Late Night Thoughts.

Not sure if I'd rather know "lots of stuff about a few things" or "a few things about lots of stuff"?" I saw this tweet tonight and immediately thought of our class discussions. I think it's a good question, but I'd rather be the first, I think. The Internet allows everyone to know a few things about lots of stuff, and experts are rare. I still think experts know a few things about lots of stuff, everyone does, but artifacts such as PhDs and the title of "expert" are very respected and sought after.

One thing about last week's reading that interested me was the idea that all things run their course, die out, and return in a different form. One example was literacy, and I thought of a lot of examples. Books were popular then seemed to be largely replaced by the internet and other technology. Now books have returned in eBook form. 

As we discussed in class, writing was popular and it's largely been replaced by typing and texting. New words/phrases have been introduced into our language because of the growing popularity of texting shorthand. Some people commented on how their handwriting has gotten worse because they don't hand write too much, but I predict writing will become popular again. People are able to use a stylus on tablets, but beyond that I think hand writing things will become "trendy" and special. I know I would rather receive a handwritten letter over an email.

I also thought of photos. Before, polaroids and 35mm photos were popular. Then everything went digital and now vintage photos are "cool" again (I thought of Instagram, an iPhone app where you can put filters on photos to make them look old/vintage). I suppose antiques in general follow this path - something is useful for a time, and no big deal after that. Then, after some odd years, it suddenly is valuable again. People use old gadgets as decorations.  

One example given was teaching - in traditional classrooms, teachers were the ones who provided knowledge to the children. Even though they still are important today, a lot of people learn from the Internet. So, teaching, as McLuhan said, has become "an art form." I agree with this and I think it puts a lot of pressure on teachers because they have to compete with new technology to get kids' attention. However, I think in time teachers will become a lot more appreciated as the "online class" fad wears off.

Sickly

I don't have a lot to say this week other than I was sick all weekend with whatever bug was going around, and I still don't feel great. I spent the majority of the weekend in bed and left work early today, too. I feel a bit better, and I know it will take a bit to clear up, I'm just hoping it's sooner rather than later. I probably should have been following a raw food diet instead of popcorn and Cheeze-Its. Oh, and my brain is mush.

So why am I blogging right now? Well, I'm waiting for class to start and happen to have my computer. I just wanted to say a few words since I probably won't blog about McLuhan until later in the week. I like the interview style of writing, but I thought the points were a little hard to follow. When you have a head cold all the specifics to "the figure minus the ground" and "the tetrad" and "the medium is the message" get all jumbled. But, I took some notes and I should have a more coherent blog post up later.

What A Day!

I was supposed to head out of town this afternoon (yes, I was one of the six people who emailed that I would be absent). I left work, hopped in my car, and discovered it was dead. Luckily I have Triple A, so I called them, called my mom, and had to get a new battery installed. Luckily the AAA man had batteries with him and it was very affordable, but the whole ordeal took over an hour and I missed my appointment. I guess there's a reason for everything, right?

Apparently the cause of my battery's death was a light I didn't even know about. It's right above the hatch and I'm guessing it got flipped on by accident when I unloaded my vacuum from my car. Bummer, but oh well. My mom was a saint,  as she came and sat with me, and paid for the battery. Not what I needed today, but hey, at least it was only the battery.

I was all ready to go to class, but I have to admit the night off is nice. I cleaned (although I didn't vacuum because that died on me too), cooked, and decluttered. Now I'm sitting down and reflecting on McLuhan. I really do think his readings have been easier to get through despite him being a bit all over the place. I appreciate the large headings in these selections.

The first thing I want to say about that is - wow, I could have used these readings for my first paper, especially Laws of Media! I wrote my paper on how technology creates a shift of responsibility through distance and detachment. McLuhan talked about those exact points! I could have used him, but, I think I did fine without his help.

I was delighted to see the book On Aggression mentioned - I actually picked it up at a local thrift store because I thought it looked interesting. I have a ton of books on my "to read" list, but that one moved up a lot more spots after I read some of the pieces in Laws of Media.

One of the things in Chapter 2 that stood out to me was his comments on dyslexia and how dyslexia is caused because of a cultural shift from left hemisphere (analytical, lexical) back to right hemisphere (qualitative, oral) thinking. He named the television as a catalyst of this change. However, dyslexia cases have been documented as early as the 1800s, so, pre-tv. Also, McLuhan says dyslexia occurs when people cannot adopt a single point of view (left hemisphere) and they look at things simultaneously (right hemisphere). However, many believe dyslexia is not a visual disorder but a verbal one and caused by a weak left hemisphere.

I was thinking of writing my paper on the topic of dyslexia, but I don't want to confuse myself, as some of this work does. I'm interested in psychology/mental health, so maybe I will broaden the topic. I plan on getting started with my paper this weekend, I just have a hard time picking topics!

McLuhan

I really enjoyed the couple chapters we had to read. I never realized McLuhan was the one who coined "the medium is the message," but now I know. After doing the reading, I looked up some additional information on him and items to clarify the passage. I went through it a few times and took notes, but a few parts still had me confused. I found this resource quite helpful.

I found a few spots in the text where his words sounded similar to those of Ellul. He says "The restructuring of human work and association was shaped by the technique of fragmentation that is the essence of modern technology." The word fragmentation made me think of Ellul's comments on how technology creates specialized roles for people. The person who created a whole object becomes a person who creates just a special part of it. McLuhan talked about how guilt is harder to assign in an information-rich and specialized world, which is pretty much exactly what Ellul said.

McLuhan also talked about the mental breakdown that occurs when there is an endless flow of new information. I suppose you can guess who I thought of here - Postman. So many more of McLuhan's ideas are related to what we've already read. He talks about technology altering sense perception. He talks about unintended consequences, which was in one of the readings for last week (and we talked about it in class).

I'm fine and dandy with all these readings and I know it's important to study the past as well as present, but I'm wondering if we're ever going to get to more recent texts. I wish we could have read something such as Alone Together, the book by Sherry Turkle (she was in the Frontline episodes) or The Shallows in its entirety.

One thing I noticed is that McLuhan said people participate more with TV than radio and that TV is a cool technology while radio is a cold one. However, most of his reasoning for TV being cool is because it is less high definition. In today's world, most TVs are high definition, so I don't believe this concept is true anymore. Perhaps it might be if you watch cartoons on it, but still.

I'm really curious where the Internet fits in all of this. Is it hot or cool? Perhaps that depends more on the website. People have to interact with the Internet, but high definition pictures and videos can be found on the internet. Hmm. Perhaps I will bring this up tomorrow!

Back From Chicago!

...and what a wonderful time I had. As much as I like Grand Rapids, it's nice to get a change of scenery every once in a while. My mom gave me a hotel voucher, I had Restaurant.com coupons, and my friend wanted to drive (I am not a fan of driving), so it was a relatively inexpensive and very enjoyable trip. I love traveling.

The Wicker Park area had me all anxious at first...it's a lot different than a place like Grand Rapids. There's no parking ramps, people are parallel parked bumper to bumper, and everything is all squished together. It was insanely busy and it took a while just to find a restroom! I had to practically beg the guy at Bank of America to let me use the employee restroom there. Then, of course, we found one right after that. Oh well.

Although the area grew on me, I don't know that I could ever live in a place like that. Maybe. Most people don't have cars and I don't think I would like not having a car; I'd feel too trapped. I like being able to leave whenever I want and go wherever I choose to go. It also would be more difficult to do things such as grocery shop! There was some cute housing and shops, though, and the people were friendly enough. It also was great to see such a diverse crowd...Grand Rapids is getting there, but it still is largely a conservative city.

Still, at Starbucks the line went outside and all the businesses were small on the inside. Cities are fun to visit, but I like suburbs and less busy areas. I think GR is perfect - you never have to worry about finding a place to park, the city is clean, and everything is spread out enough so it doesn't feel too congested. Some people just love the big cities and herds of people, but I like being able to have my quiet time.

Untitled

Yes, my post is untitled. Way too many things going on today. First there was the incredibly sad yet amusing post about the MSU calculus professor who stripped naked during class, yelled obscenities at students, and roamed the halls (I couldn't help but laugh, but honestly....poor guy :(!!!).

Then there was the story about a study that found 66% of people fear being without a mobile phone. While I admit my phone gives me a sense of security, I don't know that I would say I fear being without one. My phone makes my days more convenient for me, but there are those times when I enjoy tucking it away and paying no attention to it. I think people really fear being disconnected - disconnected from the Internet, a seemingly-infinite source of information, and also out of the loop of what's going on in their social lives. Let's be serious - If you are an iPhone user and your iPhone were to disappear, you could hop on your iPad and still chat with anyone who has iMessage. But, you know, the job of the media usually is to report what's been found...not interpret said findings.

I'm appreciative that the reading assignments are shorter this week. It's been nice to have pieces instead of a single, long document (although they are from the same book). However, I found these readings harder to get through. Again, because they're online, again, because they're a little dry. I want to be interested in them, but the language used just gives me a headache. I'd rather read journal articles or psychology books (sorry, Dr. W). I wish the chapters were in more manageable chunks, but I look forward to class discussion. The same theme rises from the readings anyway (even explicitly stated in the final one): "Technology determines history."

One section I did think lots about was in the first Heilbroner section - The Absence of Technological Leaps. where everything continually evolves in a logical manner. Computers went from taking up whole floors to being tiny and lap-size. Cell phones went from huge and chunky to sleek and thin. I tried thinking of an instance where a leap was made and I couldn't think of one. An iPad is basically a cross between a cell phone and a computer. Xbox is the evolved version of Pong/Atari. I suppose it's good I can't think of any leaps, or it could be Judgment Day before we know it.