Socialsciecetelecommunicationdevelopment.

What does it mean to be human? We are able to perceive time, the future, past and present along. We can distinguish and express feelings and we can analyze and think critically. We have a conscious and can determine whether we mistakes. Together, humans have developed cities and continue to populate the areas throughout the world, from Antarctica to collect scientific data to the vast, arid lands of the Sahara Desert.

I honestly wonder sometimes however if anyone has just stopped and questioned where we’re going with all this research. What exactly are we doing with all this jumble of information and data that we collect? What does it mean to actually be part of science? In a recent lecture given by Andrew Murphie, a distinguished professor at the University of New South Wales, there was mention of how science depends on communication and how there is a new development of science communication. Perhaps it might even be a major or concentration at universities one day. 

However, how does all this research and specialization tie in together to make the world a “better place” if that is even what we’re striving for as humanity. Why are there so many contradictions (I’m sure you can find a couple in this article) and why does humanity continue to think that progress is a thing of the future. For all we know there might not be a future considering that some religions believe that world will end in 2012 and others believe that it will end this December. 

We don't know what the future holds, but as long as we have hope in what future generations can create to remain together, then we're ok.

"The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting." - Andy Warhol

Creating Matters that Matter.

The law of conservation of mass simply states that "matter cannot be created or destroyed." But what exactly happens when philosophers such as Glen Fuller explore cultural groups such as nomadic tribes that never settle down in a single place. How is it possible for them to communicate and remain in contact with others? It seems like this might be easy to do with the aid of cell phones and the internet. I can be in Sydney today, Tokyo tomorrow and Paris in three weeks and still remain in contact with my family and friends. The connections that you make with people do not have to be broken. Even though Lavoisier proved that matter/energy cannot be created or destroyed," the way that we flow and move through life can be created and destroyed. Our frames can be broken up and built down. That is just how technology applies to human society today; it is the catalyst to the enzyme.

But what would happen when there is too much high activity and virtual potential? Will we reach a plateau and will all of our progress remains at a single level? Will we continue to develop newer technologies to improve communication, archiving, and other information? How much information is enough and how much can we store? Will we develop new frames and set of minds to restructure all that has been restructured? If we cannot create nor destroy matter then why do we strive to come up with new technologies, information and ideas and what exactly is progress?

These questions may not be readily available for answers but by improving our methods of communication and fulfilling our human needs for connections and relationships we seem to progress and get things done at a faster pace. 

Media After All.

Today, during my one of classes, I was informed by a friend from America that Osama bin Laden had been killed by the CIA.

My friend lives in Los Angeles and I currently live in Sydney. 

Our great technological capabilities connect people through wires and hard drives all over the world. It seems like an easy task to spread a message across dimensions yet for some reason convincing people that global warming has been a slow progression. I find that I often come across motivational videos such as "Coalition of the Willing" yet I always end up with the same thought: "I should do something, but I don't really have the motivation because I'm interested in doing other things."[1]

Although the internet serves as a library and a storage unit where you can find anything you want to look for, our generation does not use the internet as a place for change itself. Instead, the internet is place where our generation can interact with other relatives in other countries, share information and spark ideas that can promote change. Change occurs outside of the realm of the internet where the tangible interacts and creates reactions.

In order for change to occur though, there needs to be a common ground and a positive, general consensus for change which is achieved through people talking about events. 

"A multitude can always veer off somewhere unexpected under the spell of some strange attractor."[2]
 

By placing a greater emphasis on the act of communicating and actually criticizing our opinions and ideas, unity and consensus will develop naturally and an increase in progress will be noticeable. The mediums we use to communicate rely on us to survive. They are just there to serve as slaves to our human needs.

We are the media after all. 

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[1] Knife Part and Rayner, Tim and Robson, Simon (2010) Coalition of the Willing <http://coalitionofthewilling.org.uk >

[2] Terranova,Tiziana (2004) ‘From Organisms to Multitudes’ In Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age London: Pluto: 101-106.

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The War Between Politics and Twitter

So how did Obama really connect with the public during the nerve-wrecking elections of 2008? Through the use of Twitter, Facebook and other media ecologies, Obama was able to cut his campaign costs almost in half. The intertwining between these new facets of the technological world are currently going through such extreme exploitation that politics will eventually have to resort to new ways of campaigning and saving money. However, as stated by in the BBC Newsnight article "Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere, ‘they’ clearly up to a point are." [1] What does this exactly mean for the future of politics and technological medias? Obviously a new growth spurt is about to occur.

Because of the success of Obama's campaign, many of the up and coming candidates for the 2012 election will be using the same methods that Obama used to gain popularity. However, what they fail to recognize is that this method is a thing of the past. Technology is evolving at such a fast pace that the methods used four years ago are outdated and will not use get the message across. Changing is forever changing. In order to stay ahead of the wave, it would be wise to somehow use media internet advances such as de.li.cious, a site that allows you to keep track of links and stories on one page and browse through others favorite links. A place to combine and share everything that there is to see (because there is so much to see on the internet) might prove to reveal the most worthwhile result for the 2012 campaign.

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[1] Mason, Paul (2011) ‘Twenty reasons why it’s kicking off everywhere’, Idle Scrawls BBC, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/2011/02/twenty_reasons_why_its_kicking.html>

How Music Got Real.

The music industry today is one of the best examples that demonstrates how its chemistry and make-up is changed by its creators. New technologies develop and take a life of their own once we create them.

It tries to save itself and takes other ecologies and braids them in together to support itself. The industry, whether it be music, the media, or film, will rebuild itself if it's broken and if it sees that it's in danger of breaking down, it will use it's resources to ensure that it doesn't break down. For example, when record labels started losing money because of P2P, labels began to complain but they did not mention how much revenue they began to make because of the shows and the extra media products. Artists and celebrities today heavily rely on Twitter, blogs, and Facebook to connect with their audiences. They may not be collecting as much revenue from actual music sales, but the other side stuff that artists do today has proven to be a profitable market.

The music industry has been forced to diversify and rely on various ecologies such as Twitter, Facebook, and even Youtube to thrive.  “As they diversify, ecologies seem idled with transversals (Genosko 2003; Guattari 2000), connections that cannot be reduced to any one ecology or discipline and transform all those they pass through.”[1] It's not that there is a loss in music sales and such, it’s just that there is a combining of various industries and ecologies that build up the framework that supports it.

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[1] A Murphie “The World as Clock: The Network Society and Experimental Ecologies’ in Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 2004, 11:117-139, p. 123.

Ignorance is Bliss

One of the reasons that the virtual can be interpreted as ethereal and perplexing is because of the fact that the virtual depends on mixing physical matters and ecologies with platforms (i.e. computers, iPhones, Blackberries) that can combine bits and pieces of information, data, photographs, texts and numbers to create an environment accessible to others.  Through the virtual world of the internet and Facebook chat I can talk to my friends back home in New York and laugh about the fact that I live in the future because it is already Wednesday in Sydney and it is still Tuesday in New York. The virtual world of the internet serves as an environment where my friends and I can meet and converse even though we’re miles away in different time zones.

The creation of the virtual world however tells a great deal about human nature and how we want to organize information and communication.  The development of the virtual comes to be because of the need and want to not only communicate with others but also share information and organize information.  Director Lars von Trier tries to take the chaos of ants and simulate their chaos remotely by having actors act in certain ways whenever lights flashed in the rooms they were placed in The World Clock. Director Trier tries to have “control over chaos” by telling others how to act but in reality Trier simply creates a virtual world, a simulation of the real world instead of finding meaning in reality and what is in front of him.[1]   The lack of “control over chaos” drives Trier to create a place where he can organize what he finds to be meaningful information but ultimately Trier does not have full control of the actors and how they will perform.Again, he can only rely on what is real.

Perhaps Trier enjoys the fact that he has some control over the actors even though he is dependent on the ants nest. Even though he is aware of the lack of control he has over chaos, he tries to deal with this mentality and in order to solve his chaotic problem Trier has to accept a layer of unawareness. It is only then that one can come to terms with the virtual, reality, and everything in between.

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[1] A. Murphie, "The world as a clock: The network society and experimental ecologies" in Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 11, York University, Toronto, 2011, p. 122-124.

Ecologies. Mixings in the Makings.

 

I think it's easiest for me to think of ecologies as separate environments that have various branches that come together and intermix with each other to form other ecologies and environments. According to the Neil Postman, “an environment is, after all, a complex message system which imposes on human beings certain ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.”[1]

The painting above is actually a bunch of layers of different acrylic colors all mixing and meshing to create a background of color to create an ecology of emotion. I would like to believe that this background creation was born from my mindless thinking and blaring headphones. Simply letting loose. And then once I was aware of this looseness, I went ahead and created another layer that gave my painting an image and a meaning. Everything builds upon itself to create these environments.

I created a layer that used parts of my natural environment (i.e. the chair the man is sitting on) and my memory ( i.e. the lake-like scenery) intertwined with my state of mind. These two layers come together to create one painting, that belongs in a series of 10 paintings, which belong in a series of abstract works. Maybe one day a doctor that's trying to create a welcoming environment will buy it and perhaps a patient may gaze at it and forget altogether why they were even at the doctor's office in the first place. Because let’s face it, our environments affect our emotions and our emotions and passions are responsible for the drive that we need to overcome all obstacles.

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[1] Media Ecology Association (2009) ‘What is Media Ecology,’ <http://www.media-ecology.org/media_ecology/>

McLuhan: A Medium and Our Messages

One cannot deny that McLuhan's "the medium is the message" famous quotation reflects upon the myriad of technological advances that have developed within the last 100 years. Today, these technological advances have made it possible for people to view interviews of McLuhan over the interwebs, making him a message within the medium.[1]
 
Although the clips about mediums and messages mention that technologies are connecting the world and make it, in the words of McLuhan "a unit", because of these technologies such as the computer and the interwebs there are now virtual worlds from IMVU to SecondLife and so much more. The present and tangible world is much more accessible while the virtual world divides and replicates continuously. For example, about three hours ago I decided to create a new blog and so that now I can share information with someone else.

These mediums and technologies are constantly sending messages and acting as messages themselves to serve as windows into us. We choose what we would like to show and have control of our actions and what we care to share. We can choose to post pictures on Facebook or we can choose to not write that mean comment on our friend’s wall. We’ve developed our mediums and messages. We just need to learn to moderate ourselves and make the correct choices.

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[1] CBC (2011) “Marshall McLuhan, the Man and his Message,” CBC Digital Archives,  <http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/media/topics/342/>