Friday 11l1 - CR#6.5 from Youngsoo

A word from Garrioch:


This is probably one of the more accessible and immediately inspiring talks on TED that I've seen in a while, and I'm glad Youngsoo liked it.  He has some good thoughts on "real communication" below.  

Some background: Sherry Turkle was part of a team at MIT who conceptualized the "home computer" before they could actually fit inside a house.  So for her to say that today's technology has outstripped their wildest predictions, we are encouraged to put things into perspective.  What's next?  What will our kids classrooms look like?  Have we reached a plateau, or will we end up like The Veldt as Ray Bradbury predicted?

I was born in the 70's, and didn't get internet access until I was in high school.  You guys, born in the 90's, got wired in elementary school.  By middle school you probably began social networking, and will probably continue that trend until you're too old to see a screen.  Bits and pieces of your entire personal history will be online, and you'll be able to check what you had for lunch in 2010 when it's 2050. Which reminds me of the term "screenager."  Screen plus teen.  

But who isn't a screenager these days?  Screens are everywhere, and suddenly became interactive with iPhones and tablets.  We have screens in our pockets, in our cars, in our elevators, and in our schools.  So what's next?  When can we implant them under our eyelids?


Even at KMLA, we see an education system that hasn't adapted to students equipped with laptops.  We have rules for Only English, which we regulate religiously; but in my opinion it is computers  and sleep which have a far more negative impact on communication.    So do check out this video, and consider how we can link it to the movie, Catfish.

 CR#6.5 from Youngsoo:

Critical Response: Development in communication technology makes people more lonely.

     Now, this was a kind of clue given by Mr. Garrioch while I was still finding my way, and the fact is I really got into this speech. It's not a hard task, in fact, to see friends or family members or some other acquaintances so engrossed in text messages or some chatting apps in the iPhone. Seemingly, such a drastic development in communication technology tightened our relationships with each other; we can now talk more freely with our friends while comfortably lying on a bed, which is a blissful thing for a more convenient conversations. However, it actually brought some drawbacks as well, as the lecturer here, Sherry Turkle, mentions; we are also very prone to a new kind of loneliness created by this strange mood. What is the real conversation for? Isn't it that we are too obsessed with our own cell phones that we are so anxious about feeling lonely when they may disappear?

     I believe that this issue is not only concerend with cell phone text messages or e-mails, but also with social networking services such as Twitter or Facebook. I have worried a bit that whether those ways of communication are really used as online media of "real talks" or simply a place where you feel that you are commnunicating by simply "liking" somebody's photos and so on. I want you all to seriously think about if the communication technology today is really making people closer, or making them simply more vulnerable to loneliness.