The Outside World is a Large World.

Staying lost, or expanding out.

We have two sides of technology; an optimistic attitude, and a fearful, pessimistic attitude. The two key points present in the videos, is we can stay lost in technology, or expand out. We use the concept of the origami unicorn within the video to express both points of view. We create a transmedia story within the videos that express how many platforms are used daily by society today, and giving the specific example of our class videos. We can create moments within the videos that can be placed side by side having a distinct closeness that reflect similar ideas or concept, juxtaposition. Other ideas of technology can be expressed through articulation. Show how things have changed, and why it was changing. Involve the distinction between time and space and how our society moves within the day. Our class is an origami unicorn. We are an example, like the Matrix, of an origami unicorn. We use different mediums and technological platforms daily to generate the main idea, and concept of the class. We use the mediums to our advantage to create the bigger picture and the overall message. This is the concept that should be used within the final video. Take multiple scenes to create a distinct message that the audience can take away from.

One scene that can be shown within the final video for the get your flow on team is in the video “A Day in the Matrix” where the song lyrics have closeness and a relatable aspect to what is being shown in the video. Instead of Ali narrating herself, she used the song lyrics as what she is trying to express.

The buzz buzz boom final video team can juxtapose Ruth’s ideas about technology over Seth’s and how they have  a common ground that can say something about our class, whether it be a message of how our society gets lost because we use selective attention, or that our society expands to the outside world and has a balance.

An explosion, a BOOM.

Seth Gore, he came in with a BOOM. That experience was definitely Buzz worthy.

When interacting with Seth in the class and seminar, and hearing his responses to the questions our class gave him, I learned that his main point when writing his short story Buzz Buzz Boom was that we are all human, and as humans, we can all communicate. He showed this point when answering a question, “Were any of the characters of a different race in the Buzz Buzz Boom?” Seth responded that he didn’t intend for any of them to be of a different race, but that doesn’t impact the story either way. I find that statement very powerful. “I hear with my eyes” was another quote of his. Besides the poetic factor it holds, it has several underlying meanings to it. One being that Seth doesn’t lack the ability to hear, he gains a sense. When you see the world how he does as a deaf person, you gain more about the world. This was most present when he showed the seminar class a video without any sound, and hearing my classmate’s opinion of the video showed that they were able to gain another perspective. For example, there was a scene where waves were flowing through a cove and crashing against the rocks. A reaction to the scene would be vastly different depending on if you could hear or not. One would be tense after watching and hearing the chaotic waves, but on the other hand, without the sound of the crashing waves, and just witnessing the water provides a person with relaxation and serenity.

Steph, during the seminar spoke about how our society is so close-minded, and we only pay attention to the familiar, but that needs to change, because sometimes the things that aren’t familiar, the “different” in the world, is important.  This fact that our society gravitates to what is familiar to us is an example of narrowcasting. Steph then began to say how it is a very white statement to say, “We are all equal.” Seth seemed to agree. Our society needs to bridge the gap of being in a world that isn’t equal.

Seth made a point to our class that he has a gift rather then a condition.  He is broadcasting that being deaf isn’t a lack of; it is a gain, a gift. He told our class if he had the opportunity for a day to hear he would take it, but if he could be a woman for a day, he would as well. It wouldn’t make sense in his mind to change the life he has.

Seth was proud of ASL as a language, and how it is superior to English in many ways. One being that in using ASL, a person can better understand communication systems because ASL uses visuals. Seth stated that in using visuals, it is easier to get an abstract point across, where as with words, it is harder. Seth and Steph both mentioned during the seminar that in ASL there is sign, signified, and sense. Steph applied a communication concept learned that sense and signified will always be the same if looking at the building block approach. 

Another point that was pointed out during class is when ASL is being communicated between the signer and the interpreter, words get lost in the translation. That holds true in English, but more on the lines of miscommunication. In a conversation between two hearing people, an example of miscommunication is present when a person’s tone is not communicated well. In ASL though, tone is shown through facial expressions, or the speed in with the signer is signing. An example Seth gave in how translation is lost is: a signer will sign “to the store I go” but the translator will say, “I went to the store.”

What truly hit home was seeing the deaf community at Hampshire College react to him. The joy they had in how he presented his pride in being apart of the deaf community. One woman signed to him how happy she was to be able to learn the wisdom he had to share. 

Having Seth and Ruth visit our class has really opened my eyes to the beauty the outside world has, and that language is powerful, but at the same time it is a bad vehicle that we have become accustomed to. Having a fishbowl experience with Ruth before Seth came was also enlightening because we had a chance to know her point of views on the way technology is beneficial for the deaf community, and specific examples of how it helps her life.

Hearing Seth laugh was beautiful to me, but also just being able to interact with him personally on napkins at Berkshire Dining Hall after the seminar was also an experience to cherish. When he was in Berk, he wrote to me that he was sorry for being so distracted, but he is taking in all of the architecture and structure of the building. I found that interesting, I thought he would more pay attention to how chaotic and crazy the dining hall was with all the college students, but he saw the interior structure and building itself. I walk away from this experience knowing the other perspectives to consider when living in society today, and how Seth, being part of the deaf community sees in his everyday life, as well as his views on technology.

Response to babyiris

Well first of all, thank you for analyzing my blog. I like how you showed the connections between all three of the blogs you read, and how the entries had many similar discussions. I feel today, our generation spends the day very similarly. Which brings up our final project and that we should reach out to our generation and show them what technology has done for our world today, the good and bad of it all. The question and theme that is brought up in our class is What is the Matrix. We soon found out that our world today is a Matrix-like world. I believe the most important information we have learned is that we are currently in something bigger than us and that it can’t be controlled as easily as we perceive. We as a class need to go deeper into what media has done to our world and express that. I believe that technology is a big topic, and many people are having revelations about how much our world has changed, and how this day in age is the technology era…everything has to be new. We are influenced by what surrounds us, which is technology.  

Response to jl420 and csilv1

We are immersed into a technological world. Our main theme is that our society is living in a Matrix. The Matrix is a prototype for our world today. I think we need to find if the new forms of technology that we have become so accustomed to are helping or destroying us. I think that is the main question that has been coming up is whether technology is a bad thing. Our class has heard so much of the bad and have been given wake up calls, but there is plenty of good that technology has been able to give us. I think this gives way into what audience we should focus on. We should focus on our generation. We have grew up around technology and have seen and experience the good and bad of it. I think the only way we can get our message across, is speaking to people our own age because they have similar mindsets. I believe the most important information we have learned is that we are currently in something bigger than us and that it can’t be controlled as easily as we perceive. We as a class need to go deeper into what media has done to our world and express that, the good and the bad.  

Miscommunication (Comm Seminar)

All three speakers had a common ground of the sense that within communication, there is plenty of miscommunication, whether it is through media, intercultural face-to-face interaction, or through sustainability in a country. Each speaker touched upon, or hinted that language is ambiguous and when communicating anything with another person, you can lose sight of the bigger picture with the confusion.  

There is a substantial amount of miscommunication within film. The viewers don’t always interpret a film how the director does, which can lead to unfair evaluations. In the realm of film, the MPAA; the people who rate the film: G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17 recently gave the movie “Blue Valentine” a rating NC-17 due to miscommunication through the film and viewer. The MPAA viewed the film and instead of seeing the underlying meaning of the film, they thought the multiple sexual scenes as being pornographic.  NC-17 is a deathly rating in the film world because a film with such rating won’t be played in local theaters, having the film unable to be a box office hit. Having this harsh of a misunderstanding could cost a film its income.  

Talking to a person alone can be challenging, whether it be through technology or in person. Miscommunication is possible more so through technology because you can’t recognize a tone of voice. Tone of voice is very important when conversing with someone because it allows you as a listener to be able to extract different emotions of the speaker. In short, language is ambiguous. It is easier to communicate with someone when you have a visual of the person, when you know the context of the conversation, when you can see clear body language cues, when you can hear the tone of the person’s voice, and finally when you know the relationship you have with the person. Even with all of that, miscommunication is still possible. Imagine having all the communication “guidelines” so to speak but being faced with the challenge of communicating cross-culturally.  A person cannot rely on their basic communication knowledge anymore because every culture has different communication values per-say. A sign of a person being bored through their body language for you might mean a person is engaged in the conversation in another culture. With that gap comes much irritation. Similar to the irritation a director has with its viewers not understanding the purpose or full meaning of his or her film.

Lastly, solving global and national problems allows for miscommunication. When looking at problems such as the narcissistic epidemic, you can see a dividing line between the definition of narcissism and how people display it quite naturally. In a news video watched, you saw that parents especially have been told wrong, or misinterpreted the means of giving their child confidence. Parents will tell their children that they are the best, and one day can be a president, or be a powerful person. It is a parents nature to boost a child’s confidence so that they value themselves, but children, when growing up perceive the added confidence given to them as ego boosts, rather then self value. This allows a children to grow up becoming very infatuated with him or herself. They become narcissistic due to the miscommunication that occurred when parents read children help books, and then through the miscommunication the child gets when hearing the false confidence boosters. When dealing with this epidemic, you need to backtrack and give your child the harder truth in life rather then the false encouragement, so that the miscommunication between the child and parent won’t occur.

With all those examples, language being ambiguous won’t change. There is always going to be miscommunication between people in whatever circumstance, because as humans we don’t all possess the knowledge to understand everything about communicating. With this seminar, I have learned more then the power of miscommunication, I have learned the many different ways I can go with my communication degree. This field is very diverse and has many opportunities depending upon your interests which is refreshing because I want to be able to expand my options on what I am capable of doing after college rather than being limited. 

My communication confessions.

Hello, my name is Carleigh and I am addicted to media…

My generation and society today has conditioned me to be a constant user. It is due from the amount of exposure and familiarity I have towards new mediums. I became known of the social networks by the hype and talk of it all. I have the “hots” for media, and I like my media hot, as do the rest of us. I am in a society where knowledge is fed to me, and the participation that I give is minimal. Not that cool media is bad; it just takes more work from the participant.  Technology has shaped us. It has shaped the way professors teach, and how people view the world today. In all my classes, they use videos, PowerPoint presentations, pictures, computer sites to find articles, computer sites for checking grades, computer sites for homework, and email. I haven’t seen a teacher use no source of technology as a way of teaching. Not only is my generation connected, but also other generations are joining the hype and connecting themselves into the machine world. I’ve learned from looking into the lens of a technology user, that we as users aren’t the controllers, but the controlled. We live in a world where time controls the space around us. A space are: places, sites, rooms, domains that are “opened”, “entered”, “visited”, “closed”. (Stewart) At a college campus, such as UMASS, we have a wide range of rooms that are entered by the students and professors, and are environments for the students to learn. But as you look around the room, you see outlets. This space was built with outlets and ports for technology such as projectors and computers due to the time we live in.

Technology and media has affected the way we communicate nonetheless. For me personally, I communicate more through the Internet and texting than face-to-face interaction. People say that my generation was formatted to be horrible communicators. I don’t believe that is true, though. I can interpret the tone of voice through a text by knowing what the context of the conversation is, and the relationship I have with the person I am communicating with. But on the other hand, our people skills aren’t improving. Just like school systems, companies also use an abundant amount of technology and media. You talk to a person through emails, or tweet them, or create blogs to post ideas. In meetings, you use a PowerPoint presentation as your note-cards rather then just talking to your peers. Our everyday behaviors and patterns are changed because we adapted to the new forms of communication.

When I am in class, I look around and see kids texting on their phones, going on the Internet to look at facebook or their blog, or even typing up notes in a Word document. What happened to pen and paper? Everything we do (besides sleeping) is controlled by our cellphones, radio, TV, or our computers. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people saying “my phone is like my baby” or my computer is in a bad mood. We treat technology like it is a human being, programming our minds that our communication is real. I believe people thinking their phone or computer is a person, they treat their in-person interactions with people as they would on a computer or a text. This would explain the awkwardness my generation has when talking face-to-face with another person.

Just taping a day of your life would show other people a lens into your life; and how that life is captivated by technology. If a specific place were to be filmed, I feel your experience in a lecture and then film your experience in a smaller classroom setting to display the difference of each. These places would be great settings to truly see how media and technology has controlled the way we function. And in doing two different classroom settings, you are differentiating between what environment is more dependent on technology. By doing this film activity, you can make connections not only between how the two different classes function, but what you as the viewer are likely to pay attention to in both settings. Are you paying attention to the other people on their computers looking at facebook profiles in the lecture, or are you paying attention to the teacher. Similar with the small classroom, are you paying attention to the teacher or looking at students’ texting. You can see what is grabbing the students’ attention more. I believe you can only make valid connections between the two classes by looking at the medium of technology. I feel technology can either captivate an audience or not depending on the setting it is held in.

And that is my story.

break the ice.

This is going to be a collection of work done for my com121 class.