A Being Of Technology

Has it ever occurred to you that almost everything in our society is driven by technology? Look at the way we dress, talk, and view things. When you look closely, it feels as if our whole lives are written along the lines of technology. If this is so then what are we really?

Homo Technologicus, user of technology, is what most of us are. Daily, we make use of things that are 

supposed to make life easier. Every day, we have personal experiences with such objects without knowing much about them. It seems almost impossible to function without them. Try imagining life without an alarm clock, cellphone or a computer? It has become unthinkable since we use them so often that they have become a part of our identity. But the ironic truth is that we keep using them but don’t even know how to fully utilize them. Most of us are only users of such advancements. Rarely do we see someone stop and think about how these things emerged.  

I guess I believe that we are all just mere users of technology since we cannot come to understand how each and every detail of it emerged. In fact, I don’t even believe that there exists a technology that sprung out of pure invention .This realization came to me when I thought about mobile phones. I know that we would most likely find that Dr. Martin Cooper was the one who invented it. But is that really true? Isn’t technology after all a revelation? Aren’t we just using all this technological information to “invent” new technology? When it comes down to it, it feels almost impossible to go down to every detail of technological advancements to create a new tool. The world we live in today is then just a modification of these patterns within technology and its self-revelation to us.

In a sense, my being a Homo Technologicus saddens me. I use my laptop every day without a clue as to what makes it work. I guess this issue’s connection to reality is what really makes being a Homo Technologicus saddening. Our society is defined by the technologies we have now. We classify our kind based on which gadgets they have, can use and can buy. This is a sad reality since the divide we have exists because of advancements we claim to use but do not even understand. 

CLAYGO, Filipino!

            Holding your food tray, you move past a multitude of occupied tables, looking for a vacant one where you can settle and enjoy your meal. After a few more rounds, you find yourself an empty one. To your disappointment; however, the table is full of food scraps and soiled wrappers. So, you wait a little longer until a waiter comes to clean your table.

            Does this sound familiar to you? I am 99% sure that your answer would be a resounding yes. This has always been the system of Philippine fast food chains. People leave all their scrap on the table and it’s perfectly ok because doing so wouldn’t really be a violation against common courtesy. It has always been the waiters’ job to wipe the tables clean -- not the ones who actually made the mess.

            In other countries, however, let’s take for example, the United States of America, it is mandatory for costumers to clean their table before they leave. It would have been overtly rude if they were to leave their trash on the table. Technically, it’s a Your trash, your responsibility kind of thing. It is no one’s job to clean your mess for you.

            CLAYGO, or the Clean as You Go Policy, very much applies in other countries. Why then does this policy not sit very well with Filipinos?  Could it be because we have been so used to having people, whose job’s to clean our trash, that we find it difficult and, perhaps, weird, to clean the tables by ourselves? Would this behavior reveal that the middle to upper class Filipinos are already prima dona’s without them even noticing it? Taking into consideration that labor here is actually very cheap, it has been a way of life for Filipinos to hire maids and have them do all the work you tell them. This behavior is similar to how we treat table cleaners. We actually take them for granted until we realize that life wouldn’t be as convenient and as good without them. I honestly think that this mindset can be wrong and must actually be changed. It’s not always good to have people do the most menial things for you when you can actually just do them by yourself. With that, guess what we can do to start changing this mindset. CLAYGO anyone?

Originality - today's best friend

What makes a book, essay, poem, and any other kind of artistic work so interesting? They are interesting because they bring something new to the minds of others. Something original that many people would stop, look and exclaim, “Wow! That’s some interesting ideas you have there!” People always have something to say about some topic. There may be times where these ideas might coincide and match but there are also times where they are totally different. It gives a whole new different perspective to a certain subject.

In today’s world, ideas can be known easily through something we all know, the internet. Information can be known easily by just one tap of a finger on a mouse pad. Thoughts can be seen by everyone in the world. Someone can opt to write about a certain issue then if it is radical enough, the whole world can know it by just one click. That is not to say that this technology is something bad. Think of all good things the internet brought the world. You don’t have to look through a great big library and a whole section of books just to look for the history of a certain location. Everything is so accessible that you can know just about anything in the comfort of your home.

Although this tool gave way to a world where ideas can be shared to many people, this also gave way to a world where plagiarism became an issue. Plagiarism is basically copying another’s work or idea and claiming it is your own work. Just by not sourcing the text where the idea came from is already considered plagiarism. Since there is a great big access to much information, there are great many people who try to use another person’s original idea and say that he/she himself/herself thought of it.

There are times where plagiarism is merely mistake and he/she just forgot to source the person who have thought of the idea. Thus, caution must be practiced for even by just forgetting to properly cite the true owner of the idea is already considered plagiarism. For in lay man’s terms, plagiarism is stealing. Therefore, the only thing that can be said is, be mindful, cite properly and originality is today’s best friend to an easier and fulfilling life.

Image Sources:

<http://www.pyrczak.com/antiplagiarism/cartoons.htm>

<http://www.stjohns.edu/ev_cam_121128ay.event@digest.stjohns.edu%2Fstudent_life%2Fev_cam_121128ay.xml?context_date=11/26/2012>

<http://s612.beta.photobucket.com/user/peacered/media/my%20quotes%20and%20sayings/artful-s-quotes-originality.jpg.html?sort=3&o=38>

CTRL + ALT + SHIFT

From Samuel Morse’s telegraph registers in the 1800’s to Alexander Graham Bell’s revolutionary telephone to Steve Job’s trendsetting Apple computer, the world slowly stepped into the shores of the Information Age. The Information Age is the product of global industrialization and technological innovations that allows information to be manipulated for the betterment of the economy and evolution of a modern society.

It cannot be ignored that computers, smartphones and other gadgets are taking over the society. All of which have the goal of improving social cohesion, productivity growth and innovation. Accordingly, there is a significant concern in an individual’s role knowledge and code of behavior or discipline. To effectively maximize the function of the economy and the advancement of the society, communication in terms of literacy and education is required. However, there are also risks that come with the Information Age on an individual’s security and safety. No matter how the information age may push for global mobility and other seemingly great contributions, being too dependent on it may also lead to its probable downfall.

        As college students living in the early 21st century, we are brought up with a background on literacy and education on the information age. Sure enough, the Information Age has helped each of us access academic journals and other sources for our research papers or easily communicate with our friends and classmates but, consequently, it also led to the increasing cases of plagiarism, data theft and other cybercrimes, which everyone must be cautious and aware of. In the Philippines, it even came to a point that the government was called to attention regarding this critical and present issue. The Republic Act No. 10175 or the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012” was even passed and approved until Filipino ‘netizens’ protested against this alleged ‘Digital Martial Law’. Even if there is an evident uprising of illegal activities brought about by the Information Age, it cannot be ignored that majority of the people today are dependent on it.

Therefore, the task of each individual living in this Information Age is to CTRL + ALT + SHIFT. To control one’s life by learning. To alter any thought of information manipulation for one’s own benefit  and to only think about the betterment of the whole modern society. To shift one’s perspective every once in awhile as to not be too dependent on this age in time.

Image Sources:

<http://world-shaker.tumblr.com/post/3607790637/cavazzano-evolution>

<http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/technology-evolution>

<http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/google-glasses>

<http://www.lovecreative.com/work/christian-aid/ctrl-alt-shift>

Infinite

Opening Pandora's Box

Throughout history, science has continuously played a vital role in creating impact in our individual societies and our world at large. In this specialized and structuralized field, science constantly portrays itself well in its incessant shift of motion, discovery and movement. It thrives on progress, development and growth. Hence, through the various advancements, ideologies, theories and technological innovations revolutionized by science, it is inevitable that this field has already penetrated through the kind of lifestyle and existing social structures we have today.

        Through the existence of science, various human perceptions, ideologies, and thinking have changed. More so, evolved. In our simplest of acts and by the way we conduct ourselves in the society, science never ceased to contribute and generate numerous ways of improvement. It seeks to make man’s work easier. The possibilities of discovery seemed endless. With science at hand, in terms of dealing with problems, our ideologies and actions became more organized and systematic. In addition, our lifestyles became more fast-paced, pragmatic, and more info-based. The sciences contribution is not only limited to the various theories, laws, discoveries, advancements and machineries at hand. It goes beyond tangible results and also shows itself through its contribution to the current human mindsets.

Through science, humanity’s mindset continued to form. As known, humanity has always been fond of losing themselves in their pool of curiosities, of slipping themselves through numerous conquests and adventure of finding certain truth and light about the world. Hence, through the effect of science, humanity is pushed and encouraged to embark on an odyssey, of pursuing even more advancements that could make history. Through the gift of science, humanity embraced the mindset that we are capable of finding solutions to our answers, of discovery, especially in terms of improving the state of our conditions.

But most importantly, taking aside science’s contribution as well as its immediate effects in modern industrialization and globalization, science affected individual lives and society by teaching us--really how to be {infinite}.