Final

Book Groups:
One way to compare the book groups to other types of discussion – in class, blogs, and plurk ¬– throughout the quarter would be to compare the types of different media that is incorporated into these diverse mediums. During Book group discussions (at least in my group), we strictly talk about the novels, as far as I know there are no videos, pictures, etc. shared. In class and while plurking, we watch and share lots of videos that contribute to the learning experience. I don’t necessarily think that this is a bad thing; it makes the discussions seem more pure and tangible, at least for me. We can get to the point and discuss only what is going on in our book without added distractions. We are able to construct our thoughts and add to these on-going discussions at any time. These book groups are strongly set up and I know that we are trying to utilize technology as much as possible in this class. However, I do believe that while using this online system of contributing and sharing ideas, we are missing out by not being able to soak in others’ personal and true feelings about the book. According to this article on body language (www.elc.pl/emailclub/body_language.doc), over seventy percent of human communication occurs through body language and expression. I feel like if I was physically with this group of people and verbally communicating with them as well as soaking in their real emotions and physical reactions, I would better understand how they perceived different aspects of Midnight Robber. If the book groups were set up using voice, or better yet, a video conferencing program like Skype, we could at least hear what each other has to say and we could depict different emotions and reactions that group members have based on their way of responding. Although you can let people know that you are smiling ☺. Furthermore, getting that personal relationship with the people in your group would make interacting with them more intriguing. If you do not know whom you are talking to or anything about that person, you are not going to be that interested in what they think or in keeping a conversation with them. I can directly connect this concept to real life situations; for instance, communicating with others via cell phone texting in comparison to actually talking to them in person. I feel like I can better describe and put forth my opinions and thoughts during physical conversation rather than while texting someone. I sometimes feel confused or feel like the person on the other side of the conversation does not understand and can not depict different speech methods like sarcasm while texting.
Midnight Robber was a good read though I was a little skeptical about it at various points throughout the book. But it really came together in the end. This book fit right in with the flow of this class. It had some very futuristic attributes to it and also quite a bit of sexual disturbances. This book had a strange dialog and original way of connecting ideas. This book kept me thinking about The Filth and The Ticket that Exploded due to the overwhelming sexual disturbances forced upon the main character Tan-Tan. Her father repeatedly rapes her, she kills him and then sure enough, gives birth to his child. This book was also related to Renell and Kac’s collaborative writing Life Extreme and Paul Di Pilippo’s book Ribofunk because of all the futuristic creatures and genetically altered beings.

Animals and Machines:
Animals and machines today are two very opposite forms. First, animals are biological life forms and as of today, machines are not living creatures. Over the last approximately billion years, animals have developed into intricate beings from just tiny organisms. Living organisms were given a massive world in which to live, reproduce, and evolve. They started millions and millions of years ago, and they show no sign of stopping. This span of time gave animals the opportunity to diversify and multiply. It is amazing what nature can develop. Machines on the other hand are man-made creations. They are not one of nature’s beautiful creations, but a human idea conceptualized through metal and plastic. Machines and animals are similar in the sense that they both originated from a much simpler form. Animals came from very simple organisms and machines developed and progressed from the simple tools created by early humans. Both developed over many years, however machines are developing exponentially faster than it took animals to become what they are today, and as they develop more and more each year they become more and more akin to animals. In Life Extreme, Renell and Kac look deep into technological intelligence and new age evolution induced by humans. As I think about the process of developing robotics with the capability to obtain advanced synthetic nervous systems, I can’t help but compare a machine with this capability to a biological being. Through technology, it is amazing what we are doing with animals and genetics. For example, the Wholphin, which is a mix between a whale and a dolphin, was conceived through the non-invasive assistance of scientists. I can’t help to think of this new human-influenced creature as a robotic creation. With robotic technology advancing as it is today, I believe that robotics will someday soon not be viewed as much as a machine but more as an animal, not biological but a whole new category. Ronell and Kac also talk about how humans train each other along with their pets to be good companions, and as of now robotics in my opinion are not companion compatible. I think to be a companion an organism has to be able to think and have specific knowledge and history of the other person. Today this is not possible for machines, although it is bound to happen in the near future.
Humans have many uses for both machines and animals. Humans have used animals and tools to form and maintain farmland, now farmers no longer depend on animals to do there work because they have built machines to do the specific tasks quicker and with less effort than it would take with horses, cows, ox, etc. I personally have used many machines in Wenatchee, WA. while working in orchards. For as long as I have worked there, we have never used animals as laborers, we strictly use machines: tractors, scales, ATVs and automobiles. Without these machines, the harvest would be much more labor intensive and would require many more people and animals for assistance. At least for now, machines have been dependent on humans to make them work and progress into what they are today. Interestingly enough, machines and humans have a lot in common. If we were made in God’s image, machines were made in ours, but more specifically in one aspect of us. Although, in many societies, people are becoming like a new version of machines. This is typical in religions and cults where people no longer can think for themselves and turn into close-minded individuals. They lose the freedom to think freely and their rationality becomes dependent on others’ concepts and rules. This sounds eerily similar to the “mind” of a machine. Ultimately, machines and animals occupy different realms of the known universe, two realms that will slowly begin to resemble each other.


Blogs:
I just finished reading the entire blog of Kelsey entitled Samurai K. I thoroughly enjoyed reading what she had to say. It made me feel like I was not the only person slightly lost and not completely head over heals about the advancements in technology and the idea of machines taking over our planet. “I've been thinking a lot about the robot video we saw in class and I can't help but be scared of robots taking over the planet now. Those computer generated robots that evolve were probably one of the more scary things I have seen in a while.” Bloged Kelsey. This has been one of the main themes that I have been thinking about in this class. After we watched that video on the gray goo I was terrified! All I could think about was how stupid the human race is if we know that this could realistically happen and yet we continue research and push the progression of these tiny robotic organisms. Yes, theoretically Nanobots could help human kind, the slim chance of them destroying planet earth as we know it is just not worth it to me, obviously. In this class I especially loved the topic of multiple dimensions and universes. I wish that we could have covered a little more of these topics. “The Powers of Ten and the Dimensions video were very unanticipated for the first day, as was the Donald Duck cartoon but they made me think and made the whole class atmosphere open-minded and a bit more jolly,” Kelsey said. As depressing and frightening some of the material was in this class, I did seem to be somewhat comfortable during in class discussion. The Donald Duck and similar videos where a good way to bring forth controversial subjects in a comforting manner.
In my honest opinion, The Ticket That Exploded was a huge waste of my time. “Well, I guess reading doesn't have to make sense but I'm having a hard time grasping anything that is written in the book. Maybe because I don't understand the right kind of "sense". Sometimes I think I have a vague idea but how does the author expect the reader to understand the story when it is all cut up into page long nonsense sentences?” wrote Kelsey. My eyes must just be totally closed from this kind of “sense” because there was very little of that book that I understood. Now that I think about it, I should have put more time into thinking about this text and really trying to figure out the relationships between what was cut in and out of this text. I can depict little similarities between the various topics, however I wish I would have put a little more time into understanding them. “So I'm 75 pages into The Ticket That Exploded...It seems to me like there is many different stories going on at once and I can't seem to link them together. I read one part and I'm like whoa this might make sense then there is static for a few pages then a whole new mind boggling situation occurs. For example there is the weird skin suit and how prisoners are being milked, the word machine, the nova criminals, and the sex area amusement park. A commonality I found between these is the fact that they all have to do with sexual acts, and the recording of sound and images and language. I'll be back when I have my epiphany…” This is exactly what I mean. I just don’t have the thinking capacity or literary creativeness that is required for this text. You responded to this post by asking the question, “why do we have such a reaction to sex?” But this is not traditional sex, throughout this book there is countless scenes of extremely creative abstract ways of achieving pleasure. Which to the average college student seems a tad bit out of the ordinary.
I look back on my blog posts thinking about my grade and regret not posting more about the books we read in class, what I felt a greater reason for bloging was to connect our personal thoughts and experiences to the class. Kelsey’s blog titled, Brain Waves and Things……. better correlates to my blog.
Most people in discussion during class seem to think that using as much technology as possible will better the human race. I on the other hand agree with Kelsey in this entry, “I love technology. Well at least what technology is right now. And if we don't use the knowledge we have won't it go to waste? If we have the means to better our lives than why not? For example, the internet, cell phones, and cameras are all things that I would hate not to have, but if this pretty simple technology starts to evolve and decide that I am useless than I am willing to go live in the forest without it.” She couldn’t have better explained how I feel about technology! While I love it how it is maybe not even as much as there is today, I cant stand the thought of it progressing any further. It steadily increases the amount of work we have to put up with. In the Hanford Nuclear plant along the Columbia river 2300 tons of nuclear waste is now leaking out of the underground storage unit and is estimated to reach the Columbia river in less than 10 years. This is a great example of how the advancements of technology is slowly but surely negatively effecting the human race.
My experience in this class has been beneficial and I have learned a great deal about how to appreciate the small in different topics and literature. It is nice to know that Kelsey and I have similar outlooks among various topics however I just can’t get myself to believe that advancements in technology are going to better this world. It’s just my honest opinion, that it’s best to leave change up to evolution and mother nature.
Thanks for an interesting experience and a thought provoking class! I hope you like my painting ☺
-Scotty Broberg