Blog that starts off at one idea and just strays and strays... (That's kinda what I talk about, I think...)

Is Google making us stupid? I don't know if that's what I'd say, but it (or more precisely, the internet) is definitely doing something. It is changing us, changing the way we think, the way we are. The level on which we exist consciously as been altered, our ability to focus as nearly disappeared. As I read this article, I was astonished by how many ways it seemed to connect to my self. The main thing is the way the internet is structured, or...I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for, but anyway... I mean, the internet's... image, the way this image has absorbed all other media, making everything imitate it. "It injects the medium’s content with hyperlinks, blinking ads, and other digital gewgaws, and it surrounds the content with the content of all the other media it has absorbed... The result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration." The internet is so full of information, it lessens the amount of actual thinking or contemplation going on. Just as people skip from link to link, not focusing long on any one website, we now think in the same ways as that; our ability to be distracted is incredible. In fact, as I was reading this article (and I have no idea how I managed to finish it), I was extremely distacted by the use of the word "gewgaws." Don't ask me why; I just was. I guess it's just a weird word. But anyways, that is just one example of the lack of ability to concentrate. Our desire (and yes, it seems to be somewhat of a compulsion, a force) for distraction has infiltrated our brains. As you know, procrastination is a huge problem among students, many either do not finish their homework, or they finish just in time the morning it's due. And altough it may be said that they don't have time, it's not true. So much time is wasted, all the time, due to a lack of focus. Everything is postponed, always. For example, I woke up this morning, "intending" to do my homework. So what do I do? I waste hours doing basically nothing, waiting until I have the least amount of time and the most amount of pressure with which to do my homework. Of course, this occurs all the time, and with most obligations, or with almost anything at all. Even when working or otherwise focusing on something, our attention will turn to something else soon enough. I think the best example of the never-ending maze that is the internet, a maze which our brains will soon be modeled after, is Wikipedia. This monstrous website is the labyrinth that can occupy you forever, should you ever foolishly decide to click on one of the links. Oh yes, there, time looses all meaning, and you soon forget what brought you there... If we allow ourselves to become so consumed by the ways of the internet, then nothing will ever get accomplished again. Oh dear. You don't even know how many times I was distracted just writing this blog. The internet will take over (is taking over) our minds. Beware...It has begun...

I caught up on the reading, at least.

Good morning everyone. Guess who's still going to get their blog done on time? I am. Hooray. Forgive me if I make little to no sense in this blog, as my brain definitely does not like working in the mornings. I must confess, I'm not positive yet quite what the deal is with the whole post-postmodernism thing. I read the article, but yeah... So, I'm not going to talk about that. Nope. I'm going to talk about... Cat's Cradle. And not just the book, but the string game for which it is named, which happens to be mentioned a number of times. Alrighty. Cat's Cradle, the never-ending game. The more it is played, the more complicated the string becomes,with a greater number of x's. Apparently, it is supposed to look like a cat and it's cradle, I guess, but it really doesn't. In this book, this game seems to represent things that are a constant search for something, as well as things Newt thinks have no meaning. Newt never saw any cat or its cradle in the string when his father shoved it in front of his face when he was little. A number of times, now, he has brought it up to argue a point against something. For example, when they were talking about religion, Newt simply asked, "See the cat? See the Cradle?" He implies that there is nothing to be found, and although people keep practicing religion, it is foolish to do so. Aside from Newt and his sensitivity regarding the game, the cat's cradle seems to be tied to the idea of "pure science," or "pure research." The goal of this is to increase knowledge. It is not to better mankind, or to use the knowledge. The knowledge, or "truth," is only to be used to gain even more knowledge. Dr. Breed even states that "the more truth we have to work with, the richer we become." Their use of knowledge to search for knowledge is a never-ending game, as there is no single truth that they could discover which would give them all the knowledge there is. And the knowledge isn't even used for anything else. Essentially, this "pure research" is about as productive and time consuming as playing cat's cradle. Okays, I'm done. See you all in a couple of hours...

Cat's Cradle...Chapters 1-7...Postmodernism?

Alright. Postmodernism, Cat's Cradle. This novel is showing some signs of postmodernism, for sure. Even in how it's written, with the little bitty chapters, feels postmodernistic. I believe the purpose of the chapters is to keep the attention of the reader, so they wouldn't get bored reading an entire normal length chapter. This is like commercials on TV, just a few seconds to fit the attantion span of postmodern people. Another postmodern theme in it is religion, and how it is a grand narrative, and all that. Except, it kind of seems to be the opposite of postmodernism in that respect. This is because Cat's Cradle, so far, looks to be encouraging grand narratives in the form of religion, or beliefs, or what have you. In the beginning of the novel, it says "Live by the foma(harmless untruths) that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy." It basically says that religions can be lies, but it is still good for one to have some sort of philosophy, or belief, or set of morals to center one's life around. The father does not look to do this, though. In fact, the father seems the most postmodernistic part of the book so far. He is basically the epitome of science for the sake of science. He wonders about things, going from one thing to the next, playing with whatever he found interesting at the time. He "plays" with the bomb, but doesn't care about how the knowledge he gains will be used. After the testing of the bomb, when a scientist says to him "Science has now known sin," he replies with "What is sin?" He is removed, detached from others, only looking to learn more. He doesn't understand the concept, because he doesn't see-or care, more like- how the science will be used, he just wants to experiment, discover, learn. Acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It doesn't matter what it is about. One day it's bombs, the next, turtles. He even describes it himself in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech as "dawdling like an eight-year-old on a spring morning on his way to school." That is just how the father is, and it seems quite Postmodern-like to me.