Relationship With Technology

I don’t think many people would want to give up many of today’s modern conveniences, medical technologies or efficient travel options. Who would prefer leeches over MRI scanners? Hand washing laundry over a washing machine? However, even many clearly beneficial technologies have a darker side that we ignore at our own risk.  

Technology has frequently given us hope that we have the ability to improve our lives.  This perspective was very apparent in the Futurama video. It showed a perspective of the future where we used the Earth and the oceans as a place to vacation, farm, mine and otherwise exploit for our benefit, seemingly without consequences. 

In the future that Futurama imagines, technology gives us the tools to shape the world for our commercial benefit. It states at one point that “technology has found a way to control the wild profusion of this wonder world.” For example, it describes at one point a “factory on wheels” that will grind up stumps and growth to create forest highways so we can bring to the “innermost depths of the tropic world the goods and materials of progress and prosperity creating productive communities that can enter profitably into the markets of the world.” We are now seeing and understanding how actions like deforestation (described here in positive terms) actually do have serious consequences that are negatively impacting the world.  

The results of this exploitation are dramatically depicted in the Steve Cutts animation. It shows how exploiting the world’s resources for commercial and personal gain will result in a dark future. Should we be stewards of the Earth or just consumers? 

The video of Mad World also shows a depressing view of the technology’s impact on our lives. Despite being surrounded by crowds of people, at family meals or otherwise together, everyone is glued to their phones, alone and isolated. As the song lyrics say, people don’t engage with each other but instead “Look right through me.” In one scene, when confronted with what should be a horrific moment of seeing a girl jump to her death, the onlookers just use their phones to record it and move on emotionlessly. While the original 80s Tears for Fears Mad World video also depicts loneliness and isolation, the singer is alone expressing his sadness. 

Now, as the newer video demonstrates, we can be isolated while surrounded by people, largely because of the technology that was supposed to connect us with each other and the world. 

Are we watching other people’s lives on our phones instead of actually living our lives? I have recently had battery issues with my iPhone causing it to die immediately if it was not plugged in. It took me a couple of weeks to sort through the issue, during which my access to my phone and all it brings was compromised. This lack of connection created at times a level of angst that was, honestly, a little disturbing to me. 

Despite the many troubling aspects of Futurama and the world it envisioned, there was one statement that resonated with me:

“Technology can point the way to a future of limitless promise, but man must chart his own course into tomorrow.”  

Technology can be a tool we use to improve our lives and the world or it can be isolating and destructive. Technology is not inherently good or bad until we decide how we are going to use it. So what’s our decision going to be?  

Artificial Intelligence "Living in the Age of AI"

While artificial intelligence has been discussed for many years, the reality of the impact it has had and will continue to have is becoming more and more apparent. Although the power of predicting our behavior has some positive implications to improve efficiency and provide us with information we may want, the downsides are very concerning. 

One driving force behind AI is for companies to make more money off of us. While this wasn’t news to me, the idea of “surveillance capitalism” is still a disturbing one. It claims our private human behavior as information that can be used to make predictions about our human behavior - for companies to make money based on our (no longer) private behavior. The entire business of companies such as Google is to know as much about us as we can so they use it to sell us things or ideas (or to sell our information to others who can then use it to make money).

 

Specifically, they use data from our searches to determine what kinds of ads we will click on. What we search or post; when we search or post; what we like or don’t like; who are friends are and other information. It's all there for the mining by a few powerful companies to have the ability to influence our behaviors. 

In the US, the government may not be looking at all of this data directly. However, a “corporate surveillance state” now exists and private companies are in charge of collecting and reviewing data. As the power of AI increases, so does the ability to use all of this data to control and influence our world. For example, what started as a way to sell us more “stuff” can now be harvested to target and manipulate voters. The results of Presidential elections can be changed by just influencing a small number of voters in key states and it is being done in front of our eyes without most people realizing the impact on our decisions. Are we just puppets being manipulated? 

There have been efforts to make the use of AI more apparent - and company’s efforts to gather and use it more transparently. This gives us some hope that we may be able to make better decisions about protecting the information we share online. 

While this is challenging enough in the US, it is worse in other countries. For example, in authoritarian countries such as China, they are using video surveillance and AI to process real time data. AI systems are being used in China to predict who is a risk to the state in the future - and to remove them for “reeducation” camps. Making one region of China (Uighur) has been described as an “open air” prison. China is spreading its technology to other countries who are also potentially using it to monitor their citizens.  

While the internet may have once been viewed as a way to spread information and democracy, it seems like technology may provide authoritarian governments with the ability to control people. Rather than seeing engagement with countries like China as a good thing, many think that technology is no longer something we will want to share with them. 

While there is still hope that these new AI technologies may still be a force for good, there is also a risk that, if mishandled, it could lead to disaster. Current use of AI is not aligned with improving society. Democracy may be threatened by the power of AI, even in the US.  Can’t take these concerns lightly without thinking about possible outcomes.  

EOTO #2 Propaganda

Propaganda is the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. It is when ideas, facts, or allegations are spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause. 

One of the most horrific examples of the use of propaganda took place in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The Nazi Party effectively used propaganda to push their agenda, particularly against Jews. Their campaign worked to dehumanize the Jewish people which allowed them to launch their anti-semitic efforts which culminated in genocide in the Holocaust. Nazis even had a department in their government to oversee propaganda - The “Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.” 

More positive uses of propaganda can also be found during World War I and II. For example, during WWI, “Uncle Sam” was used to recruit volunteers to join the military (“I want you!”). 

 

Similarly, during WWII, propaganda campaigns were used to support the American war effort. For example, in 1943, the “We can do it!” campaign was launched to encourage women to take on non-traditional roles to help the war effort while men were off fighting in the military.  

The poster was rediscovered in the early 80s and has since been used to promote feminism, expanding the original message of female empowerment.  

Propaganda can be verbal or or written messages. However, some images have become iconic examples that have been used in multiple situations to support a common cause. For example, the image of Che Guevara, a Latin American revolutionary from the 20th Century, has become a symbol of almost any radical group.  

 

While Guevara was Argentinian, his efforts were focused on supporting the communist revolution in Cuba that resulted in Fidel Castro taking control of the country. Nevertheless, his image has become legendary and he is now connected with any political effort rooted in communism, anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism. 

Propaganda isn’t just something from history. It continues to be used to push agendas from all parts of the political spectrum. One recent example is Tucker Carlson’s recent interview of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In February 2024, Carlson, a conservative newscaster and talk show host, traveled to Moscow to interview Putin. This sparked an immediate media outbreak and outrage from the public because Carlson gave a platform to one of the major contributors responsible for unleashing the brutal and devastating war currently still happening in Ukraine and allowed him to spread his narrative, widely viewed as false, that supports the Russian offensive against Ukraine. 

                     

This situation raised the issue: was Carlson giving a platform for propaganda or interviewing the leader of Russia to be able to share information with the viewing public? Many view Carlson's interview as a failure - and that rather than challenging Putin, it ended up being a way for Putin to legitimize his war against Ukraine by letting him spread false information about the reasons for the war. Many also saw Putin’s decision to accept the interview because Carlson had already been very critical of the US’s role in the war, so he knew he was going to be on a platform that would allow him to spew misinformation. 

Many believe that propaganda will be even more powerful with the advent of AI that will be able to spread disinformation by creating fake content that will look real and influence people. It will become even more difficult to decide what is true and what is false.  

 

How can we protect ourselves from being influenced by propaganda? One of the best ways to not be influenced by propaganda is to understand what it is and how it can be used. By recognizing how it works, we can make sure that we reach decisions based on less biased information. We can make better decisions about what we believe and support if we: 

- Educate ourselves 

- Fact check sources - don’t just accept what is being told to you.

- Be open to discussing issues with people with different perspectives.

Blog Post #7 Privacy and Technology

The internet and technology has transformed the way we live today, including how we communicate with each other and conduct business. However, along with the benefits to our lives, there are significant downsides, specifically issues about privacy and security with our data.  

People often forget how much personal information is available online about them. One can easily overlook that every single time we post an image, comment on a post, or even google something, someone is keeping track of each keystroke. 

For example, in the first Ted Talk, Juan Enriquez made a comparison that I found very interesting. He said that big data, tattoos, and immortality all have common themes. For example, someone with visible tattoos should expect that assumptions will be made about them solely based on their initial image prior to even meeting. And, just like tattoos are permanent, everything we put out on the internet is permanent (he calls these “electronic tattoos”) and will be used by others to evaluate who we are. His argument relating our online life to immortality is also interesting and something I've never thought of before. Due to the lack of control and privacy we have with our data, it can and will outlive us which is frightening to think about. 

Issues of security and privacy with the internet and technology can have profound effects on friends and family in various ways. Personal data, whether banking information, credit cards or social security numbers can be at risk when we use it online. One example is identity theft, if your personal information is online and easily accessible, hackers are likely to access your personal data in order to impersonate you. This is not based on a person's intelligence, as this has happened to my mom on two occasions and she's very intelligent. Once someone has access to financial accounts, they can create fraudulent activities.

 

There is no simple fix to protecting our privacy. However, it is important that we understand what we post online matters. For example, while photos from a wild party may be something we would be willing to share with our friends, they may not be something that we want to share with a prospective employer. We need to assume that the content we put online will be an “electronic tattoo”. 

  

When it comes to advertising and apps, tracking an individual's personal data is extremely common. For example, after a quick google search for a pair of new shoes, I will see ads follow me, sometimes for weeks, encouraging me to buy footwear. These targeted advertising companies have the ability to change their terms and conditions without notice and can (and will) share your personal information with third party companies. Perhaps if people push back, companies will realize that if they are upfront with their users and consumers they will build trust and loyalty, benefiting them more in the long run.  

Government regulation also should play a role. It can help create a safer internet by requiring upfront information and up to date rules about their privacy and security regulations. But it needs to be more than just a click through of legalese that no one is going to read. There are dozens of projects that are actively being worked on currently in hopes to help keep our data more secure and private. One example of this is proton mail, which is an encryption tool to help prevent the government from accessing emails. Despite these efforts, the government can still lawfully access your information if they wanted to without you even knowing. 

 

We need to understand that our privacy is at risk when we go online. With that knowledge, we can make better decisions about what we share and where we share it. We can also use our voice as a whole to preach that technology will only benefit us and society when used properly and if it respects our basic rights.  

Blog Post #6 Antiwar Voices

Antiwar.com describes itself as coming from a libertarian perspective. Its opposition to war is rooted in the idea that wars are a way that countries increase their power over people and that centralized political power threatens individual liberty. Their “non-interventionist” agenda is to reach out to pacifists, leftists as well as others on the Right who oppose imperialism.  

The American Conservative describes its founding as a reaction to mainstream political positions, including the positions taken by politicians who described themselves as conservative, but who The American Conservative did not believe were holding true to many truly conservative values.  

Both these websites take positions that are contrary to what one usually finds in mainstream media and addressed by many politicians. There could be different reasons for this. One reason is that mainstream media is just reporting what it is told by mainstream politicians.  There is an unwillingness or inability to dig beneath the messages that they are getting. A more sinister explanation might be that they don’t want to rock the boat and threaten the establishment whether for financial or other reasons. Mainstream media is a big business and they may not want to take positions contrary to the people that support them, the government that regulates them and the companies that advertise with them. Similarly, war is an even bigger business. Billions of dollars are spent with defense contractors, including weapons that are bought for use in places such as Ukraine or Israel.  

Those within the mainstream might respond that the fringe perspectives of groups on the left and right are not credible and that they are powered by conspiracy theories and, therefore, not worth reporting. This may, in fact, be the case with some far left and far right groups who do seem to be driven by what seem to be conspiracy theories. 

One opinion piece in The American Conservative was particularly interesting. In discussing the recent Tucker Carlson interview of Putin, former congressman Ron Paul blames the mainstream media for unbalanced reporting, “The US media does not report this because they don’t want Americans to begin questioning our interventionist foreign policy. They don’t want Americans to see that our government meddling in the affairs of other countries … has real and deadly consequences to those on the receiving end of our foreign policy.”

 

I think that we have to search for more obscure sources to get a balanced view of almost any issue, including on war and foreign affairs. So much media seems to have a bias, whether supportive of the left and right. It can be challenging to find broader perspectives that might help someone reach their own conclusions about an issue, whether it is funding the war in Ukraine or who to support in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Blog Post #5 The Typewriter

When thinking about modern day technology, a typewriter isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, after listening to everyones EOTO presentations we know now that without the initial creation and influence of older inventions we wouldn’t have the resources and technology we use daily. The typewriter was one that stuck out to me in particular as one to talk about because it was a massive contributor to revolutionizing the world of technology.

While obsolete today, the various forms of typewriters were an essential stepping stone to the computers and tablets that we now use. As the modern typewriter evolved in the late 19th century, it helped to modernize office work by eliminating the need to write and copy materials by hand. Letters and other materials could be created faster and more accurately than before. Using a standard print on documents meant that they would be legible and easily read by anyone. Efficiencies increased even more after the invention of the electric typewriter allowing for work to be done even more quickly. The creation of the standard keyboard is still used today on computers and owes the typewriter for providing the means we continue to use to put our thoughts on paper or a screen.  

The typewriter has also had an immense influence on how we are able to communicate today. Not only by keeping the original keyboard layout but also by introducing the concept of digital typing and making it popularized. Although due to the rise of modern technology such as iPhones, computers, tablets, the typewriter has obviously declined significantly. However, that's not to say it hasn't left its mark in pop culture. It often appears in films, television, and literature. The invention of the typewriter will always hold cultural significance despite not being used widespread today.  

EOTO#1 Motion Picture

Storytelling has always been a loved form of entertainment. However, the invention of motion pictures which allowed for wide distribution of content in a new and compelling way created the ability to take storytelling to a new level. 

Edward Muybridge was the first man to make significant work in creating motion pictures. On June 19th, 1878 he produced an 11- frame clip shot using 12 separate cameras to film a man riding a horse. This was filmed at Palo Alto Stock Farm, which would eventually become part of Stanford University. Why a horse? This is because in 1872, many debated whether all four of a horse’s feet were off the ground at the same time when galloping. The then-governor of California, who was also a racehorse owner, Leland Stanford paid $2,000 to Muybridge to prove it. This was a big investment, $2,000 dollars in 1872 would have been equivalent to a little over 50,000 dollars today.

 

In 1879, Muybridge figured out a way to view his galloping horse images in sequence at high speed. He created a circular metal housing machine with glass slots. Each slot held separate images that, when cranked by hand, would create the illusion of a galloping horse. He named this the zoopraxiscope and this invention was one of the most impactful steps towards the development of cinema. 

On October 14th, 1888, the first motion picture film was shot, called The Roundhay Garden Scene. This two second video showed four people walking silently in a garden. It was shot in England by a French artist and inventor, Louis Le Prince. He is known as the first person to officially use cameras to create motion pictures and the Roundhay Garden Scene is significant because it’s believed to be the first surviving film captured. 

The development of motion pictures continued. Two men who were extremely influential, William Dickson and Thomas Edison in connecting sound with the moving pictures. In the early 1890s, Dickson worked with Edison’s invention to create the Kinetophone which allowed sound to accompany the moving images. In 1891, Edison and his team filed a patent for both the Kinetograph (camera) and Kinetoscope (viewer). Despite this advance, the downside of this device was it was only viewable by one person at a time

Between 1900 and 1920, a number of significant advancements in film and sound technology were made creating movies closer to what we think of today. Initially, they were black and white silent films with subtitles and music was often played live at a theater to accompany the movie. Then, in 1927, the first movie with sound (The Jazz Singer) was released. While some early films were colored by hand, eventually technology was created so that the actual movie would be filmed in color. 

Attendance at the movies soared. By the 1920s, weekly movie attendance was nearly 100 million tickets for a U.S. population of approximately 120 million. In other words, most people went to see a movie EVERY week. This shows the impact that movies could have on the culture. 

As films became more sophisticated, they began to address more substantive topics, which we continue to see today. Some of these topics would reflect issues in society. One early film that is famous for using modern filming techniques is controversial today because it glorified the racist organization, the Ku Klux Klan. 

It became a powerful way to reach people across the country and across economic and racial lines. Going to the movies became a regular activity long before television was invented. 

Cinema became a powerful way to reach people across the country and across economic and racial lines. Going to the movies became a regular activity long before television was invented. The primarily goal of most films such as the Wizard of Oz (1939) was to entertain.  

At times, films were also used as propaganda to influence people’s perceptions and beliefs. 

Films were used as satire to make fun of those in power. 

This is an example of Charlie Chaplin making fun of Hitler in The Great Dictator (1940). 

More recently, films have addressed social issues such as when Tom Hanks in the movie Philadelphia (1993) addressed the AIDS epidemic.

In short, motion pictures have had a huge impact on the world today by influencing different aspects of culture, society, and communication. Movies have provided:

• Entertainment

• Cultural engagement

• Political influence/News

• Shared experiences 

• An education tool

Today, the film industry has a huge financial impact on our economy, paying over $186 billion in wages annually. More importantly, films -whether in cinemas or viewed from home- continue to be a powerful way to tell stories that have a major influence on our culture.