Blog #9: Diffusion Theory

 Diffusion Theory

While looking at diffusion theory and technologies, there is a clear graph that shows the different stages of who adapts to these new technologies and when. There will always be some laggards who never accept these technologies which means the penetration can only come up to 85%. 

Paper through Diffusion Theory

Paper caught on and spread because it was a cheaper version to write down thoughts on to. It also became revolutionary for the world of art and literature. People were finally able to purchase their own books and write their own thoughts. (For more information on paper, Explore Blog #6)

The pioneers would be those who founded paper such as Cai Lun who began creating paper because it was a cheap way to produce written information.  The early adopters would be people the Chinese people who used paper for documentation purposes for the government. Many became early adopters because it became an easier way to produce legal information that can be documented and filed for future reference. Then the Early Majority of people who began to use paper would be when products such as ink came out so artists and writers were able to use paper for their jobs. Next would be the late adopters, these people would be the ones who began to use paper when new technologies such as the type writer came out. Just about most of the population is now using paper.  However, there are still the laggards these are the people who will never use paper due to some reason. Some are later adopters of laggards because they did not or still do not see a use for paper in their daily life unless there was another technological invention that made paper to become necessary for their lives.

Pros and Cons

Back when paper was invented, he positives of paper such as having a recyclable cost-effective source that was easy to transport outweighed the negative such as cutting down trees to make it and it being fragile. Now, I would say the pros of paper do not compare to other technologies such as the computer it has the same effect without harming the economy. A computer is a costly choice up-front; however, it is more environmentally efficient and easier to communicate information through online platforms.

Blog #8: Presentations

 

EOTO PRESENTATIONS

Our class presented EOTO’s today (reference Blog #6 for what this is). There were four groups that each presented different types of technology and the history behind them. These EOTO’s taught me lots of new information on technologies and how they have advanced through society. The technology that stood out to me was the radio.

Radio

I think the radio is the most interesting piece of technology that we learned about in class today, this is because there’s a lot of information on the radio that I didn’t know about. When I think about radio, I immediately think of my car and playing music, this is the entertainment purposes of the radio. 

Originally the radio was used for communications. The first radio system was made for military use. The navy was most commonly equipped with this tool in all of the ships so that all the ships can easily communicate with each other. 

The radio has positives such as that information sharing has been made easier and ideas can be spread easily. The radio also offers many entertainment purposes such as music or talk shows. The navy still uses radio for communication in ships as well. The negatives of radio are minimal such as the political stations can project radicalized views of politics increasing the divide in the government.

I know first responders also have radios for communications along with the military, but personally, I don’t use the radio for communications. I only use the radio for entertainment purposes; however, these radio stations are still communicating information to me. I also know radio for entertainment is not the main go-to anymore either. This technology is now being replaced by Bluetooth or AUX cords in vehicles, the connection is just clearer since it is a direct connection rather than a local broadcast. Sometimes I still listen to the radio for a nostalgic feeling of my childhood and only having the radio for long car rides and it is sometimes nice to not choose what song I want next.

Blog #7: The Progressive Era

THEORIES AND ISSUES OF THE INTERNET

The internet is a place where there is plenty of information that is spread. You may think that when you google search an item it gives you all the results that match best; however, this is not always correct. Google and other search engines and website often filter out certain sites or links from their searches so that information on certain events is not easily accessible.

The Theories

Two websites, ANTIWAR.COM and American Conservative are both written by strong antiwar voices, but they are never heard of in the mainstream news. Most likely you may have never even heard of either of these websites. This is because the media is filtering or gatekeeping the information from the general public. This means that they are limiting our access to sites like these through general searches.  

The Issue 

Gatekeeping is a problem because it can lead a certain audience to believe something that is not correct, but it is the way the media wants the event to be portrayed. This theory also ties in with agenda setting. This means the media is able to influence the salience of topics on the public agenda.

These are such reasons that cause people to have to research obscure websites in order to hear these anti-war voices. The media and internet do not want to allow for all content to be provided because then it would not be able to choose select pieces of news to be most talked about.  A solution to this could be net neutrality, this means that there is something stating that all internet communications must be treated equally without discriminating or changing preference based on each user, content, website, platform, application, type of equipment, source address, destination address or method communication. This basically means nothing is geared towards you as a user and it would be easier to find information relevant to what you are searching.

Blog #6: EOTO 1

EOTO

 An EOTO assignment means Each One Teach One. Every person has a certain type of technology and they all had a chance to present what their research led them to discover to the class. This not only strengthens research skills but it broadens everyone’s knowledge on technology while also giving the class an opportunity to strengthen public speaking skills.

Technology

I am researching paper. It may be a surprise to many people that this is a technology, but before computers, and all this artificial intelligence stuff, technology began with a different meaning. Technology is not just machinery and equipment, but it is the study of techniques, tools, and machines that are created by humans.

Paper

Now that we understand what technology is, paper is a tool that originally was manufactured to strengthen communication. This tool helped people write down their thoughts and anything people have said to them to remember it and avoid playing a game of telephone where words get twisted and lost.

The very first documented account of the invention of paper was when Cai Lun created paper out of materials such as bark, hemp and rags of water which was mashed together pressed and hung to dry. This was in Lei-Yang China during the Eastern Han Era (25-220 CE).

What paper replaced

Paper is not a resource that has always been around, it is man-made and it was not the first tool that has been used for writing. Prior to the invention of paper, items such as wooden strips bamboo and silk were used. These items were not practical in the sense that they were expensive and not a good surface to write on.

Why Paper

Back then the materials paper was made out of were much easier to find and much cheaper to obtain than items such as silk. Today paper is mostly made out of fibers from wood and recycled paper products. 

It greatly improved the spread of literature and literacy along with making other items such as books more convenient and cheaper. As brush, ink and paper all combined it became an important hallmark in art. The creation of panting and calligraphy grew from paper becoming a new tool of technology.

Paper has evolved to have many uses. Other than writing and art, paper was needed when press was invented which created an unchallenged type of communication that would not be beat out until the computer was invented. During the tang dynasty in china (618-907 CE) paper was valued so much that it was used to pay tribute and taxes to the state. The color of paper was also important which created a code; white is for legal documents, yellow for government purposes, blue is for communications with Taoist temples. Paper was also used for map making, packaging for delicate items, hat-making, armor, screens, curtains, clothes and money.

Pros and Cons

Blog #5: In the Age of AI

 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a progressing system of technology that is important in our daily lives. As AI progresses, it becomes more and more frightening as it is taking over so much. This video opened my eyes and made me see many of the cons of this technology, more than just the fear of us being taken over by robots smarter than humans.

FEARS

I fear the fact that a machine can know everything about me. These machines can gather data in under seconds using information that seems to be unrelated such as battery life on my phone. A machine can know my face and in China this can be used as currency. Even our phones today use a facial recognition process. A machine can use a system to study our face and even come up with how old we are with a quick scan. This is the information that is terrifying because if this entire information system is studying our phones and what we look at, how many other people can see this information?

PRIVACY

All this information out there which is made so easily accessible especially by people who are talented in the field of hacking. These systems use 5,000 different personal features in just seconds to just assess someone’s credit score. Well after this information is gathered, where does it go? There’s a system like the cloud where this information is all stored so it can be used again. This bounces back to my fear of anyone being able to view this personal information. Although these systems can see so much, they make systems such as getting a loan almost instant. With this information assessed in seconds through this technological process.

SAVING LIVES

An important pro of AI is that with this progressive knowledge and technology, lives can be saved or surgeries can be prevented. When people are showing a concerning lump, it is early enough where surgery can be done to prevent it from being cancerous. However, many of these surgery’s don’t even have to be done to see if the lump is cancerous. Technology can be used and study the pixels to prevent the procedure on 90% of the people.

AI can be used to eliminate many car accidents. The video notes that many car accidents are caused by human error. With AI controlling these vehicles it can stop accidents from happening saving the world from these tragic fatalities.

JOBS

Lastly, I would like to note that with AI taking over, it is progressing faster than most human intelligence causing jobs that people could originally do to be taken by AI. May people say that blue collar jobs would be taken, but in reality, it is the white-collar jobs more likely to be taken. This is because white collar jobs are easier to replace with software because it is all a system and relies on analysis versus blue collar jobs which require hand eye coordination that many machines are not able to do.

Blog #4: First Amendment language

 Censorship and the First Amendment

Recently in my Law Crime and National Security course I learned about the spread of disinformation. The protection of the first amendment protects the freedom of speech, religion, press assembly and petition. While the spread of disinformation throughout the media itself does not violate the First Amendment, the idea of the government wanting to censor computer platforms conflicts with the First Amendment rights.

The First Amendment is in the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution which is a fundamental personal right, meaning it is the strongest type of right. While the platform is able to monitor posts and if a post is flagged enough, it will be removed, the government is unable to interact with the posts on the platform. In 2017, a case where Q-ANON, a domestic extremist organization, began spreading disinformation about Hilary Clinton on Reddit which ultimately led to the removal of Q-ANON supporters on Reddit.

If the platforms themselves can review and decide what they want or don’t want on their platform, is this violating our freedom of speech? Should the government get involved with this censorship on social media? This can also take away our freedom of expression due to not being able to express or opinions. Any platform can take this information and decide to favor any information they like such as political views.

This argument has been surfacing across the United States for many years now, but how do we create a program that monitors and filters out disinformation without violating our first amendment right?  We could come up with a way to have the government intervene so that no one is able to favor a party, but this requires U.S. Citizens to give up their right to speech on online platforms. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is constantly checking these platforms to monitor for any extremist threats to prevent them before they occur, another issue with this censorship program is if you take this away the extremist organizations will not use social media to communicate and the government will be unable to prevent these attacks, as they will not know about them.

So, what should we do? I wish I had an answer. All I can say is that it is a battle of losing our First Amendment rights online, or protecting America from the spread of disinformation. I think it is more important to protect our country, but I think there must be an option created that doesn’t infringe upon our first amendment right. Until the government comes up with a way to do that, this issue will prevail.

Blog #3: 8 Values of Expression

 Values of Expression

This quote relates to my favorite value of expression: Individual Self-Fulfillment, or Self-actualization.

The First Amendment from the U.S. Constitution gives American’s the freedom of expression. This means that individuals have the freedom to express themselves to find themselves. Expression gives you the right to hold opinions and express them freely without interference of others. This allows for the creation of identity, and it becomes involved with the ideas of human dignity, human agency and autonomy.

So, what does this mean? Let’s start with definitions and their philosophies:

IDENTITY

The creation of identity means that through different life experiences, relationships and connections each individual has a different perception or outlook on life which constructs their own representation of thoughts or emotions in an expressive way.  Individual identity is important in society because it helps with making decisions and know how to behave in the ways that one perceives as right because of their wisdom from the past. 

HUMAN DIGNITY

Human Dignity is the recognition that all human beings possess a special value intrinsic to their humanity and are worthy of respect because they are humans. An intrinsic value defined in social ethics means that people are doing the right thing for their own sake and not for the avoidance of a consequence.  Every person believes that they should be treated ethically because of their inherent and inalienable rights. This is an idea that is most often emphasized in the theory of Libertarianism. 

Libertarians such as John Locke and Robert Nozick focus on the idea that they should seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom emphasizing free association, freedom of choice, individualism which connects with human dignity and voluntary association.

HUMAN AGENCY

Human Agency is the capacity for humans to make choices and to impose those choices to the world. There’s a moral component to every situation, and human agency is invested in these moral components. If a situation is a consequence of one’s decision, one may have to apply judgments of value to the consequences and realize that they have to be responsible for the decision made. 

AUTONOMY

Autonomy is defined as the quality or state of being self-governed, this means that the government does not get a say allowing for self-directing freedom and moral independence. Personal autonomy is a similar concept; however, it relates to the idea that once has the capacity to decide for oneself and pursue a course of action in one’s life. Emmanuel Kant’s moral philosophy of autonomy emerges from the Enlightenment. Kant focuses on the idea that individuals should have the power to use their own reason and understanding to make decisions without the guidance of others. 

There are eight different values of free expression, and each of these values are respected and equally important. Without the First Amendment, these values would not exist. There are places within the world where there is no freedom to express yourself. These small aspects that we use every day such as the freedom of expression are often taken for granted, and many people don’t realize when they exhibit the right with every decision that they make. 

The freedom of expression is powerful especially when you have to figure out who you are as a person. Personally, if I was not able to express myself some of my relationships, friendships and situations that have shaped me as a person may not have occurred and I would be different in many different ways. I have gained wisdom from my experience in the world, and if I had to give this value up, I would be devastated because I would not be able to learn as much as I have.