What do allow in your life, in terms of technology? Is it a technology free for all? Do you limit your computer, cell phone, or "media" time, and why?
Has taking this course encouraged you to reconsidered the amount of technology and media in our every day lives? From the ipod, to the cell phone, televisions, facebook, emails, indeed, sometimes it just feels like too much.
What can we do to be sure to include/integrate technology, but not let it over run our lives or take too much of our time?
What about being sure to include more organic experiences in nature? Is this component essential to you in any way? What do you think about the notion that we have created a world that makes us feel excluded/separate from nature, when indeed, we are nature?
Samantha Levy
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement 7
I think I let technology take over my life too much. I always have my cell phone on me and I almost always have my laptop near by. I think that in terms of technology it shouldn’t be a free for all, but it is happening anyways. I don’t limit my time with technology and I think this is part of the problem. When I was younger my parents and babysitters used to limit my time on the computer and encourage me to go outside but over time things have changed.
Taking ADP III has changed my perspective on a lot of things, including technology. Seeing how our lives are enriched by nature, even sitting outside with my plant for 2 hours, really changes how I feel about the time I spend with technology. I do feel like maintaining so many things is too much; I am constantly checking my phone, checking for new emails, updating my facebook etc. I feel that this course has made me more conscious of my use of technology, and it has made me more motivated to change my habits.
I think the perfect balance between technology and nature has become difficult to achieve as things have gotten more and more convenient. I do think that by cluing people in on how much time they spend behind a computer will make them more aware. Awareness is the first step in changing a bad habit. I honestly don’t think that most people, including myself, realize how much time they work with technology. Educating people on the importance of nature is also a good way to prevent technology from taking over our lives.
Including more organic experiences in nature is important. The way that the observation project forced us to put away our cellphones and ipods allowed for organic experiences to happen. Cutting ourselves off from everything and really focusing on our surroundings is important when spending time in nature. I don’t think that I like how disconnected we are from nature these days. In the same way that people are told to respect their elders, we should respect nature because like you said “we are nature”.
Weekly Statement 9
ReplyDeleteI think I am more aware of how much technology influences my life, but it has become too much a part of my life to eliminate the majority of it. I think that technology can definitely be taken down a notch but it is still a big part of my schooling, social life, and entertainment.
I think that the ways that technology has evolved speaks to how lazy our culture is becoming. Technology has been made an easy solution to many things; it makes everything faster and almost instant. That quality is now a very important one to look for in most parts of life. I think that the instant gratification is becoming something that people expect and rely on too much. People are starting to need things to be instant and to have less patience. I think that if people stopped and relaxed a little bit more to enjoy nature, and or simple things in life their stress would decrease.
In terms of my own habits I think that there are more steps that I could take to relieve myself of technology. I think that being an artist helps to solve this problem. I can find interest in many different things and I don’t always need someone else to entertain me. I can get lost for hours working on my art, and I will check my phone every once and a while, but when I get really involved every part of technology is completely out of the picture. I think that I could spend less time on my computer in the evenings. The hard thing is that there is so much information and so many different things that I can do on my computer and it is difficult to find the same resources that are so accessible.
The ease and accessibility that technology offers makes people less inclined to go visit someone to chat with them, and less likely to go to the library to get a book, and less likely to play outside. I think that keeping a balance between using technology and doing things on our own without technology. This way people will still have a respect for what they have at their hands and the ability to find information and do things themselves. I think that incorporating experiences in nature are an important part of that balance. I think that people need to see the power and beauty of nature and to see what nature does for us so that we don’t overrun nature with the technology that we create.
Alexis Newton
ReplyDeleteWeekly Statement #7
I feel that before taking this course, I didn’t really see the abundance of technology in my life as a negative thing at all. Looking back at the past 5-10 years, the years where I had started to rely more on technology to entertain me, I realize that it wasn’t always such a good thing, and that in fact, it caused me a lot of problems. I recall times where I would have a paper to write or an assignment to complete, and MySpace and Facebook would take over the time that I should have been spending doing work.
Thinking about technology and its role in my life also makes me realize that I spend a ridiculous amount of time utilizing it, and that I have missed out on a lot of opportunities to enjoy nature and the world around me instead of the screen in front of me. Sometimes I forget how beautiful seeing something in person is, as opposed to a photograph on my computer. This past week in particular, I have been paying more attention to the effects of so much technology on me. I started getting headaches from staring at my computer screen for so long, and it makes me wonder if they have been going on longer than just this past week, and I have just been ignoring them all along.
This past weekend, I was hanging out with my boyfriend, and we were talking about this subject. Instead of sitting inside and watching TV, we decided to go to Kensington Metropark and walk around for a bit. We ended up staying for hours, just walking all around the trails and visiting the farm. Being outside and enjoying my time out there, along with thinking about technology’s impact on my life every day, motivated me to try and spend less time behind my computer screen and staring at the television. My boyfriend and I vowed to not spend more than just a little bit of our time together doing things like watching TV or going on the internet, especially since we only see each other about one day out of the week. This experience makes me realize that it can take just one experience and some thought to try and make a change in your life and how you utilize your time.
I feel that technology has been developed to a point where it is made to seem to us like it is needed for our survival. The commercials I see make it seem like all we need is technology, and that nature isn’t essential to our survival like technology is made out to be. When every aspect of our lives can be displayed online for the world to see, I start to realize that all our lives begin to encompass is what is seen on the Internet. A person can create a whole identity for themselves through words and applications and photographs on a web page, even if that’s not who they really are. For this reason, I am bothered by how trusting everyone is of technology. Why should we believe that people are who they seem to be on their Facebook pages? A picture can say a thousand words, but who’s to say those words aren’t false? We should trust that we can do things on our own before we trust a piece of electronic equipment to show and define who we are as human beings.
Weekly Response 8
ReplyDeleteTechnology overload is something I am beginning to realize I experience a lot in my day-to-day life. Considering the amount of time I spend on front of the computer on facebook alone, and then add to that all the assignments we have to complete electronically and a lot of times even submit electronically. We could pursue a degree 100% from behind our computers at the rate we are going. These advances are supposed and created to be seen in a positive light, to maximize education and accessibility, but how much it too much?
In several of my art classes, we submit work and assignments to a blog for viewing there by the teacher and classmates. It is a let down when as far as our work gets is Internet waves and is never actually shown in front of class. It is seen as a good thing, I am sure, but another example of this over load is professors and their emails. I have on professor who will not mention any homework at all for the end of class, but proceeds to send us an email the day before our next class with lists of 6+ items to complete before we meet next. Technology, especially communication, technology was initially created for accessibility but I believe that it is currently being abused. Students facebook chat their peers sitting across the classroom from them and post updates to their roommates walls throughout the day instead of communicating with them at the end of the day. These communications are in excess.
This course has opened my eyes to this media overload phenomena. I am trying to restrict myself from obsessive hours of facebooking and computer use in general. During the school year this is hard to do considering how many assignments must be completed online. But, although I, guiltily, am an owner of an iPhone, I think it is a device that abuses technology. Why do we need our email and facebook attached to our hip? I feel like personal time is completely invaded due to technology.
Technology is the norm. Showcased in the commercial we watched in our last discussion, it is normal to see people attached to cell phones while walking down the street or riding on the subway. The reality of this is that while we are cemented to our cell phones, we are shunning the outside world, the world we live in. I’m completely guilty of this. I use my cell phone almost as a scapegoat. I whip it out if I’m sitting next to someone I don’t feel like talking to on the bus, or if I have no one to talk to at a party. I know that most of my conversations are held behind a computer screen. I feel that technology takes away from our experiences. We miss the pure sound of peoples’ voices. We miss the physical touch of friends as we walk beside them. We miss eye contact and facial expressions.
ReplyDeleteI think this class has made me realize what I am missing by continually following people lives through facebook, instant messaging, and texting. It has made me realize that this intense takeover of technology shouldn’t be the norm. Before this class, I just didn’t question its incredible role in my life. This class has caused me to question. I had assumed that it was a necessity. I don’t know what my life is like without a cell phone to call someone or a laptop to check Google at all times.
I now want to examine the beauty of the simplicity of life, not the complexity of it. Images can experienced when see in real life instead of through a movie or over computer images.
This course has enlightened me in many ways. On one hand I think that technology has taken away from our spirituality with nature and our ourselves. I am spiritual, I do yoga, I'm in tune with my body and myself but when I'm on my cell phone or computer, the world completely disappears and i'm consumed by those things. For someone who is not spiritual and doesn't particularly look around them to take in nature, technology becomes overwhelming and takes over their lives.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I feel very fortunate to be in the place I am right now. If I've learned anything from this course, its that most people in the world are not as privileged to live like we do here in the US. Joe Trumpey was just talking today about how the people in Africa live. I know its commonly known that the people of Africa live in adobe huts in small villages but imagining yourself in their place is a much different story. I could not live in a house made of mud with no air conditioning, sleep on a hard surface, a door that doesn't lock (or in most cases, no door at all), little to no possessions or clothing, no running water, no electricy, no phone, etc, etc. the list goes on and on. imagine living every day like that. Thats your life. Those people actually live like that. Im uncomfortable if i don't have my down comforter and pillows at night and my phone on me at all times. I have the luxury of being able to check my facebook every day. Heck, i have the luxury of having a facebook, a computer, electricity, a light to turn on at night. We are completely spoiled compared to a third world country but we take it all for granted. This is just how we live. Its daily life for us: common and unappreciated.
So yes, i think that as a race we need to be in touch with nature and ourselves more often and i think we need to realize that other people don't live like we do. They dont have our luxuries. In turn they are probably more in tune with nature, but i would not give what i have up to create a stronger relationship with nature. I feel fortunate to be where i am. I have it pretty good and i realize that a lot more now, though i will maintain my spirituality and try to develop a stronger relationship with nature while also appreciating my daily life and the technologies available to me.
Weekly Statement #8
ReplyDelete11/17/09
I managed to go three weeks without a cell phone last year when I lost it. Although when I look back it was a horrible experience. In this day and age the best way to communicate is through my cell phone simply because it is the fastest and most personal method to reach me. Facebook has proved to be an excellent source for personal communication, but how often you check or bother to respond varies on the person. For certain people I have assigned Facebook as the primary source of communication. I know that specific friends do not check their e-mail frequently enough or bother with Facebook. Other cases I understand that one of my closest friends does not answer her cell phone unless she wants something from me or it has no battery life. I myself rely on my cell phone because of how active I am in and outside of school. It’s not necessarily for social, but rather academic aspects. I am an officer for the Fencing team that has to keep in close contact with the other officers of the team. Our team has been caught in several binds and because I had my cell phone close to me I managed to work around it. My close relationship with my phone is primarily because of my parents. They live several hours away and cling to me like crazy. It’s difficult for communication with my parents at time because of the commitment of driving back and forth from Ann Arbor time wise.
When I lost my cell phone last year, it was VERY difficult to keep up with life around me. So many people couldn’t get to me and forced me to stay wired to my laptop all the time because of this issue. I wasn’t too happy with that idea because I prefer to say far from my laptop unless I have to use it. My cell phone is a big part of my life just because of how often I am on the go. I enjoy talking face-to-face more than anything, because not only do I get an academic response from the person, I get the social too.
Stephany Schafer
ReplyDeleteADP3
Weekly response 6
Technology is part of the world we now live in. There is no escaping it. Pretending that you can limit the amount of technology in your life is just lying to yourself. Whether it is electronic or otherwise, technology is here to stay.
There are many forms of technology that I appreciate and utilize. Taking this course has only made me appreciate them more. Perhaps nature was a past generations way of life, but this generation is all about how to do what you want the fastest and easiest way possible. It’s not always the best result in the long run, but that’s what our culture has evolved into. I would never limit myself in any way I felt uncomfortable with, and that includes spending pointless hours delving into nature. I do not feel we could ever truly escape from nature, as it is all encompassing. There for to take extra time out of your life to get back to nature is unnecessary.
For a person to claim they go without technology they would have to go without many things, and this would have had to start early. Any type of medicine or vaccination is a type of technology, so those of you vaccinated when you were toddlers are out of luck there! To go without technology is to go without material things, to live with nothing. Every object ever invented by man was at some point a fascinating new technology. Where do you draw the line? Only recently have people questioned technology, why is that? Perhaps we’ve gotten more aware of the dehumanization of our race as a whole, or perhaps this is all some silly paranoia beginning to affect our society. Who knows, and more importantly, does it matter? It doesn’t to me, and I am certain countless others feel the same.
Weekly Statement #10
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived at home with my family before coming to college, I would watch around four to five hours of television daily. That was one of the only ways in which my family bonded. The nights my mom actually made dinner for us, we would grab the food from the kitchen and return to our usual spot in front of the television. This year, however, I do not own a TV and I am not sure if our house will get one next year either. Whenever people see our house for the first time they always end up asking, “So… you guys don’t have a TV?” I go over to my friends’ houses to watch the football game on Saturdays and I will occasionally watch an episode of one of my favorite TV shows online, but other than that, I have no contact with a television in my life these days. I programmed my homepage on my computer to be CNN’s website so that I can be aware of all the important news, which is really the only significant thing the TV brings anyways.
Before taking this class, I kept waiting for my dad to come and save me from my disconnection from the rest of the world by bringing me one of our old televisions, but now I am glad that that never ended up happening. Watching reality shows on television (which I was almost addicted to) kept me from doing so many things that I could have been doing that would have been so much more productive and just better for my overall well-being. I actually feel refreshed from not watching television for so long. I like it when I hear someone talking about a new reality show that I know nothing about. It makes me feel disconnected, but in a good way. I feel like I have overcome the addiction of television. Sometimes I do miss it, for instance I would really like to watch an episode of Seinfeld right now instead of doing my homework, but I know that it is better for me not to give in to my urges and stick to a very limited television viewing routine.
One thing that I don’t know if I can get rid of is my iPod, however. I love the way that music makes me feel and when I am walking long distances by myself or if I am on a crowded bus, it is a great way to pass the time. I have, on occasion, decided not to listen to my iPod so that I could take in my natural surroundings better. I think keeping my iPod in my bag more often is something that I should work on.
I also need to work on not going on Facebook so much. When I am looking at picture after picture of people I don’t even know that well, which I sometimes do, I know it is beginning to be too much. I feel like everyday Facebook comes out with a new application to consume your time. Luckily, I have not fallen into that trap, but a huge number of my friends play the Farmville application and consistently try to give me a plant to start my farm. I just shook my head when I saw an advertisement for the Fishville application.
I don’t think I am as addicted to technology as a lot of other people, and I am glad for that, but I do think that I could definitely cut back on the hours I do use technology. After all, the best times in my life and the times that I remember the most were not times where I was watching a reality show, or listening to my iPod, or looking at pictures on Facebook. Instead, they include things such as seeing people love a work of art that I spent a lot of time on, going to a football game, going to a concert of my favorite group, swimming in Lake Michigan, and just being in the company of my family and friends. The addiction to technology usually takes away from these fantastic times just like an addiction of any sort. It makes you obsess over the object or issue to the point that it takes over your life. This is what technology has done to many people today. It has taken over their lives.
This class, especially, has made me more aware of this issue. It has made me step back from the matter, take a look at where I stand in this world of growing technology, and has ultimately made me consider not giving in to the pressures and holds that technology tries to have on me.
Ninth Weekly Statement
ReplyDeleteJim Christian
11/20/09
After reviewing some responses of my fellow classmates, I would generally agree with what I’ve read. Yes, we do fill our lives with a lot of technology, and yes, we should consider cutting back the number of hours we spend on the computer, plugged into our ipod, or watching television. But, what would that world actually look like? Why has technology finally reached a point where it is making us inhuman? What is the critical difference between the technology of thousands of years ago and the technology now? While I generally agree that some of this technology may be hurting us, I think that playing devil’s advocate could help see a new side of the situation.
Imagine living in a world where the most advanced technology was a wooden pencil with a stick of graphite through the middle of it. Only the people who could afford it owned this technology. Now, imagine that all of society started thinking that those people were so attached to their pencil that they were losing their connection with nature. This pencil allowed them to live in a fantasy world, and the rest of society spread word that this fantasy world of high technology was bad for the pencil-wielders.
Get the analogy? Is our computer very different from the pencil? Yes, it is, but maybe its not that different in terms of the effect it can have on a person who becomes obsessed with it. The fantasy world of this pencil-wielder is like our virtual world, where we can lose ourselves for days the same way a writer or artist can escape into the pages of creation.
The point is that maybe our technology isn’t all that bad for us, and maybe drawing the line on technology, as many people have, comes from an irrational fear of the new. It wasn’t inhuman to use a pencil, and the level of disconnection with nature that the pencil could cause was countered by the ability to use the pencil to record nature. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t blame our disconnection with nature on technology. The blame should rest in our inability to control ourselves. Yes, we have a lot more technology that makes it easy to completely submerse ourselves, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn to control it, and use it to our advantage instead of our demise.
I fully appreciate the value of advancing technology. Whether it is as simple as combining two natural materials to make a better tool for writing, or it is a complicated manipulation of invisible magnetic and electric fields in such a way that allows us to shoot electrons at a screen and make images that can change indefinitely without wasting paper, technology is about manipulating our natural world in ways that help our lives. If we stop advancing in technology, but continue growing in population, how will we prepare for the future? How would we even know that our Earth is at its capacity limit if we didn’t have computers?
I think it is too easy a solution to point the finger at a system of metal and wires that we don’t understand. I think the truth about technology is that we need to control what we make, and control how we choose to use it. Its always the Indian, and never the arrow. We are to blame, and the only way to fix the problem is to make better arrows.
Erica Wagner
ReplyDeleteTechnology
Like noelle, my family also bonded over the television. We all had different lives that didn't overlap very much except for dinnertime so around that time we would watch house, or two and half men and bond as a family. At college however, I don't have time really to watch tv, and I don't really like watching it by myself so usually when I'm in my room my roommate is not so the TV is off. Though my computer has taken over my life completely, along with my phone. I have realized that I look at my facebook at least 5 times a day, not even to really check up on anything, but just to get on and look at pictures of people. It's become a sort of sickness in a way, it's a little ridiculous the amount of time that is consumed with simply the fascination of the fact that we have the technology to creep on other peoples lives.
I also, like my peers, have become obsessed with texting. These ways of communication that are written and not spoken have made it almost over take calling people. The ways in which to keep in touch with people via technology have taken over organic ways of interaction such as actually meeting up and talking to someone, we have chosen to distance ourselves from the real world, and enter the cyber world. It is sad, but true that unfortunately I am addicted to these simple ways of technology for pleasure, when years ago I would have probably been outside with my friends or actually doing something with my life instead of sitting infront of a computer screen for hours on end with mindless entertainment.
I, like all of my other peers, for sure let technology overtake my life. I realize that it is wrong, I understand more because of this class that my impact because of using technology is effecting not only myself but my surroundings, but it has not changed my usage. I have though about cutting down my usage, but whenever it comes down to it, I can't. I have been given the choice to use technology or not use it, and I have taken full advantage of it.
Sam Schulman
ReplyDeletePost #9
Though I feel that the amount of technology I use pales in comparison to others, this course has allowed me to review and to look back on how much I truly use electronics. Aside from my terribly unhealthy television addiction (it’s not even that I follow shows, or even pay attention for that matter, it is that I feel it is necessary to have on as background noise basically whenever I am in my room and I NEED it to fall asleep at night-sad I know). I try to recycle and pay attention to what I am using most of the time, but many times I think what is right, but do opposite when inconvenienced by the “right” choice. I spend hours staring at the computer screen, snapping through pictures of my friend’s friends, some I have never met before, procrastinating and putting off my weekly wall post. As soon as I open my computer, it is a given that I will immediately proceed to facebook as a “treat” before starting any of my work. Going even one day without it seems like years away.
My favorite thing is when I go on vacation I remove myself from technology. My parents hardly use technology (my dad got a cell phone last year at the age of 59 and it is hardly ever on). Rarely do I turn on my cell phone during the day or ever go on the Internet while staying in a hotel, as I never travel with my laptop. It is so refreshing to be with my family and to experience time together without distractions. I think that this is something that many American families need a lot more of.
I enjoy being outside. I have spent every summer since I was born at summer camp, and for some reason my environmental awareness is at an all time high when I am there. There may be a couple of reasons for this. 1) It is so beautiful that I would feel ashamed to liter or to harm the land in anyway and 2) it is encouraged and looked upon as “cool”. The huge question is, how do we bring this kind of thinking back to the city with us as the summer comes to an end. Yes, this awareness that I have picked up is probably due to the director and her awareness that she has passed down, but why couldn’t this happen on the University of Michigan campus. The main goal that all Ann Arborites should be willing and excited to achieve is to make going green the “cool” thing to do.
Weekly Statement Nine
ReplyDeleteTechnology and Time
My brother told me an interesting fact the other day when a friend asked him what computer she should buy to get the best deal for her money. He told her that all computer processors become outdated every 18 months so she should wait to buy a current computer because it will soon become outdated and less expensive. Since I have owned my computer a macbookpro from 2007, Apple has come up with at least 4 more computers of the same name that have been redesigned and work better than mine. People who purchased their computer a year after I did have a different keyboard, processor, etc. Technology is constantly becoming outdated and replacing itself over and over again with new versions of itself. Sometimes I think about what it would be like for someone to go into a coma in the year 2000 and to wake up now and have to get used to today’s technology. We have touch screen telephones that play video, live news, music, etc.etc.etc, televisions that are less than an inch thick, solar powered cars, robots, computers in our ovens and refrigerators. Technology is so wild. It’s everywhere! It is used to do everything! One thing I have noticed that I really want to work on in the future is my ability to navigate Every car my family or I have owned in the years since I have been driving have had a navigation system built into the counsel. I rarely know names of streets but I will know where I am by the sights around it. I can use a map but with some difficulty. People used to have to plan out how to get somewhere with maps, etc. Now a days people go on googlemaps, mapquest or use their personal navigation systems. It’s a lost form of knowledge, just like the ability to identify plant and animal life. There a lot of things I want t do to make myself less dependent on technology and a consumer society but being raised in the manner I have been it is difficult to do. My parents grew up with very little and worked very hard to obtain all they have. Being able to buy a lot of cars and a nice home and new clothes and food and a boat and to be able to travel regularly has been great and comforting but I know I must cut down on my consumption although I am able to. I feel that I am almost insulting my parents and all they have accomplished by not utilizing our wealth. That is pretty absurd but sometimes I feel that way. My parents have been pretty good at only consuming what they need, not what they want because they had very little growing up but sometimes they do splurge on items because they have the ability to.
Weekly statement 8
ReplyDeleteI do realize that technology has overtaken my life. For example, I wouldn’t go anywhere without my cell phone, I usually carry my laptop around so I can get on Internet whenever I can to check my emails or updates on facebook.
To some extent, technology has brought a lot of advantages. It made the world smaller. I’m able to connect to a lot of people I barely see. I can also talk to people on the other side of the world just sitting in front of the computer. However it decrease the opportunities for me to talk to people face to face. I remember my roommate and I sometimes we are in the same school building but we are either texting each other or chatting with each other on Internet. Talking face-to-face can save a lot of time and build deeper relationship.
Technology initially is to bring convenience in our lives. But nowadays it is used to entertain and to fulfill our lives. Instead of using technology wisely and enhance work efficiency, I found myself abusing technology and indulged in the temporary joy technology brings such as watching TV and Internet. I wasted a lot of time on it that I could totally spend on something else.
In contrast the time I spend in the nature is less and less. Part of the reason is a lot of things I see in nature, I can find more pictures and resources on Internet. However the whole experiences are different. As I was doing my two observation paper I realize that how different it is to stare at a picture of a tree and actually observe a real one. I found it is interesting that how Internet is virtual but seems so real, and how nature is so real and all around us but seems most distant and we pay least attention to.