Category: Annotated Sources (Page 1 of 3)

Dunn, Ben. “The Problem With Ludonarrative Dissonance.” SUPERJUMP, 16 Aug. 2020, https://medium.com/super-jump/the-problem-with-ludonarrative-dissonance-625e7c67ed2. Accessed 3 Nov. 2022. 

qBen Dunn talks about how he feels the term ludonarrative dissonance is often being used incorrectly and objectively with the tagline “At what point does narrative consistency become more important than having fun?”. He describes several video games and explains how ludonarrative dissonance applies to those video games. He explains how some games do merit this criticism due to the story often saying things completely opposite to what we have been doing while playing, but plenty of games do not really warrant it due to the world or universe of that game not necessarily reflecting reality or the way we perceive things in the real world. He proceeds to talk about how ‘open-world’ games allowing us to do certain things does not necessarily make them ludonarratively dissonant since they are at the behest of the player and not the game itself and addressing this issue would mean the removal of the players mean to interact and experiment with the game world, citing the Grand Theft Auto series to be a common victim of this due to its open ended nature. Ben Dunn says while ludonarrative dissonance is a topic which does warrant discussion, throwing it around to objectively describe games people do not like only serves to make it meaningless in the long run.

Freelance writer and avid gamer Ben Dunn writes about ludonarrative dissonance with various examples and brings up some very valid points about the argument I had not really thought of. The tagline of his article “At what point does narrative consistency become more important than having fun?” is a question which brings the usage of this concept to critique video games into perspective. Video games being an interactive medium cannot help but allow its players to do with the world as they see fit. This will undoubtedly introduce many actions which may necessarily not agree or with the plot. Games being ludonarratively dissonant is has been a very contentious topic but I think it mostly applies to story-driven games and games which are trying to portray reality. Incorrectly using the term is also something he addresses and I feel is important as it would otherwise dilute its value and relegate it to the various other terms people use to insult video game they do not like.

Dunn also addresses plenty of video games which have been critiqued or even reviewed as being ludonarratively dissonant. He brings up Tomb Raider, which does indeed aim to portray the main character Lara Croft as a frightened and inexperienced adventurer but in many sections of the game we have no choice but to mow down hordes of human enemies, which completely flips the narrative on its head. He also compares this to another similar game Uncharted which is also often critiqued for being ludonarratively dissonant. The point he makes about the world of Uncharted being different to ours and not reflecting real world perspectives is valid, but the same can be said for Tomb Raider, both worlds being supernatural and mystical in their own rights. Despite this I think the point he is trying to make is still quite valid that games require ludonarrative consistency when they are trying to realistically portray the real world.

Talking about the Grand Theft Auto games, especially GTA IV, is something very contentious but I think Dunn has explained his perspective on it very well. The game is very gritty and tells the story of a broken man trying to stray away from life’s horrors. As dark as the narrative is, the players are still in control and can do almost anything they want, let loose in a fictional but realistic rendition of New York City. The GTA franchise is known for its open world and giving the player complete freedom with very minimal restrictions, so removing this aspect of the gameplay just to fit the narrative is impossible, and as Dunn puts it, the actions of the player are completely their own, especially if they are not being forced to choose between any styles of play, and should be seen as completely separate from the narrative. If the player however does choose to follow the narrative without deviating from it in gameplay they will find their actions very much coinciding with the narrative and can actually experience the game for what it was meant to be. This brings up another point that games are not necessarily just a story-telling medium but an experience as well, allowing us to do things many of us would normally not even consider, like in this case skydiving from the Empire State building or driving a car inside the subway.

Franklin, Chris. The Debate That Never Took Place. YouTube, Errant Signal, 30 Jan. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBN3R0m31bA. Accessed 2 Nov. 2022.

This video by Chris Franklin owner of the YouTube page Errant Signal provides a brief history of video game criticism particularly on the debate, or nondebate as he puts it, between ludology and narratology in video games. The study of storytelling falls under various fields of study and thus, narratology combines these elements into a single study. Similarly, ludology had been coined by senior video game developer Gonzalo Frasca, “We will propose the term ludology (from ludis, the Latin word for ‘game’), to refer to the yet non-existent ‘discipline that studies game and play activities’. Just like narratology, ludology should also be independent from the medium that supports the activity.” But at some point ludology and narratology were misinterpreted to be at odds with each other and there seems to have been a pseudo debate ever since. This misunderstanding seems to stem from the idea that looking at games as a system opposes the idea of looking at games as a story or that they must be at harmony with each other for a game to be proper. Despite this being long debunked, the fall out from it still remained and critiques, reviewers and even players had gotten into the habit of distinguishing between gameplay and narrative when judging games. Franklin also references Clint Hockings original blog post about BioShock, which brought the term ‘Ludonarrative dissonance’ into public use, saying how it has been reduced to a joke term due to its continued misuse and overuse. He states looking at a game’s system and its story separately is unfair and unjustified, since we do not do so with any other medium, like films or books. He also states how this way of thinking has become increasingly prevalent, given terms like ludocentrism / ludofundamentalism have been coming up and are being used to talk about games that focus more on gameplay rather than story. Franklin states we do not compare the cinematography of a film and its narrative against each other when judging them and it should be the same for video games. He believes pitting story and gameplay in opposition to one another might actually be detrimental in the long term since games should not be defined or restricted by terms like these because afterall, video games are a medium of their own and should be allowed to grow and flourish in its own way.

Chris Franklin provides a well informed analysis about the history of this debate and provides a great perspective on the matter. I believe his title already says a lot, referencing how it is a debate that never took place but people still believe in. As Franklin says in the video we don’t compare the cinematography of a film and its narrative against each other and the same should also apply to video games, which I also believe is true. . Video games are a separate medium and we should not look at it the same way we look at other forms of media, since video games have the unique element of interactivity. Video games also do not yet have a very long history as a medium so limiting it to be defined by terms like this will ultimately not allow it to flourish, discouraging experimentation and creativity. The fact that not all games are not set out to accomplish the same goal also makes this a point of contention. Some games purely focus on being a good experience not really focusing on the story, while there are others games which play out more like a movie than a game, as well as all the other types in between. This video really got me thinking about my perspective on ludonarrative dissonance. While maintaining ludic and narrative harmony might be important for games that wish to tell a compelling and powerful narrative, not every game needs to follow this. Being too focused on merging gameplay and narrative together might ultimately make video games as a whole lose its identity.

Logan Aloise

Source entry 3

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/business/energy-environment/electric-vehicles-climate-bill.html

Ford has stopped taking orders for Lightning electric pickups, with a theoretical starting price of about $40,000, because it can’t make them fast enough.

“Policymakers in Washington are promoting electric vehicles as a solution to climate change. But an uncomfortable truth remains: Battery-powered cars are much too expensive for a vast majority of Americans.”

“High prices are caused by shortages of batteries, of raw materials like lithium and of components like semiconductors. Strong demand for electric vehicles from affluent buyers means that carmakers have little incentive to sell cheaper models. For low- and middle-income people who don’t have their own garages or driveways, another obstacle is the lack of enough public facilities to recharge.”

Source 3: https://investedwallet.com/money-is-important/

Works Cited

“Why Money Is Important And The Role It Plays in Our Lives?”

Invested Wallet April 11, 2022 https://investedwallet.com/money-is-important/

Summary

In this research by Todd Kunsman He explains why money is important and the role it plays in our lives.  Todd Kunsman states that “the reason money is so important is that it provides options for you to live a better life that you choose and puts you in control”. Which means that all the options you may have in mind money plays a major role because it helps you benefit more throughout your advantages of living a better life for better opportunities. Todd Kunsman also states that “having money and being comfortable with finances also gives you freedom and options to decide how you want to live and support the things you care most about in your life”.  This means that when you have money in your hands and have some sort of comfort within their finances it gives you freedom and opportunities on how you may want to live and also support the things you love the most. Todd Kunsman also states that “while your whole life does not need to focus on money and accumulating wealth, it is still important to dedicate your time to understanding it and building a strategy. Which means that money may not being important to people as much but it shows a understanding of how people can use money to build a strategy to build amongst more sources of income and financial needs which is known as a 6 figure which is a strategy in terms of own multiple business and earning more money from those business to serve a higher income to achieve more wealth and success.

Todd Kunsman states that “Money is important because it gives you the freedom to do what you want, when you want, where you want”. which means you reach a point where you can just walk away from a job you hate and are not reliant on anyone’s financial support.  Todd Kunsman also mentions that “Being able to make choices and have options is one of the best feelings in the world. Knowing you are stuck in a particular situation because you need the money or financial help is frustrating, so removing that from your life is a great relief”.   Which means that being able to make your own choices shows a better influence in your life not only that you have the options but also removing negative emotions from your life which would be a great relief of stress because you may not need money or the use of financial help anymore this is why money gives you multiple options.

Reflection

Throughout this part of my research I was able to acknowledge reasons from Todd kunsman about why money is important and the real benefits of money.

Todd Kunsman has showed how money gives you your financial freedom in many ways and how money can give you other options as to how you value the choices you make in terms of being wealthy. Todd Kunsman believes that money should not be your stress at all in facts he states that money allowes you to “make choices and have options is one of the best feelings in the world”. Todd kunsman also mentions that “At some point, you may reach a level of income or financial freedom where you can afford to give back”. Which means that not only money lets you give back but it also helps support the communities beside you in the american society you live in. Todd Kunsman also states that “Helping out charities, your local community, or other causes is a great feeling and it can create happiness when you are helping others”.

Which is true helping out charities can be a supportive way of treating your local community in a positive way and can create happiness for others who would like to go above and beyond when they have money in their hands.

Brief rhetorical analysis

In terms of Todd Kunsman writing style I realized he provides a meaningful purpose about how money can benefit throughout people’s lives and also how money can give you your own freedom as well.   Todd kunsman has implemented people’s lives to mot only know how money holds something special in your heart but also shows how money can get you to do anything you may dream of it gives you options how you may want to use your money within the financial advantages that you may use to support others in a way of their own living standards.  One of the most powerful things that Todd Kunsman has mentioned is that you may not always have to rely on money because that’s where financial stress is a common problem among people and families.  Which is true because some families may have different experiences with being in debt of having money.

Short Analysis

Many reasons why Todd Kunsman chose to genre mainly was because he wanted to persuade readers that money is not only important amongst the people who have it but it also creates opportunities for people to help others and live life to the fullest whether you may have choices to choose from in particular to more experiences you may want to do with your families while you have your high income of money.

Todd Kunsman wanted to create life experiences with money so people won’t end up regretting what they truly earned or deserved.  Todd Kunsman impacted people to a point where he makes the audience feels more less worried about money in complicated situations. In fact, he wants the audience to feel happier and more desired for their own money they make because that way they can enjoy their freedom more willingly and not feel depressed or ashamed of not being wealthy.

Quotes

“The reason money is so important is that it provides options for you to live a better life that you choose and puts you in control”.

“Having money and being comfortable with finances also gives you freedom and options to decide how you want to live and support the things you care most about in your life”. 

“Money is not everything in this world, but it can be powerful in helping you achieve your goals and let you make the best of the short life we all have”. 

“Money is important because it gives you the freedom to do what you want, when you want, where you want”.

“One of the most powerful feelings you can have is knowing you do not need to worry about money”.

“Having money and having a financial plan creates more security for you and your family”. 

“When you have money, it creates opportunities for you to get more out of life, travel the world, try new things, and get out of your own bubble of where you live”.

“This can also help drive more happiness overall as you are experiencing more that life has to offer”.

Hendelmann, Viktor. “What Happened to Cyberpunk 2077? Why Did It Fail?” Productmint, 17 June 2022, https://productmint.com/what-happened-to-cyberpunk-2077/. 

Summary

The author begins by describing what cyberpunk 2077 is. The game is an open world roleplaying game (RPG) in which you play as V, a mercenary who has discovered an implant with the conscience of another person inside of it. You can tailor the game to however you want by customizing your character and your backstory which can alter the ending you get. Due to the open world aspect of the game, there are many possibilities of what you can do in game. The creators of Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red) based the premise of the game on William Gibson’s “Neuromancer,” a novel that is considered to be the quintessential cyberpunk book.

The author continues by bringing up previous works made by CD Projekt Red. The Witcher series is a critically acclaimed trilogy that brought the studio the heights of other AAA studios. So much so that the game series received a live action adaptation. As such, Cyberpunk 2077 was anticipated by fans to be even greater than the Witcher games (Only 2 at the time). The first trailer was released in January of 2013 which had received millions of views within a few weeks. It was silent after that until April of 2017 after CD Projekt Red received a huge staff upgrade where they trademarked the word Cyberpunk for their future game. Then, at E3 2019, Keanu Reeves led an exhibition of the game where he starred as a main character which raised hype even further.

Finally, the game was released on December 10th, 2020, after being pushed back three times with developers working six days a week. The game had so many pre orders that the company had broken even on their costs on release. However, players were incredibly disappointed when the game was nearly unplayable on release and even worse on older gen consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). The amount of people demanding refunds led to Sony removing Cyberpunk from their online store. The poor release also led to several lawsuits in which CD Projekt Red paid out $1.85 million. The author concludes that the reason that cyberpunk failed was because of a combination of the game not being ready and the game being overhyped. The release was a failure but after many updates over the 6 months after release, the game was in a mostly playable state and ended up being really good.

Reflection and Analysis

In my opinion, Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the most disappointing launches. Mainly because the game had the potential to be amazing if it had more time to be worked on. Unlike other studios though, CD Projekt Red put in the effort to at least try and save their game. Even if it took several months post release to fix, the game is now at an optimized state for most people. Older Gen consoles will still have some issues, but it isn’t as bad as it was before. Truly the game is fun now that most of the issues are gone but the game’s failure at launch will always be a part of the game. Even though CD Projekt Red actually fixed their game, Cyberpunk is still a part of a trend of AAA games releasing games that didn’t live up to what they were meant to be. The hype around this game didn’t help the situation either considering the game was played up to be this grand open world RPG where you can do as you pleased. Instead, we got a game that was barely playable. I also don’t think that having developers work six days a week helped either. We are prone to make mistakes when we are tired, and I’d bet that all those minor mistakes made by overworked developers kept adding up until we got the messy release of Cyberpunk 2077.

As for the article itself, the author uses a lot of logos and not much of anything else. He doesn’t “call out” CD Projekt Red nor does he appeal to the reader’s emotion. He primarily focuses on stating the dates of events that pertain to Cyberpunk 2077 and CD Projekt Red. The author’s use of Kairos made reading the article easy as everything was flowing forward instead of back and forth. I believe that this form of Journalism makes sense to use as a way to inform people of the timeline of events, but there is a level of disconnect that comes with the article. Since the article wasn’t opinionated, I didn’t see much of any criticism of the Studio or much criticism at all really. It leaves the reader to deduce their own conclusion, yet they can’t compare with the authors to get a different point of view. Overall, the article seems credible as it only reports on the events involving the game and its development.

Quotables

“If the studio manages to keep the game exciting, for example by releasing add-ons or introducing a multiplayer mode, Cyberpunk 2077 could actually turn out to become the success it was intended to be.” This quote happens to already be true as CD Projekt Red released a Cyberpunk Netflix series called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. This show brought back a significant amount of hype back to the game and is what got me to return to the game as well. Even with Cyberpunk’s terrible release, the world that CD Projekt Red made is genuinely compelling and it is worth getting into. I just wish that the game itself had more time to be worked on as we would’ve gotten a great game with a great world and a great story to follow.

Source: Blacc, Aloe. “How ‘Message Music’ Inspires Social Change | Aloe Blacc | TEDxWestBrowardHigh.” YouTube, TEDxTalks, 19 Apr. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2mpE6Nwh2g&t=732s.

Summary: Blacc talks about how “Message Music” inspires change through emotion and feelings. He describes “Message Music” as music with a message, something simple that is born from a community with a struggle or problem where it forces an artist to come together and create an expression or message that presents the problem and gives the listener a feeling of what they are going through. Artists such as Woody Guthrie, Sam Cooke, Martin Gaye, and many others artists vocally painted their oppression and struggle, sending out a message in the form of music.

Blacc relates his music to real problems and problems that exist internationally such as immigration. Blacc releases an acoustic version of Avicii’s song Wake Me Up which it gained a lot of popularity. Blacc however, used the music as well as a video to paint a picture that humanizes immigrants since the problem of immigration in California was worsening and Blacc being a child of immigrants felt really distressed by it.

Blacc talks about his inspiration from Michael Jackson where MJ releases a track called Black or White. The song is about how black or white, it doesn’t matter, you are human. The song goes platinum and topped the charts, becoming one of Blacc’s biggest inspirations in music because of the message that MJ was able to express.

Throughout his talk, Blacc sings multiple pieces by multiple artists, mostly the most inspirational parts of “message music” by activist artists. Blacc finishes his talk by talking about how he will continue to use his voice and sing about what he deems in need of change.

Analysis: I agree with Blacc strongly. Surprisingly, I never looked at it as “message music” because I thought it was more than that, but its importance is the message. Blacc helped me realize that message music is music that conveys the voice of the community and that is the role that it plays in the movement. He does this by singing songs by artists such as Marvin Gaye and Sam Cookes, artists who faced oppression, injustice, racism, and inequality. Their songs paint a message to the reader through words and emotions portrayed by the voice. I think that his speech was very effective in the way that he was talking. He would bring up multiple artists, each with their own “message music” to prove his point that artists from different communities that faced a struggle are the voices of that community and sing/write a song that can be interpreted by others in the form of music. The voice can express pain, anger, excitement, joy, pride, etc. He then uses pathos by connecting his real life to his song, “Wake Me Up” where he tries to humanize immigrants. Blacc chose to say his speech vocally because he was able to express himself using his voice and send a message, ultimately what his overall message was: to use his voice and stand for what’s right and become the voice. I think that it was a good choice for the intended audience because he was able to demonstrate it himself and show the beauty in music.

Quotables:

Q1)”When Marvin Gaye stood his ground he believed so much in his message that he knew that these words needed to get out he knew that he could say through song what so many other people felt. He said, “I’m not a poet, I’m not a painter, but I can do it with music.”

Q2)”I wanted to use the music video to discuss immigration to humanize immigrants because the story is so near and dear to my heart being the son of immigrants. So in the video, I depict the migration of the family from Mexico to Los Angeles and the lead character in this music video is a girl named Hareth. In real life, Hareth is a dreamer. A dreamer as a student who is going to school in the US, but is undocumented and she is granted the right to continue her school. And also in real life, Hareth’s father is an undocumented worker who was going through a deportation hearing. Luckily and thankfully, after the release of the music video, Hareth’s father was able to stay in the United States. His case was closed.”

Q3)”Marvin Gaye inspired me to make music with a message and my purpose as a songwriter is to make positive social change and that can either be through the lyrics that I write, songs that I sing or publicly sponsoring or supporting the issues that I think are important.”

Song: Sam Cooke. “A Change Is Gonna Come” 1964

It’s been too hard living but I’m afraid to die

‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there beyond the sky

It’s been a long, a long time comin’,

But I know, oh-oo-oh, A change gonna come, oh yes, it will.

Source: Tate, Greg. “A Change Is Gonna Come: One of Soul’s Greatest Songs.” BBC Culture, BBC, 14 Oct. 2020, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20201013-a-change-is-gonna-come-one-of-souls-greatest-songs#:~:text=Sam%20Cooke%20never%20got%20to,well%20into%20the%2021st%20Century.

Summary: Inspired by Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, Same Cooke, an African-American singer-songwriter released A Change Is Gonna Come during the Jim Crow era, ultimately unknowing and never finding out that his song would one day be ranked No. 3 by the Rollingstone’s, become an unofficial anthem, and become engraved in a black history museum. This song was very successful because of the emotion portrayed by Cooke. Cooke was a victim of the Jim Crow laws. After he was turned away for not being white at a motel, Cooke released this song and soon it empowered many black individuals. It was deemed as one of the first efforts in a movement after his refusal to sing at a segregated concert.

Unfortunately, Cooke was killed before he was able to release the song. Two weeks after his death, his song, A Change Is Gonna Come was released. Cooke’s release of this song was a “wistful wake-up call from a bygone phase of anti-racist struggle,” but the change did not instantly come. Riots and racial injustice would go on for years until 1968 when the assassination of Martin Luther King would anger many African-Americans and deal the final blow towards the oppression of black Americans.

Even though Cooke was not alive to witness the power and impact of his song, his song was quickly picked up within the civil rights movement and was “a spark to a flame.” The lines It’s been too hard living but I’m afraid to die opens an eye to the racism that African-Americans face throughout the Jim Crow Era using the pain and emotion in his voice. While recording the song, Cooke had “bent and yoked himself” to make the song an “acceptable form for those Americans not accultured to fire-and-brimstone emotionality” meaning he had shifted the song in concern of the Americans not being able to handle what it is like to be black emotionally.

Even decades after his death, his song remains one of the greatest. In 2008, Obama uses the song in his victory speech, resurfacing the song. Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come is inscribed onto the walls of the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture and its influence on history, civil rights, and the future will be everlasting.

Analysis: The author, Greg Tate, writes in an explanatory composition using a lot of pathos and ethos to persuade the reader of how Cooke has played a role in the Civil Rights movement. The author uses words such as fire-and-brimstone to describe the emotionality of Cooke’s song, representing how the normal person could not withstand the emotions that he had toward the hope of change. He then uses the words “apposite” and “self-neutering” to describe the harsh circumstances that Cooke was under when he released his song in order for it to be ready for America. The author uses pathos by ending the conclusion by reflecting on Cooke’s everlasting influence. Lastly, the author uses the hook in Q3 to grab the reader by stating the importance of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come.

I think that the writer did a really good job in portraying Cooke’s release of the song and the background of the song including the events leading up to the release of the song. They did so without overextending too much where it reaches too far out of the subject. It’s just astonishing how the song was released after his death and how its enormous impact, influence, and beauty were not able to be witnessed by Cooke himself. In addition, the author uses Cooke’s accomplishments and hard work in life to develop an emotional effect on the reader because it demonstrates how hard Cooke has worked to get there with managing his own label and having 30 to 40 hits. The author also does a good job at connecting you to Cooke and how he feels when he works on his music while still providing the information necessary to the reader.

Quotables:

Q1) “Cooke had been chastened to rein in his Harlem-style full-tilt boogie by an earlier Copa performance that prompted a chilly response from the predominantly non-black audience. When Cooke went in to record A Change, he had already bent and yoked himself into acceptable form for those Americans not acculturated to the fire-and-brimstone emotionality of black Pentecostalism and uptown R&B. His intentions with Change could not have been more apposite and carried none of the self-neutering baggage of his Copa crossover.”
Q2) “Nevertheless, the after-life of the composition in the African-American protest hymnal canon finds it still essential and indelible. In the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture, which opened in 2016, there is a space for reflection designated as the ‘Contemplative Court’, where A Change Is Gonna Come is inscribed on the walls, looming like an everlasting mantra for meditation”

Q3) “Sam Cooke never got to bear witness to his song A Change Is Gonna Come becoming the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement. Or how its prophetic lamentations would reverberate across the decades to become a rallying cry for Barack Obama, and Beyoncé, well into the 21st Century.”

I interviewed a 20-year-old bisexual woman to gauge how the experiences of someone who identifies as bisexual would differ from another member of the community. The individual was an Ecuadorian immigrant currently living at university. She has prior lived with her older brother who identifies as gay a younger sister, mother and father. She recalled the experience of her brother coming out as gay to their family, he was 16 years old and in high school at the time, their father was not happy about his only son being gay but he didn’t outwardly express much. Their mother on the other hand refused to accept her new reality, forcing him to go to church and denying him his sexuality. Eventually he became distant from the family and stopped talking to them all together. Although his sister never expressed anything bad about his sexuality, he became cold and wouldn’t acknowledge their relation outside of the house. The refusal of parents to accept their child’s sexuality leads the child to feel unwanted and into isolation. Seeing how her parents reacted to her brother she had no intention of telling her parents of her own queer identity. For years no one in her family knew, “I couldn’t risk what happened to my brother to happen to me. When I entered college and moved away from home is when I really started experimenting with my sexuality. I was always interested in other girls, but I couldn’t risk my parents finding out. My first semester of college I almost completely stopped eating; I would have one small meal a day. I wanted to be desirable to the other girls and to have those experiences with them that I didn’t have the opportunity to have before. I lost 20 pounds that semester.”(Pineda. C, Nov. 2022) Being closeted, confining yourself to a box that others feel most comfortable around is what may queer youth have to do. This can cause low self image which in this case led to an eating disorder. Fear of rejection can easily spread into a mindset, starting with your family it can transform to all other aspects of your life and cause real damage. “When I went home for Christmas brought the idea of bisexuality up to my mother telling her about my roommate who happened to also be bisexual. Her response was “ I understand being gay and being lesbian but being bisexual … You just want to sleep around; it is just people asking for an excuse to be a slut.”” (Pineda. C, Nov. 2022) Many times bisexuality is not acknowledging and in cases like this people see it as an excuse for sex, slut shaming for it. A person’s sexuality not being acknowledged as a real thing, especially when it is from your own family will caused you to be even more closed off. This can lead to trust issues and not even wanting to confide in people especially your family. 

People may believe that the experience of a bisexual person/adolescent may be easier for others to accept or become accustomed to but that is not always the case, there are many different stigmas that come with bisexuality that another member of the queer community does not come across. I wasn’t aware of the extreme sexualization of bisexuality, to view someone’s sexual identity simply as a means of having sex or as them being “slutty” is not something I had thought of before so it was quite shocking to come to the realization that people can view sexuality as just a way of having sex rather than whom a person can find a connection with as well as physical attraction. I would have expected that because there was another sibling who was a part of the Queer community it would be easier to come out to the family, but parent’s views are not easily changed, and their ways of thinking remained the same forcing this young woman to feel she couldn’t share that part of herself with her family. In no way am I an expert interviewer, I was aiming at understanding the experience of bisexuality as it is a part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum that I myself don’t identify under. My aim was to see if a family’s views would be less critical on someone who identifies as bisexual rather than homosexual. This is one example of a bisexual person and a specific family, not all families share the same cultural background and upbringings that would impact acceptance, but this is a first hand circumstance where a young woman feels forced to hide her queer identity and the impacts it has had on her mental health. The number of young LGBTQ+ people who cannot share this important part of themselves with their families for they don’t have understanding families who will accept them and treat them the same is honestly sad and many are not even willing to open that part of themselves up to anyone or even themselves due to the belief’s their families have instilled in them. 

1: Bibliographic entry:

“Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot Doesn’t Impress Me…” YouTube, uploaded by SomeOrdinaryGamers, Oct 2, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTTKBNLuPqQ

2: Summary and representative quotes:

Since this topic is focused on robots taking over our jobs in the future, we must ask ourselves which jobs? And that question is hard to fully answer with surety because they range from unskilled labor to jobs that are considered easy such as receptionist and librarian, to human-assisted robots such as the da Vinci Surgical System. When we see robots doing simple tasks such as lifting objects and struggling to walk around, we don’t pay much attention to them. But what happens when robots become more durable, smarter, and stronger? will it then become something we would worry about? Computer and Tech Youtuber Muta from the YouTube channel SomeOrdinaryGamers state “When this robot does get more advanced and the mass production gets cheaper… it is going to be there to kick people out of jobs or force them to do something else” “Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot Doesn’t Impress Me…” YouTube, uploaded by SomeOrdinaryGamers. To this I fully agree with, mass production now is not very high, but that does not mean that we are safe from robots for a long time. The issue that is stopping mass production from happening is the cost and the amount of time it takes to research and develops fully functional robots for the consumer market. Robots are at the stage of still being developed with information from smaller, less time-consuming robots in terms of producing and building them such as the Roomba, Sony Aibo, and Amazon Astro. These robots are what help collect data on how and improve the robot’s AI and machine learning capabilities such as adapting to many household places and moving around with everyday tasks. 

As the video progress Muta brings up a point that I agree with, and that is what his thoughts on the purpose of these robots are. Muta says that they are being built in order to get rid of unskilled labor. Quoting “I think why they’re designing this robot is to get rid of unskilled laborers, to be honest with you… If you look at 20 grand and then you look at the yearly salary for an unskilled laborer if you pay 20 thousand once you can get rid of all unskilled labor.” If this happens this could force many people out of jobs, making them either find something else or forcing to go back to learning. And for 20 thousand dollars, it certainly is an impressive robot to have, especially when everything else on the market is expensive. This is why the main reason Tesla robot for example does not look or feel very advanced compared to a company like Boston Dynamics. 

3: Reflection and rhetorical analysis:

In this video Youtuber, SomeOrdinaryGamers goes over the Tesla robot that was revealed about 2 weeks ago in a video titled “Elon Musk’s Tesla Bot Doesn’t Impress Me…” Some may read that and say that it’s an opinion. But it does not take someone who knows robots to look at the Tesla bot and other companies such as Boston Dynamics, Honda, and students at Purdue university and state that they have much better AI and smoother robot inputs compared to the Tesla Robot. Honda in comparison uses more actuators and gyroscopic movement to make these smooth movements. But why is that? Why is the Tesla robot to the human eye seem less advanced? When we look at the price of the Tesla robot it then becomes more understandable. The Tesla robot is surprisingly only 20 thousand dollars which for a business such as robotics is nearly nothing. For example, Boston Dynamics has a robot that goes by the name Spot which costs about $74,500, it is a robot dog that is designed to specifically do risky jobs such as going to construction areas that are not fully secure. But no one is buying that other than large companies, but what about smaller companies? Well, their robot of choice is the Tesla bot. When mass production starts to increase and the robot gets more intelligent, it can easily replace a human. But overall, the Tesla bot in its current form needs more improvements and is playing catch up to us. 
 
I found that the main target audience of this YouTube video aims at us the reader and large and small companies that can buy a robot once and get rid of workers. I found that the rhetorical uses of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are to get Muta’s point across. He mentions that robots are designed to be replaceable, and humans are not. He also mentions that a yearly salary of $20,000 is more expensive than making a one-time payment for a robot such as the Tesla bot for the same price to do a far better job. And this is an issue because it will leave many without a job getting rid of unskilled labor. But of course, that will take time in order to reduce the prices of the robots and make mass production higher. During this time while robots play catch up, we can learn new skills that overall will take a much longer time for robots to produce.

 4: Quotables:

“When this robot does get more advanced and the mass production gets cheaper… it is going to be there to kick people out of jobs or force them to do something else” This is an important and thought-provoking quote as it makes me think about what life will be like when robots do take over our jobs. Some of us will have to adapt and find new jobs and others will be left without jobs simply because a robot does it better.

Logan Aloise

Prof. Jill Belli

Source Entry 2

10/28/2022

20+ Facts and Stats About Electric Cars in 2022

#1 The first electric car was built in 1884 and The first US electric car was unveiled in 1890.

“The first-ever electric car was designed in 1884 by the English inventor Thomas Parker, responsible for many other innovations across the UK. The American inventor, William Morrison, designed an electric car that was unveiled in 1890 and could move at 14mph and carry six people. But even though the first electric cars were used quite often, the invention of the gasoline engine and cheap gas prices threw electric cars out of use.”

#2 Electric cars don’t need oil changes or other maintenance

“Cars that run solely on electricity don’t require oil changes, transmission and brake fluid replacement, or coolants. As a result, these cars are easier to maintain, and upkeep costs are significantly lower.”

#3 Tesla is the most popular manufacturer of electric vehicles

“Many car manufacturers began producing electric vehicles, but currently, Tesla is the most popular electric car maker, especially their Model 3 and Model X. Other popular electric car manufacturers include Toyota, Chevrolet, and Nissan.”

#4 Hybrid cars produce 90% fewer pollutants than non-hybrid cars

“Facts about electric cars and the environment have revealed that a hybrid car produces 90% fewer pollutants than a non-hybrid one. Therefore, the environmental impact of electric cars (and hybrids) is quite significant. In addition, a hybrid vehicle can save you 15 to 20% on fuel costs.”