Author: Emma Irwin

The past week in class, my brain has really been working itself thinking about artificial intelligence and the incredible advancements humans have been making with technology. But, however, I then think, are these advancements really “incredible”? Do we want to be able to “invent” humans. If artificial intelligence could really be so similar to the real human brain and body then why even have humans. With all this technology being invented and all of this technology actually being smarter than humans are we not just defeating the purpose of human life? Why are we trying to invent robots that are equivalent to humans, why do we want them to be smarter? Humans have been on this world for such a small fraction of the time this world as existed and already we are inventing replacements for ourselves. The Bicentennial Man really put this into perspective for me. As cool and interesting as the story of the Bicentennial Man was, why would we ever want to see a world like that? I just don’t see the purpose in trying to make technology smarter than we are, because it can never be smarter than we are. If we invent something smarter than ourselves, aren’t we technically still smarter than the robot since we invented it to be smarter? We are the ones with the knowledge, the power, the tools and the emotions, there is no need to try and teach technology all of our gifts. If we do, what are we good for?

As I was posting my third journal I became aware that my second journal was in my drafts!! So i’m posting it now.. this is my SECOND journal:

Journal #2

This week I honestly started out confused on where this class was going to go and what direction we’d be moving in, and watching the film about the World Fair also caught me off guard, but as we dove into more discussions regarding the film and Hank Morgan’s “The Human Motor” it all seemed to go full circle and make a lot of sense, as well as become much more interesting.

What I enjoyed about the movie “Magic of the White City” was the emphasis on the importance of the different countries coming together with their individual strengths, to create one unique and incredible fair. Prior to class I didn’t even know the Chicago World Fair ever happened, I have definitely heard of it but I didn’t have the slightest idea of what it entailed, and now with my knowledge of the film I can say I am an even prouder citizen of this country. Things like the Chicago World Fair are what helps make America so great, and the technological advances this country saw in the world fair and in that time period is so interesting.

What I really love about this course is how the importance of technology is so emphasized with the progression of the country, because I think it is extremely important and not touched on enough. We are a country with a history of geniuses and they are not acknowledged enough. This goes to say about a lot of history, indeed is history taught in schools and is so important, but this class especially has made me realized that there still isn’t enough credit given. I don’t think about the fact that I have someone to credit the fact that I have light bulbs in my room or that I have something so complex like an iPhone. I doubt that was the intention when showing the film about the World Fair, but it really stuck with me. Especially different countries, different countries were at different stages of technology and progression and they all came with something they were proud of and wanted to show it off in Chicago, in America. The World Fair was a huge turnout, and I thought it was so interesting how much work and planning went into a Fair that only lasted six months.

Something else I found really interesting that a student mentioned during the discussion of the film, was how all this technology was so amazing and impressive at the time, but in the end it caused a lot of destruction. The military technology advances and nuclear weapons and such were such incredible and complex advances, but they killed so many people. No doubt did this country need these advances and no doubt were they beneficial to our military and for fighting, but it is hard to be celebrating the cause of so much destruction and suffering. Hank Morgan touched on this in The Human Motor and it was a very interesting point- it’s a celebration but it can only be celebrated to a certain extent. We have to support war and fighting because it’s a huge part of why America is so great, but there is still a line.

On a better note, another interesting point a student made in the discussion was about the conservative nature of the fair. The time period was very conservative and sexuality was not something that is not typically part of fairs, it is events like circuses that allow for more openness with sexuality and the opportunity for sexuality to be put into an art form. To add to that however, it was interesting how the organizers of the fair requested help from the “Lady Managers” and all of their rules they made for the fair were turned down: including nude art, risky dancing and the selling of alcohol. This was another aspect of the fair that made it so unique, it was open on Sundays, it sold alcohol, basically it crossed all controversial lines. It goes along with how quickly America was progressing at this time period, it allowed for some change and some excitement.

All in all, I thought the film and the different aspects of technology in America and around the world was very interesting and I’m looking forward to see where this class goes from here.

Being that I was unable to attend class on Thursday due to strep throat, what I do want to reflect on, although it only somewhat relates to the main class material is the walk-out. Firstly, I think it is so inspiring and I feel lucky that my own professor was the leader of this #WalkOut4LockedOut, it emphasized my desire to take part in the walk-out, and it also gave me more reason to brag to my friends about my IP course. It was freezing cold out and many many students had important classes at 1 pm on tuesday, but it wasn’t stopping them. Since tuesday/thursday classes only meet twice a week, missing one of the two I found made it even more of a passionate and powerful walk-out, because for some students I can imagine it would hurt their studies a little bit, by missing their hour and twenty two minute class. I think it is more than appropriate, because Trump’s executive order was not something to be taken lightly. This order directly impacts Bucknell as an institution, and what makes up this institution: the students. Although Bucknell isn’t known for it’s diversity, it still exists here on campus. With students from the effected countries, this is no matter to be taken lightly, whatsoever. Truthfully, I cannot fathom how the directly affected students feel about this order, or how their families, friends and loved ones feel. This executive order is something that has completely turned their lives upside down. We are a country that is born from immigrants, so to be placing orders such as this one we are going against the very foundation America is built on. The Constitution reads “We The People” and the “People” in that very phrase is supposed to represent all people of this country, even if they are immigrants, even if they aren’t here to stay. To relate this back to the Chicago World Fair, the film we watched in class, we saw how each country brought something to the table. That countries all over the world came to this fair and brought a part of them, and millions of Americans came to see those countries offerings. That is because America is made up of all those countries, diversity and immigration is what makes America so unique, and also so strong. I’m currently taking a Women and Gender Studies course, and we are currently talking about the suffrage movement in 1919, the protests and activists that lead to the 19th amendment. A truly inspiring quote from the film is “America’s strength comes from the love of it’s people.” It is true, and in order to be the strong, powerful and free country we claim to be, we must stick to the foundations that we have built for ourselves. We did not come this far to take steps back, and steps back is what we are seeing with this executive order.

To go back to the walk-out, it was freezing cold and classes were in session, yet there had to be at least three hundred people there. In retrospect, three hundred people is not a lot in comparison to the number of faculty and students here at Bucknell, but as one of the three hundred people I felt like a strong member of a strong and passionate community. The protest taking place on the quad I feel really gave it the feeling that we were in the center of campus, with everyone around it still listening and seeing it and being aware of it. So much of what we have discussed in class relates to the very idea that this executive order is un-American. I’m very much looking forward to further discussing these topics in class.

Emma Irwin

IP Journal Reflection

This past week, during my two hour and twenty-two-minute-long classes I feel as though we’ve already covered so many interesting topics that have been relevant to many important parts of my life. A couple of the conversations that struck my eye were the conversations about social media, and how we incorporated Sigmund Freud’s view and Hank Morgan’s view. Every Sunday night when I’m home, and throughout my childhood I have been having dinner with my cousins. During all the dinners it’s required that all cellphones are put in a basket where we can’t reach them, and over time I have truly begun to notice the difference between my Sunday night dinners and my dinners with my friends and my family at other occasions. As well as putting my phone away, it’s become really important to my parents that I’m educated on what social media is “doing” to our generation and other generations exposed to this technology starting at such young ages, and that’s why the discussions we we had in class regarding the technological advances and the social media advances struck a chord with me.

My conversations with my parents and with my extended family regarding social media and it’s impact also ties into the discussions we had about the optimistic and pessimistic views of these changes. It goes along with how we discussed different generations having different perspectives on the newer generations and the technology, and why the different generations have these opposite views. Personally, I think it’s natural for there to be opposing views on the subject, it’s completely changed the lifestyles of different generations and more specifically, it’s the parents who are raising their kids in generations completely different from their own. It seems natural for them to feel negatively towards something that is so drastically different from what they are used to- especially since it does appear to be having some negative effects. If parents struggle to grasp their child’s perspectives because they are too busy checking Instagram and many other apps. All in all, the discussions in class have really caught my interest because they are so relevant to my life and tie in to so many conversations I have regarding the same subjects.