Thursday, February 2, 2012
Week 3
There are so many different cultures in this world, not only different countries but different sections of the US and breaking it down even further into our own towns. However, these days its funny that no matter where you are you can see people on their phones texting, listen to music via their iPods or on laptops - technology is everywhere no matter how affluent or poverished the culture is!! On page 60 Postman says "But the genie that came out of the bottle proclaiming that information was the new god of culture was a deceiver." I have to agree with this statement. Although technology is good in so many ways, I feel that it has also disavantaged our society in many ways. I think of young children who just sit on the couch playing video games and immerse themselves in these fantasy worlds insteach of moving and intereacting with real people. Many have become obese and I think have lost touch with reality. I realize their parents are a big part of allowing them to do this, but if their wasn't any video games ect they would have to find another way to get the children out of their hair. Yes, the internet has given our students/children so many wonderful experiences such as being able to learn about other cultures via interactive webcams, live video cameras, and interactive books, but quite too often it is not used for such, it is more than often used for fun and pleasure which is leading us to a culture of laziness and the need for instant gratification - I know I loose my patience quite often when looking for something on the internet - I want it at my fingertips!!
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"I think of young children who just sit on the couch playing video games and immerse themselves in these fantasy worlds insteach of moving and intereacting with real people."
ReplyDeleteFunny, this is what my parents thought about me as a kid. All I wanted to do was sit in my room and read books. All summer long, I had a book in my hand. Even when they made me go outside, I took a book and sat around and read.
We need to be a little cautious in the sweeping generalizations because, sometimes, what looks like "laziness" is actually "learning."
My father confided in me a few years before he died, commenting on my childhood and youth.
"Yanno? Your mother and I never thought you'd amount to much. Reading all the time. Playing with wires. Building computers, of all things. But you turned out ok. I never have to worry you're gonna move back home."
Sounds odd, but this was even before I got my BS -- to say nothing of my master's and doctorate degrees.
I appreciate that my path -- through the Viet Nam war, over the river and through the woods from rural Maine to rural Colorado and back to you all in rural Kentucky via the internet -- is hardly typical. I think it *is* instructive. Lots of things are possible but only if you set aside some preconceived notions about how things "should be" and focus on what "could be."