The last few weeks engaged us in very interesting topics. I particularly enjoyed some of the material we covered that helped us analyze whether we realize the effects of our interactions with technology. We asked ourselves questions about how we present ourselves on the internet when we communicate with others. Are we being our authentic self on line or do we have an alias personality when dealing with others online. Do we conduct ourselves differently in a business setting compared to a casual setting? For example if we seek interactions on a dating website do we present our true self or do we create a vision that is different from our reality. Do we post old photos of ourselves when we thought we looked better, do we share truth about us sooner or much later.
We also discussed our purpose and identity when we surf the web and the question of whether we surf the web out of the pure escape of boredom and mindless surfing with no real purpose. The web has so much to offer and the information you can obtain is beyond our ever discovering everything on the internet, so when there is a bottomless pit, we can easily be drawn in to continue digging and digging as long as we desire, because there is no end in sight for the information available on the world wide web.
The information on sixth sense technology was indeed interesting. I did send a link of the discussion on technology being developed for the sixth sense technology to a co-worker who is a techie and loves technical articles. His response was in the initial stages of the development of this technology, he felt it was too cumbersome to have all the gadgets tied to individuals and it would take a long time for the general population to adopt such technology, and we laughed about that fact and said while the ideas and amazing features this technology has, it is something to marvel at, but not going to be embraced for some time to come.
I also found it interesting to consider the ethical issues that arise when considering the use of robotics in warfare. We discussed how the robots could help in warfare by possibly reducing human casualties since they would replace soldiers on the ground in some instances, however there is still a measure of precautions necessary to take because these robots have to still be controlled and making moral decisions about when to act and if robotics can perceive a true threat compared to being engaged to kill first ask questions later, this could result in unnecessary casualties. Also just as our cultural may develop robotic warriors so can other governments and we could face the same issues as those we may attack using these machines. Although this is new technology it does come with reasons to be wary and fearful.
I definitely enjoyed learning about Kwame Anthony Appiah and his views on cosmopolitanism. I could relate to his views on being accepting of other cultures without abandoning our our culture. The world we live in has technology that allows us to communicate daily on a global scale. I know some had a problem with his views about taking responsiblity for each other on a world wide scale, but I did think perhaps he meant in our communications and interactions with other cultures. I felt the need to try to learn more about other cultures going forward in life. I thought it was interesting when he highlighted the different family responsibilities between different cultures. For example with his Father of Ghana descent, the brother to the mother in the household was responsible for the care and upbringing of any children she had, yet in the English household of his Mother, his Father and likewise Fathers bear the responsibility for children in the home. I didn't know that and thought wow, that is a different take altogether from the way we do things in the US. Yet Kwame asked the question which action is right or wrong and his approach was he shouldn't say either is right or wrong.
The other point Kwame made is sometimes we require people to become more like us to accept people, whereas a cosmopolitan view is excepting of other views. Kwame didn't think we should retreat to our own group and live a moral life, and he also didn't think you have to abandon your own to embrace other viewpoints, so the bottom line is in this global culture we must find a way to strike a balance and that is taking the cosmopolitan approach.
We did learn a lot about global communications and I found myself really enjoying the video clips and ideas of the thinking people out there that constantly study the effects of technology in our day to day dealings and future events.
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