What should we do with our old technology, our e-waste? We should learn how to recycle it in the United States but we don’t. It is expensive to recycle and get rid of. Instead it is shipped to poor countries where they can take it apart and sell the valuable materials at a risk of being poisoned from the chemicals. Is this the right thing to do, they are poor and uneducated but they need the money?
In our country dumping of e-waste in landfills is not allowed because of the toxic chemicals put into the ground so it is shipped overseas as recycling. Poor countries burn our obsolete trash to sell the parts and take out valuable metals like gold and silver. Toxic chemicals are polluting the air with carcinogens and other toxins. Is it worth the money they get selling the parts? Even when we think we are recycling to good places it gets to brokers who ship overseas where environment control is bad. The Basel Ban forbids hazardous waste shipments to poor countries, but it is not enforced or even in effect. It is an illegal business overseas to pollute the air with e-waste but it is done anyway and the results show disease and disabilities are increasing. The toxins exist in the air and when its too much parts are then exported to another country so money is still being made. Even charities think they are helping poor countries like Ghana but they are helping to poison them. Some recycling has started in Tampa and Europe but it is very expensive.
Instead of exporting our electronic garbage to third world countries, we should try to lower the cost of recycling here in our country. It will take a lot of working together to make that happen. We as a society cannot close our eyes and think that we are helping poorer countries feed themselves and help their children’s lives by shipping our e-waste overseas. The truth is it is a hazard to their health and that is more important. Just like when we throw garbage out of our car, our car is clean but the environment is not. We know just what we did. Educating about the hazards and taking care of our own junk is a beginning to solve the problems.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Texting Messaging
Why do people text message so much? Is it because people need a sense of security, a social connection or just need a distraction from the real world? I believe that text messaging is a distraction because people feel the need to respond to the text message they get quickly that they do not care about anything else around them. People, especially students, text so much because they want to stay connected with friends and family constantly.
Texting is convenient; it helps us to communicate quickly and easily without having to talk. Maybe our society prefers not to talk, as that might be too personal. Texting avoids the personal part of communication, looking at someone or feeling his or her emotions. In the Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2009, the study Impact of Text Messaging on Communication, Heidi Hemmer asks students if text messaging displaces face-to-face communication. The “female focus group did admit to avoiding communication sometimes with text messaging, but the text messages did not displace their face-to-face communication.” In the same study the males felt the same way. People are too lazy to have verbal contact with others and would rather text because it is quick and easy. We do not have to use proper English and can avoid long sentences. People still need the security of our friends and family so texting keeps us connected. It gives us instant gratification and security that we are being included. Does this mean we are insecure? It probably means we are socially doing what everyone else is doing. If there were no texting we would talk on the phone. Texting has helped me let my family know where I am quickly and discretely. To keep it simple, text messaging is a fun social tool that keeps family and friends connected and feeling secure.
Texting is a big distraction and there is no argument against that, it is on the minds of all students everywhere. It distracts us from the things going on around us, like saying hi to people or even maybe thinking about stuff we have to do for school. College students need to text back right away, even when they know not to text while driving or in class. It is like an obsession or compulsiveness. I look at my phone before class then immediately text after my class is over. Even I can feel how hard it is to ignore my phone. In the same study, Hemmer asked if texting was an addiction, both females and males thought that it was more of a habit. Either way text messaging distracts us. What did we do before texting? We looked up at people while walking, we meet people to talk, we called people and we did not constantly look at our phones. Texting is a distraction but that is not really why we text.
We text because its technology that is available, its fun, easy and social. Culturally it is what we do and yes texting can be very distracting but so are all the different technologies.
Texting is convenient; it helps us to communicate quickly and easily without having to talk. Maybe our society prefers not to talk, as that might be too personal. Texting avoids the personal part of communication, looking at someone or feeling his or her emotions. In the Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2009, the study Impact of Text Messaging on Communication, Heidi Hemmer asks students if text messaging displaces face-to-face communication. The “female focus group did admit to avoiding communication sometimes with text messaging, but the text messages did not displace their face-to-face communication.” In the same study the males felt the same way. People are too lazy to have verbal contact with others and would rather text because it is quick and easy. We do not have to use proper English and can avoid long sentences. People still need the security of our friends and family so texting keeps us connected. It gives us instant gratification and security that we are being included. Does this mean we are insecure? It probably means we are socially doing what everyone else is doing. If there were no texting we would talk on the phone. Texting has helped me let my family know where I am quickly and discretely. To keep it simple, text messaging is a fun social tool that keeps family and friends connected and feeling secure.
Texting is a big distraction and there is no argument against that, it is on the minds of all students everywhere. It distracts us from the things going on around us, like saying hi to people or even maybe thinking about stuff we have to do for school. College students need to text back right away, even when they know not to text while driving or in class. It is like an obsession or compulsiveness. I look at my phone before class then immediately text after my class is over. Even I can feel how hard it is to ignore my phone. In the same study, Hemmer asked if texting was an addiction, both females and males thought that it was more of a habit. Either way text messaging distracts us. What did we do before texting? We looked up at people while walking, we meet people to talk, we called people and we did not constantly look at our phones. Texting is a distraction but that is not really why we text.
We text because its technology that is available, its fun, easy and social. Culturally it is what we do and yes texting can be very distracting but so are all the different technologies.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Abstract
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr, Carr feels like his mind has lost the ability to concentration and go into deep thought when reading blaming it all on the fast way we get information and read on the Internet. I mostly agree with his thinking but I don’t think its all a bad thing. In our society we are more curious and enjoy getting fast answers, like who sings a song we have in our heads, gossip, sports scores or what happened in the news today. Ok but now we need to discuss reading books and getting meaning from what we read. Yes, in that case, I agree it is easier to go to the Internet, but is it making us stupid?
Bruce Friedman says, “The Internet has altered his mental habits.” He thinks quickly getting straight to the point. We tend to skim over materials and search and search without ever really seeing if an article was worth reading until the end. I think it is making us lazy readers. Why do we need to read a whole book when we can get the same idea and knowledge from a shorter version? Sometimes searching online can be tedious and exhausting because there is so much information. There are times we get distracted searching and find something else we are interested in. Yes going to the library could provide more focus as we would only look up what we needed to know for fear that reading entire books would be such a waste of time. For me getting lost in a library is also possible. I remember my mom yelling at my older brother to go to the library for information, then as I got older she began to realize it is easier to just stay home and get the same information.
Maryanne Wolf states, “We are how we read” that the Internet hurts our ability to be deep thinkers and we have become “mere decoders of information.” I agree that if I had a book in my hand I would be more comfortable to relax and get into the book. It doesn’t bother me when a professor insists we go to the library to do a research paper, it is almost a relief to know there is no choice. If given the option I would pick the Internet. When I sit at the computer for long periods of time I kind of lose concentration but I think that comes from a book too. It is just easier and faster to look things up online; the Internet takes you from one place to another without having to figure anything out at the library. You can read what you need and go on.
In today’s world information is everywhere. I do think it is true that the Internet limits our patience and desire to think and read with deep thought. But it doesn’t really make us “stupid” just very lazy.
Bruce Friedman says, “The Internet has altered his mental habits.” He thinks quickly getting straight to the point. We tend to skim over materials and search and search without ever really seeing if an article was worth reading until the end. I think it is making us lazy readers. Why do we need to read a whole book when we can get the same idea and knowledge from a shorter version? Sometimes searching online can be tedious and exhausting because there is so much information. There are times we get distracted searching and find something else we are interested in. Yes going to the library could provide more focus as we would only look up what we needed to know for fear that reading entire books would be such a waste of time. For me getting lost in a library is also possible. I remember my mom yelling at my older brother to go to the library for information, then as I got older she began to realize it is easier to just stay home and get the same information.
Maryanne Wolf states, “We are how we read” that the Internet hurts our ability to be deep thinkers and we have become “mere decoders of information.” I agree that if I had a book in my hand I would be more comfortable to relax and get into the book. It doesn’t bother me when a professor insists we go to the library to do a research paper, it is almost a relief to know there is no choice. If given the option I would pick the Internet. When I sit at the computer for long periods of time I kind of lose concentration but I think that comes from a book too. It is just easier and faster to look things up online; the Internet takes you from one place to another without having to figure anything out at the library. You can read what you need and go on.
In today’s world information is everywhere. I do think it is true that the Internet limits our patience and desire to think and read with deep thought. But it doesn’t really make us “stupid” just very lazy.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
I believe that google is making us stupid because it is a faster version to look up information because students are too lazy to go to the library and read a book for a class. Google is networked with everything you need and it has numerous links that may be necessary for what you are looking up. When I go on google, I get very impatient and click the first link I see because I believe it is the only link that will have all of the information that I need. Some of the websites that are put as links such as Wikipedia are not always truthful. Students will copy word for word of an essay that was already written on Google thinking that the teacher will not recognize that they plagarized.
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