“Life is about the Journey, not the Destination.”
- Anonymous
Intelligence is cited as the ability to learn and to apply what is learned. It is not the accumulation of data. Learning occurs at multiple levels: physical, emotional, factual and intellectual. Each of these areas are driven by different factors and changes as we mature. Intelligence is impacted by each of our learning processes. First as a child we learn through sensual experiences, and as our brains mature we are able to move into abstract thinking we learn through challenges in each level of our experience. We learn through social relationships, through every grade at school and the problems we are required to solve, poems we are required to memorize, essays we are required to research, and the books we are required to read. All of these processes call for the active involvement of us as participants engaging in our own creative thought modeled by the skills and knowledge that we have developed.
Google distracts us from this kind of creative thinking. Google dazzles and entertains us with its ability to provide people globally with an infinite supply of facts, resources, and facilitates through which we can gather further information. It simplifies our access to data. However, the foundation of Google’s financial model is grounded in advertising and for that reason it pesters us with constant interruptions. Viewers are often overwhelmed by the excessive amount of information jumping up before them, which consequently makes it extremely difficult for the reader focus on any single article at hand. As Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of Reading Brain so astutely articulated it, “when we read online we tend to become mere decoders of information”.
The most disastrous upshot of modern society’s obsessive use of the internet is the crippling effect it is having on the sustainability of our attention span. By influencing the manner in which humans minds are accustomed to receiving and processing information from the internet has significantly contributed to our current society’s unhealthy dependence and infatuation with attention deficit disorder prescription drugs such as Adderall, and Ritalin. Dependency on such drugs will lead to: high blood pressure, sleep disorders, seizures, weight loss, hallucinations, severe dehydration, muscle pains, vomiting, mood changes and nervousness, much of which I have personally experienced as side effects of my own prescribed use of Adderall.
Due to this generation’s inability to focus for an extended period of time they are constantly looking for shortcuts. One such example can be seen in a study performed by Dr. Rafael Capurro. His research has successfully established a solid correlation between the growing number of university students that have begun plagiarizing other people’s materials instead of taking the time to produce their own original works and the rising number of college students that are now accessing the web. This dwindling of ethics and the decline of ambition demonstrated by these younger generations will eventually prove to be a serious problem upon their entering the work place. The fact of the matter is that in reality the only way to get ahead is through hard work and determination. These are the qualities that deliver results and which contribute to giving a person substance. Google may be able to overload a student with enough random facts to pass a pop quiz, but it cannot instill within them the common sense they will need to excel and succeed later in life. I fear this will prove to be a rude awakening for these individuals which our society has weakened by feeding them with a silver spoon of technological connivances.
Nicholas Carr summarized Google’s current philosophy in his article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid" as being, “The more pieces of information we can ‘access’ and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers”. This excerpt exemplifies the way in which Google is neglecting the purpose and value of providing individuals with these vast sources of information in the first place. Knowledge is not about simply accessing information it is about comprehending, questioning it, and absorbing it. The distilled wisdom of distinguished literary works produced by brilliant philosophers, historians, politicians, mathematicians, and astronomers are not meant to be skimmed over and rushed through. They are meant to educate us, and provoke our own curiosity. Each page functions as a piece of the puzzle and as such was included with intent and is therefore important to one’s understanding of the overall work.
The original founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page ambitiously described future technological achievements they dream are possible of the human race; a world in which people could be plugged into or dare I say be replaced by computers. In 2004, Brin stated that, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” This notion is both disturbing and unnatural. I must also beg the question. To what benefit would it be to have access to an endless supply of information if it was just programmed into you? You will have been deprived of the fundamental experience of learning which is the very purpose and enrichment of one’s existence. Moreover, what would be the process, if any, for filtering sites with insubstantial and invalid information? Who would be responsible for determining a site’s legitimacy? After all what purpose does it serve for you to have information inserted into your brain when in reality true knowledge is gained not simply by being exposed to an article, and blindly accepting someone else’s opinion to be fact, but by contemplating, critiquing, and having a personal reaction to that material. Only then can a person develop their own educated opinion on matter, and by doing so have learned just a little bit more about themselves.
I fear that society has already begun to become what Richard Foreman so astutely referred to as “pancake people’ —spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button”. Modern society is falling victim to this condition not only in how it is handles the internet but in how individual people are approaching their relationships, schooling, careers, as well as in their own personal thoughts. The internet has made society accustomed to having everything they could possibly need accessible to them with a mere click of their mouse. We have become a society which both demands and expects instant gratification. We have become multi-taskers. We have become infatuated with obtaining sheer quantity over quality. We want it all and we want it now. The internet is significantly responsible for promoting this way of life and in effect spoiling our society.
Though it is convenient to have such a vast amount of information so readily available on the web, societies new found dependence on the internet has caused people to become obsessed with receiving immediate results. The internet has subsequently robbed humanity of its patience and ability to focus on a single task for an extended period of time and patience that it formerly possessed. Individuals are now frustrated and perturbed when they are required to search beyond the surface level to find the answers they need. With everything coming so easily to the youths of today these students may not know how to approach and overcome a more challenging situations in their future when the answers are not already so plainly available to them. They do not know what it is to truly have to apply themselves to create and discover new solutions to problems. Students today seem to have lost sight of the fact that learning is about not just the end result it is about the process involved.
Our society’s current addiction to the internet is having an unhealthy and unnatural effect on people’s daily lives. We live in a the social order where kids spend much of their free time chatting over the net instead of interacting face to face, or playing video games instead of in their own backyards. Slothfulness is the last thing we need to be encouraging in a population that is already eating its way towards unprecedented dangerously high levels of national obesity. After all, exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins both enhance a person’s clarity of thought as well as provide them with a happier more positive outlook on life. Therefore it is crucial that we do not let the youth of today become overly dependent on this increasingly internet-centric way of life, or we will surely be putting both their physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing at a serious disadvantage.
Additionally, when people are in fact going outdoors they are not experiencing nature in the same way that they used to. Individuals used to immerse themselves in nature either for the enjoyment of exploring the wilderness, letting their imagination run wild, or by simply to soaking up the silence, self-reflecting, and achieving peace of mind. Through many still embrace outdoors they are some how incapable of leaving their offices and their assignments behind them. My own mother is particularly guilty in this respect. When hiking in Colorado I dumbfounded by the numerous individuals I will come across checking emails on their blackberries or distraughtly searching for cell service nearly oblivious to the beautiful topography of the Rocky Mountains that surrounds them.
This is not the life I want for myself. I do not want my daily choices or activities to be dictated and determined by what sociologist Daniel Bell referred to as “intellectual technologies”. I want to have the freedom to be able to choose to not check my email for a day without having it result in my voicemail being over flown. I do not want to be accessible to everyone all the time. I aspire to have the time and space I need for self-reflection. I would like to be able to have a thoughtful conversation without a friend in which they do not check their email or sit through an academic class without hearing someone’s cell phone abruptly sound off. It saddens me that these sentimental moments and valuable conversations are constantly being interrupted and cut short by people’s inability to disconnect themselves from this increasingly internet driven world.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
In What Ways Is China’s Environmental Contamination a Globalized Problem? How can the United States Help China to Reduce Its Pollution?
“Too often when people say ‘not now’, they mean ‘never’.”
- Bobby Kennedy
It is already clear that global warming is a challenge that affects everyone in the world, and as such it is a dilemma that no single country can solve on its own. In order to overcome these trying circumstances the politics of the world will undoubtedly be changed and redefined. As controversial issues which in the past would have been considered to have been strictly national matters now have begun to take on greater global ramifications, the political boundaries of the world have begun to be blurred.[i] The manner in which China and the United States choose to pollute or protect their nations’ environments not only affect their own country but now holds larger implications and consequences on the rest of the world. Being one of the single greatest contributors to bringing about this state of environmental peril, by having consumed the largest amount of the world’s resources per capita, it is the United States’ global duty to take full responsibility for its past actions and assume a leadership role in resolving the climate crisis.[ii] As such it is imperative that the United States must work to prevent China from continuing to inflict further damages onto the environment. The United States can achieve this aim by first ensuring that American companies no longer play an active role in contributing to the illegal exportation of e-waste to China and other developing countries. Secondly, by making a number of progressively green policy changes within the U.S. thus enabling it to reestablish itself as the leading global example of an environmentally friendly green nation, the United States can inspire China along with other foreign nations to follow suit.
As the world stands witness to the enormous environmental destruction that is taking place within China it is important to bear in mind that as the repercussions of China’s environmental troubles extend far beyond its national borders, the responsibility to make an effort to resolve these now global problems do too. One such example of this is the United States’ growing concern over the catastrophic amounts of pollution that China’s new booming manufacturing economy is currently discharging into both the water and the air. The utter destruction of China’s Yellow River, as a result of the heavy industrialization the country has experienced over the last 30 years epitomizes the seriousness of this situation.
The Yellow River that had existed more or less peacefully for over 2,000 years, now in less than one lifetime has been contaminated so severely that 50% of the river has been determined to be biologically dead.[iii] The pollution of the river has had horrific effects on the Chinese people, with more than half of the Chinese population alone being dependent on the 15% of the river that reaches into northern china for their main source of water.[iv] The contamination of the water supply has been directly linked to the significant rise in cancer cases and birth complications for the populations of Chinese living within reasonable proximity of the river, now often referred to as “cancer villages”.[v] Moreover, the high toxicity level of the river has caused much of their fields to become infertile and poisons what limited crop supply they are able to cultivate.[vi] In addition to contributing to the deterioration of the Chinese people’s physical health, by ruining their lands they are essentially terminating their source of livelihood, since roughly 45 percent of Chinese still rely on agricultural labor as a means of survival.[vii] China, allowing its blossoming industrial economy to press on down this environmentally destructive path, at the cost of depriving its own people of clean water, is committing a definite violation of the human rights of millions of Chinese.
The United States is further displeased by the significant amount of pollutants that continue to be released into the air by China’s hundreds of coal driven factories. Consequently, nearly 25% of the pollution currently hovering in the air of Los Angeles, California, was produced by China and has since blown over to the United States.[viii] However, the Chinese feel no obligation to compromise their own economic productivity on behalf of the U.S., especially since the U.S. has not committed itself to making these very same sacrifices.[ix]
The Chinese government and leading manufacturers argue that the United States was able to industrialize and prosper throughout the 19th and 20th century without having to take more costly precautions to protect the environment.[x] Moreover, the United States still continues to produce seven times the amount of CO2 per capita as the Chinese.[xi] The Chinese insist that they too want to have the same opportunities to capitalize on the full potential of their now flourishing market. The United States on the other hand can only argue that the times have changed. The environmental situation has grown to become significantly more dire. Moreover, now is not a time to be placing blame but instead creating solutions.
Though, with the McKinsey Global Institute predicting that between 2007 to 2020 China alone will have produced a 32 percent jump in the global demand for energy, they too must hold themselves accountable for the ramifications of their actions.[xii] The U.S. having long since held the position of being the single largest consumer of the world’s resources per capita, must recognize and take responsibility for the enormous amount of environmental harm it too has done.[xiii] This is not a problem for select few. It is a problem for people of all races and nationalities. Nature is unaware of our political boundaries and as such the natural world flows without regard for our political landscape. Therefore it will require the support, efforts, sacrifices, and cooperation of all involved, if civilization will have a chance at correcting the chaos of the climate crisis.
However, history has proven that multinational environmental treaties can only go so far before they are held back by the political and economical self-interests of the countries involved. Additionally, with the rapid rate with which the earth’s climate is currently being threatened, society no longer has the luxury of time on its side. Mankind cannot afford to wait for the countries of the world to put their religious and political differences aside and finally work together. It has been a difficult enough challenge simply to persuade the various nations to agree to consider coming together to discuss the issues of global warming. Bearing this in mind as well as the trend of ineffectiveness that has historically resulted from previous attempts, such as the Kyoto Protocol, it would be extremely difficult and highly unlikely for all of the nations of the world to agree to an effective shared plan of action to combat the climate crisis.[xiv]
It is clear that in this time of crisis the world needs a leader. Having been the leading contributor in bringing about this catastrophic state of affairs, the United States has a moral obligation to the rest of the world to take on a proactive leadership role to correct global warming. It is imperative that the American people acknowledge the damages they have done and hold themselves accountable for their actions. They must do this not only by adopting other foreign power’s existing attempts to employ clean energy, but by pushing beyond and creating new more cost-efficient and effective methods to further the global movement of going green. By the United States dedicating all of its efforts and resources to transforming itself the ideal model of an environmentally sound nation, it will be able to set an unprecedented global example for going green. This will both inspire and inform other countries in how they can follow suit and emulate the United States model, just as so many of them did before in the case of democracy.[xv]
First and for most before the United States government needs to set a global example by taking greater measures towards restricting American e-waste recycling companies from engaging in the illegal exportation of e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries such as China. E-waste recycling companies are responsible for dissimilating discarded electronic equipment, extracting the potentially harmful and toxic pieces and disposing of them before recycling the remaining parts. The exportation of E-waste is prohibited because when these huge supplies of defected electronics are sold to corporations in China they are typically dismantled, any valuable metals or reusable computer chips and microprocessors removed and the remaining contaminated electronics are disposed of near farms and important sources of water.[xvi] These dumped electronics are extremely dangerous because they release hazardously large and uncontrolled quantities of mercury and cadmium which has resulted in a number of residences, Asian children in particular, in these affected areas to suffer brain damage, as well as many other serious medical ailments.[xvii] A recent investigation led by the United States Government Accountability Office discovered evidence of at least 43 American e-waste recycling companies were guilty of illegally exporting large shipments of harmful e-waste to various destinations throughout Asia.[xviii] Supreme, a New Jersey based e-waste recycler which reportedly deals with more than 100 million pounds e-waste annually, has been ranked by Recycling Today magazine as being the second largest company in the field of e-waste recycling, was among the 43 guilty corporations.
The United States cannot continue to criticize and reprimand China for violating the human rights of its people so long as the United States continues to permit American corporations to play an active role in contributing to the suffering and deprivation of the Chinese people. One way in which the U.S. must work to correct this injustice is by establishing and enforcing harsher punishments for Americans who participate in this illegal exportation of e-waste.
However, some economically conservative Americans continue to argue that we cannot afford to go green right now. To the contrary, I ardently believe that we cannot afford not to, now more than ever. A 2006 examination by China’s National Bureau of Statistics determined that the climate crisis in 2004 alone cost China 64 billion dollars, in medical problems, environmental destruction, and loss in productivity due to unbearably difficult pollution conditions.[xix]
Despite the pressing economic circumstances that have recently thrown the American people into a state of uncertainty and disarray, the United States government cannot continue to place the world’s climate crisis on the backburner. The economy will always experience ups and downs, but if the United States, and other political powers continue to fail to deal with this problem, they will absolutely be responsible for casting our natural environment into an irreversible state of devastation and disarray.
When gas prices reached an all time high in the U.S. in July of this year, the results were incredible. Though the steep increase in gas prices proved to be very financially burdensome for most Americans, it also contributed to bringing about a number of very progressive and beneficial changes in American industries and Americans’ daily way of life. As a result of these soaring gas prices green businesses were able to experience unprecedented levels of success.[xx] The promotion and expansion of a new industry field built around clean energy and the production of environmentally friendly products is the perfect example of a new frontier of employment that would be extremely vital to the U.S., and would be a direct result of the U.S. adopting a green initiative.
California has succeeded in already establishing itself as the finest model of a progressive American state that is fully committed to going green. Moreover, they have demonstrated that going green has actually been able to benefit the state economy of California. In the fall of 2006 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a legal pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in California by the year 2020. Additionally, Governor Schwarzenegger continues to campaign against any future attempts for offshore drilling along the state’s coastline. The Governor has set in place a number of extremely effective government incentives to reward those state utility corporations that have made a direct effort to reduce the amount of energy they consume and the levels of pollutants they produce.[xxi] With Bush administration’s refusal to endorse an international treaty to combat the climate crisis until developing countries like China begin capping their emissions, it has made it abundantly clear that uniting the United States through a green effort is not a national priority for their administration.[xxii] However, the enormous influence that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own green initiative has been able have not only within the state of California but on a nationalized level during this absence in national leadership, gives Americans a glimpse of what the U.S. could potentially be able to achieve for the environment globally. California is setting an example for both how the rest of the U.S. can and should work towards correcting the climate crisis, as well as creating a superb example for how inspirational and influential the U.S. could be if it became the cutting edge model of a clean energy sufficient country for the rest of the world.
Furthermore, times of extraordinary crisis bring with them extraordinary opportunities. When dozens of countries were thrust into the dark realities of the First World War, they were forced to invent, and construct solutions to problems unlike any they had ever known before. Yet from this state of urgency and chaos came many of the most revolutionary medical, technological, political, and economical achievements ever before performed by man. In the same way we will soon see many new extraordinary opportunities arise from the ashes of the United States’ current credit crisis. Similarly we will witness fabulous opportunities being seized by nations’, companies’, and individuals’ efforts to resolve the climate crisis. For as Napoleon Bonaparte so accurately said, “How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been achieved by resolute men who had no alternative but death”.[xxiii] Going green will not only be a chance for the U.S. to improve its environment, but its economy, politics, and overall quality of life as well.
In order to for the United States to achieve its desired level of green success and be able to inspire change and action within other foreign nations during this current financial crisis it must be adamant in driving home the seriousness and absolute urgency of this political matter. The government must be unwavering and steadfast in upholding and enforcing its new green policies. When the U.S. government is obligated to give the automobile industry a bailout they must to be sure to enforce much more severe auto-emission standards on all new cars being produced in America. They must insist on car companies making full transition into manufacturing smaller, cleaner, and more efficient hybrid cars instead of the tank like, gas guzzling SUVs most Americans have become notoriously renowned for driving around in today. In addition the United States government needs to demand that all U.S. based utility companies adhere to a higher standard of employing environmentally sound approaches to providing their resources to their clientele. With regard to construction, the U.S. government must implement very strict standards requiring that all new development projects be LEEDS (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. The government should provide certain incentives for developers that are willing and able to begin building again this bleak real-estate market, as well as for developers that choose to excel beyond the LEEDS standard and achieve either a Gold or Platinum level of LEEDS certification. Lastly, the government must require recycling in all U.S. cities.
This is a problem that is not going away. So it is no longer a question of if, it is now just a question of who and when? If the U.S. does not act quickly it will be left behind as a decaying political power of the past, just as so many once glorious empires have fallen before it; while the rest of the world works towards reverting the climate crisis and achieving a healthier quality of life. However, the catastrophic consequences of its inactivity would not stop there. If larger countries like China and the United States do not take serious measures to correcting the environmental destruction that is taking place within their own countries they will not only harm their own people but they will invariably bring down the rest of the world down with them. America has a moral responsibility to the rest of humanity to start regarding the climate crisis as a matter of the utmost concern. As such the United States must commit itself to making the necessary sacrifices to the U.S. economy in order to ensure the planet’s survival. The U.S. must rise to the occasion and take it upon itself to become the dominant motivating force in both correcting the harm that man has been inflicted on the world’s natural environment and preventing further environmental destruction.
[i] Complete Transcript Crisis Guide: Climate Change, pg.4
[ii] Hot, Flat, and Crowded, pg.176
[iii] Bitter Water, pg.2
[iv] Bitter Water, pg.1
[v] Bitter Water, pg.2
[vi] Bitter Water, pg.3
[vii] Where We Work- China, pg.2
[viii] The Power of Green, pg.7
[ix] Talks John Doerr: Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech
[x] The Power of Going Green
[xi] Talks John Doerr: Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech
[xii] The Birth of Giant Market, pg.2
[xiii] National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency, pg.23
[xiv] Complete Transcript Crisis Guide: Climate Change, pg.3,6
[xv] Hot, Flat, and Crowded, pg.176
[xvi] The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics
[xvii] The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics
[xviii] Energy and Commerce Committee Investigates Adequacy of EPA E-waste Regulations
[xix] The Power of Green, pg.7
[xx] Bailout and Buildup, pg.1
[xxi] The Governor’s Green Agenda, pg.2
[xxii] Gov. Put Regional Focus on Global Problems
[xxiii] Napoleon Bonaparte
- Bobby Kennedy
It is already clear that global warming is a challenge that affects everyone in the world, and as such it is a dilemma that no single country can solve on its own. In order to overcome these trying circumstances the politics of the world will undoubtedly be changed and redefined. As controversial issues which in the past would have been considered to have been strictly national matters now have begun to take on greater global ramifications, the political boundaries of the world have begun to be blurred.[i] The manner in which China and the United States choose to pollute or protect their nations’ environments not only affect their own country but now holds larger implications and consequences on the rest of the world. Being one of the single greatest contributors to bringing about this state of environmental peril, by having consumed the largest amount of the world’s resources per capita, it is the United States’ global duty to take full responsibility for its past actions and assume a leadership role in resolving the climate crisis.[ii] As such it is imperative that the United States must work to prevent China from continuing to inflict further damages onto the environment. The United States can achieve this aim by first ensuring that American companies no longer play an active role in contributing to the illegal exportation of e-waste to China and other developing countries. Secondly, by making a number of progressively green policy changes within the U.S. thus enabling it to reestablish itself as the leading global example of an environmentally friendly green nation, the United States can inspire China along with other foreign nations to follow suit.
As the world stands witness to the enormous environmental destruction that is taking place within China it is important to bear in mind that as the repercussions of China’s environmental troubles extend far beyond its national borders, the responsibility to make an effort to resolve these now global problems do too. One such example of this is the United States’ growing concern over the catastrophic amounts of pollution that China’s new booming manufacturing economy is currently discharging into both the water and the air. The utter destruction of China’s Yellow River, as a result of the heavy industrialization the country has experienced over the last 30 years epitomizes the seriousness of this situation.
The Yellow River that had existed more or less peacefully for over 2,000 years, now in less than one lifetime has been contaminated so severely that 50% of the river has been determined to be biologically dead.[iii] The pollution of the river has had horrific effects on the Chinese people, with more than half of the Chinese population alone being dependent on the 15% of the river that reaches into northern china for their main source of water.[iv] The contamination of the water supply has been directly linked to the significant rise in cancer cases and birth complications for the populations of Chinese living within reasonable proximity of the river, now often referred to as “cancer villages”.[v] Moreover, the high toxicity level of the river has caused much of their fields to become infertile and poisons what limited crop supply they are able to cultivate.[vi] In addition to contributing to the deterioration of the Chinese people’s physical health, by ruining their lands they are essentially terminating their source of livelihood, since roughly 45 percent of Chinese still rely on agricultural labor as a means of survival.[vii] China, allowing its blossoming industrial economy to press on down this environmentally destructive path, at the cost of depriving its own people of clean water, is committing a definite violation of the human rights of millions of Chinese.
The United States is further displeased by the significant amount of pollutants that continue to be released into the air by China’s hundreds of coal driven factories. Consequently, nearly 25% of the pollution currently hovering in the air of Los Angeles, California, was produced by China and has since blown over to the United States.[viii] However, the Chinese feel no obligation to compromise their own economic productivity on behalf of the U.S., especially since the U.S. has not committed itself to making these very same sacrifices.[ix]
The Chinese government and leading manufacturers argue that the United States was able to industrialize and prosper throughout the 19th and 20th century without having to take more costly precautions to protect the environment.[x] Moreover, the United States still continues to produce seven times the amount of CO2 per capita as the Chinese.[xi] The Chinese insist that they too want to have the same opportunities to capitalize on the full potential of their now flourishing market. The United States on the other hand can only argue that the times have changed. The environmental situation has grown to become significantly more dire. Moreover, now is not a time to be placing blame but instead creating solutions.
Though, with the McKinsey Global Institute predicting that between 2007 to 2020 China alone will have produced a 32 percent jump in the global demand for energy, they too must hold themselves accountable for the ramifications of their actions.[xii] The U.S. having long since held the position of being the single largest consumer of the world’s resources per capita, must recognize and take responsibility for the enormous amount of environmental harm it too has done.[xiii] This is not a problem for select few. It is a problem for people of all races and nationalities. Nature is unaware of our political boundaries and as such the natural world flows without regard for our political landscape. Therefore it will require the support, efforts, sacrifices, and cooperation of all involved, if civilization will have a chance at correcting the chaos of the climate crisis.
However, history has proven that multinational environmental treaties can only go so far before they are held back by the political and economical self-interests of the countries involved. Additionally, with the rapid rate with which the earth’s climate is currently being threatened, society no longer has the luxury of time on its side. Mankind cannot afford to wait for the countries of the world to put their religious and political differences aside and finally work together. It has been a difficult enough challenge simply to persuade the various nations to agree to consider coming together to discuss the issues of global warming. Bearing this in mind as well as the trend of ineffectiveness that has historically resulted from previous attempts, such as the Kyoto Protocol, it would be extremely difficult and highly unlikely for all of the nations of the world to agree to an effective shared plan of action to combat the climate crisis.[xiv]
It is clear that in this time of crisis the world needs a leader. Having been the leading contributor in bringing about this catastrophic state of affairs, the United States has a moral obligation to the rest of the world to take on a proactive leadership role to correct global warming. It is imperative that the American people acknowledge the damages they have done and hold themselves accountable for their actions. They must do this not only by adopting other foreign power’s existing attempts to employ clean energy, but by pushing beyond and creating new more cost-efficient and effective methods to further the global movement of going green. By the United States dedicating all of its efforts and resources to transforming itself the ideal model of an environmentally sound nation, it will be able to set an unprecedented global example for going green. This will both inspire and inform other countries in how they can follow suit and emulate the United States model, just as so many of them did before in the case of democracy.[xv]
First and for most before the United States government needs to set a global example by taking greater measures towards restricting American e-waste recycling companies from engaging in the illegal exportation of e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries such as China. E-waste recycling companies are responsible for dissimilating discarded electronic equipment, extracting the potentially harmful and toxic pieces and disposing of them before recycling the remaining parts. The exportation of E-waste is prohibited because when these huge supplies of defected electronics are sold to corporations in China they are typically dismantled, any valuable metals or reusable computer chips and microprocessors removed and the remaining contaminated electronics are disposed of near farms and important sources of water.[xvi] These dumped electronics are extremely dangerous because they release hazardously large and uncontrolled quantities of mercury and cadmium which has resulted in a number of residences, Asian children in particular, in these affected areas to suffer brain damage, as well as many other serious medical ailments.[xvii] A recent investigation led by the United States Government Accountability Office discovered evidence of at least 43 American e-waste recycling companies were guilty of illegally exporting large shipments of harmful e-waste to various destinations throughout Asia.[xviii] Supreme, a New Jersey based e-waste recycler which reportedly deals with more than 100 million pounds e-waste annually, has been ranked by Recycling Today magazine as being the second largest company in the field of e-waste recycling, was among the 43 guilty corporations.
The United States cannot continue to criticize and reprimand China for violating the human rights of its people so long as the United States continues to permit American corporations to play an active role in contributing to the suffering and deprivation of the Chinese people. One way in which the U.S. must work to correct this injustice is by establishing and enforcing harsher punishments for Americans who participate in this illegal exportation of e-waste.
However, some economically conservative Americans continue to argue that we cannot afford to go green right now. To the contrary, I ardently believe that we cannot afford not to, now more than ever. A 2006 examination by China’s National Bureau of Statistics determined that the climate crisis in 2004 alone cost China 64 billion dollars, in medical problems, environmental destruction, and loss in productivity due to unbearably difficult pollution conditions.[xix]
Despite the pressing economic circumstances that have recently thrown the American people into a state of uncertainty and disarray, the United States government cannot continue to place the world’s climate crisis on the backburner. The economy will always experience ups and downs, but if the United States, and other political powers continue to fail to deal with this problem, they will absolutely be responsible for casting our natural environment into an irreversible state of devastation and disarray.
When gas prices reached an all time high in the U.S. in July of this year, the results were incredible. Though the steep increase in gas prices proved to be very financially burdensome for most Americans, it also contributed to bringing about a number of very progressive and beneficial changes in American industries and Americans’ daily way of life. As a result of these soaring gas prices green businesses were able to experience unprecedented levels of success.[xx] The promotion and expansion of a new industry field built around clean energy and the production of environmentally friendly products is the perfect example of a new frontier of employment that would be extremely vital to the U.S., and would be a direct result of the U.S. adopting a green initiative.
California has succeeded in already establishing itself as the finest model of a progressive American state that is fully committed to going green. Moreover, they have demonstrated that going green has actually been able to benefit the state economy of California. In the fall of 2006 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a legal pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent in California by the year 2020. Additionally, Governor Schwarzenegger continues to campaign against any future attempts for offshore drilling along the state’s coastline. The Governor has set in place a number of extremely effective government incentives to reward those state utility corporations that have made a direct effort to reduce the amount of energy they consume and the levels of pollutants they produce.[xxi] With Bush administration’s refusal to endorse an international treaty to combat the climate crisis until developing countries like China begin capping their emissions, it has made it abundantly clear that uniting the United States through a green effort is not a national priority for their administration.[xxii] However, the enormous influence that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own green initiative has been able have not only within the state of California but on a nationalized level during this absence in national leadership, gives Americans a glimpse of what the U.S. could potentially be able to achieve for the environment globally. California is setting an example for both how the rest of the U.S. can and should work towards correcting the climate crisis, as well as creating a superb example for how inspirational and influential the U.S. could be if it became the cutting edge model of a clean energy sufficient country for the rest of the world.
Furthermore, times of extraordinary crisis bring with them extraordinary opportunities. When dozens of countries were thrust into the dark realities of the First World War, they were forced to invent, and construct solutions to problems unlike any they had ever known before. Yet from this state of urgency and chaos came many of the most revolutionary medical, technological, political, and economical achievements ever before performed by man. In the same way we will soon see many new extraordinary opportunities arise from the ashes of the United States’ current credit crisis. Similarly we will witness fabulous opportunities being seized by nations’, companies’, and individuals’ efforts to resolve the climate crisis. For as Napoleon Bonaparte so accurately said, “How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been achieved by resolute men who had no alternative but death”.[xxiii] Going green will not only be a chance for the U.S. to improve its environment, but its economy, politics, and overall quality of life as well.
In order to for the United States to achieve its desired level of green success and be able to inspire change and action within other foreign nations during this current financial crisis it must be adamant in driving home the seriousness and absolute urgency of this political matter. The government must be unwavering and steadfast in upholding and enforcing its new green policies. When the U.S. government is obligated to give the automobile industry a bailout they must to be sure to enforce much more severe auto-emission standards on all new cars being produced in America. They must insist on car companies making full transition into manufacturing smaller, cleaner, and more efficient hybrid cars instead of the tank like, gas guzzling SUVs most Americans have become notoriously renowned for driving around in today. In addition the United States government needs to demand that all U.S. based utility companies adhere to a higher standard of employing environmentally sound approaches to providing their resources to their clientele. With regard to construction, the U.S. government must implement very strict standards requiring that all new development projects be LEEDS (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. The government should provide certain incentives for developers that are willing and able to begin building again this bleak real-estate market, as well as for developers that choose to excel beyond the LEEDS standard and achieve either a Gold or Platinum level of LEEDS certification. Lastly, the government must require recycling in all U.S. cities.
This is a problem that is not going away. So it is no longer a question of if, it is now just a question of who and when? If the U.S. does not act quickly it will be left behind as a decaying political power of the past, just as so many once glorious empires have fallen before it; while the rest of the world works towards reverting the climate crisis and achieving a healthier quality of life. However, the catastrophic consequences of its inactivity would not stop there. If larger countries like China and the United States do not take serious measures to correcting the environmental destruction that is taking place within their own countries they will not only harm their own people but they will invariably bring down the rest of the world down with them. America has a moral responsibility to the rest of humanity to start regarding the climate crisis as a matter of the utmost concern. As such the United States must commit itself to making the necessary sacrifices to the U.S. economy in order to ensure the planet’s survival. The U.S. must rise to the occasion and take it upon itself to become the dominant motivating force in both correcting the harm that man has been inflicted on the world’s natural environment and preventing further environmental destruction.
[i] Complete Transcript Crisis Guide: Climate Change, pg.4
[ii] Hot, Flat, and Crowded, pg.176
[iii] Bitter Water, pg.2
[iv] Bitter Water, pg.1
[v] Bitter Water, pg.2
[vi] Bitter Water, pg.3
[vii] Where We Work- China, pg.2
[viii] The Power of Green, pg.7
[ix] Talks John Doerr: Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech
[x] The Power of Going Green
[xi] Talks John Doerr: Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech
[xii] The Birth of Giant Market, pg.2
[xiii] National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependency, pg.23
[xiv] Complete Transcript Crisis Guide: Climate Change, pg.3,6
[xv] Hot, Flat, and Crowded, pg.176
[xvi] The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics
[xvii] The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics
[xviii] Energy and Commerce Committee Investigates Adequacy of EPA E-waste Regulations
[xix] The Power of Green, pg.7
[xx] Bailout and Buildup, pg.1
[xxi] The Governor’s Green Agenda, pg.2
[xxii] Gov. Put Regional Focus on Global Problems
[xxiii] Napoleon Bonaparte
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I Believe American Ideals Are Worth Defending
With my mother’s family being comprised of a number of zealous Texan republicans, and my father, having come from nothing and tactfully advanced himself through the ranks of society through his own hard work and determination, I was evidently raised with belief that there was not greater collection of people or place on earth than the American citizenry and the United States of America. It was the land of endless opportunities.
However, when the twin towers were hit on September 11th, 2001 panic and chaos filled the air. I instantly received an email from May Hamza making sure I was alright and expressing her great concern from my family and my country in this most terrifying hour of my country’s history. May and I had become outstanding friends while attending Gourdonstoun, a Scottish boarding school outside of Inverness, the previous summer. May was half Saudi Arabian and half Egyptian, but spent the majority of her youth being raised in Cairo. It was an exceptional moment in my life, to have a dear friend half a world away reach out to me in this time of my nation’s crisis. I suddenly did not feel as alone. My contact with May throughout the day not only reminded me how special our friendship was, and how special it was that she cared, it reminded me just how much I needed her. Needed her not only to laugh and share the good times, but also needed her to overcome the difficult challenges and trials of life. These events sparked the realization within me that although the United States is a great country, it too needs its friends, especially in these dark and trying hours.
While studying abroad nearly two years later at the Tasis boarding school, on the outskirts of London, England my views of America were once again changed. It was during my studies abroad in England that America invaded Iraq and went to war as an aggressor nation. I was stunned, disheartened, and disenchanted with the American dream. I had always perceived the United States as being an international peace keeper, unnecessarily generous and empathetic with struggling foreign populations. This was the first time I witnessed America contradict its core values, blatantly go against everything genuine and respectable that it had long since stood for, and act out of selfishness and short term self-interest rather than doing what was morally right. This was true American hypocrisy at its very worst. With roughly 70 percent of the Tasis student body not possessing American citizenship we had countless heated debates over American politics and the state of world affairs during this time, this occurred particularly in the case of my American history class. There were only about twelve of us in the class: three Nigerians, two American expats, one Saudi, one Russian, one Turk, one Brit, and one Japanese. My teacher Mrs. Willondek organized a class discussion on whether or not we supported the United States decision to invade Iraq. I wanted to rise up to the defense of the United States in my history classes but I couldn’t because my own personal standards and expectations of the United States had been violated. Instead I recall having taken great pride in boldly denouncing the recent actions taken by the United States government in front of my class. I wanted to regain my classmates’ respect, by proving to them that not all Americans approved of the U.S. government’s current hostile and brash foreign policies.
Much to my astonishment after having done so my friend Tarik from Saudi Arabia, spoke up against me and began to defend the actions of the United States, and it was through his eyes that I was truly able to see the impact and extent of the influence of my country. The fact that a middle easterner would understand and respect actions of aggression by the United States against a fellow Middle Eastern country helped me to see that the world is much more complicated than I perceived it to be. My defensive reactions based on the values of my nation have merit, but must be put in context with the world’s circumstances.
Another instance in which my disdain for America was further enhanced was when I learned that Ufuck, a close friend of mine, was forced to leave Tasis and return to Turkey to serve in the national draft as a direct response to the United States’ military invasion of Iraq. I remember being utterly confused why for two days Ufuck had refused to speak to me in the dining hall at breakfast before school, in the walk ways between classes, or our evening study hall. It was not until his girlfriend and my suitemate Leticia approached me and explained to me what had happened. I was overwhelmed by a flood of mixed emotions that had just come crashing down over me. I felt personally guilty for what was happening to my friend. It was an unfair and undeserved punishment to impose on him. This was not his fight and as such was a problem that should not be resolved at the cost of his own life. In addition to the enormous amount of fear and concern I felt for Ufuck’s own wellbeing I felt indescribable burning resentment for my country and the burden of my own citizenship to the United States of America.
I did not just disagree with some of my government’s decisions. I was no longer proud of being an America. Moreover, in all truthfulness, I had no interest in remaining an American citizen. Not only could I not trust the U.S. government to make the right decisions, I did not trust them to be honest with myself or the rest of the American people after it had done nothing but present us with an endless stream of excuses and lies as a means of justifying its past actions. However, for the first time in my adult life I believe there may be hope for America.
Listening to President-Elect Barack Obama deliver his acceptance speech confidently and compassionately my eyes swelled with tears. I had not expected his election to the presidential office nor the words he would speak on the evening of November 4th, 2008 to have such a profound effect me, but they did. He did not insult the intellect of the American people by bombarding us with excuses, nor did he manipulate our hopes by employing poetic words to make empty promises about the next four years. He was direct and knowledgeable. He acknowledged that the reputation of America and our much celebrated American values has fallen from the esteemed level it once held. He made it clear that repairing American image and our role abroad will not be achieved overnight, nor will it be any small feat. Such a transformation will not only require much sacrifice and determination on behalf of the American government, but by individuals of the American citizenry as well. I am to commit myself to achieving this change, and not only to the restoration but also the enactment of the American dream. I now believe American ideals are worth defending.
However, when the twin towers were hit on September 11th, 2001 panic and chaos filled the air. I instantly received an email from May Hamza making sure I was alright and expressing her great concern from my family and my country in this most terrifying hour of my country’s history. May and I had become outstanding friends while attending Gourdonstoun, a Scottish boarding school outside of Inverness, the previous summer. May was half Saudi Arabian and half Egyptian, but spent the majority of her youth being raised in Cairo. It was an exceptional moment in my life, to have a dear friend half a world away reach out to me in this time of my nation’s crisis. I suddenly did not feel as alone. My contact with May throughout the day not only reminded me how special our friendship was, and how special it was that she cared, it reminded me just how much I needed her. Needed her not only to laugh and share the good times, but also needed her to overcome the difficult challenges and trials of life. These events sparked the realization within me that although the United States is a great country, it too needs its friends, especially in these dark and trying hours.
While studying abroad nearly two years later at the Tasis boarding school, on the outskirts of London, England my views of America were once again changed. It was during my studies abroad in England that America invaded Iraq and went to war as an aggressor nation. I was stunned, disheartened, and disenchanted with the American dream. I had always perceived the United States as being an international peace keeper, unnecessarily generous and empathetic with struggling foreign populations. This was the first time I witnessed America contradict its core values, blatantly go against everything genuine and respectable that it had long since stood for, and act out of selfishness and short term self-interest rather than doing what was morally right. This was true American hypocrisy at its very worst. With roughly 70 percent of the Tasis student body not possessing American citizenship we had countless heated debates over American politics and the state of world affairs during this time, this occurred particularly in the case of my American history class. There were only about twelve of us in the class: three Nigerians, two American expats, one Saudi, one Russian, one Turk, one Brit, and one Japanese. My teacher Mrs. Willondek organized a class discussion on whether or not we supported the United States decision to invade Iraq. I wanted to rise up to the defense of the United States in my history classes but I couldn’t because my own personal standards and expectations of the United States had been violated. Instead I recall having taken great pride in boldly denouncing the recent actions taken by the United States government in front of my class. I wanted to regain my classmates’ respect, by proving to them that not all Americans approved of the U.S. government’s current hostile and brash foreign policies.
Much to my astonishment after having done so my friend Tarik from Saudi Arabia, spoke up against me and began to defend the actions of the United States, and it was through his eyes that I was truly able to see the impact and extent of the influence of my country. The fact that a middle easterner would understand and respect actions of aggression by the United States against a fellow Middle Eastern country helped me to see that the world is much more complicated than I perceived it to be. My defensive reactions based on the values of my nation have merit, but must be put in context with the world’s circumstances.
Another instance in which my disdain for America was further enhanced was when I learned that Ufuck, a close friend of mine, was forced to leave Tasis and return to Turkey to serve in the national draft as a direct response to the United States’ military invasion of Iraq. I remember being utterly confused why for two days Ufuck had refused to speak to me in the dining hall at breakfast before school, in the walk ways between classes, or our evening study hall. It was not until his girlfriend and my suitemate Leticia approached me and explained to me what had happened. I was overwhelmed by a flood of mixed emotions that had just come crashing down over me. I felt personally guilty for what was happening to my friend. It was an unfair and undeserved punishment to impose on him. This was not his fight and as such was a problem that should not be resolved at the cost of his own life. In addition to the enormous amount of fear and concern I felt for Ufuck’s own wellbeing I felt indescribable burning resentment for my country and the burden of my own citizenship to the United States of America.
I did not just disagree with some of my government’s decisions. I was no longer proud of being an America. Moreover, in all truthfulness, I had no interest in remaining an American citizen. Not only could I not trust the U.S. government to make the right decisions, I did not trust them to be honest with myself or the rest of the American people after it had done nothing but present us with an endless stream of excuses and lies as a means of justifying its past actions. However, for the first time in my adult life I believe there may be hope for America.
Listening to President-Elect Barack Obama deliver his acceptance speech confidently and compassionately my eyes swelled with tears. I had not expected his election to the presidential office nor the words he would speak on the evening of November 4th, 2008 to have such a profound effect me, but they did. He did not insult the intellect of the American people by bombarding us with excuses, nor did he manipulate our hopes by employing poetic words to make empty promises about the next four years. He was direct and knowledgeable. He acknowledged that the reputation of America and our much celebrated American values has fallen from the esteemed level it once held. He made it clear that repairing American image and our role abroad will not be achieved overnight, nor will it be any small feat. Such a transformation will not only require much sacrifice and determination on behalf of the American government, but by individuals of the American citizenry as well. I am to commit myself to achieving this change, and not only to the restoration but also the enactment of the American dream. I now believe American ideals are worth defending.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Taking Control of Your Life Back in an Impossible World
Intelligence is sited as the ability to learn and to apply what is learned. It is not the accumulation of data. Learning occurs at multiple levels: physical, emotional, factual and intellectual. Each of these areas are driven by different factors and change as we mature. Intelligence is impacted by each of our learning processes. First as a child we learn through sensual experiences, and as our brains mature we are able to move into abstract thinking we learn through challenges in each level of our experience. We learn through social relationships, through every grade at school and the problems we are required to solve, poems we are required to memorize, essays we are required to research, and the books we are required to read. All of these processes call for the active engagement of us as participants engaging in our own creative thought modelled by the skills and knowledge that we have developed.
Google distracts us from this kind of creative thinking. Google dazzles and entertains us with its ability to provide people globally with an infinite supply of facts, resources, and facilitates through which we can gather further information. It simplifies our access to data. However, the foundation of Google’s financial model is grounded in advertising and for that reason it pesters us with constant interruptions making it extremely difficult to focus on any single article at hand.
The most disastrous upshot of our obsessive use of the internet and the crippling effects it is having on the sustainability of our attention span is that it has become a principle contributor in driving many of the young adults and teens of today towards developing an unhealthy dependence and utter infatuation with attention deficit disorder prescription drugs such as Adderall, and Ritalin. Dependency on such drugs can lead to: high blood pressure, sleep
disorders, seizures, weight loss, hallucinations, severe dehydration, muscle pains, vomiting, mood changes and nervousness (much of which I have personally experienced as side effects of my own prescribed use of Adderall). This new prescription craze concerns me a great deal, having personally been prescribed such medications since my sophomore year of high school, I have experienced both the positive and negative aspects of such drugs. Though I cannot help but wonder what possible long term effects may transpire in the years to come for these young adults and teenagers who are continuing to use these concentration drugs during such fundamental years of their development?
We are one mouse click away from losing ourselves sanity to a black hole of passwords, web addresses, emails, abbreviations, webcams, and downloads otherwise known as the internet. As such we have evolved into a society that is full of contradictions, obsessed with instant gratification, and that has tragically begun becoming increasingly unintelligent in recent years.
I fear that we have already begun to become what Richard Foreman so astutely referred to as “pancake people’ —spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button”. I see our society falling victim to this condition not only in how we are approaching the internet but in how we are approaching our relationships, schooling, careers, and our thoughts of ourselves. We have become a society which both demands and expects instant gratification. We have become obsessed with multi-tasking. We have become infatuated with obtaining quantity over quality. We want it all and we want it now. The internet is significantly responsible for promoting this way of life and in effect spoiling our society. The internet has made so many people accustomed to having nearly anything they could possibly need a mere mouse click away. Moreover, it has robbed us of our former patients and the ability to focus on a single task for an extended period of time. We now find ourselves frustrated and perturbed if we are required to search beyond the surface level to find the results we need. With everything coming so easily to the youths of today I fear that these students may not know how to approach and overcome a more challenging situations in their future when the answers are not already so plainly accessible and obvious to them. They do not know what it is to truly have to apply themselves to try and find new answers and creative solutions to problems. Students today seem to be less concerned with the learning process and work that occurs in the interim than with simply getting the assignment done.
Our generation is constantly looking for shortcuts. One such example can be seen in a study performed by Dr. Rafael Capurro which establishes a solid connection between th
e growing number of university students that have chosen to plagiarise other people’s materials instead of producing their own creative work and the rising number of college students that are accessing the web. This dwindling of ethics and the decline of ambition demonstrated by these younger generations will in time prove to be a serious problem once they enter the work place. The fact of the matter is that in reality the only way to get ahead is through hard work and determination. These are the qualities that deliver results and those are the qualities which contribute to giving a person substance. Google may be able to overload a student with enough random facts to pass a pop quiz, but it cannot instil within them the common sense they will need to survive later in life. I fear this will prove to be a rude awakening for these individuals which our society has weakened by feeding them with a silver spoon of technological connivances.
Nicholas Carr summarized Google’s current philosophy in his article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid" as being, “The more pieces of information we can ‘access’ and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers”. This concept upsets me because it exemplifies the way in which Google seems to be missing the point knowledge entirely. Knowledge is not about speed it is about understand. The exceptional written works produced by the most brilliant philosophers, historians, politicians, mathematicians, and astronomers of the past are not meant to be skimmed over. They are meant to teach us, and provoke our own curiosity. Each page functions as a piece of the puzzle and was thus included for a reason and is indispensable to understanding the overall whole.
The original founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page speak excitedly of the technological possibilities of the human race; a world in which people could be hooked in or dare I say replaced by computers. In 2004, Brin stated that, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” This notion is both disturbing and unnatural. I must also beg the question. To what benefit would it be to have access to an endless supply of information if it was just programmed into you? Moreover, what would be the process, if any, for filtering sites with insubstantial and invalid information. Who would be responsible for determining a site’s legitimacy. After all what purpose does it serve for you to have information planted in your brain when in reality true knowledge is gained not simply by being exposed to an article, and blindly accepting someone else’s opinion to be fact, but by questioning, critiquing, and having a personal reaction to that material. Only then can a person develop their own educated opinion on matter, and by doing so have learned just a little bit more about themselves.
Our society’s current addiction to the internet is having an unhealthy and unnatural effect on people’s day to day lives. We live in a the social order where kids spend much of their free time chatting over the net instead of interacting face to face, or playing video games instead of in their own backyards. Slothfulness is the last thing we need to be encouraging in a population that is already eating its way towards unprecedented dangerously high levels of national obesity. After all, exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins both enhance a person’s clarity of thought as well as provide them with a happier more positive outlook on life. Therefore it is crucial that we do not let the youth of today become overly dependent on this increasingly internet-centric way of life, or we will surely be putting both their physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing at a serious disadvantage.
Additionally, when people are in fact going outdoors they are not experiencing nature in the same way that they used to. Individuals used to immerse themselves in nature either for the enjoyment of exploring the wilderness, letting their imagination run wild, or by simply to soaking up the silence, self-reflecting, and achieving peace of mind. Through many still embrace outdoors they are some how incapable of leaving their offices and their assignments behind them (my own mother included). When hiking in Colorado I dumbfounded by the numerous individuals I will come across checking emails on their blackberries or distraughtly searching for cell service nearly oblivious to the beautiful topography of the Rockie Mountains that surrounds them.
This is not the life I want for myself. I do not want my daily choices or activities to be dictated and dominated by what sociologist Daniel Bell refereed to as “intellectual technologies”. I want to be able to not check my email for single day without having it result in my voicemail being over flown with concerned calls and complaints. I do not want to be accessible to everyone all the time. I want time for myself. I want time with friends. I want time with my family. It saddens me that these sentimental moments and valuable conversations are constantly being interrupted and cut short by people’s inability to disconnect themselves from this increasingly internet driven world.
Google distracts us from this kind of creative thinking. Google dazzles and entertains us with its ability to provide people globally with an infinite supply of facts, resources, and facilitates through which we can gather further information. It simplifies our access to data. However, the foundation of Google’s financial model is grounded in advertising and for that reason it pesters us with constant interruptions making it extremely difficult to focus on any single article at hand.
The most disastrous upshot of our obsessive use of the internet and the crippling effects it is having on the sustainability of our attention span is that it has become a principle contributor in driving many of the young adults and teens of today towards developing an unhealthy dependence and utter infatuation with attention deficit disorder prescription drugs such as Adderall, and Ritalin. Dependency on such drugs can lead to: high blood pressure, sleep
disorders, seizures, weight loss, hallucinations, severe dehydration, muscle pains, vomiting, mood changes and nervousness (much of which I have personally experienced as side effects of my own prescribed use of Adderall). This new prescription craze concerns me a great deal, having personally been prescribed such medications since my sophomore year of high school, I have experienced both the positive and negative aspects of such drugs. Though I cannot help but wonder what possible long term effects may transpire in the years to come for these young adults and teenagers who are continuing to use these concentration drugs during such fundamental years of their development? We are one mouse click away from losing ourselves sanity to a black hole of passwords, web addresses, emails, abbreviations, webcams, and downloads otherwise known as the internet. As such we have evolved into a society that is full of contradictions, obsessed with instant gratification, and that has tragically begun becoming increasingly unintelligent in recent years.I fear that we have already begun to become what Richard Foreman so astutely referred to as “pancake people’ —spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button”. I see our society falling victim to this condition not only in how we are approaching the internet but in how we are approaching our relationships, schooling, careers, and our thoughts of ourselves. We have become a society which both demands and expects instant gratification. We have become obsessed with multi-tasking. We have become infatuated with obtaining quantity over quality. We want it all and we want it now. The internet is significantly responsible for promoting this way of life and in effect spoiling our society. The internet has made so many people accustomed to having nearly anything they could possibly need a mere mouse click away. Moreover, it has robbed us of our former patients and the ability to focus on a single task for an extended period of time. We now find ourselves frustrated and perturbed if we are required to search beyond the surface level to find the results we need. With everything coming so easily to the youths of today I fear that these students may not know how to approach and overcome a more challenging situations in their future when the answers are not already so plainly accessible and obvious to them. They do not know what it is to truly have to apply themselves to try and find new answers and creative solutions to problems. Students today seem to be less concerned with the learning process and work that occurs in the interim than with simply getting the assignment done.
Our generation is constantly looking for shortcuts. One such example can be seen in a study performed by Dr. Rafael Capurro which establishes a solid connection between th
e growing number of university students that have chosen to plagiarise other people’s materials instead of producing their own creative work and the rising number of college students that are accessing the web. This dwindling of ethics and the decline of ambition demonstrated by these younger generations will in time prove to be a serious problem once they enter the work place. The fact of the matter is that in reality the only way to get ahead is through hard work and determination. These are the qualities that deliver results and those are the qualities which contribute to giving a person substance. Google may be able to overload a student with enough random facts to pass a pop quiz, but it cannot instil within them the common sense they will need to survive later in life. I fear this will prove to be a rude awakening for these individuals which our society has weakened by feeding them with a silver spoon of technological connivances.Nicholas Carr summarized Google’s current philosophy in his article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid" as being, “The more pieces of information we can ‘access’ and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers”. This concept upsets me because it exemplifies the way in which Google seems to be missing the point knowledge entirely. Knowledge is not about speed it is about understand. The exceptional written works produced by the most brilliant philosophers, historians, politicians, mathematicians, and astronomers of the past are not meant to be skimmed over. They are meant to teach us, and provoke our own curiosity. Each page functions as a piece of the puzzle and was thus included for a reason and is indispensable to understanding the overall whole.
The original founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page speak excitedly of the technological possibilities of the human race; a world in which people could be hooked in or dare I say replaced by computers. In 2004, Brin stated that, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” This notion is both disturbing and unnatural. I must also beg the question. To what benefit would it be to have access to an endless supply of information if it was just programmed into you? Moreover, what would be the process, if any, for filtering sites with insubstantial and invalid information. Who would be responsible for determining a site’s legitimacy. After all what purpose does it serve for you to have information planted in your brain when in reality true knowledge is gained not simply by being exposed to an article, and blindly accepting someone else’s opinion to be fact, but by questioning, critiquing, and having a personal reaction to that material. Only then can a person develop their own educated opinion on matter, and by doing so have learned just a little bit more about themselves.
Our society’s current addiction to the internet is having an unhealthy and unnatural effect on people’s day to day lives. We live in a the social order where kids spend much of their free time chatting over the net instead of interacting face to face, or playing video games instead of in their own backyards. Slothfulness is the last thing we need to be encouraging in a population that is already eating its way towards unprecedented dangerously high levels of national obesity. After all, exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins both enhance a person’s clarity of thought as well as provide them with a happier more positive outlook on life. Therefore it is crucial that we do not let the youth of today become overly dependent on this increasingly internet-centric way of life, or we will surely be putting both their physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing at a serious disadvantage.
Additionally, when people are in fact going outdoors they are not experiencing nature in the same way that they used to. Individuals used to immerse themselves in nature either for the enjoyment of exploring the wilderness, letting their imagination run wild, or by simply to soaking up the silence, self-reflecting, and achieving peace of mind. Through many still embrace outdoors they are some how incapable of leaving their offices and their assignments behind them (my own mother included). When hiking in Colorado I dumbfounded by the numerous individuals I will come across checking emails on their blackberries or distraughtly searching for cell service nearly oblivious to the beautiful topography of the Rockie Mountains that surrounds them.
This is not the life I want for myself. I do not want my daily choices or activities to be dictated and dominated by what sociologist Daniel Bell refereed to as “intellectual technologies”. I want to be able to not check my email for single day without having it result in my voicemail being over flown with concerned calls and complaints. I do not want to be accessible to everyone all the time. I want time for myself. I want time with friends. I want time with my family. It saddens me that these sentimental moments and valuable conversations are constantly being interrupted and cut short by people’s inability to disconnect themselves from this increasingly internet driven world.
Monday, September 15, 2008
A Transformative Reading
My dorm room bed was tucked in the corner against a large window and a blue slanted wall that hung over head. I was a sophomore in high school and it was my first semester attending boarding school abroad. Considering that it rained like clock work nearly every afternoon in the English countryside, my bed had become a place of immense comfort and security after school in this foreign environment. It was that same fall that I picked up a book titled The Red Badge of Courage and through it was able to better understand and take hold of my own life. I believe that much of why this book was able to effect me so deeply was simply because of where I was in my own life story. Nevertheless it is an incredible story about facing our greatest fears and finding a way to embrace and overcome them while still remaining true to who you are.
In Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, Henry (the main character) enlists in the Union army, thus removing himself from all he has ever known, and blindly casting himself into a world of the unfamiliar. Once a soldier in the Union army Henry is forced to overcome his own self doubts and face his fears head on. My experience of studying abroad at the Tasis School in London, England my sophomore year of high school, required me to surmount many of the same struggles and self-doubts Henry experienced after sighing into the Union army.
Henry still a boy in his youth, is rash and impulsive when enlisting himself into the Union army. With no one to hold his hand, is now forced to stand on his own or crumble. Never having been away from his home, let alone in the hot midst of battle he can not contrive how he will react under these intense and alien conditions.
Parting with my home that had seen me grow, and leaving behind the family left me with a similar feeling of uncertainty. I had been a student at Hockaday since pre-school, and was terrified of attending a new school. Yet I was excited, for the first time in my life I had a chance to learn how I would react in a new environment. I would have the opportunity to learn more about who I was, and to re-define myself. This was important to me, since the expectations of me, as well as the expectations I had for myself, had been defined for me as early as the first grade. I had never been a spectacular student at Hockaday and was constantly struggling to keep my head above water, and clinging to tutors to help me stay afloat. I was nervous to see how I would measure up to students of another school.
In war Henry is a soldier, united to his comrades by a special brotherhood. They face death together. See fear in each other’s eyes. Witness one another’s moments of rage, cowardness, revenge, and devotion. They are unified by their painful memories and their dedication to fight for a greater cause.
In battle Henry proves himself by disregarding his fears of death and shame charging courageously into battle. Henry waves the flag proudly, making himself a target to all enemies, hoping to encourage his comrades to continue the fight. This patriotic act of duty provides Henry with a gratifying sense of self confidence.
The friends I made during my time at Tasis are irreplaceable. I felt closer with my roommates after my first month of school than I felt with girls I had known all my life in Dallas. We became a family. They are the laughter that follows my jokes, regardless of how dry they may have been. Similar to Henry’s tight nit bond with his fellow soldiers, my relationship with my roommates is one which no one but them can ever comprehend the immeasurable importance of it.
Determined to succeed on my own, prove that I was capable of being a strong student if I only applied myself. To prove that tutors were a crutch I did not need to relay on. A crutch I feel had weakened by ambition, self-confidence and determination in the past. I pushed myself to change my history of receiving simply satisfactory grades. After an exhausting year of continuous sacrifices I had achieved academic success. I had raised my expectations for myself, and shocked my family. Most importantly I was over come with pride and a foreign feeling of self-respect.
Henry, a veteran of many years, is content with himself. He is able to reflect on who he was before the war and the decisions he made during the war. He admits to mistakes he has made in his past and has been able to come to terms with them. He is no longer insecure for having run away from battle, nor is he covered in guilt and shame. After much time, he is finally comfortable with who he has become.
I return home from England a confident and open minded individual, still possessing the core spirit of the curious and excited young girl who set off on an adventure two years before. I have left jolly old England behind me taking from it, a new source of self reliance, and a greater respect for myself. My time abroad has reminded me that one must never judge someone solely on their appearance, for the beauty in both people and place lies beneath the surface.
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