Emily P. Week 12 Reflection

This unit has been quite eye-opening with regard to my ignorance of how technologically advanced we actually are, and the level of advancement that we are aiming for and that is currently being researched. These new technologies are emerging at such as rapid rate and I find that when I look into the future I am not sure what to expect and when I stop and think about it , it becomes quite scary and threatening. The idea of us becoming more and more disembodied, and turning from human to cyborg is threatening because my body, and everything that is associated with it, is such a large part of my identity. The MCI ad which we watched in one of the first workshops which mentioned a place with no age, genders, races, or infirmities, a place with only minds and portrayed it as a kind of utopia. To me this is no utopia, I believe that idnetity is a large part of individuality and my gender, sexuality, race and age are things that I identify with and that I don't want to be without. Although I fear us becoming cyborgs, I can definately see it happening and I think the process has already begun. Our lifestyles are not even close to what they were 20 years ago, technology has changed our language, the way we communicate and interact, we can create new identities and we cannot live without technology because of the extent of the attachment that we have formed to it. It is becoming a part of us.

I found that with this blog, I didn't really make the best use of it, other than fulfilling the compulsory requirements. I had never used a blog before but its not at all difficult to use and I didn't find that it advanced or added to my skills in anyway. I did post one reference to a couple of articles relating to the unit which I found interesting, for the interest of others in the tute, but as for things that other people had posted, I never looked at any other posts that were put up. I really only used it when it was necessary. It is also quite difficult to keep track of what week we are actually in to know when I had to make my posts.

I didn't really enjoy the unit, but I think that may be because I was happier in ignorance, and I didnt really enjoy the lectures because it did feel like all I was being told was things that I already knew because this topic is very familiar to alot of us and we have first hand experience which the issues being spoken about. I did however enjoy the tutorials where we got to hear the differences between peoples experiences, especially those from different countries.