Blog #7: Impact of Cell Phones in Society

Cell phones are changing the way people are interacting with each other. Cell phones, while keeping people connected all over the world, isolates us from the people who are physically present in the moment. People shut themselves off of physical human contact in favor of chatting or typing away on their cell phones. 

In the articles “How Cell Phones Are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions” (Glaser, Mark. "How Cell Phones Are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions." PBS. PBS, 22 Oct. 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.),“Your Smartphone May Be Powering down Your Relationship” (Kerner, Ian. "Your Smartphone May Be Powering down Your Relationship." CNN. Cable News Network, 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.), and "How Your Cell Phone Hurts Your Relationships" (Lin, Helen L. "How Your Cell Phone Hurts Your Relationships." Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.), the authors made use of both sound and unsound critical reasoning to make the same point: cell phones are detrimental to interactions and relationships.

Although Glaser, Kerner and Lin all use critical reasoning in their article, Lin’s article has better critical reasoning than the other two articles because Lin uses a good balance of evidence and analysis to get her point across, whereas Glaser and Kerner uses more unsound critical reasoning than sound critical reasoning. Although Lin’s article also has unsound critical reasoning, it does not overpower the sound critical reasoning so that readers can still find the article to be a legitimate and credible analysis of how cell phones are affecting interactions and relationships. Glaser makes a slippery slope argument and uses generalizations. Kerner's article has self-selection and confirmation bias. Lin's article heavily depends on experts, but overall has the most sound logic of all three articles.

Blog #6: Technology: Then and Now

My parents made sure I had my own computer at a young age because they wanted me to have everything I could possibly need for school. As a result, the computer has always been a part of my life and I love keeping up with new models and software. However, my parents still have not embraced the computer, because they did not have access to computers as they were growing up. Even after they bought me my first computer, they did not use it because it had never been a part of their daily lives. And since websites didn’t start popping up until 1993, the internet was a relatively new concept to my parents. My mom needed to learn how to use computers and the internet for her job, so I had to teach her basic computer functions and how to navigate the web. To this day, she still has not mastered computer skills and occasionally Skypes me for tech support. My dad never felt the need to learn, so he never did. Point is, what seems ordinary to me seemed revolutionary to my parents. 

The computer and the internet has made everything much more convenient. Knowledge is at our fingertips. Efficiency and productivity greatly increased because of the vast capabilities of the computer and internet. People can connect with each other all around the world. 

Of course, this leads to the disadvantages of computers and the internet. Real-world connections often lose to connections in the virtual realm. So-called friends on Facebook sometimes wouldn't be able to recognize each other if they met in public. Most people are so engrossed in their devices that they ignore the real world and miss out on the opportunity to make real-life connections. Some lose the ability to communicate because they are used to messaging each other using improper English. The decreased interactions between human beings are negative externalities caused by the increased use of technology.

Blog #5: Wikipedia in Academia

In the article, “Wikipedia, a Professor’s Best Friend,” Dariusz Jemielniak offers a different opinion on Wikipedia than what students are normally told by other academics. His article explains why many academics hate, and sometimes even fear, Wikipedia. Editors on Wikipedia seek to educate, without needing compensation or credit, whereas teachers/professors seek to educate and need at least compensation. If there was a way to make Wikipedia much more credible, teachers/professors will be rendered obsolete. Therefore, Jemielniak is in the minority when he encourages students to use Wikipedia. However, he offers a great solution in mending the bridge between academia and Wikipedia by encourage students to not only use Wikipedia, but also contribute to the website as class assignments.

Blog #4: Evolution of Military Weapons in China through Science and Technology

Situated in a fortress, Museu de Macau has a well-preserved, decommissioned underground ammunitions depot that would be the perfect location to display an exhibit of the developments in military weapons in China for the purposes of educating the public on how science and technology has revolutionized the military.

The development of military weapons in China interests me because I like weapons (in TV and/or film) and I am from China. I take a great interest in learning everything about the place where I am from. That's probably not an interesting answer for such an interesting topic, but that's pretty much my reasoning behind choosing this topic.

The audience is anyone who finds Chinese history fascinating and/or weapons fanatics. Based on the topic, visitors would probably want to see all the commonly used weapons in conflicts and war throughout Chinese history. China has a long history of war, mostly with neighboring territories. Throughout the early periods, the Chinese military primarily used bow and arrows, knives, swords, crossbows, axes, and cannons. Since World War II, the government encouraged science and technological advancements that introduced high-tech weapons, such as bombs, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, biological weapons, missiles, drones, stealth fighters, anti-stealth radars, etc. Although initial growth in military technology had been slower in China than western countries, China has since caught up and even surpassed most of them in military capability because of long-term government investment in the military and education, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

An exhibit should be made on how science and technology revolutionized military through developments in military weapons, because it concerns the welfare of the public and indirectly affects the public through taxes and education.