Month: January 2017

I am still wondering to myself if our brain is a computer. It is very interesting to think about. Through computer science classes here at Bucknell I have seen how many computer programs, such as Artificial Neural Networks, are designed based on how the brain works. In my own opinion I do not think our brain is a computer. I believe that as of now, the brain is more complex than any computer humans could design at the moment. Computers are just starting to be able to beat humans at games like chess, but thats about as smart as they have gotten.

This assessment of our technology relates to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs court. Technology is so common place/advanced now that if were to wake up in a different time period with less technology it would almost be like going to a different planet. I would even go as far as to say if some people woke up in a less advanced country such as Africa or even some parts of South America, that they would be just as confused as if they woke up in a different time period.

This should concern us, at this rate technology is becoming so prevalent that as a society we are starting to become dependent on it. Thus, technology companies are gaining a lot of power… maybe even too much. Every major country would come to a complete halt if they were to loose power. Which is a very real possibility in the near future with the rate we are using energy now.

As an environmental science major, I find myself often concerned with the concept of societal norms and how these can be altered and utilized to create a more sustainable universal lifestyle. Therefore, I found a particular interest in our class discussion regarding Amish culture, as their “normal” did not overlap with my own. Specifically looking at the use of technology, I found it fascinating to hear that their choice to minimize their use and exposure to technology is rooted in their efforts to maintain the fabric of their interpersonal relationships. This is an interesting contrast to my own culture and accepted norm as I view technologies like social media, telephones, and modes of fast transportation to be the main components of the fabric of my relationships. That’s how I stay in contact with my friends and family, visit those who live far away, and still maintain my normal daily life.

The further we discussed the Amish’s minimal-technology beliefs, the more I questioned my own accepted norm. Yes, my social media and ability to call anyone I need to keeps me in fairly immediate contact with anyone in my life, however I have to pause the current moment I am in to do so. Conversations are interrupted by phone calls, meals with friends are distracted by twitter, and the ability to travel anywhere makes it difficult to maintain a steady community. Although imperfect, this is the norm that my society has established, and it doesn’t take much effort for it to become widely accepted.

Most of the time, I find myself adopting norms just because other people around me are doing so. Trends in fashion, technology, and lifestyle constantly flux, ebb, and flow as people within societies choose to accept specific norms together as a whole. I couldn’t help but notice this throughout the entire first chapter of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, as Hank Morgan trespassed into a community much different than his own, with entirely different norms. He gaped at these people as they gaped back at him, since both believed the other to be out of line with their respective appearances. Morgan’s modern wardrobe was startlingly different to those of the garishly old fashioned members of King Arthur’s Court, meanwhile these people found child nudity perfectly typical in daily life.

Morgan has a difficult time respecting these people as he is so distracted by how they choose to live. Being from the future, Morgan is clearly intellectually superior, but he is astounded by how thoughtless these people are. The focus in this society is clearly on brawns, as they tend to challenge each other to unprompted physical fights just for the sake of it, causing Morgan to comment that “brains were not needed in a society like that” (22). These people practice traditions that seem ridiculous and avoidable to an outsider, but are widely accepted by those within the culture and are followed without hesitance. The cycle of prisoner and imprisoner is inevitable to these people, so when it is someone’s turn to be enslaved, “maimed, hacked, carved…” they were expecting this reality and therefore endure it without complaint (20). The cycle is easily breakable, but remains intact as an accepted standard.

The people of this foreign culture of King Arthur’s Court display an exaggerated complacency that I find myself guilty of today. I know that I don’t need specific technologies to maintain the fabric of my relationships, in fact it may grow stronger without certain ones, but I practice regular use of these same technologies anyway.

Coming into this class, I was not quite sure what to expect. Looking back on the discussions we had this week, I am glad I enrolled in this course. Being a biology major, I am used to intense memorization of terms and have never been pushed to think about deeper psychological issues at hand. I think this will give me a new perspective and will encourage me to apply myself in my education in ways that I never considered.

I was especially interested in the excerpt from Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and Its Discontents” (1913) that we read in class on Thursday. This was written shortly after World War I in which technology showed a significant progression. Although the introduction of these inventions, such as the telephone and the railroad, allowed communication and travel to make great advancements, Freud and others were not as excited. They saw this progression as a hinderance and did not see the point because they created problems of their own. Looking at this dialectically, we can see how technology can both enable happiness and cause suffering. In medicine for example, there is the moral question of whether it is better to extend one’s life so that they have more time on Earth or if this would only elongate the suffering in which “we can only welcome death as a deliverer”. It is also important to consider the consequences of increasing one’s longevity with the planet in mind. If the birth rate continues to increase or even stay at a very high number, the population will climb immensely. This in turn will have such a dramatic effect on the environment, with food and water shortages, increased carbon footprint, and many other problems. This spiral effect poses an alarming reality check and makes us question whether technological advances are actually beneficial.

Connecting this to Mark Twain’s book “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”, we speculate the main character, Hank, and his observations of the new time period he has been placed in. There are obvious differences that show how time and technology influences every aspect of life. Hank is awestruck at their fashion, the way they talk, and the way they treat their prisoners like “white indians”. With every new technological advance, society will change and adapt to that technology. Humans don’t have much free will at all. Whatever society as a whole is using to communicate, they feel the need to have that as well. There is a fear of being left out and not being able to be on the same page as everyone else. I think that this shows that as a species, we are always looking for the next best thing because we seem to be dissatisfied with what we have. Hank shows this theory in a different light in which people will change to fit in, even if it is not necessarily better, but to thrive in the environment they are placed in. When trying to get himself out of the numerous predicaments he finds himself in, he utilizing over exaggeration because he knows that the people in Arthur’s court will believe everything he says. He is using the form of communication during that era to his benefit and also trying to fit in and gain the approval of his peers. But, he takes this to the next level in which he uses his heightened sense of knowledge to seem all knowing and powerful. It is clear that technology has given people the opportunity to learn (printing books, microscopes, telescopes, etc) and Hank’s reference to the eclipse and his skills in explosions to destroy Merlin’s castle displays how knowledge truly is power. You can take away things and items from someone, but you cannot take away their knowledge. It become a part of who you are. This introduces another problem that technology brings about. Because people have become so addicted to technology and are even dependent on it, they are not able to separate themselves from it. They seem to lose their identity and it is quite sad to not realize one’s self importance without the help of a device. So, as you can see, there are many ways in which technology has both hindered developement of society and created new opportunites for people to grow.

Time/ Machine a course that will teach me how through time, we’ve come to built/develop these different “machines” we have weaved into our daily routines… or that’s what I thought. When we had to discuss whether we agreed or not with the author comparing the human brain to a computer, I found myself in the batch of those who were startled  by this idea. As a biology major, we’ve talked about the central nervous system which is composed of the brain and the spinal cord, the different parts of the brain and their functions, the role of neurons in deliverance of information, but have never made this distinction of the possibility that the brain behaves just as a computer. I tried finding other arguments including the second article we had to read about the brain NOT being a computer that could refute this idea but the longer I thought of it, the more complex this became. Indeed, if one wants to look at the components of a computer and compare it to what interacts with our brain, we can attempt to justify that as most of the computers (usually desktops) need specific cables to function properly, neurons and nerves behave the same way delivering information throughout the body. It was just really interesting to apply such behavior to what we know about our brains and think how it can potentially revolutionize the way scientist study such complex system.

On the other hand, when reading “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” it was interesting to explore how technology has played an important role in modern generations and drives the desire of most individuals to want to be the best. This is seen in Morgan’s attitude change when he realized he had the power to drive the development of Camelot. When he first noticed where he was, he was not content; there were no commodities, and everything was strange. He mentions how “it is the little conveniences that make the real comfort in life” but it is kind of humorous to even think about the conveniences he was referring to (soap, matches, mirrors) because in today’s world those are deem as unimportant. But then one see throughout the reading, that these inconveniences are no longer dreadful because he is able to use his knowledge to rearrange the system and drive the development of more important institutions that will bring with them more technological advances. I think his desire to see development within the city is kind of bogus because it doesn’t seem like he is doing it for the people but rather to be able to reach a level within this particular society where he can feel comfortable in the environment he is situated in. As a result he might be changing the city for the better and introduce technological advances that if in real life, could have been the ones shaping the pathway to what we have and know today, but it is kind of idealistic to think that there’s no self-interest among his actions and desires.

The philosopher Sigmund Freud was an extremely innovative thinker of his time; however, his impressions of the technological innovations he saw were discerningly bleak. In his book Civilization and its Discontents he captures many of the timeless frustrations people have about such advancements. In one part of the book he says, “If there had been no railway to conquer distance, my child would never have left town and I should need no telephone to hear his voice” (Freud). This is a commentary on the extremely ironic idea that technology is created to help solve the problems past technology created. The invention of the telephone would have never come to fruition if the railroad did not create a need for communication over vast distances. Freud then goes on to critique the existence of technology even further, arguing “This newly won mastery over space and time… has not increased the amount of pleasure they can expect from life or made us feel happier…these satisfactions [are] ‘cheap pleasures’”(Freud). The invention of a telephone or a railroad, in Freud’s opinion, is not advancement at all because it does not advance or increase the happiness of a person’s life. Today, such convictions are still extremely relevant. Many people argue the advancements of our century have created a generation who is less social, less “in the moment”, and extremely impatient. This was also true about previous generations as well, when the television came out many people feared it would lessen human connections.

All do not share such a negative attitude towards technology, Mark Twain was known for his interest in the latest and greatest advancements of his time. This interest is seen in his book “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. The main character, Hank, is thrown out of his time period into the 6^th century. It follows him through his experiences in England, without the advancements and comforts of his previous life. Early on this tension comes to a head when Hank was in an apartment looking around “There was no soap, no matches, no looking glass… and not a chromo. I had been used to chromos for years, and I saw now that without my suspecting it a passion for art had got worked into the fabric of my being and was become a part of me”(45). The technology of Hanks previous life, chromos had become apart of his identity. Without it he felt as thought something was missing. This could be seen in two ways, the first is as a commentary to the negative reliance on advancements. Critics would say people should be able to rely solely on themselves for happiness and it is unhealthy to have an inanimate object, like a phone or a chromo, become apart of someone’s identity. However, such an idea could also be seen as a positive, a person is able to get direct happiness from an inanimate object to a point where it is so interwoven into them. This could add to their ability to connect with others, find a passion, or strive to make improvements. It also shows how important technology has become in everyday lives, Freud argued technology only creates the need for more technology and such a pursuit is futile and fills a person with little happiness. But in Hank’s case, the absence of technology made him upset suggesting there is a happiness that can come from technology. In today’s world, there is a constant tension between the excitement of innovation paired with the desire or nostalgia for the way the “past” was before such inventions. I hope to dig deeper into this debate through analysis and class discussion while keeping an open mind for both viewpoints.