The world of this garden is more real than the consensual hallucination of virtual worlds and social networking websites, as I was able to use my five senses. In a virtual world or on the Internet, you may be able to hear a fountain gurgling, but you can’t put your hand in the water to feel its coolness. You may be able to see a tulip, but you can’t smell it or touch its soft petals. You may be able to watch birds fly and sing above you, but you can’t see them dive for crumbs that you throw for them. Our five senses were created as a means to engage in the real world, not in a virtual world.
This semester, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about cyberspace in terms of its history and culture as well as resistance to and the future of technology. When the course began, I knew nothing about virtual worlds, artificial intelligence, neural implants, or the history of technological monopolies. I do wish that we had spent less time learning about virtual worlds, as I don’t think that humans are making the exodus there in the near future. I would have liked to learn more about the social, psychological, and cultural effects of technology. For my research paper, I read part of Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, and wish that we had read this book in class as I think that it is applicable to the millennial generation. It is important to be aware of how spending hours on the Internet can alter and potentially harm the human brain.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi
The last time I spent an hour alone, reflecting in nature, was on a beach on the island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania. I remember that I appreciated feeling disconnected and undisturbed. I was alone with my thoughts, as I was earlier this afternoon, and able to think about my experiences in Africa. Two years ago, my reflection inspired my passion to help save African children with HIV/AIDS. Today, I thought about my resistance to the feed and the exodus to the virtual world, and how I hope that we don’t become completely reliant on technology. Maybe this will give birth to a new passion: to encourage people to value the importance of real human interaction and to resist the increasing prevalence of technology in our lives.
I think we'll read Sherry Turkle's Alone Together, a book critical of the sorts of "friendships" we form or maintain online. We'll probably read one of the short articles of Carr's that led up to his book.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders why students do not use that garden more. It's odd...when I'm in Charlottesville, even today's UVA students sit in the gardens and use the Lawn. But at Richmond, students do not linger outside between classes.
That scares me as much as their creating a bunch of avatars might. Campus is lovely and needs to be used as what it is: a big outside room.
Don't let years go by without spending more time outside, quietly, reflecting. I do it all of the time, and it does spur a number of important resolutions about how to live.