Play Money

So apparantly I'm the only one in the whole class who will admit to being any level of a "gamer". So far, everyone else has talked about how they don't see the point of playing these games. Well, as a moderate "gamer", I truly enjoy Dibbell's book as I fully understand the topic and questions he is posing. For many years, my "game of choice" was Runescape, a free online game (although you could pay $5 a month for extra features) at www.runescape.com. I would spend hours on this game and I'm now a level 63! After reading Dibbell for a while, I began asking myself why exactly I find myself so drawn into these games. Dibbell talks about Flow, in which he draws from a psychologist who defines Flow: "Concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted" (37). To me, this exactly reflected my interactions with not only games but also reading. When I am drawn into a good book, I will sacrifice other aspects of my life until I have finished it, often sitting for hours without realizing it. So why am I so susceptible to the appeals of fiction and virtual reality, which, after all, are quite similar? I blame it partially on the fact that I become very attached to things very quickly (I'll admit, I still have my "baby blanket" on my bed at home). In high school, it used to be guys, but now that I have a boyfriend, I've found it better for the relationship to direct this attachment to other areas (haha). I've since found my attention grabbed by games. Sega, X-Box, Nintendo, Computer games, you name it, I love it. The stereotype of "gamers" is that they are all nerds -- they are weird because they play games; however, could they play games because they are weird? Although this semantic does not sound any better, it means a whole different thing. Many use games as a way to escape life (often what writers claim they do when they are writing). In a world such as Runescape, one is, in practical terms, safe from the world outside. Here, in a contained environment that they can in most senses control, they can overcome obstacles and become something of a hero and a "big man on campus". I'll be the first to acknowledge that I have always had self-esteem issues for a variety of reasons, though for some inexplicable reason, the feeling I got when I reached level 60 on Runescape was equivalent to getting an A in a tough course. I had an odd sense of accomplishment and pride -- when all I had really done was "wasted hours of my life" by sitting in front of a computer clicking on things. Perhaps I thought it attested to my patience to be able to sit for that long. Perhaps this patience is the Flow that Dibbell was talking about. I love to work, not because I enjoy it, but because it gives me a sense of purpose. Games such as Runescape give people enough freedom to establish their own identity in the world but still enough restrictions to make them feel as though they have accomplished something. And who knows, maybe they have.

Grammar and Neovox #2

A lot of people have been discussing grammar lately and how it effects people's views of you, especially on an online course. I'll admit, I am a spelling nazi. I am ashamed of myself when I misspell words, and I look down on others who can't spell at all. Ironically, my boyfriend is probably the worst speller I've ever met. For a while, I didn't have a proper cell phone, and so the majority of our discussions were held over AIM, much to my chagrin. On my good days, I'd find myself fixing his errors in my head; on my bad days, I'd just tell him where he was doing things wrong. Thankfully, he's never taken it to heart and we're still dating (3 years next Saturday!). Not only do his mannerisms in that sense irk me, but it makes me scared of how other people think of him. He's very intelligent when it comes to computers, cooking, fixing things, and cars (all of the above I'm fairly poor with), though when it comes to writing and expressing himself, he fails. He doesn't seem to have a problem with it, but I myself notice when other people can't communicate well and think less of them for it (I know, it's terrible). I feel that writing is an essential skill that everyone should work to establish well in their own lives.

Now, slightly off topic, I think I've come up with my Neovox article: Video Games. Some people have been discussing this as well, but, I want to talk about how video games DON'T make kids more violent and how they could actually help kids socially. I'm obsessed with video games myself, and though I love to shoot at those little computer graphics, I'm entirely too sensitive to even consider killing somebody. I can't even hurt somebody's feelings when they deserve it and escape from feeling guilty.

Finishing A Whole New Mind

I haven't been on top of my postings, and I apologize for that. I've actually had this book done for over a week as Diana and I did our Podcast last Monday, I just haven't written my reading response.

Most of the book is devoted to Pink describing his vision of "The Six Senses", Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. All of these impact me in more ways than I realize, however, the Meaning section really got me thinking. I was raised as a Methodist and have since then realized that I am an atheist. So when I came across this chapter, I was skeptical. Pink states that:

Across many different realms, there's a growing recognition that spirituality--not religion necessarily, but the more broadly defined concern for the purpose and meaning of life--is a fundamental part of the human condition. Indeed, our capacity for faith--again, not religion per se, but the belief in something larger than ourselves--may be wired into our brains. (221)

Here I will disagree with Pink. At first, I felt that regular sense of shame I often feel when people are talking about religion, or in Pink's case, "spirituality". I do not believe in God, I do not believe in Heaven, and I do not believe in good or evil. Those thoughts nearly made me dismiss this final chapter, however, all of this reading about people trying to find meaning in their lives inevitably brought me to ask myself the same question. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I put everything into the hands of humanity. I realize that there is "good" and "bad" in everyone, however, I attribute those factors to the actual people and their circumstances rather than outer supernatural beings competing over the mystical soul. Basically, I came to the conclusion that the "meaning of life" is, in rude terms, to propogate the human race. In more pleasant terms, it is to leave a "better world" for our posterity. I think Empathy and Symphony play more into Meaning than Pink realized. I am kind to people because I know what it is like to have someone be kind to me, and also, have someone be mean to me. I do my duties because other people are dependent on my completing a task. Inescapably, as I have found, it always comes back to people. Believe what you will about the "after-life", but don't forget about this world.

So, basically, I disagree with Pink that we are inherently spiritual, as I am not; however, I do feel that we have a desire to do something large and important, rather just for ourselves or for the world in general.

Oh well

So the entire post I put on the course blog was meant to go here, I guess I really am slipping! I was going to delete it and paste it here, but I thought that it was something the rest of the class could talk about.

As I mentioned on that post, I'm looking for a summer job, and the internet is really helping me out a ton. I don't think I would be as sure about my future if I didn't have this technology readily available. With the internet, I can look for jobs at my leisure, whether it's now at 2pm or even at 2am. It gives me access to thousands of job listings in my area. The same could be said for apartments and colleges. Although many people fear that the internet is some huge cybernetic Godzilla-like monster that will take over the world, I am very happy that it is available to me. We are driven by the clock now more than ever and having a device that allows us to break out of that cycle even on occaision is a wonderful tool in my book.

I think that also holds true to this course in general, and perhaps that's why a lot of people have not been contributing as much as they would if it was a "normal" class. Without a set time period in which they sit down and face the professor, they are unsure as to how exactly they should budget their free time in order to complete the assignments. This course was definitely harder than I was expecting on more than one front, with the time factor being one of the biggest challenges. Unfortunately because we do not feel that same pressure here as we do with other classes, the readings and work become pushed back so we can do the work for our other classes, even though this class is as important, if not more important, than the others. This class is extremely modern and helps show us how to adapt to the changing world.

Anyway, I hope I can pull myself together and get through the next month and few days with my normal vigor.

A Whole New Book

I picked up Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind over Spring Break with some interest. In fact, the book caught my eye when I first bought it in January. I had heard of the contention between left-brain and right-brain thinking and was quite intrigued by it. In fact, in high school a few teachers told me that I was a "right-brain thinker", but I didn't quite know what they meant. I read through the first 100 pages of the book quite quickly and with interest. The best point Pink has made so far is that:

. . . logic without emotion is a chilly, Spock-like existence. Emotion without logic is a weepy, hysterical world where the clocks are never right and the buses always late. In the end, yin always needs yang.
This is especially true when it comes to our brains. The two sides work in concert--two sections of an orchestra that sounds awful if one side packs up its instruments and goes home . . . In other words, leading a healthy, happy, successful life depends on both hemispheres of your brain. (25-26)

Although most of this book is dedicated to educating readers as to the functions of the right side of the brain, Pink emphasizes the importance of utilizing both sides together for a "healthy, happy, successful life." The right side is not to be ashamed of or ignored, but embraced.
Pink also discusses outsourcing and its effects on our brains, in a sense. Although I consider myself a liberal, I'm not entirely against outsourcing--although there is much more to the topic, outsourcing allows for people to be freed from the mundane jobs and are able to focus their efforts on the "big picture", as Pink suggests:

[Outsourcing] is precisely what happened to routine mass production jobs . . . and just as those factory workers had to master a new set of skills and learn how to bend pixels instead of steel, many of today's knowledge workers will likewise have to command a new set of aptitudes. They'll need to do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money--using R-Directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component. (39-40)

Pink also spends a lot of time discussing Design. The fashion industry is perhaps one of the largest operations in America and Western Europe. Designer jeans can sell for as much as $1000, and people buy them! Pink suggests that design appeals to our right-brain tendancies. This brings to mind art and even writing, as writing is "designed" in a sense. Design is undoubtedly something that makes us human, as everything around us was designed and we yearn for even more.
So far I've thoroughly enjoyed Pink's book and I can't wait to read more!

Page to New Age

So again, in an attempts to find a topic to address in this post, I went to cnn.com's Tech section and came across this article: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/02/28/book.browsing.reut/index.html.
It is about two very large Publishing companies, Random House and HarperCollins, now allowing customers to look at actual pages of the book online.

In a way, this seems really silly to me that this is big news. I mean, you can go to any library or bookstore in the world and they want you to look through the books. Why would this be that much different?

And yet, as an aspiring editor and author, it makes me nervous. I'm only 20, yet my career area has changed so much in the past few years that I'm worried I won't be able to keep up. My traditional sense of books, editing, and publishing are going to need to drastically alter if I am to keep up in this internet-based world. In a way, it makes me sad, and I really hope that books will not fade out. Having a book in my hand isn't the greatest joy in my life, but I couldn't imagine it being any other way. I've tried to read books online before and I'd rather just go to the store and buy it then read it for free online. Really, I'm not sure why, go hire a psychologist, I just know that I prefer the books. There's something about going home and looking at my crammed-full bookcase that gives me a wonderful feeling inside (as corny as that is) and I know no amount of book-files could compare to the thick spines of my adored books. I am way too possessive of my books, for reasons unknown to me, to the point where I yelled at my boyfriend for accidentally tearing a page in one. It wasn't even a big tear either, just a small little rip that most other people probably wouldn't have noticed.

So in the technological scheme of things, this step for the publishing companies seems logical and intelligent business-wise. Emotionally, however, we'll see how I cope.

Snow Crash Chapters 43-71

Overall, I really loved this book. It was such a change from Smart Mobs and definitely something more in the genre that I love to read. That being said, I felt really jipped by the ending. It was so quick and there was almost no character resolution at all. No, I take that back, there was none. So as a piece of fiction, I really feel that that was something Stephenson should have addressed. Yes, it is open-ended, but what the hell happened to Raven? Does Y.T. reconcile with her mom? Does her mom quit the Feds? Do Hiro and Juanita get together? How does that go? What happened to Da5id? What happens to all the people on the Raft? What about the Pearly Gates place? Stephenson leaves us with so many questions and as an author he really should have known better.

Regardless, I really enjoyed his writing style. A little bit that I found especially hilarious was: "A couple of youths are playing video games inside, and they barely look up at the astonishing sight of the chopper" (441). To me, that was a humongous piece of social commentary, that the kids were so wrapped up in their games that something as crazy as a helicopter landing in their backyard doesn't phase them.

Unfortunately I don't have much to say in terms of technology and stuff. In fact, I'd say that some things will always be the same ("history is doomed to repeat itself"). It's interesting that at the base of it all this scifi novel is about a virus that is transmitted through the most basic of forms.

As a really extreme side note, I love the About the Author in the back. Did anybody else read that? It's great.