A Better Understanding of "Open Sky"

In the third section of Open Sky, Paul Virilio discusses the ways in which technology effects our physical being and then wraps up the book with a deeper look into the technological arena that is changing the world as we know it. While I enjoyed the book as a whole and loved the way it pushed the envelope with its existentialism, I particularly enjoyed the mind-bending topic in the chapter "From Sexual Perversion to Sexual Diversion".

While it is clear to me that technology effects our personal lives in many ways, the ways in which it effects personal, loving relationships bother me the most. In a world where not many things are personal anymore, it is heartbreaking to me that the sense of communication, passion, and connection once shared by physically having to be in the same place as one another is lost with the addition of the internet, telephones, etc. Conversations that once centered around long discussions complete with emotion, expression, and reaction are now reduced to a break up over the phone, a text message to get asked on a date, and a Facebook chat to cancel plans. After this chapter in the book, I see now that technology is also effecting the more passionate and physical sides of relationships as well.

Virilio explains the popularity of such things as internet dating, pornography sites, and (at the extreme), forms of "remote-control masturbation". I was shocked to learn of the different technology that enables people to feel "pleasure" from a distance. In a world where people crave and desire things quickly and instantly, there is now even an option to experience the happiness and pleasure that once had to come from a warm body from world and miles away. After reading - and discussing aloud with my friends - this concept was still difficult to wrap my head around. After some thought, I feel I have taken the position of being somewhat fearful of what technology could do to our culture, our traditions, our feelings, and our emotions. For someone who mourns the loss of handwritten letters and long calls on the phone, the idea of reducing such beautiful human acts of passion to a mere visit to a website scares me. This idea of "telesexual interactivity" as Virilio calls it threatens the past, present, and future of our race by changing the fabric that holds us together - personal connectivity.

As Virilio ends the book, he sums up the pages and pages of discussion on how technology can touch and shape every part of our world. After this reading, I believe it is our job as technology and media consumers to question and fear the onslaught of speed and info and machines. It is our job to dissect our changing world rather than simply sitting back and allowing it to wash over and consume us.

What are the ways in which you can become more educated about the technological world around you? What ways do you think you hold on to the connectedness of the past and what technologies are you willing to gain at the loss of ourselves?

Getting Started: First Class Readings

   Being a Communication Studies major, it is almost impossible to find a subject in the department, as well as many areas of life, unaffected by the societal obsession and reliance on the internet and all things digital. After reading Is Google Making Us Stupid? and the article on Electracy, it only strengthened my knowledge of the importance of technology in every aspect of life, including social media, news, education, etc.
   While reading the first article, I couldn't help but feel as if I myself were in the author's shoes, experiencing the shift from from an eager digester of knowledge to a skimmer of an onslaught of information, annoyed by anything not meeting my quick and easy standards. Much as the author feels the hunger and thoughtfulness once attached to learning and consuming is endangered, I feel I rely too much on the internet for instant tidbits of information, such as the recently researched liter conversion chart, that while delivered at a gratifying pace, will filter through my mind before I can switch to my Facebook page. Another point of the article I found to be especially accurate was the argument that digital media not only changes the way we act, but also the way we think. I often find myself surfing the web on my laptop, watching a show on TV, and perusing Twitter on my iPhone all at the same time. Like the article suggests, I believe society has been taught to think that consuming, and focusing on, only one form of media at a time isn't enough. If we don't keep up with the waterfall of ideas and info, we might miss something, right? While I am certain I am not the only person who consumes and media simultaneously and rapidly, I can't help but wonder if others are conscience of this trend, and if they are, if it an easy change to go back to simple times or is this bound to define the future indefinitely?
   While I feel knowledgable about the above mentioned topic, Electracy is a new word to me, something that required a little outside research. The second article was slightly harder for me to understand, but ultimately it further provided evidence that there is a cultural importance to being digitally literate, such as it is important to be literate in a world dominated by print. To be successful in the growing and developing world that parallels a digital lifestyle, it is crucial to be able to navigate and evolve with the technological sphere. After reading this article, I think it is important to discuss the ways in which Electracy, of lack there of, can help or hinder future plans. In society today, what all goes into Electracy and how can knowledge of the digital world further success in future careers?