HW 15

Quinn, Very interesting and good work. For 13 B i agree with a lot of what you are saying. I also believe that M.T. Anderson has a way of getting into our heads and making us be more aware of the world around us. I also agree with what you said about recomending the book to younger generations of people to try and make them more aware of the negative affects of digital on the body and the mind. I also really liked your point about how sooner or later we all will be dead so it is good to stop and look around the world a bit and not trap ouselves in a little box.
For Feed A I also have been wondering who M.T. Anderson is and what inspired him to write Feed. It seems like he has a very interesting and cultured background, and its somewhat surprising that he went to Harvard because he didn't write with that stuck up ivy league I'm better then you mentality which is seen in a lot of non fiction writing from professors. So thanks for doing that reaserch real interesting stuff. Furthermore your right that almost everybody would flip a shit if technology went down on us out of the blue one day. If I had to take a geuss then I would probably geuss like 5-8% of the population wouldn't go crazy. If you need any evidence for that point just go back and remember y2k, and that was before ipods wireless internet and widespred use of dvds. So your totally right on that point. Also your right that we follow in other peoples footstep's if we went to a school where all the girls were in dresses and the guys looked like they got there from 1957 I don't think that a new kid would do anything much different even if he didn't like it. Same applies for digital so again real good observation.
I must admit that after reading your post on the self experiment Ive concluded that you have more courage then me! If I lost the internet on my phone I probably would never recover. Your right however that people don't need as much connection as they have. Meening that if you can call, text, and I.M. someone from home then your probably plenty connected. I think that most people could live without internet on the phone but your right that most people couldnt live without a home computer of some kind.
In conclusion I really liked your posts and I think that you wrote some really great stuff and put out some real inteligent ideas. The only criticsms I can think of is I would have liked to see you do more on your self experiment like maybe some more analysis about how your experiment would aply to other people. Also maybe after you talked about recomending the book to your little brother talk about how digital might affect his generation. Anyway great work hope to read some more in the future.

HW 15

Sam, I think that in all of your posts you are able to articulate your points clearly and thoughtfully. Your post for homework 14 was particularly good becuase in my oppinion the true test of a good writer is the ability to keep the reader interested and if appropriate entertained. Your posts most certainly pass the test. I especially liked what you wrote in about our generation being mindless idiots who all dress alike and can't even complete a video game without cheats. It got me to consider the possibility that our generation could be the dumbest, but then I thought about it and I totally disagree. Something to think about: If our generation is the dumbest then why has our generation been the most accepting of cross culture relations homosexuality and excepting scientific theories like evolution? Regardless I think that you articulated your point well.
For your post on homework 13 I found myself agreeing with most of what you were saying. I think that you are 100% right that art is in the eyes of the beholder, and I think that giving the example of the Picasso piece is a great example. I also agree with what you said about Feed in that one person could take away something from Feed that knowbody else would even think about. You also wrote about a class discussion where Andy made a point of saying that agknowledgeing his own ignorance mad him smarter then all of us. You then said the enlightenment isnt something you go after it simply comes to you or something of that affect. Honestly I disagree with both points. I think that enlightenment is something you persue and I think that being enlightened about something doesnt necessarily make you smarter, in fact I would argue that people who say that they were enlightened are the dumbest of the lot. To Andys point about his own ignorance I dont think that makes you smarter at all, I think that persuing the areas in your life that you are ignorant on and educating your self is what makes you smarter not admitting defeat to something that your unable to define.
Your post 12 about Feed and your post 11 about your experiment were both very interesting. I liked the part where you said that anyone could make the arguement that we dont appreciate the little things in life. Your totally right because the arguement is a total cliche. As for your experiment I did a similar one and had similar feelings about the experiment. I can totally relate on the feeling of bordem and wanting the whole experience to just end. Good post.
Overall I think that you are a great writer and make very well thought out posts and its not just the same old shit its orginal and and its interesting and I give you credit for that. However I do think that there are some improvements that you could make. I would have liked to see you elaberate on why you think are generation is so dumb and furthermore what specifically caused this lack of intelect. Also I would have liked to hear a little more about your experiment and how would you go about it if you had to do it again, or something like that. Overall as I said great work.

HW 11

For my digital experiment Idecided to do a digital fast followed by an all out digital blitz. I split the time up for half a day non digital and half a day digital blitz (not the same day). I found the experiment to be much more challenging then I thought. At first I thought that the non digital half day might just be the most physically rewarding day of my entire life. I found that to completley and disheartiningly inaccurate. I started the digital free time well I went to the gym worked out for a good hour and a half felt refreshed and ready to go until 2 pm the same way. After I got home I was struck by this overwhelming feeling of bordem and agitation. For a second I thought to myself "fuck the experiment i'll jus b.s. the whole thing" but then I decided no Im going to stick with it and see if I can't make this something Ill repeat in the future. After glazing over the New York Times I decided to go outside and keep myself active. But with nothing else to do and the day becoming a bit of drag and no cell phone to call people or computer to Aim people I figured I would just go and get some food. Now this is the part where everything turned horribly wrong. Because I had worked out earlier in the day I figured I would go get some fast food to completley ruin everything that I had done a few hours earlier. After eating with nothing to do at home I left the food establishment and continued on over to the park. With still nothing to do I decided to just keep on destroying myself by chain smoking for about 45 minnutes. Still unable to find activity I went home and was able to sleep away the rest of digital free blues.
The second part of my experiment was not only easier but healthier as well. I was able to keep myself entertained and because of the constant barrage of internet and video game activity i was able to keep myself from emerging in fast food and tabacco. Because I had to keep going for lunch instead of walking the extra two blocks to the fast food place I walked only three blocks to the local falafel place Habbibs. Finally disproving the myth that your healthier outside then in particularly in the city that never sleeps!

Hw 13

If art is considered either a hammer or a mirror then I would say that feed is both. Feed is a mirror in that it represents the way are society has become with constant fixation on digital and the lack of awareness of the world around us. Feed is also a hammer in that it gets people to think about what we as citizens can do to make ourselves more involved in the things that really matter, such as our representatives, our environment, and the overall stability of the world.
Feed is also art because of the brilliance of the writing. The author puts in references to out modern world throughout the book but 9 out of 10 people probably wouldn't automatically see that unless they were analyzing the book from a certain perspective.
When I do my own art on a related topic I think that I will do a video mini documentry about how the digital age has affected the the young people of the world and wheather it has been a good or bad addition to the world. This relates to Feed because it puts the oppoinions of the book to test.

HW 12

I think that there are many parts of Feed that can be compared to modern life. Just like the characters in feed I think that peoples ability to read write and think for themselves has diminished because a constant rush of advertising and 24 hour everything thats not good for you (theres nothing good for you thats available 24hours). At the same time I think that feed makes young people look more ignorant then they truly are. Older generations have been putting down the younger generations as long as there have been young generations to put down. Many people thought that in the 1960s the young generation was a disgrace to the country with the high rates of drug use and pre merital sex and now there viewed as one of Americas great generations. I think that could end up true of this generation.

Homework 10

For this post I decided to look at cell phone radiation and its effects on human health.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2009-09-08-cellphone-radiation-safety_N.htm
This article juggles around many different theories about radiation and whether or not cell phone radiation causes cancer or not. On the one hand a very extensive study has shown a connection between long term cell phone use and an increased risk of mouth and brain toumars, which causes concern but on the other hand the American cancer society, the world health organization and the food and drug administration have stated that there is no danger in using wireless devices. Even though these organizations have gained a lot of fame and reputation there statements have not been enough to keep the nations of Germany, Israel and France from limiting use of cell phones particularly in young children.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/cellphone-radiation/
This article showed a number of studies most of which showed that there is a link between cell phone use and brain toumars. A senior scientist at the EWG said that "there’s increased risk of developing brain tumors in long term users — people who have used cellphones for more than 10 years — from radiation in cellphones". This article also hypothesizes that because of the strong lobbying force from the telecommunications industry that lawmakers are resistant to increase radiation standards. Many scientists and non partisan groups believe that the U.S.'s radiation standard which today stands at 1.6 watts is dangerously high.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/222926/cell-phone-radiation-a-growing-concern
This article is an oppinion piece in which the author takes the stance that cell phones are dangerous and a hazard to human health and that people should cut down their use of cell phones and cell phone companies should be held accountable for the dangers of cell phone use. He also points to some studies that have been done which point to cell phones causing brain toumars. He also points out some facts about phones producing radiation even when not being used for calls and he also talked about "second hand radiation" and how that is also a danger.

Homework 8

Quinn,I too enjoyed watching you lay out all of things you do (or at least at that time) while using digital technology, I think that many people including myself can relate to everything in your post. Especailly having homework out but also doing other things I am most certainly guilty of that. One thing which I liked about your video was that it wasn't just a webcam view of you it was you doing all of the things you do while on the computer. That really captured the mood of the situation. Outside of that the only thing I would have liked to see was maybe a more detailed look at what it was specifically that you were doing in the very begining.Nice work!

Homework 5

Sam, thank you for your comment and I appreciate you taking the time to read it and give a thoughtful review. I appreciate the fact that you seem to understand my point and I also like that you agree with it in many ways. Reading your point about people who shouldn't have access to all the information on the internet was helpful because it got me to start thinking about information and whether or not all people should have the same information access and is that a threat to society. Expanding on your comment I've come to the conclusion that the freedom of information is a right that every citizen should have. Until they are comited to some kind of institution or prosecuted by the state everyone deserves the same rights and problems which come of it end up being the cost of freedom.

Homework 8

Sam, I thought that it was great how you captured how in retrospect it is somewhat sad that those two minnutes shown in your video can turn into hours at a time. I also agree with your point that the internet for most people at least of our generation does seem more interesting then reading a book. That point specifically made me think what is it exactly that makes the internet more interesting then a book? Is it the ability to multi task? Or perhaps its just the flashing lights and speed giving us all a little digital buzz. Something else that I noticed on almost all of the videos that I watched was the multi tasking and the almost instant change from one thing to another. One thing that I would have liked to have seen was you while you were playing your x-box because I think that would have really captured some of the deep concentration and intensity which many people experience while their ussing such things.Great work I was glad to see it!