Blog Reflection 4

The premise of getting with the times is clear in the questioning, but I do not like being forced to support using computer games and technology in every facet of my life because it is new. DDT was new at one point and look at how wonderfully the revolution in fertilizers and pesticides worked out. Nuclear power is an extremely useful tool and most people support its utilization, except for maybe people who live in Belarus and Ukraine or those who survived the nuclear explosions of World War II. When asked whether I am more comfortable composing documents online than writing it down a piece of paper, I can remember having to go the computer lab every time I had to write a paper. It was easier for the teacher to read, but I spent a considerable amount of time going back and forth to the lab. I think it is much easier, but at the same time, I have to say that I remember fondly receiving letters. There is something personal about it that emails have stolen. Human kindness and consideration have taken a back seat to the need for immediacy. Spam used to be a term used for less than nutritious meat. Now, we spend hours of our life going through letters that should never be written. I think a lot of the technology we are discussing is analogous to the introduction of air conditioning on such a wide scale. In some countries, regardless if it is scorching hot or not, people survive without air conditioning. Better yet some people actually still walk to stores. What I see happening to society is what the movie Wall-E intended to portray. Wall-E was an excellent film in that it showed what will possibly become the future of humanity. Junk will pile up so high and people will become floating whales that do nothing more than hit buttons to have everything done for them. I remember fondly the days when I visited my friends unannounced. I remember when people had to make plans and stick to them. Now, our commitments are whimsical half-promises. People no longer make decisions and follow through. Everything is malleable and respect has been chucked out the window. There was a time when it was understood that it is rude to talk loudly on a cellphone. That notion no longer makes much sense to most people who could not care less about the people in their vicinity. There is another issue right there. With the ability to communicate with whomever at almost any point in time, there is no need to be aware of the people standing right next to you. Most Dallas residents do not even care about the lives of people driving on the road near them. Whatever they are blathering on about is more important. There is also nothing more assuring that seeing a driver's head faced down reading that important text message. While I was attending Texas A&M as an undergraduate, only the most ostentatious of people would have their laptops with them. A computer was an instrument of work. Who would try to simulate a cubicle around them while not at work? I can remember the first issue of having a cellphone and being on call. I refused to buy a cellphone until 2003 because I simply did not want a lease around my neck for anyone to yank. I do not know how many times my employers have made liberty with my time and expected me to be "flexible". I suppose slave masters also lectured their property on flexibility. Another important factor that seems to simply not come up in this conversation is money. Five hundred dollars for a phone used to be simply preposterous. Instead of spending eight dollars on a quality notebook, I have to spend a thousand in order to write up documents on my notebook. Our society's understanding of technology stems from Rockefeller's irate reaction to Tesla's plan to provide energy for free. If there's no meter, there is no reason to introduce it. I can remember maybe six phone numbers. This means the very instrument that was supposedly intended to make my life easier owns me. When Facebook become unbelievably popular, my professor whose degree was from Harvard came right on and said how stupid do you have to be to put all of your personal information on the web for everyone to see. When it comes to a task, I focus on the work I am doing at that time. When someone skypes me, they are distracting me. When I get a text message at the library, it does not make my life easier. It makes it harder for me to accomplish what I have set out to do. Multitasking seems to be a catch word for employers who dump more and more responsibilities on their employees. At the current time, my school has kindly explained that attendance is now online for my convenience. In reality, I have been given more work to do that is unpaid. Instead of being able to take care of this course, or better yet live, I am doing more for my employer's business and in reality helping fill up my employer's bank account. The subject of computer games could fill up volumes of books. Instead of skipping rocks at a creek like I did, children now decapitate figures for fun. Those famous words "Finish Him" have filled out kids with the most perverse and I would be willing to say evil aspects of the human soul. Grand Theft Auto enables people to live out fantasies that only the most amoral could ever even think of. Yet, it has a hefty price tag, and if it sells, it is unassailable. Instead of living life, people choose to live through their avatars. World of Warcraft has left so many people completely socially inept, yet it sells and thus we should incorporate such technology in the classroom. Why? In Korea, there are instances of people dying in front of computers. In some instances mothers play their children's games because the student refuses to go to school if the mother does not keep his or her status where he or she wants it. I am part of the NetGen which seems to be incapable of spelling out whole words or even bothering to spell them correctly. Instead of simply embracing with open arms, I look at how my generation was given flight simulating games to bomb, destroy and kill, and then I have to scratch my head when I watch videos of UAVs in actions. The desensitizing of our people is rampant. The scariest and most horrifying idea is what would/will happen when the lights go off. I am afraid that I will not want to live and see what comes afterwards. I may be stretching the context of this question, but I am truly saddened that these issues have been so thoroughly muted. My criticism does not come from shamanistic rules that say one is not meant to fly on an airplane. Neither am I affiliated with the Quaker movement. I simply want educators, the very people meant to mold young minds into I would hope better and more morally-guided human beings, to take a step back and ask themselves if they should blindly line up in support of the agenda so many private actors are leading.