We live in a screen based society today, not much dispute there. Although we praise technology for bringing us together, enabling us to witness all angles of the world and truly come to understand our neighbouring countries, do we trust it too much? Through YouTube, the media and the Internet the world now exists not only all around us, but in cyberspace as well, and for most people that means on the screen before them, whether it is the television or the computer screen. What people see is what they regurgitate to others. Film theorist like Robin Wood or Barbara Kilinger argues that humans don't have their own voice because they only repeat what they themselves have been told, by the media, family, peers, educational institutions and so forth.
In Jason Sperb's article he quotes Beard, saying, "Its [Videodrome] thematization of media as an ubiquitously intrusive and identity-threatening force, of the transformations enabled and threats posed by information overload, of the dissolution of borders between simulacra and the real and between spectacle and the body, of the politics of image manipulation, of sexuality and subjectivity as unstable cultural constructions is irresistibly attractive to postmodern cultural theorists.”
This quote calls attention to the blurred line between reality and the simulacrum, or the fabricated reality. As a society, North Americans depend on the "capable" media to accurately deliver the news to the eager listeners at home, who believe all that they see. In danger of sounding paranoid, or viewing the world as a conspiracy it is quite a frightening idea to consider how easily images could be fabricated, even in the slightest way. Look at all of the controversy over 911 and the true parties to blame.
The images that are presented to us via television or Internet can be so seductive, so enticing, and so factual that they can lure and entrap even the most devout. H1N1 is out there and it is a "real" threat because that is what I see and that is what I hear on the news. I myself do not know anyone who has died, or even become sick with H1N1. My sister is a nurse at a hospital and she has never encountered any one sick with swine flu. I asked most of my friends and none of them have witnessed any sign of this "pandemic" in person. For me, swine flu exists only on the screen, and I don't doubt its reality. Neither do my friends (though we doubt its severity).The media has this unique ability, because it deals with "captured" images, and we as a general population tend to take what we see for reality. Although the news images are backed up by thousands of other images and eye witness accounts, I still think Beard, and Wood, and Klinger all have a point. The image on the screen not only shows us what is, but also what could be, and we rely upon them too much.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Why Augment our Space
Augmented spaces are everywhere today, and only the most remote regions of the world exists without some from of technological, or more specifically, cyberspace enhancement. Why does the world feel a need to augment the space around them so much? Quite simply I believe it is because as humans we seek to make our lives easier, but also to make the world itself easier to reach. Augmented space isn't a bad thing, nor is it a new phenomenon as Lev Manovich pointed out in his article. Just look at someone like Hawkings for example, who is capable of so much more because he exists in an augmented space. We live more and more in a world that is existing less on paper and more in cyberspace, or "cell space" for one example of many. Today, bank transfers no longer need to be done in person at the teller, or even at the bank machine. Money can be transferred by phone, Internet, e-mail. A friend of mine receives numerous e-mail money transfers from her parents back home. GPS locators, Google maps street views, online booking and work are all aspects of societies existence in an augmented space.
Technology now has the ability to enhance a space simply through its presence. Manovich uses the example of an audio tour and I find this to be an excellent example. When I was in San Francisco over the summer I took the ferry trip out to Alcatraz island and was able to take an audio tour of the inside of the penitentiary. This simple device of offering audio guidance from previous residences of the island added an extra layer to the experience of the island. I was made aware of little details that I would not have noticed on my own, and the different voices relaying their experience humanized the prison. It was different to hear the voices of people who had lived there, rather than just see their faces. The audio tour enhanced my experience.
In the 21rst century we like to see ourselves as a world about the world. All of the new available technologies enhance the world around us and bring us closer together, making the far reaches of the planet closer, just a mouse click away, or the touch of a button. Technology has permanently integrated itself into our lives, and it serves not only to facilitate life, but to act as an information medium between settings, objects, ideas, etc and us, the curious beholder.
Spaces are augmented because of the availability of technology at any given time at any given location. A walk in the forest can become a guided tour of the different types of trees and their habitats simply because the technology to recieve such information is available. The world is being cinstructed with numerous labels and layers, offering more information, and more options through technology.
Technology now has the ability to enhance a space simply through its presence. Manovich uses the example of an audio tour and I find this to be an excellent example. When I was in San Francisco over the summer I took the ferry trip out to Alcatraz island and was able to take an audio tour of the inside of the penitentiary. This simple device of offering audio guidance from previous residences of the island added an extra layer to the experience of the island. I was made aware of little details that I would not have noticed on my own, and the different voices relaying their experience humanized the prison. It was different to hear the voices of people who had lived there, rather than just see their faces. The audio tour enhanced my experience.
In the 21rst century we like to see ourselves as a world about the world. All of the new available technologies enhance the world around us and bring us closer together, making the far reaches of the planet closer, just a mouse click away, or the touch of a button. Technology has permanently integrated itself into our lives, and it serves not only to facilitate life, but to act as an information medium between settings, objects, ideas, etc and us, the curious beholder.
Spaces are augmented because of the availability of technology at any given time at any given location. A walk in the forest can become a guided tour of the different types of trees and their habitats simply because the technology to recieve such information is available. The world is being cinstructed with numerous labels and layers, offering more information, and more options through technology.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Scientists find the Answers, the Arts ask the better questions
In today's society scientists are hailed as being brilliant engineers of the future solving all of man's problems and leading us on and into the next generation of life and technology. It is true that scientists are a crucial backbone in man's present advancements, but they are not alone. Before any technological device is developed by a scientist, it is first dreamed of by a philosopher or an artist. In Mischa Peters' article Exit Meat he discusses how the ability and future of technology, more specifically man's integration with technology, has been dreamt of and conceived of in books such as Necromancer and Johnny Mnemonic but cannot yet be attained in reality. These books use the factual idea of technology to propel ideas of technological advancements in a fictional context towards audiences all over the world. These ideas in turn are picked up by scientists who strive to make them a reality. Peters article examines speculations on "what could become possible in the future if only the technology were more developed" (pg 49). The article gauges pieces of literature that delve into the notion of "uploading" technology to the human brain as seen in Johnny Mnemonic, or strengthening the muscles technologically, or replacing living organs with mechanical ones.
At the moment these are just fantasy and fiction writings that authors who are very interested in science write about to explore the possibilities and experiment with certain social and moral qualms. But this is the root of several technological ideas. The possibility that is explored in fiction literature becomes the seed that drives a technological development. Just look at William Bourne, the first person to conceive of an underwater vehicle that was capable of navigation. Though the term "Submarine" had not yet been established, many thought Bourne was drifting too far into the realm of fantasy and was neglecting his scientific responsibilities, even though the math was sound. Years later submarines came and the world, though impressed, were not overly surprised by this advancement.
Will this be the same case in the future when man is capable of walking on Mars, or transferring their mind from organic tissue to cyberspace. The Arts are just a vessel opening the minds to unlimited possibilities, and the scientists are the ones who come through and weed out the sound ideas. Technology is far behind the imagination (as it should be), and Peters demonstrates this through numerous examples in his article of literature that is closely tied into upcoming ideas in medical and technological magazines.
In short, science fiction literature has "the ability to confront us with some major philosophical and cultural questions" (pg 57) that offer not just insight into the human condition, but also into man's possibilities in regards to technology. Larry Niven is a physicist who wrote a ok series called Ringworld in which he applies his knowledge of the cosmos and science into literature to create a fictitious world that is alien made. Is math the idea of a ring-world is sound, and could actually be possible if the technology to build such a place were available. Maybe some day it will be and we will look back at authors like Niven and Peters and see that they envisioned the future, long before it arrived.
At the moment these are just fantasy and fiction writings that authors who are very interested in science write about to explore the possibilities and experiment with certain social and moral qualms. But this is the root of several technological ideas. The possibility that is explored in fiction literature becomes the seed that drives a technological development. Just look at William Bourne, the first person to conceive of an underwater vehicle that was capable of navigation. Though the term "Submarine" had not yet been established, many thought Bourne was drifting too far into the realm of fantasy and was neglecting his scientific responsibilities, even though the math was sound. Years later submarines came and the world, though impressed, were not overly surprised by this advancement.
Will this be the same case in the future when man is capable of walking on Mars, or transferring their mind from organic tissue to cyberspace. The Arts are just a vessel opening the minds to unlimited possibilities, and the scientists are the ones who come through and weed out the sound ideas. Technology is far behind the imagination (as it should be), and Peters demonstrates this through numerous examples in his article of literature that is closely tied into upcoming ideas in medical and technological magazines.
In short, science fiction literature has "the ability to confront us with some major philosophical and cultural questions" (pg 57) that offer not just insight into the human condition, but also into man's possibilities in regards to technology. Larry Niven is a physicist who wrote a ok series called Ringworld in which he applies his knowledge of the cosmos and science into literature to create a fictitious world that is alien made. Is math the idea of a ring-world is sound, and could actually be possible if the technology to build such a place were available. Maybe some day it will be and we will look back at authors like Niven and Peters and see that they envisioned the future, long before it arrived.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Humans Striving to be Computers
In Jeffrey Sconce's article Tulip Theory he examines the current situation regarding the rising fame of new media and digital culture. He applies a parable, the tulipomania parable, to the conditions in Universities and academic institutions across the globe regarding new media programs and their new relationship with digital media. The parable outlines a relationship between economics and new impressive discoveries or developments in culture. It is no doubt that digital media is taking the world by storm as more and more people find themselves immersed in a digital culture. In his article Sconce writes that "It's all about 'digital culture' now" (Sconce, pp. 180).
Sconce accepts this new growing fad and touches in on the impacts of new digital technologies on educational institutions. For most schools, new media studies have branched off into the study of the digital media, a media that is putting all other mediums into a state of transition.
Sconce discusses in his article how this new desire for schools to be "involved" in the digital culture has led institutions to aggressively promote classes that incorporate digital technologies so that they appeal to funding boards. "The place of digital media in both the political and cultural economies of the future is certain" (Sconce, pp. 180) and Universities are playing on this notion to try to jump on board as soon as possible. Sconce expresses a concern that too much tampering and implication of digital media may lead to a loss of the original course load itself. Not too mention "the idea that new technologies are a 'growth field' - a place where money, opportunity, and prestige await all willing to forge ahead and stake their claim" (Sconce, pp. 183) encourages older media's to be labelled exactly that; "old media".
It is strange to see such a course load and media like film being swept aside to make room for the next economic and cultural hit which is digital. Unlike many other art forms as well as fields of study, our generation has been around to witness most of this mediums break through, and is only a few generations shy of its birth, and we are now witnessing it, along with other popular mediums, being replaced. "The fact that many, many more people still read books, go to movies, and watch television than explore the frontiers of cyberspace matters little. Digital media are the future" (Sconce, pp. 183).
It can't be denied that digital will definitely be one of the forerunners (if it isn't already the one) of future technologies, and in this world of hyperaccerleration of work digital technology, along with others, is making life for man a lot easier. Sconce makes reference to William Faulkner writing "As I Lay Dying on a typewriter in six months while he was working forty hours a week in a General electric plant" (Sconce, pp. 185), and commenting on how most people today would strive for such concentration and channeled focus. Now life has become facilitated by all of the technology that surrounds each individual in society. Research is now available at the tip of a finger, one click of the mouse and a student, almost any student, can have access to hundreds of thousands of online articles. Not only that but web sites like Wikipedia also make information searches all the more easy. Spell check is probably the number one aid in not only researching papers, but writing them as well. The 21rst century is one that is running on triple time, speeding along. Sconce touches in his article the competitive drive technologies have instilled in us. Now it does not matter whether or not we have the technology, its whether we have THE BEST technology out there. Digital technology is the 21rst centuries cultural capitalism.
Technology today is developed to facilitate life, and make many mundane tasks easier. As Aronowitz claims, "not only practical but also intellectual luddism seems irreversibly weakened" (Aronowitz, pp.133), and man has now become a cyborg of sorts. Digital culture is speeding up our world, like so many mediums in the past have, and society exists in a fast paced realm. The other day I went for job testing, a simple data entry test that was not terribly difficult, but the tricky part was time. I had to be able to complete the data entry in a limited amount of time, which was set at four minutes. 200 names in four minutes. With all of the new available softwares our lives have rapidly increased in pace. on a general whole society is motivated and endorsed by speed. Work deadlines have been pushed forward. Technology has had a permanent effect on work for it has radically raised and enhanced the bar for man, enabling while simultaneously forcing us to work faster, as though we ourselves were an upgraded computer or software.
In the past, Gods, demi-gods and foreign worlds or dimensions were anthropomorphic, but in today's society it appears that man, like work has been made to resemble a computer and its software. We constantly strive to be faster, obtain more knowledge in shorter periods and retain it for longer. The technology we have invented to facilitate our lives is now the model we use to "improve" them. Society justifies the replacement of work forces with softwares because it is "efficient", "faster", "cheaper". "If any employer's profits are squeezed by skyrocketing costs, install a computer: watch heads roll and the bottom line soar" (Aronowitz, pp. 133). Society is striving to reach cyberspace, through both technology and out own personal aspirations.
Sconce accepts this new growing fad and touches in on the impacts of new digital technologies on educational institutions. For most schools, new media studies have branched off into the study of the digital media, a media that is putting all other mediums into a state of transition.
Sconce discusses in his article how this new desire for schools to be "involved" in the digital culture has led institutions to aggressively promote classes that incorporate digital technologies so that they appeal to funding boards. "The place of digital media in both the political and cultural economies of the future is certain" (Sconce, pp. 180) and Universities are playing on this notion to try to jump on board as soon as possible. Sconce expresses a concern that too much tampering and implication of digital media may lead to a loss of the original course load itself. Not too mention "the idea that new technologies are a 'growth field' - a place where money, opportunity, and prestige await all willing to forge ahead and stake their claim" (Sconce, pp. 183) encourages older media's to be labelled exactly that; "old media".
It is strange to see such a course load and media like film being swept aside to make room for the next economic and cultural hit which is digital. Unlike many other art forms as well as fields of study, our generation has been around to witness most of this mediums break through, and is only a few generations shy of its birth, and we are now witnessing it, along with other popular mediums, being replaced. "The fact that many, many more people still read books, go to movies, and watch television than explore the frontiers of cyberspace matters little. Digital media are the future" (Sconce, pp. 183).
It can't be denied that digital will definitely be one of the forerunners (if it isn't already the one) of future technologies, and in this world of hyperaccerleration of work digital technology, along with others, is making life for man a lot easier. Sconce makes reference to William Faulkner writing "As I Lay Dying on a typewriter in six months while he was working forty hours a week in a General electric plant" (Sconce, pp. 185), and commenting on how most people today would strive for such concentration and channeled focus. Now life has become facilitated by all of the technology that surrounds each individual in society. Research is now available at the tip of a finger, one click of the mouse and a student, almost any student, can have access to hundreds of thousands of online articles. Not only that but web sites like Wikipedia also make information searches all the more easy. Spell check is probably the number one aid in not only researching papers, but writing them as well. The 21rst century is one that is running on triple time, speeding along. Sconce touches in his article the competitive drive technologies have instilled in us. Now it does not matter whether or not we have the technology, its whether we have THE BEST technology out there. Digital technology is the 21rst centuries cultural capitalism.
Technology today is developed to facilitate life, and make many mundane tasks easier. As Aronowitz claims, "not only practical but also intellectual luddism seems irreversibly weakened" (Aronowitz, pp.133), and man has now become a cyborg of sorts. Digital culture is speeding up our world, like so many mediums in the past have, and society exists in a fast paced realm. The other day I went for job testing, a simple data entry test that was not terribly difficult, but the tricky part was time. I had to be able to complete the data entry in a limited amount of time, which was set at four minutes. 200 names in four minutes. With all of the new available softwares our lives have rapidly increased in pace. on a general whole society is motivated and endorsed by speed. Work deadlines have been pushed forward. Technology has had a permanent effect on work for it has radically raised and enhanced the bar for man, enabling while simultaneously forcing us to work faster, as though we ourselves were an upgraded computer or software.
In the past, Gods, demi-gods and foreign worlds or dimensions were anthropomorphic, but in today's society it appears that man, like work has been made to resemble a computer and its software. We constantly strive to be faster, obtain more knowledge in shorter periods and retain it for longer. The technology we have invented to facilitate our lives is now the model we use to "improve" them. Society justifies the replacement of work forces with softwares because it is "efficient", "faster", "cheaper". "If any employer's profits are squeezed by skyrocketing costs, install a computer: watch heads roll and the bottom line soar" (Aronowitz, pp. 133). Society is striving to reach cyberspace, through both technology and out own personal aspirations.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The World we all Secretly Hope for
The Seduction Of Cyberspace by N. Katherine Hayles offer an interesting insight into the appeals of cyberspace that make it so alluring. The limitless nature of technology is one of the main bases of its appeal, and the ultimate power in control and remaking a person new don't hurt either. Her article had a few key areas that had me thinking and considering my technologically based society around me.
As technology all around the world leaps forward with new advancements we as humans find ourselves remotely in the same place we were when the onset of technology began. Perhaps over all we are taller than several decades ago, we have a better understanding of the human body, nutrition, sciences, but overall we are still the same carbon based life form we were when the industrial revolution was launch, dramatically changing life as we know it. All technology has done is facilitate our lives, and make the world come together, as well as unveil many of its mysteries. Yes, through technology we have found cures or aids to to diseases like leprosy or diabetes, but a new one always emerges from our triumph. Take H1N1 for example. Our world is plagued by suffering, disease and famine, and many would claim that is the human condition and fate. Perhaps that is so, but cybernetics offers a new opportunity to rise above these issues.
The film Surrogates (2009) sheds light into this idea of discarding the human body for a technologically enhanced shell that can encompass our intelligence, and offer liberties that our current corporeal forms inhibit. A body that can not be affected by death, disease, serious pain, or famine. What a notion! Of course the movie must have some drama in its perfect world it depicts and people start dying, but the idea is still one that many people would jump at. After all, even Hayles writes in her article that many people "would rather be a cyborg than a goddess". I think a lot of it has to do with the separated control we have over a surrogate. Unlike an actual human body we inhabit a surrogate is still ultimately detached from us, and although it as real as it can get, we are still aware that we can simply jump hundreds of miles away to safety if we feel like it, discarding our host body to suffer whatever ill fate we had just moments before encountered. In today's society it is all about control. Who has the phone with the most amount of applications? The one that responds the fastest? Has the best reception? Each element building up a tower of control, for he who possess the best phone, can do more than those who don't and therefore has the upper hand. We don't like to admit it, but we are a technically/screen based society. Like Hayles says in her article, maybe the screen is the next barrier to break and virtual reality will be the future.
This would be wonderful considering all of the liberties and opportunities it would offer humans on a whole, but one has to wonder if it may be equally detrimental. Few people can survive without their technology and those who can and do are usually out of the loop with contemporary social standards. Having moved out of my parents house when I was fifteen, and being a poor starving student, I was unable to afford Internet at my new apartment, so I simply went without. For my last year of high school this was not a life altering factor, but as I pursued my studies, it soon became impossible to do without. I had no idea how many teachers expected you to only communicate via e-mail, or only posted assignments online, or required weekly online submissions, as well as posting quizes and class information online. I found myself hurled into a world that was screen based.
Hayles quotes in her article that already 10 percent of the U.S. population are cyborgs, being dependent in some form or another on a technological device, and in the time since her article was written I'm sure that percentage has increased. Technology is there to facilitate life, extend life and open new realms for humans to explore. I absolutely agree that VR can be used to train and educate; simulating situations that enable a trainee to obtain detached knowledge of procedures or conditions. That said, it will never be the same. Hayles mentions this in her article the difference between a computer generated human image screaming in pain while his innards lay open and exposed to you, in contrast with the real deal. Man in a sense has become dependent on technology, and although it has thrust us forward in leaps in bounds, it has also stifled us significantly.
Today's society in general lacks the mental alertness and ability that the generations before us did. Today we have technology to do it all for us. Smart calculators, spell checks, computers that can read questions and reword them for a struggling student. Although I concede many of these technological advancements are used to help educate students, or those who are unable, how many of them can recite their multiplication tables up to fifteen? Twenty? My grandfather can do long division in his head because calculators were not available when he was a student. My younger cousin who is still in highschool has a computer to read all of his test questions for him. AND then it offers him three alternate readings of each one, in case he doesn't understand the question. As fantastic as it is that a computer is capable of such feats, I wonder if it isn't all for the best. The problem is Cyberspace is too seductive. It has an allure of facilitating life, yet dampening man's capability. Even though the actual skin tight, condom fitting VR suit doesn't exist yet, all of our technological gadgets are an abstract representation of this suit, that we don on every day. Our cell phones, the internet, GPS, all serve as the prequel to the VR suit. Each item detaches us further from the actual physical action that these gadgets replace, and VR will only further that. Surrogates represents the attractiveness of becoming whoever you want to be, donning on a body that is nothing like yours and living a wild life in a host, while your "actual" physical self remains at home safe. Man kind is increasingly moving towards a separation from the body, from the physicality. For all of its practical uses, VR is the exact medium to accomplish this ultimate fantasy. We all remember the classic scene from the film Demolition Man when Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone experience that sexually intimate moment "without even touching".
Perhaps it is a God complex where man strives to shed his corporeal form and ascend into whatever form he chooses, or simply our fear of death, or our desire to enhance human life, but whatever it is technology is slowly taking over. Film is a medium that is capable of depicting all of the possibilities of technology, and projecting possibilities for the outcome of man. It is unique because it had the ability to accurately represent life in a more technologically advanced setting, and project certain problems, or expansions. Cinema shows us all that technology can be and more. Is technology making life easier? yes. Is it inhibiting man? In my opinion, yes, though in a certain respect. Will it create a better future? Who knows.
Curious though how most science fiction, cybernetic films depict an apocalyptic future. Not very optimistic.
As technology all around the world leaps forward with new advancements we as humans find ourselves remotely in the same place we were when the onset of technology began. Perhaps over all we are taller than several decades ago, we have a better understanding of the human body, nutrition, sciences, but overall we are still the same carbon based life form we were when the industrial revolution was launch, dramatically changing life as we know it. All technology has done is facilitate our lives, and make the world come together, as well as unveil many of its mysteries. Yes, through technology we have found cures or aids to to diseases like leprosy or diabetes, but a new one always emerges from our triumph. Take H1N1 for example. Our world is plagued by suffering, disease and famine, and many would claim that is the human condition and fate. Perhaps that is so, but cybernetics offers a new opportunity to rise above these issues.
The film Surrogates (2009) sheds light into this idea of discarding the human body for a technologically enhanced shell that can encompass our intelligence, and offer liberties that our current corporeal forms inhibit. A body that can not be affected by death, disease, serious pain, or famine. What a notion! Of course the movie must have some drama in its perfect world it depicts and people start dying, but the idea is still one that many people would jump at. After all, even Hayles writes in her article that many people "would rather be a cyborg than a goddess". I think a lot of it has to do with the separated control we have over a surrogate. Unlike an actual human body we inhabit a surrogate is still ultimately detached from us, and although it as real as it can get, we are still aware that we can simply jump hundreds of miles away to safety if we feel like it, discarding our host body to suffer whatever ill fate we had just moments before encountered. In today's society it is all about control. Who has the phone with the most amount of applications? The one that responds the fastest? Has the best reception? Each element building up a tower of control, for he who possess the best phone, can do more than those who don't and therefore has the upper hand. We don't like to admit it, but we are a technically/screen based society. Like Hayles says in her article, maybe the screen is the next barrier to break and virtual reality will be the future.
This would be wonderful considering all of the liberties and opportunities it would offer humans on a whole, but one has to wonder if it may be equally detrimental. Few people can survive without their technology and those who can and do are usually out of the loop with contemporary social standards. Having moved out of my parents house when I was fifteen, and being a poor starving student, I was unable to afford Internet at my new apartment, so I simply went without. For my last year of high school this was not a life altering factor, but as I pursued my studies, it soon became impossible to do without. I had no idea how many teachers expected you to only communicate via e-mail, or only posted assignments online, or required weekly online submissions, as well as posting quizes and class information online. I found myself hurled into a world that was screen based.
Hayles quotes in her article that already 10 percent of the U.S. population are cyborgs, being dependent in some form or another on a technological device, and in the time since her article was written I'm sure that percentage has increased. Technology is there to facilitate life, extend life and open new realms for humans to explore. I absolutely agree that VR can be used to train and educate; simulating situations that enable a trainee to obtain detached knowledge of procedures or conditions. That said, it will never be the same. Hayles mentions this in her article the difference between a computer generated human image screaming in pain while his innards lay open and exposed to you, in contrast with the real deal. Man in a sense has become dependent on technology, and although it has thrust us forward in leaps in bounds, it has also stifled us significantly.
Today's society in general lacks the mental alertness and ability that the generations before us did. Today we have technology to do it all for us. Smart calculators, spell checks, computers that can read questions and reword them for a struggling student. Although I concede many of these technological advancements are used to help educate students, or those who are unable, how many of them can recite their multiplication tables up to fifteen? Twenty? My grandfather can do long division in his head because calculators were not available when he was a student. My younger cousin who is still in highschool has a computer to read all of his test questions for him. AND then it offers him three alternate readings of each one, in case he doesn't understand the question. As fantastic as it is that a computer is capable of such feats, I wonder if it isn't all for the best. The problem is Cyberspace is too seductive. It has an allure of facilitating life, yet dampening man's capability. Even though the actual skin tight, condom fitting VR suit doesn't exist yet, all of our technological gadgets are an abstract representation of this suit, that we don on every day. Our cell phones, the internet, GPS, all serve as the prequel to the VR suit. Each item detaches us further from the actual physical action that these gadgets replace, and VR will only further that. Surrogates represents the attractiveness of becoming whoever you want to be, donning on a body that is nothing like yours and living a wild life in a host, while your "actual" physical self remains at home safe. Man kind is increasingly moving towards a separation from the body, from the physicality. For all of its practical uses, VR is the exact medium to accomplish this ultimate fantasy. We all remember the classic scene from the film Demolition Man when Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone experience that sexually intimate moment "without even touching".
Perhaps it is a God complex where man strives to shed his corporeal form and ascend into whatever form he chooses, or simply our fear of death, or our desire to enhance human life, but whatever it is technology is slowly taking over. Film is a medium that is capable of depicting all of the possibilities of technology, and projecting possibilities for the outcome of man. It is unique because it had the ability to accurately represent life in a more technologically advanced setting, and project certain problems, or expansions. Cinema shows us all that technology can be and more. Is technology making life easier? yes. Is it inhibiting man? In my opinion, yes, though in a certain respect. Will it create a better future? Who knows.
Curious though how most science fiction, cybernetic films depict an apocalyptic future. Not very optimistic.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Movies and Homework, The student life
I created this blog site because I need to do academic critiques of articles we read in one of my courses as school. Blogging is very foreign to me. As I was attempting to come up with a Blog title and site my roommate Keith decided to put on a movie, Equilibrium (2003, Kurt Wimmer), and I was swiftly distracted. As the movie progresses (for those who haven't seen I won't divulge too much), the protagonist Christian Bale encounters dogs for the first time while feeling. Both Keith and quite amusingly, vocally declare out disapproval of killing the dogs, and agree with Bale's "feeling" decision to save the puppy. This is where my title "check puppies for diseases" spawns from, quite simply because we want them saved not shot. I think I might use this movie in my final project.
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