Digitization is a huge part of today's world. Our society consists of using technology for everything we do and as humans strive for a better and faster world. Practically every teenager in today's world has some sort of an electronic device, whether it is an ipod, cell phone, camera, or other sorts of electronic devices. Although most people think that digital representation devices are corrupting the minds of our society’s youth, digital representation devices actually provide our society with the ability to keep in touch with everyone, and entertain and stimulate our minds through television and video game systems.
Technology provides our society with a faster way to keep in touch with people. Instead of sending letters, we can send emails that would reach the recipient faster, and text people when we feeling like having a quick chat. Websites such as Facebook or Myspace help us reconnect with old friends, or people in other countries. Through a satellite we can talk to people in China, Australia, or Russia, with the simple click of a mouse. Devices such as cell phones "make it easy to make business arrangements when you are traveling away from your office and can't call everyone by emailing or texting business associates." (http://www.ehow.com/facts_4812563_positive-effects-cell-phones.html). In this way, we are always connected if we choose to be. Several positive impacts of cell phones are "you can use it for emergency problems. Your cell phone can be a life saver. That’s why it is necessary to have a phone. You can never know when you will have a problem or you will be the witness of a car accident and you will have to call for an ambulance or Police. There are 160 000 wireless emergencies calls, which are made every day. This means 110 calls per minute." or "Because of all the things we see at news, parents buy cell phones for their children so they can know where they are all the time. This is another positive effect of cell phones. Parents don’t worry as much as they did before. With the help of the cell phones they now know where their children are, all the time." (http://www.w-cellphones.com/positive-effects-of-cell-phones/) By being always connected, people never feel like they are left out of the loop. With internet on our laptops and cell phones, we can always know what is going in on the world, and can always talk to people.
Video games help stimulate our minds while improving our hand eye coordination and character survival skills. Video game systems such as the Wii also keep our bodies fit and in motion. Not all games make the players sit on their couches and stare at a TV screen; they also incorporate the movement of the player’s bodies. Video games do create a challenge for our brains. Even though we are not learning on an intellectual level, and are not using one of the academic subjects to complete our challenges, we are still improving our skills. We improve our hand-eye coordination, which is an important skill not taught in school, and we also learn how to better our characters in the games so that we do not get injured or die as often as we would in the beginning of the game. Steven Johnson, the author of "Everything Bad is Good For You”, wants readers to realize that there are benefits to our digital devices. In a way he is playing devil’s advocate to ever person who has the same generic response, “television and video games corrupt young children’s and teenager’s minds.” However, Johnson argues that video games actually stimulate our brain, because we make challenges for ourselves without even realizing it. In a video game, you must complete a level before you can reach the next one. As each level goes on, the challenges become harder and harder, and that is when skill levels come in. To many people, you just need to know how to shoot a gun or kill an enemy, but when analyzed further, one realizes that there is skill behind these techniques. Also, by trying to get onto the next level, a self designed goal in created in the player’s mind. They have a target they need to reach, and have the urge to succeed. In a conversation I had with Carrie Li, I asked her how she thought the Wii stimulated our body motions. The conversation is pasted below:
Me: how do you think wii's stimulate our mind and bodies in physical motions?
Carrie: it makes us interact physically with the game rather than the typical video games, where u only have a control and you're only moving your fingers
Me: do you think it stimulates our brain also?
Carrie:so i guess it links your mind with your physical activities
like how you would in real life
Me: do you think it stimulates our brain also?
Carrie: yeah
Carrie proved my point that video games do help stimulate our mind and body. It keeps our body fit, and keeps our mind entertained. Although not every video game keeps us physically fit, one cannot say that there is not a system that doesn’t.
Television stimulates our mind, even though our body is at rest. While some people think that we are just mindless bodies watching a box with images, some shows actually make us think, and analyze what is going on. In "Everything Bad is Good For You”, Steven Johnson argues that television also stimulates the mind. While some people think that we are just mindless bodies watching a box with images, Johnson argues that some shows make us think, and analyze what is going on. Shows such as ER, House, Lost, and Flash Forward, make the viewers analyze what is happening, and in the case of Lost and Flash Forward, predict an outcome. In the case of ER and House, viewers are able to actually see what goes on in a medical room, an experience they would not likely have in their daily lives. All though they are not actually in the hospital, they can imagine themselves as if they are. Below are some of television’s positive sides, pulled from http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/zerb5m0/public_html/positiveEf.html
• helps people to learn about other cultures
• gives family members of all ages an opportunity to spend time together while watching it
• parents can use TV to get kids reading by getting books on the same subjects
• parents and children can talk about TV programs
• educational programs can teach children new things, and even help them make new friends
• news, current events and historical programs can help kids find out more about other cultures and people
• documentaries can create a picture of the world in kids' minds
• cultural programs can show children the world of music and art
Along with stimulating our minds, television also helps people learn, especially children. Children are able to watch educational shows that teach them the alphabet, or how to spell. Programs such as PBS Thirteen specialize in a child’s learning.
Books such as Feed by M.T Anderson contradict what I just said about the use digital devices and always being connected. In Feed, the characters have a permanent “Feed” attached to their brain, which keeps them connected at all times. Since Feed is an allegory of our world, Anderson is trying to say that the “Feed” in the character’s minds are like our cell phones, laptops, and other digital devices. With these devices, we are always connected, 24/7. In Feed, the characters cannot shut off the “Feed”, not like they would want to. Anderson argues that in our world, people are so attached to their digital devices that they would not be able to live without it if it was to be taken from them.
When M.T Anderson wrote the book Feed, he meant it to be an allegory of the modern day teenage life. He didn’t want readers to think that he was capturing what he thought would happen in the future, more he wanted readers to see what our world is like right now. I do believe that Feed is on target because it perfectly captures the life of a teenager in our current period of time. While reading this book, I realized that the Feeds in the character’s heads represented the technology we teenagers use. Even if we do not have a chip in our head generating information for us whenever we need it, we do have cell phones and computers that can retrieve information with the click of a button. In a way, we are always connected to technology, like the characters in Feed are. People might argue that we do not have our digital devices on us 24/7, which are true, but everywhere we go we are faced with a source of technology. Whether it is the cell phones in our pockets or the iPods attached to our ears, we are practically always connected in one way or another. Everywhere we turn, we see representations of technology, whether it be the huge televisions in Times Square or the moving advertisements on television screens on our local city buses or taxis. We can’t escape from this technological oppression, even in our own homes. However, this technological oppression also helps us learn about our world, and entertain our minds. If we wanted, we could turn off our digital devices and do something else with our day.
Johnson and M.T Anderson have two completely different views in their books. In Feed, Anderson was all about how technology is bad for us, and how it is corrupting our minds. He went on to explain that our world is consumed with technology, and that we are hit with it 24/7. However, Johnson is claiming that television and video games are good for us, and that it is not corrupting us. Although I believe that the two authors contradicted each other, I also believe that they were talking about two different aspects of digitalization. In Feed, Anderson was talking more about a “Feed” representing a cell phone or laptop in our world, and how we are always connected, every minute of the day. Like the Feed, most people will not turn off their cell phone or laptop, and find that they cannot live without it. Johnson is talking more about television and video games, and how they stimulate our minds and make us set up personal challenges for ourselves. Anderson does not touch on televisions and video games too much, as it is not his main focus. He wants people to see the fact that we are always connected. Johnson did not focus on cell phone or laptop use, rather the entertainment use of technology.
Works Cited Page:
Feed by M.T Anderson
Everything Bad Is Good for You by Steven Johnson
http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/zerb5m0/public_html/positiveEf.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4812563_positive-effects-cell-phones.html
http://www.w-cellphones.com/positive-effects-of-cell-phones/
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