Tuesday, October 27, 2015

"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.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The video makes me think that technology is really changing fast and we are what is driving it. Anthem makes it seem like the society of 'we' stunts progress while the video makes me think that the society is driving the progress. It's saying that technology is made for teamwork, not the individual.

Anonymous said...

The video made me think about how much technology affects our daily lives and how fast we are progressing. I already knew that we were affected greatly, but now I realize it’s actually on a greater scale than I thought. In “Anthem” they talk about there was a time where they had cars and electricity, but now they don’t have anything. The leaders of this society probably believed that to get rid of all the technology, they could re-invent themselves. “They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horse, and of the lights that burned without flame.” (Rand 19). To get rid of all conveniences would allow the people of this area to be “reborn” as the leaders would put it.

Anonymous said...

Welch's short video about "us in the machine" made me think as technology advances, we as humans advance. We grow in knowledge and it shapes our personality. The web redefines ourselves. This video connects to Anthem because the technology that Equality discovers is new and can change the society just like the web changes the society. This video shows progress that is beyond us. That goes beyond what we know. In Anthem the new idea scares the council. I think the web scares adults. The idea of their children being able to access a world that is not filtered. A world where they can not always protect their children, that is what scares them . In the video it says the "web controls us" it also says "we are the web" these quotes are like in Anthem where they discuss how Equality's new invention will change the brothers. Electricity will make a society where the hard work will not be needed, where you will be able to rely on yourself rather than your brothers, the electricity will control them.

Anonymous said...

This video makes me think that with technology everything we do is tracked and with every click the technology we use gets better. Technology collects data from what we search. This video connects with Anthem because the people in Anthem don't get the opportunity to advance in anything really. “The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them (pg. 52).” What this quote is saying is that those who seek new things,ideas,or challenges will discover great things. In anthem it is sinful to think what others don't which made it difficult.

Anonymous said...

“We are the web”. “A blog is made every half second”. “We are becoming more and more joined together in whatever we do”. All of these statements stood out to me. The progress from then till now is way more enhanced and fluent. In anthem, it doesn’t really seem like they are moving foreword technologically at all. All of it is being put down. The end of the video talks about the key terms “aesthetics” and “identity”. Both of these talk about being unique. We shouldn’t forget who we are outside of technology, but stay advancing.

Anonymous said...

I think this can connect to anthem because it talks about digital text as being superior to written text. This can be interpreted as connected to anthem because it shows that everything we do is traced and will always come back to us. It makes you think that you are accountable for everything you do and that you can’t cover any of it up. The part in the video that says that technology controls us can be related to the fact that the government in Anthem limits the voice of its people and doesn’t allow them to do much of anything. This Quote - “I am. I think. I will”, shows that Equality wants to control himself rather than being controlled by technology or the leaders in that society.

Anonymous said...

The short video “us in the machine” by Wesch makes me think about how things these days are changing so much. Things are getting smaller, thinner, and simpler. Things are getting easier to complete and easier to access. People these days can just whip out their phones and get on the internet and be able to find what they are looking for in less than a minute. Back when things were bigger, fatter, and harder, you would have to go to the computer, wait for it to turn on and wait for the internet to load. Then type in what you wanted and wait for the answer to come up. That would take somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes. Things are much simpler. This also relates to “Anthem” by Ayn Rand because things are so complicated in the society that the people are not able to be free and have the luxury of doing things quicker and more efficient. But, when Equality frees himself from the society, he learns what it is like to be able to do things faster, and easier. Things are also beginning to get more complicated. Not in a bad way but in a way that it is making people think and testing them, which some people like. In the society in “Anthem” things are complicated in a bad way and it is not a nice environment for the people of the society.

Anonymous said...

In the short video, it made me think about the world and how much it has change since like Anthem was created. This connects with Anthem because Equality was the one to created the light bulb, (in the story). The light bulb then went to electricity. Electricity than went to creating the computer and other machines. This relates to the video because we are the machine. The machine did start out with one man and then expanded to other humans to create different objects. They took one thing and expanded it, just like the video. So in the end, both Anthem and the video connect with each other.

Anonymous said...

The short video about "us in the machine" connects to Anthem. As we find new technology, we learn new things about ourselves. Equality did the exact same thing. After finding and harnessing electricity, he was forced to give it away. HIs society did not support progress. This forced equality to redefine his life. Technology was important both in our lives and his. Equality said, "Let us throw away our candles and torches. Let us flood our city with light. Let us bring a new light to men!" (Rand 71). Clearly, technology can change lives and change one's perspective on ideas.

Anonymous said...

As we develop new technology, we are required to adapt, to understand the ever changing world. We feed technology new information. In the book "Anthem", Equality becomes pressed to change his understanding about technology and individualism. Just like how now mankind must adapt to maintain influence of the modern era. In the beginning of the book, Equality believes that individualism is a sin, yet by the end of the book his understanding and view point change because he believes that individualism can be good. This can be proven in the following quote, " I understood the blessed thing which i had called my curse." Equality's independence was caused when he had to change his ideal's to create the "Light box".

Anonymous said...

Wesch's short video about "Us in the Machine" makes me think about how lucky we are to be able to have the technology and privileges we get. Also, it made me think about how connected we are to other parts of the world, and how we can share knowledge through advancements. As they stated, the web has "people sharing and collaborating" all over, which I believe is a huge part of what leads to technological advancements. This video connects to "Anthem" because it shows how knowledge is important for production of thoughts, which Equality figured out at the end. Also, Equality found out that the world should be filled with knowledge and connections that could create technology, which was demonstrated in "Anthem". In "Anthem", Equality says, "Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and lodestone which point the way..."(Rand 95). This connects to this video because it shows that everyone has a guiding star (interpreted as knowledge), which will point them in the right direction towards success. In my mind, that success connects to the video because I think that today's technology is a huge form of success. This is what Equality will eventually strive for, which will connect him to the rest of the world. In conclusion, I think that Wesch's short video about "Us in the Machine" connects to "Anthem" for many reasons, and provokes several different thoughts and connections in my mind.

Anonymous said...

Wesch's video describes the rapid progress in our society. He describes how everything that we do on the internet is tracked, changed, and molded around us. Wesch describes how we are being used by the "machine." In Equality's society, the government brainwashes the people and has them in a position where they can be "used" for anything. The government is now able to make any decisions without anyone's consent. Progress is something that in our society is valued and coveted. In Anthem, progress is looked down upon and is seem as an issue to be dealt with. Equality discovers a light bulb. He brings his discovery to the Council of the Scholars. They see this as something that would "ruin the candle industry." The Scholars should have seen the extreme aid that something like this would provide and realize that light bulbs would make a new industry. Instead, they shoot him down and reject his ideas. Our society is always changing and growing, while Anthem is set in a society that is stuck in a place like some prehistoric era. It is my belief that progress is a good thing, but we must be careful not to lose our traditional values. The hard part is deciding what to keep and what can be improved upon. What values and traditions do you think are important to preserve?

Anonymous said...

Wesch's short video about 'us in the machine' makes me realize how unlimited the internet is and how it is always changing. This relates the world of Anthem because they are polar opposites. In Anthem, the world is limited and there is little to no growth, but as I said earlier, the internet is constantly advancing and making progress. In the book, Equality discovers electricity and the light bulb. When it is introduced into the society it is instantly shot down because it's new and 'dangerous.' “The Council of Scholars has said that we all know the things which exist and therefore the things which are not known by all do not exist.” (Rand 52). The Council in Anthem uses the people and limits there thoughts by telling the people that everything they know is everything that exists. As shown in the video, you can find new information on the internet at almost anytime. In Anthem, peoples thoughts are limited. On the internet, the possibilities are endless.

Anonymous said...

The Video by Wesch made me thankful for all of the technology that I can use but that I do not necessarily have to understand. I think that Equality felt the same thing when he discovered the technology from the unmentionable times as he did not know exactly how to use it but he didn't want to let it go. On page 91 of Anthem it says, “We shall never leave this house”. This shows that Equality did not want to leave the house because he saw the wonders and way it made life simple and did not want to go back. Watching the video, I felt like we are the same way and rely so much on technology that we would literally die as a civilization without it. I feel that this may have been what had happened to the society in Anthem before the "We" society and they ended up resorting to the terrible society that happened afterwards if there was a technological malfunction that happened.

Anonymous said...

The video and Anthem give people two different ideas, and I think that though they are two entirely opposite ideas, they do intertwine a little bit. First off, Anthem gives us the idea that if we take away technology and all be the same person, our ideas will never spread, as well as they are needed. Anthem tells us that we can still KIND OF be people without technology, but not really. The idea of the video is that we are people with technology, but it makes us question if that's really the right thing. The similarities, though, are that both give me the idea that people RELY on technology. Technology is evolving constantly and though Anthem and the video are VERY different ideas, they ask the question: is technology good for the people?

Anonymous said...

The video, “Us in the Machine” made me think about how much we rely on technology each day. We log in almost every class and in some ways it can disconnect ourselves from others. This may be connected to Anthem because in Anthem we see Equality be the individual how startups technology. And in the video the creator argues that we as a community of people are what makes up technology. However, the community of people we are today is a community of individuals. So if in the video we said, ‘individual people are technology’ we could see the connection to Anthem. Equality is an individual, who created technology, and in the video we see the connections between the creation of technology being solely from communities of individual people. On page 101 Ayn Rand writes, “These are the things before me,” this (while out of context) could be the line to connect the video to the book because the internet, or google is before us every day. And the personal pronoun me shows the individual feelings toward the internet.

Anonymous said...

Wesch’s short video about “us in the machine” makes me think about technological advances from written letters to e-mails on a computer. Using the internet is easier than using a textbook to look up information. Technology gives us more advantages such as looking up info online and school related projects. This video connects with Anthem by knowing that the councils in this society are against progress such as technology. This society limits progress but gives Equality the ability to create the lightbulb and try to help the people progress. Equality sees a light of opportunity when he figures out that his invention will benefit the people in this society. “If danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death, we shall die with you. You are damned, and we wish to share your damnation,” (Rand The Golden One openly explains to Equality that he has great knowledge. He then realizes he is no longer alone and wants to evolve from his community.

Anonymous said...

Wesch's video "us in the machine" makes you wonder how much technology has advanced since that video was released in 2008. The technology was already far more advanced then most can comprehend, and it has undoubtedly advanced even further in the past seven years. Our security and privacy are no longer of importance.
The video does not relate to Anthem, as the society discourages any technological advances. The internet shows how diverse each individual is in this entire planet. However, in Anthem, there is no "individual", as they strive to be the same as their brothers.
Anthem does not relate to "us in the machine", the internet is diverse, Anthem is not.

Anonymous said...

The short video on “us in the machine” makes me think about that the internet is such a helpful source and that if we're having a problem or a question you can always search it. Before there were computers and the internet, if you wanted to get your information, it was usually a library. But just in the last 15-20 years the technology has been constantly getting better and better as time goes on. So this video relates to Anthem by how once Equality found out about light there was no turning back and he wanted to tell the council of scholars, but they didn't want to listen. So if you compare that to today, once everyone started using technology, no one can go back because the technology has taken over. “And man will go on. Man, not men” (pg. 104) I chose this quote because it's saying that "man" will improve. This could be technology or anything that can improve.

Anonymous said...

This makes me think how crazy how fast time has flied and how much technology has changed in short amount of time. This video makes me think how fast time is going by. Anthem relates to this video because once you get idea like technology you want to keep expanding on it. Just like equality when he created the light bulb he wanted to keep making it better just like we do with technology. “I have learned that my power of the sky was known to men long ago;they called it electricity.” Equality knew that electricity was created but he wanted to make it better such as people do that with computers. In the video and Anthem it shows how things are still expanding or getting better. Overall this video relates to Anthem in many ways.

Anonymous said...

How I can connect this short video to Anthem is that they both explain progress in the world. And to look back from 2008 when this video was created, it had seemed advanced then and now that several years have gone by, in my opinion, it just seems crazy how quickly we have advanced in our technology in such a short period of time. Anthem relates to this because it states how a man that stands out of a society that demands perfection could not fully succeed on his own but like what some other people have said that we could not have made these advancements without teamwork.

Anonymous said...

The video "us in the machine" makes me think about progression. This video shows how technology is progressing by showing facts about computer use, and how almost every person uses technology and the internet in a day. I think that this progressing relates to Anthem because Equality wants to progress, but society doesn't. The quote, "I have learned that my power of the sky was known to men long ago;they called it electricity." relates to the idea of progression because Equality is figuring out what electricity is.

Anonymous said...

This video made me see the internet in a much different and unique way because it made me think about how our lives circulate around the internet. Also, I started noticing how much easier it is to connect and talk to our friends. This connects to Anthem because in the movie, the guy shows that the internet is so much more effective than writing with pencil and paper. In Anthem, Equality come up with this idea of the light bulb. If the Council were to accept the invention, the lives of the community would have become better, easier, and much more effective. Ayn Rand shows this by saying through Equality's words, "We can give our brothers a new light, cleaner and brighter, than any they have ever known," (Rand 60). This quote shows that Equality was able to give the light bulb to his community, making their lives easier.