Final Post - Relationship with Technology

 Our Relationship with Technology

When I reflect on technology and its relationship with our world today, my biggest concern is children. 

As someone who loves kids and hopes to have a family one day, the relationship children have with technology raises many red flags for me. As time passes, kids become increasingly dependent on technology because of their exposure to it and their relationship with it. The world is completely changing because of technology. 

Because this topic is interesting to me, I conducted further research about the role technology has in child development and found three points that should raise concern for everyone. 

1. Technology puts children at risk for addiction and overuse. 

Technology addiction is a type of behavioral addiction that occurs because of dopamine releases. When people watch video games, scroll endlessly through videos, or receive likes on a post dopamine is released in their brain. This is concerning, because the more this happens, the more a person wants to experience that feeling again. Dopamine levels decline with age, which means children have much higher levels of dopamine,  Children should get bursts of dopamine from using their imaginations when playing with friends, or learning how to ride a bike! Not playing dangerous video games with friends for hours. Technology is created to be addictive, and if we're not careful, it will become the next harmful drug. 

2. Technology is a simple way to ruin a child's innocence. 

Technology allows kids to have internet access, and with internet access comes harmful content access. The online world is a terrifying place full of inappropriate content and online predators, and it's not anywhere a child should be spending their time. Not only are they at risk to finding out Santa isn't real because a Mommy influencer posts "Elf on the Shelf ideas" on TikTok, they also can view pornography and sex trafficking content. Children deserve a childhood full of imagination, creativity, and innocence, however, technology and online media makes it almost impossible. 

3. Technology limits a child's opportunity for interaction. 

As children develop, they need to interact with people of all ages. This helps with social and communication skills, among other things. If a child is sitting in front of a screen for the majority of the day, they're missing out on important interactions. A prime example of this is a child playing on a tablet at the dinner table instead of talking to their family. Or a class of first graders learning on Chromebooks instead of listening to their teacher. Slowly but surely, their interactions are becoming a small tablet instead of the people around them. 

Watching Are You Lost In The World Like Me in class provided me with a different perspective on how kids are experiencing the world today. Our relationship with technology becomes their relationship with technology. We are obligated to give children the childhood they deserve, and being glued to phones 24/7 is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. 

Personally, I feel like I am somewhat addicted to technology. I am constantly checking my phone, scrolling through social media, and texting my friends. I sometimes think about how much of the world I must be missing because my face is in my phone. It is really sad to think about all that I've missed so far. This class has definitely helped me identify where my relationship with technology stands, and where I need to make improvements. As I continue to age and mature, I hope I can work towards separating technology from my life and using it only for things like communication and documenting moments. For my future kids, I hope I'll be able to confidently teach them that there's more to the world than what you see through a screen.

Blog #10 - AI

Living in the age of AI   

 After watching the video regarding AI in class, I realized how unaware I was of the capabilities of artificial intelligence. One of the things that stood out to me the most was that in the next 15 years, hundreds of jobs will be at risk because of AI. This is definitely a huge takeaway because it puts our futures at risk. As an undergrad communications student, I am currently pursuing a career that could one day be overtaken by artificial intelligence. Already I've noticed the difference AI is making on my life, and I noticed this in the video as well. AI is included in ring doorbells, writing movies, and completing honorable work in school. High Point University has already had to adjust to artificial intelligence when it comes to school work. If AI is used without permission, students are reprimanded. 

    Before watching this video I knew AI was listening to us, but I didn't know the extent of it. The video said "Our behavior is what gives AI the ability to predict our future behavior. In my personal life, I know of one device that is definitely listening to me- my Alexa Echo Dot. It is crazy that a small device can hear everything I say to my friends, to my mom on the phone, to the music I listen to, and more. To be honest, it feels very invasive because it is. The scarier thing is I have no idea what is being done with this information.

 The video also mentioned that AI can detect a lot about of depending on voice features. These robots are trained to detect changes over time in our voices and determine more about us in real time. These robots can tell when we are sick if we have a stuffy voice, if we're going through a manic episode, or depressed. As time goes on, AI is going to know every single thing about us and it's currently happening right in front of our eyes. We allow it into our houses, jobs, and even our cars. 

    One person in the video compared the presence of AI in our lives as "artificial intelligence is one type of intelligence beating the other". Not only are computer-related jobs being overtaken, but also jobs in industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture are opportunities for AI to take over. Most of the time we think about robots taking over computer science jobs, but they are also harvesting crops. This affects my life personally because I am from Kentucky and most of my family is farmers. It's crazy to think about the impact AI is making on our lives today and how we are competing to keep our spot in many areas of our lives such as human interaction and jobs. It will be interesting to see how much of our lives will change as AI continues to replace us.

Blog #9 - Awareness

 

False Flags

A false flag is a hostile or harmful action (such as an attack) that is designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone other than the person or group responsible for it.

The name, “false flag” was born from conflict among pirates in the 16th Century. The tactic was well thought out and successful- pirates would approach enemies waving friendly flags and tricking the enemy into thinking they were allies. Once they were close enough, they would reveal their real flag and attack. As time went on, this method was used continuously as nations blamed others for their own behavior in order to justify further violence.

When executed correctly, the false flag method is usually successful. False flags disguise violence, which is not necessarily a “good” thing. However, false flags are not happening as frequently as the media suggests. The most recent example of false flags involves the United States, Russia, and Ukraine. In 2022, United States officials suspected that Russia would conduct a false flag operation on Eastern Ukraine, because of the stationed soldiers near the border and claims of provoked conflict. In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine through a false flag operation which resulted in Russia's occupation of Crimea. Officials claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 involved false flags because the act was designed to look like Ukraine was provoking conflict.

False flag operations cause many issues for nations and societies, as they can serve as an excuse for partaking in violent behavior. For example, in 1965 false flags allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to increase involvement in the Vietnam War. Additionally, false flags also justify wars, undermine opponents, and decrease the success of nations in conflict by risking their financial status.

Because of the increase in media use and the role it plays in war, I assume the number of false flags will decrease over time because it is hard to keep anything private. If an organization was planning a false flag operation it would take an immense amount of planning for it to be successful because of the lack of privacy through technology. Lawful interception puts false flag operations at a huge risk because the planning of them could be detected very quickly. Additionally, surveillance and monitoring are two methods government officials could use to "spy" on enemies.

It will be interesting to see how much technology plays a role in either the increase or decrease in false flag operations. Either way, this will have a huge impact on our society as we begin to see technology take part in higher operations.

Recently I was scrolling through TikTok and saw a video about a rival game between Yale and Harvard. At this game in 2004, Yale students played a prank on Harvard by giving them place cards and telling them they said "Go Harvard on them". Harvard students held up the cards during the game which resulted in them finding out the cards said "We Suck". After seeing this I was immediately reminded of false flag operations. I fully understand that a rival football game is not anything close to war, however, the concept is the same. Yale was deceitful. They came up with a plan to attack the enemy by pretending the operation was done by the other group. In the end, it seemed like Harvard was hurting themselves when in reality it was Yale all along. This example helped me understand the concept of false flag operations and really explained the purpose and methodology behind it.

Blog #6 - Antiwar

Antiwar

Today was the first time I have had the opportunity to take the time to read pieces from antiwar writers. To be transparent, I hadn't even heard of the term before taking this class, so being able to read multiple news pieces and blog posts from an antiwar standpoint expanded my viewpoint on the topic of war. 

The ANTIWAR.COM website is organized into 6 sections: news, blog, US casualties, and more. I decided to read the "blog" section first because this class has spiked my interest in blog writing and blog posts. I was surprised to see that the latest post was made today, November 28 which means the website is up-to-date and used frequently. The post that caught my eye first was "President Biden Had Morphed Into the Murder Mystery" because it directly relates to our country. To be honest, I've never read an article from this strong of a point of view. These authors don't shy away from their opinions and they share exactly what they're thinking. In this specific piece, Author Walt Zlotow shared this thought "Biden made one wonderful move for peace in his first seven months by ending our illegal and criminal 20-year Afghan war." That was honestly the only positive thought he shared throughout the article. 

While this article is very opinionated, I do think it's important for people to read about war from this standpoint. It was interesting to me that on the American Conservative website, the title of one of the articles is "An Alternate Narrative to the Los Angeles Streetcar Myth" which makes a lot of sense because all of the articles written from the antiwar perspective are alternate narratives to various situations. 

In my opinion, the United States loves war. Our country joins war situations any chance it gets, whether in good ways or bad. It's important to read from the antiwar perspective and realize people have been protesting and fighting from the antiwar side since the beginning of the Vietnam War in 1964. I think antiwar voices are censored by the government because of the power they hold. I wonder how much longer we will have to fight against war before changes are made. 

Blog #7 - Diffusion of Innovations

 TikTok through the lens of the Diffusion Theory

Pioneers:

    TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2022, and its fame only continues to grow. Zhang Yiming created TikTok in 2016, making him the pioneer of the app. Shortly after, TikTok merged with Musically, a fun entertainment app mostly used to create lipsyncing videos. 

Early Adopters:

    Previous Musically users fit into the early adopters category, as they were already using the app when it changed to TikTok. Most musically users were tweens with their first iPhone. At the time the app was used to create lipsyncing videos. These people clearly saw the opportunities of the app and its communication methods. 

Early Majority: 

The early majority began using the app in 2018 after the merger with Musically, and in 2019 the growth of TikTok was exponential. The "Number of US Adults Using TikTok" chart shows the rapid growth rates of the app, and it is clear that between September 2018 and March 2019, TikTok gained thousands of users. The largest population on TikTok currently is 10-19 year olds, who make up 47.4% of users. In my opinion, people were quick to adopt TikTok because of the entertainment opportunities.

Late Majority: 

    TikTok continues to grow as the late majority joins in on the fun of TikTok, which mostly consists of populations ages 30-50. This population consists of the parents of kids on TikTok. Most parents joined TikTok during the pandemic, as there was nothing else to do but watch silly videos. Parents either participate in the creation of videos (family content, cooking, cleaning) or monitor the content consumption their children might be experiencing. 

Laggards: 

    "Those aged 50+ make up the smallest share of TikTok users at just 11%." To me, the laggards of TikTok are people above the age of 50. They are not willing to download TikTok and attempt to use it because they simply don't understand the point of it. TikTok is targeted towards younger generations, which could drive away older people. Most of the time these generations believe social media is toxic and a waste of time, which is another reason they are hesitant to download it. Because older people are not using social media in the first place, it is not likely for them to use TikTok. 

Pros & Cons:

    There are many negative consequences of this technology. TikTok has very few privacy aspects to it, and it is available to anyone who downloads the app. I believe it is very unsafe and toxic for younger generations because of the inappropriate content published and the open accessibility to endless content. 

    TikTok has been beneficial to some people and has even been a huge factor in creating a new and popular job- influencing. Many people have created a brand for themselves on TikTok and use it to make money. However, in my opinion, the bad outweighs the good. With the most popular age group being 10-19 year olds, I think there is a huge possibility for damage in various areas as a result of using this app. Overall, TikTok is an entertaining app but is risky for the highest population of its users.

Blog #8 - Privacy in the digital age

Privacy... or lack thereof.

After watching multiple TED talks surrounding the issue of privacy, I was surprised and disturbed at how uneducated I was regarding my own privacy. I learned so much about how phone users are being invaded every day, and how unaware we are of this issue. 

In Christopher Soghoian's talk about avoiding surveillance, he explained that phones are created for surveillance, which affects each and every person who owns one. I was shocked to learn that any phone call I make can be invaded and a stalker, government official, or criminal can hear every word. 

However, I was glad to learn about Silicon Valley companies that utilize encryption technology which makes it harder for our privacy to be invaded. Sending a text message from an iPhone to an iPhone is safer than making a call. Soghoian's TED talk also mentioned that FaceTime calls cannot easily be wiretapped, which is refreshing to know. This makes me never want to make a phone call to my mom again, but to just send her a text so I know my information is somewhat safe. 

This TED talk mentioned "democratized encryption" and explained how it is making the government very angry because of the lack of access to information they now have. This idea really interested me, so I decided to look further for information on the democratization of encryption. I quickly learned that encryption makes data undecipherable, which is a huge worry for the government as encrypted data brings complex security challenges.  

Some government officials believe that every text, phone call, and email should be available to the government to be aware of the communication happening between individuals. While I understand their point of view, I believe humans have the right to privacy of their information online. It becomes an individual choice at this point though- should we be using devices that can release our information this easily? If we educate ourselves on the government's access to our information, then we should be able to make a knowledgable decision about whether or not we will allow them to. So, I guess the question is is it worth the risks?

Blog #4 - EOTO

1944: The year of innovation.

The first patent for the ballpoint pen was given to John J Loud in 1888, as he attempted to make a pen that would write on wood. The patent eventually fell through, as it was determined that the device would have no commercial value.

Fast forward to 1938 when the invention really took off. At the time, Laszlo Biro was a Jew living in Hungary amid World War II. After walking into a print shop and admiring the fast-drying ink used to print on papers, he had an epiphany. People needed dependable, transportable, fast-drying pens that could fit in their pockets for easy access.

Because of this, he began designing the first ballpoint pen which ultimately changed the way we communicate. In 1938 Biro received the patent for the ballpoint pen right before fleeing for Argentina. Shortly after he and his brother began selling the pen in Argentina, and the ballpoint pen changed communication forever. 

Humans have been writing for as long as they've been alive- from writing on rocks to writing with Apple pens on iPads, we've always found a way to put the words we want to say in writing. From quills to fountain pens, writing utensils have changed over the years.

"The Babylonians impressed their cuneiform characters in clay tablets with a wedge-shaped instrument; the Greeks and Romans chiseled inscriptions on stone monuments and wrote with a stylus on wax-coated tablets. Three thousand years ago, both the ancient Chinese and Egyptians were writing their calligraphy and hieroglyphics, respectively, with brushes. 5 Quill pens followed shortly thereafter, emerging between 250 BC and 68 AD."

Before ballpoint pens, fountain pins were used. Fountain pens push ink out onto paper with pressure, making it hard to control the amount of ink released and to have a consistent thickness in writing. The pens also had to be refilled frequently, making it a burden for users. The creation of the ballpoint pen made communication convenient and quick. Users can throw the pen in their bag without worrying if it would spill ink all over their stuff. Additionally, the ballpoint pen has been the most lasting invention as we continue to use it today.

The first ballpoint pen was sold in 1944 in Argentina. As the war closed the pen was being sold all over the world. Sales began super high, but as time has gone the pen has become much more popular and much less expensive. Prices started at $12.50 per pen, an unreasonably high number even in US dollars today, and 10,000 pens were sold on the first day. Now, it costs less than 1 cent per pen to manufacture, and millions are made and sold each day. 

Convenience, accessibility, and tidiness are just a few of the many ways the ballpoint pen changed communication. These pens are used in classrooms, banks, hospitals, homes, and battlefields. They are transportable, simple to use, and easily replaceable. In my opinion, there are no negative effects of the ballpoint pen. The creation of it made communication easier and more consistent. The first ballpoint pen had a couple manufacturing issues which caused it to skip on paper and not write perfectly, however, with time these issues were fixed, and the model was perfected.

I can't imagine our world without the ballpoint pen. I use one every day- at work, in the classroom, writing birthday cards to friends. This pen allows quick communication and it is always reliable. Even though there are new ways of communication like phones, social media, and instant messaging, ballpoint pens are still sold and used every day, and they won't be going anywhere soon. Therefore, the ballpoint pen has innovated communication methods since 1944.