Just posted this in response to Dan's blog post, but it something I've been thinking about prior to his post prompting me to write it, so I just figured I'd put it here on my own blog as well:
With regards to good and bad technology being inseparable:
I honestly believe that they cannot be separated and that technology, as a whole, is then a detriment to humanity (in the context that, the good comes with the bad... I believe the bad then outweighs the good, or as Postman would say, that the problem is not what we're watching but that we're watching). Yes, there are myriad examples I can think of to illustrate positive effects of technology, but none that I think I wouldn't give up to erase the bad effects.
Some tongue in cheek examples:
Medicine: Yes, it helps us live longer, but technology, like the pollution from factories or the radiation from cell phones also causes cancer. Plus many people believe there are cures and remedies for everything that can be found in nature, and not synthetically in labs, if you know where to look.
Communication: Yes, having a cell phone to call someone in an emergency is always a good thing, but without technology being the source of most emergencies, such as a car accident, how often would you need to call someone for help? If you get mauled by a bear in the woods, well... I guess that's just survival of the fittest.
Keeping in Touch (yes, this is sort of communication as well): Yeah, technology helps us to stay in touch with friends and family members who we would otherwise not be able to speak with often, but at the same time, families didn't fall apart before the creation of facebook, email, or even the telephone. A nice handwritten letter every so often can keep you up-to-date enough with anyone a great distance away, and it would prevent the rapid decline of penmanship in our generation as well. Heck, I'm facebook friends with many relatives that I STILL don't communicate with once a month. I think a letter every now and than would more than suffice. As for being able to be in touch with our immediate families over the phone or via the internet, a complete lack of technology would simply lead to a more tribe-like existence. Clans would stay close. You would be educated locally, work locally, as a part of a community and stay close to the people that mattered to you.
I mean, obviously I'm being somewhat tongue in cheek and everyone can think of circumstances in which technology simply IS beneficial, but I think on the whole, because you can't have the good without the bad, I would rather go without than have it all. The only problem is that I'll only go without if you all will follow me, because while living in the woods and working my own land to survive appeals to me, doing it alone does not. We are social creatures. We can also fulfill our social needs without the aid of technology. You know, face to face.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Because Chemistry Class Is Boring...
Life in the Litter Box
We know what you need.
The landscape is bleak,
And the future is dreary.
Kneel before the alter.
Guidance is transmitted;
Gadgetry and fashion.
"4G is faster!"
The fat cats laugh
Each time they stop by.
Mass is broadcast to the masses;
The consumerism sermon.
We know what you need.
Confess, my child...
Have you been watching enough TV?
Have faith in our doctrines:
"Part of a well balanced breakfast."
"So 'G' double 'O' 'D' good!"
The fat cats cackle above
And we sink deeper into the litter
Of discarded needs and wants
That the pastors sold us last year;
Proof of a pious life.
We know what you need.
We know what you need.
The landscape is bleak,
And the future is dreary.
Kneel before the alter.
Guidance is transmitted;
Gadgetry and fashion.
"4G is faster!"
The fat cats laugh
Each time they stop by.
Mass is broadcast to the masses;
The consumerism sermon.
We know what you need.
Confess, my child...
Have you been watching enough TV?
Have faith in our doctrines:
"Part of a well balanced breakfast."
"So 'G' double 'O' 'D' good!"
The fat cats cackle above
And we sink deeper into the litter
Of discarded needs and wants
That the pastors sold us last year;
Proof of a pious life.
We know what you need.
How I Hope "Fail" Succeeds
Chuck Klosterman can't heed his own warnings. In the excerpt "Fail" from his book "Eating a Dinosaur" Klosterman discusses, in depth, the nearly undeniable detrimental effects that modern media has on society but admits that he is a slave to the very technology his essay seems to rail against and cannot change his ways. I, like Klosterman can see tremendous merit in the ideas that Ted Kaczynski put forth in his manifesto (although I admit, I have barely familiarized myself with them beyond Klosterman's description) and actually lament the fact that Kaczynski felt so desperate about the fate of his fellow man that he thought he needed to resort to random acts of anonymous violence in order grab the attention of the people he was ultimately trying to save. Like many historical mad geniuses, I can imagine Kaczynski sitting in his cabin regretting the perceived necessity of his actions but justifying it with the old "what's a few lives to save thousands?" line of thinking.
I also can't help but think that in eras long past revolutionaries were the kind of people who saw their society heading down a dark road and took drastic, sometimes violent action in hopes of changing the course of history that they were perceiving. Although Kaczynski's victims were random and guilty of no crime (other than, most probably, being themselves slaves to the system Kaczynski hoped to take down), a few hundred years ago they may have been considered unfortunate but necessary casualties of a revolutionary hero. Now, let's be 100% clear... I am not calling Kaczynski a hero or attempting to praise him any more than Klosterman was. His angle just got me thinking about it a little more and I thought I could take it a step further. Ultimately what Kaczynski did requires some sort of unhinged malice and he deserves the punishment he has received. But he deserves it for hurting innocent bystanders, not for attempting to take down or alter an insidious system that I believe still needs, at the very least, to be altered.
Klosterman, unfortunately, admits that he will not be the one to lead the way. I empathize with his candidness about his addiction to mainstream media, most specifically, the internet, and I also feel the appeal of apathy and of simply choosing not to change because to go on living as a willing participant in our digital society is both easy and convenient. But I just can't. And I don't believe Klosterman wants me to. Well, actually, I can imagine Klosterman's attitude would be that he doesn't care one way or the other, but I can't help but feel like, even if Klosterman writes with a tongue in cheek honesty about his own inability to change he still wrote "Fail" because he hoped he could inspire a stronger audience to do so. I feel, with depressing certainty, that if that audience isn't reached in the near future our society will be heading into an irreversible downward spiral.
I also can't help but think that in eras long past revolutionaries were the kind of people who saw their society heading down a dark road and took drastic, sometimes violent action in hopes of changing the course of history that they were perceiving. Although Kaczynski's victims were random and guilty of no crime (other than, most probably, being themselves slaves to the system Kaczynski hoped to take down), a few hundred years ago they may have been considered unfortunate but necessary casualties of a revolutionary hero. Now, let's be 100% clear... I am not calling Kaczynski a hero or attempting to praise him any more than Klosterman was. His angle just got me thinking about it a little more and I thought I could take it a step further. Ultimately what Kaczynski did requires some sort of unhinged malice and he deserves the punishment he has received. But he deserves it for hurting innocent bystanders, not for attempting to take down or alter an insidious system that I believe still needs, at the very least, to be altered.
Klosterman, unfortunately, admits that he will not be the one to lead the way. I empathize with his candidness about his addiction to mainstream media, most specifically, the internet, and I also feel the appeal of apathy and of simply choosing not to change because to go on living as a willing participant in our digital society is both easy and convenient. But I just can't. And I don't believe Klosterman wants me to. Well, actually, I can imagine Klosterman's attitude would be that he doesn't care one way or the other, but I can't help but feel like, even if Klosterman writes with a tongue in cheek honesty about his own inability to change he still wrote "Fail" because he hoped he could inspire a stronger audience to do so. I feel, with depressing certainty, that if that audience isn't reached in the near future our society will be heading into an irreversible downward spiral.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Food for thought
I don't necessarily know about all of the different cultural beliefs mentioned in the article, nor do I subscribe to any specific spiritual beliefs or know if I believe 2012 will hold ANY significance for humankind or not, but I do think that the main point that's being outlined here - that we must collectively change the way we're living - is the idea that keeps calling me back to the kinds of eclectic searches and theories that I've become so enthralled by over the last few years. This is the kind of media use that's typical of my everyday: http://www.realitysandwich.com/2012_time_odyssey
Introduction
Alright... so we're supposed to keep a blog chronicling our media interactions which is a simple enough task save for the fact that I tend not to interact with the media in the way that most of my peers do. I have my few guilty pleasures that will probably coincide with those of others (researching choice musicians, sports and movies on the net and playing a decent amount of video games) but I'm very much detached from the media in general. Okay... I've got a smart phone too, but I often wonder why since I don't use any of its features save an occasional internet search to look up directions or find out a movie time (and I'm usually only going to the movies on a whim with my girlfriend because we can't think of anything to do on a Friday afternoon when most of our housemates are at P&Gs happy hour - you'll see us there from time to time as well when it turns out nothing good is playing). I probably have the smallest contacts list in my phone of anyone I know - 26 in total, including my current and previous employers, my dad's cell, my brother's cell, my home, my girlfriend and several members of my hockey team and extended family.
I really don't have many friends outside of those that necessity provides; I am buddies with my housemates and the guys on the hockey team and my closest relationships are with my girlfriend, younger brother and father. In other words, I really don't need a smart phone, don't have many people to text/texting me, don't have a 'poppin' facebook and in general, don't engage in a lot media based communication. I also don't watch a lot of television on my own, and my small group of friends means that I'm not often in situations where it's necessary to watch in order to socialize. With these limited relationships as the groundwork for my everyday social interactions, it's really easy for me to narrow down my use of media to a few choice activities.
And that's where things get a bit odd...
I'm currently reading (like, actually reading with interest, not just mindlessly perusing because a course insists on it) several books; some for school, some for pleasure. The titles are as follows (see if you can't find some common threads): Amusing Ourselves to Death, Trust Us We're Experts, Propaganda, Trillion Dollar Conspiracy, Worlds Before Our Own, Proof of Illuminati, Corporatism: The Secret Government of The New World Order.
When I'm not reading one of these, I'm endlessly online visiting lunatic sites like www.truthism.com (don't bother going there, 99.9% of people will reject 90% of what is written - I only can stomach about 1/2 of it without laughing at the author) or searching phrases like: sphinx on mars, archaeological anomalies, Guttenberg Bible, Agharta, ancient Sumeria, Bilderberg Group, etc.
These daily searches can lead to hours of research into fascinating subjects like the Great Pyramids, their actual age and construction and what kind of technology may have once existed on this Earth. I usually try to compile most of what I find in a copy/paste word document with some of my own thoughts so that I can share it with my equally paranoid, truth seeking younger brother, without whom I would probably be very unsure of my own sanity. Ultimately, when the research is done or I hit a dead end or burn out, I'll call or text him with some of my findings. We'll either chat via facebook or give each other a phone call. I'm positive that 80% of my monthly cell minutes are allotted to our conspiratorial rantings and I doubt I'd even go on facebook anymore if I weren't looking to catch up with him. Consequently, all of this extra curricular reading and research makes most of my school work seem vague and uninteresting and not the stimulating intellectual experience that was advertised to me when I was preparing for college.
Of course, sometimes I just like to look for humorous videos to share instead or spend hours mindlessly reading about the next wave of rookies that will hit the ice for the first time in the NHL this year, but more than likely, there isn't a day that goes by without delving into some investigation of deep ecology, church corruption, illuminati master plans or other topics that ought to cement me as a certifiable weirdo in most people's minds. And than there's always video games, right? What could be weird about a college guy kicking back and slaughtering some virtual dudes on a 46" screen that's not even hooked up to a cable box?
Well, usually nothing... I play a lot of NHL because hockey is and always has been my great distraction. But when it's not hockey I stick to games like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Assassin's Creed, both of which have some historical basis (Assassin's Creed significantly more so) and both which hint at global conspiracies and ancient discoveries long since covered up to keep the masses unaware. Assassin's Creed is ripe with these kinds of theories and the entire storyline seems to hinge upon the existence of the illuminati or some similar organization, the previous presence of ancient extra terrestrials on Earth, and some sort of master plan to take control of the general populace. Yes, I realize these are fictitious stories cooked up to provide entertainment and turn profits, but I also believe that the people who makes these games (just like the people behind movies like the Matrix) are artists who are attempting to convey a message... and that's largely why I play these games. Sure, they're also very good games that a lot of people have played and which have won critical acclaim over the past few years, but for me it's the story lines and hidden plots and messages that most people overlook (and Assassin's Creed is full of these, there's even binary code in the background of some scenes that is completely unrelated to the game but can be copied down and translated into actual messages such as "Ancient Indian city of Rajasthan irradiated by nuclear blast over 8000 years ago") that make these games enjoyable pass times. I don't play other popular titles like the monumentally popular Call of Duty that half of the world's male population seems to enjoy.
Ultimately, this makes up the bulk of my interaction with the media. I rarely read the news because I don't find it to be news. I don't look to the mainstream media for answers and for some reason, I consistently find myself looking to the past for information instead. Even my recreational reading and video game use is influenced by my fixation with studying our ancient history and unearthing some kind of resonant truth that I can believe in. My occasional interactions with the media outside of these pursuits involve watching and playing hockey, coordinating meals with my girlfriend via text message, calling up my dad from time to time to keep in touch and taking in a movie or 20 random minutes of television once in a blue moon. As I detail my media use from here on out expect to find some of that and a lot more of the eclectic ideas that are only hinted at in this introduction. I'll make sure to make a note of it every time I get sucked into a mainstream media trap and try to provide the most accurate representation of my media use possible, but in following this blog you're likely in for some very ... out there postings.
I really don't have many friends outside of those that necessity provides; I am buddies with my housemates and the guys on the hockey team and my closest relationships are with my girlfriend, younger brother and father. In other words, I really don't need a smart phone, don't have many people to text/texting me, don't have a 'poppin' facebook and in general, don't engage in a lot media based communication. I also don't watch a lot of television on my own, and my small group of friends means that I'm not often in situations where it's necessary to watch in order to socialize. With these limited relationships as the groundwork for my everyday social interactions, it's really easy for me to narrow down my use of media to a few choice activities.
And that's where things get a bit odd...
I'm currently reading (like, actually reading with interest, not just mindlessly perusing because a course insists on it) several books; some for school, some for pleasure. The titles are as follows (see if you can't find some common threads): Amusing Ourselves to Death, Trust Us We're Experts, Propaganda, Trillion Dollar Conspiracy, Worlds Before Our Own, Proof of Illuminati, Corporatism: The Secret Government of The New World Order.
When I'm not reading one of these, I'm endlessly online visiting lunatic sites like www.truthism.com (don't bother going there, 99.9% of people will reject 90% of what is written - I only can stomach about 1/2 of it without laughing at the author) or searching phrases like: sphinx on mars, archaeological anomalies, Guttenberg Bible, Agharta, ancient Sumeria, Bilderberg Group, etc.
These daily searches can lead to hours of research into fascinating subjects like the Great Pyramids, their actual age and construction and what kind of technology may have once existed on this Earth. I usually try to compile most of what I find in a copy/paste word document with some of my own thoughts so that I can share it with my equally paranoid, truth seeking younger brother, without whom I would probably be very unsure of my own sanity. Ultimately, when the research is done or I hit a dead end or burn out, I'll call or text him with some of my findings. We'll either chat via facebook or give each other a phone call. I'm positive that 80% of my monthly cell minutes are allotted to our conspiratorial rantings and I doubt I'd even go on facebook anymore if I weren't looking to catch up with him. Consequently, all of this extra curricular reading and research makes most of my school work seem vague and uninteresting and not the stimulating intellectual experience that was advertised to me when I was preparing for college.
Of course, sometimes I just like to look for humorous videos to share instead or spend hours mindlessly reading about the next wave of rookies that will hit the ice for the first time in the NHL this year, but more than likely, there isn't a day that goes by without delving into some investigation of deep ecology, church corruption, illuminati master plans or other topics that ought to cement me as a certifiable weirdo in most people's minds. And than there's always video games, right? What could be weird about a college guy kicking back and slaughtering some virtual dudes on a 46" screen that's not even hooked up to a cable box?
Well, usually nothing... I play a lot of NHL because hockey is and always has been my great distraction. But when it's not hockey I stick to games like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Assassin's Creed, both of which have some historical basis (Assassin's Creed significantly more so) and both which hint at global conspiracies and ancient discoveries long since covered up to keep the masses unaware. Assassin's Creed is ripe with these kinds of theories and the entire storyline seems to hinge upon the existence of the illuminati or some similar organization, the previous presence of ancient extra terrestrials on Earth, and some sort of master plan to take control of the general populace. Yes, I realize these are fictitious stories cooked up to provide entertainment and turn profits, but I also believe that the people who makes these games (just like the people behind movies like the Matrix) are artists who are attempting to convey a message... and that's largely why I play these games. Sure, they're also very good games that a lot of people have played and which have won critical acclaim over the past few years, but for me it's the story lines and hidden plots and messages that most people overlook (and Assassin's Creed is full of these, there's even binary code in the background of some scenes that is completely unrelated to the game but can be copied down and translated into actual messages such as "Ancient Indian city of Rajasthan irradiated by nuclear blast over 8000 years ago") that make these games enjoyable pass times. I don't play other popular titles like the monumentally popular Call of Duty that half of the world's male population seems to enjoy.
Ultimately, this makes up the bulk of my interaction with the media. I rarely read the news because I don't find it to be news. I don't look to the mainstream media for answers and for some reason, I consistently find myself looking to the past for information instead. Even my recreational reading and video game use is influenced by my fixation with studying our ancient history and unearthing some kind of resonant truth that I can believe in. My occasional interactions with the media outside of these pursuits involve watching and playing hockey, coordinating meals with my girlfriend via text message, calling up my dad from time to time to keep in touch and taking in a movie or 20 random minutes of television once in a blue moon. As I detail my media use from here on out expect to find some of that and a lot more of the eclectic ideas that are only hinted at in this introduction. I'll make sure to make a note of it every time I get sucked into a mainstream media trap and try to provide the most accurate representation of my media use possible, but in following this blog you're likely in for some very ... out there postings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)