Feb
25
Medium is the Message
February 25, 2018 | Leave a Comment
Technology alters perception. Carr argues that technology alters self and does so in powerful ways. I do believe that technology creates different selves. Sometimes the self that we project through technology is not the same as our self that we show in real life. Marshall McLuhan said, “the medium is the message.” Technology has different selves and alters self; therefore, it affects people in society in different ways. Thus, the medium is the message refers to technology being the medium. Technology is in the message itself, creating a one-sided symbiotic relationship between people/society and technology, with technology influencing how the message is discerned.
In the public sphere, you are not supposed to speak with passion or anger. A proper citizen speaks in the language of the public sphere. One critique of this way of thinking is that it potentially favors consensus over plurality and difference. By not speaking with passion, it can lead to nothing decisive or encompassing resulting from the conversation. It prevents discussions where two people may not agree, but still have productive/beneficial conversations.
“The personal is the political” – People have the nature to be appropriate but we assume because of rights to free speech, we have the right to behave and act the way our rights allow us to. But if you think about the societal hierarchy, you must act a certain way to get what you want. As a society, we have unofficially adopted the upper echelon way of thinking in this polite and respectful sphere that has then trickled down and we are expected to keep the personal political. If that is not done, then that’s where labels start to get put on people.
Who do you admire more, the person that has internalized the knowledge or the person who has simply purchased access to the knowledge? I admire the person that has internalized the knowledge more than the person who has simply purchased access to the knowledge. Someone that has internalized knowledge is able to fit new knowledge into their existing categories or create new categories. This is a person who not only receives the knowledge but finds a way to organize the knowledge within themselves so it is available for them for a lifetime. I associate internalization with true learning. Purchasing knowledge is like cramming for an exam. I would be lying if I said that in every class I internalized information. In classes that I don’t find interesting or that I feel will benefit me in the future, I tend to be the person that “buys the book to consult when needed.”
In Carr’s epilogue he said “How I wondered, would the Edexcel discern those rare students who break from the conventions or writing not because they’re incompetent but because they have a special spark of brilliance? I knew the answer: it wouldn’t. Computers, as Joseph Weizenbaum pointed out, follows rules; they don’t make judgements.” I never really thought about computers grading tests in that way. Today, it seems like computers are taking over the roles human beings in almost everything. You don’t even have to call someone to make an appointment with a company anymore. If something is wrong with your cable, a computer system talks you through troubleshooting. The first line of customer service for companies is no longer a human being answering the phone. We need to heed Weizenbaum’s warning of entrusting everything we do to computers.
Speak your mind