A Generation that Can Live Forever

The comic book novel, The Surrogates, displays what it means to be human, and to be 'alive'. If we all lived through robots, we, of course, would not be living. There are vital everyday human interactions that make us human, but if we coop ourselves up in a room, living through something else, we cannot live. Even something as simple as a conversation is being affected today.



As Bruce Schneier discusses in his article The Tech Lab, "Computers are mediating conversation as well. Face-to-face conversations are ephemeral." From quick texting conversations, or wall posts, each conversation is short and to the point.
In my English class we discussed authors and artists would create something to, in a sense, 'live forever'. Now, through YouTube, or facebook, we can, in fact, 'live forever' through our pictures or videos. However, to actually live forever, to me, would be the worst thing. I would not to live forever - it is natural to die. The thought of death makes people want to live, and if there wasn't a fear of dying, then no one would live. Being cooped up in a room, living through a surrogate, would not matter, since we have eternity.
Even though we have not created the technology to live through surrogates, humanity as a whole needs improvement before we can accept such great technology. As Nick Bostrom expresses in his TED talk on Our Biggest Problems, he makes one specific point that I fully agree with. He says that life is not as wonderful as it could be, and that if we want it to be a wonderful life, we need to completely transform humanity. We cannot rely on other things to make us happy, such as plastic surgery, food, facebook or twitter. We need to find inner happiness and content in order to fully enjoy the other aspects of life. But as humans, as Bostrom expresses, we are naturally negative. That, in fact, needs to change.
Reading The Surrogates and reading Bruce Schneier's article, the thought of technology is a little terrifying. One point Schneier makes, which is extremely relevant, is the 'pollution' we are putting out today is equivalent to the pollution of the Industrial Revolution. "Data is the pollution of the information age ... And just as 100 years ago people ignored pollution in our rush to build the Industrial Age, today we're ignoring data in our rush to build the Information Age."
Technology is extremely beneficial, but the after effects and other aspects of it can be detrimental.

The New and Improved Kimmy Woo story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_MvoqBy46s&feature=player_embedded

Once I can log onto a mac I will put up the actual video - but for now the above link is the new Kimmy Woo video.

We added more background information, such as Kimmy's plan for the future, and certain struggles she undergoes just to help the students out. For example, she is currently fighting a legal battle with other restaurants in the area. She wants hot food to be included in the $5 special, however, Overbrook Pizza and other places to eat do not want her to, because we will obviously bring our money and customer satisfaction to her establishment.

We realized that we needed more Kimmy footage, and we did not take anything out.

Kimmy Wooooooo

I am so excited to do this project! Kimmy Woo is so helpful and influential in our Saint Joseph's Community, and for everyone living near her store! We asked her if we can interview her, and she agreed without any hesitation. Also, in Kimmy fashion, before we left she asked us our names, and repeated them three or four times over.

We are planning on filming her as she works, saying hi to the tons of customers she knows, and asking students what they think of her.

Even though she is not living with a life threatening disease, or portrays a glorifying message, she makes a huge impact on everyone she meets in a tiny community- which I definitely feel is so important. Everyone can learn from Kimmy Woo, and I cannot wait to see how the video comes out!

Diversity?

After reading Wade Davis' article on his take on how certain cultures decline, while others just change and form into something different. I did not even think, before reading the article, how certain cultures are literally dying, while others take on a new form. Is this a good or bad thing? What if our culture, the United States, still lived as though it was the 1930's? We probably would not have the technology, yet we would not be such a sexually driven or open society either (as we can see from television, to billboards or even facebook photos). I feel as though it is vital for a culture to grow and develop with the times. Or else we would not be able to develop and live the way we are living now, or have our great great great grandchildren experience something even better!

Now, diversity and culture in my family is basically non-existent. I have a completely "white" family (composed of Irish, English, Scottish, German, Welsh French - yes, very white) and we are basically all republicans. Then, coming to a school in Philadelphia, where there is an obvious mix of heritages everywhere, it made me appreciate everyone and their different cultures. In my town, there are not any paintings on the side of buildings or underneath tunnels; whereas in Philly, it is hard not to spot art in that form. I love it - both my family/ town and Philadelphia. Both completely different, but beautiful.

http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/79631-doppelganger-week-capitol-hill-edition

There is an actual week dedicated to finding your "celebrity look-a-like"

"For those of you wondering why everyone’s Facebook profile photos suddenly seem to be a picture of a celebrity, that’s because it’s celebrity doppelganger week on the social networking site.

The group on the site is called Doppelganger Week, and people are posting photos of celebs they resemble. In honor of doppelganger week and ITK’s weekly feature “Separated at Birth,” we thought some lawmakers might want to be matched with their twins."

Crazy! And everything that we have been talking about. As if every reality show doesn't generate more wanna-be celebs, and we practically idolize celebrities, there is now a week dedicated.

Illusion of Love

Chapter 2, Illusion of Love, brought about a subject I personally never thought of, but became very well educated in - for lack of a better technical term, Porn. The porn industry is a massive industry, making $97 billion in 2006!
Not only does the chapter discuss the disgusting revenue this industry takes in, but also the torture, yes - torture, these women go through for the pay check. They suffer from physical pain such as anal and vaginal tears, where surgery is needed. However, they suffer from severe emotional damage, mostly post traumatic stress - something surgery can not fix.

The chapter is truly an eye opener to this industry, in a make-your-stomach-turn kind of way. However, it is a big part of our culture. If someone does not watch porn, the sexual industry is still thrown in our faces. For example, walking into your guy friend's dorm room and there is a large poster of a porn star in an obvious provocative position, wearing something that barely covers any important body part. Before I read the book, I would make a smart comment about the poster, such as "Classy." or "Oh wow I wonder what she majored in." Yet after reading the comment, I do not see a girl with daddy issues who craves obvious male attention, but a girl who was abused early on in life, and had no where to go, and had nothing to sell except herself and her dignity.