The Ever Changing World

Throughout the semester in Intro to Lit. we have read various books on a futuristics society. Some were surprisingly shocking as to how they closely represented our society today. I believe that these authors were reflecting on the worlds they had witnessed and warn us for a world that could be. Could our society turn into one depicted in the books? I believe so, everyday we learn more and realize that our technology is becoming more and more important by the minute. It won't be long before we rely on technology completely, even to read our books. I can see that someday your required texts for classes being able to be downloaded off line and all kept on something similar to a kindle. It's scary to think that these books really have a true meaning behind them. Like my Physics teacher always said "From Science fiction Science is born" and I believe the same thing is true with stories.

Fahrenheit 451 and Our World

Have you ever wondered if our society would one day ban all printed writings? Well recently I've finished reading Fahrenheit 451 and it occurred to me that throughout history there have been times that books have been banned. Another thought that crossed my mind was, "Would I really care?" So I'm asking you this question too. Would you care if writing was banned? I think it is important to have books to keep the uniqueness among people. It shouldn't be perceived as offensive but instead as an opportunity to relate to one another, and express what we feel and who we are as a society. We should not let ourselves go as far as losing our emotions and own ideals. Yet we should come together and share our thoughts and ideas and even emotions on a lot of issues. This would help us live better not only as a society but as a whole world. So therefore I believe I have learned a valuable lesson from Fahrenheit 451.

The Fahrenheit of the Holocaust

Today I visited the Holocaust museum as a remembrance to those who were killed by the Nazi's and those who graciously fought to liberate the individuals whose races were being destroyed. At one part in the Museum it talked about the burning of books done by the Nazi's. This made me reflect to Fahrenheit 451 and how books were burned and outlawed in that society. The burning of books in Nazi Germany was completely different than that of Fahrenheit 451. They, the Nazi's, burned books to put a race down and turn everyone against a particular person or persons. A quote that really struck out to me was something Heinrich Heine said. Which is "Where books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too." This stuck out to me because in the book Mrs. Blake burns herself with her books. Is it possible that Ray Bradbury wrote his story from what was going on in the 1930's-1940's?

Futuristic or Now

In 1984 they had their own development of language called "Newspeak." The government in their society controlled everything; even the language. "Don't you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?"(1984 pg 46) They were trying to reduce every aspect of their citizens making them have the illusion of being free but in reality they were slaves.

This language in a way ties into that of Feed and our own society. We gradually begin to create our own "Newspeak" without knowing. For instance we used to say Duh and elementary school when someone made a stupid remark. Just a few years ago it was added to the dictionary. Words that existed during our grandparent's time have either become obsolete and died or we as a society have changed the meaning. In our society we have the freedom of speech but in a way we're not completely free. We can say what we want but if we choose to yell "Fire!" In a theater than we are fined and could possibly serve jail time. So our government is in a way like the one in 1984 they tell us we have freedom of speech but restrict us, and they chose what words live on in a dictionary and what words die. They are in a sense always watching us too. They can monitor our phone calls and emails and can survey us where ever we are out in public. Just a way to keep their eyes on us and make sure we're not a threat.

1984 ended with Winston in prison giving into the government. He was against the party but to save his own life he admitted he loved big brother. In a way we as citizens are like this we talk about the government and complain about what they're doing wrong. Yet more than half of us won't take the stand and tell them they're wrong. Our government is suppose to be run "by the people, for the people," and we hardly see it going that way.

You Never really have PRIVACY

Recently we read 1984. The story line was about how society was and how you were expected to act. You were always being watched or listened to and just about everywhere you went you saw signs that said "Big Brother is Watching You." How far off is this from our society today?

I don't think it's really all that different. Today the government controls our right by putting regulations on them and telling us we can't say certain things or express ourselves certain ways without consequence. However, more importantly since the attacks of 9/11 they can listen to are phone calls, read our emails, dig into our personal lives if something comes across as a potential warning. This is like the novel 1984 in that the government is always watching us. Maybe not through our television or in our homes, but out in the open we are constantly watched and surveyed to make sure we're not a threat. I believe that to an extent it's okay, but there are points where a line needs to be drawn. America is a country built for freedom and in a way we are being enslaved within that freedom.

The Feed That's Affecting all of Us

Recently we were assigned to read the book "Feed." While reading this book I noticed quite a few similarities from our world to that of the fictional world in "Feed." So it became obvious to me that even though feeds aren't installed in our brains we receive them visually and process them in our brains. Feeds such as the latest fashion, trend, news, etc..

It's a little frightening to think that if we do not realize that from science fiction the world of technology is born. Then our descendants could be walking around in bubbles fleeing from the pollution we created and getting updates on their recently developed "feeds."

I believe that in a way we are becoming like Violet. Slowly beginning to lose ourselves to what we feel are necessities and things that evoke feelings in us. Making us forget about the natural feelings the world around us creates and that we often create in ourselves.

This story is more than just fiction to me it's a glimpse forward to a world of what could be if we do nothing not to prevent technology from taking over our lives.

If you watch this really thing about what it's saying. The part that gets me is that fact that we are training people for jobs that DO NOT YET EXIST! Also, the part about myspace being the 5th largest country in the world (if it were a country.) Really, what are we becoming?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUMf7FWGdCw

How Dumb Is our Generation...really?

I miss the video lecture on Tuesday but after reading a few of my classmates blog I can draw the Conclusion of what it was about. In a few of the blog's I read my peers spoke of how the blame is not all our generation. It also belongs on our parents. In a way I can agree with this, but I also think the blame should go to the scientist that are inventing the new technologies. For instance Apple keeps coming out with a better "Ipod" almost most every year and a half, and our cellphones laptops and gaming systems just keep getting "better."

However, is having all these technology advances worth it. Think back to when you were a kid and what you played with. For me I had two sisters growing up and we were always outside playing in the dirt or making up games. We weren't inside in front of the t.v. watching commercials or playing games on our "Xbox 360's." You always here the stories from your parents about when they were our age and how they worked for what they wanted, and to change the television channel they had to walk so far. What happened to that?

What happened to the fact that in schools we watch "educational" video's instead of finding out for ourselves. We, as a whole generation, rely so much on the technology that without we almost wouldn't survive. It would almost be like the book Feed without our "feeds" we would be lost and not know what to do with ourselves.

So really who is to blame for how reluctant most of us our to learn new things or play games that involve being blown up or assembled. Is it really our parents, or grandparents, the inventors of so many grand objects, or is it simply just us becoming a lazy generation?

Whit Supremacy and The Demoralization of Ourselves

This week in Intro. To Lit. we watched video lecture delivered by Bell Hooks. In the lecture's we watched in class Hooks talked about the white supremacy and how racism is more of an idea that is more to do with classification then status. I also watched her lectures on "Rap" and "Madonna."

In the Rap lecture Hook's describes for us the world of rap. It was obvious in many of the clips she showed in her lecture that rap music reduces the respect of woman and even the respect men have for themselves to a level of sexual pleasure and nothing more. It's hard to imagine we would let ourselves go so far to earn money then stop and realize we're tearing ourselves apart. I often listen to hip/hop or R&B and sometimes the lyrics reduce women to simply a pleasure tool, Similar to the ads we talked about in class.

In the "Madonna" lecture Hook's talks about racism and how it doesn't matter what color you are; the only color that matters is green, meaning money. It's clear the Madonna is clearly not afraid to put her body and her sexual moves out there. As long as she's making money it really doesn't matter. However, I believe she demoralizes the little girl image in the fact that she's willing to pose herself, on objects many relate to small children, in sexually explicit positions. Therefor demoralizing the images in our minds as being perceived more sexually then should be.

Finally, these lectures were a bit annoying for me to watch. I dislike the fact that this woman is putting all this information out there; yet in the lectures I've watched I cannot find her credibility. To an extent it seems to me like she's an upset woman and has many issues and can bring them out in lectures. Don't get me wrong, I really did agree with a good bit of what she had to say but the rest just annoyed me.

The Natural World compared to the World that has become Natural to us

In my reading so far of the book Culture Jam I have become shockingly surprised that what I'm reading truly sounds like humans today. Is it because we have become so technically advance that instead of looking at what nature has to offer we look instead to what's advanced technologically? Are we slowly becoming dependent on the technology. Every day in hospitals it is used to save lives, but is it truly worth losing ourselves? I think not, I think if we take our natural world for granted it won't belong until we forget it all together. If we continue to let ourselves go and become one with technology instead of the environment, we slowly lose touch of who we truly are. So before it's too later we should realize that if it weren't for the sun there would not be life and if it weren't for the trees and plants around us there would be no fresh air to breather. And that turning your mind to counting the stars at night, or asking ourselves questions about the world around us we would see a change in the way we respond to violence in the media. Also realizing that the human race survived thousands of years without electricity, or technology. So why can't we now remember where we were. We should never ever forget our past because it sculpts and creates our future.

My First Post

I'm Courtney, I'm very outgoing and outspoken. My favorite color is green and my favorite food is spaghetti