Introduction
Are we sure to use technology to achieve a better life, to help to ease our work, to be more safe fast and efficient? Or is technology the one who is shaping our society, towards a fast process of globalization where we loose our cultural identity in name of progress and a better life? When technology becomes a product of mass consumption this is a legitimate question. Can we switch off our computer, our mobile and TV set and still consider ourselves not disconnected from the rest of the world? Maybe not, maybe technology already as the power to change our life and like one of Nam June Paik's robots we are already half men and half machine.
The increasingly present electronic moving image and media technology in the 20th century
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Paik uses irony to let us reflect on the danger of media and technology from which our society is drunk on. Has an artist and visionary, he could see the role technology would play in our lives. These robots are an example of dehumanized people, with only little element to suggest their sex, culture or belief. Can we really preach and meditate in front of a television set? Paik's life in art as John HanHardt wrote “grew out of the politic and anti art movement of the 50's 60's and 70's”(9). His artistic and social engagement to humanize TV which was at that time a monopolistic one way media used exclusively for commercial, military and entertaining purposes, is still actual. We can deduce that Paik is not totally against technology “Our life is half natural and half technological. Half-and-half is good. You cannot deny that high-tech is progress. We can need it for jobs. Yet if you make only high-tech, you make war. So we must have a strong human element to keep modesty and natural life.”(10) Paik understood the potential of this wonderful media but what he criticized was the actual use of it. He wanted to rescue it and apply it to more artistic and educational purposes, as we can see in his work “Do you know how soon artists will have their own TV channels?” (1973), where he dreamt of an art channel for artists. To do this he decides to humanize technology, modifying and changing it, disabling its normal functions, using it as a “canvas” for a free dialectic art pieces. As an artist I greatly admire Nam June Paik, he could understand what was happening in the world after the creation of television and how it affected society as well. He was also the creator of Video art, a medium which is used today by many video artists in different ways such as David Hall and Douglas Gordon.
Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation they portray many of societies flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that roles ability to motivate and inspire change. Whether you’ve read or viewed the novels or feature films I’ve discussed I have no hesitation in saying any text or film you have seen has been used in some way, shape or form to convey the criticisms of our ‘perfect’
In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman alerts us to the dangers brought about by the way television conditions us to tolerate the brevity of visual entertainment. His message is that with each new technological medium introduced, there is a significant trade-off. His primary example was the medium of television. TV is structured to provide information to the viewer on a platform which is both quick and entertaining. This discourages any viewer subjectivity, allowing television to shape and dictate [politics, education, religion, and journalism] the essence of our discourse. Except for a few pages of "enlightenment", the entire book was a conglomerated resource of evidence to support his hypothesis. Important facts underlined generalizations to present logical and agreeable viewpoints.(e.g. "Television is our culture's principle mode of knowing about itself. Therefore... how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged..."( Postman 92) In other words, how life is depicted on television is how we expect life to be.) And in most cases some truth could be found in Postman's statements (e.g. "For no medium is excessively dangerous if its users understand what its dangers are.") (Postman161) Postman's final critical point was not merely enlightenment, but was a message to his reader and a solution aimed at educators: "the point I am trying to make is that only through a deep and unfailing awareness of the structure and effects of information, through a Bibbs 2 demystification of media, is there any hope of our gaining some measure of control over television , or the computer, or any other medium." (Postman 161) I agree. Until we begin to quest...
The many evils that exist within television’s culture were not foreseen back when televisions were first put onto the market. Yet, Postman discovers this very unforgiveable that the world did not prepare itself to deal with the ways that television inherently changes our ways of communication. For example, people who lived during the year 1905, could not really predict that the invention of a car would not make it seem like only a luxurious invention, but also that the invention of the car would strongly affect the way we make decisions.
Using multiple examples of the malice that is ignited by the manipulation of technology, Nelson has almost an angry tone at the rapid image flow used in modern technology. Using words like “hunt them down” and “monstrous,” it is clear to see that Nelson goes beyond an informative paper by inserting a voice that is disapproving of the effects of new advancements. To further her point, she makes generalization about all people have “ample and wily reserves of malice, power-mongering, self-centeredness, fear, sadism” which the media takes advantage of by enticing viewers into entertainment that may seem immoral (Nelson 301). This targeting of audiences has been a method used by media, but Nelson does not make the argument that the media is at fault for corrupting people, but rather it is a characteristic already present in
As time progresses technology increases and improves. However, this progression could pose as a serious problem for generations to come, and New York University department chair of communication arts Neil Postman expresses this concern in his 1992 book, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. In the opening of Postman’s book he expresses that technology is indeed our friend because technology provides our society with fast and easy convenience and accessibility. As with most other things, there are always two sides to everything and Postman notes, that “of course, there is a dark side to this friend” referring to technology (Postman, 1992). Many people do not address the negative sides to technology and just turn a blind eye to them so it is refreshing to have someone point them out and discuss the issues technology possess on our society.
Ray Bradbury is a well-known author for his outstanding fictional works. In every story he has written throughout his career, readers will quickly begin to notice a repeating pattern of him creating an excellent story revolving around technology. However, unlike how we perceive technology as one of the greatest inventions ever created and how much they have improved our everyday lives, Bradbury predicts serious danger if we let technology become too dominant. “Marionettes Inc.” and “The Veldt” are two short stories written by Bradbury that use multiple literature elements to warn society the dangerous future if technology claims power. In “Marionettes Inc.” two men, Braling and Smith explain to each other the hardships they must deal with their
Is technology taking over the world? Will technology live on, even after human existence disappears?
A dependence on technology will not create a utopian society. Relying on technology for everything can create disruption of people’s bonds and love towards family members, disruption in people’s emotions and feelings and disruption to people physically.
We already have automated machines designed to make life easier for us: vacuum cleaners, car washes, dishwashers, laundry machines, litter-box scoopers, etc. We have many automated technologies that we can set to our personal preference, such as Tv and radio stations, thermostats, lighting, etc. Bill Gates even has a feature in his house that will switch out different paintings depending on who is standing in the room. We humans like shortcuts and simple luxuries, but with technology taking away so much of our workload we are enabling ourselves to be lazy. We are already dependent on technology. In the least, we are already severely addicted to it. How many hours are spent wasted glued to our cell phones, watching Tv or surfing the web? How would you communicate with your friends and family without telephones or email? How would we cook without our gas/electric stoves and microwaves? How would we store our food without refrigeration? How would we see at night? How would we get around? Obviously, we are already in over our heads with our relationship to
As a result, the society of this scary inhumane, Brave New World is full with technology that is destroying humanity form us. Yes it is a perfect world and there no war, disease, crisis but also there is no emotions, feeling, love and especially any hope which are some of the necessary part of human nature. As a conclusion, technology controls the life of everyday people from the day they were born till the day they die in this Brave New World.
According to an article on mashable.com, since 2006, the amount of time spent on the internet has more than doubled, from 2.7 hours to 6.9 hours per month. Today, there are so many more available internet based sites accessible to Net users of all ages, making it possible for adults and children to spend their time surfing the internet, watching Netflix, and instant messaging with people all over the world. “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity” (Albert Einstein). With the advancements of technology come the evolution of humanity. Does it help us or harm us? Actually, it has done both helped and harmed the brains, lifestyles, and interactions of our species.
Film is a practice for an artist to channel their internal need to disseminate a message or try to collapse ever-shifting boundaries within the industry. Media and film means more to me than just a ‘subject’ that I wish to study. They represent an influential part of current society and also something that shapes our concepts of others. For this reason alone it is vital that we analyse how it operates and especially those who create and control it. I am keen to study the subject because of my passion for uncovering the messages behind the media - from propaganda to art.
Joel Castro Professor Fisher English 1B 12 May 2017 Robots Taking Over Imagine living in a world where society is not experiencing life to its fullest. The truth is that we are already living in this type of the world currently. When I was younger, I went to Disneyland with my father, step-mother, and her stepson. I remember having so much fun throughout the day as my step-mother was recording lots of it. At night, there were fireworks and my step-mother decided to take out her camcorder again to record those fireworks, and I just thought to myself, “Why can’t she just enjoy the moment right now instead of recording it.”
To sum it all up, people can see many positive effects of technology on different aspects of human life such as education, personal safety, agriculture, and the environment; however, not everyone thinks about its downsides. Though modern technology indeed facilitates people’s tasks and duties, it may weaken human bodies, ruin nature, and destroy good values regarding social communication. I believe in technology, I completely support it, but only to an extent. I say go ahead and enjoy what technology has to offer, learn about the world we live in, entertain yourself and consume in it. Just until it doesn’t affect your appearance or the people around you and especially the person in you. Think about it like this, we as humans made machines we can’t let machines make us who we are.
Technology will always continue to prosperously evolve and advance. It has benefitted mankind with the creation of fire, the wheel, and numerous other aspects of development. It has given us the opportunity to overcome and conquer nature. Technology has influenced our lives in several ways that it almost feels like a super-power. As this power increases, we human beings will be the ones to determine the fate of the future. The progression of technology can either lead some human beings to go ashtray and take advantage of it by creating devastating wars, or it can lead others to help the ones in need and make the world a better place to live in. Being born in Bangladesh and having the honor and pride to call myself a Bengali, it is my duty to help my motherland.