haha...Google

There seems to be alot of discussion lately about the legitimacy of the internet. In my opinion, the internet is a useful tool when it comes to research and gaining knowledge. Nicholas Carr wrote a whole article about the idea that search engines are dumbing down society by making information too easilty accessible. I see the reasoning behind this. Its like Google has made things so easy, we are not used to doing manual work in order to find information we need. As Carr says, "research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes". It is true that at one point in time, people needed to spend alot more time to acieve the same results. Society now seems too wrapped up in speed. We never really take the time to just sit and relax. We live in a state of constant motion. It feels like if we are just sitting still, we are wasting life. This is due to the fact that people value speed and efficiency. For example, families used to spend hours baking bread and making food...now we can jsust go to a fast food place and get whatever we want in a matter of minutes. All people have become accustomed to quick results. And we act the same way with knowledge. It is very true that people find it difficult to concentrate on long books or articles, but i do not think Google and other search engines are to blame. It is simply something that society has pushed us towards. Google is the result of a fast-paced society. It is a tool that fits into the world we have created. I really do not think that the internet has lead to the stupidity of society. People know so much more now than they used to! We have so many answers that had once been questions. Things like Google only help in that way that they help people all over the world share ideas with eachother. People are more able to collaborate or research which leads to answers quicker, which is what our society craves. Even Carr admits that "the Web has been a godsend to [him] as a writer". Even a man that feels Google has been detrimental to oue brainwaves can admit that the internet is extremly useful.

What does it mean??

The world is obviously changing. It changes every second of every day and there is nothing we can do about it. It seems as though the world is becoming increasingly obsessed with technology and other advancements like T.V, internet, and other technical devices like cell phones and computers. Its apparant, by watching that video that our world is changing completely. Just in the past twenty yeras or so, society has completely transformed. Its like we would not be able to function without technology. Postmodern thinker Jean Baudrillard believed that society "becomes electrified only by computer networks and electroncic media" (Powell 65). He is pretty much sayinf that we are all motivated by electronics. All the information we want to share is easy to pass along now. It is easy for anybody to communicate or collaborate with another person even if that person lives on the other side of the world! This makes it a whole lot easier for new ideas to be developed and new discoveries to be found. Combining ones research with that of another person is simple. This is why so technical world seems to be expanding so fast. It is impossible to slow it down because as soon as one new piece of information is found, more questions are addressed. Then these questions will be answered which will create more questions and more speculation. It is an unending cycle. It seems like our world is beginning to emphasize science, much like a postmodern society would. It seems very possible that we will be able to function in society by technology alone. I just think that its interesting that we know more now than we have ever known yet that also means that there are alot more questions that are unanswered and these questions just keep going. I think its a really interesting parallel that has been drawn in this world. It seems like sitting at home on the computer would only make the population less intelligent yet in reality, it actually brings more knowledge into the society.

Cats cradle 1-7

Cat's Cradle, so far seems like a very interesting book. The ideas presented are original and yet we can be sure that all the stuff we read in this book are "shameless lies." The novel is about a man named John who is writing a book called The Day The World Ended, about the reactions of the people who were alive the day the atomic bomb was dropped. Since his book is about the atomic bomb, certain aspects of Cat's Cradle are scientific, which relates to postmodernism because postmodern ideas tell us that scientific research is the foundation of knowledge. A prime example of this is Dr. Felix Hoenikker. He is the scientist who made the atomic bomb. According to his son, "people weren't his specialty." The man did not know how to interact with other human beings but he was a genius when it came to science. He seems to be completely desenchanted with the rest of the world and what is happening. The only thing he focuses on are the things that interest him, which always has to do with science. He is a very original character and very intersting due to his lack of emotion. When somebody suggests that the atomic bomb was a sin, Dr. Hoenikker asks, "'What is sin?'" In his mind, science is not sin. The act of progress is a good thing which mean science is a good thing because it answers the questions people have. In some opinions, the atomic bomb was a sin because it was so destructive, but in Dr. hoenikkers mind, it was a scientific advancement. Postmodern ideas agree with Dr. Hoenikker I think because they ceneter around scincentific advancement; the answering of new questions which just causes new questions to appear. The work must go on and on becauses there is no way that all the questions people have will ever be answered.

Brave New World Thesis Ideas

Brave New World presents many ideas that would lead to a good essay. I think some of the ideas I would like to discuss in my essay have to do with mass production. It seems as though this novel focuses alot of its main ideas on the fact that all people share everything, everyone belongs to everyone, and what not. All the people are similar and share names, looks, and ideas. All the people think the same way due to this mass production, this exremely efficient way of conducting scientific experiments that always seem to go right. I think it is interesting that our way of life, in the novel is so obscure. I don't really know how to put all of this into a thesis. Maybe...In Huxley's Brave New World, science is used to guide society into greatness. I don't really think greatness is the right word but I can't think of another way to put it.

Another theme in the novel is kind of conneceted to originality, and lack thereof. The way people grow up have a tremendous affect on the way they turn out to be. All the people in this book grew up the same way, in government care. They grew up being brainwashed. This sounds horrible, but they seem like they actually enjoy life. Some people now may have a problem with their lifestyle but the people in Brave New World grew up to differently from us. Just because they were brainwashed does not mean that they do not have fun. It seems like, in general, the people in this novel have more fun than we do.

I think a good resource that can be added to this essay can come from 1984. Both novels deal with a government that has far too much power. The people do not have their own rights or their own decisions. The societies are not the same however. The society in 1984 is much scarier and way more threatening. If you mess up in the society they torture you and eventually kill you. Its not that harsh in Brave New World. I think it would be a good idea to bring 1984 into this essay as a way to contrast the happy go-lucky lifestyle in Brave New World to the scary society showcased in 1984. Another resource could come form the outcome of experiments in cloning or brainwashing. I think that could fit in well with my ides.

Postmodernism and Brave New World

First off, I would just like to say that Postmodernism confuses me at times so i'm sorry if this post isn't 100 percent insightful.

Societies often use stories or myths to help explain things that their culture believes. Many people fit in with society only after they have heard the myth. This gives all the people an easy way to relate with one another because they just so happen to share a common belief. The bonds these stories create are much deeper than the actual story being passed on. These stories are usually called narratives.

Narratives are pretty much stories that are passed down in order to explain something. I think in Brave New World, the people use machines and methods of manipulation to pass on narratives; like how the conditioning center brainwashes the children into believing that they like their jobs and various other ways of life. They do not need to pass down these narratives by word of mouth because the people are taught these ideas as they sleep. That way, the people never really have an original thought because they don't need it. They can simply rely on the magical voice that tells them clever little chants that they can remember forever and recite on que. The worst part is that the people know they have been brainwashed yet they are completely content with it. All the people are told the same thing which means they have had a massive grand narrative thrown at them. This makes it possible for the society to keep certain truths from its people. Nobody will ever question the system because they were never programed to do so. They do not really know anything about the past so they don't really pay much attetion to it. That is their way of life so it is completely normal to them.

The society shown in Brave New World is a very scientifically advanced world. I think this idea merges with postmodern ideas nicely. The people in Brave New World have created an extremely efficient society. The level of scientific skill used to keep the world running is amazing. They seem to have everything down to an art. Postmodernism states that "science is no longer concerned with truth but with performativity--performing--producing more of the same kind of research" (31). The novel easily shows an example of this with the mass production of children. Not only are twins or triplets produced, thousands of children are made that are identical. The world shows a huge emphasis on productivity and they pride themselves on having the capability of producing that many kids from one uterus. They might even be too efficient for their own good, which could potentially ruin the society.

Brave New World

The book, Brave New World, which is written by Aldous Huxley, is pretty interesting so far, at least in my opinion. Ok, maybe some parts are a little hard to follow...like the dialogue in chapter three...but other than that, it's not bad.

One of the most difficult things about this book are the ideas presented to us. It is so hard to comprehend the world that Huxley has made up because we are so unaccostumed to it. I mean, i'm pretty sure none of us have ever been conceived by a machine nor do we find it odd that we have parents who generally love and support us. In fact, in the book, the characters even find it disturbing or disgusting. They regard the terms "mother" and "father" as we regard swear words nowadays.

Also, promiscuity is a wonderful thing to the people in this book because "Everybody belongs to everybody." Today, this is frowned upon and seen as highly inappropriate. But the people in Huxley's world find it normal because they have been taught to act this way.

This novel shows a world that is completely reliant on corporations and manufacturing. Instead of believing in a god, they put all their faith and worship into Ford. The world Huxley has created is obsessed with material possessions and status. The characters are openly prejudiced towards one another. Like, the Alphas are better than the Betas so that means the Alphas must be treated better since they are of higher society. However, there is discrimination within the specified groups as well. The society tries to make the people who are in the same class equal to one another but not even this works. No matter how hard they try, somebody is always going to be better than somebody else. Take Bernard for example. He is an alpha but he feels inadequate, as though he does not belong in this group. This just shows that even in a society where people attempt to be equal, the people are not truly equal.

since birth. Intimacy is not a good thing in this world because the more attached you are to a person, the less concerned you become with your job which means the manufacturing business will suffer. And that means the population will fall because not are just like products that are made in a factory and then sent to different parts of the world where they are needed.

In Brave New World, people are made for a purpose. They are content to be brain-washed and placate themselves with drugs. These things are completley normal.

1984 Changes History...

History is history. It stays the same. However, it changes with each new person's perspective on the events that have taken place. It is possible, as 1984 suggests, to change the past in order to control the future. History always tends to be a controversial subject when the whole population tries to collectively decide what children should be taught, what should be emphasized, and what should be left out. The fact that people all across the world have different opinions means that we all have a different idea about what in the past is worth mentioning in the present. Each group of people want the power to state their beliefs as truth. This would give them an advantage or a certain hold over all the other people. It is possible for them to control what innocent minds learn at a young age,, which makes these young children more susceptible in believing what the group in power is trying to pass off as truth. By showing certain events in a biased light, these groups can easily turn kids on the what they believe. When they brainwash kids into believing their propaganda, they have more followers. This takes away the children's right to make their own decision. We only know what we are taught and when we are taught to believe a lie, the lie becomes truth, it becomes sacred. Whoever chooses to question the so-called truth is deemed unpatriotic and becomes a stain in society. In 1984, these kinds of people would be said to have committed a thought crime and their punishment would be vaporization...which means the person would be completely erased from history. This gives the group in charge even more power and grants them the illusion of intimidation.