Democratization has made numerous amazing things possible in our lives. Most importantly, communication is easier than ever before. We have a bunch of different ways to interact with a bunch of different people that would never be possible without technology and the media. It has opened up so many doors for people to experience their passions, explore new ideas, and learn things that the mass culture has never been able to access before. Culture and Communication Part I introduces this concept. "In early times there were distinct differences between culture of the elite... and the culture of the common person... Although some elite culture exists today, ordinary people can at least observe some of it on TV shows..." The gap between the "elite" culture and the "common" culture is closing. Most people have access to internet, transportation, and leisure activities. While there are variations of this things and different costs, the majority of people can afford these things in one form or another. Democratization occurs in several different aspects of our society however, a great example of it is the media. Now, way more people have the ability to put themselves out there and get noticed. In Press Pause Play numerous artists agree with this idea. Hank Shocklee says, "A lot of movies that may have not had the chance to be made will be made, which means you're gonna have a lot more options for cinema, you're gonna have a lot more creativity rising to the top." Shocklee refers to this concept with cinema but it is true with so many things now that the internet plays such a huge role in our lives. It is so simple to but creative ideas out there, on websites, blogs, social networks, youtube and so many more internet creations. If someone has talent, they can build a fan base and get noticed. A good example of this is Lena Dunham who was featured in Press Pause Play as well due to her acting career. She says, "I never thought of film making as a job I could have... it didn't ever occur to me that it was something I could do with my life." Although many people don't see themselves as ever being able to become rich and famous it is now possible for the "average Joe". If someone demonstrates their talent in a YouTube video, the whole world can watch along. It isn't hard to get ideas out there and therefore it makes it much easier to make connections. Someone can watch one video of someone singing and share it on their Facebook page. Then someone else sees it and posts it to their blog. Then a friend of theirs sees it and they have a friend in the music business who they email it to. There are hundreds of ways for information to reach the world and tons of ways to let new talents surface.
The growth of the media was inevitable and its influence is huge in our society. Every where we go we are exposed to an advertisement, television, music, art, etc and by now we are used to that. People often associate many societal issues with the media and technology, however all of our issues stem from within ourselves. Some people believe that society has become a less trusting, less giving place because of technology, they think it has isolated us a little bit. For example, in Culture and Communication Part II, there is a quote from a sociologist named Louis Wirth. During his time he felt like the new societal changes were negative. "...the new urban culture... saw 'the weakening of bonds of kinship and the declining social significance of the family, the disappearance of the neighborhood, and the undermining of the traditional basis of social solidarity.'" Parts of this are true. Our social relationships have changed a lot and as a society we are learning how to develop the skills to communicate through technology as well as in face-to-face conversations. But, we are not losing the sense of family or community. Family and friendships are still incredibly important to us. Technology is too. We are having a hard time finding a way to have all this distraction in our lives and still be able to sit down and just be physically there with other people although we still value this time very highly. Even though a lot of times we cannot sit down and be with others physically without being with others also through technology. Joseph Garner from the documentary Craigslist Joe demonstrates how community is still very much alive in our society. Garner says, "As a country we're wealthy, diverse, and technologically sophisticated yet some say we have lost the sense of community that used to carry us through tough times. Today it is every person for themselves. Some say technology and social media fuel this isolation." Through his experiment, Garner was able to prove that if we use technology in the right ways it actually increases the sense of community. People are still generous and people do care about interacting with others. In the lecture, The Empathic Civilisation, done by Jeremy Rifkin he explains how we are capable of this. He agrees that we are kind and loving toward one another at heart but that we need to actually acknowledge that and apply it to our lives. "Because I want you to imagine the following proposition - is it possible that we human beings who are soft wired for empathic distress is it possible we could actually extend our empathy to the entire human race, as an extended family? And to our fellow creatures as part of our evolutionary family and to the biosphere as our common community? If it's possible to imagine that then we may be able to save our species and save our planet." Rifkin makes a good point. This is another depiction that the problem does not lie within technology but within ourselves. Disconnection and violence are not a product of technology or media but a product of our society losing touch with its true values.
Now that technology is here and it isn't going anywhere we have to learn to live with it. It will continue to grow and become bigger and more advanced everyday. Technology is already ingrained in our lives whether we chose to acknowledge that or not. What we need to do now is incorporate it in our lives and promote the good things it brings. We have things that as a society we need to change. We can use technology to our advantage to make these changes. In the lecture done by Roman Krznaric titled The Power of Outrospection he discusses a change he feels is necessary. "...the 21st century needs to be different; instead of the age of introspection we need to shift to the age of outrospection. And by outrospection I mean the idea of discovering who you are and what to do with your life by stepping outside yourself, discovering the lives of other people, other civilisations." Right now we use technology as a way of expressing ourselves and sharing our own lives. We are exposed to a lot of other people and their lives as well but ultimately what we care about is who is going to see our own stuff and like it or comment on it. This is why we need change because there are so many connections to be made if we can step out of our own worlds and use this amazing gift to give back to others. More than just helping, finding a solution to the problem. In a lecture by Slavoj Zizek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, he points out how there are a lot of issues that need to be fixed that are being put off. Technology could be used to benefit everyone in this situation, again. "People find themselves surrounded by hideous poverty, by hideous ugliness, by hideous starvation. It is inevitable that they should be strongly moved by all this. Accordingly, with admirable, though misdirected intentions, they very seriously and very sentimentally set themselves to the task of remedying the evils that they see. But the remedies do not cure the disease they merely prolong it; indeed the remedies are part of the disease." In Zizek's eyes, we do help, or at least let ourselves believe that we do. We believe that our small donations by buying the box of shoes that says "One for One" is good enough to solve the worldly issue of poverty and it's not. It isn't even close. We need to actually be present and involved by volunteering and doing things that will help multiple people long term. Once again, we have the means to do it we just have not stepped up to the plate. Then there are problems in our own society, social problems. With innovation comes different goals, aspirations, and requirements. Changing Paradigms is a lecture done by Sir Ken Robinson that demonstrates how our culture is fighting the technology movement when we need to flow with it. His example of this is our education system although it occurs in various aspects of society. "The problem is they're trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past. And on the way they're alienating millions of kids who don't see any purpose in going to school. Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the earth. They're being besieged with information and calls for their attention from every platform - computers, from iPhones, from advertising hoardings, from hundreds of television channels and we're penalising them now for getting distracted. From what? Boring stuff at school,
for the most part." The media and technology wave is something we need to embrace and find ways to incorporate it into our learning and growing. This applies to many things but schools are the perfect example. Students still have to spend hours on end memorizing vocabulary when they can look it up online and find it in fifteen seconds. Technology is growing and changing and we need to think open-minded and dive in.
Technology and the media have brought up many interesting points in our lives. As a culture, we chose whether technology plays a mostly positive role or a mostly negative role. If as a whole we keep blaming our own issues on our outer surroundings we won't get anywhere. If we can accept the fault and accept the changing times society will be an overall better place. We used the intelligence of our culture to create these things and now we need to use our intelligence to learn and thrive from them. Stepping up, remembering our values, supporting each other, and keeping an open-mind could lead us to the best age of social, educational, and cultural intelligence. All the possibilities are in front of us if we just reach for them.
for the most part." The media and technology wave is something we need to embrace and find ways to incorporate it into our learning and growing. This applies to many things but schools are the perfect example. Students still have to spend hours on end memorizing vocabulary when they can look it up online and find it in fifteen seconds. Technology is growing and changing and we need to think open-minded and dive in.
Technology and the media have brought up many interesting points in our lives. As a culture, we chose whether technology plays a mostly positive role or a mostly negative role. If as a whole we keep blaming our own issues on our outer surroundings we won't get anywhere. If we can accept the fault and accept the changing times society will be an overall better place. We used the intelligence of our culture to create these things and now we need to use our intelligence to learn and thrive from them. Stepping up, remembering our values, supporting each other, and keeping an open-mind could lead us to the best age of social, educational, and cultural intelligence. All the possibilities are in front of us if we just reach for them.
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