Week 25: Hear No Evil

Last week I really just wanted to take it easy and do some research on Heather and her family. Luckily, when i got to class on Monday, Mr. Couillard had already done all the work for me. It turns out, as disclosed by the follow-up video we watched, she did end up receiving the cochlear implant a few years after Sound and Fury took place. In fact, her brothers and mom even went through the operation. Heather's speech is understandable, and she gets along with her hearing classmates very well. Some of the things she's accomplished, like becoming star athlete on her basketball team, would not have been possible had it not been for her cochlear implant. She still remains very involved in the Deaf Community and moves between that and the hearing world effortlessly. Things could have turned out much worse. The implant could have not worked as well as it needed to, or she could have become totally disconnected from the rest of her family and the Deaf Community. However, none of this was the case and the story had a happy ending.

This week was pretty interesting as we starting watching episodes from the TV show 30 Days, in which someone has to survive 30 days in a polar opposite community from what they're used to. The episode we watched this past week placed a devout, conservative Christian in the heart of a Muslim society. He was forced to comply with all the teachings of Muhammad and participate in the rituals performed, including prayer 5 times a day. This struck difficult for Dave, because he was being forced to pray to a god that he did not perceive to be his God. Even though any Muslim would argue that He is the same God, Dave still could not commit to this ideology and believed that prayer to Allah was strictly against everything he believed in.

I also found it interesting that as soon as he put on the typical Islam attire, Dave was suddenly treated differently. Most people wouldn't admit to being racist, but found themselves giving Dave awkward glances. He was even stopped by airport security and thoroughly searched before being allowed to proceed to his plane. He was definitely opened to the discrimination Muslim Americans face everyday, and I think it caused him to show more sympathy towards the Islam community after the experiment was over, even if he and his host family had their disagreements.

This week, we'll be finishing up the second episode, where two city folks have to spend life in a society completely cut off from pollution to the environment. I honestly don't think they'll make, they're struggling way more than Dave did. I'd like to look more into this idea of the hippie commune that leaves as little a carbon footprint as possible. Are there very many in the US? How open are they to outsiders? Do they all have similar ideologies?

Sources:

Islam Symbol. Photograph. Wikispaces. Web. http://trcs.wikispaces.com/file/view/605islam.gif/38779016/605islam.gif.

30 Days. Photograph. FX Network. Web. http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/images/30days_home.gif.

24: Whoo!

The film we started last week really got me thinking about the argument over cochlear implants and why there is even an argument. If we had disabilities and there was a cure for them, wouldn't we want the cure? Wouldn't we want to be able to blend in with society? I got thinking about it, and the rest of the video helped me look at both sides as well.

Originally, I assumed that everyone would want this cochlear implant or would support those who were getting the surgery. When we learned that most deaf people were opposed to it, I couldn't exactly understand why they wouldn't want a treatment for their disability, and I was really confused why they would go through the trouble of hindering others going through the procedure, shunning them even. The deaf community seemed really close-minded at first, but it's for good reason. The implant is a threat to the life they know. I don't know about you, but if a procedure was going to change the way I've been living my entire life and make me adapt and completely start from scratch, I'd be very hesitant. However, that example still doesn't explain why their so hesitant to others going through the procedure. The reason is simple, they're scared. The deaf community is afraid that their children are going to grow up without having any understanding or knowledge of the deaf way of life, sign language will die out, and there won't be any more traces of deaf culture. Sure the idea seems a little far-fetched, but if something were slowly destroying everything you loved, would you let things run their course?

I don't necessarily agree with this point of view, but it's important to understand the deaf side of the story, rather than dismissing them as a bunch of crazy, close-minded people that are jealous of their children and don't want the best for them. Sure, they were very un-open to discussion, and there's no excuse for that. They needed to respect the opinions of the hearing few, instead of just ganging up on them and attacking them verbally (which they did repeatedly). However, none of us will fully be able to comprehend what it's like to be deaf, since none of us are. Therefore, we have no right to tell them what's right for their children or themselves. We can't force a life-altering procedure on a mass group of people, it just can't be done and shouldn't be done.

The other side of the argument makes plenty of valid points as well, which makes it difficult to pick sides in the argument. The grandmother explains that people will have a better standard of living and more opportunities in the world if they receive cochlear implants. They will have more job opportunities because there's no "hindrance" from a lack of hearing. There's a lot that deaf people miss out on in life; sound is beautiful, and they can't experience music or any other beautiful sounds that hearing people have the privilege of experiences everyday.

The documentary was frustrating to me because both sides had valid arguments, but there was such a large cultural gap between them that they couldn't comprehend that the opposing argument was valid. Each side was very close-minded and absolutely convinced that they were 100% right and there was no room for discussion. It was irritating when one side would come up with a very good point, and when the other side didn't have a rebuttal, they would just dismiss it.

For next week, I'd like to just look more into where everything stands right now. The documentary left everything open and unresolved. Is there more of a story out there? We shall see.

Sources:

Cochlear Implant. Photograph. Hearing Pocket. Web. http://www.hearingpocket.com/images/childrens_cochlear_implant_clothing.jpg.

Sound and Fury. Photograph. DisThis! Web. http://disthis.org/images/sound-n-fury.jpg.

Week 23: Friendships

The questioned I wanted answered before this past week was over was whether or not there have been extreme cases of video game addiction in the U.S. like what was seen in South Korea in the video. The documentary discussed the death of man from a gaming marathon, and I was interested in seeing if these take place in the US. If so has anyone actually died on American soil from it? From what I could find, no. In fact, the story of the South Korean is the only story I could find of someone actually dying from too much videogames, and the story changed throughout the sources. Some sources claim it was a 50 hour marathan, others an 86. Either way, it was a ridiculous amount of time that I'm the vast majority of Americans wouldn't devote their lives to.

This week has been interesting because we shifted gears entirely into a new direction. Abandoning the technology unit almost entirely, we started a discussion on relationships and the different forms of mutual encounters with other humans. I found it interesting that Aristotle's findings so many years ago are still relevant today. Humans may evolve, but human interaction never changes. We have the same principles of friendship that Aristotle described over 2000 years ago. We still have friends that only share on common interest. We still have friends that are friends solely for business. We still have the "friendships of the good," or real friends. Cicero even described traits of friends that are still important to look for today, like his idea that honesty is the most important trait.

We shifted gears a little more midway through week to start the documentary "Sound and Fury". The film looks at life from the perspective of a deaf American family and their daughter who wants to undergo a cochlear implant surgery. What's so interesting is that most deaf people are actually highly opposed to this kind of surgery. It's hard for people who can hear to wrap their minds around why someone wouldn't want to be able to hear if they had the opportunity. Some would argue that because they don't know what they're missing, they don't really have a huge desire to become just like everyone else, which I believe is the case. If I've lived my whole life one certain way and someone comes along telling me that their way is better, I wouldn't believe them. Even if hearing is so much better (which no one can say that it is, because none of us have been deaf), I wouldn't want to change my way of life and step outside of the community that I've become a part of. I actually had no idea that there was this "deaf culture" among those who can't hear or are hard of hearing. The common language, interests, and "disability" bonds this huge of group of people that is quick to shun those that don't agree with their way of life. Now I don't know about you, but if I was part of this community for such a long time, I would do what I could to remain part of it.

Over this next week, I'd like to look a little deeper into the arguement over deaf culture. What are some other opinions on it? What makes it a culture compared to a community? Is it even a culture? Why do they hate those who have cochlear implants?

Sources:

Cochlear Implant. Photograph. Dizziness-and-balance. Web. http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/hearing-aids/images/cochlear-implant-small.jpg.

Aristotle. Photograph. Wikipedia. Web.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg/448px-Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg.

Week 22: Life Outside Information Super Highway

Last week I decided that I would take the initiative to finally "disconnect" like what we had been talking about for the past week. Throughout the week, I went day to day limiting my technology usage to as little as possible. I honestly don't use my cell phone much at all, so I wasn't worried about giving that up as much the Internet and television. Because it is pretty much impossible to cut the computer out of my life completely. I decided early on that it would strictly be used only for e-mail and homework (if I couldn't avoid using it for homework). I was actually able to go the course of the week only using the computer once, and it was solely for an e-mail that I knew was coming. However, I found myself during the first half of the week very antsy and on-edge, kind of like withdrawal symptoms. Actually, I think it was withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, without the computer I found myself free to do so many things that I would tell myself "I didn't have time for." I went running. I'm supposed to be training for the Monument Avenue 10K, but I hadn't found time to go run in almost a month. I read a book, for fun. The last book I read for fun took me the entire summer, but I finished this within the week because I actually took the time to sit down and become engrossed in it. The outdoors felt like something so alien to me after such a long absence from them, and I began to notice how so many front yards go uninhabited these days. It felt refreshing to interact with friends on a sunny day down at the river instead of otherwise sitting in front of a computer screen waiting for someone to respond to my Facebook. By the end of the week, I didn't miss Facebook or failblog or any of those time-wasters that have been absorbing my life. I hope that this recent change in lifestyle will eventually become a permanent change.

This week was a lot like last, but the documentary added adults into the mix. Granted, I still feel like it was geared towards bashing high-schoolers and college kids for spending so much time on the Internet and with technology, instead of focusing on technology in the workplace. The first thing that stuck out immediately during the film was the segment on multi-tasking. That's one thing that I find myself doing a lot, typically with two to three browsers pulled up that I constantly juggle. What stuck out though, was the claim that multi-tasking is less efficient than focusing on one thing at a time. On the one hand, it makes sense because I don't have one constant train-of-thought that I can focus on when I'm multi-tasking. I have to keep jumping around to different ideas, which takes more time often leaves out many things that I wanted to say. However, it would appear that accomplishing multiple things at the same time would be a huger time saver, not waster.

What I found most interesting was this somewhat new adaptation of the MMOG to the workplace. I've been familiarized with the multiplayer online games because I live with two addicts. My brother and German student have both at one point in their lives played WoW or something similar to it, and tried to get me hooked as well. I don't care if someone gets enjoyment out of it, but I have a hard time grasping the relevance of bringing it to the office. It just doesn't seem very efficient to have employees focused on these fake "avatars" during conferences rather than the business at hand. Not to mention the fact that online games like Second Life really limit what can be accomplished in business meetings. Presentations can't be accompanied by PowerPoints or any other kind of visual, and employees will face constant distractions from the fantasy world around them. Whenever my dad is on a conference call, he seems more focused than I have ever seen him before. Yet, when companies use programs like Second Life, it doesn't seem to convey that similar necessity of being at full attention because when the boss can see your avatar, they have more than your voice to acknowledge your existance.

The film mentioned that some kids in Korea have actually died from spending too much time with modern technology, but I haven't heard of any national stories like that. Has it happened on U.S. soil? I'd like to do a little investigation to find out.

Sources:

Secondlife. Photograph. Secondlife.com. Web. http://www.blogger.com/Secondlife.%20Photograph.%20Secondlife.com.%20Web.%20%3Chttp://paulineoliveros.us/images/secondlife_1.jpg%3E..

World of Warcraft. Photograph. 1Up. Web. http://www.blogger.com/World%20of%20Warcraft.%20Photograph.%201Up.%20Web.%20%3Chttp://i.zdnet.com/blogs/world-of-warcraft-logo.jpg%3E..