Emergence of a New Electronic Field of Literature

This summer I made it my goal to spend a significant amount of time reading for fun. One reason being that I simply enjoy it and don't make enough time for pleasure reading to be one of my priorities in college. The other, more alarming reason, was because I could feel my critical analysis abilities slipping away. The time that I had spent in high school honing these skills was deteriorating as I slowly lost my vast vocabulary bank and my attention span. Even though I wanted to read, I could barely make it through three pages of a captivating book before I was distracted and my mind started wandering. Only recently have I obtained my previous reading levels and speed again. 
These were all observations that I had made on my own about myself, so after reading "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr, I was more than able to relate . In this article, Carr discusses how our brains are rewiring themselves to deal with the presentation of text and literature on the Internet. Since this is a new mode of communication, our brains are compensating for the immediate gratification and information overload by becoming "power browsers." By referencing other cultural shifts such as growing prevalence of typewriters or the Industrial Revolution, Carr is able to show how, previously, humans also had a shift in their way of thinking. After the Industrial Revolution, our thought process has become focused on making our systems as efficient as possible, and people even make this goal their career by becoming an industrial engineer. This idea is spilling over to the Internet and creating a society where information dispersal must also be as efficient, quick, and accessible as possible. Therefore, our minds adapt to be high-power processors as well that reject leisurely reading and textual dissection. My question to this is: Is this change truly a negative thing as Carr implies because if this is the direction that our society is going, why then do we need to have the ability to deeply analyze authors such as Emerson other than for appreciation? I see only a few losses: that of a previously valued skill and that of appreciation for aesthetically pleasing literature.
This leads into the discussion of Ulmer's "Introduction: Electracy". Honestly, much of this article went way above my head with all of the discussion of metaphysics and states of being. However, I did form a simple definition of the term electracy that Ulmer has coined: the art of being literate in the electronic field. He defines it using a variety of analogies but never directly; therefore this was the simplified, succinct definition that I formulated. Ulmer explores the idea of how electracy is a build off on previous ways of thinking such as orality which led to literacy which in turn has helped lead to electracy. These each address different modes of communication, various institutions for information dissemination, and unique reasoning skills needed for discernment. Ulmer also introduces the idea of aesthetics and imaging, though I wasn't entirely sure what he meant by this. Does the presentation of the Internet, or websites that an audience is viewing, significantly effect how they perceive the information? 

Tying Digital Communications to Medicine

Welcome to the first blog post for Digitalk, a blog designed for discussing topics within digital communications. I am a student at Furman University that is double majoring in biology and communications. I feel like I need to post something about who I am or what I like, but I really can’t think of anything remotely relevant. Therefore, I will share that my favorite food is fried okra and that I truly believe that my Patronus animal would be an otter (and if you didn’t catch that reference, I highly recommend reading Harry Potter). Also, I believe that the Doobie Brothers are good highway driving music.

I had a dream the other night where an unknown someone asked my roommate and me what we wanted to be when we grew up. The million-dollar question for college students. I, of course, immediately answered, “She wants to be a surgeon,” while gesticulating at my roommate (because it is all too normal for me to answer questions about her life). Then, as the stranger continued to stare at me, I panicked and said I wanted to be a teacher. The dream continued on to me standing alone in a classroom full of children running circles around me. I woke up stressed about how in the world I was going to control these kids for all 180 days that make up a school year. Therefore, being a teacher can be ruled out of my life mission statement though I now have greater respect for my teachers after that dream. Right now, I am aiming to be a doctor, or more accurately, to get into medical school. And that’s as far as my life plan goes.

Thus, my mission statement would have be: I aspire to be a doctor that always helps others to the best of my abilities, and that by taking this class, I will better be able to access these people in need and to present myself and my practice in a desirable way. I want to be a doctor that is well rounded, knowledgeable in fields outside of medicine, and up-to-date with the ever-advancing technology. I believe that this class to will help me to meet these goals.

In terms of other projects that will be done throughout the semester, I have a few ideas for topics. I would love to explore something in the science area since that is what I am interested in. I think that exploring research at Furman would be interesting by possibly looking what opportunities there are, how it has benefitted students, why Furman is such a big proponent, etc. If it needs to be more focused I could pick a specific project that students are currently working on, maybe mine from this summer that examines the molecular mechanisms of T-cell activation. I also love music and think it would be interesting to look into how many students at Furman have played musical instruments and whether or not they think this has had benefits for them. I am also involved in Furman University’s Medical Missions Organization, and I think I could push for how and why third world countries need medical care and more specifically how we at Furman are able to answer those needs. Those are rough outlines of what I think I could pursue for future projects after being focused and finding a main argument to present.