Friday, November 1, 2013

"Technology And A Primitive Futuristic Society?"

What does Wesch's short video about "us in the machine" make you think? How might this video connect with Anthem? Explain and use one quotation from Anthem to connect. Reflect, dissect, challenge, etc... Please complete this prompt in class today.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

This video makes me think how far we have come as a world in technology and how much we can connect and learn easily. We have the whole world at our fingertips. “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. This and nothing else.”-Equality. This relates to our world because the internet really does "free us". Every half a second a new blog is made. We can explore and learn at our own speed and desire. We are free once we access the internet.

Anonymous said...

It makes me think that we actually are the machine of the world. We make businesses function, we help run companies, we can relate this to "Anthem." "The word 'We' is as a lime poured over men..." We are the ones who run this country, we are the ones who let freedom ring, we are the ones who do every single little thing that help this country function. In "Anthem", no one is running it except for the "higher" classes. Anthem people don't really do anything about it.

Anonymous said...

This video made me think about how technology has changed and how it is individualized by the creators. This video may connect with anthem because the internet used to be more unidividualized on how the html was the same for everything but then later on changed by one individual at a time like said in Anthem "the unspeakable word.....I" shows progress to being idividual

Anonymous said...

This video relates to Anthem because in their society, innovation was not allowed. In our society we grow and learn new things every day. New inventions and models come out all the time. But, in Anthem the reason why they did not have very advanced technology was because of the unmentionable times. Dating back to a time when maybe technology took over every ones life to the point where their society crashed and failed. The video that was shown to us in some way warns us of that. It shows that our generation is very advanced and if we keep trying to make things simpler for us to access and use then maybe one day it will take over our life completely.

Anonymous said...

"it is evil to have concern for their own faces or bodies." This quote shows the significance of not being our self and only what we should not be in Anthem they only need you to be their and nothing more really. This video showed me that their is more and it is no where near the book of Anthem in the ideas and the message going out their.

Anonymous said...

I think that the video and Anthem have much in common about how we are taught to learn by our "brothers" whether it be in real life or online we are enslaved to the idea that we must search for others ideas be it a blog or a classroom. "To be free, a man must be free of his brothers." this quote by Prometheus accurately describes my idea by showing that you will never be free until you can think for yourself and follow your own ideals not those of a blogger or a council member.

Anonymous said...

The video shows us that we are still part of a machine nothing is actually private. And at some point technology will do all of our work for us and we will not think like in anthem.
"We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen." chp 1 pg 3 . This goes with what i said in my first line that our lives are not private.

Anonymous said...

This video makes me think how the internet got all of its information. This video showed me that we are the internets resource we are then one the gives all of the information. This can relate to Anthem because the we give the internet information like the council gives the whole city and people of the city there information. This can be shown when Equality is giving his job when the council only says two words and they are "Street Sweeper."

Anonymous said...

Wesch's short video about "us in the machine" made me think about how much change there is in the world every day. In the video it was saying that billions of people upload something on the internet. So every single day is different than it was from the previous one. This can relate to anthem because of how the video said we are the machine. In Anthem even though the society is not very advanced it is still very sophisticated. " What is not done collectively cannot be good" best describes the collectivism in the society. They believe of the group or one. Kind of how a machine has many parts, aspects, and functions for a specific reason.

Anonymous said...

I think that this video is very true even to this day people can't sit at a desk without looking at their phone and soon it will become so extreme that we wont be able to think for yourself as equality says "we made it we created it" I think this is saying that we are going to get us in trouble and not be able to get out.

Anonymous said...

I think this quote "us is the machine" is meaning that humans are the one who created the internet and post things and facts and we are the internet. I don't think this relates to the book because I feel like the internet is controlled by who ever wants to publish or present themselves and anyone can post any thing on it. In Anthem, The government is very strict and controls what people should and should not do.

Anonymous said...

The video connects to Anthem, and we connect to Anthem.
In that particular video, it discusses how technology is chaining who we are as a society. Often using the words "we" and "us" to demonstrate that we are not an individual on the internet. In Anthem, no one is an individual, and they all abide to a brotherhood pact. This video could possibly foreshadow that our society is becoming more and more dependent on each other to display information that we need to thrive or excel in academics, or an occupation. Anthem doesn't any modern technology, and new ideas like light, and writing, and individualism are prohibited. "We are one in all and al in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever." page 19 This is that certain pact of brotherhood, that our society today could follow, with out much effort. We rely on each other, far more than we should, especially for information.

Anonymous said...

Wesch's video "us in the machine makes me think that we are using a lot of technology. We use technology mostly everyday. I think that near the future we are going to have technology take over and do things for us. This relates to anthem by having freedom.

Anonymous said...

Anthem's society is very different from this video. In the video there are many examples of how our technology has evolved and will keep evolving. In Anthem the leaders of the city don't want anything to evolve and would rather have it stay the way it has been. "... but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas as all men must." (pg 73 Anthem) This quote shows how Anthem society does not like change. Our society is the opposite, wanting change as soon as we can get it. The way that technology is used is very individual. When you are creating something or on the internet everything that happens depends on your actions. If something like this was created in Anthem it would give the citizens a way to be individual and that scares them.

Anonymous said...

It makes me think about how far the internet has come in the past few years, and how people around the globe have morphed it into what we know today with Wikipedia and Blogger. It was mind blowing when he said that we teach the Machine. That makes me think about how much we are giving the internet, and how much other people can get from the internet. “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.” The society in Anthem is all about WE instead of ME. The current internet is all about ME instead of WE. If the society in Anthem knew about the internet today, they would banish it.

Anonymous said...

This video makes me think how big technology is and how it is such big thing in all of our lives. It also made me think how much it has helped us connect and create new ideas. I think it connects with Anthem by showing us it has advanced while Equalities community has not advanced. The quote "This thing must be destroyed." (74 Rand). The quote shows us how they are unwilling to change while technology has already changed so much. Also they think it will not help them but technology is very useful because we gave it a chance

Anonymous said...

The video makes me think about how much technology has changed just in a few short years. Just back in 2007 we can do that and now in 2013 we have so much more and a computer is so smart now. This video connects with anthem by showing that there is more in the world than just the things they do when they are in the city. The quote "And we were frightened that we had lived for twenty-one years and had never known what joy is possible to men. "shows that each year there are more and more things that are discovered that lets us know more and have more joy. I think this quote also shows that in 21 years in the story they are finally coming to discover the joy in what they find and in the real world today, in 21 years we have gone from typewriters to supercomputers that can do everything and more things than the human.

Anonymous said...

It made me think that everything we do with the internet is doing something that might comeback to hurt us in the end. It also made me think that the internet has it's own way of using us just like we use it. It in my opinion connects to Anthem by it changing and getting better just like in Anthem how Prometheus is trying changing it to get better. "Here, on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our new land..."

Anonymous said...

Wesch's video make me think about the power of technology over people's lives and how it has become almost too personal in people's lives. Anybody at any time can figure out a lot of information about you and has the potential too steal it. The machine has almost taken over our lives; it knows us, we can't get away from it, and we put so much energy into it. the machine, as the video calls it' is quite the opposite of Anthem. "We have stolen candles from the Home of the Street Sweepers, we have stolen flints and knifes and paper, and we brought them to this place. We have stolen glass vials and powders and acids from the Home of the Scholars." Nobody knew of his actions, of his tunnels, of his though of his anything for that matter. For all he knows everybody could be having these thoughts and feelings but must not speak of them. Unlike the web and the machine nobody is aware of much information about another person. they could not steal each others identity and are nowhere nearly as connected as the web provides because they are not allowed too.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

In Michael Wesch's video about machines and us in them makes me kind of scared to be honest. I think that new technology is great and that we need it to keep going in life, but sometimes it can grab hold of us. It can make us selfish and greedy. Like the Apple Inc. They come out with a new model of the iPhone every couple years and Apple users everywhere rush to buy it the day it comes out. This is kind of disgusting. Why can't we be happy with what we have already? But like I said, technology can be good. Like in "Anthem" when Equality finds old books from the Unmentionable Times and discovers new things that he can create. He says, "These are the things before me. And as I stand here at the door of glory, I look behind me for the last time. I look upon the history of men, which I have learned from books, and I wonder." This shows the power that Equality holds and that he can use it however he wants. Similar to new technology today. It's our choice how to use it. So we should use it well.

Anonymous said...

This video is very real. It describes how tech has done wonders and is very clear that we teach the machine. Just like Prometheus created light, we created all of the tech we see today. Prometheus describes his creation like this, "We Equality 7-2521, have discovered a new power of nature." And also this video reminds me of what life would be without electronics. Like in the book "Killer Of Enemies" we are described as brutal beings that do minor things for 'The Ones' their leaders. I relate this to what Equality said, "For this wire is apart of our body, as a vein from us, glowing with our blood."

Anonymous said...

This video makes me think about how much technology is changing and how much people are changing. You don't even need to see people in real life anymore, you can just talk to them over the internet. The internet and technology in general has completely changed society and will continue to change society. This connects to Anthems society because people are becoming more selfish because of all this technology. People can become angry quicker and this may be why Anthems society wanted to abandon individualism. "It is a sin to think words that no others think." This quote is what is in Anthem and this can cause problems but also keep peace. Anthem societies reasons for this are good but they wouldn't work in real life.

Anonymous said...


I think this video and Anthem can connect in the differences it has. The video explained that some change is good and that new advances can help our world. Where Anthems society does not like change. And if they do want to make a change then it takes years to do. “It took fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle, and to decide upon the number needed, and to re-fit the Plans so as to make candles instead of torches.” page 74

Anonymous said...

The video that Mike Wesch made was about how we are the internet and the internet is us. This is like Anthem because in Equality's society everything is planned for them like the recommendation section on YouTube of stuff you like to do. However within that recommendation there can be stuff that you don't like or have prejudice against such as in Anthem when he was judged upon for his height. "The hairs on my neck stood up as the decision had been made.

Anonymous said...

This video made me think that the internet is far more complex then I thought it was. Because of a lot of smart people, the internet and computers were invented.
Tonight, after more days and trials than we can count, we finished building a strange thing, from the remains of the Unmentionable Times"
This quote from "Anthem" relates to the video because Equality was smart and he kept going to invent a high tech thing for his time.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be typing this without technology. The way people live has changed because of technology.It's hard to imagine what the future will be like with technology moving so quickly. The people in Anthem knew how "awful" technology was because the people from the unmentionable times had perished because of it. The city in Anthem wanted to stay away from advancements because they didn't want change. "Then the wire glowed. But terror struck the men of the council."

Unknown said...

This is a good post. This post give truly quality information.Really very useful tips are provided here.thank you so much.Keep up the good works. Nehru jacket