Utopian vs Dystopian #edcmooc

The first day of MOOC course ‘E-learning and Digital Cultures’ was very interesting and informative.

 The most common theme is the utopias and dystopias of technology. At the beginning, I found it really difficult to draw a line between positive and negative aspects of technology. It’s  hard to decide what technology is for us today . But after a while I realized that we can’t mix up obsession and necessity in technology.

 Four films : Bendito Machine III , Inbox, Thursday,  New Media describe aspects of human life. These films are bright examples of utopias and dystopias.

 We can't escape it in our everyday life. In our utopian world of technology we are so dependent on technology,  that we can't do without it. We are posting, chatting, texting, phoning, typing, watching TV and etc.  So we are encountering technology in every step in life.

 Also technology helps us to keep in touch with people who are far away from us. Personally, the utopian way represent in web-based technology like ‘Inbox’ that help connect people. We use phones and computers, talk to them and even can see them. 

 But sometimes it becomes ridiculous, when people, especially children, communicate by texting instead of real communication. We hear the negative effects of it all the time, people talk less, they text everywhere they go. As a consequence it makes us lonelier and more self-absorbed than ever. Designer Shimi Cohen  reminds in his video 'The Innovation of Loneliness ' of the way our screens can become cells of solitary confinement.

  Office works  are technology based. The cars, vehicles and transports become better with addition of newer and modern facilities.  New technologies for the smart grid, for smart water management, for smart cars and urban transportation are all guiding us towards making more happen with less.

 Another aspect of dystopian worldview is our attitude to surroundings.

In the film ‘Thursday’ lives are   programmed and scheduled to the minutest of details.  The nature is always with us, we get caught up in our technologic lives, that don’t notice the true beauty in it.

 But what will we do when power is cut off in the whole world? Panic and fall into helplessness.

 So the question is, can we change our attitude to technology? I believe people should use technology to improve their lives, but not treat new technology as god-like according to  ‘Bendito Machine III’.

According to Abbe Mowshowitz, 'to assert that technology has become an autonomous agent of change is not to attribute an occult quality to the growth of modern society which transcends human choice. It simply means that mechanization has affected social organization and individual behaviour in such a way as to create a foundation for further development along certain lines. We have cultivated a special relationship to technology wherein needs and conflicts are almost invariably formulated as technical problems requiring technical solutions' [what are usually called 'technical fixes'] (Mowshowitz 1976, pp. 256-7).

 I'm absolutely convinced that people should not chase the latest trends of technology, in particular to the pursuit of these things may accumulat a lot of useless things, what was described in those animated film. If people blindly follow the latest technology all the time, it's a race we're gonna lose because we don't know the long-term effects and we're running after a finish line that is constantly being set further away. People can't have the latest technology because once they have it, a newer version of it is already in development somewhere. We ought to stay still and learn how to live without it sometimes. Sure, technology can make our life more convenient but we need to find a balance and not overly rely on it in every aspect of our lives.

 The ‘New Media’ video is the bright example of dystopia for people who don't choose the technology they really need. But they selected things that technology dictated.

So  people still have considerable freedom of choice in the use and control of technology. I believe we are able to make the correct decision afterwards.