Living deliberately with an infinite expectation of the dawn.

“We must learn to reawaked and keep ourselves awake, not my mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact tan the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. “

This is an excerpt from the reading of David Thoreau that we discussed in class on Tuesday. Our class focused a lot our discussion on the idea of living every second of the day deliberately. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we eat if we really aren’t hungry? Why do we talk, if we have nothing important or intelligent to say? Why do we shower if in a larger scale, we aren’t that dirty? After reading the excerpt I thought these questions to myself. We all do these things without even thinking why. Generally we eat around lunchtime and dinnertime. Our mind tells us what time it is before it tells us if we are hungry or not. Thinking about my life, I really don’t know what I do deliberately. I do homework because my teachers tell me to. I work because there are things that I have a desire for and I want money. I do a lot of things in life because I am told to and because it is the “norm”, but in reality I have no actual desire to do those things at all.

                The quote in the beginning of this blog signifies, to me, the importance of embracing life. I feel like I wake up dreading the day ahead of me. Falling asleep at night I plan my day and what I HAVE to do and at what time. There is a major stress factor in all of that. I wish I could go to sleep at night peacefully, no thoughts racing through my mind, and be able to wake up in the morning with no expectations of others.

                If I wasn’t in school and I didn’t have to get a job and a degree, I would want to take this opportunity, not challenge, to live at peace with myself in the woods. It would be very hard to get used to. Boredom and emptiness would definitely be challenging obstacles, but in the end I feel like the experience overall would be refreshing. I feel like I lose myself quite frequently in today’s society. I don’t know why I wear certain make up certain ways, buy clothing or imitations of clothes worn by celebrities, or act a certain way. Living in solitude, I would have to inspiration other than my own thoughts. I would learn more about myself than I ever could, living in today’s world. I would form my own opinions on things with no input from others. I would find my own beauty in things without society telling me that a certain thing is more beautiful than others. I would develop a true sense of self that I wouldn’t be able to while dealing with the influence of others.

                I think the key take home point of all of these authors is generally the same and that is that we need to find a balance in our lives between nature and technology. Lasn focused a lot of detachment from nature, and how we can’t live without technology. Our society would have a lot of trouble living without technology, but imagine the stress that would be taken away if those negative aspects of technology did not exist.  

Mark Bauerlein: Lazy, ignorant, and generalized.

"... but we suspect that if young people don’t know the Bill of Rights or the import of old COLORED ENTRANCE SIGNS-- and they should-- it reflects not stupidity but a failure of the school system and of society (which is run by grown-ups) to require them to know it.” Sharon Begley stated this in response to Bauerlein’s book that completely disrespects and insults anyone under 30 years of age. Because of an answer on a test and because of lack of knowledge of some individuals in our generation we have all been deemed with the label of stupid, lazy and ignorant. I beg to differ.
The quote above sums up my opinions on this topic. It is understandable that people would be shocked to hear how ignorant some of our generation is when it comes to politics, history, literature and other important subjects in our school’s institutions. But then again, can we be blamed for our ignorance? When we come out of the womb are we suppose to have all of this knowledge stored in our brains? Obviously that is not how it is suppose to happen. We learn from experience and from our teachers. When I say teachers I am referring to any person who’s contributions to our life have made an impact on the way we think and who we have considered to be role models. Parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, and anyone else who’s social role ranks above us impacts our lives every single day. We learn from these people. How are we suppose to know the answer to those questions asked by Jay Leno if no one in our lives has cared to inform us about them. I am not saying that our teachers are the direct problem for every single person’s lack of knowledge. There are some individuals out there who honestly have no intentions of learning things other than what they want to know. But there are people, like myself, who are open to learning about things in history, art, and literature. I am a biology major, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find appreciation in other subjects. For those people who want to learn and want to be a part the intellectual society, the teachers have to help them along the way. Or you know, there is always Google.
Oh, but wait, the second anyone from our generation logs on to the internet there is a stereotypical guarantee that we are doing so to socialize. I feel like I have to apologize to Mark Bauerlein because I have a social life and I utilize the new resources in technology to maintain that social life. For those people open to learning, look at the history on their computer. There is more there than social networking sites. I am so sorry that the older generation created a way of easy access to information so we don’t have to go to the library and flip through books. It is all conveniently accessible through my computer.
I can’t tell you how many times a day I see someone from an older generation acting like they know EVERYTHING, when in reality, half of things they say make absolutely no sense. I hear students correcting professors every single day. My parents haven’t been able to help me with my school work since I left 7^th grade. My grandparents are in awe about how much information my cousins and I are capable of retaining. Yeah, there is very big chunk of our generation that can be classified as stupid. Life is more than just about facts in books. There are a lot of people out there who could tell you any fact in the world but have absolutely no street smarts. The knowledge is there, but the common sense is lacking. Stupidity can not be based off of an incorrect answer a percentage of our generation circled on a test. Bauerlein needs to wake up and smell the flower and realize that there is a world of information out there where certain things are deemed important based on each individual. Some of that information is important to one person, and might not really affect the other, but those others have a fact about something else that other people don’t know and the cycle goes on and on.

Relationships with Reality.....or Creepers.

Usually when checking into cyberspace, my first stop is Facebook. Here, I can interact with my friends and family quickly and easily. I can choose to flip through their pictures, write to them publically, or chat them threw a private box. I see absolutely no harm in this because these people I choose to communicate with already know who I am. They know my personality and what I really look like. Then a little red notification appears in the left hand corner of the webpage under the friend request tab. I see a grown man who I have never seen before in my life requesting to be my “facebook friend”. Having good judgment and common sense I hit deny and move on with my life.

                This is where a lot of people turn cyberspace into risky business. Fortunately I don’t consider myself one of those people because I choose to talk to only people I know. A lot of people out there think that cyberspace is a great way to meet people: WRONG! Yeah, it could be an excellent way to form a relationship with someone, but in reality you know nothing about that person. They could be nothing of who they say they are. It would be incredibly simple for me to put a picture of a 110 pound tan brunette female as a profile on Facebook with a different name and probably get the attention of a lot of desperate males out there. It is not hard to do, but it is really simple to stay away from the dangers of cyberspace.

                When it comes to the gamers on World of Warcraft I was appalled by what I was seeing. Luckily in this documentary these people were talking and forming relationships with others who had the same intentions. Heather and Kevin were the two individuals that really stuck out to me in the video. Yes, they communicated multiple times and multiple ways before arranging a face to face visit but in reality did she really know him? He could have manipulated her into thinking he was one person and when she flew to meet him in person he could have been a serial killer. I understand that I am saying the worst of the worst right now but these are things that go through my mind and I don’t understand why other people aren’t thinking the same thing.

                The question on the sheet that stood out to me the most so far (only after viewing the first half of the video) is, “Can ‘virtual’ relationships operate in the “real world?” My answer is very mixed but it leans further toward no. You can think that you are getting to know someone so well through the computer, a headset, a phone, and email but honestly that could all be a lie. The worst part about all these “what ifs” about cyberspace is, we have to question everything. We as a culture cannot avoid this new technological addiction. Culture is a learned set of beliefs, values, norms, and material goods shared by a group of people. We learn to operate through the real world and the virtual word. Our generation communicates both ways and it was gradually brought upon us by our society. The definition of a society is people who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with one another, and share many elements of a common culture. If we don’t interact through cyberspace like the rest of our society we become less of a part of it. I’m not saying that that is right in anyway but that is the reality of our situation. This is the new way of communication and we are bound to be connected by it. It takes will power and common sense to judge who we communicate with and if what we are engaging in is dangerous to our own well being.
 

Over exaggerated and generalized.

As a modern day disconnected family, “you decide, as a tonic to go on a camping trip—a pit-latrine-and-flame-cooked-wieners experience uncorrupted by phones, faxes or Baywatch. In the absence of electronic distractions, you will get to know each other again”. Kalle Lasn uses this example of how a failing family tries to reconnect. To me this seems like a reasonable way that my own family would reconnect if we had to, but for the family used in the explanation, the outcome was not as good as they had hoped.  Lasn followed stating, “After only a few hours in the wilderness, though, it becomes clear that you don’t know how to do this. You might as well have been shot into deep space, so psychologically ill-equipped are you for the enforced camaraderie of the outside world.” If I am going to be completely honest while writing these blogs I am obligated to say that this book truly pisses me off. It is a complete generalization and over exaggeration of the modern day family. My family is incredibly close and has not been torn an inch apart because of the new “addictions” to technology. We have dinner multiple times a week and during those times, there is never silence. We talk just like we did prior to the daily use of computers and cell phones. At college, I talk to my mom and dad every other day if not every single day. I would not be able to if it wasn’t for facebook or my phone. Every negatively bias person says that technology is disconnecting people from nature or the “real world”. I personally think that cell phones, internet, and computers are a positive cultural change. I feel more connected to my family and friends than I have ever been.

I’m not good with names but I remember someone stating in class that the idea of plentitude was completely embraced by all Americans. First off I’d like to start by saying that America isn’t the only country with technology and fast food. “Americans do this, Americans do that”. No offense but none of the foreign exchange students that I have met have ever had to “adapt” to the way Americans live. The world is changing, not just America. Yeah, I agree that we want more than what is needed, but we are not the only ones.

This entire book is dedicated to critiquing how much Americans are screwing everything up. Everything I have read in this book has been opinions. I did not read one actual percentage of how many American families are failing, or how many kids would rather watch a movie than read an actual book. The chapters that we read in this book are completely generalized and I found it borderline insulting that every single opinion Kalle Lasn gave on the American lifestyle was negative.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Taylor Rudisill and I am a sophomore here at Shippensburg. I work at Gettysburg College when I am not in school and at the CUB Desk here on campus during the school year. I am majoring in Biology and planning on furthering my education at a graduate school to become a physical therapist. I live in Orrtanna, PA which is only a 20 minutes drive from campus. My sister is a senior here at Shippensburg majoring in Elementary Education.

I have a lot of different interest and hobbies. I have played soccer and volleyball since was very young, but here on campus I only participate in intramurals. In the winter I love to snowboard at Ski Liberty in Fairfield, PA. In the summer my family vacations in Rodanthe, NC. It is an excellent place to surf on the east coast and my father and I enjoy doing that while we are there. Like most girls, I enjoy shopping, but only when there is a purpose and only when I have money. Looking at clothing and items I can’t afford depresses me. I enjoy watching football. My favorite pro team is the Dallas Cowboys (don’t hate me), and my favorite college team is naturally Penn State. My cousin’s boyfriend was just named the kicker for PSU this season and we are all very excited to attend games to watch him.

Reading is definitely my weakest area when it comes to school so I look forward to this class helping me improve how well I understand material. The last book I read was In Her Shoes. Unfortunately I have seen the movie so the ending was spoiled but I did enjoy reading it. When it comes to pop culture I enjoy books and movies that are based on true stores of extraordinary people. The first book that I remember reading was about Bethany Hamilton, the female surfer who got her arm bitten by a shark. I love movies that relate to the same things such as defeat followed by perseverance and success. I also enjoy movies that can make me laugh and cry within the same two hours. Other movies I enjoy are, The Proposal, Little Miss Sunshine, and any movies starring Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carrell. My favorite show was Friday Night Lights, but to my dismay, they cancelled the production. I am obsessed with country music starts such as Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. On the other hand I can’t seem to change the station when Nicki Minaj is playing.  

If I am being completely honest, literature is not really my thing. I have trouble reading and comprehending material on subjects I am unfamiliar with. I believe that “Literature” is literally the book or writing itself, but figuratively it is an overall combination of the different interpretations of the piece.