Essay 6

Evidence of influence of the movie The matrix is very evident in the movie Sleep dealer. Both movies have the concept of being "connected" in a physical/mental sense. In the The Matrix the crew literally plugged themselves in to the computer generated Matrix, in Sleep Dealers a similar idea is portrayed. Memo the protagonist of the movie, gets Nanos which are basically plugs shot in the skin that connect with the nervous system and plugs him self into the "other" world. When he receives a job as a Sleep Dealer he is plugged into a somewhat virtual world, where he can work while his physical self is still in Mexico but his mind is computerized and sent to New York to work in the form of a machine. But unlike the Matrix the movie remains down to earth, humans still maintain control. In a way it is just an evolution of how we become more attached to technology even implementing it into our very selves rather then it being an extension.

Another difference I observed is coloring. In the matrix the "real world" was very dull and drab in comparison to the Matrix which was lively and colorful. Sleep Dealer both worlds are filled with color, the virtual worlds color seems more artificial. Race is discussed in both films but one being racial while the other is based on class. In Sleep Dealer when Memo goes to the workshop looking for a job the instructor says "The city gets what it wants all the work without all the workers." This can be taken as reference racism in today’s society. America complains about illegal immigrants especially Mexicans but they do a lot of the hard labor that most Americans don't. Mexicans are looked upon as lowly yet we hire them for every job because we can pay them at a cheaper rate. In the matrix race is separated by class, Machine vs. Humans each trying to fight and say it is higher then the other.

Themes that give clue to that Sleep Dealer is a Mexican film are locations and lifestyle. In the movie most people in the city are from very small rural towns where agriculture is their main form of income. Style is another factor although influenced by western culture you still see remnants of the original culture ie. Sombreros and ponchos. Mariachi bands are seen throughout the movie also giving the feeling of a Mexican production.

The differences between rural life and urban are evident in Sleep Dealer. People living in rural areas are more connected with the earth. Everyone does things for themselves without the need of machinery. It also a lot more natural, natural resources are used to live. In the city everyone has or uses some type of technology/machinery, in the movie to an extreme extent where you can physically put yourself in the virtual world by plugging cords into yourself. The idea of city connecting into networks and actually becoming a part of one’s self is used and discussed in Me++ by William J Mitchell. He discusses how the attachment and connection of the body and city has become more and more literal with recent years. "Embedded within a vast structure of nested boundaries and ramifying networks, my muscular and skeletal, physiological and nervous system have been artificially augmented and expanded. My reach extends indefinitely and interacts with similarly extended reaches of others to produce a global system of transfer, actuation, sensing and control".(pg19) In this segment he basically discusses how technology has transformed an connected him to with world. It artificially gives him a longer reach to the outside and allows him to interact with everyone on the outside. The he goes on to state "my biological body meshes with the city; the city itself has become not only my domain of networked cognitive system, but also-and crucially-the spatial and material embodiment of the system". (pg19) In other words his body have connected and become a part of the city and the city has evolved into more than just one simple network but a piece of the entire system. If written simply it would look like Person=City= Piece of entire system.

The Sleep Dealer only provides evidence of what Mitchell is speaking of. Providing us with examples of what may very well happen in the future and show just how far we have gone, to the point we now ourselves have very literally becoming cyborgs. And it is only expanding in an alarmingly fast rate. When Memo plugged himself into the network he became a piece of the puzzle that is the system. Even before that when he moved into the City he had already begun to implement himself into the system. But when he lived in his small village he was connected into the earth itself, using nature and human instinct to survive. In all the rural life is portrayed as natural and connected with the earth, more human in a sense. Urban life is portrayed as connecting with the system more robot-like, cyborg.

Museum Of Moving Images

 I thought the Museum of Moving Images to  be very informative and interesting. A lot of the pieces were prety awesome and gave me  a better understand of the whole video process. But for future classes it will be beneficiary to see it either in the beginning of the term or in the middle because you get to see and understand hands on how it all works. Students should spend the most time on the primitive video cameras and microphones as well at the part that shows how the moving images are created. Overall it was a very good experience it's fun and entertaining as well as informative. In this  trip half the class won't fall asleep ;)
.

Research Blog Post

http://japanfashioninfo.blogspot.com/

Workshop 10/12/09

 Well today I had to do a little more research on my paper I couldnt do a lotbecuase i have a lot of other things to do that are a little more important . Right now im juggling how i will put everything together and work it out. I cannot make assumptions of what i will do in the future cause I myself am unsure of how much work iI will be able to do.  Hopefully Dr. Smith and I can work something out.

Essay Five My Planssss

 Okay so for Essay five the final project I plan on doing a research on Japanese culture/ fashion wirth a video as a visual representative. For the Upcoming few days I plan on doing some intensive reaseacrh and studying on my topic and looking up a whole bunch of examples. As well as looking for music that connects to each type of fashion. As the weeks further progress I shall start cutting and editing my Video and adding more more blogs on my subject. I plan on writing at least 2-3 entries this week on my topic and next week I will just get into it deeper describin in more detail the histiory and such and posting up pictures (not the same pictures I will have in my video of course).I plan on finishing the project as early as posssible so I can just ad d the finishing touches and not stress over it.

Essay 3 Pass :)

 As Garcia and Sanfordon pages 61-62 discuss "source" and "ontological status" they are trying to prove their tclaim and differintiate between real and unreal. The matirx is an "unreal" world but it is all the people have ever known so to the mit is real. How can it be proven to be "unreal"? How can we be totally sure?
  As this argument is being discussed the term "source" comes into play. The source here means how it all began, where it originated. In the Matrix we know the source of the matrix are the machines. We also know it was a result of the war between humans and machines. What we don't know are the exact terms of the event. We don't know how it all came  to that event or what were the specifics. So we aren't exactly sure of the source of the "real world". But we do know the matrix does not cause what occurs in the realw olrd. The source helps us to break down each world so we cans ay if one is real or not.
 After discussing source another term comes into play ontological status. Which basically means the reference to the physical world, "the way things exist" (pg 61). A way of determining the ontological status of both worlds is seeing it int erms of  dependence. The real worlsd shouldnt have to depnd on anything to exist. But the matrix("unreal" world depends ont he machines (in the real world) to keep everything running.
 In using ontological status and the source Garcia and Sanford are trying to categorize what is real and unreal and how can we be sure, "The real world is metaphysically distinct from the unreal world because the former contains things that have a different source and ontological status from things contained in the latter" (62). In other words they have developed a way to tell the difference of each world.
 I personally have t o agree with Garcia and Sanfords assessment. In terms of ontological status the real world should be able to to stand alone with no dependency. Only something created, something unreal would have to be dependent on the original or creator. In terms of source we know the history of the matrix already and know it is a world created by the machines so it cannot be real. Although we don't have complete knowledge of all the sources int he real world, we have a general idea.
 I can see the logic categorizing with the two terms and I can understand it. IN knowing the source of something you know its a creation if it is created majority of the time it is not real. I something requires dependency of the creator or original it again, probably is not real. If it can stand alone it is most likely real.

Blog 8: My boundries...

My boundries creates a safe heaven for my existence. My skin  sheilds my delicate  internal organs from the harsh outside world and allows them to have  space to maintain working order. My clothes further protect me from the harsh weather and give me a sense of privacy. My room  provides a place for me to sleep , a world where I can come into and relax be myself unwind from a hard day. My windows keep  the outside world from disrupting my peace. My apartment building is an even bigger boundry around my privacy allowing me to be able to have my room and windows for protection. Myy school is another boundry keeping me safe from harm , providing me with means of how to make it in the outside world. All these boundries are forms of protection and privacy which iI find to be most important  in this life, as Humans we need something to call our own where we can feel safe, relaxed and protcted. But  it is  constantly being penatrated with connections from beyond our little world. The internet,cellphone/ telephone, television, and radio  bring the outside world into our home. We cannot avoid it the contact is necessary but at the same time we never fully gain our privacy, we are not fully protected... So can we really feel safe and relaxed in our own little world we have created when the outside one keeps barging in? Do our boundries really protect us?  My life also revolves around time I use a clock on my computer, my cellphone, my Zune. Everything depends on time its essential.  Timining is everything,  I have to time my recreational periods,  what time to get up for school and or work, Time to study .. etc. Time controls everything aound me. I am  defined by my boundries and time it makes me who  I am..

BLOG 7 THANK GOD ITS OVER.. WELL almost for me anyhow.

OKAY So like the whole process of this Essay 4 midterm paper thing was dreadful. I mean I enjoyed because I learned so much about my Lovely Edgar Allan Poe but at the same time it was information overload. It really helped prepare me for future essays espcialy long ass ones like this one. I had to google a heck of a lot of information and Wikipedia was the only site that had detailed info even thou I searched around it was really the only site I develop a basis on. The power point was grueling I disliked it I felt and feel, seeing as i have yet to present, that it is inadequate. I found a picture for each silde that dealt with every topic discussed to give a visual along with the info. Hopefully I do well. If i could do a do-over I think id relax a little more and not heavily stress too much because that is what i think was my downfall I got so stressed I put myself in a rut. Overall though on a scale of one to ten I give myself a 7 I thinki did pretty fair and I tried my best. Now I am prepared for future papers! :D

Fate or Freewill?

Fate Or Freewill? Are we destined to be where we are now? Are we destioned to go through the problems we do? Or Is it freewill? Is it nothing but the consequences of our actions that bring us to where we are today? Personally I am believer in both I believe in fate and in free will. I beleiev that God does Know all and has a plan for us but not as we think. I do not believe it is all one plan I think there are many plans and it all depends on the choices that we make that bring the plan to life. In the Matrix and philosophy Theodore Schick Jr. ( on pages 92-95) dicusses the conflict between omniscience which basically means all-knowing and freewill in chirstianity. Since God is all knowing and knows what the outcome will be do we really have free will? I beleive the answer is yes our free will is our ability to choose. Maybe the same out come will occur no matter what our choice but it will happen in a different way. For example If your girl/boy friend says"Imma Fucking break up with you your a dumb bitch" or "I think we should break up it's just not working" in the end your still breaking up right? But the effect it will have on you is different because of the tone it is setting. I believe God may know it all and have plans for individuals but we still have the choice of deciding how it will occur or even change the plan. On page 94 Theodore states "Omniscience and freewill seem to be incompatible with one another." Yes that is true but that doesn't mean they cannot exist side by side. No matter what at the end of the day it all just depends on your belief's and my belief is that they can coincide even though there is at times conflict. I believe God knows all but I also believe he allows us to choose what path to take.

Blog 4

In pages 55-65 Of the Matrix and Philosophy they apply the science of metaphysics. It is just absolutly confusing , I had to re read it at least 3 times. Basically I understood it to be a way of breaking the world of the Matrix and the "real world" into catagories. The two main Catagories are Real and Unreal. The subcatagories are another issue they consist of the computer world, the body, and the mind as being different states , real or unreal. That is my basic understanding, but as I read further they become more and more specific. Gracia and Sanford then discuss the "source" meaning from where all of the real and unreal began. Instantly we know what is the source of the unreal (the matrix) but we do not know what is the source of the real. We know the story of how the matrix was created but we do not know the exact terms of the machines rebelling and then taking over. Then another term is brought in, ontological status, which apparently it means reference to the physical world. Basically they are trying to provide proof to their claims that the matrix is unreal and the world where amchines are incontrol is real. I see it as them clarifying the main catagories of real and unreal and providing a basis of reasoning and data. (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551813/society definition of ontological status)

Blog 3

The topic of whether or not we are living in the matrix right now catches my attention the most because of how it relates to our society now. I find it to be extremely fascinating. The possibility of living in the matrix brings about many theories. For instance right now we could just be brains floating in vats believing that we are in class and reading our assignments when actually electrical pulses are being sent to our brains to have us believe thus. But at the same time it's impossible to believe that such a thing is happening because majority of our beliefs would be false as stated by Nixon in the Matrix and philosophy. Yet even in the Matrix not all of Neo's belief's turned out to be false. But to me the most convincing argument is how do we truly know? Whether it is beliefs or senses can we really trust it enough to know that we are not in the Matrix or even in a similar scenario? Look at our society today, majority of the people are slaves to the media without even fully understanding or knowing it. Are we ever in full control of ourselves? We may not be in an exaggerated state like in the Matrix and in other theories but we are in a very similar and damning predicament. We are constantly influenced and constantly taught what to think without realization. A select few can actually break out of it or never followed it to begin with but it always comes with /brings consequences. In spreading the “truth” and “knowledge” the government will keep more tabs on you then ever before, those around you dismiss you as crazy or weird. In a way we never really evolved from the age of Socrates. What was he trying to do? Naught but spread awareness and knowledge but he was mocked and eventually heavily punished for it. I find that although philosophers ask many questions and try to find the truth we can never be truly sure. There is always uncertainty with discussions such as these. We can neither deny nor confirm it can only depend on the individual and what you feel is real. This topic does not confuse as much as it makes me realize and think. Everything is so interconnected that examples and arguments can be brought up in a snap of a finger yet no one ever truly wins. We can only decide for ourselves what is false what is real what we choose to believe and follow. My only request and that such is done with full awareness so that no person or organization (like the media) can take control and most of humanity become mindless slaves to it.

Blog 2

I find that the matrix is basically a fantasy world. A reality that we wish we could live in, as fake as it maybe. As discussed in class the matrix is like a game created as another reality for humans, and what are games for us now? Games are interactive devices played to escape reality. It is a fantasy world where we can be and do the impossible. In my reading and interpretations of the "Matrix and Philosiphy" we really cannot prove if we are in a Matrix at this very moment. We can only believe our experiences and deuctions. The ideas produced in the book really do make you ask questions about yourself and life. Is what we see real? Am I reallly typing on a computer right now wrting this assignment? Or am I dreaming that I am? What is real? What is Illusion? We have to decide for ourselves. I may very well be living in the matrix right now but I will make the best of it and take the necessary steps to become what I want in life.
The book, the movie and disscussions in class are having me questioning everything now. Everday objects and senses will never be the same for me. Questions since I was little were always in the back of my head. I've had dreams where everything was so vivid it all seemed so real. I'd wake up in the dream and do what I have to do for the day to actually wake up and see I've been sleeping the whole time and done nothing at all. Since then I have always wondered am I really doing what I think I am? Am I really seeing that object there? Or is my mind fooling me once again? I can never be sure but I always believed this to be my reality. Now those nagging questions in the back of my mind have become more prominant with deeper disscussions and futher devlopment in class. The question I am now askin myself is will I try to prove it to myself? Or will I just accept reality as it is now... I can only take a deep breathe and think of it as logically as possible.

Blog 1

I am released from the cave and I take in my surroundings. I do not understand what I see it is very new to me. All I know of are the sounds and shapes that I saw chained. I am shown what made those sounds and shapes and I can't comprehend. I see a light that is too bright and too powerful against the blackness I am used to. It makes pictures that dance across the walls but still I do not understand. I do not know where I am but I know it is my home I see the rocks and the strange shapes they make , it is dark and damp I see stalactite hanging from the celling and I see the twists and turn of the winding hallways. But then again I can only take what I see and make my assumptions of my whereabouts. I walk around further examining everything but my mind cannot completely grasp it.
I am suddenly dragged and I am outside. The air is too strong and it is too bright here. I dont undertstand where I am at all. I must be in some sort of hell. I am blind the light is too much here I struggle to go back but I cannot find my way. Nothing is making sense everything is twisted. Weird creatures appear they are n the sky they make odd noises that hurt my ears. I am in turmoil, I want it all to go back to what I understand.