We pride ourselves in our intellectuality over other species, technology being one of the factors of our pride. But how smart can we really be if we are managing to take advantage of everything that comes our way? And how can we possibly think to want even more? Although we are intelligent, we are also power-hungry. At least, that's what our society has become.
The day our planet is destroyed due to our greed will also be the beginning of a new cycle: either humans will begin anew and attempt to develop their minds, values, and souls rather than their desires; or the entire process will start over again as another 'vicious cycle', thus showing that humans will never change. What do you think?
Here's the video:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1943957
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1943957
P.S. Mr. Gutherman: I re-posted this due to the fact that I posted (or at least I was almost positive I did) an ENORMOUS comment on the Launch blog, and when I logged on today, it wasn't there. I had a smaller comment that I tried to develop and combine with thoughts from the long one. Hope it's acceptable!
Anastasia - This video clip perfectly encapsulates the American Zeitgeist and our class discussions. The quote at the end of the clip "Just try it. I guarantee you'll be hooked!" really resonated with me. In present years, we have grown increasingly dependent on technology, thus in its absence we feel vulnerable. We believe that technology is a necessary component of life, merely because we have not attempted to live without it. I also really liked your point about the vicious cycle. Fueled by greed and individualistic motives, America will be thrust yet again into the cycle of destruction. We have to move away from the dependence on technology and the mindset that "new is better." Technology is not entirely necessary to the extent that we believe it to be, and we must become aware of this in order to defy the cycle.
ReplyDeleteI found this video both enjoyable and thought provoking. What it reminds me the most of is the argument that if we didn't have one technology to start with, we wouldn't need another technology (like the example with the train and the phone from one of our packets). You can see the clear build up in the video that one thing leads to another, after the bone was shown to work, the man decided that he should be more efficient and use the spear. Someone will always be out there to tell you there's something better, it's our job to resist the urge to always conform.
ReplyDeleteThis video was funny on the surface, but also very scary. It suggests that there isn't anything we can do to stop the fast progression of our society towards complete dependence on technology. We have spent so much time discussing technology's effect on our future, but I don't know if there is anything we can do to stop the process. The taller guy in the video represents the advertising agencies and commercials, while the shorter guy proves the influence advertisers have over us. The video did a very good job in showing how easily give in to technology. I also agree with the video in that our greed and desire for technology is human nature, and the human race will never be able to overcome it.
ReplyDeleteCollege Humor did a great job capturing consumerism in our society. We are always thinking that we have invented the next big thing and that after you buy that one thing you "don't need to buy anything else" - which is crazy because new inventions are always going to come out and beat the old; technology is progressing by the day. I don't think we can stop this process because our society constantly uses technology. The role technology in society has grown to the extent where people are relying on it for almost everything.
ReplyDeleteThe video also shows that technology is also unecessary but our culture depends on it so much that it has become a necessity.
This video is hilarious but I think one of the reasons it is so funny is that it makes fun of our society to the fullest. We are constantly buying the newest and best things...Yet even with saying that phrase we are lying. The newest things aren't the best because if so, there wouldn't be a billion generations of them. For instance, apple comes out with a new (or updated) product, it seems, immediately after you have bought one of their products and this makes me think that while they are about to sell their new product they are already thinking about ways to make an even better new-er product. But why? Because they can! Because apple, like many other companies, want to stay rich and therefore need to exploit human's impulses. We are a consumer culture and thus big boss companies need to always come up with new items for us to buy--new items they know we will "need" to buy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone said. We have developed an insatiable need to be part of the newest fads, which, nowadays, get replaced every two hours or so it seems. One day you'll see your friends with some new gizmo and the next day they have trashed it from something "newer" that basically has the same function. Speaking of which, this video reminded me of the simpsons episode we watched in class about the dolls. The "upgrade" that the toy company put out was simply a hat, nothing that actually changed what the doll was, but everyone flocked to it anyways because they were so conditioned to go out and buy the newest things. How many new phones have come out that claim they are the best, but basically are just the old phone with a new graphic printed. The scary thing is that we are unable to escape this cycle, as society itself is now built up around consumerism.
ReplyDeleteThis video only shows that people have been following trends forever. This video is a humorous walk through the history of human consumption, pointing out modernist and postmodernist views. In reality we are each both, we are all Jeckle and Hide consumers. But his isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just reality.
ReplyDelete