Blog Assignment #7

In preparing for this paper I looked through Nye's book and found quotes that related to what I wanted to focus my paper on. I am focusing on if technology does in fact control us and if people can survive with out it. It was a little difficult to find passages that related to the topic I was interested in because Nye uses a lot of passages from different authors to help people understand what he is trying to portray in his writing. Once I found the passages I wanted to use, I didn't find it that difficult to see the connection and why Nye used those specific passages.
I thought that peer editing was just as effectful as it was last time we used it. I like to see what my peers have to say about my work and what things I need to work on to make my paper better. I also like to comment on other people's work and give my opinion on what they did well and what areas need to be worked on because I know that I love the feedback and I'm sure others do as well.
I feel that Nye did use his souces fairly and everytime he had a topic to discuss he had another source to back up what he is trying to say or a source that disagrees with it to show that there are many opinions out there. It is difficult to be a research writer I think, because finding the right quote or passage from a text that fits into the topic you are writing about may be difficult. I feel that Nye does a good job in picking the right texts to help strengthen his writing.
I am not the best writer, I have a hard time putting my thoughts onto paper. Once I find the right texts to use, I don't think I will have a problem finding quotes and passages to use, but being able to connect them to my text to help get my point across.

Assignment #5-2 sources

David Nye has a very unique way of writing his book. He starts out with a question and with in that chapter he goes in to detail different outcomes using his knowledge and the knowledge of other peoples work. In chapter two, it’s titled “Does technology control us?” Nye quotes from George Basalla in “The Evolution of Technology” stating “Maintaining roads for wheeled carts and supplying watering sites for horses and oxen was far more expensive, given the terrain and the climate, than opting for the camel, which can carry more, move faster, and travel further, on less food and water, than an ox, needs neither roads nor bridges and is able to traverse rough ground and ford rivers and streams.” I feel that in this particular chapter Nye discusses in fact if technology does control us and if we are dependent on it. He uses this particular passage to prove that camels are more likely to get the job done and with less money involved. They don’t need paved roads or have to have water every certain hours, a camel is a part of this world and is doesn’t need technology to survive or get the job done. He is showing that things in this world that need to get done, can get done with out the use of technology, which can cause millions of dollars and be confusing to operate to the human eye.
Another source that Nye uses to help answer the question listed is in the chapter “More Security, or Escalating Danger?” Nye is trying to discuss in this chapter when humans and technology mix is causing problems and can be a danger to themselves and everything around them. Nye particularly discusses that when humans try to control nature with technology it can cause more damage then preventing. For example, Nye talks about how making new levees can make floods more destructive, by preventing high water from spreading out and slowing down, instead channeling larger amounts downstream. (p. 1650 He uses the passage from Ted Steinberg in Acts of God, “The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America” stating “Human attempts to control nature have not solved a problem but intensified it. The scale of the disaster is often further escalated by human error- For example, building houses on river flood plains or along the Florida coast, where hurricanes regularly blast through.” I feel that Nye uses this quote very well because natural disasters are unpredictable and are going to happen and he uses this passage to prove that human error can occur when using technology to try and control it. Nye Is trying to show that human error is a part of every day life. Humans are going to make mistakes, such as building a house on river flood plains. If people take the time and think about what they are going to do and go over all the consequences with their decision first, there might be less human error.
I feel that a stakeholder Nye is representing is the general population. He is focusing on what is best for the world and if technology is either helping us or hurting us, whether human error can be prevented with dealing with less technology and more with our minds. I feel that stakeholder he is leaving out is all the people who are trying to help fix natural disasters or try to make the world a safe place to live in. there are people who have good intentions to try and make the world better, but technology can be confusing and with human error involved it can lead to a messy place. I feel people have good intensions and Nye is trying to portray that, but also saying that things will go wrong that are unexplainable and unpredictable and maybe less things will go wrong with not letting technology take over our lives.

assignmnet 5

Technology is unpredictable. You never know if it's going to work properly or if it will power out and not work at all. Technology is made by humans, so there is always the chance of human error. "As technology become smore sophisticated in its manipulations of information, both biological and electronic, the possibilities for unexpected effects ramify beyond control."(p.166) In the chapter More Security, or Escalating Dangers Nye discusses how the more greater and powerful the technology is the more serious the failure can be. Such as in Vonnegut Cats Craddle, Ice-Nine was invented not knowing the outcome or what damages it can cause. Ice-Nine is a very powerful, said to freeze people in seconds and going back at what Nye was saying of the more powerful the more serious the failure can be, Ice-Nine could freeze the bodies of water eventually freezing the whole environment.
Nye discuess the human error and how "humans attempt to control nature have not solved a problem but intensified it." I feel that in Vicente he discusses how easily things can go wrong because of human error such as the power plant exploding. Humans try to fix and make these advanced technologies to try and make the world an easier place to live, but they are only making it harder to operate and putting a greater risk of failure with the more advanced they get.

assignment # 3

In writing this essay I focused on the topics that sounded interesting to me and had quotes and other facts to back it up. For instance, I talked about if technology is becoming to advanced for the human mind. This topic is broad and I can go off of it with other similar questions and having facts and quotes to back it up. My notes helped me by I wrote down some quotes that I found interesting to me and would help understand a topic I was writing about. Everytime I take notes, I write down or highlight the things that stand out to me and I feel would be good factors in writing a good essay. I do feel like I should have written down more quotes and facts as I read through the stories so, I could portray them into my writing. I feel a quote from the text helps the reader understand the material better when coming straight from the author.
I have a hard time putting my thoughts to paper, I never find the words that I want to say. For my next paper, I will try to write down my thoughts and group them in a way that will better help me form an essay.

I have never done a blog before so this is my first experience doing any sort of writing on line that other people can look at and comment on. During the peer editing portion of this assignment I enjoyed being able to read other people's work and commenting on their essays. I got a lot of good feedback by my peers and ways to change my essay to make it better. I feel like with doing peer editing online, people aren't afraid to say how they feel about a person's paper because they aren't doing it right in front of them.
I also found peer editing to be more effective for me when commenting on other people's work. I could be able to take my time with reading the essay and finding good advice to give. When doing editing in class, there isn't much time to read the paper and find good comments to give.

Rough Draft

Looking back at the two readings Kim Vicente’s “The Human Factor” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cats Craddle” they both have different views and ways of expressing their view on technology. Technology is a very complex word and it can mean a variety of things ranging from the high-tech machinery to something softer as work schedules. What would life be like with out technology? Where is the line drawn, when people are satisfied with the things around us and not become greedy and want more? Can the human mind understand the improved way of living? “More and more, we’re being asked to live with technology that is technically reliable, because it was created to fit our knowledge of the physical world, but that is so complex or so counterintuitive that it’s actually unusable by most human beings.” This quote from Vicente analyzes the human factor and how technology and the human mind go hand in hand, but do technology shape humans or do humans shape technology? With inventing this new technology, it has to be put into consideration if humans have the mind power and ability to be able to work the machinery. Such as in Vicente with the power plant that exploded. The worker did not fully understand how to use the machinery until it was too late.

In Cat’s Craddle, the same message is being portrayed if technology is getting too advanced for the human mind or even the environment. Dr. Hoenikker created ice-nine with the intensions of helping the marines cross swamps during combat, yet he didn’t put into consideration on how it would effect the environment and things around it, or so it seems.
” And the pools and the streams in the frozen much?”
“They would freeze?”
“You bet they would! He cried “And the United States Marines would rise from the swamps and march on!”
In the quote above, I feel that it shows that Dr. Hoenikker didn’t care about what damages ice-nine would cause to the areas around it and only focusing on the success and honor he felt with inventing such a powerful thing. People like Dr. Hoenikker creating such advance technology will cause problems if it gets into the wrong hands. I feel that technology is very useful in making our everyday live easier, but if people like Dr. Hoenikker are making such advanced ways of living, soon there will be a technology for everything and humans wont have to use their hands to survive. Humans will become dependent on the things around them and soon won’t have to use their minds to complete a simple task.
Technology can mean different things to people. People may see technology as just materialistic things such as electronics or cars and others may see technology as a challenge. Everyday scientists and doctors are feeling the pressure of getting the cure for an illness or a way for something to move faster. The challenge to make something so great could be too advanced for the human mind, making it hard to operate, causing problems.

The human mind is very greedy and always wanting to be better and do better and technology is the guinea pig. Therefore I feel that technology will never stop advancing. There will always be someone who wants the honor and power of inventing something that will make life on earth easier. In both stories, there were examples of how advanced technology is and frustrating to the normal human mind and if used wrong, deadly. Even though technology is made by humans, there is going to human error, but when is it going to be too much error that there should be a ban on advanced technology being invented?

Assignment #1

When reading through Vicente's The Human Factor and Vonnegut's Cat's Craddle I find many similarities reguarding their views on technolgoy. I find that both authors view technology as confusing and bad to the human world. Vicente discusses how easily technology can effect the human life with being to complicated and over the top. For example, Vicente discussed the new way to check the oil in a person's car and with the steps stated are far more complicated than checking it manually. Everyday new technology is being invented to make the human life easier. I find with doing this is making the world lazy and depending on a machine to live. Technology has been part of people's every day lives that they become depenedent on it. With having people be so dependent on technology, I wonder if a person in this day in age can survive without it. If technology was stripped from the everyday use, will people know how to survive?

In Cats Craddle, I feel that the same message is being portrayed. Ice-Nine is a way to help the marines cross swamps other bodies of water. Yet, with this being a helpful tool it also causes many problems, such as all technology can cause. I feel that it sends the message that technology can be useful, but their are ways it can be dangerous if not used correctly. With the ice-nine it can freeze everything around it, such as the bigger bodies of water, causing harm to the environment.

I feel that the human factor is everything the human is capable of. Technology and the human factor go hand in hand. Yet, I go back to the question of if technology shapes humans, or humans shape technology. With inventing this new technology, it has to be put into consideration if humans have the mind power and ability to be able to work the machinary. Such as in Vicente with the power plant that exploded. The worker did not fully understand how to used the machinary until it was too late. I feel that technology is very useful, but it shouldn't run our lives. Vicente and Vonnegut's view on technology as being "bad" because technology can be too complex for the typical human and when it isn't used correctly can cause many problems.