New New New

Nostalgia is the feeling of fondness or missing something in your past. I just find that the pace of everything from technology to society to pop culture is advancing and developing so rapidly that the period of nostalgia becomes closer and closer to the modern day. For example people who had cars might have been nostalgic of the horses decades or even centuries ago or the people who got the tv might have been nostalgic of the radio that was decades ago. Now, we are nostalgic of things that have happened one year ago or earlier.

All the things that seem like "past history" are shockingly recent. Everyone is sick and tired of the Harlem Shake yet that was less than a year ago. The cellphone is an extremely recent invention. One thing that shocked me in AP Biology today was that the founders of molecular biology, Watson and Crick, are still alive and kicking today. The amount of advancement in the field that they created during their lifetime must be astounding to watch. The internet itself is practically a baby next to most human technologies.

When you take in the scope of the entire history of the Homo sapiens species, the recent advancements we have made are at a astounding pace in comparison. The growth and advancement is almost exponential. I'm so excited to be a human living in the time period that we are living in. The amount of new and world changing developments that will occur during my lifetime would give me enough to write this blog until the day I die. I am also really excited to contribute to this expansion as I become an adult, and hope that my contributions are pivotal in the developing world.

At the same time I miss the olden days. I know, I am seventeen and I have no right to talk about the "olden days". However, we have experienced a lot in our lifetimes. In a few short years we will be adults, and scary thought, we will be voting to elect the leader of our country. So yeah, I can miss my own "olden days". I miss when everything was so much simpler. I miss when I didn't have to worry about everything so much, I just knew I was gonna grow up and be a doctor or a firefighter. Cookie and nap time were standard throughout the day, and homework only took fifteen minutes. I miss not having the time at night to sit down and leisure read.

So as much as I am excited to be heading out into the bright horizon to start my life, I still yearn for the simplistic ways of the past. This has seemed to be a theme not only present in each individual person but as a major political and societal feature. I don't know if the future or the past is better, but right now is pretty good as well. Thanks for reading

Humor

We have been talking in class quite a bit recently about the role of humorists in society. One of the points I stated today is that humorists rein in the extremists in our society by satirizing and parodying their position. I think one of the perfect places to observe this on Youtube.

The parody is an art form that focuses on where on the continuum of ridiculousness you place your parody. If the parody is too over-the-top it becomes heavy handed and overwhelming, yet if it is not ridiculous enough the joke is not conveyed and some people might question if that is your actual viewpoint.

I think an absolutely wonderful channel to show how satirizing is used effectively is "Key & Peele"'s channel. They span a wide array of topics, some sensitive like racism, slavery, and drugs, and some more calm like football and teachers. They show the ability of humorists to point out touchy subjects to our society and show the ridiculousness of them. Yet they actual create some serious attention to some of the more troubling personal and societal issues we share.

Another reason I love "Key & Peele" as an example is because they show how humorists who seem to have polar ideas due to their parodies can still be relatively unbiased. If you examine one individual video it will seem like they have a strong viewpoint in one direction, until you realize they make fun of that same viewpoint, even in the same video.

Collegehumor did a great political video parodying the problems with both sides agendas and the fears that partisan voters have. They attacked both the Democratic and Republican sides with equal fervor. Their goal is not to push a serious political position, but to expose the flaws in our society.

Some people might not appreciate having flaws pointed out to them, and that's why we get offended when humorists seem to attack our viewpoint. I try to remind myself that it is not because of people being against my viewpoint but just pointing out the flaws in an effort to improve.

I have to deal with a lot of criticism and critique in the performing arts, especially since the subjective nature makes it nearly impossible for all three judges to love your performance. I have had to learn that criticism, even blunt criticism, is not an attempt to be mean, but an encouragement to improve. That is why I personally feel like humorists are vital, and how Youtube exemplifies that.

Skype- Is it really conversation?

When I want to talk to my brother all the way in Seattle or stay connected to a friend who has moved away, or simply do homework with another friend from my house I can virtually call them and have a "face-to-face conversation" with them. This has been repeated by many other online services like Omegle and Facetime. It is an absolutely wonderful substitute for conversation, but I feel like interactions with another person in the flesh are invaluable and can never be dispensed with.

There is a future out there in which we remain in pods in our house all day, and every interaction we have is digital. As a off-and-on sci-fi dork I think that's utopian and I honestly can't wait for all the amazing inventions of the upcoming century. 

The only problem I have with it is the lack of human interaction, especially touch. There is something extremely comforting and real about the physical touch of another person, or even a pet. We all have to admit that hugs are pretty wonderful. We convey some of our most powerful emotions through non-verbal means. That is what I think is the most important reason why we never fall into a completely digital world.

I realize that some people believe that a more advanced virtual setting could recreate the sensations of touch and warmth. The problem is that I don't believe it's the actual touch itself that is so powerful. The power comes from knowing you are bonded in some way with another person. Shaking hands with a robot that feels exactly like a human hand is not the same as shaking a human hand.

The main reason I'm mentioning all of this is because there is an impending wave of virtualization into the near future. There was an article about a military virtual simulation that was real enough to give a trained soldier the early symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. That is intense! The feedback system is advancing in leaps and bounds from the primitive Siri to Google's new, and more advanced, conversational AI. The displays we are able to create are now becoming so in detail that the human eye can not distinguish it from real life anymore. With the shrinking of processors and the invention of bendable displays (super cool technology that you should check out), it might not be long before the virtual world is projected out in front of us from a chip in our retina.

I still urge for people to remember the power of human presence and contact. Give someone a hug or a pat on the the back today, it will make them feel better. Thanks for reading

Can we trust the news?

We read a pretty provoking article about how the internet has affected our comfort zones. More specifically, there was a pretty strong stance from a respected journalist that said that the online media provides us with the ability to only listen to the things that we want to hear, making us more narrow-minded and less informed about important issues. I would like to turn the argument onto the reporter and say that all newscasting in general has become polarized and therefore panders to a certain audience. This means that newscasters and reporters know they have a certain population of people who believe a certain way and provide stories and information skewed to favor that viewpoint.
In simpler terms, news is now very biased and we enjoy it.

The polarization of the news often has large ties in the political separation that has occurred across the country and in Congress. News now often is about the political issues that divide the country. It has come to such a point that one can scroll through the TV guide and label each news station as either a Liberal or Conservative news network. The lack of un-partisan news networks occurs due to the same factors that contribute to the small number of independent candidates. In the polarized society, unless you take a partisan position it is hard to gain widespread and heavily involved support. It is this same process that has led to the recent rise of the Tea Party.

This is one of the reasons that I now look to the internet as a more reliable source of information. Al-Jazeera, currently one of the most unbiased news, started online during the Arab Spring. There are plenty of reliable news sources online and even some Youtubers who dedicate their channels to reporting and providing insight on recent events. The amount of fact-correcting on the internet is incredible. The common legends we learn are tossed to dust. For example, yesterday I learned the Taft never actually got stuck in the bathtub. It was simply a malicious rumor in a book written by a White House employee that he had fired. He had had the famous "custom bathtub" installed at the start of his presidency.

It is a little disconcerting how much misinformation is spread and how easily we accept it. Even when professionals are caught spreading misinformation we don't have many repercussions. The lady who pretended to be a doctor and spread the rumor that microwaving plastic containers would poison your food had no punishment, even though she affected so many people's daily routines. Even worse, it muddies the scientific field and causes people to doubt serious scientific breakthroughs. I wish we could comb over every scientific research for facts, but maybe we just need to learn to scrutinize and check the sources. Thanks for reading

Catfishing

I feel very vindicated! I have always been slightly mocked by others for my lack of social media. I have always tried to find alternatives to social media because I don't trust what people say. I know they spend hours crafting "spontaneous tweets" and take hundreds of pictures for that one "didn't even really try that hard" selfie. I find it amazing that people are able to, in George Orwell's terms, doublespeak by lying on their online identities but believing other's identities as truth. It's a very naïve and hopeful viewpoint, but also a very dangerous one.

Thanks to our newfound ability to craft an online persona a new phenomenon has occurred. There are people who deliberately make profiles that lie about their income, interests, or even basic features like gender and age to attract people. This can only lead to hurtful instances in which one party is severely upset due to the other person's lies, and I think it's a waste of time for the liar. This is called catfishing, and it ranges from minor lies about your age to the extremely serious and dangerous stalkers and predators online.

This has gotten to be such a prevalent trend that there is even a show on television based around this phenomenon called "Catfishers". Usually this show ends with some severely enlightened, and upset, people. It's awful that people do this to one another, and it's only because we have provided the ability and tools to do so. I think there should either be a system in place to reveal catfishers or some sort of legal punishment for online personality fraud. Obviously, the second one would be a lot harder to enforce as you could argue that it infringes on people's First Amendment Rights.

I don't have a problem with the internet as a method to meet new people. My very own uncle met his lovely wife, and now my aunt, on an online dating service. It helps us connect to others in a world that has decreasing face-to-face interactions with strangers. Especially, if one has a full time job. The methods they use to pair people up with similar interests and tastes makes sense and has had a pretty good success rate.

This has been a recurring theme in my blog. The internet is an extremely powerful tool, the way we use it needs to be very cautious and controlled or we can run into serious issues. My advice is to always try to be honest with others online, because eventually the lies will come out into the open. Also to be cautious when you aren't sure who someone is. Maybe I'm not Adam Burstain, maybe I'm just a random catfisher? Thanks for reading.

Distractions

For all the wonderful aspects of the internet, there is one feature that has condemned it among many. It is a huge distraction.

I recently talked about the sheer amount of stuff that we can access, thanks to the internet. That leads to a very important question. What is worth looking at and what isn't? I don't have an answer for this question. Personally I am on the internet too much. The fact that I made this blog about Youtube videos was because I thought I knew about this subject to be able to talk about it in-depth three times a week for a whole school year, which is a lot in total.

There is a reason that I get to sleep at 2 am some nights. There is a reason Stumbleupon-induced sleep deprivation is a running joke. There is a reason that there are Youtube playlists in which you can watch days worth of videos. There is a reason that people become emotionally attached to Youtubers. There is a reason that I am typing this blog post three hours before it is due. Part of that last one is due to procrastination, but also it's because I was watching a dumb video on Youtube when I realized I needed to do a blog post.

Youtube is distracting. Is it a detriment to our society as it drains vital mindpower and attention away from the youth that will one day run the country? Is it a welcome relief in the high-stress lifestyle we all live?

The key, as with all addictions, is to find the moderation point. If you are hurting your social life, physical health, or career by watching too much online videos than you should stop. If you are always working, maybe you need to sit down and have a good laugh over a kitten video. This moderation point may shift as you age, get married, or switch jobs, but it is vital to find it.

The internet is an extremely powerful tool, we must be wise and judicious in the way that we use it or we risk letting it envelop us. Let the internet be an enhancement to your lifestyle instead of a hinderance. There are plenty of ways that we can use the internet to make us more efficient, mentally acute, and physically fit. It is up to us to use it correctly. Be smart web surfers. Thanks for reading

Youtube Notoriety

We all feel a certain sense of satisfaction when someone in a Youtube video who is being a jerk finally gets what is coming to them. It's that certain pleasure you get from knowing that karma works and good people get good things and bad people have bad things happen to them. For example, there is a robber who, while robbing a gas station, had his tires stolen off his car. The money was then stolen from him by another person, and he was later arrested. Classic karma, right?

Well I think that we may be a bit too hasty to judge all these people on Youtube. I mean obviously the robber was in the wrong breaking the law, but I'm talking about the "jerks" on Youtube. People who are recorded at some of their worst moments. Thinking back, I'm sure we have all had moments we regret. We have said mean things that we didn't mean, we have done awful things in the heat of the moment due to peer pressure, tiredness, or just young inexperience. Does this mean we deserve the amount of hate and notoriety these "jerks" get on the Internet.

Not only does hate come in real life, but it often reaches out into the real world. We all know, and probably have made fun of, Rebecca Black. She was a viral hit in a bad way for her annoying single "Friday". Sure, it wasn't the best or even a good song, but the lashing out of the viral community against her for laughs or simply out of cruelty was not warranted. She was tormented by her peers and friends for the video, and some people even sent death threats in 2011.

I can not imagine being in the situation of notoriety that Rebecca Black had to suffer through. I applaud her though for keeping her head held high and following her passion for music. She still makes songs for a record label, something that I wish I could accomplish. Not only that, but she confronted all the issues with "Friday" and even was cool enough to satirize and parody her video in the new song "Saturday". That takes a lot of courage, self-acceptance, and pride to be able to laugh at yourself on a national stage. As a personal opinion, "Saturday" was infinitely better than "Friday" and even a little bit catchy at some points.

As often as there are people who are able to overcome the hate there are people who fall into depression from their internet notoriety. Amanda Todd became notorious for some explicit pictures of her that were leaked online. The pictures were definitely a mistake, but one that we should forgive in a child. She was tormented by her peers and the online community which drove her to depression and eventually suicide.

We cannot judge people by videos that comprise a short portion of their whole life. If we think that they are a bad person, we should not become even worse by ridiculing and threatening them. We may be taking a part in a murder if we do. Thanks for reading.

Simple Acts of Kindness

I love this idea that what defines us is what we do when no one is watching. That the things we do based on the goodness of our heart are what defines us. There are all sorts of things that tell you to be a good person like religion or morals, but ultimately it is up to you. It is under this knowledge that I try to be a nice person at all times, but obviously fail quite a bit.

To back up this ideal, we have all sorts of ideas that we are "always being watched". There are all sorts of people who are now caught on camera, and the idea that Internet is forever is really catching on. I feel like people in general are being more cautious. It may seem otherwise because the less cautious are now very obvious. There is also the long-standing idea of a omnipotent power that can see everything you do, and how we will be judged for all our actions at the end of our life. The things I love the most are when people are rewarded for being great people when no one is watching... or so they think.

There is an absolutely wonderful tv show/ youtube channel called "What Would You Do", it started with ABC news. They usually set up a scenario using actors to create an ethical dilemma in a public situation. This usually involves an actor verbally abusing another actor for a sensitive topic like race, gender, or disability. They record the reactions of those around them and see how they react to the situation. Usually there are a few who do nothing, but the uplifting thing is how many people stand up for what is right even though it involves publicly confronting someone.

Then comes my absolute favorite part, after the scenario. The interviewer John Quinones comes out and explains that it was all a setup and asks them about their actions. It is pretty strong when it turns out those people had a history of adversity and wanted to help their fellow struggling humans. The ones that are the strongest and most inspirational to me are those who are confused that it is even a question. They just say "Why wouldn't I, it was the right thing to do." These people who go around every day trying to make the world a better place, sacrificing without a second thought. These people are my inspiration to be the best person that I can possibly be, and hope that in that same situation I will be able to do the right thing and inspire others.

I'd like to ask everyone to think about how they can be a nicer person and just help someone. Many hands can make something amazing. Thanks for reading

Hypercompetiveness-itvity

So today is the first competition of the year for Kennedy show choirs. The Prarie show choir invitational. Even though Happiness is not competing at this competition, our junior varsity and freshman groups are competing, and I'm feeling competitive by proxy. That's where I feel super competitive even though I'm not even the one competing. I just feel competitive because it's a Kennedy group competing, like how fans are super competitive over their favorite football team winning or all the Kennedy fans that show up to sport games.

 I have a long history of an extremely competitive nature. Maybe it derives from all the competition of having three brothers, but I love winning. I feel like winning is the best reward for all the hard work that you put into something you love. It stinks to put in so much effort in to something and not receive any reward for it.

I think it is this drive to win has made me a harder worker, better performer on stage and in the classroom. I think this isn't a unique aspect to me. I believe that everyone is driven to win and that is what makes them work for things. I believe all the greatest minds, athletes, and performers shared an internal drive to win. I'd like to think that this drive to win is what causes Kennedy to be one of the best schools in Iowa, America to be one of the best schools in the world, and the continuing improval of the human race.

I know that winning isn't everything. I was raised in 21st century America and I know that putting in the hard work and having a good team spirit is whats really important. I also know that being overly focused on winning can cause you to miss the important parts of show choir such as having fun, being a cohesive team, and making great friends. That is why I never let losing affect me in a serious way. I always try to find ways that I can improve after a loss, but I never become seriously upset.

I believe that being competitive is a positive aspect in most situations. There is nothing more frustrating than being reliant on someone who doesn't have the same competitive drive as you do. I feel helpless when I am in situations in which I have no control if I win or lose. I want to be in control of my own outcome. It is important to have people you can trust and rely on though.

I guess my final advice is to let your competitive nature make you a harder worker, but realize that sometimes things just happen and you have to accept that, try to improve, and move on to the next competition. Thanks for reading

Informal Education

There is a bevy of information out on the internet. There is a cool infographic that shows how much that estimated 1.2 Zettabytes of information is. To contain all that information, it would take a stack of fully loaded iPads reaching 339 miles into the air, which is technically space. The really scary stuff is how much that growth is accelerating. It is now estimated that the total amount of information that has ever existed will double within the next two years. That means that in the next two years we will create the same amount of data as all previous inhabitants of the Earth. We each can feel very proud in that accomplishment as the majority of it (around 70% by estimates) is user-generated.

The main fact of all those stats is that the amount of information, even on Youtube alone, is staggering. One of the coolest projects I have found in recent years is a convention that gets together and experts on certain topics come and explain the breakthroughs, that they have often been a part of. These talks are then broadcast to the hundreds of thousands of people who watch these talks and gain valuable knowledge and advice. You might have heard of them, the TED talks.

I absolutely love the TED talks. It is a way for people, just ordinary people to be taught amazing things by some of the world's most influential people. There are talks covering every category of interest from social media to religion to life advice, and my favorite, the scientific talks. There is one presentation about the recent studies on the mimic octopus that was particularly interesting. The sheer amazement and wonder this guy has about the skin coloration and behavioral patterns of the octopus is not only endearing but also a motivation and inspiration for my own love and interest into the sciences.

I also think being able to have access to this collaborative website will makes everyone smarter, more involved people. Not only can you watch master craftsmen and learned scholars conquer huge problems and mysteries, but you can become involved and create your own videos to leave a lasting impact on the total human knowledge.

There is an interesting exception to Darwin's theory, in which he stated that the traits that an individual acquires during his life are not passed on genetically to their offspring. Humans have developed a cohesive and ever-changing body of knowledge that we pass on to one another. The things we discover in our lives can be passed on to our future generations. This is the importance of language, and why we are in Language Arts. It is everyone's human duty to go out and contribute to the body of knowledge that makes up the human race.

Thanks for reading.

Happy New Year's Youtube Resolutions

Everyone knows this time of the year. The one where we wrap up everything that was the best and worst of last year into a neat little bow and make our grand plans for the new year. My resolution is to become a professional bodybuilder and also the president, because if I'm going to fail a resolution it might as well be a grand one. We all follow the same pattern of grand plans, and then larger and larger concessions to that resolution each day. "I'm gonna study every night" becomes "I'm gonna study every weeknight" becomes "I'm gonna study sometime this year". The execution of the plan is always easier said then done. 

For those of you who have had resolutions to try to come up with your own ideas and be creative, I have some resolution ideas for you to steal. 

1. Be impressively talented at something.

There is a huge amount of things to do in the world, and an infinite amount of things you can invent or imagine. The key is to take some obscure thing and become the best in the world at it. This is all over Youtube, and it's really cool to see how some people have perfected the simplest things. There is a Chinese woman who can stamp envelopes really fast, and it's amazing. There is a guy who plays Tetris so good, that it honestly seems like cheating. He has gotten so good he can play Tetris in which the pieces are invisible! The world's fastest clapper guy took an insanely simple thing that we can all do, and did it better than anyone had ever done it. I think one of the coolest things a person can do is leave their legacy somewhere.

2. Be inspired, and then inspire someone.

Youtube can make you cry if you want to, there is so many moving motivational stories that it's almost impossible to not be inspired. There is the quadruple amputee who reminds you that putting your mind to something will allow you to overcome any obstacle, and to be thankful for everything you have. The school football team that rallies around the autistic students and helps their teammate score his first touchdown ever. The rescued puppy, that in turn becomes a caregiver and protector for another orphaned puppy. If you look for it, you will find the motivation and inspiration that you need to be a better person, and you should share that with someone else. You yourself can become an inspiration by tackling the adversity in your life. 

3. Laugh

In the current American mindset there is a lot of negativity. This comes from a good intention, the worry about how to improve our future society. However, in all this seriousness and criticism and hard work, it is vitally important for us to maintain our whimsicality and ability to connect to those around the world through humor. There is a new special by Bo Burnham called "what." on Youtube. He tackles quite a few heavy issues and it is not for the easily offended, but I think it is wonderful how he can make so many people happy with laughter. There is a reason people say "laughter is the best medicine", not because of the literal medicinal properties, but because of how wonderful it feels and how it can heal emotional and societal gashes. 

I wish everyone the best of luck with their New Year's Resolutions. Thanks for reading