Alright, Alright. I
know I’ve sorta formed this “beat down the robots” thing with a couple other
students. I think, however, that we all recognize
both the positive but also the negative effects that digi-cult has. A lot of the fear from technology is based on
future events. For example, I’m not
afraid of my Iphone now, but movies like terminator freak me out. No one wants to be slaves to a bunch of
souped-up toasters with superhuman brains, no one. As an ad major, I’ve realized how much
industries take advantage of people’s reliance on technology today. In other words, we’re already slaves. Yah yah, I’m just getting dramatic
right? We’ll here’s my idea. What if we did a media fast to see just how
depend our world is on technology. That
means this Friday or Saturday, a full 24 hours media fast. It’s a bigger commitment than it first
sounds. No cellphone, no laptops,
internet, movies, television. Cars and
microwaves aren’t media, so that’s alright.
The point is to show just how already depend we are on media
technology. I think it’d be a good idea
for a collaborated project we could all contribute to in our blogs
afterwards. So, What do you guys think?
Oh, and what does this have to do with Jurassic Park? Who really had the power at the end of the
movie, the dinosaurs chasing the people or the people being eaten?
I think I will just admit that I am a slave to technology rather than do a fast. I know I couldn't survive! Not during school at least.
ReplyDeleteI really like the question you pose at the end of your post. It really illustrates the fear people have of someday not being able to control what they have created. Thankfully, I don't think dinosaurs are in our future anytime soon (which is great because I still have velociraptor nightmares because of that movie. Those are bad enough). But it suggests the possibility that something of our own creation could end up destroying us (or enslaving us).
I have done a media fast before and loved it. At first it was so tempting to get online and check facebook or just pop in a movie for entertainment or even just check the time on my cell phone. After a few days though I found myself content with other things, such as reading or playing card games. I found out that while I do depend on technology when I use it, I don't need to be as obsessed with it as I sometimes find myself. I like taking a step back and saying, no I can read Ayn Rand instead of pin things on pinterest right now.
ReplyDeleteI have to assume that you watched NBC's "Revolution" tonight, did you? If not, I think it would be pertinent to this post.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbc.com/revolution/video/pilot/1415378/
It definitely is terrifying to think of humans eventually creating machines that could control us or crush us with their metallic pincers. But you make the important point that humans already use technology to "control" other humans and that we often don't resist like we should. I see two ways in particular that advertising (which we are exposed to constantly online) can be damaging: we can waste time clicking on interesting ads and waste money buying products we don't need, or, even more serious, we may come to believe that our lives need to reflect the ads we see-- that we need to be thinner, more ripped, more obscurely dressed or more in demand with the opposite sex, etc. That's letting other people have unhealthy influence in our lives and it's a lot more likely and scary than the ephemeral worries about "souped-up toasters."
ReplyDeleteOr maybe not so ephemeral: Google+ just requested I type in some numbers to confirm I'm not a robot. Maybe our toasters have gotten more out of hand than I thought. :)