I’m not going to say this assignment was easy but it wasn’t exactly hard either. However it was interesting. Having fallen asleep early the first Saturday night of spring break, I decided to have my media free day on Sunday to get it out of the way. After finishing one book and starting another one, I had discovered that unlike I had planned, I was not going to be able to just read the whole day, no matter how much I love to. Sunday became a day to do chores my boyfriend and I had been avoiding. Without the television to distract us (mainly him) we were able to clean out closets and rooms much more efficiently than if we would have had the TV on in the background. It was then I realized more than before that technology has become a much bigger distraction in our every day lives than it has ever been before. Yes, technology helps us do many things but it hinders us as well. I will admit, it would have been nice to be able to have some music to do our work to, but it did not kill us to go without. Even a simple trip to Wal-Mart for craft materials to keep me occupied for another stretch of the day was a challenge. I was sure to steer completely clear of the media department and all its electronics. However when we went to check out there were TV screens mounted on every register and my boyfriend had to warn me not to look in that direction. Technology is everywhere! Other than being outdoors all day, it is almost impossible to escape from.
Toward the end of the day I found myself getting a little antsy to turn on the television. I had been working on a craft project for a few hours and wanted to take a break for a few minutes. Sitting in the living room in silence was not my idea of a break though. I wanted the TV on! It had been easy to go without my cell phone, video games and even my computer for only the day, but I have been a TV junkie for as long as I can remember. I’m the girl who always falls asleep with the television on. More recently though, and more so after this assignment, I have been turning it off when I go to bed. But Sunday night I was itching to turn the Television on and I did right when my 24 hours was up. I am definitely a TV addict. Movies as well, I was dying to go to the movies but I’m pretty sure it qualified as banned even though it wasn’t on the list. So there it was, TV is my media Achilles heel. Even now writing this essay I have a movie going on the dvd player.
I had expected this assignment to be ok as long as I could keep myself busy. There were all kinds of things I had wanted to do that day. But there was time in between those project and chores that usually would have been filled with a little TV time, Internet time or music that were the hardest. Today many things have been made more easy for us by using technology such as the recent decision by Metro to post all its bus and rail schedules online. However technology is hurting traditional means of communication at the same time it is helping. Newspapers all over the world offer online aspects to go along with their printed versions. However the lack of subscription is killing traditional print in some cases like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a paper that had been around for 146 years and has just recently printed its last issue. If you address the absolute necessity of these aspects then I would come to the conclusion that none if any of it is absolutely necessary. Without computers we could still get our news through newspapers and television. Without Metro schedules listed online you could find them in printed materials. I don’t need to check my email everyday, but I do out of habit. And if I leave my cell phone at home nothing bad is going to happen, but having carried a cell phone for so long, I have the fear of “what if” without it.
Howard Gardner stated it best in his article “The End of Literacy, Don’t Stop Reading, when he wrote “But now, at the start of the 21st century, there's a dizzying set of literacies available -- written languages, graphic displays and notations. And there's an even broader array of media -- analog, digital, electronic, hand-held, tangible and virtual -- from which to pick and choose. There will inevitably be a sorting-out process. Few media are likely to disappear completely; rather, the idiosyncratic genius and peculiar limitations of each medium will become increasingly clear. Fewer people will write notes or letters by hand, but the elegant handwritten note to mark a special occasion will endure.”
I think the process of sorting out is the key idea here. Many people, mostly young people of my generation, have completely surrendered their lives to the technologies they use. I know friends whose cell phones never leave their hands. They are always texting, always needing to stay in contact with other people. What did we do before this technology? We interacted with people around us. Now we interact with people over our cell phone while ignoring the people that are in front of us. Why this constant need to be in constantly in contact with everyone? I find it quite relaxing to turn the ringer off on my phone and not think. But, we need to find a balance between being in constant contact and being totally out of reach.
As one of Danna Walker’s students said, "I think we have over-media medicated ourselves," she said. But "I don't feel ashamed at all. It's part of our culture. And, I am completely addicted to it. I mean, the media fast was pretty much impossible for me. As long as our generation maintains a level of personable skills and we remain responsible, I think that we're okay. It's fine. It's not an epidemic. It's okay. It's okay." But it is not ok. When you look over and the student next to you can not put his cell phone away for one class or the student in front of you won’t stop playing World of Warcraft long enough to take notes or even pay attention during class, it is a problem. If we don’t learn to change our habits concerning media then it will become an epidemic.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Speech Vs Writing
In this new millennia new technologies are emerging everyday. With these new technologies come new forms of literacy both speaking and writing. Both forms are constantly changing and evolving however I believe that because there are so many different ways in which to write, that it is the superior form of communication.
I do not believe that speech is not evolving. Everyday new words are added to our vocabulary. However with written technologies it gives us a way to store our words and our histories. Writing technologies also allow us to review, correct and analyze that which we are trying to communicate. There are endless ways to communicate in written form. With the creation of a written alphabet humanity was able to start keeping a record of their history. Without a written record of history humanity may have been doomed to repeat past misstates and that is one reason why I believe writing is the superior form of communication.
The most memorable form of written technology may be the Gutenberg printing press invented in the 1400s. This technology not only allowed to us to keep histories more easily but to make it more easily accessible. Howard Gardner made this point as well in his article. “The 15th-century printing press disturbed those who wanted to protect and interpret the word of God, but the availability of Bibles in the vernacular allowed laypeople to take control of their spiritual lives and, if historians are correct, encouraged entrepreneurship in commerce and innovation in science.” “The invention of the printing press and the emergence of readily available books, magazines and newspapers allowed untold millions to extend their circle, expand their minds and expound their pet ideas.” (Gardner) As Walter Ong stated in his article Orality, Literacy, and the Modern Media “How could you ever call back to mind what you had so laboriously worked out? The only answer is: Think memorable thoughts. In a primarily oral culture…..you have to do your thinking in mnemonic patters, shaped for ready oral recurrence.” Therefore without a written language we would not be able to strategically and analytically solve problems and keep histories. It would be left up to only our fallible human memories.
By making the list in class on Tuesday I was able to see that everyday I use numerous forms of writing. I use my reading/writing skills at work to search databases for books, text using my phone, write emails, makes many different types of lists, blog (outside of this one), check facebook, read for pleasure and do many other visual tasks related to reading and writing.
Writer Susan Jacoby argues that literacy is on a downward slope. “First and foremost among the vectors of the new anti-intellectualism is video. The decline of book, newspaper and magazine reading is by now an old story. The drop-off is most pronounced among the young, but it continues to accelerate and afflict Americans of all ages and education levels.” While it is true that much of the youth today do not read an actual newspaper. They do access numerous newspapers online while perhaps cross-referencing the subject through google. Although we may not subscribe to a hard version of a newspaper, we are still aware of what is going on around us. I believe that Jacoby is stuck in a past era in time. Today we are accessing the written word in new and innovative ways. We are able to purchase E-books online without ever having to leave the comfort of our living rooms; we can read news articles from other countries online as soon as they are publish. It is unfortunate that Jacoby is to snobbish to see past what she is most familiar with to new ways of thinking.
Unfortunately I think that because we have come to be dominated by our forms of written communication, we are become less social and more isolated from each other. We use text messages instead of talking over the phone; we send emails and spend more time on the Internet and not with the people around us. Our technologies have begun to isolate us. I believe that if we are to continue as a people we need to find a healthy balance between our speech and our written communications.
I do not believe that speech is not evolving. Everyday new words are added to our vocabulary. However with written technologies it gives us a way to store our words and our histories. Writing technologies also allow us to review, correct and analyze that which we are trying to communicate. There are endless ways to communicate in written form. With the creation of a written alphabet humanity was able to start keeping a record of their history. Without a written record of history humanity may have been doomed to repeat past misstates and that is one reason why I believe writing is the superior form of communication.
The most memorable form of written technology may be the Gutenberg printing press invented in the 1400s. This technology not only allowed to us to keep histories more easily but to make it more easily accessible. Howard Gardner made this point as well in his article. “The 15th-century printing press disturbed those who wanted to protect and interpret the word of God, but the availability of Bibles in the vernacular allowed laypeople to take control of their spiritual lives and, if historians are correct, encouraged entrepreneurship in commerce and innovation in science.” “The invention of the printing press and the emergence of readily available books, magazines and newspapers allowed untold millions to extend their circle, expand their minds and expound their pet ideas.” (Gardner) As Walter Ong stated in his article Orality, Literacy, and the Modern Media “How could you ever call back to mind what you had so laboriously worked out? The only answer is: Think memorable thoughts. In a primarily oral culture…..you have to do your thinking in mnemonic patters, shaped for ready oral recurrence.” Therefore without a written language we would not be able to strategically and analytically solve problems and keep histories. It would be left up to only our fallible human memories.
By making the list in class on Tuesday I was able to see that everyday I use numerous forms of writing. I use my reading/writing skills at work to search databases for books, text using my phone, write emails, makes many different types of lists, blog (outside of this one), check facebook, read for pleasure and do many other visual tasks related to reading and writing.
Writer Susan Jacoby argues that literacy is on a downward slope. “First and foremost among the vectors of the new anti-intellectualism is video. The decline of book, newspaper and magazine reading is by now an old story. The drop-off is most pronounced among the young, but it continues to accelerate and afflict Americans of all ages and education levels.” While it is true that much of the youth today do not read an actual newspaper. They do access numerous newspapers online while perhaps cross-referencing the subject through google. Although we may not subscribe to a hard version of a newspaper, we are still aware of what is going on around us. I believe that Jacoby is stuck in a past era in time. Today we are accessing the written word in new and innovative ways. We are able to purchase E-books online without ever having to leave the comfort of our living rooms; we can read news articles from other countries online as soon as they are publish. It is unfortunate that Jacoby is to snobbish to see past what she is most familiar with to new ways of thinking.
Unfortunately I think that because we have come to be dominated by our forms of written communication, we are become less social and more isolated from each other. We use text messages instead of talking over the phone; we send emails and spend more time on the Internet and not with the people around us. Our technologies have begun to isolate us. I believe that if we are to continue as a people we need to find a healthy balance between our speech and our written communications.
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