Midterm Paper

            I have tailored this essay to fellow college students of my generation. I did this by not focusing on describing the situation, but focusing on appreciating and accepting our current condition of writing and reading from the perpective of a young person in this age of technology.

A New Dawn in the Age of Words and Technology

We have come a long way since the age of paper and pencil. Writing used to be done by hand; from the imperfect, yet personal tools we called pens or pencils. In the far past, paper and pencil was not only a medium to expel one’s ideas, but an art that one perfected. The art of writing was something that brought a humane beauty to writing, but also made writing something that could only be done by the masters of scripting. Technology has globalized reading and writing, making the task of creating a word merely pressing a button. This new, effortless medium has allowed anybody to spit out their deepest thoughts in a matter of seconds. Reading used to be only affordable to the aristocrats of society. Books were not mass-produced. A book would be written one by one and usually the audience would be limited to whoever was lucky enough to live in the region of the book’s origin. Now, we have Google. As you know, pretty much any book worth reading can be read through a quick purchase to Amazon.com and shipped in a matter of days. As a lover of writing and reading, I will use this essay try and relate a deep appreciation for the good, bad and ugly that has come from the globalization, digitalization, affordability, accessibility, efficiency and overall effortlessness of modern day writing and reading.

The first assignment of my writing class was to create a blog, a completely new writing invention due to technological leaps. As a nice timeout from Youtube and Facebook, I jumped on Blogger.com and whipped up a blog in a matter of minutes. “This blog has been created and is now the answer to all my reader’s problems!” is what the sarcastic part of my mind wanted to say. It was too easy. Easy in such a casual way that I felt like I was jipping my future readers. The creation of a medium that gives the world my emotions and thoughts should be harder. Right? Jewish people, for instance, take several years to prepare one Torah. One congregation populated by no more than 200 people will purchase this holy book. My blog is open to, to an extent, any age, nationality, gender, or religion and it took me less time to start my blog than it takes to scribe at most, half a page of the Jewish people’s connection with God. At first this incongruity annoyed me, but then I realized that the blog’s beauty comes from its casual and unassuming nature. Whereas sometimes bringing to life a means of communication can be a ceremony that puts the medium on an unnecessary pedestal, a blog is the kind of communication that does not come from a pedestal or higher power. The blog comes from the surf kneeling below royalty.

Although the idea of a blog can be easily romanticized, it also has its faults. The accessibility and roughness of a blog gives it its charm, but this humane imperfection could make the reader feel that the writer is unworthy of deep interpretation. People want to listen to authority. The Milgram Experiment proved this to be true. In the experiment, the participant was told to deliver shocks to another participant (which was actually a trained actor) in the next room if the actor failed to learn a sequence of words. The participant would hear screams of pain from the actor after delivering the shocks. Participants asked to stop the experiment after hearing these cries, but the experimenter would prod them to keep shocking (Cherry). The results of the experiment were shocking (no pun intended). 65 percent of the participants finished the experiment by delivering what they believed to be a 450-volt shock to the other participant. The reason these ordinary citizens felt right delivering fatal shocks to a stranger was due to the authority that the experimenter exuded (Cherry). People’s willingness to obey authority can outweigh anything. Therefore, the antithesis must also be true. A blog, created in a couple of minutes, with each article being roughly jotted down and the writer not even belonging to a credible organization can be at serious risk of the unimpressed audience reading shallowly and lazily.

 This roughness is not blog’s only possible risk. The shear number of blogs could also lead to its downfall. A study composed in 2010 found that there were about 152 million blogs in existence (Pingdom). This daunting mass of writers is amazing and shows that many people want to share their ideas, but this popularity of the blog can also be its downfall. Because of the blogs popularity, it is hard to think of each one as special. It’s like walking around a city and seeing five “World’s Best Coffee” signs. With so many people saying, “Look over here! No, wait, THIS is important!” how am I supposed to truly commit to one at a time? I sympathize with the worries brought up in an article titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr. In the article, Carr talks about the dangers of the Internet’s blistering efficiency and vastness. He brings up the point that as the Internet becomes more and more efficient, its users may become so “efficient” that they lose human depth. Carr says that nowadays, he has trouble reading one piece for a long period of time because there is so much to read. I have had that same problem for as long as I can remember. I have always had trouble reading something on the Internet that is more than two paragraphs and it is for that exact reason: There is just so much to know at my fingertips, I am always tempted to move on to the next source.

             If I give in to this tendency to constantly move on to the next source, shallowness may take over. If my brain is always seeking a new stimulus than it seems only logical that I will go to the next, most immediately enjoyable thing. I do believe that education and cultural endeavors yield a more profound, lasting sense of happiness, but when a constant stream of shallowness is given to us, it seems to be dangerously comfortable to live in a constant state of moving from one visceral reaction to the next. A perfect example of this sampler of ideas that we are thrown into is the experience of highway advertisement. As I speed between this blur of smiling faces and phone numbers, all I get is short shallow responses that have no true middle or end.

The other mental threat that is brought up by this analogy is the fact that any person, of any intellectual status, can interpret a happy picture. Because of this universality of the picture, pictures seem to be taking priority over words. As technology advances, movies make less money from profound scripts and more money from big explosions that give the audience that immediate adrenaline rush. This rush is invigorating, but remember, it is equally fleeting. As this feeling of shallow happiness leaves us, the vicious cycle begins: we want more, now. And the Internet gives it to us. Stumbleupon.com is a perfect example of the aimless gluttony of web surfing. Once we’re done with one page, we can simply press the stumble button and the endless stream continues. With a button as taunting as this, I can’t see the average web surfer having an easy time reading a long article (at least without pictures).

Although the depth of literacy may be in danger, reading and writing’s relevancy is not threatened. Andrea Lundsford, a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford conducted a study of Stanford college students’ writing habits. It revealed that 38 percent of their writing was actually done out of class (Thompson). This actually makes perfect sense. With the immense social relevancy of texting, “tweeting”, and “facebook-ing”, writing has become an incredibly important part of society. Therefore, the fear that people feel about writing’s new developments can’t be about its dearth. The uneasiness might be simply due to the change in what we call writing. Writing used to be something official, done as a voice of authority. Now, it also serves as a way to have a casual conversation.

This relaxed attitude might sit wrong with some people, but I don’t see a problem with this new role writing fills. If writing is becoming more shallow due to its casualness, we should not blame the act of writing or even the new technological tools we have, we need to put more blame on the users of these tools. For example, if a construction worker is hammering a nail and accidentally hit’s his or her thumb, he does not rationally blame the hammer or nail. He or she will put the responsibility of the folly on his or herself, remembering later to be more careful. Self-responsibility is the key to wisdom. The “problems” brought by the Internet were created by our innate intelligence surpassing our innate wisdom, intelligence being the beautiful instrument we are given and wisdom being our ability to make beautiful music with it. We have created a system that has a more efficient way of connecting dots than our own brain. There are so many connections to be made that we sometimes don’t know how to navigate or interpret this complex path in a way that actually benefits our own sense of wholeness. We run the risk of becoming lost, when actually the path is right in front of us. I do sympathize with Carr’s skepticism about this new daunting instrument, but I have hope for human’s universal ability to be wise. Words are only as beautiful as we write them and if we are wise enough, no amount of confusing technology can rob us of that.

Remember, even the oldest people are babies in the sense of technological knowledge. We have time to learn, if we choose too.

Works Cited:

"Internet 2010 in Numbers | Royal Pingdom." Pingdom Web Site Monitoring Blog - Everything about Uptime, Downtime, Servers, Internet and Technology. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://royal.pingdom.com/2011/01/12/internet-2010-in-numbers/>.

Cherry, Kendra. "Milgram Experiment - The Milgram Obedience Experiment."Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. About. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/milgram.htm>.

Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on the New Literacy." Wired.com. Wired, 24 Aug. 09. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson>.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life – TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/>.

           

Post #7 Blogs Are Good

            I was very excited to begin this blogging experience. I’ve always been pretty interested in the new phenomenon but never actually got the guts to become part of it. To be frank, I was pretty reluctant about even reading writer’s blogs. Blogs seemed to be more narcissistic than mind opening. But after reading this tiny percentage of blogs out there, I’m ready to move past the tip of the iceberg and submerge myself in the ocean of knowledge that is this World Wide Web. These assignments have also been just great ways to let my mind flow. In assigned readings I usually feel painfully restrained by the looming critical eye of a teacher, but if all I’m supposed to do is to stay on topic, then my thoughts don’t feel so scary anymore. Pizza swings Dave Chappelle tubular oak tree chocolate rain... wait. I’m back. Although this experience has been freeing it has also reminded me that the Internet is very powerful and with great power comes great responsibility. I must not become shattered trying to stretch myself over all this information. I must maintain my humanity. I am not a machine. Efficiency comes after depth. Writing on the web can be a beautifully uniting process, but this beauty can be tainted by narcissism, reactionary thoughts and Internet speeding (in highway terms). This Internet thing is a gift not only to one person, but also to the human race. In that case, I will attempt to be part of a greater objective. The greater objective being simply to experience what’s beyond me. This objective is a challenge. For example, right now I’m contributing to the greater good of my class by getting this blog post out on time instead of facebooking or Dave Chappelle-ing, not that there’s anything that’s stopping me from getting all I can get out of self-indulgence…

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cda7c7101d/chappelle-show-internet

Post #8 Pens and Pencils Both Write Words. Cool.

            Both of these articles were a nice break from the recent apocalyptic rants about how we are becoming mindless, literary-imitations of what we once were. While the “We’re all gonna die!” model of writing about writing can be quite stirring, Scribner and Thompson seem to be more rational with their notions about the art of communication.  Instead of thinking of the issue of literacy change as good to bad, they exude the philosophy of apples to oranges. Nevertheless, there was still an aim at finding the meaning of good literacy with these two optimists. The meaning was merely more flexible. I interpreted the two articles main focus was not about how we communicate but the simple question of, “Are we communicating?” The literacy as adaption metaphor is about survival, which to me means sustainable interaction: communication. The literacy as power metaphor describes our ability to advance our selves and families, claiming our place in the world: communication. Last but not least, literacy as a state grace defines literacy as a way to prove yourself a valid source to learn from: (drumroll please) COMMUNICATION. Thompson’s article about writing’s new relevancy in modern day is due almost exclusively to its social uses. Therefore, I will have to side with the optimists. Like any art form, writing changes. Change is good. Change means that there is more to experience. As we’ve discussed in class, writing is not merely about teaching, but also about learning and relearning. As long as people are still striving to become part of their environment, either subdued or empowered, the very fact that writing gives humans a way to find their place in the world is an amazing use that I want writing to serve

"The soft minded man always fears change." -MLK

Post #7 The Top of the Tip of the Iceberg

http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/20081110_america_the_illiterate/

The most troubling issue Hedge’s article brought to light for me was how easy it seemed to be to live in this alternate reality.  I find myself believing that education and cultural endeavors yield a more profound sense of happiness that lasts a long time after the stimulus, but when a constant stream of shallowness is given to us, it seems to be dangerously comfortable to live in a constant state of moving from one visceral reaction to the next. A perfect example of this sampler of ideas that we are thrown into is the experience of highway advertisement. As I speed between this blur of smiling faces and phone numbers, all I get is short shallow responses that have no true middle or end. All I feel I’m getting from most signs I see in modern society is equivalent to what I get when I see the first lavishly decorated letter of a book, input without actual meaning. Society is getting so close to the top of the tip of iceberg that we might not even know it’s an iceberg anymore. In other words, deep is becoming shallow. I was shocked when I saw that Gore’s vocabulary in the presidential debates was at a level similar to an 8^th grader. Compared to his competition, I saw Gore as an intellectual. Now that I can see that his literacy level during a speech is only a little more than half of what the founding fathers’ vocabulary levels were, I am beginning to see the tip of the iceberg: our modern day society’s leaders are trying to become so universal and so “democratic” that they are merely diluting the individuality and diversity of life. A democracy without individualism becomes totalitarian. As our culture becomes increasingly tabular, there is no individuality to be had. To answer the question of how much Hedge relates to Carr, I do see an important thread connecting these two articles. They both believe that mental struggle is the path to a meaningful life. The “best” works of art stretch our minds, whereas the blockbusters nowadays allow us to stay exactly where we are: ignorant bliss.

"Just as you must come through a woman's womb to attain physical birth, so must you come through Wisdom to achieve mental birth. And like childbirth, Wisdom often comes with pain." -RZA

Post #6 How You So Smart, Google?!

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

I found it hilariously ironic that I googled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Probably didn’t have to search Google for the answer to that question. All I had to do was stop myself before I hit the return key and ask myself, “Do I really need this technology that makes a connection through miles of cyberspace before I try to make a simple connection between my memories and ideas?” So, let me think for a second… Yeah, I’m pretty stupid. I like to think that stupidity and dependence run together. For exmple, a toddler is completely dependent on his or her parents to learn about the world. Although I do revel at a child’s open-mindedness and overall cuteness, they’re pretty stupid. I know how bad that sounds, but I only mean that in a relative way. Stupidity can only be defined by comparing one’s mental ability to a decided, maximum level. We have created a system that has a more efficient way of connecting dots than our own brain. So, in this way, we’ve become stupid. There are so many connections to be made that we don’t know how to navigate or interpret this complex path in a way that actually benefits our own sense of wholeness. We run the risk of becoming lost, when actually the path is right in front of us.  This path can be found by employing the power of wisdom. Wisdom has always overcome intelligence for me. Intelligence is the beautiful instrument I’m given and wisdom is the ability to make beautiful music with it. Therefore, I do sympathize with Carr’s skepticism about this new daunting instrument, but I have hope for human’s universal ability to be wise. Ask yourself the question: ‘Do I want to go on a nice, relaxed bike ride through this beautiful forest or do I want to speed through it with my Lamborghini, only seeing the trees as blurs of color?’

Post #5 Textual Conversation

I deeply appreciate Harris’s approach to academic writing. His book is ironically titled Rewriting. I have experienced many academic writing sessions where I found myself not expanding on what the text meant, but merely regurgitating or “rewriting” the small scope of what I got out of the author’s words. Harris admits in the introduction that academic texts can risk this redundancy. That is the reason he created this book: to not think of the term “rewriting” as something myopic and stagnant, but as a path to expansion of textual meaning. This perspective is very refreshing. Whereas in the past, I have been taught how to write from a mechanical point of view, Harris brings a deep sense of humanity to interpreting academic texts. He admits that writing is not math. The answer is not there.  The reader should not search for an answer, but simply seek more questions through introspection and self-critique. Harris’s view of writing is very similar to Sullivan’s. Sullivan speaks of the rawness and humanity of blogging, which he says makes it so relevant and beautiful. Although Harris stands farther on the intellectual side, rather than Sullivan’s common man perspective, both believe that writing is a conversation. Writing is not about making your opinion the one and only. It is rather to use your opinion as a jumping off point to expand your awareness. Both men seem to see variance as a key part of the conversation, for if both sides said the same thing neither side would learn. If both perspectives were perfect then there would be no point.