SWA#3

Listening plays the biggest part in Wiesel’s worldview.  One of the things he teaches his students, he says, is communication. Wiesel’s opinion is that Cain killed Abel on lack of communication. The definition of communication is to effectively talk and listen.  Part of a question asked by Heffner was “Does it seem to you that we’re not listening to the world around us…” Wiesel answered “absolutely.” He uses the example of teenagers and how we’ve always got music playing in our ears. He views that as a symbol of not wanting to listen to the rest of the world and only caring about personal interests. I agree, in a way. Often times I block out the needs of others around me because I’m having a bad day or something else is more important to me. If we were to take time to focus on our “brothers”, or the world around us, we would be able to listen more in depth about other issues going on and not just our own. 

In Class Writing; 8/30/11

My family could definitely relate to the Campbell family. We all have cell phones, iPods, computers, etc. On the computer, we've got Facebook, youtube, tumblr, and twitter accounts. I don't see any type of "generation gap" at all. Even while my mom is driving, she's on her phone. I'll say "Mom, stop texting" and she'll reply "I'm not, I'm checking Facebook." Before I moved out, we'd sometimes use texting to communicate throughout the house, like to say when dinner's ready or what time we're leaving for something. On trips or special events, we all have our phones on us constantly. I don't always view that as a bad thing because in a way it still brings us together since we can take pictures and post things together about what we're doing. My grandparents definitely have a harder time with keeping up; they don't text and struggle with Facebook. They still email though, which is a huge step from when they were growing up.

SWA#2

            Nora Volkow says, “The technology is rewiring our brains.” In the context of Richtel’s article, this means technology is changing humans. We’re thinking and doing things differently. Proof of this is how we do things. The article talks about computers and cellphones; both have made life portable. Instead of having to sit and talk or work, we can do both on the move. “In 2008, people consumed three times as much information each day as they did in 1960” the article states. Adam Gazzaley also adds, “we are exposing our brains to an environment and asking them to do things we weren’t necessarily evolved to do.” This ties back to statements made in articles previously read, “Get Smarter” and “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” All three of these articles talk about the changes humans and the world are undergoing because of technology. We think differently also. Research has shown that multitaskers don’t actually focus on anything well.

            Richtel uses the family scenario to make the reader feel connected. Several times while reading I thought, “Hey, I do this” or “Yeah, mom does that all the time.” I think Richtel uses this connection to emphasize the importance of the issue because majority of people don’t want a family like the family displayed. The dad came close to losing several big opportunities, the mom can’t even bake cookies, and the “bonding time” is spent playing video games. Technology can’t even be escaped during family vacation; something my family is definitely guilty of. When the technologies were finally put away, everyone admitted to having a better time.

            Richtel uses the “myth of multitasking” to prove that multitaskers aren’t really that good at multitasking. Different experiments have been conducted using “heavy multitaskers” against “nonmultitaskers” and the results have shown that multitaskers are poor at multitasking. People considered as nonmultitaskers were able to focus more and be more efficient in the experiment. This doesn’t really change my opinion on multitasking because I was already aware of these experiments. I don’t claim to be great at focusing, but I don’t think multitasking is a problem for me.

            

"Get Smarter" Response

It's hard for me to share my opinion after reading this article. When I first read the Google argument, I totally agreed with it. After reading "Get Smarter" I've sort of changed sides. With Carr's argument about the way new technologies are affecting our ability to concentrate and faking intelligence, I agreed somewhat. Being able to obtain a fact off Google is so much faster and easier than searching through paragraphs of a book, but at the same time, more is read and learned when searching through the actual book. At the same time though, it's easy to agree with the "Get Smarter" argument because it does make sense that the faster the access we have, the more knowledge we have because there's so much we can learn in a shorter time period. I kinda just contradicted myself, but I agree to both in a way. I also agree with when the author talks about the evolution throughout time. All this technology is something we're just going to have to get used to and evolve around; it may or may not be a bad thing.

In Class Writing; 8/23/11

When reading the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" I realized that I had never really thought about this topic but I agree. Using things like Google, text, or just plain internet are simplifying everything we do. The thing I remembered most is the author's reference to Nietzsche and how even changing from just writing by hand to typing with a typewriter really made a difference in his work. I remembered this the most because his change didn't seem significant but it had an impact. Our generation is changing in big ways, so obviously it's causing a bigger impact.

SWA#1

I haven’t had too many writing experiences that are memorable to me. The main reasons I write is because I’m writing something that has been assigned in class, and I have no choice. I like writing an opinionated or argumentative essay though, because it’s a good way for me to voice how I feel. I’m very opinionated, but also shy, and writing about things are easier for me to get my point across. The “best” writing experience I’ve had is an essay I wrote about how small farm production should be favored over big factory’s mass production. It was a good experience because it was something I cared about. The “worst” writing experience I’ve had was the AP Biology writing section of my final exam. A question was asked that I had no idea how to answer. It was bad because I don’t like writing about things I’m unfamiliar or impassionate about because I feel like the writing comes across as bland or boring. I was more affected by the good experience because I try not to worry about negative or bad things.