12/25/2022 0 Comments Hero or Traitor? Private or Public?![]() Whether one considers Snowden a hero or a traitor may depend on their personal beliefs about government surveillance, privacy, and national security. Even though Snowden stated that he sees himself as neither a traitor nor a hero, his reasoning for disclosing information about any wrongdoing mirrors a hero. A hero is a person who, in the opinion of others, has remarkable achievements and is noted for courageous acts or nobility. After watching the Ted talk, "Here's how we take back the Internet," in class, it is evident that Edward Snowden matches this definition, considering how he revealed the extent of the U.S. government's surveillance of its citizens and foreign nationals. In 2013, Snowden, a contractor working for the National Security Agency (NSA), leaked classified information about secret government programs that collected massive amounts of data from phone and internet communications. Snowden is courageous and selfless. To start, Snowden took a significant personal risk to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. In other words: "Edward Snowden is the lion that bit the head off the dog" (Anderson). This quotation perfectly encompasses and expands on his bold ambition. In my opinion, he acted courageously in the face of potential harm and damaging legal repercussions because he wanted to safeguard people's liberties and privacy. He declared that "if we [humans] don't stand up to make the changes we need to do to keep the Internet safe, not just for us but for everyone, we're going to lose that, and that would be a tremendous loss." (Snowden) Some people may be afraid of the consequences of speaking out or taking action, especially if they are vulnerable or if the issues they are advocating for are controversial or unpopular. Snowden shows the traits of a hero when having the same sense of moral responsibility as those who do stand up for change. Furthermore, demonstrating the traits of a hero, Snowden was willing to sacrifice his safety and well-being to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. Snowden realized that by disclosing the material, he would probably be prosecuted and forced to flee his country and live in exile. Nevertheless, he decided to speak up and draw attention to the problem, displaying a strong sense of altruism and a willingness to put the interests of others ahead of his own. The purpose of Snowden's leaks was to do minor damage to both the functioning of the government and the people instead of gaining the most negative attention towards the government possible. Overall, Snowden is handling the situation with respect and caution. His actions remind me of a quote from the book 1984: "For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself" (Orwell 354). Winston has to keep all of his hatred locked up, which the activist compared to a cyst, so that his camouflage would not go down and he would have the ability to live another day. In a real-life situation like the one Snowden shows, he remains composed. ![]() Additionally, Snowden's disclosures sparked a debate about the balance between national security and individual privacy. Since he has taken part in countless interviews and appearances in public, such as the Ted Talk, this has revealed for many that there are several privacy issues in the 21st century, specifically data collection. I see the most harm that people need to be made aware of the information on them that is being gathered, how it is being utilized, and how it might be shared or revealed. For instance, users of online services or applications, ranging from Amazon to Instagram, can be forced to accept long terms of service agreements that describe the data being gathered. I am confident that a large population is not aware of what data is being collected about them. This huge privacy issue limits people's control over their data! Even Snowden suggested, "Our expectation of privacy is violated when the capabilities of government surveillance have become cheaper by order of magnitude, and each time that occurs, we need to revisit and rebalance our privacy rights" (Snowden). It has become so simple for companies to know everything about a person with the simple press of an "Accept" button. Data collection can also limit people's control by making it difficult or impossible for them to opt-out of having their data collected. This shows that these privacy rights need to be reviewed and rebalanced. Improving the idea behind this issue will take work. Our world is already so used to the issue of data collection that it is unlikely to go through a day without having a single piece of information gathered by the government. It is as if there are "always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed—no escape" (Orwell 34). Day-to-day actions are watched unwillingly (even though we clicked on the accept button), meaning that every link one accesses, every video one watches, and every advertisement one falls for is being tracked. People will feel more vulnerable and exposed as data collection, which I believe is the most significant privacy issue of the 21st century, worsens.
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12/8/2022 0 Comments Big Brother in our homes!?![]() Artificial intelligence, autonomous automobiles, interactive robotics, and flawless facial and speech recognition. Do we rely on these moments of our day when we are fascinated by artificial intelligence in daily used technologies so much that we forget that they are the big brother of our homes? The famous words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 4) should ring more alarms than it is. When relating these words to an article from Abel, published in 2018, Mowles agrees that humanity is becoming more comfortable with computer systems simulations of human intelligence processes. When comparing this comment with the novel 1984 written by Orwell, there is one main difference: The population of Oceania has no choice but to become comfortable with the confrontation that there is constantly someone somewhere watching, while in the present day, the number of AI watching one is controlled by the person alone. An example of this can be found in all homes currently, which is known as Google Home and Alexa. Mowles discloses, “My concern is that it doesn’t only listen when you say the word; that it’s going all the time.” (Abel) In the context of the novel, there is no concern about someone constantly listening since it is simply an ordinary situation in which one can find themselves. When comparing this to the artificial intelligence found in the Google Home and Alexa speakers, they are programmed only to listen after one says the “key word,” but the article theories that there is more to the bigger picture than simply this. Overall, there is no saying what the future holds in terms of controlling the amount of privacy remaining to ourselves, unlike the citizens of 1984, whom Big Brother constantly watches. 12/8/2022 0 Comments From 1984 to 1989![]() A totalitarian government is a political systerm that asserts total control over its citizens. An example of these would be the chinese government, specifically the incident in spring of 1989, and the government of Oceania in the novel "1984". Both are situations where the government manipulates the citizens' minds over reality and uses violence if the individuals do not obey the rules. The Tiananmen Square incident happened when there was growing sentiment among university students and others in China for political and economic reform. To retake control of the area, troops advanced toward an ongoing protest on Tiananmen Square between June 3 and 4. They opened fire, and crushed, and arrested protesters as they moved toward the square. The death toll has been pegged at 10,000 according to most estimations, compared to the government's estimate of 200 deaths. The government has typically tried to censor mentions of the occurrence throughout the years. The act of remembering the incident in public is forbidden. This incident fits the quotation from 1984 ideally: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." (Orwell 44). If the citizens of Oceania look back at the unaltered history, it will be evident that the government is not as good as it claims to be (similar to the protests of 1989). Once they realize this, they start questioning the government, which will eventually lead to revolting against it and trying to bring it down. Once they are aware of this, they begin to doubt the government, which eventually causes them to rebel and try to overthrow it. Therefore, much propaganda is in place both in the novel and China to prevent these situations. To prevent these situations, it is critical to continue spreading awareness. These incidents are not to be forgotten since our memory is the only thing keeping those deaths and the violence hidden possible. ![]() “Most people talk about fear of the unknown, but if there is anything to fear, it is the known.” -Deepak Chopra Every step into the unknown is a risk, but it is not always what scares us the most. According to Webster's dictionary, the unknown is described as something that requires discovery, identification, or clarification. In a movie and short story analyzed in class, this concept is a fundamental support in the storyline for both. When connecting this quote and idea to the movie "Interstellar," directed by Christopher Nolan, the initial talk of fear was that there were no guarantees that they would make it back and that they would survive the journey or what they would find beyond the stars. This unknown of what is out there in the universe could not be classified as it still required discovery. Therefore, these thoughts are not what keep Cooper from being scared and giving up; instead, it was the realization that "Plan A," the idea to carry out mass evacuation and bring humanity onto one of three potentially habitable planets, was utterly a ruse. It was never even there to begin with. Cooper soon learns that to guarantee the human population's survival, the endurance team must travel to the planet with the best chance of supporting life and growing embryos there. Putting Cooper's children before anything is apprehended that Murphy believes that by leaving for this expedition, Cooper is leaving her behind and would either perish in space or not return. Cooper is scared of the known, not the unknown. The clarification that he might never get to see his children again is a greater fear than the whole undiscovered galaxy. Furthermore, Howard Fast wrote a short story that also connects to the quote from Chopra called "The Large Ant." In this narrative, Morgan kills what appears to be enormous and out of the blue with a golf club. Later, he brings the corpse to an entomologist who, oddly, is interested in Morgan's discovery and asks him why he murdered it. Sequentially, Morgane needs an answer to this question. Even though the type of creature was unknown, it at first glance seemed to be a giant ant: "I had to look at the ant now, and I realized that I had not truly looked at it before. We don't look carefully at a thing that is horrible or repugnant to us. You can't look carefully at a thing through a screen of hatred." (Fast) The only known idea planted into a human's brain in a situation like Morgan's is bitterness and disgust. Instinctively, our species will not always reason to escape a position where the fear is known. For example, Moragne killed the ant on the spot. Even though the results hold more questions of what kind of creature died, one thing is for sure: It was the initially known fear that had been identified and led Morgane to assassinate the creature. In conclusion, the idea the known scares us more than the unknown is a common theme in the movie “Interstellar,” and the short story “The Large Ant.” ![]() "We can't change. We are what we are." (Fast 8) is the statement Fitzgerald, the government man in the short story The Large Ant written by Howard Fast, claims about humanity. The story poses a question about the very nature of humankind: Is humanity innately violent, and are we truly incapable of changing that? After reading the short story in class, I believe that humanity is not innately violent but that we are afraid of the unknown as humans. Think of it as a comfort zone. For most of our life, we live according to a supposedly predictable script; therefore, considerable surprises scare us like a scary horror movie! When Mr. Morgan goes fishing with his pals in the story The Large Ant, he discovers a bizarre new kind of ant, with his first instinct being to swing at this unusual animal with an iron. From this perspective, violence can be seen as an adaptive strategy. Some may run, while others' instinct towards the situation would be, similar to Mr. Morgane, to let the unknown bite the dust. Even after bringing the species to the neighbourhood museum, Mr. Morgan learns more about himself and the human race than he does about the ant. Liebermann interrogates further when asking: "That is why I am asking you why you killed it. You must have had a reason. Did it seem about to attack you?" (Fast 5) Possessing reason is the characteristic of having the capacity to understand and the ability to think quantitatively or rationally. When Morgane was before the creature, there was no room to take a minute to process his subsequent actions. Under stress, instinct is much more potent in how anyone responds and behaves in various situations. Therefore, humanity is not innately violent by reason, but the fight-or-flight instinct plays a role. Furthermore, regarding the is we are genuinely incapable of changing the violence within us, it is the whole world's responsibility to change. On account of truly being incapable of changing, I cannot entirely agree with the statement, but it takes many steps to get there. With many ongoing political differences, these outside factors demonstrate what humans are; they are our role models, as humans are simple beings and shape their nature through what they see. 11/12/2022 1 Comment "The Pedestrian" and "The Fun They Had." - One cannot hold onto things from the past Technology constantly evolves as the ages pass, regardless of the current market conditions. Ground-breaking innovations and changes in everyday life are debated if they are a positive impact on society or not. The following statement is for sure; one cannot hold onto the things from the past. This theme is portrayed in the short stories "The Pedestrian" and "The Fun They Had."
These short stories were written more than 50 years ago and are a creative way of demonstrating how changes to the usual routine and recognizing these changes make us realize how scary the concept of time can be. A close friend once told me that life is like a train; it keeps moving forward. The fear of technology and not knowing what further awaits to step onto this train prevents one from moving forward. Many "conditions" will get on and off at these different train stops when passing through them, but we cannot keep dragging them along behind us when they have already gotten off the train and learned to adapt to what has come on board. When relating this notion to futuristic technology-centred short stories, it is crucial to understand how we recognize what is changing in the dystopian futures predicted. In "The Pedestrian," there is a dark twist on technology. Leonard's refusal to hook himself into the electronic brain-drainer as he wants to take the air, which the rest of the community has voluntarily accepted, makes the police focus on him. At the conclusion of Asimov's short story, Margie goes to "school," but she cannot focus because she daydreams about how it must have been in the preparatory schools. Similarly, "The Fun They Had" details how Margie has a mechanical teacher and books are now digitally transferred as she discovers new concepts about the past. Once again, this short story demonstrates that even though one might like their situation another way, we should not put all our attention on the past and focus on the future. What I feel Bradbury and Asimov are warning humankind about and perhaps commenting on in our society today is that it is too dependent on technology. The advancement of technology is changing how we interact with each other. By virtue of this, and as exposed in each of the stories, technology is isolating society from the outside world and constantly promoting ways to interact less with the community. Overall, the short stories "The Pedestrian" and "The Fun They Had" take a darker look at technology to portray an evident theme and comment on society today. 10/10/2022 0 Comments Reflection on the idea of relationships in King Lear and "The Winner" by Barbara Kimenye![]() What does it mean for bonds that connect people to be through an emotional connection? In the short story "The Winner" by Barbara Kimenye, we follow our protagonist, Pius, who wins an immense amount of money through the football pools, completely subverting his life. Countless relatives and neighbours start to step into his life, including his closest friend Salongo, who Pius begins to rely on his advice when overwhelmed by the sudden change. Cousin Sarah starts to look out for Pius and stays with him after everyone disappointingly finds out that the money Pius won is, in reality, shared with other winners too. Everyone proclaimed that they would spend the money well now left, only for cousin Sarah to remain by his side. This reminds me much of the famous line Cordelia delivers in King Lear when she discloses: "I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond; no more no less." (1.1.89-91) Cordelia is giving King Lear an honest assessment of her love for him, in contrast to the pampering of Goneril and Regan. In the short story, this idea is that an emotional bond is significantly more important in relationships between people and recognizing that it is there, rather than simply using people for what they give away. In The Winner, many of Pius' relatives suddenly step into his life when hearing about the money. Similarly, Goneril and Regan begin to flatter King Lear when he states he is willing to divide the kingdom. I believe that one of the essential foundations of a long-lasting relationship is creating an emotional connection. One can make a robust and respectable foundation by feeling emotionally attached. Cousin Sarah reflects on this idea when she tells Pius: "I suddenly remembered—although I don't expect you to—how you were at my wedding and so helpful to everybody. Well, I thought to myself, here is somebody who needs a good housekeeper, …" (Kimenye 8) Once finding out that he didn't win the amount of money initially thought to have, the family members left. It became clear that the connection between Sarah and Pius wasn't centered around money. When relationships rely on a particular aspect and are not genuine, they can become toxic, corrupted, and take a toll on both members. Bonds connecting people are there to bring out the best in you, not to abuse the power of what the other person has. 9/29/2022 0 Comments The Sibling Bond Being compared to your siblings can be challenging for many of us throughout childhood. Even I can relate to Jeffrey Kluger's opinion in his TED Talk "The sibling bond." But in the end, even if we're losing patience, siblings will be the only ones with us for the entire ride through life; they are there for the beginning of childhood, graduation, first job, marriage, when we have kids, and further. Siblings must put this loyal, abiding, and loving bond before numerous others. But this is not always the most effortless to do when our relationships with our siblings change over time. For many people, things can change, and the bond between each sibling will be tested over time. Looking deeper into King Lear by Shakespeare, with Coreldia now banished and disowned, it will reveal if her siblings are willing to do what it takes to make their relationship work or if they will go separate ways.
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