Tuesday, October 5, 2010

response to video

I enjoyed watching the video very much it was interesting to see where technology has brought us today and how many people have engaged their life in what is a relatively new idea. There is always the question has technology changed things for the better or worse. I think unarguably it has changed us for the better. Where would we be if no one was able to be contacted and did not have a cell phone. Everything would probably take a lot more time and effort to get things done. But with any new technology or power because that’s really what it is we are more powerful and efficient with technology we need to become more responsible. Just like negative things are in our face and available to us but ultimately we have control over our use of these negative things. If I wanted to I am able to go out take drugs and get drunk everyday but I have chosen not to do that because I try to be responsible. Everyone can choose freely how they spend their time, what they put into their bodied and what they expose themselves to. We make hundreds maybe thousands of little decisions everyday. Usually we know what our priorities are and what we want to accomplish in any particular day then we act in order to get these things done. For example someone may decide to study in the library instead of their room this is one example of a rational decision. The thought process is I want to get this done where will I be able to do this quickest and best. So little decisions like this can affect us a lot. Because ultimately these little decisions add up and years go by and we ask ourselves, are we where we want to be and have I done my best to execute my goals. So life is really about our choices we make day to day and also discipline plays a big role. Many time we are conflicted between doing what we think will be the best in the long term and trying to satisfy those short time temptations. In this movie this temptation is the technology and more specifically virtual reality. I do not agree with the lifestyle of just playing videos games all day and with any free time that one has. If someone lives life through virtual reality they are really not living. One cannot live life through a computer, life is the experiences one goes through in the outside world and ultimately life is the people we meet. Humans are social beings it is in our nature to interact with other human beings. This interaction should not take place on a screen it should mostly be face to face eye to eye. Although the people who came up with these technologies are very bright individuals and probably considered geniuses they may have hurt their users more then they have helped them. As people join these social networks and are putting more and more information about themselves online they are putting themselves at greater risk. What people do not understand about Facebook and other social networking sites is they have to take it seriously. There should be a series of questions we should ask ourselves before we put personal things on the internet. We should ask ourselves questions such as do I want my friends to see this, who exactly am I sharing this media with and how will people perceive this media.  Although these websites may be a fun creative way to share information with others, the reality is it is a responsibility and people are not realizing this. I believe we are somewhat conforming to society with websites like Facebook. Many times we learn about these things from our friends and we see so many other people doing it we say well i do not want to miss out on this opportunity to socialize and share things we friends. There are many things that concern me with these websites particularly Facebook which is by far the most popular and widely used. Number one is we can not control what people are putting on our Facebook or more specifically on our wall. The wall is the place where people can say things to us and it will be posted more times then not for everyone to see. What is scary to me is what someone thinks is ok to put on someone's wall may not be ok with the person who's wall it is on. Sometimes we cannot always check our Facebook and by the time we delete something from our wall the damage has already been done and everyone has seen something and this can be very harmful. On Facebook we have a wall which is mostly public, you have pictures, then you have comments on these pictures, facebook status and then you have words usually in the form of comments that we ourselves put  on other people's pages and our own. This all combine to make our digital identity and people subconsciously and consciously put all these things together and form an opinion on who they think you are, people come up with certain ideas about you good and bad and try to extract information from all these resources. This is scary to me the idea that someone has an opinion or pre conceived notion about me that may be wrong. I do not want people to see me as something I am not I like the old fashioned way where people meet face to face and then form their opinion. What people do not realize is how they think they are being perceived and how people are actually perceiving them may be completely different. What is scary is people come up with their own idea of someone's identity and it may be completely off.

2 comments:

  1. Ricky Distefano’s paper points out the fact that technology, despite its ability to change things for the better, is usually underestimated. The use of all these various new technological advances is a privilege. The wide array of technology that ranges from cell phones, iPads, video chat and even social networking sites are all examples of advances we now possess that give us advantages, or in Distefano’s words “Power.” Due to the efficiency and connectedness added to our lives by technology, we now possess a new power and with any power come responsibilities. Even though these advantages create shortcuts for us, we cannot lose track of ourselves, we must make good decisions. For example the high availability of online games should not encourage users to neglect their responsibilities. We cannot let technology alter our better decisions and lifestyles in a negative way. We have to manage and prioritize the way we use these new technologies. We often battle between choosing what will satisfy our short term temptations rather than thinking about what’s best for us in the long term.
    Distefano then goes on to talk about life within the cyber world technology can provide. The relationships we build within virtual reality. He goes on to explain that virtual reality is not reality at all it is not even living, or at least how he defines living. Ricky defines living as the direct experiences and interactions we have with people around us every day.

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  2. This response in satisfactory..
    but I know you could write something stronger with a little more effort.
    you are going into the second half with a
    B

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