Power.

If you go back through history, examining every major event that has taken place since the beginning of time, there has always been one common driving force. This motive is the center of the main question we attempted to understand during 8th grade humanities. Power. What is power? There are countless definitions and attempts to understand such a simple word. Many of the definitions overlap on one point; the ability to affect one’s environment. Therefore, the definition I propose is, “The ability to make decisions that affect you and your environment.” In order to better understand this definition, the positive and negative effects of power will be examined.
In our world, and in our normal society, we see power in various “dimensions” or degrees.r. When you shift into three dimensions of power, the type that is “global, there are MANY large entities vying for control, or more power. Each of them are attempting to make decisions that affect the entire environment, not a small part of it. This can lead to serious problems, wars, and decisions that are not always in the best interest.
The most prominent examples of 3d power gone wrong are the World Wars. Because Germany sought to increase their power and their ability to affect their environment, their interests conflicted with that of another entity. In this case, the entity was a superpower called England, and it’s allies, France, America, and generally the west part of the world. The war that ensued was costly, painful, and all over unnecessary. Another example is the idea of imperialism, or one country’s dominance over another for capitalistic purposes. Because of England’s massive hunger for a larger environment to control, country’s including Africa were subjugated and colonized. Through this process countless cultures and people were eradicated. If you fast forward to negative 3d power in this century, it all revolves around multinational corporations. These corporations have become the new entities, and are relentless in their pursuit of environments to affect through sale of goods.
There are positive effects of power. For example, when people award power to a leader, that leader usually makes smart decisions regarding their country. This is the basic idea that governments like capitalism and socialism are formed around. Taking the United states as an example, President Lincolns decision to remove slavery, and to allow people of all colors to unite allowed progress that was never before seen. Other decisions that affect our environment such as the countless peace treaties with nations, have kept the global populace safe. Those who wield 3d power properly choose the good “global” choice, versus what they would like to see happen.
In conclusion, if you look at the net effect, I can say that Power is good. Good in the sense that the net effect of wielding power usually has good effects on people and society. In our relentless search to influence our environment, there have been many bad decisions made by powerful people. Although this has had severe effects on the populace, or us, we still elect leaders who wield power properly to make smarter decisions. Those decisions including the abolishment of slavery, the freedom of immigration act, and the decision to remove apartheid have all impacted our world positively.

Pop Project... Reflection~

Wow. I can't actually believe that I survived Pop 09. It feels great, like I just found a way to end war, or create renewable energy. I'm extremely proud of myself that I could walk into Ms. P's room and hand in that portfolio knowing that I tried my hardest.

And with this pride, came the memory of countless hours spent hunched over a computer, slowly typing out my ideas. I think that my back now as a permanent curve that will lead to osteoporosis when I'm older. But Time, was always the big thought on my mind. Enough time to finish work... to do homework... to eat...to sleep. If there's anything that Pop taught me, it's managing that time is the most important thing ever. I'm only fourteen, and I found it hard to juggle all these different activities, so what's college going to be like? I know i have to get my time management skills together if I'm going to survive the future.

It was good that we did Population Project, even if we whined and moaned about how much work we were going to do. I'll say it's good because it was a guided example of what school work in the future is going to be like. We had teachers every step of the way that taught us what to do, and how to do it. If there's one thing that I definitely got out of this project, it was simply the information how to put together a portfolio and what goes into it. Even if my management skills weren't THAT great, knowing the skills and resources to develop a research question and investigate it will remain invaluable.

Globalization: Good or Bad? (Net effect of Globalization)

When I attempt to understand globalization, I look at its effects on the world in positives and negatives. People can argue that this is two flat a view, that there are many grey area effects that cannot be separated into good and bad. I disagree. I believe that the effects of pulling this world together can be both disastrous and productive. We may be able to buy converse shoes anywhere in the world, but is it worth the twenty-one hour workdays a child puts in at a factory? Is it okay for a culture to be wiped out, so that a company can access prime oil fields? We have evolved into a world where something a person does on one side of the world, affects thousands on the other. It is important to consider both viewpoints, that of the positively affected, and that of the negatively. Because there is something running this massive machine we know as globalization, and sure as heck, it isn’t America.

Just imagine a world where you can eat sushi in Texas, McDonalds in Liberia, Levi Outfitters in Mongolia. It’s already happening, and we, the citizens of developed nations, are reaping the benefits. On the pros side of this debate we have unity, global competition, the growth of a capitalistic empire based completely around the consumer. It is the creation of a world where money actually does makes the world go round. Now, every country can compete for the consumer’s interest globally. We can communicate with others across the world, for free, and instantly. This has lead to the creation of new businesses that span several cultures and nations. It has lead to the intermingling of cultures to form a new “superculture” that dominates the entire world. We are becoming uniform, yet diverse, united through our differences in a vast net that spans the world. We promote peace through a union trade and culture. It is the next logical step for capitalism.

Well, its actually the next logical step for those who experience the benefits of capitalism. Its obvious that something is driving this massive force, something is pushing globalization forward. Its something that all those who experience benefits would like to forget and sweep under a rug. The only productive way to provide people with cheap products is to use cheap labor. That means illegal, slave, dirt poor labor, all of which is becoming available on a global scale. There are people in India who work for less than twenty-five cents a day to make clothes and other goods. Even on a slightly higher economic scale, people are losing their jobs to outsourcing. This means that people with half the pay can do twice as much the work, and have it done overnight. In this process we’re replacing cultures, and in some places completely eradicating them. This is developing a society based around working to provide for others, and to survive. All in all, this has just created a larger economic gap between consumer and producer.

All in all? Well I’d have to say that globalization is a good thing. Its good because, even though I can argue the point of a negatively affected person, I am one of the benefices. I am the one who can talk to my friends in NYC for free, and I’m the one that can go to china and buy designer clothes for dirt-cheap. I’m the one that’s going to be using globalization to expand and create new ideas, develop existing ones, and share them all around the world. I would agree that it has a few flaws, and needs to be tweaked a bit for everyone around the world to become a benefice, but at present I’m enjoying the current flattening of the world.

Blogging Cartoon: An analysis.

The main visual elements of this cartoon are focused around the child and parents eating at a dinner table. They are in a room with modern technology, indicating this cartoon describes the present. The main issue of this cartoon is the use of information sharing technology among the younger, our, generation. While the cartoon doesn't do much except explain the child's age, the caption describes the authors opinion on this issue. He believes that the use of technology in the younger generation causes loss of personal contact. Creating new methods of sharing information will eventually eliminate the human element. This is implied from part of the caption, "we could read your blog...OR you could just tell us about your day." I believe that the irony shown in this cartoon is that WE, the children, are blogging OUR responses to this cartoon, so that our parents, our teachers can read our responses, instead of us just tellling them. This cartoon holds a warning much like the words of Kurt Vonnegut, and the countless examples we created in our socratic seminar. Using technology eliminates human interface. This cartoon is realtively well desgined, however I think that if the author wanted to achieve greater effect, he could have made it more aparent that the child was integrated with technology.

Pop Project Work Week

Monday- I'm going to finish my research by doing two things. Visiting the library for any extra data, and reading two articles online. Start taking notes.

Tuesday- Cite my available sources using BibMe. Continue taking notes on sources. Start figuring out the organization of my paragraphs. Finish my outline by the end of the day.

Wednesday- Fine tune the outline, making sure that it makes sense. Also, start writing the thesis statement/paragraph.'

Thursday- Finish thesis statement, if it's not done already, and start the first draft>pulling info from my outline and organizing it.

Friday- Peer edit(?) the first draft. Start second draft.

*most of these three days are focused on the Research Paper.

Technology?

1.Technology is defined by the Oxford American Dictionary as “a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge.” Pretty much, what that means is using new knowledge or more efficient ways to solve a basic task. However, to me, it means something completely different. Technology has come to define the world that I’m growing up in. It means computers, ipods, cellphones, the internet, printers, televisions, Xboxes, cameras, etc. So I guess I can define it as the new, more efficient, better way to solve basic tasks, connect with others, and define our world.

2. Everyone is different, meaning they're going to say different things. But for me, my top five are all used many times a day. Coming in a first is, of course, the computer. Second: cellphone, Third: Internet, Fourth: social software or things like facebook or msn, and Finally: The Usb and flash drive systems. Well, on the topic of least used technology, coming in at first place is the Rubik's Cube. They say it's a form of entertainment, but if waisting half a day rearranging shapes for no reward is entertainment, then I'm outa here. Second, The dish Maker, Third: Stickers, Fourth: Excesise Videos, and Finally: the Spork

3. I think that the amount of technology at Aes is pretty good, and not lacking to much. We can do ALOT from our small laptops, like printing, sharing, and creating. Also, there is alot of new technologies on the way. In fact, Aes is pretty far ahead when it comes to utilizing technology. For instance, my old school just got a laptop system like the one here. So overall, @∑S has done a pretty good job of intergrating technology into our lives..

Just a quote to share, " The future is already here, just not widely distributed yet." -Willam Gibson, SF novelist.

Reflection on Kurt Vonnegut's Writing

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.”

False. That's my assessment. I disagree with the quote for a few reasons. The first is that everything Kurt does in his writing defines him as a hypocrite. For example, even though Harrison Bergeron and the Euphio Question are meant to be satirical, they force the reader to accept technology, not to despise it. If the attempt of these writings was to repulse readers from technology, he failed horribly, resulting in people leaping into the science fiction genre with a vigor. Second, this idea that everyone has stoppped "becoming" is complete rubbish. Mr Vonnegut, I believe, doesn't understand the fact that becoming is really a form of development, and development is something disinctly human. The only true form of "not becoming" can be found in harrison Bergeron, where everyone has been handicaped from developing. It is through this development that we as humans can make better decisions, communicate faster, create new ideas. Finally, the very essence of this quote threatens the jobs and livelyhoods of thousands of people that work with technology. What I mean is that people who work with machines are working the mircale they were put on the earth to do. This could be making car parts, fine tunning microsoft software, or typing up reports in an office. In summary, no matter how you look at it, technology is part of the "miracle" were supposed to do on earth.