{"id":1641,"date":"2017-05-01T22:26:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T02:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/?p=1641"},"modified":"2017-05-01T22:26:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T02:26:47","slug":"a-love-letter-to-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/2017\/05\/01\/a-love-letter-to-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"A Love Letter to Technology?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I find modern literature (and perhaps society at large) generally disdainful of technology. \u00a0People want to dismiss the Internet, and social media in particular, as creating a less focused and present, and more superficial and inauthentic society. \u00a0I strongly,\u00a0strongly\u00a0<\/em>disagree with this position. \u00a0Internet culture is not without its faults, certainly, but just look at this image.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A screenshot I took of all the languages available for instant translation on Google Translate (translate.google.com<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I can translate English into languages I’ve never even heard of instantly and at not cost to me. \u00a0I can meet someone in Zimbabwe over social media, and then can talk to them\u00a0by translating English into Shona (a language I only just learned of) with speed and ease unprecedented in all of human history. \u00a0How is that anything less than exhilarating?<\/p>\n

One of the things I’ve so enjoyed about\u00a0Station Eleven\u00a0<\/em>is how it reminds me how awe-inspiring modern technology truly is. \u00a0Contrary to a lot of the current discourse,\u00a0Station Eleven\u00a0<\/em>celebrates the miracle of technology, be it airplanes (pg 247) or the Internet (pg 202). \u00a0But what really struck me was two scenes on pages 208-209.<\/p>\n

In the first scene, Miranda goes to Starbucks for a decaf latte and compliments the barista’s green hair. \u00a0In the second, she visits Arthur in his dressing room and he makes her a cup of tea with his electric tea kettle.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing inherently remarkable about these two interactions, but juxtaposed with the primitiveness of the post-Georgia Flu world, I found myself in awe of them. \u00a0This awe may be partially because they center on three things I really enjoy (coffee shops, bright hair, and electric kettles), but nevertheless,\u00a0Station Eleven\u00a0<\/em>is really good at making you appreciate technology.<\/p>\n

We have shops where you can go and get\u00a0a cup of coffee in under five minutes. \u00a0We have electricity to keep those shops running. \u00a0We have running water to make the drinks. \u00a0We’re able to import the non-native coffee bean in such enormous supply that it’s very easy and cheap to obtain. \u00a0We have factories that produce bleach and hair dye, and I can buy both of these for relatively little money. \u00a0I have access to a car to take me to the beauty supply store to buy the materials, so that the seven mile journey is but a small errand. \u00a0I have an electric tea kettle, and can have boiling hot water whenever I want it. \u00a0I have a variety of tea bags in my room. \u00a0I think you’re getting the point.<\/p>\n

One of the things I am most enjoying about\u00a0Station Eleven\u00a0<\/em>is how it makes me look at the world through new eyes. \u00a0By so vividly crafting a world without technology, St. John Mandel changes the way I see even the most mundane aspects of my life. \u00a0That’s not something I can say of many writers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I find modern literature (and perhaps society at large) generally disdainful of technology. \u00a0People want to dismiss the Internet, and social media in particular, as creating a less focused and present, and more superficial and inauthentic society. \u00a0I strongly,\u00a0strongly\u00a0disagree with this position. \u00a0Internet culture is not without its faults, certainly, but just look at this … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Love Letter to Technology?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-group-b"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1645,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1641\/revisions\/1645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/dig215\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}