Essay 1: Book Groups
This course was divided into three main components. These were Plurk, a way for the class to communicate thoughts and feelings throughout the day, Blogs, a way of interacting with the class material, and Book Group. Book Group incorporates an additional novel, outside of the readings assigned for class. Each group consists of a dozen or so members, who analyze and discuss the given novel through an online Discussion Board. The novel I chose was Midnight Robber. My group broke the book down into approximately 50 page sections and at the end of each section wrote responses. I approached the book group by first writing my own response, without reading other entries. After I did this, I went back and responded to 2 or 3 other students. By approaching it this way, I was able to see the similarities and differences in my opinions compared to others. Midnight Robber turned out to be a novel that many can relate to and I grew engrossed in it. This section of the class was different from other components, down to the type of novel that was chosen. It was an interesting experience.

I preferred the book group to blogs and class discussions. What I liked about it was that everyone gets a chance to first write their own reflection and not be influenced by others. During class discussions, it can be easy to prefer another person’s opinion to your own and then not speak up on your own. After writing your own reflection, you then have the opportunity to read what others thought and agree or disagree accordingly. I also preferred the setting of the book group. It was comfortable to respond online and for me, communicating this way made it easier to speak my mind. The book group also differed from the way we approach the other assigned novels. Discussions for Midnight Robber included book interpretations, character analysis, and audience perceptions. With the other novels assigned in class, we mostly discuss how they relate to our lives and what the author is trying to portray. Also, because we broke down the book section by section, it became only natural to predict what would happen next. Basically, in book group the analysis of the novels go deeper than only discussing the main points that our class time allows. Book group allowed students to grow extremely involved in a novel. Midnight Robber consists of many spectrums that are easy to relate to, including fantasy, family issue, romance, life struggles, and personal development. This is very different than the novels in class that we have to open up our minds to relate to. It made for good discussion.

The book group also had a few negative components. Part of me wished it was more like class, where we spent less time discussing the specifics of the book and more time questioning what the author is trying to portray. I realized after I finished the novel and all of my responses that I was still unsure of exactly why the author wrote what he did. This course has taught me to strive to find that answer in every reading. Also, it is impossible to have an uninhibited conversation in book group. Because we all log on at different times and it was difficult to stick to the deadlines, many posts do not receive responses and there is little consistency. Although breaking the book into sections really helps the focus, in person discussions allow for more personal interpretations and debate. I find that in class, although we may get off topic from the novel, the discussions are extremely relevant to everyday living. With so much structure to book group, this is nearly impossible.

When I began the book group I was very skeptical for two reasons. First of all, I was weary of whether or not I would enjoy the novel assigned, and secondly because I was unsure of how the discussions would be handled. Aside from plurk, this was the first time I had experienced class discussions online instead of in person. For the most part, everyone took the discussions seriously and it was evident who was really putting in the effort of understanding the novel. Overall, everyone put in equal effort. It was a unique way of discussing a novel and differed greatly from class discussion, blogs, and plurk. In the end, my skepticism was proven unnecessary and I learned a lot.


Essay 2: Blogs
The blogs were a component of the class that consisted of posting 700-1000 words a week. The blogs were meant to not be a summary of the material but an analysis of what is going on. It involved a higher engagement of the readings. On average, I did one to two blogs per novel. Sometimes it was extremely difficult to put into words how the material affected me. Sometimes the material itself was almost impossible to follow. The directions towards the blogs were very open ended; therefore every student’s blog page consisted of different things. My blog page was rather structured, with every title including the novel I was writing about. In my blogs, I related the readings mostly to my life and how I interpreted them. At times, I brought in class discussions, but for the most part I stuck to how the book applied to my life. Basically, with our blog posts every individual in the class had 700-1000 words per week to do what they wanted to with. A lot of times I was unsure of whether or not I was approaching the assignments right. However, once I looked at other blogs from the class I realized that perhaps we were meant to produce mixed results.

When told to pick a student to compare blogs with, I went on the Nanotext blog page and picked another student at random. This proved to quite interesting. I ended up reading Alex Lindner’s blogs. I first noticed that I took the 700-1000 word minimum much more seriously than he did, as well as the requirement to post weekly. Although we differed in the way that we organized our blogs and our amount of postings, I was still curious to see what his blogs consisted of compared to mine. Both of us had our first blogs about The Invention of Morel, which were rather similar. They included both summary and analysis and were both lengthy. At this point, we were both experiencing the same things from the course, but remember this is just the first week. After this point, I did my best to stay caught up with the readings and handled my responses to each reading rather similarly. After this point, Alex and I seemed to go in different directions with the class.

In my blogs, I worked to apply what I was learning to my personal life. Whether what I was reading was opening my eyes to viewpoints of sex or the outburst of technology, I wanted to use this class as a way to improve my own life. I was learning so many unique things and the novels were opening my eyes to opinions that I had never even considered and I decided it was really a time to change. I think my blogs reflect this. Alex seemed to approach his blogs as responses to the course instead of responses to the novels. After his blog about Morel, his blogs were about class discussions, humanity, and Ribofunk. Basically, we connected very differently. What I did like about his blogs was that at one point he has a discussion via blog, in response to his class discussion blog. This was something that I never did. He also posted a picture in his response, which is something I never did. Alex made some interesting points about sex and humanity, but I think he could have applied himself to the reading a bit more. Our blogs ended up differing greatly, but I must admit it was somewhat comforting to see that I was not the only person who struggled along the way.

After glancing over a few other’s blogs, as well as reading Alex’s, I think it is safe to say that no two blog pages after very similar. I approached the blogs as writing for myself. It seemed as though the only person who would really be reading them was the professor, so I did a lot of reflecting of my personal life and the viewpoints I was encountering. I am not sure how many other students used the blogs for this, but for me it was effective. Perhaps that is what the point of the blogs was. There seems to be no right way to approaching the blogs and as long as you apply yourself in one way or the other, you are guaranteed to find the approach that works best for you.


Essay 3: Others
As this course progressed, it became extremely evident why the novels were placed to be read in the order of which they were. Radical Alterity was the second novel assigned and a great starting point for the course. This was the novel that first began to open up my eyes to thoughts that I had not considered before. The fact that the introduction is titled “Cool Thinking,” leads you to believe that this novel is working to open up your eyes. It did.

Radical Alterity was a good starting point for me because it helped me to become comfortable with unique texts. It was a bit overwhelming at first because I was presented with so many new ideas. I found the authors to be brutally honest, which is another reason why this novel was necessary to the course. Clearly, this course is not designed to sugar coat issues. The first line of the book is, “The only deep desire is the desire of the object.” My interpretation of this was that it is a brutally honest way of confronting humans in always wanting what we can’t have and being rather selfish. The text also introduced technology as communication destined for disconnection, which confronts humans on absorbing technology and growing away from personal relationships. Both concepts proved to be true, at least when I applied them to my life. The texts that we are assigned after this novel only grow more and more open and honest. One could even say they grow disturbing and repulsive. Every text was meant to make us uncomfortable and then grow from it. Radical Alterity gently breaks us in to opening up our minds.

Alterity posed a few strong points that made me rethink how I approached this course, specifically the focus of the course, being the Other. The first line that struck me was, “Each person retains his or her freedom, enima, and solitude.” This made me realize that freedom is in the ability to think for oneself. It made me wonder how many times I have actually thought for myself and then realize that it was time to begin trying. The text also speaks of the, “…guilt of not knowing or understanding enough…” At this point I knew that I have felt this guilt before and I needed to open my eyes to the ideas I was being presented with. The text then stated, “…the mode of thinking is more important than the thought itself.” I think this is a point that this course embraces, for we are encouraged to write about anything and simply apply ourselves, instead of given specific instructions on what to write about. I’ve grown up rather sheltered and have not had too many experiences where I have had to think outside of the box. Although I still find the idea of “the Other,” completely mind boggling, I’ve grown to embrace it a little more every day.

Radical Alterity was a necessary novel for opening the minds of every student in this course. I am sure that there are other students in this class that were used to this type of material, but for me it was brand new and took a lot of effort to comprehend. Alterity helped me to rethink every part of this class. With every novel, I grew more open minded and more accepting. It was evident as class discussions progressed that this was the case for the majority of the students. Alterity brings forth the goal of, “Transforming the circles of stereotypes and critical thought into something totally different but with a rigorous and secret relationship to the original discourse.” This seems to be what we accomplished in our class. The class seemed to grow more random every day, whether it was from a cartoon, a YouTube video, or a girl in a gorilla suit walking in for some bananas. Students without the background to the course would think we are crazy, but because we began by learning of this new way of thinking, the class turned into pure entertainment for those involved.


Essay 4: Animals and Machines
This course was filled with viewpoints on both animals and machines. Life Extreme was a book filled with pictures of animals and short quotes next to them. It is said to be “An Illustrated Guide to a New Life.” It compares original beliefs of nature to the reality that we live in now. In one of the first pages, this book brings forth the idea of, ”What is nature?... Even in a laboratory, nothing is natural…Nature is no longer even when one thinks one can look into so called natural objects.” This texts continues to bring forth ideas of the development of, or perhaps loss of, nature.

The question that is presented in regards to Life Extreme is if there is a difference between animals and machines. I would have to argue that despite all that technology has changed, there is still a huge difference between animals and machines. Perhaps it is because I am such an animal lover, but I find animals to be much more fulfilling than anything technology could present. Animals have a sense of innocence, whereas machines are human made. There is no argument that there are similarities within animals and machines. For example, the text states, “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” Animals and technology both have their own languages, yet still I find the animal language to be so much more real than technology. This realness is a result of pureness that cannot occur with something human made. Although technology is pushing for nature to be more than it is meant to be, I hope that this desire does not go over the edge, for I do not believe animals need to be subjected to all of the changes our world is making. I think the main difference of technology and animals is that thus far, technology has proven to be eternal. Life Extreme states that, “Nothing is stable in the whole universe, everything passes; all the forms are made only to come and go.” Up to this point, technology hasn’t gone anywhere and I think it is safe to say that it will not go anywhere until perhaps the end of the world, unless it prevents it. The only way animals will ever become eternal is with the use of technology, therefore there is a huge difference in machines and animals.

With such a focus on animals and technology, one begins to wonder where humans fit in this picture. It seems as though humans are the beings that are engrossed in all of this change and working to adapt to it. As they adapt, the changes that humans encounter is incredible. The text states, “Does a house still shelter people or technology and invisible people?” In a way, throughout this evolution of technology, humans have become invisible. Looking back at my blog, I saw that my focus of Life Extreme was wondering what happened to simplicity. Humans seem to be relying on technology and other means to make them happy; when in the past they used to embrace the natural blessings they were given. I then read the response given to that blog, which said, “Why is this scary not exhilarating?” This made me realize where humans fit into all of this. In a way, humans are the ones along for the ride.

Humans, technology, and animals are the three main categories of existence in our world. Technology seems to currently be the superpower. It has already consumed humans and is now working towards animals. Although there are differences that separate all three categories, technology seems to be the dominant one that is changing the remaining two. Humans have evolved all that they can; therefore it is only natural to wait for something else to evolve. The new evolution is technology and at this point perhaps all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.


Essay 5: Filth/Censorship/Mores/Sexuality and Technology
The Ticket that Exploded and The Filth were the two hardest readings for me to get through. I was not the only student who felt this way, for in plurk and during classroom discussions, it was evident that these two readings made the majority of the class uncomfortable. It was easier to discuss these texts depending on which format was most comfortable for you personally. Essentially, both are set out to provoke and manipulate emotions out of the audience. They both succeeded. In the end, both readings apply to the question: why does pornography work?

When I first read The Ticket that Exploded I was extremely offended, likely to be one of the most offended students in this course. Probably what angered me the most was the idea of the Garden Of Delights, G.O.D. I found it incredibly disrespectful to use God’s name as the acronym for some land of sex. I remember even having to call my mom to vent about how angry the book made me. I had not been exposed to this type of material yet. It wasn’t until the end of that novel when things began to come together with the statement, “After analyzing a conversation you will learn to steer a conversation where you want it to go.” You realize that the author steered his novel in the way that he wanted the audience to see it. It was eye opening. This then brought forth the question in class: what does sex look like outside love and emotion? I realized that this was something that I needed to consider. It was not necessarily a lifestyle that I would pursue, but it was an idea that I needed to respect. By the time I was reading The Filth, I was so open to reading about sex that I was somewhat immune to the disgust that I once had. I was able to take The Filth for what it was meant to be, a story about para personalities. Although it was consumed by sex and violence, I was able to see through it and focus on the concept of good vs. evil. I was worried that the pictures in the novel would make it harder to read than even The Ticket, yet in a way it made me understand the characters more. I understood The Filth to be a comic about the enemy from within, whereas if I would have read it before this course I would have seen it as porn in comic book form. These two novels were very spaced out in the course and the fact that I was able to adapt to The Filth instead of being as insulted as I was during The Ticket That Exploded, really proved my personal growth throughout this quarter.

The best way for me to discuss the readings from this quarter was through blogs. I never spoke up much in class, although I was impressed by many profound statements that other brought up. I preferred to write them down and reflect on them later in blogs. The blogs allowed a sense of anonymity, as did plurk. Both allow students to speak their minds through a computer instead of in class. For me, I preferred online discussion because these are still somewhat uncomfortable issues for me to speak about. Others were completely open to discussing them out loud and probably preferred to this way. As the course progressed, the need for censorship dwindled away in all three aspects of the course. In fact, I would be ten times more comfortable discussing some of our class topics now than I was two months ago. The diversity of our readings and the ideas that we are presented with were originally very uncomfortable to me. As the course progressed and has now come to an end, I have learned to see everything as opinions. It does not matter whether or not I disagree with these opinions, but to be a well rounded and intelligent being it is time to learn to respect all of them.

I think the reason humans consume porn is obvious: sex sells. Sex is everywhere. It is in the media, music, and now even our readings. The real question is: Why does sex sell? The main reason is for the attraction to it and the fulfillment of a desire, but it is more than just that. Sex sells because it is an escape for just a moment; the living of a fantasy that is fulfilling in just small doses. It also sells because there is nothing invested in it, in fact it represents the absence of a relationship. However, our class has proven true the main reason why sex sells: more people are open to it. Just like technology, the more we are encouraged to love it the more we will. In fact, there is no longer a need to be anonymous about your sex life. The majority of people openly speak of their sex lives, for sex has evolved just like everything else. As this course has proven, the more you work through an uncomfortable topic, the more you become immune to it, and eventually embrace it. Even simply comparing the class discussions on The Ticket to the class discussions on The Filth, our progress is amazing. This has proven to be true as my need for anonymity was much higher in the beginning of this course than it is now.

The first few novels in this class, especially The Ticket That Exploded, made me incredibly confused as to what the point of this course was. It took about 10 novels to figure it out. These readings were meant to bring one to seeing life in a different viewpoint than the norm. Every author worked towards provoking an emotion out of the audience and these emotions bring forth intellectual growth. Perhaps it is not the best quality to be immune to being uncomfortable by sex, but it is a good quality to be able to respect altering viewpoints on what could be an uncomfortable issue. The Ticket That Exploded and The Filth turned out to be two novels that opened my mind and see the world through less sheltered eyes.

Postsingular blog 1

As I begin Postsingular, I feel as though I was entering into a new world. This new world however, seemed to be a world that the one we live in currently is about to turn into. All of the possibilities of what to do with nants seemed more efficient than the way our world operates today. For example, Chu and Ond spoke about using nants to make the sky as bright as the moon. This would save energy and the economy could run around the clock. There was also the idea of selling ads in the sky. As crazy as it might sounds, it also sounds crazy enough to be something we would try. We are constantly looking for ways to conserve energy and help our environment. More so, we are always looking for ways to save our failing economy. Like Ond said, the new environment would take some getting used to, but people would get used to it. In fact, people might end up liking it more. Humans are encouraging the rapid improvement of technology and it will only be so long before we expand it to the rate of a 24/7 economy. It is in human nature to adapt to the changes the world throws at us. I would go as far as to say that we not only adapt, we embrace the changes. Everyone wants the latest and greatest gadgets. It is a power struggle, or a status issue. Then, it grows into a necessity. For a while, people managed to get by without pagers, without internet, without cell phone phones. Now it seems to be a necessity to not only have a cell phone, but perhaps internet on your cell phone. The world we live in is not far from Postsingular, where technology is an addiction. The only difference is that Postsingular is more advanced than we are, at least than we are right now. Technology is constantly bringing new desires. The question is, how far will these desires take us? Technology has also created dependence. Therefore, if a new invention is created, we are bound to make ourselves believe that it is a necessity. Because we are so dependant of technology and because we desire everything new, we are likely to only encourage any changes.
One of the first lines of this novel was, “We’re unobservable now.” I thought it was interesting that while these boys were working with their inventions that they felt unobservable, much like most people feel when they are on drugs. The dependence individuals have on technology is like any dependence on a drug. It is hard to function without it. I’m not quite sure how I would function without my lap top, the internet and my cell phone, and those are only the basics of technology. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the depths of technology and I still couldn’t function without the basics. I would be completely torn. What is sadder is that until this point I didn’t even realize that the dependence on technology is an addiction. On top of that, it is pretty safe to assume that the majority of the world is dependent on some sort of technology. I even see older generations beginning to adapt. Just this last year my dad taught himself how to email and set up an account and is learning to use the internet. It became a necessity for him in order to find more business. My mom has been forced to learn computers as well and although she still does not know the internet she can edit pictures from her camera and print them out. She also got On Demand this year and can work her TV better than I can. Even my grandmother takes advantage of Tivo. If the older generations are encouraging the change in technology, the new generations will completely embrace it. It makes me wonder when this will end? It’s definitely not simply a technology craze and something that will pass. It has proven to be a part of a lifestyle. This then makes me wonder, are there any limits to technology? Reading books like Postsingular kind of scare me because it makes me think of just how far we will take this lifestyle.