Mimi Bainbridge “Technology” Post

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Technology is something that has taken the world by storm. It now occupies nearly every aspect of our lives and we have come to depend on it. During the pandemic, is when I had a true realization of how far it has really come. Although not as beneficial as in-person classes, we were able to move school completely online. This was a very eye-opening time for me because prior to March of 2020, never would I have thought technology was capable of this. There are many benefits to the advancements of technology, but as the article mentioned, it has also desensitized me. Similar to Samuel’s Facebook experience, I find myself scrolling on TikTok at times and viewing a short video of somebody’s struggles they are enduring. However, instead of reflecting on what I have just watched, I scroll to the following video and continue to laugh at whatever joke is being made next. Now that I have become aware of this issue, I hope to find a way to stop it from happening.

Reference:

Samuel, Sigal. “It’s Hard to Be a Moral Person. Technology Is Making It Harder.” Vox, Vox, 27 July 2021, https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22585287/technology-smartphones-gmail-attention-morality.

Field Experience Report- Thomas Takele

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Gamelan Cudamani was a wonderful performance that I, without this class would not have gone to. I am glad that I was assigned this assignment because it gave me insight into things, I would otherwise not have paid attention to. It first started with a song that had no introduction that I believe served as an intro to the instruments and the roles of different musicians playing the instruments. Next, the speaker came out and gave us context for two pieces by telling us the stories that the musical pieces were made for. My personal favorite of the two was the one about the goddess and the wild boar. Then the performance went on to different pieces choreographed by different members of the group. One of my favorites of those was the one where the men were all seated and singing and making noises with their mouths and it amazed me how they had all been making different sounds at different times but the sound they were making felt like it was coming together to make a song that relied on each noise. I believe this was key to the concept of the show because throughout the show whether they are playing an instrument or hitting their chests or making noises, each piece was needed and was key to their total song and the experience totally.

One thing that I could not get over throughout this performance was the smile on the musician’s faces when they were playing their instruments. They would often take glances at the other people playing instruments and smile at each other. These smiles as they shared their culture with the people of the crowd felt like they had a sense of pride in their culture. I felt like their identification with their culture had shown as they felt joy enough to show an external representation of it on their faces. This is also something that I could identify with because I also feel joy when performances of my culture are put on or if I am performing things of my culture. I believe that identity is key to the performance of one’s culture. Identity is what makes these performances meaningful and what causes people to identify with the performances just like I did. There may be some that say that the smiles may have been part of the performance or on the script of what these musicians are supposed to act like as they are performing. I do agree that this is possible but just like any performance in any aspect of art, the audience is supposed to analyze it from their personal perspective, and identity is a big part of that also. It was not a coincidence that the smiles were the one thing I kept noticing. This gives a window to my identity in that if you paid attention to the things that have happened in my life, being a first-generation African American, learning of my African culture from my parents, and struggling to hold on to those things as I lived an American lifestyle in this country, You begin to see why the one thing that may symbolize pride in culture is the one thing that stuck with me.

Keyword #6: Technology

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Culturally, technology is a keyword that is often misconstrued and misrepresented. Keyword author Jennifer Daryl Slack asserts that technology is seen largely as a “measure of progress” and the “promise of a good life”, when in reality this result is dependent upon its “intentions… and relations of power at stake”. Because it is in our nature to be attracted to new, shiny “things”, we many times fail to recognize its perversion of knowledge and human behavior. One pervasive disadvantage has been misinformation. In Pew Research’s article, “Tech causes more problems than it solves”, Greg Shatan, a lawyer with Moses & Singer LLP, suggests that “the instinctual BS-meter is not enough. The next version of the ‘BS-meter’ will need to be technologically based” (Vogels et al., 2020). Overall, AI and large-scale companies have gotten more and more advanced in creating deep fakes and presenting information in a realistic looking way that it has become exhausting to find the “truth”. Thus, misinformation has had drastic influences on our essential systems such as public health and democracy. The deep-web Qanon group uses misinformation and spreads hateful ideologies behind the guise of truth. This group has influenced the number of vaccinated people in the United States and therefore has contributed to the longevity of COVID-19 and the death rate in underrepresented communities. Overwhelmingly, this phenomenon continues to have a devastating effect on modern politics and the ways in which we obtain and interpret information.

References:

Vogels, E. A., Rainie, L., & Anderson, J. (2020, October 23). 5. tech causes more problems than it solves. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/06/30/tech-causes-more-problems-than-it-solves/.

CNBC’s “What are ‘deepfakes’ and how they might be dangerous”

Technology- Lana Vjestica

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Technology is something that has been improving for years. We started off small and then eventually it became something that we use in our every day life. It is what has taken over so many of our every day items. I feel as though technology has made us humans so much more lazy. There are are refrigerators that have a screen outside of it that lets you look inside without actually opening the door. There’s Alexa’s & Google Home’s that turn on your lights and fans without you having to actually get up and pull the switch. As well as making us lazy, I think technology has also made us become more desensitized to serious topics. At least for Gen Z, we grew up in a world where we’re constantly listening to the news and hearing every bad thing that’s going on soon after it happens. We’ve become so used to seeing articles about Covid-19 or school shootings that we don’t even bat an eye anymore. Another example I like to use is 9/11. Again for Gen Z, we grew up learning about it at school and having to watch videos or see pictures from that day. At this point we don’t feel anything when we see the tragic media surrounding that day. We see it as something that is completely normal. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2F%40cpuebla1.cp%2Fsocial-media-is-desensitizing-b50217ee39e4&psig=AOvVaw2ERJ117EBMDM9gUmZ1TmJ8&ust=1632950079948000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMCNxKDLovMCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Technology: Mary Margaret Clouse

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We are taught that technology is systematic, logical, and the antithesis of emotionality. This is explained in the keyword as “the superiority of science, the link between technology and progress, and an emphasis on things.” The Vox article disrupts this positive, materially focused idea, explaining how technology has a profound negative impact on our emotional experiences and interpersonal relationships. This position is widely supported by research, but as the article explains, Big Tech companies don’t want to change their business models or practices because individuals disengaging from technology and media, while good for the mind, isn’t good for profits. The psychological effects of technology are something I find really interesting. We all feel and experience these every day, often unconsciously. For me, going for a walk or spending time with a loved one makes me feel noticeably better than spending a day alone looking at a computer or phone. However, there is this instant gratification that comes with using technology that also creates positive emotions, creating a sort of paradox between the technology-derived response and the more real-world experience. I wonder if our society will continue leaning further towards life as dictated and mediated by technology, or if we will reach a balance that doesn’t weigh tech companies’ profits over social relationships and personal happiness.

Gwen Savidge: Technology

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Technology is one of the fasts growing commodities in society due to its forever evolving nature. Our technology today is very different and more advanced than our parents had. For school assignments we have the ability to research articles, videos, and any information we need; however, when our parents were in school they had to use the newspaper for articles and watch the news at night to see the videos needed to complete assignments. In addition to the advancements needed for education, technology has been beneficial for quick communications. For example, during any sort of campaign, having it be political or within the community, technology has allowed people to share their voice and ideology with others without even having to move. Information can be sent to someone else within seconds, yet previously they would have to wait hours, days, months to get information out. I believe that students should be able to have laptops or tablets at their disposal to research and better their education in school. Whether they buy it on their own or the schools have the ability to lend them out at times, technology will take education to the next level and keep students evolving into the new times where technology is evolving too.

Technology Response- Thomas Takele

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Something that really interested me about the reading about technology is the transition from the process of the word technology and how it is now being used to refer to the results of the technological process instead of the process itself. I believe that it is used this way because everything in the way modern society is raised is to see results and to only think about the process to get the results again. For example, when students are in school we are taught to do all the studying and homework so we will see the end result we want, a good grade. I do not believe it is really important that the results of the technological process are things I just think that is just how it turned out and that is what we choose to focus on. I also think that in terms of media we seem to think of the physical things that help us create the things that we see as new media. This is because the results that lead to other results are more focused on, again unless we are trying to find faults in problems to create new results or if we are trying to recreate past results.

Week 6: September 28 & 30

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What’s Due Next?

This Week

Near Future

  • Sunday, October 3: Submit Field Experience Report on the Çudamani performance as a blog post – see assignment for details

What’s Coming Up?

  • Access the full text of Keywords for Media Studies to select an original Keyword to read and report on during class on Thursday, October 14
  • Read All You Need is Kill and watch Edge of Tomorrow by Sunday, October 24

Tuesday, September 28

Short Response Paper Reflection

  • Reflect on writing your first short response paper on Identity using I Am Not Your Negro.
  • Complete this form (follow link or use QR code) during class, and we’ll chat about your responses.
    QR code for reflection form

Today’s Media

  • How have you engaged the keywords or concepts we’ve been talking about to date in what you’ve encountered around you?
  • Have you seen or heard or learned anything that made you think about the keywords and/or concepts we’re talking about in class?

Technology

  • What did you think about technology and morality from the Vox article?
  • How was technology defined and portrayed in the article?
  • How does that description compare to the way Slack defined and described technology in our Keyword essay?
  • What do you think about the conclusion of this article?

So, what can we do? We have two main options: regulation and self-regulation. We need both.

On a societal level, we have to start by recognizing that Big Tech is probably not going to change unless the law forces it to, or it becomes too costly (financially or reputationally) not to change.

Technology as Perceived

Diagram of historical perspectives on technilogy

Diagram of historical perspectives on technology. From Slack’s “Technology” keyword essay

Technology in Reality

Diagram of technology in reality. From Slack’s “Technology” keyword essay

Thursday

Technological determinism and Google’s DeepMind AI project

  • What captures your interest and attention in this video?
  • What causes you pause or concern in this video?
  • How would you characterize the depiction of technology in this video? Why?

Follow Up Activity

Spend 10 minutes searching the web for depictions of technology in media of your choice.

  • Try to find depictions of technology — like reporting on technologies, technology demonstrations, descriptive use cases, review, and the like — rather than showing technology in use.
  • For example, choose a review of a self-driving car rather than a recording of the self-driving car without narrative. Our focus is on the way technology is described.

Address this question based on the depiction and prepare to discuss:

  • Does this depiction present the technology from a cultural-historical perspective (i.e., where technology is a product of cultural forces) or from a deterministic perspective (i.e., where technology is a force for social progress)?
  • What evidence can you bring to bear to support this position?

Abby Bangs -Race

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“We are a product of our own upbringing.” Last class we spent time talking about how an individual’s surroundings and upbringings can have major influence over their perspective and thus, their identity. Does that mean that we are all subjectively biased towards things such as race? Yes, I think so. Although race is a construct, it is seen everywhere, which further makes it a strong construct within the establishment of our own society. However, as of right now, race is a needed construct. Not in the sense that racism is needed, and that the individual distinction of race is relevant towards greater things, however, as long as the problem of racism exists, the construct of race needs to exist. To have racism, but to be “color blind” is to be subjecting the individual self to ignorance towards the problem of racism altogether. Being “color blind” is like turning heads away from racism altogether. Does racism still exist? Does racial prejudice still exist? To be “color blind” creates an aura of a hero complex, does it ‘fix’ racism if you, yourself, are “color blind”? I believe that color blindness is a form of performative activism, or in other words, performing the act of a movement for a beneficial gain; was anything benefitted by one person being color blind? Moving on, performative activism is prevalent across media outlets, especially instagram. Media, is said to be home of sites meant to engage, represent, and communalize race. However, media is also an outlet where an individual can mold a ‘fake identity’ (reference identity keywords.) The problem of performative activism in social media is that someone can post a “Share for BLM” and then do nothing afterwards. It’s almost as if taking 1 second to share a post promoting a movement is enough to help ‘solve’ what that movement is fighting for. It’s just not enough, but continuously, posts are shared promoting movements, however, for the majority of time, these movements don’t even benefit from the sharing of the posts.

Race and Intersectionality: Mary Margaret Clouse

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In the idea of a postracial society, we seem to think that if we have enough “diversity” and positivity surrounding race, racial issues disappear. However, this keyword asserts that this is not the case. Race exists in our current society as an extension of power. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore race as it affects individuals and larger communities as a collective. Similarly, intersectionality examines the way race and other identities interact with each other within a largely patriarchal, heteronormative society. For example, in media we often see representations of identities that don’t involve intersections. More specifically, superhero movies focus largely on white men, with more recent developments involving men of color and white women. However, there still haven’t been any blockbuster films in recent years focused on women of color, or an LGBTQ+ individual. This is why it was so monumental for Moonlight (2016), a story focusing on the life of a gay Black man, to win best picture at the 2017 Academy Awards. Our ideas of race, gender, sexuality, etc. are so largely dictated by the media we consume, which is why it is essential to represent intersectional identities on screen.