Journal 1: Class Notes 1-13-15

*Reactions to A Better Pencil  - Dennis Baron  

-Is writing a technology?

·      Most people agree in the class “writing is technology”

-Why does writing count as a technology? What did you like about Baron’s piece?

·      Media changes

o   Adoption / Panic

§  Describes why we panic about new things

·      Ex. Text messages diminish people writing

·      Ex. eBooks diminish people’s ability to read

             

o   Plato thought writing diminished spoken word

§  We wouldn’t have good memories because everything will just be written down

·      He wanted everything to be in person

·      He thought people could only learn in dialogue with others

o   Can’t learn from writing but read something someone else figure out

·      Writing is one-sided

o   Page can only tell you what the page knows and cannot change

·      Writing is ambiguous

o   If you misunderstand what is true than you didn’t learn anything

o   Only the person who wrote the words knows the truth

§  Baron says this is what we want writing to do. We just want the information

·      Writing is a part of every day life

o   Ex. Baron mentions grocery lists and receipts

§  Baron says we trust these “written records” because we trust what is “in writing”

§  Laws also help create trust

o   We are willing to buy into beliefs if there’s a book (something in writing)

-Activity:

·      Jot down Uses of Writing

·      Pick three favorite and list technology you use for those

·      Pick two from list of three and figure out if it’s a new thing or an old thing made different by new technology

New Things	Old Things Better/Different
	Expression - accessible, reproduced Better for distribution
	Communication – mobile phones, internet Different because it is simpler and more efficient, not Better because less formal (something lost)
	Document – Word, Google Docs Better because of automation and organization
	Advertising – More Ads and Advertisements
	Emotional Release – Venting and perform
	Teach – all digital Not Better because digital may not always be better – less formal and something may get lost Access - feeds Distracted Audience – Facebook Economically cheaper “Green”
	Storytelling – more media, web, comics Different not Better because there’s more texts and now writers compete for people’s attention not sharing information Gestures vs. Oral
	Directs – Navigation Maps, satellite, instructions  Better
	Authenticates – Seals, etc. Effective Different
	Games – Better

-Video: Little Robot Person, The Beautiful Boy

·      Is “The Beautiful Boy” a writer?

o   Yes

§  Writing is a physical act and the robot writes; its an action

§  Writing doesn’t require awareness

o   No

§  Writing involves interpretation

§  Writing requires a user

·      Writer equals the person creating the thoughts, planning, and thinking

o   Difference between writer and author

§  Use of literary secretaries

§  The purpose

·      Boy – writes for family

·      Secretary – writes for boss

·      Robot – to demonstrate what the robot can do

o   “Writer-less Writing”

o   This robot is definitely a technology

§  There is something more to writing than just technology however

§  There are social purposes to writing

·      What do you do after you receive the information?

·      Is what “Beautiful Boy” doing writing?

o   Yes

§  What your writing down is not original if you’re using outside sources

                                               

-Key point of lecture/discussion

·      Understanding writing, as a technology is important, however humans have souls and achieving the goals of those souls can be helped or hurt by these technologies.