Last Post

Hey sorry this is posted late. I wrote it up, but never submitted it. Since this is our final blog post, I only felt it appropriate to write about a summary of what we have learned thus far.

We started with an introduction to Culture Jam, which gave us an understanding about what we would be learning about. We learned techniques of jolting and the ways that we are being affected. Though we do not always see this attempts to "brainwash" us, we can learn how to fight this urges.

Culture Jam connected into reading a book called Feed. A book that put into perspective the question of, "if technology took over our work and our privacy, what would the world be like?" We made the connection between Violet and how she brought back to life the thought process and the term idea. She spoke in ways that allowed Titus to realize that who had his own thoughts and they mattered. Privacy was another connection we made. Connecting this is the advertisements, being blasted in their heads, allowed us to realize that we are being taken advantage of by ads. The government was another focus point of this book. The Corporate Elite decided upon the denial of a new feed.

This book leads us into 1984. The ideas in 1984 were far different, but at the same time, supported the underlying defense that we are losing our individualism. Constantly being watched, no citizen in 1984 was able to do what he or she wanted or speak upon what they thought. This created a place of fright and with this came rebellion. The rebellion lead to compromise and the government, once again, won the battle. Next, the book Fahrenheit 451 was introduced. This book shared the majority of the same societal problems, but dealt more with books. The main character, decides that he has had enough, and does what he thinks is best. He finds a group of people, who share the same views, and they plan their plans to rebuild the literature population.

The underlying lesson that we must all learn is that we are being taken advantage of and we do not even know it. We are being used as ads and as marketing campaigns. Technology is being used against us and has now turned into a device that can take away our freedoms. We are losing our ability to create individuals and are following the footprints of the government in creating a controlled society. The scary part is, that we may never get back our freedom, if we allow this to happen. By building this knowledge and creating awareness, we as citizens of our society, fight this urge to make a "cult" of people. There urge to learn from books, express my thoughts, and keep my freedoms has allowed me to instill a desire to fight against these events working against us.

Fahrenheit 451 4/16

This book has been getting more interesting as it goes on. I am on page 130 and I had to stop right in the middle of the climax. I personally think that Beatty is crazy for his actions and I am glad that he died. I am interested in seeing what happens with the hiding of the books in the fireman's house. I have only heard about good things about this book and I am interested in reading the end.

In class we were asked to do in-class writing. The writing was based off of books that have been banned out of several schools. We were asked if we knew any of these books and why we thought they were being banned. I responded by saying that I have seen and read many of these books, most of which where during my schooling experience. I think that these books were banned because of they controversial issues and make people face ideas that they fear. I think that a lot of people are afraid of change and are unwilling to see other peoples view points. Majority of them contradict what they say about their own personalities. "I am a well rounded person" is a commonly heard phrase. I think that majority of these people are only considered to be well rounded in their own cultures. If we do not see other people’s views than we are only considered what has been passed down upon our generations. Reading books allows us to capture what has happened through the past and recap on what people have learned through their experiences.

This leads to the next question that has been asked, “Do we really value books today?” I think that some people do value books today, but some of us do not. Being an inspiring educator, I often frown upon myself for not reading more books. I sometimes question why I am even here if I am not going to read the given material. To me college is no just about getting a degree, but to be the most qualified in your field. An educator, who is uneducated, is basically a person who is passing on his or her beliefs. If we do not value other people’s thoughts, which are written in books, we do not fully grasp the idea of mankind, humanity, and unity.

The book supports a society without books is a society in which people are unhappy. I am interesting in seeing how the book ends, so that I can see what other connections this book makes with our society.

Fahrenheit 451 4/9

This book is a lot more interesting then 1984. When I first started reading the book I did not know what to expect, but as it went along the plot became more intense. Montag has been chosen to be a fireman by his family’s history. He meets a high school girl named Clarisse who opens his eyes to what the world used to be like. He begins to find out what a firemen did back before houses used to be fireproof. He comes across a job where he must burn a house full of books, but there is lady inside that says she wants die with her them. Montag tries to convince her to leave, but as soon as he exits she lights a match and the books go up in flames.

Ray Bradbury creates this futuristic world to compare it to the one that we live into today. Where books are seen as uncensical and that each one contradicts another. We are not necessarily burning these books, but literature is not what it used to be. We rarely read books any more and if we do read, it is online. Another aspect of this book is that literature is being produced at an overwhelming rate and that by burning these books we are cutting down on that. This futuristic view says that we will become disinterested in books and that is why they are being burned.

The book this far is very interesting and I am interested to see what comes of this and if Montag continues to be a fireman. I am also interested in seeing what happens between him and Mildred because they only seem to become more distant.

1984 3/26

I did my take-home quiz on how the language in 1984 is completely different than the language we just today. In 1984 they constantly try to make words smaller by cutting out the subsidiary words that go along with them. "Don't you se that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be express by EXACTLY one word" (1984 p.52). The thought of just using one word to describe many different events in our lives seems to cut back on many of thing that we enjoy. An example that comes to mind is the description of nature. By just saying that our natural world around us is just "good" leaves out so much of the real beauty that it really holds.

The other thing that really stuck out to me was the way George Orwell brings love into this novel. Julia and Winston make covert plans in order for the to meet in secrete places, away from the eyes of the "Inner Party." I do not understand how people could possibly be happy in a place were marriage is controlled. Also, the idea of how she must express her love to Winston and the fact that he becomes stimulated by that fact that she has been with many people strikes me as interesting. That scary part is that the world that we live in today, is very comparable to the world portrayed in 1984.

The end of the book really brings out the truth of the what it really is about. In the end Winston gives into the Party. This strikes me as scary because Orwell is predicting that is what we will do ourselves to our government. When you really think about the book those who rebel against either die or become brainwashed. There is only one individual in that society and that is The Party.

1984

The beginning of this book seems to be really boring and I am having a hard time getting into it. I have hard from others that it is a good book, so hopefully it will pick up. On page 41 of the book there is a quote that really seemed to portray what the book will be about. "Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which , finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain. Winston seems to be one of the only one that really thinks for himself. He is forced to hide this for the Thought-Police and the telescreens. It makes me think about how much we use our own personal thoughts to determine what we do and how we feel. If our generation was asked to give up our thought process it would create a very bland and uninteresting world. This book seems like it will also tie into the other topics in class.

Thoreau's Challenge #2

I forgot to post half way through the week because stopping myself from using technology was hard. In all honesty I ended up using my cell phone 2 days into it. Once I started using my cell phone I began to use other technology mindlessly. This was a great experience for me because it opened my mind even more. I thought that I would be able to do something like this, but found out it is harder than I imagined. If I were to succeed at this challenge next time, I would put myself in a different environment. Being in a college atmosphere makes it harder to stop using technology. I think a cell phone, if you have one, is the hardest thing to give up. I constantly use mine for everything from waking up in the morning to keeping my schedule. Technology is a strong part of my life and I give props to anyone who can successfully complete this challenge.

Thoreau's Challenge #1

This is my first day of the challenge and I hoping this is going to be the worst one. I am having a great deal of trouble adapting to life without my cell phone. I thought Facebook would be a lot harder to give up, but it actually isn't that bad. I actually enjoy not being able to check my facebook because it relieves some stress like responding to peoples comments, checking it constantly, and creeping on people instead of doing my homework. The cell phone is by far the worst thing to give up thus far. I use my cellphone for multiple uses and would need many other technological objects to take its place. My withdraw is taking its tole, but highlighting my addiction.

Thoreau

Henry Thoreau's book Walden is a great counterexample to the way we live today. He talks about going to the woods in order to live deliberately. In hopes of find what the wilderness could teach him, he made himself independent from the environment in which he had been living in. He soon began to find that his writing housed new ideas that came to him while secluded in the woods. After reading some of Thoreau's short philosophies I realized that what he decided to do could be very beneficial.

"Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion." This points out to me that they had the same problem we do today back then. We eat because we can. We do not eat because we are hungry, but because we are bored. This strikes me as a problem because this ties into the overproduction of cattle and poultry. Which ties into the use of steroids and fertilizers and how they pollute our planet. It is one giant circle of negative effects, just because we refuse to cut back on what we eat. Does this generalize us as selfish?

I was also interested in his idea of the railroad. "And if the railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven in season? But if we stay at home and mind our business, who will want railroads?" I tied this into consumer products today. The reason products are made is to interest us and because we will buy them. If we stop buying useless stuff we will stop the production of "waste", these things that will end up in the garbage with in days. That quote is ended by "we do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." This helps explain how production is not something the benefits us, but benefits because of us.

I wish that our lives today were not so focused on technology and how much of something we have. We base our lives and our success off of what we make a year, or how many cars we have. When in return you’re just measuring how much time you have wasted and how much life you have lived. I am excited to take the Thoreau Challenge because maybe it will open my mind up to things that I had not once aware of.

Dumbest Generation

After watching the video by Mark Bauerlein I was offended by his remarks, but later realized that I do agree with some of his remarks. Bauerlein talks about how we are the generation that watches 2.41 hours of television a day and how we do not even know whom we allied with during WWII. This is the part that bothers me. It bothers me most because I fall within the group of people he talks about. I constantly confuse dates and names and I cannot even tell you the dates WWII was fought during. Though our generation may not know our entire history there are some explanations.

Our generation is forced to know more knowledge than the previous generations. My dad still types with his two pointer fingers, where as I learned that in school. Our curriculum is packed with more in depth stuff and we are forced to learn it at a much faster rate. I just wonder what Mark Bauerlein defense against that would be? Does he take that into consideration when he blatantly bashes our generation?

When in our groups, one of my group members brought up the fact that is it really our faults for being the dumbest generation? Think about the things that distract us from our studies or the thing that fill our minds instead of our alliances in WWII; they are all things that were created by people in the generation prior to us. Yes, we should take the initiative to learn our countries history, but why would we want to do that when the newest episode of Family Guy is on?

The world that we grow up in now is completely different than the one that Mark and his generation grew up in. We deal with so many more things and balance so much more on our plates. The part that really interests me is what would the previous generations be like if they were in our shoes now? If Mark could somehow obtain that information and compare it to our generation now, maybe I would go online a start educating myself more. However, I do not completely agree that we should be called the dumbest generation because the information that we know now is far beyond the information that previous generations needed to know. Maybe we can be considered the more diverse generation who lives in a far more complex environment.

Hooks Lectures

After watching Hook's video in class and two of her videos outside of class I soon realized that I do not agree with everything that she says. She talks about very controversial issues that she is very opinionated about. The video we watched in class ties into interpreting society, but doing so in a cultural way.

When watching the video on feminism she talked about how Madonna goes along with patriarchy. How can she say this when Madonna is the main provider for her family? Even though she was married to a man who was very domineering she was still a leader in her family.

Hook's also tied in about how she was offended by Madonna’s racist comment "...black men are the most sexist people." This can not be considered true, because there is not data for any one to establish this conclusion off of. The part that did not make sense to me was how Hook's tried to defend herself and her race by lashing out on Madonna’s husband who was accused of domestic violence. These two issues are not relatable in this scenario and hurt her defense. After listening to this I was ready to stop watching this video, but her next point is something that I can agree with.

The quote from both a male and female executive stats that "Race is not the issue, the only color that matters in society is the color of green" is something that I can agree with. She said earlier in her lecture that Madonna does a lot of the sexual stunts because she is interested in money. Even though this cannot be determined because I am sure that Hooks is not personally friends with Madonna, there is still the possibility that it is true. Money is something that makes people act differently then they would in a society where currency is not the main focus. Everything we do is done for money. The advertisements that we have been looking at in class would never be an issue if the companies that made them were not interested in only making money.

Hook's views can be tied into the book Culture Shock because of the way both authors tell us to open our eyes to how society is being run. They point out the issues that are commonly overlooked or ones that we cannot fix without a great deal of unity. Even though I do not agree whole heartedly with everything that Hooks or Lasns talk about, both authors have opened my eyes to different things in society that I once overlooked. After reading this book and listening to the visual aids in class, I feel like I am more cognizant to my environment.

Technology

In the section "Mind Disorders", in the book Culture Jam, the idea of noise is brought into play. The book talks about how noise can be seen as a mind pollutant. When we think of the noise that surrounds us in our daily lives, most of it comes from the technology that we incorporate into our schedules. Simple things like running, family time, social events are constantly filled with noise.

With new devices like mp3 players and iPods it makes it very easy for us to seclude ourselves from the world we live in. We put our headphones in to distract ourselves from our environments. Personally I use by iPod to distract myself while running and doing other cardio-vascular workouts. I have become so dependent on this technology that I often find myself refusing to do these tasks, like running or jogging, without by iPod. This concept can be tied into to the quote on page 4 “ The kid's sense have become so deadened from disuse they can't touch, taste, smell or see that they are in a marvelous place."

This marvelous place that the book refers to is the natural environment that creates our existence. With televisions being played during dinner time, video games being played while driving to church, and music systems play constantly we are ignoring our environment. We lose the interactions between eachother and we lose the congnizance of our surroundings. In return we have become "drone like" and are only affected by our modern, technology based, world.

We rarely find ourselves in a place where it is completely silent. We have moved from social events where talking was the main noise, to social events where it is awkward if music is not being played in the background. The book mentions that "silence feels foreign to us." I find this to be completely true and have a hard time thinking of a time when I was in a place that was completely silent and I allowed myself to enjoy it. When I read this, it invoked the question of, what would the world be like if more people took the time to put themselves in a silent atmosphere?

Overall our generation is changing and noise has taken a whole new meaning in the era in which we live in. We are constantly surrounded by it and our modern ways are only becoming more exaggerated. We are spacing ourselves from our natural environment and creating our own new one, with our technology. My personal goal is to detach myself from my certain technological advances and see how it impacts my life.

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