Tuesday, September 14, 2010

So far.....

OK...I'm going a little off topic on this blog because I want to reflect on this semester in EMAC so far. Hopefully you will find it relevant. As I go through my readings and lectures, I find it amazingly relevant. The thing I find most amazing is the foresight that those who came before us had on emergent media. I sit here without a clue as to what will come next.

Was Shakespeare really referring to TV in Romeo and Juliet, or talking about new media in Othello? With this kind of genius or foresight, why haven't we yet found a cure for cancer? Or, for that matter world peace? These are a serious questions that are a lot more important than new media. But if that's what he was referring to I guess that's where we are.

So back to the topic at hand. How did we end up here? What we study in EMAC makes perfect since on how we ended up here. More and more I feel like a robot, although I know I'm not. The articles I read and the lectures I listen to make me feel that this time is not worthy of the past, however I know it is. Perhaps we do not speak the same language but our expressions are a direct reflection of the culture we live in.

As artists, our thoughts and actions are direct responses to how we feel and the attitudes we hold close. We express ourselves in ways no generation before could imagine. Perhaps it's imitation, but it's an imitation that brings people together. People can see eye-to-eye on a global level before unheard of. Is this the answer to world peace? I doubt it, but I think it could be a start....perhaps, maybe.

I think what amazes me most is that we do have all this global new media/technology, and through it all we still don't see eye to eye. I can dance with someone whose color or religion is not congruent with mine, and we both walk away knowing we will never be friends. And that makes me sad.

New media can bring us together in many, many forms; music, video, ideas, sports, interests, etc. Are the powers that be too wrapped up in the past to allow for a new type of global unity? I know what drives the resistance, but I do not understand it. Why not let the comadre of the internet be the beginning to world peace. Perhaps it is and I just haven't seen it yet.

So, with all the past foresight and the present knowledge, why are we not using technology for more good? I soon foresee many governmental regulations on what we see, post, and send online, but, again, I don't understand. Is it so bad to get along with our global neighbors? Is world peace really that scary? Or is it something that is out of the control of new media that keeps us from getting along?

5 comments:

  1. Something I found interesting in the McLuhan readings was how he repeatedly referred to the "global village" and how technology has done away with the indiviual experience. On the one hand I belive McLuhan was right however when I consider the internet I think he may have slightly missed the boat. Only slightly though. Social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter allow interaction on a scale never before possible. However that interaction is overwhelmingly superficial. Also, can we really call it human interaction when the interface is actually with another digital tool rather than a human counterpart? Anyway, I think you're right with all of the tools we presently have at hand cures to societal ills should be more readily available. But that would require deeper and more sustained interaction.

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  2. Tameka....I love your point. It's very easy to interact digitally. I know I've sent emails and posted tweets I wish I could take back....but I've learned how to think before I tweet.

    However, I do find it a good way to meet people (at least at school) I may not have met otherwise. I rarely interact with people online that I wouldn't interact with in person. I find it refreshing to hear my classmate's thoughts online....especially the shy one's who don't talk too much in class. It gives me an "in" to try to bring them out of their shell.....(I know that sounds silly....but I like to try to make everyone feel like what they have to say is important). It is to me.

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  3. Where to begin, where to begin? You've identified such a range of issues here, Carol, and each of them is interesting and important. You write well and with a pleasing tone, but I would love to see you go more in-depth on any one of these issues. For next week, try addressing just one but with more depth, concrete examples, etc.

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  4. Very interesting post, Carol. I think that the internet and new media is a step in the right direction as far as world peace goes, but I think it is still fairly too young for it to have a broad and far-reaching effect. I believe people are still mostly about advertising their own opinions and experiences at this point with only the rare few reaching out and being open-minded to others. But, I do think we will reach the point where this will switch, and it will be the majority that are willing to hear others opinions and collaborate more with each other. And, that I believe is where we come in. We are the ones that need to start this process of change. That's why we're studying EMAC, right?

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  5. I think Tameka brought up an interesting point about McLuhan's "global village" and how he feels that technology has done away with the indiviual experience.

    I have been debating back and forth on what I think is right versus wrong on this topic. It's hard because while the technology has certainly CHANGED the outlook of the global village, I am not so sure it has done away with the individual experience as a whole. While we are all required to tweet and blog for class and most of us do anyway, do you think that the individual experience has been taken away since we are sharing information with the masses? I still enjoy having conversations one on one, online or in person and obviously as an individual you set up your twitter account, choose who you follow and more or less choose who follows you.

    Alan

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