Saturday, January 31, 2015

Response to The Melancholy of Anatomy

In Wendell Berry's "The Melancholy of Anatomy", he says, "We have accumulated a massive collection of 'information' to which we may have 'access.' But this information does not become knowledge by being accessible" (14). This statement was a little bit surprising to me because with all the up to date information that we're able to get our hands on today, I personally feel that information is much easier to retain. Just because information in today's world is seen through Berry's eyes as being easily accessible does not mean that it's the wrong way to retain it. For me as a college student, and I'm sure the majority of college students could advocate for this as well, information you can receive at the palm of your hand is much better than reading through pages of a textbook.

We live in a world where most people get their information through technological devices, such as iPhone's and laptops. This is because it is much easier and much less time consuming this way, and I don't necessarily agree with Berry's points that he makes after reading his thoughts. Berry also goes into detail about the importance science has played in the development of our military by stating, "There are, we know, scientists who are properly scrupulous, responsible, and critical, who call attention to the dangers of oversold and under-tested products, and who are almost customarily ignored" (14). Berry acknowledges the fact that there have been negatives to science, but he does point out later the role science has played in the military industrial complex.

Berry points out that we should be in suspicion of the role that science plays in our world because the products are costly to consumers and bring power to governments and profit to certain organizations. At the conclusion of Berry's essay, he advocates for the health of the context in which we're retaining out information, whether it be "the body, the community, the ecosystem" (15), he just wants to gain knowledge in a healthy manner.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Weinberger's Too Big to Know Summary Revision

ORIGINIAL:
In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Because of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.

REVISED:
 In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Weinberger also states, "The internet has produced a lot of rubbage but it also has created sites like politifact.com, which fact checks political stories(Prologue xii)." With that being said, Weinberger points out that the internet does produce quality websites in which there can be facts checked for important information. Despite all of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.

When writing my revision, I felt that I didn't need to change much even after watching the videos and reading the text because I made sure to point out key elements of Weinberger's text. I added an extra quote and cited it in my revision to help back up my points I made as well.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Weinberger's Too Big to Know Prologue and Chapter 1

In the prologue to Weinberger's "Too Big to Know", he discusses the power of knowledge and what it can do to make changes in the world we live in. He discusses the differences in time periods when it came to how people would obtain their information. It was stated in the prologue that before people could just log onto their computer and Google something in a matter of minutes, people would just know things from common knowledge. Weinberger goes on to say that with a world where everything and anything can be posted online, that it "splinters our attention and spells the end of reflective, long-form thought." For people who are familiar with social media, all it takes is the click of a button to spew a thought or an opinion on something that may be going on in the world. While there are many positives to this, Weinberger believes that this hinders thought processes on specific topics and doesn't have the same feel as reading a newspaper like back in the day.

Weinberger's observations when it came to education and how it's changed over the years can be drawn into many instances in the ways that we get our information today. With the usage of technology in today's world, information can easily be obtained in the blink of an eye and it's almost like traditional teaching isn't seen as the most effective way to learn. With the internet continuously expanding with information, we do the same because we live in a time where the majority of the world uses devices where information can easily be obtained. Because of this, we're able to have just about anything we need to know in the palm of our hands, whether we're using our phones or laptops.