http://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~hrm305/Recitation/
Week 2: Response to “Long Live The Web” by Tim Berners-Lee and “The Strange Geopolitics of The International Cloud” by Ingrid Burrington – Xavier Juhala
Reading Long Live the Web made me realize the importance of the internet in our daily lives. Reading about the standardized and open protocols which allow the internet to function and which give it access to anyone that understands these protocols really showed the truly global nature of the internet and the immensely important role the internet now plays in fostering democracy and of our increasingly globalized world. Prior to reading this article, I had never really thought about how certain websites and companies such as Facebook, Apple and certain Google services create barriers around web connectivity by forcing you to create user accounts and making you use their own proprietary services rather than the common on HTML protocol which is open to all. By doing this the companies are creating closed off networks which as described in the article hinders connectivity and the free sharing of information and rather puts our information in the select hands of a few which in turn gives them immense power. After reading about how certain companies have also introduced things to hinder our access to certain websites that offer differing political viewpoints or that are owned by rival companies I now even more firmly believe in the need for a set of rules such as the ones put in place under President Obama which established Net Neutrality as the law of the land in the USA and which protected internet users from predatory practices from internet services providers. It is a shame that the current US administration removed these rules under the guise of a “free market” as this decision will only further serve to erode American democracy.
The article “The strange geopolitics of The international Cloud” I think goes hand in hand with this other article because it goes hand in hand with the problems of the internet today and the use and storage of user data which is extremely valuable information. Who owns the data stored in the data centers of certain countries is an extremely important question as the answer could lead to certain companies or governments having access to potentially sensitive information about its users and its citizens. In our globalized world, this becomes an increasingly important question and one which regulations should be put in place immediately to protect users from predatory practices by governments and corporations alike. The GDPR adopted by the European Union is a great example of regulation which could be adopted in order to protect user data and other countries which seek to preserve the freedoms and privacy of its citizens, in my opinion, should immediately adopt similar regulations.
Week 1: HTML Portfolio Website – Adam Chou
http://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~ac6596/HTML_Project/
Reflection:
To be completely honest, I was taken aback when I was initially given this project. The code was run through at an abrasive pace, where I struggled to copy down (line by line) the code that I thought would build my project. Because of the speed of such a process, to think that i could learn to code, even the basics, was hard to think. However, by experimenting in the workshop sessions, I quickly realized how simple and reusable many of the commands were. Because of this, I felt that I was well equipped (once I understood the functions) to do a little more than what was asked for. Within the limited requirements, I believe that I did this and I hope that any viewer of my project is similarly surprised. I will admit though, I doubt anyone will be surprised due to the simple goals of the project.
Week 1: Response to “The Machine Stops” E.M. Forster – Harry Paragas
Written in 1909, E.M. Foster’s The Machine Stops is a dystopic projection of humanity in the distant future. In was an idea borne out of the collective fear of the rapid and visible industrialization that marked by that era—smoke guzzling, bulky, machines. With time those machines became more and more complex, with more levers, a vaster range of applicability and function, no longer limited to the industry, but also to the household. It’s inner workings hidden, and only buttons to send directives for the machine to carry out almost invisibly. Foster’s far projection of this development sees human civilization, living, breathing, existing, and eventually worshiping by way of the machine. In the story of 2 named characters, Vashti and her son, Kuno, demonstrated are two clashing philosophies. Vashti, comforted by her hexagonal room, and all of its functions was completely and utterly comfortable limited to its confines. In the room she felt solace and control, she determined when the lights would turn on, what lectures to listen to, what music she heard, when she would sleep etc. In pressing the buttons her life became regimented. Her son, on the other hand, would see it to not only be mundane, but lifeless and limiting. This manifested itself in his curiosity to leave the room, something only attributed to his character, and forced on Vashti. Kuno felt being confined to the room robbed him of creativity and individuality. Kuno felt that their dependence on the machine stripped them of their control, the central committee even, was not above the machine, for they existed, in his eyes, to ensure the perpetual existence of the machine. As the philosophies clashed throughout the story, the machine while thought to be omnipotent and infinite, came to an unexpected, outside of Kuno’s warning, halt. And in its halt, the galleries of humans collapsed in on each other, killing the “civilization.” However, in Kuno’s estimations, the homeless that lived beyond the machine survived.
Today this begs the question of survival and reliance. Given how much of our lives are built on technology, and the developing reliance on it for many different ways, at what point do we lose our control over such technology? The story suggests it need not be when artificial intelligence exists. Instead, Foster suggests that our surrendering of control will occur when we completely rely on it. That then begs the question of when do we stop developing technology? Advancements in many ways have increased our standards of living by a great deal. Should we ever stop?
Week 1: Response to “The Machine Stops” – Samanta Shi
I am impressed by Forster’s imagination of future technology, as he lived during a time when machine learning and AI, let alone the internet, had not been born. As I was reading “The Machine Stops”, I could not help but think about the various TV shows that address similar dystopian concerns but through different means, such as The 100 or Altered Carbon. When it comes to dystopian futures, authors and creatives across the board seem to enjoy the exploration of the following themes:
- human dependence on machinery,
- lack of autonomy and independence,
- the displacement of humans and their homes (underground vs. in space),
- lack of physical contact, emotional dissonance and even incapability,
- lack of empathy, imagination, originality, and
- the significance of a higher power / being / source of guidance to human harmony and function
All of which were present in Forster’s piece. I was particularly struck by this dialogue:
“You are beginning to worship the Machine,” he said coldly. “You think it irreligious of me to have found out a way of my own. It was just what the Committee thought, when they threatened me with Homelessness.” At this she grew angry. “I worship nothing!” she cried. “I am most advanced. I don’t think you irreligious, for there is no such thing as religion left. All the fear and the superstition that existed once have been destroyed by the Machine. (Pg. 11)
Forster questions the meaning of religion and shows a different way in which it can manifest itself. What will humans turn to when “there is no such thing as religion left”? Will they find another form of religion? Where or who will they seek guidance and meaning from? Later on in the text, Forster reminds the reader that [hu]man is responsible for the machine:
‘The Machine is the friend of ideas and the enemy of superstition: the Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine.’ And before long this allocution was printed on the first page of the Book, and in subsequent editions the ritual swelled into a complicated system of praise and prayer. The word ‘religion’ was sedulously avoided, and in theory the Machine was still the creation and the implement of man. (Pg. 19)
I believe that Forster was commenting on this idea that when humans “play God” by creating something that is perhaps beyond them (“The Machine”), then they must not forget to consider the potential consequences. The dystopian nature of the story almost suggests that humans should perhaps avoid facilitating the progression of technology to its fullest potential because it will indeed get out of hand. Unsurprisingly, when the machine stops, chaos ensues and the fate of the characters is sealed. At the very end, when Kuno says that “Humanity has learned its lesson”, we experience a slight moment of hope only to be followed by the conclusion that humans do not but taint:
For a moment they saw the nations of the dead, and, before they joined them, scraps of the untainted sky.
As we develop ever more sophisticated technology, we need not forget the importance of not only understanding the consequences of the invention or innovation we put forward, but also proposing a plan for how we might deal with that new reality. Regardless of how prepared we might be, I am convinced that we have an unavoidable blindspot. How might we mitigate the implications of that blindspot? Now, that is the question.