Blog assignment 2 (ENGAT2)

How would you measure success?

If you ask this question you’ll find that some people measure it by how much money they earn. Some might say it’s by the career path they’ve chosen. Some people might even say that they measure it by the state of their health. It feels like the majority of people nowadays measure it by their materialistic possessions such as art, jewelry, and the amount of cars that they own or the size of their house.

At a younger age I can recall measuring success in terms of how many friends I had. If I was liked or disliked.

If you search for this question on-line you’ll get thousands of hits. My eyes went sore from browsing through the first few pages. The reason wasn’t sleep deprivation or a low quality computer screen. The reason for my sore eyes was that it seemed that everyone had an opinion on what/how I should be doing in order to be successful. Books, seminars, courses, meditation and even organic foods are just a few of the ways to attempt improvement of your success according to some of the results on-line.

Now, the right to different opinions in all honor, but it feels like something has gone missing from the earlier stages of one’s life. As I mentioned two paragraphs earlier I could recall measuring success as a child by the amount of friends I had. This makes me reflect upon exactly what it was that could cause a person to be liked/disliked. Personality. Something that came from the inside. So why is it that so many people, for some reason, start measuring success with things that come “from the outside”?

It is my humble opinion that success is measured individually and should only be decided by oneself. If you feel successful, who is to say that you aren’t? I guess it’s up to what type of scale you use. It’s different for everyone.

So I ask you – how would you measure success?

Blog assignment 1 (ENGAT2)

One of the many things that i think about from time to time is privacy. Usually my thoughts revolve around the ever-decreasing amount of privacy we are left with from day to day. The reasons vary greatly. Some reasons for giving up privacy are said to be for more advanced and “intelligent” programs. Other reasons are said to be for our own "security”.

During the coming 5 year period I believe one will still notice, given that there is a keen level of observance, the small steps taken in the direction of less privacy in return for more "security” and “more suitable” programs. It is my understanding that since the changes are so small they are barely noticed, if even noticed at all. 

The following 40-45 years will most definitely, in my opinion, have shown great changes and will probably have reached a state where privacy is a privilege and not a right. I think it privacy will still be available, only to a great cost. Only then, when we have lost it, will we realize its true value and maybe try to regain our rights in return for slightly “dumbed down” programs and processes. 

These thoughts of mine are based on what I constantly run into and read/hear from different news sources. The small changes in societal trends on what is considered ok, the tiny bits of information that keep being asked of one when registering a product or an account anywhere, the databases containing personal data that are being sold behind the curtains. All these small and, to many, unnoticeable changes that keep pushing the limit of what people allow to be acceptable parts of their privacy being public. All these, and many more, reasons are what makes me think that we soon won’t have any privacy left in the future.

Blog asssignment 3

My reflection involves my thoughts that arose from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. The reason I chose that particular book is that I have enjoyed a few or Orwell’s other publications. This pertains mainly to his highlights of possible causes and effects of totalitarianism.

In order to shed light on my reflection I will write a short summary of the plot. Hopefully this will be enough for you to engage me in some feedback regarding my reflection.

Plot:

Old Major is an old boar who lives on Manor Farm, run by the constantly drunken human Mr Jones, along with a lot of other animals. Old Major calls a meeting on the farm for all the animals to attend where humans are compared to parasites. This can be interpreted as the beginning of a revolution.

A few days later Old Major dies and two other pigs, Napoleon & Snowball, assume leadership of the animals. They convince the animals to help overthrow the owner of the farm, Mr Jones. Having succeeded they proceed to rename the farm to Animal Farm. A list of 7 commandments of Animalism is written on the wall of a barn as a constant reminder of what rules to live by. Napoleon & Snowball struggle for leadership. Napoleon has Snowball chased off the farm and soon declares himself leader of the farm. Soon Napoleon begins to abuse his power and changes the 7 commandments of Animalism to favour the pigs, primarily Napoleon, on the farm.

Many years go by and the pigs learn to walk upright, wear clothes and become more and more like humans. The 7 commandments are reduced to one single phrase – “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

During a poker game between Napoleon and a neighbouring human farmer, Mr. Pilkington, an argument breaks out between them and the rest of the animals can no longer tell the faces of humans apart from the faces of the pigs.

Reflection:

Animal Farm communicates its message by means of symbolic figures and actions. Specifically being an allegory of the Soviet Union approximately between the 1920s and up until before the Second World War started. This isn’t something I would have noticed at a younger age. Nevertheless the book has gotten me to thinking about the inevitable occurrence of history repeating itself. Are we, as humans, incapable of leading a country or leading a large population? Are there even any leaders, in the traditional sense, left today? It seems to me that most leaders decide what is best for “the country” and go about it with or without the consent of the people. And even if the leaders were to ask the people for their opinion, I highly doubt the leaders would take that into consideration.

Is there a point to engaging in politics? Or will it always end up the same as always…that is, history repeating itself?

Blog assignment 2

After I finished watching the Story of Stuff I felt an urgent need to go through all my stuff to make sure none of it was laying around somewhere in the house where it would be ready to be disposed of.

I must say that the video got me thinking a little more about the whole issue. Never before had I given any thought to exactly how the low prices on certain things could actually be lowered to those levels.

It is a real pity and a real shame that the general public has allowed themselves to be valued depending on how much they spend and/or consume. Whats even worse is that the different advertisements one is being bombarded with actually affect some, if not many, of us.

In retrospect it is my understanding that I haven't been as careless as I can imagine many others are when it comes to consuming and/or spending. But I can, without a doubt in my mind, state that I will most definitely be putting a lot more effort when it comes to maintaining the sustainability of any electronic equipment that crosses my path.

Blog assignment 1

After having read the article "Snooping Bosses" my initial feeling was that we're moving into, if we aren't already there, a Big Brother society. Although the article gave me an impression of "focus your attention to this slowly growing issue" they also refrain from distinctly taking sides.

Personally, I feel that this issue is a never-ending loop. Individuals who side with it being the proper way to go about life, that is to end the existence of privacy, claim that if you have nothing to hide you should not have anything against being monitored. Individuals who side with this being a creation of Orwell's 1984, claim that even though one has nothing to hide, the power of monitoring others will be abused since there is nobody watching "Big Brother".

Technology is a wonderful creation and anyone who disagrees, dare I say, doesn't have their head screwed on right. But as long as there are humans involved there will always be mistakes and there were always be abuse and situations taken advantage of. Therefore it is my opinion that privacy is a must and should be a right given to every human being.

Testing...

Im honestly not that sure what all the fuss has ever been about...:)