1) Hey guys, my name is Christopher Navarrete and I am currently in my 3rd semester. I recently changed my major to professional and technical writing because I realized how much I truly enjoy writing from my time in previous English classes. I mostly love to do research and then write about what I learned. The reason I am taking this course is to not only improve my writing, but to learn more about social justice as it’s an interesting topic to me. One of the main things I look forward to in this class are the debates that we will be having. The class syllabus seems to have everything I need to know so I don’t having any questions regarding the class.
2) Neil Postman in his article entitled “The Judgement of Thamus,” argues that technological advances have the power to completely change the way we live. Postman describes this change as “both a burden and a blessing” for various reasons, one being that it can benefit certain individuals over others. Postman uses automobiles and computers as examples in order to convey this. While the creation of the two have certainly made our lives easier, it has also caused certain jobs to become obsolete. Another reason why Postman considers technological advances to be a “burden and a blessing” is because it has led to new vocabulary and terms, such as VCR and software. It has also changed the meaning of certain words including political debate and information according to Postman.
I believe that Neil Postman has made many interesting arguments in this article, so it was difficult to only choose one. Several of the arguments made were a bit of a challenge to try and completely understand for me. In the end, I decided to pick one that Postman seems to talk about the most. I agree with his points regarding the changes technological advances can make as it can be proven by looking back throughout history. Some of those changes include obvious ones (such as automobiles), while others are more subtle (like security cameras). I also agree with this argument from experience as I once lived in a different country where technology isn’t as used as much compared to where I live now, in New York. This drastically changed the way I lived as I learned new things.
