The Final Blog

I know it has been a while since I have posted a blog (I always seem to forget to do it), but at least I remembered to do the FINAL blog in which I will be responding to the class as a whole. As a whole I think I have gotten a new look at life. With some of the Nonfiction we read (Culture Jam, The Dumbest Generation) has really opened up my eyes to what the media is doing to control us and what other people think of us.
When it comes the the Fiction we read (1984, Feed, Fahrenheit 451) they all really depict a future where we are controlled almost completely by the government. It seems as though we are headed that way if government activities (wire-tapping especially) intensify in the slightest amount. We, as individuals, have to stand up for ourselves and tell the "Man" where to stick it. I don't know about you but I am still a little pissed at Lasn's Culture Jam, not because of the repetition or his seemingly crazy ideas about the media, but because in a sense what he said was all true, it really took a while for me to understand it (and at first I was ignorant). Now I realize the kind of society we live in. Although (contradicting myself from earlier) we are very far off from 1984 it is almost a possiblity of a future like that, hell it happened already in history (Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, USSR).
Enough of ranting about the "Man", now I have got to talk about my favorite documentary we watched in the class, "Second Skin" as you all know by now I love video games. They work as an escape from everyday life, but what really fascinated me is the relationships that people build over online games, like that lady and the creepy guy from everquest. I guess you can find love in the strangest of places. Gamer chicks love nerds, but are hard to find, most games are played by sweaty, nerdy twenty somethings or annoying little preteens.
Next I want to talk about my group (the best group) although some of us did more work and reading than others (not naming any names lol) we always had great discussion and more or less the same opinion on the material. We clicked as a group mainly because of personalities, we all kind of think the same, but are diverse enough to always have something interesting or off the wall to say.
Other than that the class has really taught me to think critically about things and to voice my opinion (although I rarely spoke out in class) The selected reading we had was absolutely stellar, coming into this class I was expecting to read like Charles Dickens and other "Great" literary pieces, but this whole "do you really know who is watching you" thing was fun, excited, and totally Sci-fi. I am even more excited for the comic book and video game class next semester, but I feel that without this first intro class I would have had a hard time understanding some of the concepts to come. Sorry for writing so much, it's been a while.

Big Brother

In the bleak setting of George Orwell's 1984 there is an ever present force called Big Brother. Big Brother represents the lack of privacy in the world. Through the telescreens (i think that is what they're called) and through the spies and the thought police. There is no escape for Winston or any other person living in Orwell's 1949 vision of 1984.
 Although a large number of Orwell's predictions came true. Are we ever really alone? To put it simply....NO. Just look at what we are. We are always connected to some kind of social media or just the internet in general. And through our phones our friends can always get hold of us within seconds. It only gets worse with smart phones, a few months ago I was reading an article of how apple (rest in peace Steve Jobs) was actually tracking iphone users movements and locations through built in gps. The iphone was that only smart phone caught tracking your location, but I wouldn't put it past any other smart phones. That is just an example of how you never really are alone unless you make a conscious effort to be alone (like going into the deep woods with no way of contacting anyone).
Privacy has become foreign to us. Right now I'm alone in my room, but I know there is at least three ways of contacting me in a second. Orwell was right although not called "Big Brother" there is someone always watching (cue creepy music)

Blog #5

Transcendentalism has always been a little hard to understand to me. Living deliberately would be extremely difficult. What I get out of it is that all the boring things in life would suddenly be important to me. Also getting back to nature and not using any "modern" technology, which for Thoreau was like trains, telegraphs, etc. What I never get is why? Why go back to nature. We create technology to make life easier if we give up technology then why is it created in the first place. Over Fall break I'm going to be doing the extra credit assignment where I give up technology for a week. Will it be life changing? Hard to believe but you never know. It will be challenging, but maybe it will give me a larger understanding of the concept of Transcendentalism.

We are not the dumbest generation. Like our group said in class, older generations usually hate on younger generations kind of like how high school seniors disliking high school freshman. And to say "Don't trust anyone under 30" is just plain insulting. Sure we don't read as much as we used to and maybe our work ethic isn't as strong as it once was, but to jump to a conclusion that we are the "Dumbest" is just dumb in itself. What we have lost in historical knowledge we have made up for in technological knowledge. We aren't stupid, our priorities have just switched. If we need information we look it up on the internet, it may take five minutes, twenty years ago you had to look it up in a book, which could take hours maybe days. I am a history major and so I know a great deal about history, but for the people who aren't, you're really in no position to judge them. Of course as a history major I am in the position to judge and the people who don't know basic history are making a bad name for our generation. Sure it can be boring, stupid, or useless to you, but we need history so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. Also reiterating on the "Don't trust anyone under 30" topic; our generation hasn't gotten the chance to prove ourselves. Look at the government, for most positions in high ranking government you need to be over thirty. Please Dr. Bauerlein wait another fifteen years before you judge us so harshly.

Virtual Lives

The documentary Second Skin may have opened up some of our classmates eyes to gaming addiction. I'm a gamer to the core, I've been brought up around games and have been playing them ever since. As much as it pains me to say, I consider myself an expert in this category. I've played WOW and more than likely as you are reading this my dad is playing WOW. I use games to escape the boring reality of living in Shippensburg. On an average day I probably spend around 4 hours a day on games. It doesn't affect my social life or getting my work done on time, but if I'm not doing anything productive I usually pop a game in the Xbox and play.
The Internet today is a beast of a thing. It controls a huge portion of our lives (you can say it doesn't but don't be ridiculous). It's a place where people get up to the second information on what is going on in the world. You can get sucked into it. The internet is a black hole filled information, whether it be for a socializing or gathering information, you always find what you're looking for. In Lasn's Culture Jam he talks about MUDs (Multiple-User  Domains) which are an outlet for role playing. He mentions a young man who has multiple MUDs: "a teenage girl, a history professor, a dog, an Arthurian knight, a cyborg and William S.Burroughs." A little excessive to some, but who really cares if he is enjoying what he is doing. In Second Skin all of the people, except Dan, are having a great time playing these games. They get real world responses to something that isn't "real." Games are designed for having fun. If your life consists of sitting around playing games all day, so be it. I really can't make a good comment on what is too much, if you want to do it do it, if you don't then don't. To them the "synthetic world" is their world, let them live in it. If you have a problem with it keep it to yourself.

Blog #2

As a nerd/hipster I am really into the ideas of Culture Jam and the poem "It's gotta be the cheese." Modern America has become almost too modern is a sense. I just have to say though that Lasn is completely too blunt with her ideas. Within the first page she goes on to explain how a simple camping will make your kids experience the five stages of grief. I am an outdoorsy kind of person and when my parents would take me camping it was an amazing experience filled with hiking, fishing, and mountain biking. Now I am not saying that I am the perfect example of a average kid, but her statement was completely over-exaggerated.

Now that that is taken care of, the book is a very good read and (now that I brought myself to read it) I find it hard to put down. I completely agree with her idea about us (as a nation) being hypochondriacs. "Any trifling discomfort you might feel has been legitimized. Your pain is valid. If you think you're sick, you are." (page 10). That statement couldn't be any truer. Basically everyone has ADD, ADHD, RLS, or some other kind of abbreviation. When it comes down to it, it's the media that jams it down our throats. Watching any channel on TV there is always some kind of medicine being pushed that can cure you of your illness and if you're not aware of the illness they tell you the symptoms just so you can self-diagnose yourself with this new disease.

The poem "It's gotta be the cheese" pretty much explains post-modern America in a nut-shell, or should I say plastic cheese film (I know that was a terrible attempt at being witty.....but moving on). Everything you want, be it food or appliance is wrapped in some sort of plastic, to seal in the "freshness." Everything is mass-produced on a scale that wouldn't even be fathomable 100 years ago. It's sicking to me, although Aton Kadosh seems to love it in a weird sort of way. Do I agree with what is going on in America? No, but I really don't see it going on any other way

Who I am

I come from the middle of nowhere in north eastern Pennsylvania. My region is known as coal country and in general is very republican. I like outdoorsy activities like hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc. Here at ship though I usually completely nerd out and play a more than reasonable amount of video games. My style is more hipster/nerd than anything else and the same goes for musical tastes. In no way do I like rap or even respect it, but that is just my opinion so don't get offended. Another interesting fact about me is that I'm a twin (the younger twin by half an hour). Other than that I'm pretty down to earth and (I think) pretty fun to hang out with.