Shannon Keel October 31, 2016 Anthropology 102 Dr. Fazzino Discussion 4: Approaches to the Environment and Climate Change “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace: Part 2” highlights the main theory of cybernetics, and all of its faults. This second episode looks at how ecological theories would later inform the growth of computer systems. This episode further discusses how mechanical concepts such as cybernetics and systems theory were once applied to natural ecosystems, and how this relates to the false idea that nature is perfectly balanced. Cybernetics is a fantasy view of nature. A monstrous push was made for cybernetics to be applied to humanity as a way of building societies with no central control. This idea of a self organized …show more content…
Wanting to understand his dream, Tansley then studied the works of Sigmund Freud. However, one part of Freud's theory was the idea that the human brain works as an electrical machine. Tansley became convinced that, as the brain was interconnected, so was the whole of the natural world, in networks he called ecosystems, which he believed were inherently stable and self-correcting, and which regulated nature as if it were a machine. The episode then ends with the rise of social media in the twenty-first century. With his focus shifting from MIT computer theorists, hippy communes and even ecological surveys on the Colorado plains, documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis finds a believable link between completely separate moments in …show more content…
The results were reminiscent of George Orwell’s Animal Farm: all members of these communes were free, but some were more free than others. Most of the communes collapsed within three years or less, after bitter feuds and accusations of bullying tore the community apart. After many studies, ecologists began to realize their earlier ideas of nature as an economic system had turned out to be wrong. A specialized study of the animals lurking in the grasses of a small field in Colorado revealed that ecosystems are actually chaotic and impossible to predict. Curtis thereby suggests that our modern network of personal computers is a modern attempt to replicate the utopian ideals of a hippy commune on a larger scale. In Curtis’ opinion, we’re all nodes in a network, plugged into a vast global system. Although it is a gloomy worldview, the documentary is balanced by Curtis’ delightful way of editing together bizarre archive footage, his eye for a memorable caption or title (All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace comes from a rather spooky poem by Richard Brautigan), and his choice of
Many people today rely on technology like it is indispensable. The pathetic desire for electronics has consumed how people think and how people live. Richard Louv writes to his generation of the increasing disconnection of humans from nature in his book, Last Child in the Woods. Louv takes a stand against the separation by including personal anecdote, rhetorical questions, and visual imagery.
Within the modern world, and the modern thought process people have about our connection with new technologies is one of constant expanse. All caution is thrown to the wind in an attempt to satisfy one insatiable hunger for a certain type of keeping up with the Jones-es. Many authors speak on the wonder of technological advances on society by the exact means of how they work, however, Richard Louv is not this kind of author. He presents technology as useful, but with an underlying tone of a technological numbing agent. We begin to only see it instead of what Earth has given us millions of years. Technology is only a certain part of the problem with the real problem being humanity's mindset toward our greatest asset, nature. Mr. Louv uses extremely profound and intelligent rhetoric to push forward the idea that us as humans are already so broken away from nature, that eventually it will be deemed illogical we used it for anything other than a means produce by it. Richard shows three areas we have really broken apart from nature with the three examples of ad space for parks, extra commodities for an SUV, and the genetic modification of animals.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a novel written in 1937 by the African American author Zora Neal Hurston. In this novel, the main character, Janie Crawford, is the narrator and takes the reader on a journey to find her horizon and true love. Janie goes through numerous situations that make her find her true love. Hurston, uses many symbols in this novel that relate to Janie and when she uses these symbols, she also relates them to themes. For example, when she she is represented as a mule in the novel, this symbol goes best with gender. It helps the reader identify the mule as Janie and relate it to gender inequality of women. Janie identifies as the mule when Nanny tells her, she marries Logan and when she marries Joe Starks.
Today in our society, people are inventing new technology every day to make us more comfortable, such as T.Vs, vehicle, cell phones and even robots. But the other side of the problem is people are getting separated with nature. Richard Louv, the author of “Last Child in the Woods”, wrote this passage to show us that these new technologies and entertainments are separating humans and nature by using anecdotes, imagery, and allusions.
Imagine a "cybernetic ecology"—a place were silvery electronic wires run along a river, or where mountains are
2. (a) Define cybernetic; (b) define homeostasis, (c) define homeorhesis; (d) discuss the relationships between cybernetic systems and homeostasis/homeorhesis; (e) describe the significance of the cybernetic nature of ecological systems; (f) discuss the relationships between disturbance level and the establishment of reinforcing vs balancing feedback loops.
Imagine, for a second, a not-so-distant future produced not by humans, but a dystopian society engineered by humanity's most amoral of computational artificial intelligence. Built without empathy by their equally emotionless robotic predecessors. Robots that make robots which make more robots, which could make more robots to divide and diversify. Robots that learn and develop based on their interactions, and robots that respond to a variety of external stimuli. Each robot has the capability to learn and store informational data. This matrix of machines uses the remains of our biological and chemical energies, humans: young, old, babies, adults and everything else that could no longer contribute to their robotic overlords, as batteries to power themselves as they systematically replace human life with their robotic and psychopathic need for efficiency. To perfection, for flesh tears and withers, but metal is eternal. But don't worry, these billions of robots have been provided with a manual of the Laws of Robotic Interactions with Humans ... to share.
The world has become very technological, and one day computers and humans may be conjoined with one another. Yet all things in this world have the potential to be great, or terrible. Two texts which will be compared throughout this essay are a poem “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan, and a short story by Isaac Asimov. Richard prefers to view this relationship as phenomenal, Isaac however has a clashing view. He perceives this relationship to be catastrophic, and provides the ideas that man will use the relationship to feed his own ego, and self-indulgence.
From cartwheel to supercomputer the evolution of machines has always fascinated me like nothing else. A machine- symbolizes man's rational thinking. On that account a computer is the most ingenious invention of man. It exemplifies the prowess of human mind to perceive things rationally and put them to use in performing extremely difficult tasks with effortless ease.
The dominance of computational programs in the architectural career has become dominant throughout the years. It could be said that it has taken over the entire practice and that the human aspect had been taken out completely. In the book Computational Design Thinking, by Achim Menges and Sean Ahlquist this is discussed. It is important to understand how certain things work in an environment in other to comprehend how a design computer system actually works. In order to do so, a system generating a system, history and cybernetics, and how the machine and men interact needs to be analyzed. In doing so, it is determined that one cannot exist without the other.
The group introduced ideas from cybernetics and general systems theory into social psychology and psychotherapy, focusing in
Present generations are reaping what their forefathers had sowed for them; future generations will reap what present generations have been sowing whether they like it or not. Past, present and future generations are dependent on each other’s choices. Technologies are zooming rapidly. Humanities prefer to overwork natural resources and often fell into technologies’ competitive temptations. Generations are getting smarter and innovative each day. New products are constantly changing to catch customers’ attention, while current products are still young and are not even ready to mature yet. While many are embracing technologies, few are concerned with the scars that have been embedded on natural resources. It is so easy to fall into the
“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that’s why he never understands anything.” (A. A. Milne, The house at Pooh Corner) Introducing “epistobabble”[2] General Systems Theory or cybernetics as it was known in Europe, can be divided into two cybernetic models: simple cybernetics or first-order cybernetics and cybernetics of cybernetics or second-order cybernetics. There is no definitive breakdown of terms in the literature, which has caused some confusion and inconsistencies, as might ordinarily be the case with the emergence of a new paradigm. This “new (cybernetic) epistemology” has, however, “a common foundation in the writings of Gregory Bateson” (Searight & Openlander, 1987, p.52).
In “Who Can Replace a Man?’’ Brian Aldiss communicates a story about machines who rule themselves after man passes away. Though the machines are intelligent and strong all does work out in the end as they go back to obeying man. Through the relationship between machines and men Aldiss communicates that machines are ultimately dependent on human intelligence.
Next, computers change the way we supply our food.With the population growing at such a rapid rate researchers are experimenting with new ways to supply mass amounts of food. Food is becoming more and more scarce but with the implication of genetically modifying foods through the use of computers gives hope to supplying more than enough food. In the debate, “Are We Too Dependent On Computers?”, Debate.org states that "50% farming in US will stop without computers.” What Debate.org is trying to explain is that our society would fall apart without the use of computers. They explain that the farmers have had to adopt new ways and leave their old traditional ways in order to supply the amount of food that the population needs. This dependence on new technology creates a population reliant on computers for research purposes and yielding large amounts of crops. Soon farming will need computers and the traditional ways of farming will be lost forever. Computers used to be used to research how to grow large amounts of crops but now they used as a necessary part to control and research huge agriculture businesses. The reliance on computers to generate our food shows that we have abused the computer instead of finding new ways to feed our rapid growing population.