Summarize the situation or PT in your own words.
I spent the week of July 4th volunteering in Wyoming County, an impoverished area in West Virginia. I lived in a grade school with the PV Volunteers with no cell phone service, television, movies, music, email, internet, news, working clock, or hot shower water. The nearest grocery store and gas station were an hour away. When a thunderstorm hit one day, we lost electricity that also controlled the plumbing. We volunteers spent our days helping make the residents' lives healthier, happier and easier by repairing homes and community centers, tutoring school children, cleaning up the environmental effects of local coal mining, and visiting patients at the nursing home for the mentally ill. After this, we played board games and sports together, and reflected on our days as a group. Each night we discussed a different topic whether it be judgment, spirituality, short-term and long-term goals, learning from mistakes, attitude, coping with loss or minor setbacks, optimism, and how to live life to the fullest. Without the distraction of technology, and with the access to the opinions of a small community, I was able to understand my goals in life, and how to be the best and happiest person I can be. I was able to mold myself as a unique PV Volunteer. Without this life-changing experience, I would still be lost, without a purpose.
What areas of knowledge or ways of knowing are involved?
Technology influences language, emotion, perception and reason.
What issues or ideas are related to the situation or PT?
Email, text messages, phone calling, and video chatting alter our communication and therefore our language. Human-to-human interaction allows for conversations with deeper meaning. Human-to-human interaction that occurs during volunteering allows us to discover how each person is different. The increase in technology use in society today gives excuses for not traveling and experiencing other cultures. The only way to truly understand something is to experience it. The communication through text rather than using all 5 senses minimizes the actual learning and knowledge gained on a subject. Discussion and reflection in groups, like PV Volunteers, is a priceless, valuable form of communication and language. Solely with others' past experiences and others' interpretations, it is possible to figure out one-self's purpose, goals, and values. It is easier to discover one-self's unique qualities when technology/media is not pressing "ideal" purpose, goals and values.
The media as portrayed through technology, namely the internet, film and other art forms shows clearly stereotypical success stories, and so-called "perfect individuals", that forces society to conform, when in fact this is not possible for everybody. Technology taps into the emotions of viewers teaching them right and wrong, Therefore, it is important for individuals to make their own plans based on their strengths and weaknesses. Technology affects our values, showing us that competition rather than teamwork is "right", and that wasting time just thinking is "wrong". Technology also forces us to perceive events the same way and to trust the senses of the sole reporters of the events. We are essentially made robots. Without different interpretations and values, we would not be able to make new knowledge claims and advance society, therefore technology prevents the expansion of knowledge in society.
Technology affects our reasoning because it is designed to do many forms of reasoning for us like math problems, and research. Therefore, we do not get enough experience figuring things out on our own, which makes us less human. Technology seems to train us to quickly have the right answer, without trial and error, the natural human way of discovering the correct way to complete a task.
What is the knowledge problem?
Constant use of technology distracts us from reflecting on our own lives and molding ourselves to be the best we can be.
State the knowledge issue.
To what extent does technology influence our perception, emotion, language, and reason?
Really good example, and well discussed - great to hear that you had such a positive experience.
ReplyDeleteFor your KI question, I would focus it more on one or two of the WOK in order to make it more specific. Since emotion seemed (at least to me) to be the more critical aspect of this experience, it may be stronger to leave the question just about emotional experiences and perhaps the ability to interact on an emotional level with other people.