While sitting on my couch, fan blowing on me, television on (low volume), laptop on lap, cell phone on side, and notebook shoved to the other side, I begin my first blog escapade. I must admit, I'm not a big reader. I'm extremely easily distracted. In fact I am so distracted that I've already nearly ruined my Culture and Technology book by highlighting all over so that I could actually intake what I was reading. So with that said, do I think that technology has taken a toll on my mental capacity? Yes. However, do I think that if I didn't have these technological devices at my side my mind would be settled enough to even get any work done? Absolutely not. While reading about the history of progress, evolution, and adaptation I felt like I was back in freshman CIE talking about Genesis, or John Locke. I never felt like there was a true answer to the questions. How should we live our lives? In the way beginning of the Digital Nation video a mother expressed her sadness towards technology taking over her family. I would be lying if I denied this ever going on in my own household as well. But what is the true answer?

Firstly, I'd like to say that while reading the first paragraph of chapter one without even reading that far I thought about the Titanic. The author kept saying these great things about a new ship. And what I thought was, wow thats like the Titanic... and then it sunk. It isn't to make light of such a tragedy, but its almost like a wake up call. If we're going to be playing with fire, we have to expect to get burnt. However, this also brought to my attention how far the idea of technology has come. Technology used to be considered cars, ships, weapons, farming devices, and factories. Basically I would have considered it anything that makes life easier. Now I find it quite interesting that it is the basis of Media and Communication classes. The book defines technology as progress... or vice-versa. But are we progressing by sitting on our computers and/or mobile devices and watching peoples lives through online photograph's?  Are we progressing by using the Internet to read summarized versions of texts? Don't get me wrong--I used to spark note every possible book I can. Yet in the back of my mind I knew that I wasn't getting the most out of the reading. So where do we draw the line? Perhaps education is being taken over by technology.

Finally I noticed in the reading that Goals of Progress could be considered as morals betterment as well. As much as I wish the world would progress in this way, and as much as President Obama emphasized "CHANGE", I'm sorry to say that this change is going in the opposite direction. Not that it is and ever could be in the hands of a single man, so don't worry I won't hold our President accountable. I just see things like in the Digital Nation, being a virtual human being and think to myself that we are now trying to go against nature itself. I will communicate as quickly and fast as possible, and I will entertain myself with games through technology. Yet never would I want to base my life virtually. Virtual Reality scares me, and I feel terrible for the children who thought that they actually swam with the whales in SeaWorld--because they didn't. Personally, I'm very curious to see where the next step is.