Tag Archives: truth

Access denied ….. Digital divide

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Samuelson’s analytic article,”Aaron Swartz: Opening access to knowledge” has drawn my attention- other way- basically to the “need” for access itself,

The article has stated a significant Aaron’s theme, “The Internet provides amazing opportunities to open (more) access to knowledge”, in assumption that the (primary) access is extremely available, which is eventually not true in “digital world” accompanied with “digital divide”.

Digital divide, or the digital “split”, is a social issue refer to the differentiation and distinction in information quantity between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not have access.

Once again… we live in “information Era”, one of its significant consequence is the “Internet” technology which contains the most essential database for learning; hence, lack of access impacts learning or “knowledge”.

I refer a such divide to social barriers that prevent many working class and poor Americans, especially Americans of color from having adequate technological access; they might be unable to handle technology services’ fees due to lowest-paying, most-unstable job, and lack full-year jobs which in turn- are direct results of health constraints and lack of higher education.

Transparent Truth

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I know there were multiple readings but in this post I’m going to focus on the first reading by Eland. This article captured my attention because this is something I had to sadly learn by my own critical thinking and personal research. Mostly everything in this world we know has been manipulated by the “filters” of the government we live in today. A cop clearly wrongfully shoots a kid and kills him, what do we see that as? Cold blooded murder right? But unfortunately it won’t take long for a news corp to dig up all the negative facts and exaggerated truth about the kid so it can give us a “filter” that shooting the kid was the justified thing to do. This is an extreme case as to which these filters are used but sadly it’s not even close to the extent of these filters. Ads and propaganda make us believe that one brand is better than the other when in reality both brands are the same essentially. An example of this is Ralph Lauren polo and U.S. polo, people (I can’t lie including myself) through word of mouth have justified that Ralph Lauren polo is of superior quality to the U.S. polo and that U.S. polo is fake polo. But if some simple research is conducted, you will learn that U.S. polo is a branch off of Ralph Lauren, it just costs less. Due to the world we live in we automatically assume that if it costs less it must be of low quality. This is the assumption that marketing companies want to put in our heads so they can take our money. A brand new monster hdmi cable was $59.99 plus tax claiming to be superior and stuff, I had bought a similar hdmi cable which was non name brand for $0.87 plus tax and shipping (total of about $3.14). The cable was the same as the monster cable and after almost 6 ½ years is still standing strong and providing HD picture to my TV. This is just to show you how these automatic assumptions are used to blind us from the reality of things.

Tweaking the Truth

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After reading the article by Eland, I agree 1000% that we are living in a world where our method of thinking is being dictated surreptitiously. Why do we interpret things the way we do? I definitely believe the information that is presented by news channels, newspapers and radio stations and the technique they relay the information, specifically the PARTS they relay, have a large impact on the way we process thoughts in our minds and create opinions.  One section that I can relate to, because I have touched on it when having arguments with others is the question of why do top stories make the cover of the newspaper and who says that it’s a top story. In this aspect, we relate back to gate-keeping. However, in this sense of gate-keeping, I do not believe that it is beneficial. I am the type of person who believes that the government officials and media DO in fact hide things from the public, tweak the truth and hold information for another “Top Story”. I also believe politics do exist when tracking news updates and what exactly Fox 5 or CNN is gaining coverage on. On page 2, he talks about how the alternative press is non-profit and gets its funding from donations. He explains that this provides level of independence. I agree and want to add that we need to remember that Fox 5, CNN, NBC are all competing for the best coverage and what’s “in” at the moment. From what I understand, alternate press relays reality to everyone in society, lower class, middle class and high class, compared to major media which is aimed mostly toward upper-class men.