Jean-Baptiste Michel's Uncharted: Through The Looking Glass

In John Standage’s book, A History of the World in Six Glasses, the history of the world is told through the history of six beverages; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca Cola. The effect that each has had on the world is profound and immeasurable, however, of the six beverages, I have found that coffee has played the largest and most significant role in world history.

In Clive Thompson’s essay, “Smarter Than You Think”, he argues that computers and search engines such as Google actually improve our memory and therefore our ability to analyze information. Thompson bases his theory on the concept of Transactive memory, a social system in which information is shared collectively in a group, with different people assigned key pieces of that information to remember. In Thompson’s opinion, the internet has become that “collective memory” for the people that use it, storing and dispensing knowledge and details more efficiently and accurately than any human could. Though he admits that when humans store information on a computer we’re less likely to personally recall it, he persists that historically human beings

Nicholas Carr is “an American journalist and technology writer” who attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University. Over the past decade, Carr has examined and studied the different impacts that computers have on our life and the “social consequences” of this new technology (Carr 123). In “A Thing Like Me” by Nicholas Carr, the author claims that technology is overpowering and dominating our lives. Carr expands on this idea further by defining it as people using “tools that allow them to extend their abilities” (Carr 124). To help with his argument, Carr uses a historical narrative about the creation of computer software, named ELIZA. Carr uses the creation of ELIZA as a way to get his point across to the reader. The creator of ELIZA, Joseph Weizenbaum, programmed a system into the computer that essentially allowed ELIZA to be able to have conversations with virtually anyone.

Historian Daniel J. Boorstin once said, “Technology is so much fun, but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge”. Boorstin believes that technology is fun and is helpful to society, but technology can be overused and can take over our knowledge, which can take over our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Nowadays most people prefer reading online rather than reading a print book, which has changed our society today in numerous helpful, yet hazardous ways. Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451 interprets what our society will be later on due to the overuse of technology, and the lack of reading print books. Through the characterization of Mildred and Faber, Bradbury shows that the overuse of technology can

The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and the film, WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton, are both very similar to considerable dilemmas in the progressing society today. Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E relate to technology isolating people and limiting face-to-face interaction in life today. They are also similar with the role of dependability on technology and more complex futuristic technology coming into play, potentially making society worse for the average person. Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E contain oppressive governments with high control that somewhat contradict the present world. If humans stay on this pathway, futuristic stories, such as Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E, may turn to a reality.

Of Mice and Men is a short novella by, John Steinbeck, detailing on the fear society carries for the unknown. Steinbeck 's novella touched on a subject most do not explore but led us on a journey of self reflec. Starting from the beginning John was born on on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California, and died 1968 writing his best-selling novel in 1937. It was in highschool that Steinbeck found his passion for writing then went to college at Stanford until 1925 but never did he graduate. After leaving Stanford and hitting rough spots on the way it was with Of Mice and Men Steinbeck was becoming well known in his time with his book becoming a popular and critical success, was selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. Having went through its publication,

59% of people aged 18 to 29 say the internet is shaping who they are. “The Veldt” and “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury are two dystopian novels where technology has become a major factor in their life, destroying them by the day. “The veldt” is based in the future, where a family is given all the modern benefits of technology, claiming to make their lives easier and more efficient. For example, the kitchen makes dinner for all the family, allowing them to engage in other fun activities. However, with every good thing, comes bad. The nursery is a simulation, where reality becomes virtual, able to recreate any environment, whether it be fictional or not. Rather than the kids going out into the wild, they would lock themselves in, relying on simulation and technology. Later on, the thought of their parents wanting to lock the nursery, lead their children to lure them into it, allowing them to get eaten alive by lions. “Fahrenheit 451” talks about a future American society, where technology has affected humanity negatively. The main character is Montag, a fireman who lives in a society where censorship is heavily used to hide the history of their country. Books are banned, and firemen burn them. Montag and his wife Mildred, a technology addict, begin to read books, slowly leading them to question the countless problems in his society. In both stories, Ray Bradbury uses tone and literary devices to show how an overdependence on technology as well as a disconnection from the

In George Orwell’s novel 1984 Orwell gives the reader a preview of a negative utopia. Big Brother, being the Government of Oceania holds all the power. Orwell conveys Big Brother to the Governments today.Orwell also shows the reader to rethink how their government is being run and or if they 're having too much power. Orwell makes the reader realize that their government has power it should not be having.

In the essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr argues that utilization of the internet has an adverse effect on our way of thinking and functioning in everyday life. Whether it be reading a newspaper, or scrolling through Facebook, internet media has forever stamped its name in our existence.

Throughout history, the human has always envisioned living a lifestyle where chores were considered as a part of the past. With the development of humanoids and androids robots in the 1950’s, chores were really becoming part of the past.Therefore, because robots were able to adapt and meet the needs and wants of humans. As a result, we started to see an increase in both the use and production of robots in factories and households. In the article “The Robot Invasion” the author Charlie Gills, is really able to convey the relevance and effectiveness of a robot through the use of the tone, purpose, and credibility.

In the article “Is Google Making us Stupid?”, author Nicholas Carr expresses his idea that the internet is taking over society and our thinking process. Google is affecting our abilities to read books, longer articles, and even older writings. Carr believes that we have become so accustomed to the ways of the internet, and we are relying on Google 's ability to sort through the details for us so we don 't have to, in order to get the information we find necessary more efficiently. He finds that this process has become almost too handy, and that it is corrupting us from becoming better educated.

As society continues to develop and makes new plans, technology in today’s world is starting to raise some questions. Patrick Lin, is a philosopher and director of the ethics emerging group at the state University in California. With the help of the university Patrick Lin wrote an essay called The Big Question: in his essay, he talks about the technologies and ideas in which many people seem to overlook today. In hopes of raising awareness about the upcoming industrial revolution of robotics. the changing of the world around us is already underway. All though Patrick lins carrier field specializes in polytechnics his choice in words of how new technology is affecting us is eye opening. In one of the essays he wrote in 2012, he talks about “the

People claim that nowadays they are living in surveillance society because Big Brother in twenty first century is keeping a close eye on people’s daily life. If so what is the meaning of Big Brother? The word Big Brother first introduced in George Orwell’s book named 1984. He said that “Big Brother is Watching You.”(George Orwell, published year). Big brother implies the authority that regulates and monitors information and citizens. Currently, technology developments such as closed-circuit television, black box, cell phone, and a bunch of search engines, allow to record every moves that people make and to give rise to surveillance society. Surveillance society has two sides of the coin. In this essay, I will deliver pros and cons about surveillance society and possible solutions to deal with the issue.

The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached. The economic and social class structure in 1984 reflects our own society through the similarities in

Many jobs have become easier by being replaced by robots. Robot are not just the idea of talking mechanical parts as we see in futuristic movies. There are a variety of different types of robotic machines, great majority of them appear in factories and in science technology work fields. Robots in factories help replace a dangerous parts of a job. However, there have been different perspective with robots replacing jobs. As technology and robotics progress, people continue to debate how jobs and careers could be affected. Robotic replacement might not have a negative effect , especially since it has helped our development to be able to survive.