The most interesting part of this research piece was the estimated calculations for how much time we spend actually just sitting in front of the television. Just sitting and watching. I really liked this article because it stated to forget about all the symptoms, effects, disabilities, etc. that a person may undergo when watching so much television. Instead to just think about the basic thing which is time. The time we waste when just sitting there and watching. And what we could be doing in that time wasted. The article states "ow many of society's problems could have been fixed with that absurd amount of time." The article does not get in depth with what society could solve but it makes me wonder. I kind of feel like without some television society would not really be able to be informed of the problems that society actually faces.
In the end it says to think about what it would be like if suddenly the whole world or you yourself stops watching television and needed to live on without it. This would be really hard to adapt to since for me I have already been so adapted to watching television. As Andy said, television to me is like a "digital pacifier". It calms me, I watch it sometimes before I go to bed, when I just want to spend time a lone on my coach. Although thinking about this Internet article thing I do think about how much television I watch and what I could be doing at that time. Sometimes I find myself glued the a good movie or series on television saying to myself "its okay, as soon as this show is over I will finish my homework" or "clean my room" or whatever stuff I need to be doing. Even when I say this it never actually is true as hours and hours of television go by and I end up doing my homework or picking out what I am wearing for the next day at the last minute right before I go to bed. So I do at times think that television does definitely take away time that I could be using to be more proficient but not only that it is like a digital distraction from doing more use full things.
http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/may04/npr_may04_excessiveTV.html
This internet research piece is basically about televisions effects on children. This is something that for some reason i always here but never in depth. This talks about how television probably causes ADHD in children when they watch television at a young age, it effects them at a later age. That television "may promote inattention" to children. I do not really know if this article is entirely true based on my past exposure to television. This is the wonderful story of when I discovered cartoons:
When I was younger and was growing up in Hong Kong my parents usually left us (my brother and I) at home with the nanny or the babysitter. As children we did not like watching the news or movie channels because they were boring and we didn't understand it. All we wanted to watch was cartoons, cartoons were the only thing that sparked any amusement. Although the only cartoon we were able to watch was this crappy little kids cartoon that ended at around 4pm or 5pm and told us in Chinese that it was time to go to bed. Every time it would be that time in the day and the shitty Chinese cartoons would cut off and the grown up news and movies would come on we would just sit around and play with our toys and whatever there was to do. We never were really disappointed when it ended anyways for the fact that it played the same thing everyday. So one day (i remember so clearly) when i was maybe 6 or 7 years old after the crappy Chinese cartoons had ended I was playing around with something I never touch....THE REMOTE. I was playing around with the channels and pushed the buttons and coincidentally pushed the channel 22 (sad that i even remember the channel). And that was the day I discovered CARTOON NETWORK. I swear I still remember the feeling I got when saw the vivid flashes of light and the American cartoons speaking on the big box in front of me. The first thing I did was put on a big smiled and screamed for my brother "JOSH!! I FOUND CARTOON NETWORK!" And ever since then all we ever did was watch cartoon network as if we were worshipping it. Thinking back on this I did not grow up with ADHD like the article said I probably would. Although in the article it states that children from 1-3 would be effected at the age of 7. And since I did not start worshipping the television like a true American since I was 7 I wonder, will it not effect me till a later age? I mean I am already 18 and I think I am pretty attentive with my surroundings and I am pretty good my school work. So for this reason I think in some cases this article can be complete bull. Unless there is something about me that I am not aware of. Although this could be the reason why I am so addicted to the television and how it is like a "digital pacifier" for me to relax and be in my own world but not sure about it actually causing ADHD or being less inattentive.
My blogs are looking too wordy and felt like making it feel better to the eyes by putting up a picture. I didn't have any ideas for picture so here is just a picture of my brother. I think we do not look anything alike. Hes is such a obsessive Warcraft nerd. I miss him! :) (thats Hong Kong in the background by the way)
http://www.tuvie.com/
This to me was by far the most interesting site. I guess mainly because it is refreshing to see how technology or how people are using technology to "better" the world or more specifically the environment. I am not really sure how accurate and for real the things on the sight is but at least it is different then all the "technology sucks and we are all rotting" talk. I wonder if in the future we are actually going to use our advanced technology to help the environment and our health rather then our personal needs. For example in this site (if you scroll down enough) it has a small little paragraph about how there is a new advanced air purifier system known as the "Oxygen of Green". It apparently ensures fresh air inside our houses if we get one. It also talks about a Eco-friendly bike. As if bikes weren't already Eco friendly enough compared to cars.
All this stuff sounds so great but it still sort of puzzles me. For example is the "Eco friendly bike". I mean should they be making more Eco- friendly cars? If you read the small paragraph about the bike it does not mention anything about how it helps the environment. You would think it spits out purified air like the "Oxygen of Green". But again it mainly talks about how it will make traveling and bike riding easier. Everything must be easier! That is for some reason the way of American living. Faster and easier to get your food, easier way to travel instead of walking and riding the traditional way, flushing your toilet easier, talking to your friends easier, etc. I feel like sometimes companies use this whole manipulative concept at times about how their product is not a "bad technology" and actually helps our environment or our health but in reality it is just another way for you to buy buy buy.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/392672/how_technology_and_science_has_made.html?cat=15
This article was really fun to read for me. This article relates to a lot of my ideas and feelings about technology. I too think that there is a device and not even just a device but some sort of supplement to make anything easier. Although technology as a more focused subject, I think it is definitely making us lazy. And whether this is a good or bad thing I have to state that I can be a big hypocrite at times and I think everyone can be! I say that technology makes us lazy and takes away our ability to gain further knowledge at times but do I really want to give away my fast searching internet? Probably not...
This reminds me of the fact that sometimes people can be in denial with how much time they spend being digital stimulated. They feel as if it is a bad thing to be on their computers, phones, etc. for hours. And whether this is probably true they do not have any idea of why so the most common thing is probably to deny it or admit it and pretend to think of it highly. I know I can be a huge hypocrite at times. At times I think technology is making us all fat blobs (like the article stated) but I do not think I would give it up for something hard, this is mainly because I am too afraid to adapt to living without technology. Living the non-easy way. And other times I just try to think highly of technology to hide the fact that it is bad. "Technology is the greatest things on earth, how else can I shop without having to actually walk on foot from store to store?". In the article it states we even do internet banking, shipping, etc. It almost gives us no reason to go outside and see sun light ever again.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/is-social-networking-killing-you/
The title of this is a little dramatic but the main point is that social networking sites is to vast for our tiny little brains to handle. Our brains are use to one environment to be able to socialize directly but social networking provides a whole different environment to socializing indirectly. I thought this article was somewhat interesting because it actually had effects on the brain itself and using that information how it effects outside our brains and the way we act. The lady in the article compared social networking to be a lot like video games(The lady is also shown talking in the video and she has a funny accent). Although this article is filled with fancy scientific reasoning I still feel like it's main point is like every other idea about social networking... that it takes away our time from doing something more significant like direct socializing. In the article it states "The time we spend socializing electronically separates us from our physical networks." This is basically all the main ideas I had or anyone else had about social networking.
Also it talks about how it may physical be hurting us due to the fact that we probably spent most of the knight on social networking sites. I myself must admit at times i find myself staying up late chatting with people or looking at people's facebook's or whatever. Thus causing me to loose sleep which effects my body physically and mentally. So in some ways maybe its dramatic title "Is social networking kill you?" kind of true.
http://accessories.ifrogz.com/109/technology-isolation-syndrome/
This was pretty cool because I learned that apparently the top 20 words that teenagers tend to use most, especially in texting or chatting online includes "yeah, no, but, and like." Kind wish it was something more intelligent but they are common words to be used in a lot of sentences. Although these seem like cute facts it kind of scares me in a way because it talks about a teenager's vocabulary today includes 12,600 words as an average adult present day had a vocabulary of 21,400 words. Thats a pretty big difference but could that small set of vocabulary stick? This article talks about how the lack of vocabulary skills and communication skills can be noticed in workplaces and even on telephone calls. I feel at times this can be true for me.
In my opinion I think I do not have enough vocabulary or communication skills. At times on the phone I have a hard time telephone calls (especially professional ones) properly or even speaking in front of "professional" people in a well mannered way. I mean sometimes I feel it can be caused by nerves (depending on the situation) but at times I think I just do not quite know what to say. The article states that "Kids need to get talking and develop their vocabulary". I think this over at maybe this is true. The fact that instead of speaking directly we depend mainly on texting and chatting online where our vocabulary ( i know this is very true for a lot of people, especially in school because I have spoken to many of you online before) includes "lol", "Lmao", "wtf", which are not even full words. They are basically abbreviations. This makes me want to actually at least write properly on texts if I am not willing to speak to people directly properly.
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