When I was thinking about the topic for my research paper, there was one thing that kept on really getting to me, and that was the idea of being “plugged-in.” Of course, not in a literal sense, but the mere fact that in someway, shape, or form, all of us have an addiction to something, whether technological or not. It is when we are in that mode that we cannot seem to be broken from concentration unless we are surprised or caught off guard by something; we are then broken from the ‘spell’ or the trance state, which were just in.
I find this to be very interesting, because I can apply it to others that are around me, and myself as well. I see the things that I get ‘caught’ up in and therefore ‘plug’ myself into. I myself am a stakeholder in this issue, because I know of several things that I really get into, such as Facebook. When I open up my internet the page it opens up to right away is Facebook. I am already signed in. However, this doesn’t mean that I am always on the site, sometimes I just have my page open but I am not on it. But I would say that a good majority of the time I am on it. So there in just one thing I am plugged in. I am not ‘addicted’ to my computer, I can manage without it, but if I do not have something to do, I am generally on it, sometimes with a purpose and other times without a purpose, just for messing around.
Moving outside of myself though, there is so many other things that people are addicted/plugged into. Such things as cell phones, computers, TV, online gaming, messaging, and even such simple things, as texting on a phone are things people get plugged into. I know a large amount of people who have cell phones, but they are spending more time texting than they are actually on a phone. It’s like why don’t you get unlimited texting, with maybe a couple hundred minutes of talking. But then again, that all depends on the person, such as a college student, compared to a businessman or salesman who is always on the road for their job.
In general what I want to find out is how plugged people are into objects that are stationary, such as television versus the portable, such as PSPs, cell phones, and IPods. What makes each different and compatible at the same time? Why is it that one might have more influence over people than another? The two objects that I want to compare are two basic but heavily used in today’s society, and that is TV and cell phones. Now I could do it on a large scale, but not all countries are the same, such as 1st world nations to 3rd world nations. So to narrow it down, I am going to do it on society in modern day United States. That will hopefully give me a good glimpse of how society is functioning with technology and if we are truly ‘plugged’ in as I and maybe others might think.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thoughts on Essay
In order to fulfill the objective for completing the essay on the sources that Nye used, there were several things that one had to do in order to achieve it. Well, when I say use different things, I mean each individual since we all have different ways of completing tasks. When I had to do this, what I did was read the sources, which I decided to use. One of them was a short packet of papers, while the other was quite the opposite, being a book. But for the book, I decided to read a chapter that dealt closely with the topic in which I wanted to write about. So after reading that chapter and the article I drew up some notes and main ideas that they both brought out and then tried to tie them in with what I wanted to use with Nye. Also, the chapters that I wanted to use in Nye’s book, Technology Matters, I wanted to be able to relate the article and chapter with them. So I had to be careful on what I wanted to talk about, and choose the chapter(s) carefully so that I knew that I would not be using sources and materials that did not necessarily go together.
I found that the peer editing this time seemed to be a lot more broad, but yet helpful. When the peers who edited my paper commented, they also gave questions, which they should have done. The questions though seemed to be more of opinion. What I mean is that they gave me a question, but it wasn’t were I was supposed to add more information, but of my own opinion. They wanted to know what I felt about the topic that I was talking about. I feel that outside of having the actual facts and quotes that your own opinion is crucial to add because it helps support your argument, that is, if you are trying to make one. Sometimes the best papers are not the ones filled with facts, but those, which have both, fact and opinion.
I feel that Nye along with other writers use their research to make their statements much stronger and easier to back up with. It is easier to break down someone’s argument when they have no back up information, than it is to break someone who has information that can back up what they are trying to say. I feel that Nye used his sources fair and well to make us understand. I think that researchers have a difficult time putting research into their own work because you have to make sure that it goes along well with what you are trying to say. You do not want to have research that makes your essay, book, article sway all over the place. If that happens it makes it hard to the reader to understand and comprehend what you are trying to say. When I add my research, I think comparing it to Nye; I want to add my own opinion. I feel that Nye doesn’t do this; he just gives it how it is. Then he will simply add examples. He is good with what he does, but sometimes the opinion helps out a lot more than some might think.
I found that the peer editing this time seemed to be a lot more broad, but yet helpful. When the peers who edited my paper commented, they also gave questions, which they should have done. The questions though seemed to be more of opinion. What I mean is that they gave me a question, but it wasn’t were I was supposed to add more information, but of my own opinion. They wanted to know what I felt about the topic that I was talking about. I feel that outside of having the actual facts and quotes that your own opinion is crucial to add because it helps support your argument, that is, if you are trying to make one. Sometimes the best papers are not the ones filled with facts, but those, which have both, fact and opinion.
I feel that Nye along with other writers use their research to make their statements much stronger and easier to back up with. It is easier to break down someone’s argument when they have no back up information, than it is to break someone who has information that can back up what they are trying to say. I feel that Nye used his sources fair and well to make us understand. I think that researchers have a difficult time putting research into their own work because you have to make sure that it goes along well with what you are trying to say. You do not want to have research that makes your essay, book, article sway all over the place. If that happens it makes it hard to the reader to understand and comprehend what you are trying to say. When I add my research, I think comparing it to Nye; I want to add my own opinion. I feel that Nye doesn’t do this; he just gives it how it is. Then he will simply add examples. He is good with what he does, but sometimes the opinion helps out a lot more than some might think.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Draft
David Nye uses many sources in his book Technology Matters. He uses them as a way to help the reader understand what point is trying to be made and clarified by him. Nye uses not just one source, but also many. With each example he uses something different. He makes it more detailed and simple by given a variety of examples. He just doesn’t dwell on one certain area to make his point. What I mean is that, he refers to different generations and centuries. We go from modern science to basic things such as tools and roads. It is how he is able to explain his thoughts and words. I will be using two sources that Nye also used in his book to explain what his views are and those that are being shared and left out.
One of the sources that I chose to use was a piece written by Sherry Turkle who is a professor of social studies of science and technology at MIT. The title of the article she had written is called How Computers Change the Way We Think. And in no debate this is a true statement. With the recent development of computers there is so much we have been able to do which would not have been able to do before or would have took much longer to accomplish. But with this development there has been a lot of debate on what has provided us with, the good and the bad. Turkle tells us that it has made us more efficient in the idea of getting things done faster and more smoothly. This however does not still prevent errors from happening.
She talks of the bad with her first encounter with ‘computers’. When calculators were first a thing for students to have and use many lost the ability to do calculations that were simple in the back of their heads. Those who had used them made many more errors than those who still did the work the long way. A simple idea that even technology can screw up even if we put in the correct data. She moves on to the idea of privacy. My generation has never experienced the true idea of privacy. Like Turkle says, “Middle-school and high-school students tend to be willing to provide personal information online with no safeguards, and college students seem uninterested in violations of privacy and in increased governmental and commercial surveillance.”
Turkle brings up the idea of chat-rooms and online gaming. Is it portraying us as whom we really are or as some person we want to be. In conclusion we, the people, do both. We act as ourselves but at the same time we act as people we aren’t, making ourselves look better. She then moves on to the idea of PowerPoint. This program is of great use and can do a lot for people. However it truly shows the person for who they are. The misuse of the program can only be blamed on the person running it. However we get a sense of that person on how they gathered their information and how well they put it together.
In general you can see that Turkle sums up the idea that technology changes us for better or worse. But she does not tell us what is the outcome; we have to see for ourselves. It all depends on how we use it. With that we are able to see how we react with the technology to see if we are in control or it controls us.
The next source that I used from Nye was by Theodore Roszak. His book is called The Making of a Counter Culture. The first chapter he has talked about the idea of Children of Technocracy. What he means is that we, or even any generation, are the children of technocracy. Meaning that even if it is not as complex as today’s time, at some point there was a technological advance that was the big thing of the time. We are run by it all no matter what. How we use it depends on the need and if it is really vital to you. This can be related to any generation like I said because technology comes out at anytime. (need more from this source)
I think that Nye has the general population involved in these sources, because it deals with everyone. No one is left out because this involves everyone and everyday lives. I feel that I will use this because one of my questions that I want to answer is how technology controls us. Is it us that controls us or not really? Such things as iPods, computers, and cell phones. It deals with all people in the world.
One of the sources that I chose to use was a piece written by Sherry Turkle who is a professor of social studies of science and technology at MIT. The title of the article she had written is called How Computers Change the Way We Think. And in no debate this is a true statement. With the recent development of computers there is so much we have been able to do which would not have been able to do before or would have took much longer to accomplish. But with this development there has been a lot of debate on what has provided us with, the good and the bad. Turkle tells us that it has made us more efficient in the idea of getting things done faster and more smoothly. This however does not still prevent errors from happening.
She talks of the bad with her first encounter with ‘computers’. When calculators were first a thing for students to have and use many lost the ability to do calculations that were simple in the back of their heads. Those who had used them made many more errors than those who still did the work the long way. A simple idea that even technology can screw up even if we put in the correct data. She moves on to the idea of privacy. My generation has never experienced the true idea of privacy. Like Turkle says, “Middle-school and high-school students tend to be willing to provide personal information online with no safeguards, and college students seem uninterested in violations of privacy and in increased governmental and commercial surveillance.”
Turkle brings up the idea of chat-rooms and online gaming. Is it portraying us as whom we really are or as some person we want to be. In conclusion we, the people, do both. We act as ourselves but at the same time we act as people we aren’t, making ourselves look better. She then moves on to the idea of PowerPoint. This program is of great use and can do a lot for people. However it truly shows the person for who they are. The misuse of the program can only be blamed on the person running it. However we get a sense of that person on how they gathered their information and how well they put it together.
In general you can see that Turkle sums up the idea that technology changes us for better or worse. But she does not tell us what is the outcome; we have to see for ourselves. It all depends on how we use it. With that we are able to see how we react with the technology to see if we are in control or it controls us.
The next source that I used from Nye was by Theodore Roszak. His book is called The Making of a Counter Culture. The first chapter he has talked about the idea of Children of Technocracy. What he means is that we, or even any generation, are the children of technocracy. Meaning that even if it is not as complex as today’s time, at some point there was a technological advance that was the big thing of the time. We are run by it all no matter what. How we use it depends on the need and if it is really vital to you. This can be related to any generation like I said because technology comes out at anytime. (need more from this source)
I think that Nye has the general population involved in these sources, because it deals with everyone. No one is left out because this involves everyone and everyday lives. I feel that I will use this because one of my questions that I want to answer is how technology controls us. Is it us that controls us or not really? Such things as iPods, computers, and cell phones. It deals with all people in the world.
Monday, March 9, 2009
2 Sources
When reading the two sources obtained from Nye's Technology Matters, it seems that he was able to use them in proper context. I feel that Nye properly used the text in a way that he is able to explain his examples from another perspective. He uses the idea of cultural uniformity and diversity with a passage from Theodore Roszak's The Making of a Counter Culture. But before we go into Nye and the sources, I will talk about the sources and how they make their arguments.
The first source that Nye used and I decided to look up and research was a journal article called How Computers Change the Way We Think. Written by Sherry Turkle, it basically brings up the fact that as technology gets more complex we aren't willing to pay attention how to fix things. She points out the fact that as personal computers came into play, people in the beginning were willing to figure out the problem, but as the complexity grew the less and less people wanted to know how to fix them. They became to complex to understand, so in reality, who would want to fix them all by ones self? This is a great example, and I believe that it definitely relates to society and how it works. We buy all of these gadgets and want them to work, but when they break down on us, we usually don’t bother to fix them ourselves. Instead we send them away to the ‘technicians.’ And instead of saving money by learning to fix it ourselves we spend the money to get it fixed or even more to replace it. Programs are made complex, but at the center they are very easy to use. Children at the Elementary level start to use Word processor and Microsoft Excel. This just shows the facts that we are not challenged as much to think about how to organize and put words together. With the technology we have in programs, most of the time it will show us the correct way to figure everything out.
The other source that I used was The Making of a Counter Culture by Theodore Roszak. In this piece I read about the ‘Technocracy of our Children.’ In this part Roszak explains that we are part of society ran by ‘experts.’ We saw this in Kim Vicente’s The Human Factor. Experts are meant to manage and maintain society to keep it running at its best. This is the reason for having professionals do their job. We do not have simple folks who have no idea about surgery take over a surgeon’s job. Instead they have to go to school to understand the concepts on how to perform a surgery and know what they have to do in order to have a successful surgery. This is what technocracy seems to be. The ideals that certain people are meant for certain jobs. Without this the ‘technological world’ cannot be advanced without people understanding their jobs and what their contribution to the world is.
I believe that Nye uses these two contexts well. He is able to explain what he feels, but also gives facts by using the other sources to make sure his point is heard. With not only these two but many others, his ability to make his book well written gives him the opportunity to make us think not only what he believe but also for ourselves.
The first source that Nye used and I decided to look up and research was a journal article called How Computers Change the Way We Think. Written by Sherry Turkle, it basically brings up the fact that as technology gets more complex we aren't willing to pay attention how to fix things. She points out the fact that as personal computers came into play, people in the beginning were willing to figure out the problem, but as the complexity grew the less and less people wanted to know how to fix them. They became to complex to understand, so in reality, who would want to fix them all by ones self? This is a great example, and I believe that it definitely relates to society and how it works. We buy all of these gadgets and want them to work, but when they break down on us, we usually don’t bother to fix them ourselves. Instead we send them away to the ‘technicians.’ And instead of saving money by learning to fix it ourselves we spend the money to get it fixed or even more to replace it. Programs are made complex, but at the center they are very easy to use. Children at the Elementary level start to use Word processor and Microsoft Excel. This just shows the facts that we are not challenged as much to think about how to organize and put words together. With the technology we have in programs, most of the time it will show us the correct way to figure everything out.
The other source that I used was The Making of a Counter Culture by Theodore Roszak. In this piece I read about the ‘Technocracy of our Children.’ In this part Roszak explains that we are part of society ran by ‘experts.’ We saw this in Kim Vicente’s The Human Factor. Experts are meant to manage and maintain society to keep it running at its best. This is the reason for having professionals do their job. We do not have simple folks who have no idea about surgery take over a surgeon’s job. Instead they have to go to school to understand the concepts on how to perform a surgery and know what they have to do in order to have a successful surgery. This is what technocracy seems to be. The ideals that certain people are meant for certain jobs. Without this the ‘technological world’ cannot be advanced without people understanding their jobs and what their contribution to the world is.
I believe that Nye uses these two contexts well. He is able to explain what he feels, but also gives facts by using the other sources to make sure his point is heard. With not only these two but many others, his ability to make his book well written gives him the opportunity to make us think not only what he believe but also for ourselves.
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