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Nova706 — Still Human?
Published: 2009-04-09 01:58:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 2516; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 0
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Description
This is a self portrait that I did for my Graphic Design Studio. While it resembles myself and symbolizes different aspects of who I am, it is also a commentary on technology in our culture and in the future. We are surrounded by technology in every way that information is almost literally plugged into our heads at all times (whether that be cell phones, MP3 players, laptops... we are constantly connected). While we may fail to realize it, technology's influence in our lives is overwhelming, we depend on it and in very many ways it makes us who we are.Comments or Critiques?
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Comments: 16
Thanks you, and thanks for the favorite!
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Thank You! and thanks for the favorite!
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Before I start my mini rant, may Isay that this concept is brilliant. That's not to say that i havent ever seen anything like this before, but its always been a brilliant idea, and unique in the way that no artist portrays it the same. I think you did a spectacular job.
[minirant]
I'm only 18 years old, and as far back as I can recall I have always been around some form of connectivity. I grew up, predominately, with my grandmother in a rural town in Illinois, and she was a HAM radio operator. Suffice it to say, the basement still looks like a radioshack surplus store. She had a lot of computers, old ancient grinding kick-to-start and beat on the metal uni-body chassis computers. I got my first computer when I was seven or so (because I convinced my grandmother to let me rip it apart and put it back together over throwing it in the trash). it was a 486 running windows 3.11
So of course I tore it apart, and put it back together, successfully. Something I wish to get paid well here for doing in the next few years. The way I see it, as long as there are computers, and there are users, then there will be a need for technicians. I think computers will be around in some form or another until humankind becomes extinct. The computer truly is an invention that has altered the face of the globe in more ways then can be counted.
As a culture we depend on computers, first and foremost because they accomplish repetitive, menial tasks like data entry, filing, printing, and mailing faster, more accurately and far more correctly then a paid workforce of people. They were originally machines designed to do that task, and in the business world, a device that can do the work of fifty, can run 24/7, and doesn't demand better working conditions and a pay raise is a beautiful investment. (from a business standpoint).
Because of the computer and the internet, today, people can connect with so much more then they ever could just 25 years ago, and feed more and more information into their heads then was ever before possible, and meet people, and have conversations, and share ideas, and learn and see things they never could before all from the comfort of their own homes or office, behind a desk in a dark room, or from their cell phones or laptops while they sit outside a starbucks or a city park. I think the need to see more information then one person can effectively process fulfills a need that lies in the human mind.
Most people have boring, repetitive jobs, and boring, repetitive lives, and boring, repetitive routines and rituals, and being able to see all of the information available to someone gives the brain something to do. I also think that the relative privacy and safety and anonymity makes people feel safer on the internet then they do in real life. The number one thing on most peoples minds is 'what do other people think of me' and on the internet, you are just one amongst the legions faceless, anonymous users. Its a form of freedom that gives an undeniable sense of security.
The world depends on technology, despite it's costs. We have a generation of antisocial myspace-addicted children in our middle schools now, who would much rather spend their time chatting on the web then meeting other children at a mall or a park or school. The world is becoming obese and antisocial, partly BECAUSE of technology. There are positives to it, because it fulfills these base needs that never could be satisfied before, and therefore makes us happier individuals. (really)
Still, I dont know. Shakespare is credited with the phrase "too much of a good thing" and it is quite possible that our sheer, absolute dependence on computers as a society is 'too much'. (Then again, as long as the world is dependent on computers, I have a future career. so, carry on all you internet addicts.)
[\minirant]
Actually, that turned out to be a full blown rant then a minirant.
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I just got internet for the first time in my house 3 days ago, I got a computer in my house for the first time a few months ago, and I got a cell phone in 2008. It's funny to hear all this technology stuff. What's it like on the long term?
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I remember 17 years ago when I got my very first dial-up connection in our house. Back then we were surprised when we were able to completely download one song a day. If you got on the internet in the daytime, you risked missing phone calls because to connect to the internet, you had to use your land line. Parents worried all the time cause they couldn't just call their kids to see where they were and when they were getting home. Music was pretty much confined to the home or car since tape players were the major portable media player.
Now kids are streaming hi-def movies from the internet while 4 year olds are calling their parents on cell phones. You have a computer everywhere you go since todays cell phones are basically that. And even then, most people have laptops. In elementary school, I had a desk full of books and crayons, now many kids have their laptops in grade school. And music... we download entire discography of artists from torrent sites in a matter of minutes, and we listen to it continuously through our tiny ear buds.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you live... like not specifically, but like where in the world... I am sure that there are major differences in different cultures, but collectively we are moving to a more technologically centered world. My guess is that if the internet suddenly stopped... if it no longer existed, the world would, maybe not stop, but definitely slow down. We'd be shocked, but how would that be any different than 20 years ago?
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I live in a small city in Washington. A lot people around me have computers and stuff, but my parents have always been stubborn with getting the next new thing. My mom's completely Native American and my dad likes to save money. I usually used the library computer before I got one, but the library gives you only an hour a day on the computer so I never got too crazy about a lot of computer-related stuff. Watching my friends hang out more and more on the internet got lonely. Even now that I have internet I still don't see why people would quit playing with friends for this. I think the internet lowers the value on people a bit. Computers make everything not personal, except deviantart seems neat to me. deviantart doesn't seem pointless like myspace. XD
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I completely agree with you. Myspace (and facebook and whatever else) is pointless and definitely should not replace going and hanging out with friends. Sometimes even deviantart annoys me, but it is a good outlet for visual communication. Some people find it easier to say or do whatever they want on the internet because there is such a personal disconnection. It will be interesting to see where technology leads us in the future... hopefully it will be more towards personal connection then social disconnect.
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I think it would be cool if the internet could be 3-D, but it'd probably make pop-ups more annoying.
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Deviantart sometimes annoys me too. There's some art that I wonder why it exists or why anybody would want to expose it to the world. It's sort of funny, but sometimes creepy what people post on dA.
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