Thursday depicts the loss we incur when we invest ourselves and day-to-day activities completely in technology. Our increasing reliance on technology to work, relax and connect with others can be a detriment if there is no balance and perspective.
Whether using tech in work, school or for social interactions, I feel it is key to incorporate what computers cannot--common sense and judgement--and to keep the capability to survive without technology as an alternative.
The more dependent on technology we become, the more we lose of our humanity and connection to nature. As with everything else in life, it's all about balance.
I could relate to the short film Inbox as having a utopian theme, especially as someone who met her husband online. The Internet (represented by the bag in Inbox) provides us with the ability to connect with people we would normally never connect with, and reduces the size of our world.
Technology now allows us to share who we are with other people behind the safety of a computer, though it can be argued that what we choose to share can be authentic or inauthentic, or may not have the same dynamic of social exchanges that happen in person.
Obviously, not all technology-based social exchanges are ideal--many, in fact have a dystopian theme, considering people use the Internet to hide who they truly are, are not the same person in person as they are on paper, and that fate (which worked in favor of the characters in Inbox) does not always play out the way we want it to.
Whether by kismet or the power of technology, I suppose I was one of the lucky few to have had a utopian ending to a love story that began online.
I couldn't be more excited to participate in Coursera's E-Learning and Digital Cultures course, the first block of which delves into how digital cultures and digital education can be described as utopian or dystopian.
Assignment one involves a short film and our thoughts on how technology is portrayed in it. Check out the animated film below and think about what the message means to you.
To me, the animated short, Bendito Machine III's message about technology and our interaction with it was two-fold for me.
In one vein, the film seemed to portray the idea that technology and our evolving fascination with it can both help and hinder our humanity and the way in which we interact with the world and each other. In many ways, we do benefit from the various types of information that technology (in this case specifically, the medium of television) can offer us. Technology can be used as a means to gather socially (i.e., watching sports, bonding time), and can bring some enjoyment to our lives as we access information that without technology is not readily available to us whether for geographic or socioeconomic reasons. On the other hand, we can be affected adversely in the way some information (news, propaganda, advertising) is relayed--reshaping societal values, causing panic, biases, or even general desensitization.
Bendito Machine III portrays technology as having the capability to affect us both positively and negatively, but the film also speaks to technology being a fad that we as humans have the intrinsic tendency to seek after. As a global community of avid consumers who focus more on trends and disposability rather than on sustainability and environmental and economic responsibility, the next best thing out is a must-have--everything before it is out-dated and useless. This couldn't be more true in today's world than it is for technology.
