My topic, War and Technology, came out of no where. The thought first came to me when we were reading Cat's Cradle. One passage jumped out at me. It was the passage that talked about the people fighting in the wars are just children. As I read different articles and the other books we were assigned to read, i was able to start narrowing down my topic. Anything that deals with children fascinates me, so I decided I wanted to see how war affects children now. Whether that be soldiers that are considered children or children that are suffering from the effects of war.
Until recently, no one close to me was involved in the army. Within one year 4 of my good friends joined the National Guard and another one joined the Marines. Along with that I know more people that are getting deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. It opened my eyes and made me really think about the army. It is a great thing, but sometimes I can't help but wonder if things have gotten out of hand...if more people are dying and getting hurt today then there use to be. Everything that happens in the army effects me in one way or another. Whether it is something with my friends who are in the army or a different indirect affect. Someone targeting America trying to destroy or ruin our government and military. It affects my loved ones and it affects me as an American citizen.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Reflecting on the sources
This assignment was harder for me than the past ones. I tried to reread the parts from the sources that I chose to read as a way to start revising my paper. It helped me focus and find more passages that I could use. It also gave me another chance to see what Nye saw and to interpret the text myself. Again I focused on expanding my current ideas and tried to think about things affect other people and not just me.
I tried to avoid the obvious questions, hoping that it would allow me to go deeper into the texts instead of staying on the surface. The source i read that dwelt with natural disasters was particularly hard to read. It was something that didn't interest me that much or at least something I didn't really thing about. After having some time to think about natural disasters and technology, it has become a little more interesting to me. Allow it isnt something that I would use for my research paper, it would be an interesting topic to use.
Once again I found peer editing helpful, more helpful than any of the in class group editing. Comments that told me where to look back at my paper so I could see what they were talking about was helpful instead of just throwing it our there. It gave me something concrete to look at and concentrate on. Any of the comments that told me where to improve and add on were very helpful.
Finding the right sources is particularly important in a research paper. Also knowing the information in the sources you chose is critical so you know what information to use. It is important to choose quotes wisely so your point is proven. I believe Nye used his sources wisely and for the most part he portrays them accurately and fairly. In some cases I think he left out some information that could be effective in his book, but he chose not to use it. In my paper I'm going to focus on finding all the stakeholders and seeing how my topic relates to them.
I tried to avoid the obvious questions, hoping that it would allow me to go deeper into the texts instead of staying on the surface. The source i read that dwelt with natural disasters was particularly hard to read. It was something that didn't interest me that much or at least something I didn't really thing about. After having some time to think about natural disasters and technology, it has become a little more interesting to me. Allow it isnt something that I would use for my research paper, it would be an interesting topic to use.
Once again I found peer editing helpful, more helpful than any of the in class group editing. Comments that told me where to look back at my paper so I could see what they were talking about was helpful instead of just throwing it our there. It gave me something concrete to look at and concentrate on. Any of the comments that told me where to improve and add on were very helpful.
Finding the right sources is particularly important in a research paper. Also knowing the information in the sources you chose is critical so you know what information to use. It is important to choose quotes wisely so your point is proven. I believe Nye used his sources wisely and for the most part he portrays them accurately and fairly. In some cases I think he left out some information that could be effective in his book, but he chose not to use it. In my paper I'm going to focus on finding all the stakeholders and seeing how my topic relates to them.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Security, Revenge, and Danger
Chapter 9 in Technology Matters: Questions to Live With is titled as “More Security or Escalating Danger?” It discusses many different issues pertaining to individuals, different states, a country, and the world. Technology is being made continuously. Every time a new weapon is made, a country thinks that that particular weapon will stop the war; but it does the exact opposite. It encourages other countries to make new weapons so they are equal.
“More security or Escalating danger?” also talks about human errors. One example is building a home on the beach. Many think it is an awesome idea; it solves one problem but causes another. The problem may be the need to build a new house but not have any space. The solution is building it on the oceanfront or the beach. However that can cause an even bigger problem. When a hurricane comes and destroys the houses there is even more damage in that area than if there were no houses there to begin with. New technology allowed us to build a house on the beach, but that new technology also allowed more destruction to happen.
The first book I read was Why Things Bite Back by Edward Tenner. I read the parts of the first chapter “Ever Since Frankenstein” that pertained to revenge. Nye, the author of Technology Matters, takes Tenners idea of how human error and natural disasters and runs with it. In Why Things Bite Back Tenner talks about a solution to one problem could cause a worse problem later on down the road, thus being revenge. In the chapter I read, it doesn’t really talk about technology. He talked about the affects of technology without really saying it was because of technology.
The next book I read was War and Public Health written by Levy Sidel. I read the chapter called “War, Children, and the Responsibility of the International Community”. In this chapter Sidel mainly focuses on how war affects children. How they lose father, mothers, family, and friends in general. "Someone once said that the trouble with modern war is that it does not kill the right people. I am not certain who the right people might be, but there is no question that children are the wrong people" (12). This is one aspect that Nye, as far as I know, did not consider. How old does someone have to be to be considered a child? Vonnegut brings up a similar point in Cat’s Cradle. He says that boys fight in wars, they aren’t old enough to be considered men; but how do we know that? What is the definition of a man, how old do you have to be?
Nye considers a lot of ways technology pertains to war. How it affects the countries, individuals, and he does in one way talk about how it affects children. He talks about them as a victim of the war, but not a participant in it. It would have added one more level to Nye’s book. It is something that I wish he had talked about a little more.
Nye picked his sources wisely. He found parts of the books that really pertains to his topic and stuck to that. He also took many ideas from his sources. Sometimes it seemed that he just transformed a few words and went from there.
Nye, Tenner, and Sidel talk about similar stakeholders. I feel like that take about the people that are affected immediately by war or natural disasters. They don’t necessarily think about people that are affected by those things shortly after they happen, or how it affects people in other places.
Through my discussion of technology and war I want to see how it affects the army, other countries, children (soldiers that are considered children, and children that aren’t apart of the war), and families. I want to see just how does technology affect war.
“More security or Escalating danger?” also talks about human errors. One example is building a home on the beach. Many think it is an awesome idea; it solves one problem but causes another. The problem may be the need to build a new house but not have any space. The solution is building it on the oceanfront or the beach. However that can cause an even bigger problem. When a hurricane comes and destroys the houses there is even more damage in that area than if there were no houses there to begin with. New technology allowed us to build a house on the beach, but that new technology also allowed more destruction to happen.
The first book I read was Why Things Bite Back by Edward Tenner. I read the parts of the first chapter “Ever Since Frankenstein” that pertained to revenge. Nye, the author of Technology Matters, takes Tenners idea of how human error and natural disasters and runs with it. In Why Things Bite Back Tenner talks about a solution to one problem could cause a worse problem later on down the road, thus being revenge. In the chapter I read, it doesn’t really talk about technology. He talked about the affects of technology without really saying it was because of technology.
The next book I read was War and Public Health written by Levy Sidel. I read the chapter called “War, Children, and the Responsibility of the International Community”. In this chapter Sidel mainly focuses on how war affects children. How they lose father, mothers, family, and friends in general. "Someone once said that the trouble with modern war is that it does not kill the right people. I am not certain who the right people might be, but there is no question that children are the wrong people" (12). This is one aspect that Nye, as far as I know, did not consider. How old does someone have to be to be considered a child? Vonnegut brings up a similar point in Cat’s Cradle. He says that boys fight in wars, they aren’t old enough to be considered men; but how do we know that? What is the definition of a man, how old do you have to be?
Nye considers a lot of ways technology pertains to war. How it affects the countries, individuals, and he does in one way talk about how it affects children. He talks about them as a victim of the war, but not a participant in it. It would have added one more level to Nye’s book. It is something that I wish he had talked about a little more.
Nye picked his sources wisely. He found parts of the books that really pertains to his topic and stuck to that. He also took many ideas from his sources. Sometimes it seemed that he just transformed a few words and went from there.
Nye, Tenner, and Sidel talk about similar stakeholders. I feel like that take about the people that are affected immediately by war or natural disasters. They don’t necessarily think about people that are affected by those things shortly after they happen, or how it affects people in other places.
Through my discussion of technology and war I want to see how it affects the army, other countries, children (soldiers that are considered children, and children that aren’t apart of the war), and families. I want to see just how does technology affect war.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Revengeful War
"Why Things Bite Back" by Edward Tenner. The parts I read were about revenge or "biting back." Tenner talks about a solution to one problems could cause a worse problem later on down the road, thus being revenge. I think Nye chose this book as a reference because it is somewhat written how Nye wrote his book. Tenner didn't formulate questions as the chapter title, but there were constantly questions throughout the chapter letting the reader make their own opinions and decision on what was being said. In the chapter I read he talked about how solutions can cause even greater problems, Nye also talked about that. A solution to one thing may cause a bigger problem. Problem: need more space to build vacation houses. solution: build them on the beach just feet away from the ocean, great tourist attraction, bigger problem: hurricane comes ruins the houses, causing more damage now than if they had never built houses there.
I think Nye chose this resource wisely, I can definitely see how it relates to "Technology Matters." I also think Nye does a good job quoting accurately. He does so in a way that we know what he is talking about, providing more examples and explains things where needed.
In "War and Public Health" written by Levy Sidel I read the chapter called War, Children, and the Responsibility of the International Community. In this chapter Sidel mainly focuses on how war affects children. How they lose father, mothers, family, and friends in general. "Someone once said that the trouble with modern war is that it does not kill the right people. I am not certain who the right people might be, but there is no question that children are the wrong people" (12). How old does someone have to be to be considered a child? In "Cat's Cradle" Vonnegut talks about children going off to fight wars, are they really considered children even though they are old enough to fight in the war?
I wish Nye would have added some of that into his book. He talks about the effects of war, but as far as I could tell he doesn't talk how it affects children. It would have brought even one more layer to his book. Not only how war affects the people fighting the wars, the soldiers, but also the children. I think Nye chose this book because of the fact that he does specifically talk about the effects of war. War doesn't effect a small group of people rather many countries. This book helps him make his point about how war can be just as dangerous as it can be beneficial. Again I think he quotes this book accurately, I guess I just wish Nye would have added a little more about the children aspect to show the whole spectrum of the destruction it causes.
I think if you put these two sources together, it poses a good question. Is war just a revengeful act? Is it causing just a bigger problem, or is it actually a solution to a problem? Is it worth the hurt it causes?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Nye's Look on the "human factor"
Human error is the cause for numerous deaths and injuries in our world. Vicente addresses human error as "the human factor." He talks about the many times that a disaster occurs its because of the human factor. The error is caused by our lack of knowledge involve a certain piece of technology.
Vonnegut addresses "the human factor" in another way. He focuses not so much on the lack of knowledge, but the carelessness. The product "ice-nine" can destroy pretty much anything, and not much thought is needed. In the story Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut writes about characters that have "ice-nine" and what they chose to do with it. The characters chose to try to use to as a way to get ahead in life (when in reality it just makes their lives worse). They don't care what they have to do or how to do it. They were careless when it came to the product "ice-nine" because of that, it ended with everything getting frozen.
The third author, David Nye, wrote a book titled Technology Matters: Questions to Live With. In one particular chapter he, too, talks about "the human factor." He, too, looks at it a little differently. " Human intervention also can worsen 'natural' problems " (pg. 164). Instead of looking at technology as a world of machines, he took a step back and thought of technology in a way that I would never think of. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fires etc happen all the time in our world, however have the effects of them increased? Hurricanes wouldn't be as disastrous if we didn't build on the ocean front. They would pass by and not destroy any houses because they would no longer be in their path. Having a house on the beach, is a risk worth taking for most people. We would never be able to not build on the beach, but it is just an human error.
Human errors have become part of our lives, how could they not? Humans are not perfect, therefore we will cause some problems. I don't think we should try to fix that, it would be a rather boring life if everything ran perfectly. I think it is how we handle the errors in our lives that may need improvement. How we fix our problems is how we define ourselves.
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