Cognitive Surplus for the Better

This is interesting because cognitive surplus is not a defined discrete idea. But the way Shirky uses cognitive surplus is defined as being active in some way doing something productive. This is interesting because Shirky describes some of the past cognitive surplus’ such as when people in the 20’s were drinking gin and other type of alcohol in their free time for enjoyment. In recent times people have watched Television as a form of cognitive surplus. But today we are using social media as our cognitive surplus. Interacting as a world becoming a community. Overall the idea of social media being considered active might sound strange but the fact that we are all using it and spreading word faster than ever is extremely active. I personally believe that we are doing good for the future because this cognitive surplus is leading to more creative thinking and a completely remodeled way of interacting with each other that we have never seen before. In this reading there is a ton of repetition with the words mouse, gin, cognitive surplus, and youth. I think Shirky see’s a change in our cognitive surplus that will benefit out youth. Literacy relates to this because in every day social media we are being literate and active with our ideas, thoughts, and ways of thinking. We are all shifting and the way it seems is for the better.

The internet and it's effect on us

Overall this article is telling us about how Google is making us not as intellectually sound. Carr is telling us that all this quick information and this world of quick responses is actually making us machine like as he calls it. We aren’t able to sit down and read a long book with as much ease. We are in this fast and quick world where when you want something or need something the best way to go about doing it is the most efficient way. Carr talks about how the internet is making our thinking process altered to gather information real quick instead of actually analyzing and developing your own theory on the answers that are given. Carr talks about Socrates and how he thought the same thing when writing was becoming popular. Carr thinks very similar to Socrates but about computers completely taking over. He say’s we eventually will become machine like with brains smarter than our own. The mental habits for us as well have completely changed which Carr thinks to seem is a bad thing as we are becoming so fast paced expecting things to happen fast. Carr backs his article up with a study from Harvard, as well as frequent blogger about the internet Bruce Friedman. Carr also refers to various books talking about different topics that can relate to the computer like changes we are going through. Overall I believe the evidence is effective yet for me it doesn’t really make me think that by getting our information in a swift pace we are becoming not as intellectually sound. Although we may not be as adept to reading long novels we are getting our information in a very fast way making us even smarter through all the time we save and the overall ease of information in such a fast pace. The article I believe does a good job of answering the so what question in the final lines of the article “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” The quote pretty much outlines his whole article and answers the question of “so what?” Overall Carr writes a creative article that is well thought out and has good sources but for me I just do not think this will be an issue with our generation getting information so fast. I think we are getting smarter through the use of fast and swift information.

Topic Proposal

I have chosen to do my essay on Jim Rome’s twitter. Jim Rome is a sports analyst who used to work on ESPN. He had his own show “Rome is Burning”. The TV was very popular and was among the evening schedule for the channel. Jim Rome tweets often and is more of a sports personality in the way he puts his opinion forward instead of fact. Rome has a very sarcastic personality, which is why he has so many critics. He is always questioning athletes and putting his opinion forth, which is why he became so popular throughout the show’s history. His account is a good representation of how he is controversial and is always getting criticized by fans yet he responds in a humorous way. I’m looking forward towards analyzing his account because it will be interesting to see the way he tweets fans and athletes.

My Social Media Tatoo

Social media has become the number one form of entertainment for most people. You get a chance to see how others react with others and how others react with you. The crazy thing about it all is anyone can see what your doing with your life and how your representing yourself. On social media I represent myself as someone who doesn’t post to many items because personally I don’t really care enough to put whats going on in my life on the internet unless its real interesting. I will like photos and favorite tweets but I’m not the person to post all the time. I am always on twitter though because it is pretty cool to see what everyone’s doing.

I decided to analyze my best friends past five tweets. He has a variety of tweets but he tweeted five times in one day. I really don’t understand the point in doing this especially because they’re all random tweets. One is about how he loves miley cyrus, the next is saying to add him on xbox, the one after that says how much he’s playing grand theft auto, song lyrics, and then he makes a funny tweet about his brother. Thinking of my friend all these tweets do kind of represent him in his own way because he is funny and loves video games while also loves to be controversial which he is doing by tweeting his love for miley cyrus. But it is also kind of strange cause he really isn’t that talkative but I get why he tweets that much because he’s one of the more outgoing people although he’s not that talkative.

While on social media I feel I definetly need to have a precense posting at least once in a while to let people know I am still online and active but I definetly don’t feel the need to uphold a certain identity on social media. I always feel pressured to censor myself in front of anyone because if you don’t you there are a ton of bad consequences for that so not just on social media but in general I’m always censoring what I say and thinking before acting.

If an employer handed me all that I definetly think I would still get the job because I make sure I am careful with what I put online and will never post anything stupid that could get me into real trouble. That’s the problem with a lot of people now days is I don’t think they are really checking to make sure there being careful with what they post and say online.

Interprative Leap

In the song “A’int, No Mountain High Enough”, sung by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell,  the music video shows a Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell coming together. When singing the lyrics it sounds as if they love each other so much and can’t be separated because of their love. They repeatedly hold on to each other and even the main lyrics talk about how there isn’t a mountain high enough or a valley low enough to keep them from loving each other. The song is powerful and shows the power of love and how it brings people together forever. In the movie “Remember the Titans” though there’s more to the song. The movie starts off as a Black and White high school football team having to come together and be successful as a football team. In the beginning there is a lot of fighting and disrespect between the two groups as they are clearly segregated in the groups they hang out with. But as the movie goes on they get closer and closer eventually becoming best friends. There then is a scene in the locker room where all of the team is together and the mood is clearly happy as they start joking around and singing this song. I believe this song plays as a metaphor for how they came together and now can’t be stopped. It shows how no matter what color their skin is or where they came from but the fact their a team and have come together. The song plays a perfect role for the movie and is a creative way to show how the team has unified as one on their way to winning a high school championship.

Different Ways of Writing

Going through writing this essay and reading Writing Analytically helped me a lot. I feel the book taught us some really cool ways of thinking of ideas and putting thoughts to paper. The part for me that was most helpful was always reminding myself while writing the essay about the “so what” question. My biggest weakness in writing is not staying focused and on task but through thinking about the question “ so what” I really feel it kept me organized and focused. Different drafts helped me a lot because in all of those drafts I was able to change the mistakes and weaknesses of my essay, only making it stronger throughout the process.

            Had we not used the blog posts or mandatory essay drafts I wouldn’t have started the essay until probably one-two days before it was due which would have given me a much weaker essay overall. Just by doing the little things such as making a draft and coming up with different ways to get your thoughts down I feel as if my essay writing has improved drastically. The flow of my essay has improved through every draft and right now I feel pretty happy about the essay. The method actually helped me a lot because it gave me a more formatted way of thinking which for me was better to organize all my thoughts.

            Overall though the book “writing Analytically”, “So What”, and “the Method” have helped improve my essay drastically and I will further use these processes in writing future essays as well as doing other types of analysis work. These styles fit me and I’m looking forward to using them for upcoming assignments.