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| Original printing press design. |
In response to this week’s material,
I focused primarily on the ideas presented in lecture regarding the evolution
of technology beginning with the industrial revolution all the way up to the
present popularity of robots. In Lecture
Part 1, Professor talked about how the invention of the printing press is what
sparked the exchange of knowledge around the world, which was vital in the development
of some of recent history’s most brilliant minds. However, I feel that during the development
of technology since this time period, we have turned this method that once helped
to spread knowledge and ideas into a mechanism that doesn’t make us think at
all. I think this was the biggest juxtaposition
that I noticed while reading the material this week, especially in the piece written
by Walter Benjamin.
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| Walter Benjamin |
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| Futuristic robot model. |
In his writing, Benjamin references
the introduction of mass production into our culture, and how this affected the
world of art, specifically in terms of paintings. He continues by making a comparison between
artists and cameramen, in other words comparing old-time art with a more
contemporary form. He says that the beauty of paintings is the idea that they
elicit contemplation in viewers, making them stop to think, interpret and
distinguish meaning behind the piece. Now,
with the preferred method of creative work being films, there is no need to
think because before a person can contemplate a specific scene, it has already
switched to the next. I think this idea
of mindless consumerism of new forms of art is reflected in how we manage our
technological advances. This was also
discussed in the TED talk given by Rodney Brooks, who is convinced that robots
will soon take over every aspect of our lives.
This is because we will not stop until we create robots to make every
aspect of our lives easier. This seems
so obvious at first glance, but when thinking about the industrial revolution
and how people used this technology to share ideas and spread knowledge, we
have turned that desire to grow intellectually into spending our lives
inventing robots to think for us. Before
reading Benjamin’s piece, I had never realized how toxic the introduction of
robots could be because of their basic purpose to replace human action.
References
Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the
Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader (n.d.):
25-33. Web.
Brooks, Rodney. "Robots will invade our
lives." Rodney Brooks: Robots will invade our lives | TED Talk |
TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
PSDFinder.com. "Futuristic Mechanical
Robot Graphic PSD Freebie - PSDfinder.com." Pinterest. N.p.,
03 June 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
Slaughter, Jamie. "Invention of The
Printing Press - Who Invented The Printing Press - InventionReaction." Invention
Reaction. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
Uconlineprogram. "Robotics pt1." YouTube.
YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.
Hi Kodi, loved reading this blogpost. I didn't think about how the creation of machines is leading to our demise because we are no longer thinking. I liked your point about film moving from one scene to the next which mimics mindless consumerism.
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