The class....The class is ALIVE

As of Friday I am more confused than ever concerning the direction our class is taking, but have never been more excited, so I suppose I am confused, but in a good way. I’ve never seen myself to be either a pessimistic person or an optimist but I rather take things as they come but I am excited to be moving towards the unknown. We are often taught to fear the unknown, but for some reason fear and anxiety are not the emotions I feel as I try to discover where we will take our class in the future and realize the true meaning behind what occurred.

I say "we" because it seems as though we have become the class, an entity, a being. This may sound strange to some but it’s a discovery I’m just now beginning to come to terms with. Personally during Friday’s class I, for the first time saw the people in the class as individuals gradually, consistently thinking, and working together to come to conclusions, conclusions not for self gratification but for the gratification of the class as a whole. With these thoughts we were able to create a learning experience and environment for both those participating and those observing(those not in the classroom but on plurk). We became the class, during this time I realized that class doesn’t have to be a specific time period at which you attend an event but rather we, the individuals can be the class. The class as a being taking in all of the same information. I am now thinking of a question I believe that was brought up in class, can one truly be another? I’m still not sure if even now I fully understand that question but in order for one to become another, a transformation must take place and perspective must be altered and changed.

One cannot doubt that a transformation took place on Friday, though I’m sure that I’m still not aware of its full extent or the impact it will have on the future, but this is where my optimism towards the unknown comes into play. I’m also sure that the experience was different for everyone. I myself have never been apart of something so powerful in the classroom and envy those who have had the opportunity to do so prior to Friday’s class where it had been through plurk or a different source. I admit, it took me a while to adapt to the changes that were occurring in class, for it was a rapid change and I am glad that I had decided to bring my laptop to class to be immediately involved in this transformation. Now I find myself trying to figure out what exactly it was that I experienced.

Was what occurred in class indeed a transfer of power or authority from the instructor to the students and/or the transfer of power from the classroom, a place perceived to be a location where learning takes place to the class where learning also lives? Perhaps it wasn’t a complete transfer but rather a sharing of responsibility. Of course I always knew that learning could come from class discussion and the input of individuals but I have always seen the instructor as the prime source of exactly that, instruction, and also the prime supplier of thought provoking material and saw the students as a secondary path to go down if need be. If we now see the class as a being of its own we were not only put into a situation where self learning from the thoughts and experiences of the class was the primary option, but it was also the only option. So was it a transfer of power that occurred? Perhaps, but a different level of responsibility was also placed on the class. That being said, the question that we have to ask ourselves is, can we now ever go back to the way things were prior to Friday’s class meeting? Can we conduct class on Monday April 20,2009 the same way we did on Wednesday April 15,2009 or Monday April 6th? If not where do we go from here and what steps do we take to keep this responsibility? Also can we and/or how do we incorporate this into our other classes for I’m sure there are individuals who are not comfortable with this style of learning because, like I stated before it is a transfer of power and responsibly, both of which can be hard to obtain and hard to let go of.

The beginning

Through class discussion, reading “ The Invention of Morel” and the selections in “Radical Alterity” ideas and concepts have flooded my mind. Jumbled thoughts in no particular order with reason but with very little rhyme. Because of this I decided to write my ideas in how they appear in my notes, random but they are things I find particularly interesting.
It often seems as though humans are slaves to habit and routine. We take comfort in conformity and often times it seems as though our entire worlds can come crashing down on us due to the slightest change in our uniform routines. We have come to the point where individuals who can adapt to changing routines are admired in not only the work place but also in life in general. Humans who constantly have to change and adapt with an ever-changing world many times fear the most seemingly insignificant changes. Why and how is it that the human race and the Western world in particular is so innovative in the ever-changing, fast-paced world of technology can be so afraid of change and embrace familiarity but fear the unknown? This has been a characteristic of mankind for thousands of years.

The question came up in class, what is the cost to us when we make things more intelligent, what do we gain what do we lose? When thinking about this, a couple of things come to my mind. I believe that the more intelligent we make computers, robots, and machines the greater the humbling affect it will have on us. Through out history we, as humans, have recognized ourselves as the dominant species on the planet especially intellectually. With future technological innovations will humans eventually have to “pass the baton” to machines that intellectually surpass us? Where will that future take us, a society that is already extremely reliant on machines and computers. We put so much love, care, and faith into inanimate, man-made objects. Where will we fit in a world where machines don’t just help us because me may need help with math equations or help us walk again due to an amputated leg, or tell us what the weather is like outside but rather perform tasks that were once believed to be unique to humans, and humans alone? But then again that seems to be where the bar is often set when it come to robots and machines, to make them more human-like than they have ever been before.

We may eventually have to compete as to which is the greater being, a question that has been so easy to answer in the past. Would the fact that we created these beings answer the question appointing us the superior being and if machines do eventually surpass us intellectually what would stop them from creating and innovating like we have, or would we want to stop them from doing so? These are questions we will soon have to ask ourselves in the years to come. There is a fine line between having machines that assist us and being completely reliant on them, a time we are steadily entering. We would like to believe that we will always be able to differentiate a machine from a living, breathing human but it seems as though we are being lead or blazing down the path to this reality. I can’t help but relate this to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, mankind’s attempt to reach heaven or be like God. Could this be a modern day tower, man’s attempt to be more God-like? Each day we get closer and closer to achieving a task that has always been unique to God, the creation of human life.