ENGLISH 5950 - Theories of Culture

Theories of Culture

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Google Goggles/Project Glass

Remember when we talked about this in class? The future is now, and they want our input..

CLICK HERE

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Project Idea

I think a few of my classmates have had some good ideas regarding the next project. I think something that involves media could be fun; making connections around the valley using whichever media one wants, then writing about how they connect, and why they connect. 

Or, if we wanted to enter a purely creative realm, it could be fun to simply write/illustrate some sort of prediction of the future. We could guess about the new connections that will be made 50 or so years from now. We could guess the new forms of surveillance and how they would affect our lives, and so on.

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1984

Rainbows End has certainly made me think more and more about George Orwell's 1984. It's probably been about 5 years since I last read it, but it always stands out as one of my favorite books, even though it's pretty depressing. 

This also leads me back to the idea of the panopticon, as well as the idea in Rainbows End that someone is always watching. From a certain standpoint, it's a form of security, but it really just creates an insecurity among those who are being watched.

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Fundamentalism

"Fundamentalism should not be understood as a return to past social forms and values, not even from the perspective of the practitioners...the fundamentalist 'return to tradition' is really a new invention" (Connected, 240). 

This phrase/section stood out to me most as I was finishing this book. I really like the idea of deconstructing the idea that fundamentalists are always trying to "return to a past that never existed." Though, I'm a bit confused about why this past "never existed." I understand the sentiment behind wanting to direct the present toward past ideals, I really can. But, I can't wrap my head around why that past never existed. 

But, I totally understand and agree with the sentiment that it's simply not possible to return to the past. The fundamentalist, Tea Party-esque sentiment is simply a way to glorify the past, rather than focus on ways to improve the Now, or the Future. 

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Music

I think I'm going to focus my paper on music as a network. I'm going to include the phrase "chance favors the connected mind" as I work through it. There's just so much to cover when thinking about music as a network; file sharing, being in a band, writing music, the ways that genres form communities among strangers, brick and mortar stores vs. digital stores, the ways that an instrument can form a bond between people (guitarists, drummers, etc., all stick together). There are solo musicians who make a go at it, but usually it's when the figurative "Lennon" meets their figurative "McCartney" that the real magic happens. This is where the phrase "chance favors the connected mind" comes into play. Many musicians are solitary creatures, wanting to hog the good ideas and "fame" for themselves, rather than sharing the hard work with someone else to make something better.

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Chance Favors the Connected Mind

I can't help but continually go back to the concept of how good ideas are born. Most of us tend to want to hog an idea, for the benefit of sole authorship. It was "my" idea, and look how great "I" am for thinking of it! This kind of thinking stifles creativity and innovation for a lot of reasons.

One of which can be understood by thinking about writing a simple essay. How many times have I turned in an essay only to get it back with a few typos circled? They are usually stupid, like I write "of" instead of "or" somewhere or something. If only I had asked someone else to proofread the essay before I turned it in, they would have caught my simple error(s) that my brain didn't catch, since I knew what I was writing. By involving others, we have the benefit of bypassing our own brains' filters. We see what we want to see many times, and a different set of eyes can usually see past those small things, which will make our ideas better. 

Second, it's obvious that two brains working together is likely to produce a more valuable result. I love to write, and I've learned that most of my creative stories have only been made better when I try to explain it to someone else. The act of explaining it to another person tends to open my mind to the possibilities of my idea. In addition, the person will usually ask questions and try to poke holes in my idea, allowing me to fix those issues, and expand my creativity. 

I think I'm going to explore this idea, and how these networks can benefit us as I develop my final project. In addition, I'll talk more about how "chance" works with connected minds.

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Coffee Shops

I love TED. Those videos have become a semi-constant source of thought-provoking ideas and discussions for me since I discovered them a few years ago. The video we watched today by Stephen Johnson really got my mind working, specifically in connection to the Varnelis article. The whole idea of a "coffee shop," whether or not it's actually a spot to grab some coffee, as well as the evolution of the purpose of these shops is surprisingly fascinating. I once heard it put that Starbucks might be the only business which actually encourages loitering; it's part of their business model. 

So, in times past, "we" went to these places to converse and participate in dialogues and expand our horizons...or maybe just to argue. But, we've transformed these places into areas where we can go to be alone..among others. We don't necessarily want to communicate with the bearded guy sitting five feet away, but we want to network with people all across the world wide web. This got me thinking about why "we" even go to coffee shops anymore. We can make our own coffee, or simply go through a drive thru, then do work at our homes, where we're all likely to have our own wireless network. We don't need their free wifi. Perhaps there's something to be said about thinking more efficiently outside of our homes/habitats/familiar spaces. We're a culture that appreciates a calendar/agenda/things to do. These tasks make us feel useful and productive. If we sit at home all day, and someone asks what you've been up to, then you say, "oh, just been at home." But, if you've been out at a coffee shop, or what-have-you, you can answer, "I spent the day writing, but I got exhausted and headed home. I'll go back tomorrow though." Suddenly the fictional "we" I'm talking about has evolved into an unemployed, coffee-loving writer. But, it's an interesting thought, and one I'll hold onto until Thursday when I write again.

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Decentralization

Attacking others makes one think about being attacked. This was an interesting read, and once we had a class discussion about it, I understood more why we were asked to read it in the first place. It really is pretty fascinating to think about how our country may have been mapped out based on potential bombing attacks. We wanted to spread things out, and limit obvious targets, and as a result, we also ended up creating a pretty even spread of industry and population across the country.

There is your goal: Locate all future critical industry and its associated populations past the line of safety, taking care not to create inadvertently a secondary potential A-bomb target zone. 

Now, I'm not naive enough to think that this is the sole reason for United States topography, but the idea that it was a significant influence is enough to generate a good discussion. 

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Fordism

"F. W. Taylor'S The principles of scientific manage- 

ment - an influential tract which described how labour productivity 

could be radically increased by breaking down each labour process 

into component motions and organizing fragmented work tasks ac- 

cording to rigorous standards of time and motion study" (125). 

This is an interesting article/idea to study. I've never heard the term "Fordism" until now, but it is a term that works well with the ideas we're diving into in class. The quote above, from the Fordism article, reminded me a lot of the movie Moneyball, oddly enough. They broke things down into smaller parts to understand how to have the greatest impact on the larger picture, for the least amount of money, just like the Oakland A's did. Ford created a new way of doing things by "breaking down each labour process into component motions" in order to get the most bang for his buck. He created a new network within the world of manufacturing. He created a new model.