ACADEMIC ESSAY

Topic: Computers Are Reducing Our Ability To Think

Thinking is the process and ability to consider a topic carefully in the hope that it will connect with other information that a person already knows, or, information they have already obtained. With the invention computers along with the popular world wide web, our ability to perform routine tasks like mathematical calculations, storing information, searching and retrieving information, artistic painting and many more fields which usually require years of study and training, are much easier to perform with a few simple clicks on the mouse and keyboard and the answers are immediately available without any real hard work or deep thought. This essay is going to address two main topics, how computers affect our ability to think in a broader scope and how computers are removing the need to learn the fundamentals of art and illustrations.

The term illustration means “a visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used to make a subject or topic more pleasing or easier to understand” (WordNet Search). The topic that the artist is trying to visualize and showcase to an audience is not a simple task of drawing and coloring, it requires the artist to first understand the topic and also have the ability to represent the topic visually. The process of learning how to do a good illustration can take years of practice where an artist must learn shading, color composition, anatomy and perspective. Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the fathers of art, instructs students “with philosophical and sublte speculation consider all manner of forms: Sea, land, trees, animals, plants, flowers, all of which are enveloped in light and shade. Truly this is science, the legitimate daughter of nature, because painting is born of nature.”(Whiting, 2001) All artists know of Leonardo Da Vinci and how incredible not only was his works of art, but also his creative mind. Every illustration has a meaning to convey, it also needs to be represent mood which in it’s self is a form of science. Computer software programs have the capacity to perform many tasks that an artist had to learn by studying and practice, but now with a few simple points and clicks, this can be now done for them.

The years of artistic practice and study can be achieved by nearly any body with the aid of computer programs, which allow for automatic lighting lenses, flares, import images, preset brush marks, straight lines without rulers just to name a few of the features. The main feature that really separates traditional illustrations and art from using the computer is the ability to “undo” if you make a mistake, this feature removes the need to use an eraser and even improvise on how to fit in the surroundings of the mistake by critical thinking. Young artists are asking questions to popular art magazines like” how can I make a light shafts quickly and easily” and the professional digital artists reply is, hold down shift key for the straight line and duplicate layer and a couple of other simple computer processes during the professional reply. (Howlett, 2009, p41) Usually creating light shafts is difficult and Rebekah Lynn, a talented artists says” Shading is really hard for a lot of artists. Yah, sure, the sun can create shadows with the most masterful ease, but when it's time for the artist to pick up a pencil and do the same thing....well, mastery doesn't come so easily.”(Lynn, 2003) The hard work of learning shading and even light shafts that cause the sorrounding environment to have shadows is being simplified by computers. Shading, which is light on a surface, is a vitally important concept in creating illustrations, this is because shading gives the illustration a three dimensional look, if we get computers to do the fundamentals of shading for us, than we will be unable to produce traditional illustrations because we don’t understand how shadow really reflects on a surface.
The creative mind is like a fire, it burns and rages until it is released, whether an artist believes in evolution or a divine creator why we are “built” to have this urge is beside the point, the artist needs to release there repressed drive of art and in the process discipline themselves in knowing what is beautiful and put it together in harmony.(Ehrenzweig, 1961) This desire needs to be nurtured, nourished and used through training, guidance and discipline. Computer art programs have the potential to weaken the artistic harmony and the beauty of art because it is no longer the human hand that is constructing it entirely, but the computer. Available art software has the ability to be used in conjunction with traditional art to add little touch up’s to an image that has been scanned in, like removing a pen line mistake, or computers can produce a piece of artwork from start to finish. With all this assistance is it really the artist doing most of it or the computer doing the majority of it? Will we be able to return back to the traditional process of illustrations and art which is usually not only a slower process, but also less involved?

Computers have many uses apart from art programs and one of them is access the world wide web. The World Wide Web offers text, videos, music, animations and graphics through hypertext transfer protocols.(WordNet Search) With the availability of information to nearly any question within seconds while on the World Wide Web, some internet users such as journalist Nicholas Carr (2008) who use to be a diligent reader of books admits that “my mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do” . The use of computers is limiting our attention span and online blogger LoyaLover, whose real name is disclosed said this about his experience of using the world wide web. “Young adults like myself have taught ourselves to rely on the Internet. Its impact is evident in our everyday lives. We become so impatient and our attention span probably won’t last for anymore than minutes” (This is his story, 2008]. If we are unable to keep our focus on the matters at hand in our personal life while using computers, Research director of American Association of research Professors John W. Curtis believes it will overflow into our work life and “investment in technology is one of several factors responsible for the well documented loss of tenured positions in the past decade.” (Bugeja, 2006). Computers are continuing to advance , they will become more common in classrooms, art schools, offices, university where most assessments can only be submitted on the computer. Everyone is different, just as one person learns, loves and plays in a different way to the next person, we are all individuals and Alfred Bork puts forward one of the downfalls of using computers as a main source of education “One aspect of education that must be considered is that all students are DIFFERENT, with different backgrounds, knowledge, interests and learning styles. Each student should be treated individually.” (Bork, 1997). If computers are reducing our attention span and people will no longer be educated according to there learning style, than we may be discriminating against those who have learning difficulties using the computer but may excel in interacting with the world around them.



Every person is an individual and makes choices how to live there life. The individual make up formed by a persons genetics and spirit if you will, this is what separates one person from another. People are also shaped by family, friends, school teachers, mentors and the environmental world they live in. If people are no longer shaped by their surroundings, learning about discipline or understanding people the environment, will this cease to develop the individual characteristic of the person because most of their life is on computers? The physical environment we use to interact with is no longer the case, computers have a digital environment that we spend a lot of time interacting with. The digital environment is millions perfectly aligned pixels on a bright glowing screen, instead of touching and feeling the world around us, we tend to use computer software to perform a lot of our tasks like keeping a diary, writing notes, storing telephone numbers just to name a few. Computers are not just a new environment to interact with but is changing our biochemistry. Neuroscience is telling us that the human brain is plasticity and adaptation occurs not only with our thoughts, but biologically as well (Carr, 2008). Science now understands that learning makes connections between neurons and using computers is connecting our brains differently than traditional methods, whether or not this is a good thing for mankind will be revealed in the future.

The influence that computers are having on our ability to think is not only limited to browsing the world wide web or using computer programs, it is spreading out from there by influencing other media. “As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media has to adapt to the audience’s new expectations. Television programs add text crawls and pop-up ads, and magazines and newspapers shorten their articles, introduce capsule summaries, and crowd their pages with easy-to-browse info-snippets.(Carr, 2008) The affect of computers are overflowing into the real world by either making traditional media obsolete or force them to keep up with what computers are doing to the way we think. This is going to put more strain on our ability to think because companies bombard people with their advertisement for products. How can the mind absorb everything that is thrown at us? It can’t, but what ever comes into eyes view will be processed, where we will deem it interesting or not, instead of it being focused on the things of character growth, it’s more about companies selling you their products and fighting for your thoughts rather than promoting a healthy body and mind.

This essay has discussed a few points that support the fact that computers have the ability to reduce our ability to think. Even though this essay was opposed to computers in our lives especially in the areas of art and our attention spans, it has offered a couple of points that are worth thinking about. If people continue to use computers without learning the fundamentals of producing works of art and been able to process information instead of computers thinking for us, we may lose the ability to do what may seem like simple mundane tasks but in fact are building blocks onto greater personal accomplishments.






REFERENCES

Bork , A. (1997). The Future of Computers and Learning. T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), Vol. 24, 1997

Bugeja, M. (2006). Heads Up: Facing the Facebook. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from
http://www.vpss.ku.edu/pdf/PSDC%20Facing%20the%20Facebook.pdf

Carr, N. (2008). Is Google Making Us Stupid? Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Ehrenzweig, A. (1961). The Hidden Order of Art. The British Journal of Aesthetics 1961 1(3):121-133; doi:10.1093/bjaesthetics/1.3.121

Howlett, C. (Ed.). (2009). ImagineFX May 2009: How to do lights shafts quickly and easily? (pp. 41). United Kingdom: Midway

Lynn, R. (2003). Shading tutorial: Understanding the art of shading. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from
http://www.rebekahlynn.com/free/tutorial/shading_tutorial.html

This is His Story: Technology? (2008). Retrieved December 9, 2009, from
http://loyalover.wordpress.com/

Whiting, R. (2001). The art of Leonardo Da Vinci A portrait of the renaissance man.

WordNet Search 3.0, (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=illustration

WordNet Search 3.0, (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2009, from
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=www










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Day 10 - New Media Ecology

Image By:Henry Lee
Media ecology is the study of media environments, which is commonly defined as "the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs. " There are lots of mediums of technology that people use to communicate, such as MSN Messanger, Facebook, Forums, discussion boards and even pen and paper are a form of communication. The uses of communication are to extend our thoughts to another person, whether it be in real time or is available online 24/7 to all parts of the worlds. Media ecology affects us directly, the way the mediums we use to communicate changes us as a race, whether better or worse is up to the individual.Each of the communication mediums have a particular environment that sends a message to the person by how it's set up, structured, layout, content, resources, services, affiliations, presented and how it functions. Neil postman says that media ecology "tries to find out what roles media force us to play, how media structure what we are seeing, why media make us feel and act as we do. Media ecology is the study of media as environments. The programs and mediums that we use to communicate are extensions of our human selves, just as a t-shirt is an extension of skin, the skin is controlled by the brain. (even though via hormones and sensory receptors with no real motor function, that's a different story!).

The media that we come in contact with can either wash over us like television, or be interactive like computer games and computers, as they result with the user commanding and controlling the medium. These controllable mediums have built upon existing mediums and are starting to converge until they are entirely on computers, the software is already available for the computer, but they are still not designed so anyone can lug around a laptop without inconvenience. When there is a suitable environment for a computer to be used like that in a classroom, there are alot of benefits from this technology because it is able to produce movies, images and sounds to help people understand a topic.


Computers are no just another tool, they have been integrated into our society and how we do things whether we like it or not. To submit assignments to the university the traditional pen and paper is no loner acceptable, they require you to submit it by the computer via the world wide web OR printed off computer. People are probably asking them selves who would want to submit anything hand written, well I myself don't know, I will have to try it at an academic level one day! This is an example of how a medium has impacted on our lives and now are a must for passing university and many other things in life.

Computer as a medium is now 100% implemented because even cash registers are a type of computer. We can though, help shape the mediums and therefore will lead to helping shape our environments. An example of shaping our environment is by creative commons and opens source, free software for a free community. Media ecology is everywhere, much of it is invisible, we should become knowledgeable of the topic so that we may learn how to either shape the internet, or, how it impacts in our life.


CLICK TO ENLARGE

COURSE REVIEW
Image By:KK+. This course was one of the most interesting, enjoyable and interactive classes I have enrolled in. I am a nursing student and have been quite skeptical about computers, but Adam has been kind, friendly and open about any questions that I may have had. The course content was extremely interesting and provided an outlook of computers and the world wide web in a completely new and fresh light. I never really knew anything about the world wide web, in fact, I thought it was a place where I didn't belong because I didn't really understand it's place and affect on us as people, but also how to interact with it as an art man (I like to draw). Adam presented the topic of creative commons and open source software, this was one of the biggest changing points in viewing the computers and how they are not this weird world, but a way to share information to try and make the net a better and free society.

The tutorials were organized and Adam was always willing to assist and help, but also treated you on a equal level not just the way most people have this "status over you", this allowed the tutorials to be much more engaging and personal, he wasn't just a lecturer, but a mentor. The content presented was amazing, it was clear and the concepts were easy and interesting to explore.

In writing this review, remember I am not a computer student but come from a medical school and to have a computer course presented in this way was excellent. This was the most enjoyable 2 weeks of class I have ever had and I hope that his teaching style and enthusiasm for creating a better internet society continue to inspire, inform and educate creative minds! We need to be guided and he has done it.

TUTORIAL
(1)Old Medium of Communication: TELEVISION

Image By: DailyInvention
ENHANCES: The television enhanced the way we saw visuals, not just from within our minds from reading books but brought into reality. Another ehnacement was sound was no longer a solo piece of creativity, but could be mixed with visuals. People who wanted entertainment would have had to see a play or musical, the TV brought that to the home.

RETRIEVES: The television retrieves programs that have been put together by individuals or groups of people so that it may be heard and watched at home. The information retrieved is what ever can be put on a video recorder, like the news, awesome cartoons, movie reviews etc. So basically it retrieves information that "broadcasters" may want us to see, than we choose a channel which will feed us the retrieved information.

REVERSES: This is a bit tricky, but I think when Tv is reversed it returns back to stage plays? The reason behind my answer is the acting on tv is reversed back to on the stage along with the audio.

OBSCELENCES: The TV has the ability to make stage plays and musicals obsolete along with the radio, but hasn't due to it's lack of portability.

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(2)New Medium of Communication: LAPTOP

Image By:Arbron


ENHANCES: The Laptop has allowed easier accesibility to computers by compacting there size, weight, power useage.

RETRIEVES: The laptop retrieves information that is inputted by the user. This can be from a cd containing any sorts of information, retriving commands from the user by using the mouse or keyboard.

REVERSES: The laptop will reverse back to the use of pen and paper.

OBSCELENCES: The laptop can make the use of pen and paper obsolete. The reason is becase people can type faster, easily access their files and even record sounds.

Day 9 - Creativity on the internet

Image by: Seiho
The internet is a world of information, tiny byte sized packages sent back and forth throughout the world which gives us the images on the screen. These tiny pixels, which make up the letters that you read on screen can also be reassembled to make images with the pixels, so technically they are tiny dots arranged in a way to give the structure that you see. Net artists are learning how to use new communication technologies as a tool to create works of art whether it be using music creators, digital painting programs, flash and what other software they can get there hands on. Programmers are desinging new software for artists so they can create works of art and broadcat them to millions of people on the world wide web. (I would like to thank all the programmers out there who have made such awesome programs and distributed them as opensource and freeware. You have taken the time to learn how to code and put your knowledge into practice for the good of people! I can be a GIMP where ever I go now :D)

The world of creating is changing from traditional methods to digital methods, it is now kinetic, interactive and the mixing of media is not uncommon. This is not to say that traditional art is ever going to die out, but it is shifting whether this is a good movement or not I will explore in my essay. There is something I have learnt lately and that is computers are getting stronger, more influencing, more power and instead of resisting this movement, I want to learn to work with them and assist the digital users? As all artists know, art is not just about the finished product, but the journey and what ever makes you feel alive you should do. Jason Nelson, a computer artist who's artworks are very abstract, not easy to understand and a little hard to interpret, but that is what he desires and for the viewer to find what they will out of the piece. The most important thing that I retrieved from a that lecture is that art can now reach an audience of millions, even though it may bit a bit lonely sometimes, messages and interactivity is no longer just in a gallery, but also at home. This is how new communication technology can affect anyone from anywhere 24/7.

As artists are now able to play around with data visualisation where work and play are happening more on computers, I do hope that we never forget the spirit of adventure, never forget the simply pleasures in life and that all artworks are inspired in some way by the big beautiful world around us. All art needs to work together, no matter what the medium.

Image By:Gustty

Day 8 -Censorship and File Sharing

Image by:Moggs OceanLane

The Australian government wants to censor the internet by a scheme known as Clean Feed. This basically means that the government chooses what we can and cant see, almost like suppression of certain information. This may be problematic especially for those who study medicine, what if we want to study the reproductive systems? will that be blocked if I type in genital anatomy or vagina/penis anatomy. The concept of censorship is trying to fix a social problem via technology barring. If the government is trying to reduce crime on illegal content, it should be tackled at the source by putting more money into the police forces and do more ground work. If the clean feed was to pass it would enforce it by blocking URL links. This URL blocking system will have a few noticeable down points;
[1] How will they protect the list from leaking out?
[2] It will slow the internet down.
[3] will not be able to study some important parts of medicine and patient care

An alternative thought is maybe they could subsidies a program like NetNanny, or even educate concerned internet users with free parental control software.

FILE SHARING Image by:Hamed Saber on Flickr
The next topic was File Sharing. Whether creators like it or not, anything that we create will most likely create will find it's way on the internet. Even if you created a picture and sold it, the chances are that the buyer will take a picture and put it on the internet and with modern technology, the images are getting clearer and represent the original piece quite well. Copyright laws are like building a fence around some rabbits, keeping the information solely for your purpose if anyone wants to use it, they must pay. This in it's self is not a bad thing, especially if this is how some creators make their living, how ever some distributors take most of the money and leave the creators quite poor. There are ways out of this, like being your own distributor by using programs on your website like shopping carts of even try selling it on eBay which only takes a small percentage. As the internet and computers continue to develop and technology getting more advanced, people can no longer really withhold information, one way or another, creative practices will most probably become online for the world to see. Whether this is a good for society and individuals only time will tell. But I do believe in sharing our creative practices with the world for all to see, use, grow and build on.

TUTORIAL TASK
How does it make you feel?
There is obvious mixed emotions about it. I do know of this style of art though, where anything, or is it everything, maybe I'm nothing kind of mentality plays in this particular art. It's very out there, it is also alot of fun to create, as I use to make many things along the lines of weird and extremely eccentric. So it is stranger.

What does it makes you think about?
It makes me think about "is this the future of art"? If so, will it enhance our ability to think creatively and have a sense of wonder or not? But also, it is good to have something different out there. It's very modern and contemporary.

What are the other media forms that it uses, or is similar to?
flash
If we accept that Jason's works are poetry - How do you "read" digital poetry like that?
If we are to accept this as digital poetry, you need to listen to the sounds or the noises being made and alot to do with the images and matching the images. It's quite strange and I do wonder if the works requires alot of deep thought, planning and study or just mish mash.