The Web: a Tool to Progress

After having the great pleasure of reading “Footprints in a Digital Age” by Will Richardson I obtained a better understanding of the main positive effects the web can have on a said person. This article addressed many points, one of which is the issue of technology taking over the lives of young children. The article also expressed that sharing ideas through the web helps the progress of society. In the article Richardson says “What we say is copyable; others can take it, use it, or change it with ease, making our ability to edit content and comprehend the ethical use of the content we read even more crucial.” I think that what Richardson is saying in this quote is that by sharing our ideas other people can take our ideas and change them a little to make new ideas. The ideas created can have the capability to change the world. The web is a fast efficient way to share ideas; therefore it is an essential tool to helping society progress and embrace the future.

By listening to others ideas I myself have been able to critique them and come up with my own, there is no question that this skill has had a positive contribution on my life. I believe that thoughts are linked, one thought leads to another. If there was no communication of ideas and thoughts we would not have nearly as many scientific break throughs or obtain some of the technology that we have today.  The ideas created lead to inventions and scientific discoveries molded from other thoughts, those thoughts had molded from previous thoughts ect. If the thoughts had not been shared there would be no idea molded to create the invention in the first place. This made me think if everyone’s in the world ideas were shared would it have a positive or negative effect on the future? I think that it would have both a negative and positive effect. The positive would be that more ideas would be created; the negative is that bad ideas would also be created penalizing the progress of the world. Conclusively, this article gave me a much better understanding of the main positive effects the web can have on the world and how essential it is to share ideas.

Why Suicide?

 After reading the article “Broncos WR Kenny McKinley found dead in apparent suicide” by Joey Bunch and Lindsey H. Jones, published by the Denver Post I was compelled to think of what would drive a professional football player, or any person to commit suicide? The article gives a brief summary of his football career and the major events leading up to his death. McKinley is described by one of his teammates as having “a big heart, a love for life.” In the article it was evident that McKinley had a large physical contribution to the team as well as an emotional contribution. Knowing this I cannot come up with a rational answer to my previous question. It seems to me that the idea of suicide is a selfish and extreme one. Everyone’s life has value and purpose. Why throw that away? The position that a person is in can always change, this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. For a person in a position where suicide has crossed their mind this is an advantage, once you have hit rock bottom the only way you can go is up.

 I don’t understand why a person would choose death over life, many people die every day who do not wish to die. These people would do just about anything to have the physical heath that some suicidal individuals possess. I have experienced a death in my own life, one of my mother’s close friends past away around 5 years ago. When this tragic event occurred I witnessed the effect it had on everyone around my mother’s friend. This event caused grief and sadness to the people that my mother’s friend cared about. This poses the question why would a suicidal person choose to hurt everyone that cares about them by taking their own life? It is once again a selfish act.  The suicidal person is choosing to take themselves out of their own misery and cause many other people misery as a result. Do not misinterpret the previous sentence, I only wish to provide you with another point of view on the situation. Suicide is a concept that affects the entire world, there are people considering it across the globe as you read this. Conclusively, after reading this article and reflecting on McKinley’s death I am still not able to rationally answer my initial question, although now I understand that really anyone could be suicidal even professional football players that are described as having “a love for life.”

Stupidity Through Information

After indulging in the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, my views on Google dramatically changed. This article expressed an interesting stand point on the effects of technology, or specifically, searches engines such as Google on the thought process of the public. The idea that search engines are causing people to skim pieces of writing rather than staying focused and thinking more in depth about the literature they are reading is, commonly found throughout the article. The emotions and feelings expressed in writing are not being experienced by the reader; the reader is just extracting information from the writing. Although these search engines are overwhelmingly efficient they are causing the public to think differently. The public is thinking more like a computer, thinking efficiently but loosing the emotional aspect. This poses the question is it more important to embrace the future or maintain our former thought process and reading method?

 While reading this article and reflecting upon the information presented, it became apparent to me that I am subject to this as well. Google is affecting my thought process also; I do practically all my research online and through search engines. I believe this is the case for people all over the world, Google provides a fast ,efficient way for an individual to get answers for any question they might have. Conclusively, this article brought me to terms with the enormous effects that Google is having on the world.

Distractions with Students Today

The article “Monument teachers ban Silly Bandz bracelet toys” by Carol McGraw, published by the Denver Post, assisted me in coming to terms with the negative effects of Silly Bandz or any distraction for that matter. The article talks about the negative impact distractions such as Silly Bandz are having on the learning environment. I agreed with this article, while in school students should be focused so that they can perform to the best of their ability, academically, socially and mentally. Although these toys are great fun they can pose a large threat to the student’s well being in the future. Some students take school for granted and let these distractions affect their school life. What these students fail to realize is that without school our society would be a colossal disaster, nobody would have the skills to succeed and run the society as the previous generation left it and nobody would be able to improve the society for the next generation. Students in classes today are surrounded by distractions, Silly Bandz are just a small distraction, cell phones and iPods also contribute to these destructive distractions. I, myself have purchased Silly Bandz in the past and experienced firsthand how distracting they can be. I sometimes find myself very confused in a class due to distractions. I know now to think twice about bringing them to school now that I have come to terms with the long term consequences they have on students.


Distractions handicap a student’s ability to do their work to the best of their ability. If these distractions are so harmful to a student’s future why would the parents of these students not intervene? What would cause these parents to buy their children these distractions? I believe that parents today should supply their children with things that help their children to succeed in life, not hurt their chances of succeeding. Conclusively, this article has encouraged me to reflect upon my use of distratctions in general and become aware of their negative consequences.

Technolgy Shaping the World

The YouTube video, “A Vision of Students Today” by Michael Wesch expressed that students today, are very dependent on modern technology and are struggling with managing their time well. This video gave facts about average student’s lives, for example, the average student reads eight books, 2300 web pages, and 1281 Facebook profiles (A Vision of Students Today). This video really helped me come to terms with what the world has come to, how the world has been consumed by technology. This topic brings up both positive and negative feelings. I pose positive feelings on the matter because it shows that we are embracing the future and being more efficient with our time. On the negative stand point, if that technology were to suddenly not be available to us anymore our world as we know it would be out of control. The video also brought up issues other than the worlds dependency on technology. The average student’s management of time is a growing issue in students today. Throughout the video many facts were presented, “I listen to music 2.5 hours a day” “I work 2 hours a day” are just two examples of the facts shown in the video. Student in this day and age are struggling at managing their time well. I, myself stay up late to finish homework or do chores. It is not that the work load is too great it is that students today tend to procrastinate; they do not put their priorities before entertainment such as television. This puts a strain on the student’s ability to be successful in school and be ultimately healthy. These facts cause me to think why would a person risk their overall well being and health just to get on Facebook or watch your favorite show for another hour? How is it worth it? This video truly changed my perspective on managing my time better and how much the world relies on modern technology.