Friday, February 18, 2011

I CAN HAZ ALIENATION?

I don't think the original investors of the internet had any idea what they were really getting themselves into.  The extent that the internet has taken over our lives is pretty crazy, and it doesn't look like it will be stopping any time soon.  In the article Alone Together, Sherry Turkle discusses how modern day technology is both connecting us more and more and at the same time we are drifting farther and farther apart, preferring to communicate via electronic devices over talking face to face.  Though this may be true, who is to say whether one is better than the other? We live in rapidly changing times and maybe human interaction is just slowing us down. Online we can create perfect versions of ourselves via avatars.  We can post photoshopped pictures of ourselves on facebook and update everyone on our day-to-day internet lives on twitter.  And then there's the cat videos.
Map of the Internet FTW


Basically, the internet is a really weird place and I have no idea how it is going to evolve in the coming years given it is such a relatively new technology (as are most things today).  Will everyone soon be doing everything online from their homes? Lots of people already do...  Thinking about it in this way can seem scary, but the internet is also such an immensely powerful tool that has the ability to help so many people.  Because it facilitates global connection, its existence helps solve global problems.  In The Garden of Forking Paths, Borges talks about an immense wealth of knowledge that can certainly apply to the modern internet.

I have been and will certainly be utilizing the internet to help create my own project.  I have posted versions of my videos on youtube for people I have never met to translate clips into English and I have corresponded with musicians via email and text message to make an original score.
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4 comments:

  1. Anam ShahidFebruary 18, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    I like your post because it seems to give away both pros and cons of having the Internet and modern day technology. I completely agree that although technology has evidently helped us tremendously in various ways, it is also starting to become a drawback for others; especially the current generation! For instance, young teenagers, and even college students have started relying on technology so much, that they do not even bother to communicate in person anymore; texting, calling and Facebook (of course) is the best way to go for them! It is definitely sad, but it is true that physical human interaction and communication seems to be deteriorating as technology keeps advancing. I wonder what will happen in the next 10 years. It scares me to even think about it!!

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  2. hillary.marieFebruary 18, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    Your take on the power of the internet is very different from what Ali expressed in her blog. Your view is less apocalyptic, and perhaps with good reason. The networking made possible by instant world wide communication is amazing and an important tool, as you say, in solving global issues. Let's just hope that it doesn't eventually take over and become the reality in which people plant their psyche.

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  3. Jinglei XiaoFebruary 18, 2011 at 6:50 PM

    I totally agree with you that the internet inventors had no idea what did they get themselves into. But if you compare this to life, it's like in this one big moment all sort of things happens depending on our choices. So the use of internet is basically the mirror to human expectation and mentality.

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  4. johnieFebruary 20, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Glad you mentioned how you're using YouTube to post clips for translators. Such use seems exactly what Berners-Lee et. al. had in mind. We almost take this collaboration for granted. Years back getting those video clips to translators would have been time consuming (shipping and dubbing tapes/films) and costly (shipping and insuring). Now it's instant and essentially free.

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