Emily+Choi+RP+Post+3


 * 1.** Will technology truly cause the downfall of first-world societies?


 * 2.** Calling You on Your Crap


 * 3.** Sean Carroll. Published in a compilation of essays in the book //Is The Internet Changing the Way You Think?// edited by John Brockman.


 * 4.** Book (303.4833 IS)


 * 5.** Somerset County Library (May 27, 2014)


 * 6.** SOAPSTone
 * Subject:** the Internet's influence on the spread of correct information
 * Occasion:** a response to the current, widely-held belief that the Internet is the cause of widespread hoaxes and misinformation
 * Audience:** Internet users, probably young adults
 * Purpose:** to refute the idea that the Internet is the primary cause of widespread misinformation, and instead point out its strong points
 * Speaker:** theoretical physicist from Caltech, author, blogger
 * Tone:** conversational, optimistic


 * 7.** Sean Carroll refutes the commonly-held belief that the Internet is the primary cause of widespread misinformation, instead pointing out that it is a place that fosters instantaneous skepticism and open intelligent discussion. He retools and redefines the Internet as not some kind of tangible force, but rather a medium through which communication is made easier.


 * 8.** The Internet should not be viewed as a source of misinformation, but rather as an opportunity for one to better one's own knowledge.


 * 9.** I find this article quite interesting, if not somewhat persuasive. Carroll brings up a good point that I have seen firsthand on many occasions - that when a wrong statement on the Internet is made on a highly visible location, instant swarms of refuters appear to present real sources and call out the misinformation to correct it. In this way, the Internet is a dynamic place where it is hard to make a wrong remark without being reprimanded immediately, which, in Carroll's mind, should keep misinformation in check. However, I have also personally witnessed that large amounts of people can be a boon as much as they can be a curse; when only a few know the truth, the lies spread much too quickly.


 * 10.** "The Internet helps enable honesty."

"There is no shortage of overblown and untrue claims on the Internet. But for those of us who would really like to be as honest and accurate as is reasonably possible, the Internet is an invaluable corrective."

"Engaging with ideas online -- stating what I believe, arguing in favor of it to the best of my ability, and stretching my mind by reading things outside my comfort zone -- is immensely helpful in separating well-established facts from wishful thinking."

"The thing about the Internet is, people will call you on your crap. Even if I don't know what I'm talking about, someone out there does."

"It's my responsibility to be open enough to listen to the critiques and improve my position -- but that's always been my job. The Internet merely helps us along."

"But even now the Internet is a great help to those of us who prefer to be kept honest -- it's just up to us to take advantage."

Will the Information Age cause the downfall of first-world societies? Will the Internet cause the downfall of first-world societies?
 * 1.** Will technology truly cause the downfall of first-world societies?


 * 2.** The Waking Dream


 * 3.** Kevin Kelly. Published in a compilation of essays in the book //Is The Internet Changing the Way You Think?// edited by John Brockman.


 * 4.** Book (303.4833 IS)


 * 5.** Somerset County Library (May 27, 2014)


 * 6.** SOAPSTone
 * Subject:** the Internet's positive influence on the fluidity of thought
 * Occasion:** a response to the current, widely-held belief that the Internet causing us to be more easily "distracted" is actually a good thing
 * Audience:** adults, perhaps those who may themselves see the Internet and the Information Age as bad
 * Purpose:** to share a personal experience with the reader about how the author's new fluidity of thought is an improvement from the stagnation of the past
 * Speaker:** author, editor for //Wired//
 * Tone:** conversational, somewhat intellectual, but mostly personal


 * 7.** In response to the common belief that the Internet causes people to be more easily distracted, Kevin Kelly shares his experiences with his own thinking, explaining that, on the contrary, the Internet has allowed his thinking to become more fluid and active, where in the past, it was stagnant. He perhaps even argues that attention spans now are better than in the past.


 * 8.** The Internet does not cause one's thinking to be more easily distracted, but instead allows it to be more active and fluid.


 * 9.** I find this article quite fascinating and convincing. It brings up points that I have never before considered. For example, the author suggests that attention spans might have increased since the past: people are willing to tolerate the long and complex storylines present in television shows, some beyond a hundred hours of length, longer than the time it would take to read a book. Although one could easily refute this by saying that a television show is watched in bursts of an hour at a time or less, it's worth nothing how complex these fictional universes can be, and how much people know about a world that isn't even real, based off of what's gleaned from only an hour's length or less of an episode. I can also strongly personally relate to many of the author's feeling examined in the text.


 * 10.** "For every accepted piece of knowledge I find, there is, within easy reach, someone who challenges the fact. Every fact has its antifact."

"My certainty about //anything// has decreased. Rather than importing authority, I am reduced to creating my own certainty -- not just about things I care about but about anything I touch, including areas about which I can't possibly have any direct knowledge. That means that, in general, I assume more and more that what I know is wrong. We might consider this state perfect for science, but it also means I'm more likely to have my mind changed for incorrect reasons. Nonetheless, the embrace of uncertainty is one way my thinking has changed."

"My opinions shift more. My interests rise and fall more quickly. I am less interested in Truth with a capital //T// and more interested in truths, plural."

"For some people, the disintegration between these two realms marks all that is wrong with the Internet: it is the high-priced waster of time, it breeds trifles. On the contrary, I cherish a good wasting of time as a necessary precondition for creativity. More important, I believe that the conflation of play and work, of thinking hard and thinking playfully, is one of the greatest things the Internet has done."

"In fact, the propensity of the Internet to diminish our attention is overrated. I do find that smaller and smaller bits of information can command the full attention of my overeducated mind. And it is not just me; everyone reports succumbing to the lure of fast, tiny interruptions of information."

"My thinking is more active, less contemplative. Rather than beginning to investigate a question or hunch by ruminating aimlessly, my mind nourished only by my ignorance, I start doing things. I immediately, instantly //go//."

"For some folks, this is the worst of the Net -- the loss of contemplation. Others feel that all this frothy activity is simply stupid busywork, spinning of wheels, illusory action. I ask myself, 'Compared to what?' [...] I find myself much more productive by acting first. [...] To my eye, the hundreds of millions people [sic] online this very minute are not wasting time with silly associative links but are engaged in a more productive way of thinking than the equivalent hundreds of millions people [sic] were fifty years ago."

"My attention has grown. In a similar way, the depth, complexity, and demands of games can equal those marathon movies or any great book."

"It may look as though I'm spending endless nanoseconds on a series of tweets, endless microseconds surfing Web pages or wandering among channels, endless minutes hovering over one book snippet after another -- but in reality I'm spending tens hours a day paying attention to the Internet. I return to it after a few minutes, day after day, with essentially full-time attention. As do you." //-Oh, BURN.//