Class Contract

Identity???

2004-07-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

I definitely think that people consciencely think about how they are going to present themselves each and every day. In my opinion, the society we have grown up in dictates the way we in which carry ourselves on a daily basis. All people want to portray a certain characteristic about themselves. For example, some people want to look intelligent, some want to look athletic, some want to look attractive, etc.

I believe that to have an identity means that a person has a specific trait about themselves that represents who they are from who anyone else is. I also believe that who we are is represented in many forms ranging from what we wear, where we like to hang out, who we hang out with, what we like to do for entertainment, etc... In many cases people tend to follow trends in popular media. Some people like to be different and express who they are in a different way than other people.

Artificial Life???

2004-07-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

I will begin by defining artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is an entity created by humans that in some fashion attempts to repicate human behavior. Like most of the world, I have fallen victim to the technology bug. Technology has taken the world by storm and has almost become an living organism, such as humans. It could be argued that computers have already taken over. In essense, they consume/control the good majority of each and every one of our lives. Do computers and/or technology rule human life. Without it would we survive? I think that the Y2K scare is a great illustration as to how dependent we have become of computers and what they provide. The fact that there was a world wide panic that all computer operated machines would self destruct and that people were stocking up on personal goods to survive is evidence enough to say that humans rely heavily on computers. Do I think we could survive without them? I believe that we could, but we definately wouldnt want to and it would take many years to get used to. There would be a lot of chaos, which in a way could lead to a world of self destruction.

However, Im not one to say that I wouldnt like to have things at my finger tips with the evolution of new technologies or to have websites catoring to my every need because it would be much more efficient. In todays fast paced society time has become the most scarce resource known to mankind. A lot of people wish that they just had a few more hands, a few more hours, maybe even a clone to help get things done. We all just have so many responsibilities today that its hard to manage everything. At the same time, it would be frieghtening to have clones walking the earth. It wouldnt matter how much more efficient I would become, I would never want to have a clone.

The truth of the matter is that this is where we are headed. Someday we will have human clones or at least the capability of creating them. As scary as it may be, the movies we see today and believe to be very unrealistic or out of the ordinary, such as "I, Robot", could easily become realistic based on the progress we've made so far. We will always attempt to reach the unthinkable until we either accomplish our goals or die trying.

Its hard to even imagine where artificial life began. But I do know this, it will not be ending anytime soon. I do believe that we are headed in a direction that we may wish we never headed. As we have already witnessed in our lives, machines have eliminated thousands and thousands of jobs in every field. After we are gone, the evolution of technology will have grown so large that what will be left for our childrens' children. Will we live in a jobless society? What will we do with our time?

Midterm Summary

2004-07-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

My thesis is... Due to the fact that we live in a capitalists society, Washington State University recognizes different races have different needs, but their primary goal is to generate as much profit as possible regardless of whether or not a student is white or not.

My argument is that Washington State University is just like any other organization in America. Its sad to say that most people are out for the o’ mighty dollar, but in today’s world that is the grim reality. If we can do or use something to our benefit to gain a competitive advantage over the competition we will without a doubt do it, sometimes even with disregard of moral values. The WSU website paints a pretty picture for all to see. It discusses and illustrates everything that we want to know and see. Its like telling someone exactly what they want to hear in order to get your way. WSU paints a picture perfect atmosphere where everything appears just as it should. All the picture show people having a good time. Students working together. It offers groups for everything you could ever imagine. There are African American student center groups, Latino groups, gay and lesbian groups, you name it they offer it. It is a good way to lure potential students in.

External sources I used were of course the wsu.edu website, capitalism.org, and census.gov. I used census.gov to find statistics of income between races for support of my arguments.

Im sure there will be refutation to my argument. Everyone will have an opinion of their own. Im not here to say that mine is the correct one. I just feel as if I have a strong point. One could refute my opinion by stating that the purpose of WSU is solely education and that finances has nothing to do with it. If that were the case then why is it that all educational facilities are not non-profit. Other socialist countries, such as singapore, allow anyone who wishes to attend college level courses to do so for free. Capitalistic countries such as the United States would never dream of such thing.

My conclusion is that all businesses and organizations are out for one thing and that is $$$. Sure some organizations provide a good deed to the community for future growth, like educational facilities, but that is the just the result of what our money has paid for.

Mainstream "Whiteness" in America

2004-06-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

I believe that race is abundantly apparent in mainstream America, i.e. television. However, the I dont feel that the internet is one of those forms of mainstream America. The internet is so wide spread throughout so many cultures that unless you are specifically searching for a particular race or religion you come up with several. I dont believe that mainstream websites, such as yahoo.com, pinpoint a particular race to advertise or talk about. The site is quit diverse in its content. It offers links to just about anyone regardless of race, religion, gender, etc. At least in my opinion, it seemed as though the site is unbias. It presents factual information pertaining to specific events. One days headlines/events 99% of the time will differ from the next days headlines/events.

With respect to television, I do feel that its predominantly white characters. But to say that television networks are discriminating against other cultures, nationalities, and races to going a little too far. In many circumstances, people are led to certain professions based on childhood hero's or role models. Television to this point hasnt had many African American actors that are strong enough actors to make it big. Actors such as Denzel Washington, Martin Lawerance, Holly Berry, and Vin Diesal have paved the way now for non-white children to grow up wanting to become actors or movie stars. Its similar to sports. Take the NBA for example. Most NBA players are African American. Thirty years ago this wasnt the case. Through time, as more and more AFrican American basketball players entered the league, the African American youth latched on.

As we all know, if there is a lot of money at stake, Americans choose actors, athletes, teachers, or whatever very carefully.. We (Americans) want to be absolutely sure that we are hiring the right person for the job (the person that will make the network, team, etc. the most money. This is the world we live in today. As long as we live in a capitalist society that will be the way it is.

---Hate---

2004-06-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

Compare and contrast the arguments Brasher puts forward in her book with the evidence you've seen on the hate.com video. Do you think Brasher's ideas work in the light of Hate.com? Are they still valid?

From what I can see, Brasher assumes kind of a blind viewpoint on the subject of cyberspace in terms of religion. She feels that is very important to get the word out on religions, but yet she doesn't look at it from a broad enough spectrum. Of course its great to have loads and loads of information out there on the web, but at the same time its very dangerous. We are in the twenty-first century and I think its safe to say that information is far from a scarce resource. Unfortunately, it has become a weapon that many people can use to cause a lot of harm. With the internet being the primary source of information for most people, it has created a wall, so to speak, for people to hide behind. The discussion between fellow classmates during Monday's session put the whole argument into perspective. One student made the comment that the internet is not the reason for individuals following through with the malicious content. He said that people who have those type of feelings are already geared towards those type of acts and that the internet is not the cause. To counter that comment another student suggested that he was correct to the extent that every person who logs onto the internet is a well educated person who is a good critical thinker and can disseminate between what is garbage and what is valid content.

I strongly agree with the latter assertion. When information gets into the wrong hands it could have catastrophic impact on the rest of society. To think that we live in a world that information is not used by people to create trouble is just ignorant thinking. Information is used daily to perpetuate ongoing hate. The hate websites (white supremacy sites) suggested in class do exactly that. They proclaim that they are the only human beings on earth and every other living creature is an animal and should be removed from the picture. Information like this when put in the wrong hands could suggest that these "creatures" be killed so that "they" can live in a righteous world.

Brasher knows that negative information is out there to be read on the web, but views them as a small insignificant piece to the overall puzzle. In her opinion, the good by far outweighs the evil. I would suggest that she is probably correct in that way of thinking, but the evil must still be recognized. The question is can these negative websites be controlled in any way? In my opinion, they can not because of free speech... So the question becomes what do we do about it?

Religion ...

2004-06-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

I wasnt able to edit my previous posting, so I just created a new posting with added material...

What does religion do?

In my opinion, religion is a base for which a gathering of people with similar beliefs and morals, among other things, come together to share. Its purpose is to generate a knowledge base, so to speak, for individuals to reflect on personal experiences as well as historic happenings. Then based on those dialogs, shape an individuals moral and ethical being. Religion is often times used as a way to wash away any wrong doing in one's life. If one does wrong, often times they look to religion to guide them back in the right direction.

What should religion do?

In my opinion, religion should be used to guide people in the right direction. It should help people overcome difficult obstacles in their lives. It should provide the support that many people need. It should be used as a method of counseling those in need. Religion should also help shape individuals into being good law abiding citizens; citizens that do not maliciously attempt to harm others.

In addition...

For many people, like myself, who did not grow up in religious households where each Sunday we went to church, the emergence of the WWW and the opportunities it has provided are overwhelming. To think that in 15 seconds, a person can learn about any religion they so desire is incredible. A lot of people dont really know how to approach the whole subject and feel a little intimidated by approaching a church. The WWW is a perfect way for those people to interact with a particular religion in the comfort of their own home. It removes any unwanted pressures of feeling scared or intimidated. A person can read as they please, discuss as they please, ask questions as the please, all without feeling embarrissed.

In conclusion the Web has opened many doors for several people that otherwise would have never taken the time to learn more about a particular religion or belief system.

Chapter Questions

2004-06-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

What does religion do?

In my opinion, religion is a base for which a gathering of people with similar beliefs and morals, among other things, come together to share. Its purpose is to generate a knowledge base (community of ideas and/or experiences), so to speak, for individuals to reflect on personal experiences as well as historic happenings. Then based on those dialogs, shape an individuals moral and ethical being. Religion is often times used as a way to wash away any wrong doing in one's life. If one does wrong, often times they look to religion to guide them back in the right direction. It is a resource used in search for hope and happiness.

What should religion do?

In my opinion, religion should be used to guide people in the right direction. It should help people overcome difficult obstacles in their lives. It should provide the support that many people need. It should be used as a method of counseling those in need. Religion should also help shape individuals into being good law abiding citizens; citizens that do not maliciously attempt to harm others.

In addition...

For many people, like myself, who did not grow up in religious households where each Sunday we went to church, the emergence of the WWW and the opportunities it has provided are overwhelming. To think that in 15 seconds, a person can learn about any religion they so desire is incredible. A lot of people dont really know how to approach the whole subject and feel a little intimidated by approaching a church. The WWW is a perfect way for those people to interact with a particular religion in the comfort of their own home. It removes any unwanted pressures of feeling scared or intimidated. A person can read as they please, discuss as they please, ask questions as the please, all without feeling embarrissed.

In conclusion the Web has opened many doors for several people that otherwise would have never taken the time to learn more about a particular religion or belief system.

About me

2004-06-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

I am a business administration / finance major. I will be graduating this December. I look forward to hearing everyone's take on each topic. It will be interesting to hear other point of views besides my own. I enjoy doing anything sports related. I play a lot of golf, basketball, and bowling. I also enjoy spending time with my wife.

I think this class will be very stimulating. It will test the nerves and thinking of each and every person in the class. To me, the term "digital diversity" is used to bring awareness to people that there are many different views on certain subjects that may be different than their own. It also refers to the fact that we live in a rapidly changing environment in terms of cultures, technology, etc and there are many ways in which people can express their oppinions.

English 471 Contract

2004-06-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Summer 2004

Clarifying the assumptions we make carefully.
Opposing opinins -- are ok, have thick skin.
Recognize good intentions.
Have an open mind.
Choose your words carefully.
If you dont know, ask.
No ad hominem.
Good turn taking.