HW 15: Treasure Hunt

Abe,

“It is like a parallel universe where the same thing is happening but until we see our reflection we don’t know that we have a problem.” Just wanted to start out the comments with something I appreciate that you said. In your wall posts you always get me thinking and your thoughts help my thoughts expand. The post I am going to focus on though is FEED 13 B. I really enjoyed reading this one and it seems as though you put a lot of thought into creating it.

In this post you begin with stating that you don’t like to read. Honesty is always a good thing, your not alone I am not the biggest fan either. You said that you actually enjoyed reading feed, so did I. You stated that the parts you didn’t understand you looked up and found summaries to help further your understanding. You then discuss how you feel as though there is no solution and that its just feeding us facts about what is going on in the world at the present moment but not what ways we can stop it. The line that really struck me though was the one I opened up the comments with. Parallel universe I completely agree with you on that. Do you think as a whole world all of us will ever look into that mirror? Do you think we are scared to because we expect to see something horrible?

A connection that I make to your piece of work is that a lot of times in life we forget that sometimes looking in the mirror is okay. People make statements saying that people who look in the mirror a lot are conceited or over obsessed with their appearance. But if we never looked at ourselves we may not notice certain things that do have an affect on our lives. Our planet seems to try to stay as far away as possible from that huge mirror. A way to figure out the truth sometimes is to look at what’s in front of you because before we can move a step forward, we might need to take a step back.

I think if you were to develop this post I would work on the second paragraph. It is a good start but I think you should expand on it even more to make your point even more clear. Why do you not think it was the author’s idea to not give a solution? If he is making all of these statements shouldn’t he also give us a reasoning for what our next step should be? I mean I agree with you on the fact that he doesn’t give a solution, but maybe there is something behind it all that we need to figure out.

I keep relating back to the quote I started the comments with but I want to emphasize on that and it really makes me think about my own life. I think that it’s important to have alone time sometimes to sit down and think about what's going on in your life, the good and the bad. I think that as humans it’s good to critic ourselves because we can grow from our own mistakes. If we are aware of what we are doing its much easier to turn the tables so that in the end you come out with a better ending. You are a very insightful thinker Abe and observe things that I would of never thought about at first glance.

I really enjoyed this post and the thoughts within it. Continue this good work!

Mohammed,

The post that I really enjoyed reading was FEED 12A. There were a specific couple of sentences that I think are the start of something very interesting. “…if we want to calculate something well use a calculator if we want to get any information about anything well just go Google it on the computer or phone! This way were not getting any smarter, technology is closing are minds and making us think that its impossible to do what the devises can do for us.” Technology is closing our minds. We don’t need to think for ourselves anymore we can have a machine do it for us, not even another person.

I think the point you were trying to make in this piece of work was that you focused on the addiction and constant need for fast information. You kept on touching upon the fact that you were very addicted to texting. You then brought up the fact that in the Middle East people our age don’t have the access like we do to technology. You said that they actually do their work and get good grades in school because they are not as distracted as we are. Lastly you ended your piece with discussing how the only reason you use technology the way you do is because the rest of the world is influencing you to believe that is what is cool.

I want to connect myself to your thoughts on the Middle East. When I went to camp this summer I had no phone, no computer, no Facebook for 2 months. I did so much more with my time. I did things that I really enjoy to do and had no distractions to take away from my complete happiness. I felt healthier, rested and all together a better person. Do you think that since you have become addicted to technology it has made you a less happy person or a more happy person? When I came back to reality I became this whole other person and the person I was over the summer was gone. I remember saying to my friends at camp that I was going to try to use less technology but of course that didn’t last very long. It feels as though I don’t know what else to do sometimes, and that makes me very sad.

I think you have a good start for this but I felt as though while reading it you repeated you same argument a lot. Maybe you can expand on the part about the Middle East because I think we forget sometimes that just because we are addicted to technology doesn’t mean that everyone else in the world is as well. I think it would be interesting to compare a US teen to a Middle East teen, and explore that further.

Your post made me consider the idea of what my life might be like if I didn’t live in the United States, how I would interact with the rest of the world. I think its weird to think that most of the world doesn’t live the way we do because sometimes I feel like we get so close minded (myself included). I wonder if I would be happier living in a world where there was less in front of me and if maybe I would appreciate what I had more.

Good Job!! Keep exploring and thinking!