag. Another point that the author of feed is making is that the future is run by technology and that people have been hypnotized, thinking that they are living normal lives, while one character in the book, violet, can see through all of the things that people find good. violet speaks out against the feed and the way that it works. The line that struck me most in the short excerpt, was the the line, " remind me why this is fun?" i thought that this could relate to the way violet felt with her feed and how life was too easy. It also contradicts the feed, because the people with feeds wouldn't be askinfg htemselves why using the feed is fun. They are too dumb to think for themselves, even at a simple question like this which I bet the have no answer to.

hw 13

MT Anderson's book feed is about how this society he depicts is so hooked on the feed which is the computer that people have in their heads. the story follows a kid named titus and his friends as they live in the future and on the moon. they were shut down for a while by a hacker, but once the hack was solved, people continued their daily routine of wasting their lives surfing the net. although MT depicts futre generations in this book, it is a story based on the present generation and the ways that we are addicted to our feeds.

the books has very similar things that make me feel that MT is talking about us. the ways that he says that people barely use pens and paper except for violet, this can relate to us because now almost everyone writes emails instead of handwritten letters. this book also reflects our society because of the ways that people don't even have to communicate face to face anymore. Now that we have text message and instant messaging. We also have webcams and social networking sites. This can prevent people from ever seeing eachother out in the street because now they can converse for as long as they want in the privacy of their own homes.

I think that this book sends a message to about everyone who is digitally active. I also beleive that this book does a good job on talking trash about us without saying that it is directly. It is like a book to raise awareness on the impact that technology is having on people all around the world. Life is becoming too easy for people. Now people can get school degrees online and they can make money online. Soon there will be no need for anyone to leave their homes. That's not a good thing. I think that our society will collapse if we continue to live the ways that we do. People are having kids that are growing up to be the leaders of this country and with all of these distractions in our lives, it will be tough to support future generations.

hw 12

The book feed represents kids as dependent on their feeds, which is in their heads. I think this book paints a good picture on what teens are like in present day. It shows that kids or teens can be affected greatly, when they lose one of the most important things. In the book, the most imprtant thing was the internet and how the people were able to find an answer to mostly anything. They could also search anything and basically converse with their feeds. Once their feeds were knocked out by a hacker, the kids didn't know what to do. This is sort of like us these days. We can't live without most of the things we have now like internet and tv and cellphones. This book depicts us in an appropriate way, saying that we are too dependent on stupid things, is pretty accurate.

I think that the tragedies in this book are not involved in my life. The only one that would be important to my life would be the way that society is collapsing and we are not doing anything to stop it. We are just watching ourselves become less involved in the world and more digitally alive that physically alive.

I think titus and his friends are living too high above everyone else and that is not a good thing to be doing. I think that if they weren't so digitally alive, they would't have the problems of being bored and feeling sort of depressed now that the feed has been downed. They seemed kind of cocky and conceited to me and i think that when the feed was hacked into, it was sort of like a good revenged and i felt like they deserved it.

hw 11

double digital.

yesterday when i was home, I decided to see how long I could play my xbox for. My usual time is about 2 hours and the a break, then i go back. Yesterday i decided to play from when i woke up, to when i went to bed. I started off by playing call of duty world at war. This is one of my favorite games because of the variety of game modes, guns and the siplicity of the game. i played this from 11am to about 2pm. During time, i did prertty good. I rose my kidd to death ratio, i also unlocked new weapon add-ons. When i got bored of this game, I started to play guitar hero 3. Usually I play this game for about an hour for warm up,and then i play online with other xbox live users. After this first hour, my brother came in and told me to try and beat the devil oin expert. It was the last thing i had to do and i would beat the game on expert. The song was The devil went down to georgia. All I had to do was duel against the devil. he kept using power-ups every minute, while i got one every 2 minutes. This was getting me mad because he always wins this way. so i was in this focused mode and started to hit most notes which got me some power ups. This is one of the hardest songs on the game because of the combination and spped of tjhe note, plus a 5 minute guitar solo. So on my first try i beat the devil! It was a great feeling and i felt good. my brother was going crazy and he was calling me a god and stuff. i got some acheivements and felt good. It was a releif for me. So then the credits started rolling and i was excited. So i played guitar hero world tour, which is part 4. I downloaded songs and played this untill about 9:30 pm. I was happy because I felt like I acheived something.

Looking back on yesterday, I realized that I didn't accomplish anything. I realized that I am good pressing buttons on a plastic guitar. No matter how many acheivements I got for the game, It didn't help me in any way. It's not like i won a car or a thousand dollars. I wasn't aware that I was running up my electric bill and that I was isolated from the rest of my apartment for a whole day. I also noticed that yesterday I felt the laziest. I didn't feel like doing anything, not even putting the guitar away. I also felt really tired when i woke up today. I realized that for a whole day, i could have done something productive, but instead i was like trapped on my bed with an xbox controller and a bottle of gatorade.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144349.htm#

This article was about how heavy cellphone use can cause tumors in your body. The most interestig part was the way that when you use cellphones excessivly, it can increase your chances of getting a tumor by 50 percent. that was surprising to me. i think that most people are aware, but it doesnt stop them. If they paid for it, then they are going to use it. I think i have that same mind set, but not with cellphones. I barely use mine, only for texting I do.

I think my most interesting thought is that, why do we continue to buy these things if ultimately they can kill us faster? Is one 2 hour phone call really necessary? I don't think it makes sense to waste our lives on things like this. One day people are going to look back and realize how much time they wasted doing useless things. That's when they begin to say oh man life is short. I think they made their lives short.

http://www.helium.com/items/161828-the-negative-effects-of-television-on-children

This article was about the negative side of tv's. The article spoke about how tv's have become increasingly popular with our generation of children. It speaks about how kids are becoming lazy and how television ads provoke negative messages to chilfdren. Also how it may be brainwashing us.

I think an interesting thin that i thought of is how advanced will tv's get? we alreadyhave hd and 70 inch tv's. what else can be next? I think that the next generation of kids are going to have probably the coolest tv's. they would probably have tv's in sunglasses. I already saw a tv inside a watch. it was like a prototype created by japanese people. it was projected on like a thin plastic . It looked awesome.


http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/3190

This article was about the positive effects of video games. It stated that sometimes playing games can improve your logic. They can also relieve stress by some miracle. It really didn't go into detail with that. It also said that playing tougher games can be more effective for stress relief. I guess it's because when you conquer a mission, it feels good.

An interesting thing i thought about was how are video games going to be in the future? will it be like that movie surrogates, where people can live life in a virtual chair and anu=ything the ever wanted without no consequences, if so, i hope that I am alive to see that. I really think it would be awesome.

MVI_0496

MVI_0496
Originally uploaded by matthew175

video

when I saw my video, I thought that I looked really entertained. I was on the computer, my phone, and my ipod at hte same time. I do this everyday when I get home so it felt natural to me.

I think that if my children were to do this, I don't think it would bother me that much because I think that they are just experimenting with new things. I wouldn't let my kids use it excessively unless it is for homework or something important.

when using a device, I look kind of hypnotized. I think our minds switch modes and we become like zombies. I also think that when people see the digital device working, it gives people a great deal of interest in it.

I think that the wii is just a big excuse to seem like your improving yourself. they trick the public into buying things like this and it actually works. I guess the way that the wii was advertised was very exciting for people who play video games. Then again all the games on it like wii sports, prevents people from playing these sports in an outdoor environment. Now people can play tennis without sweating and with a bag of chips next to you. This gives people a reason to not be active.

response of a family member.

Brother: "I think that society will be fine if everyone used technology like i did. you don't see me beasting on the t.v or the xbox. I actually see daylight. i like to use gadgets, who doesn't? I think that the more things become improved, the more i'm going to want them and then maybe i won't want to leave the house."

my reaction: I thought his answer was plain. i expected him to say something like this because we always have these arguments on who uses the most electricity and that we should try and stop so that our bills won't be so high at the end of the month.

hw 4 triangular comments 1

Ean,I enjoyed reading your post. I liked jhow you said that people need to learn to step away and take a break from it.your thoughts about how things can be one sided was interesting because it made me wonder that maybew everything we hear or see can be ficticious and how it is just there to consume our minds and captivate us so we will contiue to buy, see, or listen to these things.i can connect your idea on things being one sided to a situation that i hear of all the time, gossip. gossip spreads through moistly everything. mouth, cellphone, email, and television. i think that this isn't good because it changes the ways thaat we think about certain situations.i think that one thing you should do next time to develop your ideas would be to explain more about how digital and electronic media is bad for us, and how it can promote things, such as violence or how it makes us become dumber.Your post made me consider that if people slowed down their use of electronics or timed their daily use, it would be beneficial to them and our planet. It's sort of like an every action has a reaction. if we use our devices a lot, the battery dies, we charge it, we consume more energy etc..i enjoyed your post and look forward to reading future posts you have.

HW 4 triangular comments 1

steph,I thought your post was good. I really like how you refer to the addiction to electronics as a barrier. I also like how you looked at the opposite side of the question and refered to electronic use as an expansion that it gives someone.the way that you said that our use of technology is a barrier, made me think that maybe it is closing us off from the world and that we are caged in and that everything that is important in life isn't paid attention to because we are in this digital state of mind.i like the perspective that you used. i liked how you didn't choose a side, but that you explained a bit about both negative and positive things. I think that was important because in life, people who make these products just care that you buy it because it's like once you buy it, the company owns you and you go back for more.i think for next time, you should try and answer the question about electronics corruptting our brains. I think you can have greater ideas on this topic that would make others think more.Your question made me think that my use of technology is corrupting me. i think that maybe I am kind of below or boarderline smart because I pay no attention to studying. only to things that are unimportant and dont help me in any way.Thanks and I look forward to reading future blogs of yours.

my thoughts on our digital use.

The generation that we live in now is addicted to digital things.Whether its a phone that we use or its a television. people have advanced over the yers and that has created the society that we live in now where parents can ask their children to set up their cable or their internet connection. Children today have become more technologically advanced. Now is when all of these viruses are spreading through our computers. When most people didn't own a computer, there were no harmful viruses spreading. i think now that all of these digital gadgets are coming out and spreading to younger kids, one day they will grow up to be kind of dumber in a way. Most devices that people use today think for us. Like on my remote that has a button that says last. if i change the channel and forget what channel i was on previously, pressing this button will switch the channel that i was watching previously. computers also have the ability to do this by correcting your spelling for you. i think all of this was made for the lazy generation which is what we live in today. i actually think one day our world will end up like the movie WALL-E. these companies just make new products that keep the money flowing to them. one day, people won't ever have to leave their homes. Now they have this thing where you can order food online! I really don't understand how someone is that lazy. Sometimes using a digital device is good. Like for me i can search a friend on Facebook that i haven't seen in years, and i can automatically see their profile and start sending them messages. I love that i can do that because it sometimes brings back memories for me and that's cool to me. i wonder sometimes what earth would be like without many of the devices we have today. maybe without all of these gadgets, we can slow down the rate of global warming. maybe people can save some money because i know now i am wasting some much money on my cable bill and its really stressful for my parents. i think i can save so much money if i didn't have half the gadgets that i have now. i think society will be destroyed one day in the future by someone who creates something that ultimately consumes us and keeps us as it's prisoners , kind of like in the movie I- robot. in the society we live in, a world without any digital devices would be chaotic. if someone were to take away all the devices that we use, our society wouldn't be able to function. our economy would fail. connecting with relatives or friends would be tougher. i think that the world was better when the digital era was in its infant stages. people were smarter. people went outside to socialize. now we have web-cams and instant messaging. as i said before, kids are becoming way too smart in this digital area and really not focused on any schoolwork. i think it is messing up our society.