Cheng Hang
Ms. Booker
25 April 2009
Reflective Paper
To reflect on one’s essay is to in turn review the choices made and explored within the text. A research paper contains facts and statistics that back up the writer’s main purpose. These facts and statistics come from different sources such as books, articles, and journals. These books, articles, and journals not only should contain important information, but contain information that is accurate. These accurate sources are called “scholarly” sources, and they are major part of my research essay. I’ve used these articles mainly to back up and inform readers of the context of my essay. Following the guidelines for English 102 and then trying to meet them I then articulated my choices for the stakeholders and other various areas within my essay.
After reviewing the guidelines within the sheet presented at the beginning of the semester I worked to see that these goals would be met. Through careful analysis and thinking I went to “engage texts through analysis, interpretation, and critical inquiry”. With my topic being about green technology and creating green jobs, I went through the process of explaining what these green jobs were. Then I went through critical analysis by identifying the negatives of certain renewable energies such as wind power. I stated that wind power has “only few models that have the capability to capture about %50 of the energy”. Rather than state only positives I went through careful analysis and identified the multiple negatives about wind technology. I not only stated what the author presented, but also interpreted what he was stating through a more detailed voice. In contribution to analysis, interpretation, and critical inquiry I also stated numerous stakeholders that are associated with the creation of green jobs. A few examples of the stakeholders that I presented was the United States Government, the American people, and the companies associated with the creation of green jobs. Also my research was for the most part based on facts and statistics used from different authors such as Andrew Goudie,and journalists from the U.S News and World Report.
After reading further down the English 102 Final Portfolio Assessment sheet, I can see that all my statistics and facts about global warming led up to my controlling purpose being fully revealed and then thoroughly investigated. I also included a significant amount of background information about the different types of alternative energies out there. Ranging from wind energy to solar energy, I touched based on the major alternative energies out there. I have explained the necessary background information needed to let the readers create a decision that will be based on facts and statistics rather than those based on popularity and inaccurate facts. Furthermore, I used the MLA style of writing to formulate this paper and used direct quotes, and/or articulate paraphrases from the different authors used within my paper. In addition to the information presented, I created a works cited page that provided the bibliography of all the information used in my essay. The events that were presented in my paper about global warming, alternative energies, Nye, and Vonnegut led up to my presenting of my initial question, Are green jobs really being created? I believe that I have met firmly the requirements for the English 102 Final Portfolio Assessment with my Research paper on global warming and the creation of green jobs.
Global warming is a consequence in which man must take responsibility for because of their lack of understanding from the release of greenhouse gasses. My choice to visit the topic of global warming and the creation of green jobs is because of the numerous problems we have today. Problems such as atmospheric deterioration and rising sea levels are in part due to global warming. I just wanted to research and see what the alternatives to fossil fuels bring to the table. In my research I thoroughly looked for sources that were scholarly from the UWM libraries online catalog of articles, journals, and books. I mainly used sources from the UWM libraries online catalog because of the ease of use. The search feature implemented into the website was easy to navigate and find the sources that I wanted to use in my paper. These sources were good sources and in addition there were a lot of them too. Another way that I chose to do my research was by using books from the UWM library because being located on campus the access was there. Also they have a great selection on global warming, alternative technologies, and green jobs. I feel as if I could have had more time, I would have used the books from the library more frequently, but due to much easier access from the UWM catalog I chose to use that instead. The UWM catalog proved to be a very useful and adequate resource because of all the areas in which the engine searches. Moving on, I chose to this topic in hopes to inform those multiple stakeholders about the wonderful and clean alternatives to fossil fuels. These alternatives are quite new but with time they can and will be a huge part of future. Also they cause little or no global warming at all. They are much more efficient than fossil fuels, and that’s what I hope to get across to the American people and those hefty failing car manufacturers out there. Their resistance to change has gone long enough, and I just want them to know that fossil fuels won’t be there forever. Meaning they won’t be selling these cars that they are on the dealer lots anymore. One day they will be forced to manufacture electric and hybrid cars, and just maybe these inventions will save mankind from certain doom.
The reason why I did all that I did was because after reading through all my sources I found the best way to present my case against global warming, and this case I believed, produced the greatest results. By provided the reason for global warming and then presenting the alternatives for fossil fuels, I set the audience up to see the negatives of fossil fuels and then to see the negatives and positives of these new alternative energies. I also used Vonnegut and Nye because in part, Nye had a lot of information in his book that were crucial to my purpose, global warming. Also I used Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle because the story of a world destroyed was fictional but in our world, it is still very much possible if we as humans don’t change and see our faults. If we don’t see our faults we could possibly end up in a world where every step we take is a frozen step. These choices that I’ve made have had a crucial and positive effect on my controlling purpose.
The controlling purpose of my paper has caused me to take different steps in the search for helping me define my controlling purpose in the end. The utilization of the UWM catalog and books were used help me identify stakeholders; illustrate more information and statistics to support my controlling purpose. These steps that I used to end at my controlling purpose caused me to set up a line of information crucial to the success of fully exploring my controlling purpose. These sources that I used were of much help due to the ease and accessibility of them. Not has the UWM libraries helped me create a paper that is academically just but a paper that is also statistically based. I believe firmly that they use of the UWM facilities and the choices that I have made have helped me to finish the requirements of the English 102 course.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
DRAFT FOR RESEARCH PAPER!
Cheng Hang
Ms. Booker
English 102
11 April 2009
Are Green Jobs really being created?
Since the creation of primates in the world, tools have been essentially to their survival and well-being. These tools could have ranged from a small stick to a large boulder. Although simple, these tools were crucial and viable. Now, fast forward to 2009, people use tools far more complex and sensitive than those of the first primates. A few things that the first primates lacked were the technology and intellectual capacity to build cars and skyscrapers. We as humans had the intellectual prowess to build the first skyscrapers, the first cars, and the first modern day power plants. Although we have created one of the greatest inventions of all time, we have also created one of the most devastating and horrific global warming events ever to date. The permanent scars seem to be more and more prominent as the last few years winded down. Now, not only have talks of implementing green renewable resources into our lives begun, but also the creation of jobs associated with renewable resources have started taking place. Since the beginning of the recession that plagued the United States several years back, millions of Americans have lost their jobs due to economic instability. Now a green movement has started, but will it induce the creation of millions of jobs that will help those ailing Americans get back on their feet?
Over the years, a plague has disrupted the environment’s natural balance and its beauty. This plague is called pollution. Pollution has many effects on the Earth such as global warming. Global warming is the emitting of green house gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide or as described by Andrew Goudie as “The process by which the Earth may be become warmer because of the role of mechanism such as the green house effect” (Goudie 83). The release of carbon dioxide is partially due to the burning of fossil fuels, “since the start of the industrial revolution humans have been taking stored carbon out of the earth in the form of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). They burn these fuels releasing Co2 in the process” (Goudie 93). The most common sources that emit greenhouse gasses are from the burning of fossil fuels in our vehicles and factories such as steel mills. The reality in releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere is that the buildup of these gasses creates a thick barrier that traps sunlight within the atmosphere. Thus we have a greenhouse effect which is “A climatic effect caused by permitting incoming solar radiation but inhibiting outgoing radiation” (Goudie 83). The trapped radiation furthers the effects of global warming by melting the polar ice caps, causing increased temperatures, and a rising sea level. Then you ask yourself, what if all of the polar ice caps melted? If all of the ice within the polar ice caps melted the sea level would rise significantly enough to cover large seaside cities. The increasing amount of greenhouse gasses within the last several years has caused a national movement towards green and renewable technologies. Global warming is not just caused by driving our fossil fuel powered vehicles but it is also caused by “the burning of low-quality fuel in the densely populated townships” (Goudie 109). If enough of these greenhouse gasses, or sulfur dioxide are released into the atmosphere acid rain will be produced. Acid rain is precipitation that is unusually acidic causing death amongst “plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The last several decades of burning fuel without thinking about the consequences have started a global scare. A scare that has forced a new movement to be induced, this movement involves the creation of alternative energies.
What will happen when the world runs out of fossil fuel deposits? The only viable answer to that is to use and implement renewable resources because we simply just don’t know how much fossil fuel is left and we don’t know when it’s going to end. Adamantly, there is a green movement in the U.S that seeks to use more renewable energies. A renewable energy is a energy generated from natural resources such as sun, wind, and water. The most prominent of all green energies is solar power. Solar energy is used to heat up water to turn turbines and in effect creates electricity, “The reflected sunlight heated the water into steam, which turned a turbine. Voilà , sun-powered, utility-scale electricity” (Eweres 21). Currently solar power is a reality with the company BrightScource, who’s already built their first plant, Ivanpah, near the Nevada border which supplies 140,000 homes with electricity (21). Not is the company only doing well it has also found customers such as Southern California Edison, the utility company that supplies electricity to Los Angeles. The company has agreed to buy enough electricity from BrightSource to power over 850,000 homes. Furthermore, with the recent signing of the stimulus bill, there will be a $60 Billion loan available to companies like BrightSource who are every so diligent working towards a solar powered nation.
Not is there only one source for a green future, but there are many. The next most prominent technology to be implemented is wind technology. The use of wind technology has increased at a significant amount within the last several years. Wind technology consists of a turbine with blades that are lifted when airflow is present. Although wind technology “has the greatest energy producing potential” (Wald 2) that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any problems associated with it. Wind technology has the potential to rake in large amounts of energy but currently there are only few models that have the capability to capture about %50 of the energy in the air that passes through them (2). Fuel cells are another example of a renewable technology. Fuel cells consist of an electrolyzer, which breaks up water in to hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The hydrogen molecules then run through the fuel cell to make electricity. The only exhaust that comes out of the exhaust pipes is water. That is why fuel cells are being highly sought after. Since fuel cells are only starting be implemented into our vehicles, they come with a high price tag with the “capital cost in the thousands of dollars per kilowatt of capacity, and the round-trip efficiency through the electrolyzer to the fuel cell and then back into current is less than 50 percent--meaning that for every two kilowatt-hours put in the bank, only one comes back out again” (4). Fuel cells are already a reality in the Honda FCX Clarity which runs entirely on water and only emitting water as an exhaust.
Since these green technologies are only in a developmental stage, there are numerous stake holders. For example, a stake holder would be the government because the government, who supplied loans for companies in the renewable technologies sector, made a large investment in the future. Imagine if the government gave large amounts of money to these growing companies and they did nothing to better our energy crisis. What if none of these companies actually did what they said they were going to do? Simple, the government would in part be angry and nonresponsive to any future bidding for an energy bill that will help get this nation into the future. Another stake holder would be the companies that are developing these alternative energies. They as producers have a goal to meet by developing these crucial technologies that will in part help us become a better nation, be more energy efficient, and work towards a waste free nation. The last and most important stake holders are we the people. We the people are hurting in this bad economy, and from the creation of green jobs we will help more people back on the right track. Like so many other countries that are largely using ethanol based fuel, we as Americans are only using as much as 10% of ethanol in our fuels. With the diminishing fossil fuel deposits in the world, we are only prolonging our skeptical dreams that fossil fuel will carry us into the next 100 years. The truth is we don’t know how much is left. That’s why we as Americans must have an alternative source for energy or we will be left behind as the world moves forward.
Looking at other similar texts, such as David Nye’s, Technology Matters, which was discussed in class we can see that David Nye shares some values with Andrew Goudie. David Nye holds a neutral approach to the topic about technological effects on nature as he does in most of the questions that arise in his book, Technology Matters. From Nye’s point of view he talks about the effects of technology that has negatively impacted nature, “Likewise, burning coal produces not only electricity but also smoke containing sulfur dioxide that falls to the earth as acid rain, destroying plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The burning of fossil fuels is not the only disadvantage of technology but there are other technologies that cause negative effects on our soil, “In the twentieth century alone, the United States lost to erosion topsoil that took 1,000 years to form, and it continues to lose topsoil at a rate of 1.7 billion tons a year” (Nye 98). Here we see the negatives and positives that technology brings to the table, yet the ideas and issues that Nye brings up in his book are only a small percentage of what the real effects of technology are. In Andrew Goudie’s, The Earth Transformed: An Introduction to Human Impacts on the Natural Environment, he talks about all the negatives that the burning of fossil fuel does to the atmosphere and in part creates a large problem for all its inhabitants. For example, “High levels of ozone concentration have several serioius consequences. Humans suffer from eye irritation, respiratory complaints and headaches” (Goudie 114). Andrew Goudie also states that “Rigourous controls on vehicle emissions can greatly reduce the problem” (Goudie 114). I believe that David Nye’s reaction to Goudie’s work would be rather amazed due to the fact that Goudie has numerous supports for his work while Nye has only a significant amount of detail in his work in order to get his point across. The reason for this is because Nye tackles all the questions associated with technology and in this particular part of the book, the ecology and technology. If Nye were to devote this whole section of the book to pure global warming it would be rigorous to take on all the questions that are presented in Technology Matters.
With all these new alternative energies being implemented, are there really jobs out there that deal directly with the green energies sector? Ultimately with the economy in a slump, the amount of green jobs being created isn’t as expected “Sapped by the recession and collapsing oil prices, the fledgling green movement needs big government support to snap back in the short term” (Wolgemuth 18). Since the green movement is labor intensive (18) the amount of workers is going to be a fairly large number. The amount of money is correlated to the number of workers it will create, “$100 billion in green investment would create 2 million jobs, while $100 billion handed out to households (as in the 2008 stimulus package) would create 1.7 million jobs, and $100 billion spent on the oil industry would create only 542,000 jobs” (Wolgemuth 18) according to the Political Economy Research Institute. Putting 2 million Americans who lost their jobs during the recession back to work is a great sign for our economy and our nation. Not will it only decrease the unemployment rate but this movement will insure that the future is an actual future and not just a hefty dream. Those employed will be working and receiving a higher pay than those of the traditional workforce because labor unions are “already are angling for a hand in the green workforce, promising to lift pay” (Wolgemuth 18). The workforce that is needed will be mostly be blue collar workers due to that fact that a “commercial-scale wind turbine has more than 8,000 parts and uses an amount of steel equivalent to 225 midsize cars” (Wolgemuth 19). That means the amount of steel needed will be a significantly large amount which mean it’ll put to work those steel workers. Also the new technologies sprouting up will require training that is crucial to new workers. As classes for solar training are starting to be implemented they are beginning to fill as stated by Tria Case the Bronx Community College's executive dire, “We can't run them enough” (Wolgemuth 19). Now that new green jobs are going to be enforced, older jobs that are ran by coal or fossil fuels will suffer “The part of the economy that's going to be hit the hardest will be the electricity generation, because that's done with coal. If you look at fossil fuels, coal has the most carbon dioxide per Btu [British thermal unit]. So, if you put a tax on carbon dioxide, it's going to be felt the most by the electricity industry” (Wolgemuth 19). Initially the outlook for green technology looks to be a positive one, but there are risks involved with moving a nation towards that goal. It will mean hard times for certain sectors of the economy, but in the end a green movement is inevitable.
With the green movement starting, the effects of global warming due to the release of greenhouse gasses will eventually ease off, and new green technologies will begin to replace those of the past century. All those who invested in the green movement will see a brighter future as solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells are a reality. The implementation of new green technologies will mean great news for those millions of workers who lost their jobs in the recession that plagued this great nation. Green technology is here and it will continue to be here as long as there are companies like BrightSource who are willing and eager to move to a new era of alternative energy.
Ms. Booker
English 102
11 April 2009
Are Green Jobs really being created?
Since the creation of primates in the world, tools have been essentially to their survival and well-being. These tools could have ranged from a small stick to a large boulder. Although simple, these tools were crucial and viable. Now, fast forward to 2009, people use tools far more complex and sensitive than those of the first primates. A few things that the first primates lacked were the technology and intellectual capacity to build cars and skyscrapers. We as humans had the intellectual prowess to build the first skyscrapers, the first cars, and the first modern day power plants. Although we have created one of the greatest inventions of all time, we have also created one of the most devastating and horrific global warming events ever to date. The permanent scars seem to be more and more prominent as the last few years winded down. Now, not only have talks of implementing green renewable resources into our lives begun, but also the creation of jobs associated with renewable resources have started taking place. Since the beginning of the recession that plagued the United States several years back, millions of Americans have lost their jobs due to economic instability. Now a green movement has started, but will it induce the creation of millions of jobs that will help those ailing Americans get back on their feet?
Over the years, a plague has disrupted the environment’s natural balance and its beauty. This plague is called pollution. Pollution has many effects on the Earth such as global warming. Global warming is the emitting of green house gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide or as described by Andrew Goudie as “The process by which the Earth may be become warmer because of the role of mechanism such as the green house effect” (Goudie 83). The release of carbon dioxide is partially due to the burning of fossil fuels, “since the start of the industrial revolution humans have been taking stored carbon out of the earth in the form of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). They burn these fuels releasing Co2 in the process” (Goudie 93). The most common sources that emit greenhouse gasses are from the burning of fossil fuels in our vehicles and factories such as steel mills. The reality in releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere is that the buildup of these gasses creates a thick barrier that traps sunlight within the atmosphere. Thus we have a greenhouse effect which is “A climatic effect caused by permitting incoming solar radiation but inhibiting outgoing radiation” (Goudie 83). The trapped radiation furthers the effects of global warming by melting the polar ice caps, causing increased temperatures, and a rising sea level. Then you ask yourself, what if all of the polar ice caps melted? If all of the ice within the polar ice caps melted the sea level would rise significantly enough to cover large seaside cities. The increasing amount of greenhouse gasses within the last several years has caused a national movement towards green and renewable technologies. Global warming is not just caused by driving our fossil fuel powered vehicles but it is also caused by “the burning of low-quality fuel in the densely populated townships” (Goudie 109). If enough of these greenhouse gasses, or sulfur dioxide are released into the atmosphere acid rain will be produced. Acid rain is precipitation that is unusually acidic causing death amongst “plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The last several decades of burning fuel without thinking about the consequences have started a global scare. A scare that has forced a new movement to be induced, this movement involves the creation of alternative energies.
What will happen when the world runs out of fossil fuel deposits? The only viable answer to that is to use and implement renewable resources because we simply just don’t know how much fossil fuel is left and we don’t know when it’s going to end. Adamantly, there is a green movement in the U.S that seeks to use more renewable energies. A renewable energy is a energy generated from natural resources such as sun, wind, and water. The most prominent of all green energies is solar power. Solar energy is used to heat up water to turn turbines and in effect creates electricity, “The reflected sunlight heated the water into steam, which turned a turbine. Voilà , sun-powered, utility-scale electricity” (Eweres 21). Currently solar power is a reality with the company BrightScource, who’s already built their first plant, Ivanpah, near the Nevada border which supplies 140,000 homes with electricity (21). Not is the company only doing well it has also found customers such as Southern California Edison, the utility company that supplies electricity to Los Angeles. The company has agreed to buy enough electricity from BrightSource to power over 850,000 homes. Furthermore, with the recent signing of the stimulus bill, there will be a $60 Billion loan available to companies like BrightSource who are every so diligent working towards a solar powered nation.
Not is there only one source for a green future, but there are many. The next most prominent technology to be implemented is wind technology. The use of wind technology has increased at a significant amount within the last several years. Wind technology consists of a turbine with blades that are lifted when airflow is present. Although wind technology “has the greatest energy producing potential” (Wald 2) that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any problems associated with it. Wind technology has the potential to rake in large amounts of energy but currently there are only few models that have the capability to capture about %50 of the energy in the air that passes through them (2). Fuel cells are another example of a renewable technology. Fuel cells consist of an electrolyzer, which breaks up water in to hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The hydrogen molecules then run through the fuel cell to make electricity. The only exhaust that comes out of the exhaust pipes is water. That is why fuel cells are being highly sought after. Since fuel cells are only starting be implemented into our vehicles, they come with a high price tag with the “capital cost in the thousands of dollars per kilowatt of capacity, and the round-trip efficiency through the electrolyzer to the fuel cell and then back into current is less than 50 percent--meaning that for every two kilowatt-hours put in the bank, only one comes back out again” (4). Fuel cells are already a reality in the Honda FCX Clarity which runs entirely on water and only emitting water as an exhaust.
Since these green technologies are only in a developmental stage, there are numerous stake holders. For example, a stake holder would be the government because the government, who supplied loans for companies in the renewable technologies sector, made a large investment in the future. Imagine if the government gave large amounts of money to these growing companies and they did nothing to better our energy crisis. What if none of these companies actually did what they said they were going to do? Simple, the government would in part be angry and nonresponsive to any future bidding for an energy bill that will help get this nation into the future. Another stake holder would be the companies that are developing these alternative energies. They as producers have a goal to meet by developing these crucial technologies that will in part help us become a better nation, be more energy efficient, and work towards a waste free nation. The last and most important stake holders are we the people. We the people are hurting in this bad economy, and from the creation of green jobs we will help more people back on the right track. Like so many other countries that are largely using ethanol based fuel, we as Americans are only using as much as 10% of ethanol in our fuels. With the diminishing fossil fuel deposits in the world, we are only prolonging our skeptical dreams that fossil fuel will carry us into the next 100 years. The truth is we don’t know how much is left. That’s why we as Americans must have an alternative source for energy or we will be left behind as the world moves forward.
Looking at other similar texts, such as David Nye’s, Technology Matters, which was discussed in class we can see that David Nye shares some values with Andrew Goudie. David Nye holds a neutral approach to the topic about technological effects on nature as he does in most of the questions that arise in his book, Technology Matters. From Nye’s point of view he talks about the effects of technology that has negatively impacted nature, “Likewise, burning coal produces not only electricity but also smoke containing sulfur dioxide that falls to the earth as acid rain, destroying plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The burning of fossil fuels is not the only disadvantage of technology but there are other technologies that cause negative effects on our soil, “In the twentieth century alone, the United States lost to erosion topsoil that took 1,000 years to form, and it continues to lose topsoil at a rate of 1.7 billion tons a year” (Nye 98). Here we see the negatives and positives that technology brings to the table, yet the ideas and issues that Nye brings up in his book are only a small percentage of what the real effects of technology are. In Andrew Goudie’s, The Earth Transformed: An Introduction to Human Impacts on the Natural Environment, he talks about all the negatives that the burning of fossil fuel does to the atmosphere and in part creates a large problem for all its inhabitants. For example, “High levels of ozone concentration have several serioius consequences. Humans suffer from eye irritation, respiratory complaints and headaches” (Goudie 114). Andrew Goudie also states that “Rigourous controls on vehicle emissions can greatly reduce the problem” (Goudie 114). I believe that David Nye’s reaction to Goudie’s work would be rather amazed due to the fact that Goudie has numerous supports for his work while Nye has only a significant amount of detail in his work in order to get his point across. The reason for this is because Nye tackles all the questions associated with technology and in this particular part of the book, the ecology and technology. If Nye were to devote this whole section of the book to pure global warming it would be rigorous to take on all the questions that are presented in Technology Matters.
With all these new alternative energies being implemented, are there really jobs out there that deal directly with the green energies sector? Ultimately with the economy in a slump, the amount of green jobs being created isn’t as expected “Sapped by the recession and collapsing oil prices, the fledgling green movement needs big government support to snap back in the short term” (Wolgemuth 18). Since the green movement is labor intensive (18) the amount of workers is going to be a fairly large number. The amount of money is correlated to the number of workers it will create, “$100 billion in green investment would create 2 million jobs, while $100 billion handed out to households (as in the 2008 stimulus package) would create 1.7 million jobs, and $100 billion spent on the oil industry would create only 542,000 jobs” (Wolgemuth 18) according to the Political Economy Research Institute. Putting 2 million Americans who lost their jobs during the recession back to work is a great sign for our economy and our nation. Not will it only decrease the unemployment rate but this movement will insure that the future is an actual future and not just a hefty dream. Those employed will be working and receiving a higher pay than those of the traditional workforce because labor unions are “already are angling for a hand in the green workforce, promising to lift pay” (Wolgemuth 18). The workforce that is needed will be mostly be blue collar workers due to that fact that a “commercial-scale wind turbine has more than 8,000 parts and uses an amount of steel equivalent to 225 midsize cars” (Wolgemuth 19). That means the amount of steel needed will be a significantly large amount which mean it’ll put to work those steel workers. Also the new technologies sprouting up will require training that is crucial to new workers. As classes for solar training are starting to be implemented they are beginning to fill as stated by Tria Case the Bronx Community College's executive dire, “We can't run them enough” (Wolgemuth 19). Now that new green jobs are going to be enforced, older jobs that are ran by coal or fossil fuels will suffer “The part of the economy that's going to be hit the hardest will be the electricity generation, because that's done with coal. If you look at fossil fuels, coal has the most carbon dioxide per Btu [British thermal unit]. So, if you put a tax on carbon dioxide, it's going to be felt the most by the electricity industry” (Wolgemuth 19). Initially the outlook for green technology looks to be a positive one, but there are risks involved with moving a nation towards that goal. It will mean hard times for certain sectors of the economy, but in the end a green movement is inevitable.
With the green movement starting, the effects of global warming due to the release of greenhouse gasses will eventually ease off, and new green technologies will begin to replace those of the past century. All those who invested in the green movement will see a brighter future as solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells are a reality. The implementation of new green technologies will mean great news for those millions of workers who lost their jobs in the recession that plagued this great nation. Green technology is here and it will continue to be here as long as there are companies like BrightSource who are willing and eager to move to a new era of alternative energy.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Assignment #9
Seldman, Neil. Investing in zero waste ... and green jobs. BioCycle v. 50 no. 1 (January 2009) :46
The author, Neil Seldman, the cofounder and president of the Local Institute for Local Self-Reliance, talks about the problems of industrial waste and the severity of the effects that it has on our environment. While some companies just produce waste, others produce waste and seek to transform these wastes into renewable resources such as top soil for agricultural purposes. Evidently most of these companies are willing to work with other organizations to produce a better waste management plan and in the end work towards a zero waste industrial process.
Eweres, Justin. Keeping the Solar Dream Alive. U.S. News & World Report, 146(3) 2009, 21-2
The author, Justin Eweres, reports on a company, BrightSource, which has promising technology that will wean the US’s endless search for renewable resources by building solar power policies in Californian desserts. This alternative energy source is supposed to be comparable to burning fossil fuels. BrightSource which has already constructed their first 400-megawatt solar plant, called Ivanpah, will create enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. Not is this only the future but it seems very promising because of the progress that has been made over the years.
Wald, Matthew L. The Power of Renewables. Scientific American, Vol. 300, Issue 3, March 2009
The author, Matthew L. Wald, informs us that we have less than 7 percent usage of alternative and renewable energies. This statistic alone is staggering since we are heading into a an age where renewable energy is the talk of the town. Now that the price of wind powered and solar energy have declined over the years there is a good opportunity to utilize its renewable capabilities and implement it into our daily lives.
The sources that I have found have given me more hope because I thought that I would fail utterly in my search to find something useful and promising in my research paper, but with these sources I have found them. Also this library search class that we recently took is very very very useful because I had no idea that there was such great resources before, especially on the net. My research questions may be in the this format: Has green renewable technologies really produced green collar jobs in America? I want this to be my topic because I have found many useful sources for this particular topic. I may want to even narrow my search down to be more specific but it is only a matter of time when I find more information that helps support my topic of choice.
The author, Neil Seldman, the cofounder and president of the Local Institute for Local Self-Reliance, talks about the problems of industrial waste and the severity of the effects that it has on our environment. While some companies just produce waste, others produce waste and seek to transform these wastes into renewable resources such as top soil for agricultural purposes. Evidently most of these companies are willing to work with other organizations to produce a better waste management plan and in the end work towards a zero waste industrial process.
Eweres, Justin. Keeping the Solar Dream Alive. U.S. News & World Report, 146(3) 2009, 21-2
The author, Justin Eweres, reports on a company, BrightSource, which has promising technology that will wean the US’s endless search for renewable resources by building solar power policies in Californian desserts. This alternative energy source is supposed to be comparable to burning fossil fuels. BrightSource which has already constructed their first 400-megawatt solar plant, called Ivanpah, will create enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. Not is this only the future but it seems very promising because of the progress that has been made over the years.
Wald, Matthew L. The Power of Renewables. Scientific American, Vol. 300, Issue 3, March 2009
The author, Matthew L. Wald, informs us that we have less than 7 percent usage of alternative and renewable energies. This statistic alone is staggering since we are heading into a an age where renewable energy is the talk of the town. Now that the price of wind powered and solar energy have declined over the years there is a good opportunity to utilize its renewable capabilities and implement it into our daily lives.
The sources that I have found have given me more hope because I thought that I would fail utterly in my search to find something useful and promising in my research paper, but with these sources I have found them. Also this library search class that we recently took is very very very useful because I had no idea that there was such great resources before, especially on the net. My research questions may be in the this format: Has green renewable technologies really produced green collar jobs in America? I want this to be my topic because I have found many useful sources for this particular topic. I may want to even narrow my search down to be more specific but it is only a matter of time when I find more information that helps support my topic of choice.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Assignment #8
Well, that sheet of paper that was handed out to us was, I thought, was quite helpful in helping us narrow down our research topics. Also the reason why I picked the topic that I picked was because I am really into searching for alternatives for everyday energy alternatives. Green technology is what will help us move forth into the future because it is energy saving and could potentially create millions of jobs. As a stakeholder, I would say that I am a consumer and an investor, and that I am going to have to keep a close eye on this progressive reform in our technology. Furthermore, I am all for green technology because it is quite possibly the future, and we can only do so much so that we live better lives in the future.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Assignment 7
To fufill this assignment, a thorough read of the sources that Nye uses in his book were vital to the understanding and completion of this assignment. The read was time consuming but in the end it was worth it because it was indeed an interesting read and it really helped shaped my paper. I really had to read through the chapter that I picked and see what Nye uses in his examples and then, thoroughly see if he is fairly quoting the full context and purpose of the book rather than just a sentence to get his point across. I found that Nye quoted the context of the books and sources that I used, but sometimes they were kind of plain on Nye's side in regards to detail and efficiency.
As for the online peer editing, it has always been the same to me because it's really up to the writer to carefully select and improvise their paper according to the comments that are made. I found that the comments were not "critical" enough sometimes, and they were just there for self-encouragement because nobody wants to be that person who is disliked by everyone. Other than that I think that online peer editing has a lot of potential to be helpful and beneficial to the writer. That is ofcourse that the right ways to critique are used.
I found that Nye uses multiple resources and he only has so much time to do this book. By the number sources he used and went through to obtain just "one" quote I think is hard enough. He may not have quoted accurately and fairly all the time but no one's perfect. He can't find that perfect quote that says it all, but I don't think in any of my sources, they had something that explained it all. Since Nye was answering multiple questions in a shorter book, I think that I would take the time to write several different books on each topic because there is simply too much information that is needed to make a good argument on let's say, the environmental problem. My sources have about 300 pages just on the environmental problem. So in short I believe that he is simply missing out on a lot of detail, no matter what he does in this sub 200 page book, it can't simply answer all the questions thoroughly and consistently.
As for the online peer editing, it has always been the same to me because it's really up to the writer to carefully select and improvise their paper according to the comments that are made. I found that the comments were not "critical" enough sometimes, and they were just there for self-encouragement because nobody wants to be that person who is disliked by everyone. Other than that I think that online peer editing has a lot of potential to be helpful and beneficial to the writer. That is ofcourse that the right ways to critique are used.
I found that Nye uses multiple resources and he only has so much time to do this book. By the number sources he used and went through to obtain just "one" quote I think is hard enough. He may not have quoted accurately and fairly all the time but no one's perfect. He can't find that perfect quote that says it all, but I don't think in any of my sources, they had something that explained it all. Since Nye was answering multiple questions in a shorter book, I think that I would take the time to write several different books on each topic because there is simply too much information that is needed to make a good argument on let's say, the environmental problem. My sources have about 300 pages just on the environmental problem. So in short I believe that he is simply missing out on a lot of detail, no matter what he does in this sub 200 page book, it can't simply answer all the questions thoroughly and consistently.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Assignment #5
Technology has its many advantages that increase our crop yield and improves the efficiency in which we work. Also with technology comes disadvantage such as poisons that hurt the soil in which we plant our crops, and the buildup of greenhouse gases that is beginning to destroy this very planet that we reside in. David Nye’s chapter, Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis? talks about the positive and negative effects that technology has on our planet. From the Industrial Revolution to today’s astonishing and plentiful ways of imbedding technology into nature, we have come a long way indeed, but there are still aspects of our technology that may seem very ancient indeed.
David Nye holds a neutral approach to the topic about technological effects on nature as he does in most of the questions that arise in his book, Technology Matters. From his chapter, Nye states that technology has come a long way, and there are noticeable advantages that have helped the human aspect of yielding crop, “In 1890 a single US farmer could produce 380 bushels of wheat in the same time his grandfather needed to produce 20 bushels in 1830. The productivity gains were greater for barley less for other crops” (Nye 90). Here we see an example of how technology has made a positive effect on the usage of land and also creating a more positive future by assuring that there is abundance in food. Nye goes on to talk about the effects of technology that has negatively impacted nature, “Likewise, burning coal produces not only electricity but also smoke containing sulfur dioxide that falls to the earth as acid rain, destroying plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The burning of fossil fuels is not the only disadvantage of technology but there are other technologies that cause negative effects on our soil, “In the twentieth century alone, the United States lost to erosion topsoil that took 1,000 years to form, and it continues to lose topsoil at a rate of 1.7 billion tons a year” (Nye 98). Here we see the negatives and positives that technology brings to the table, yet the ideas and issues that Nye brings up in his book are only a small percentage of what the real effects of technology are.
Nye talks endlessly about the environmental issues not just at hand but those that were present hundreds of years ago. In one of the sources, The Human Impact on the Natural Environment, which is used in Nye’s book, it talks about everything from the human impact on vegetation to the human impact on soil and animals. On issue I took note with in Nye’s book was that it didn’t include as much detail and facts as it would in The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. For example, Andrew Goudie, the author of The Human Impact on the Natural Environment uses lots of diagrams and figures to get his point across on how much of an impact technology has on nature. When Goudie talks about flooding in Egypt he uses figures that are rather important in getting the point across, “ The results of sea-level rise in sensitive areas (e.g. low-lying coasts, deltas, marshes) will be marked. Broadus et al. (1986), for example that were the sea level to rise by just 1 metre in 100 years, 12-15 percent of Egypt’s arable land would be lost and 16 per cent of the population would be relocated” ( Goudie 406). Not only does Goudie only use figures and diagrams, but he asks questions, and furthers it but answering the question. Furthermore, Goudie goes on to use examples that are relevant only to the flooding of Egypt. I believe Nye overlooks the figures that Goudie presents in his book and maybe he thinks that without using those figures could give a more free flowing presentation to the reader, but I believe that enough figures will just help portray a better example of the issue.
Another source that Nye uses in his book is, Technology versus Nature: What is Natural? By Holmes Rolston III. There are multiple aspects to Rolston’s article on nature and technology, but to begin with, I will talk about Rolston’s section, Nature at an End? In this particular section, he talks about the need for humans to build, build, and build, “'Man is by nature a political animal,' said Aristotle.[13] The human genus may be animal, but the human differentia or essence is to build a polis, a town. The human habitat is village, town, city, which is another way of saying that human life is political, social, or, as we have been saying, cultural and technological. In agriculture, the plowed field is symbolic-an artifact remade from nature, using a technology, the plow. Ancient cultures, not less than modern ones, re-made the landscapes they used for their villages, fields, and flocks” (Rolston 5). I believe that this example should have been used to start out Nye’s chapter on, Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis? because it is rather catchy and has purpose to it. I believe that this is one particular aspect of his writing that he overlooked. I’m not concluding that Nye’s chapter on the environment was not suitable and informative enough, because in reality it is actually really good. It is just missing some ideas that I believe he overlooked and misrepresented from all of these sources that he has used.
After skimming through these books and exploring the topic of nature and technology more, I am narrowing down to such topics as, the effects that cities have on the environment, and how the usage of land has on the environment. I might begin to narrow my topics down by reading more into possibly how erosion, chemicals, and farming equipment may have on the land surrounding farmland. Also I would like to look more into the destruction of the rainforest for the sake of farmland, because the rainforest holds many resources that are incredibly helpful to us humans instead being looked at as mere farmland. The stakeholders I believe are the governments who hold in their hands the power to destroy these lands for farm use or to keep them around for the sake of helping out mankind in the future. Also they have the power to govern their people and essentially forcing them into using environmentally green technologies such as alternative fuels and wind power instead of burning fossil fuels that essentially cause global warming. Easily said, they hold in their hands the future of this planet.
Nye talks about the positives and negatives of technology, and how it is affecting our environment. From the car that pollutes the earth to the chemical that poisons our lands, there are alternatives to what we use every day in terms of technology, but Nye doesn’t use enough of the sources that help define the chapter, Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis? in his book. He initially doesn’t use enough figures and diagrams to work out his issues and provide a more head on approach to work out this particular chapter. Although Nye has missed some of these aspects, he has used enough of the sources to get his point across, but other than that, he needs to use more figures to support his ideas.
David Nye holds a neutral approach to the topic about technological effects on nature as he does in most of the questions that arise in his book, Technology Matters. From his chapter, Nye states that technology has come a long way, and there are noticeable advantages that have helped the human aspect of yielding crop, “In 1890 a single US farmer could produce 380 bushels of wheat in the same time his grandfather needed to produce 20 bushels in 1830. The productivity gains were greater for barley less for other crops” (Nye 90). Here we see an example of how technology has made a positive effect on the usage of land and also creating a more positive future by assuring that there is abundance in food. Nye goes on to talk about the effects of technology that has negatively impacted nature, “Likewise, burning coal produces not only electricity but also smoke containing sulfur dioxide that falls to the earth as acid rain, destroying plants, fish, and wildlife” (Nye 96). The burning of fossil fuels is not the only disadvantage of technology but there are other technologies that cause negative effects on our soil, “In the twentieth century alone, the United States lost to erosion topsoil that took 1,000 years to form, and it continues to lose topsoil at a rate of 1.7 billion tons a year” (Nye 98). Here we see the negatives and positives that technology brings to the table, yet the ideas and issues that Nye brings up in his book are only a small percentage of what the real effects of technology are.
Nye talks endlessly about the environmental issues not just at hand but those that were present hundreds of years ago. In one of the sources, The Human Impact on the Natural Environment, which is used in Nye’s book, it talks about everything from the human impact on vegetation to the human impact on soil and animals. On issue I took note with in Nye’s book was that it didn’t include as much detail and facts as it would in The Human Impact on the Natural Environment. For example, Andrew Goudie, the author of The Human Impact on the Natural Environment uses lots of diagrams and figures to get his point across on how much of an impact technology has on nature. When Goudie talks about flooding in Egypt he uses figures that are rather important in getting the point across, “ The results of sea-level rise in sensitive areas (e.g. low-lying coasts, deltas, marshes) will be marked. Broadus et al. (1986), for example that were the sea level to rise by just 1 metre in 100 years, 12-15 percent of Egypt’s arable land would be lost and 16 per cent of the population would be relocated” ( Goudie 406). Not only does Goudie only use figures and diagrams, but he asks questions, and furthers it but answering the question. Furthermore, Goudie goes on to use examples that are relevant only to the flooding of Egypt. I believe Nye overlooks the figures that Goudie presents in his book and maybe he thinks that without using those figures could give a more free flowing presentation to the reader, but I believe that enough figures will just help portray a better example of the issue.
Another source that Nye uses in his book is, Technology versus Nature: What is Natural? By Holmes Rolston III. There are multiple aspects to Rolston’s article on nature and technology, but to begin with, I will talk about Rolston’s section, Nature at an End? In this particular section, he talks about the need for humans to build, build, and build, “'Man is by nature a political animal,' said Aristotle.[13] The human genus may be animal, but the human differentia or essence is to build a polis, a town. The human habitat is village, town, city, which is another way of saying that human life is political, social, or, as we have been saying, cultural and technological. In agriculture, the plowed field is symbolic-an artifact remade from nature, using a technology, the plow. Ancient cultures, not less than modern ones, re-made the landscapes they used for their villages, fields, and flocks” (Rolston 5). I believe that this example should have been used to start out Nye’s chapter on, Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis? because it is rather catchy and has purpose to it. I believe that this is one particular aspect of his writing that he overlooked. I’m not concluding that Nye’s chapter on the environment was not suitable and informative enough, because in reality it is actually really good. It is just missing some ideas that I believe he overlooked and misrepresented from all of these sources that he has used.
After skimming through these books and exploring the topic of nature and technology more, I am narrowing down to such topics as, the effects that cities have on the environment, and how the usage of land has on the environment. I might begin to narrow my topics down by reading more into possibly how erosion, chemicals, and farming equipment may have on the land surrounding farmland. Also I would like to look more into the destruction of the rainforest for the sake of farmland, because the rainforest holds many resources that are incredibly helpful to us humans instead being looked at as mere farmland. The stakeholders I believe are the governments who hold in their hands the power to destroy these lands for farm use or to keep them around for the sake of helping out mankind in the future. Also they have the power to govern their people and essentially forcing them into using environmentally green technologies such as alternative fuels and wind power instead of burning fossil fuels that essentially cause global warming. Easily said, they hold in their hands the future of this planet.
Nye talks about the positives and negatives of technology, and how it is affecting our environment. From the car that pollutes the earth to the chemical that poisons our lands, there are alternatives to what we use every day in terms of technology, but Nye doesn’t use enough of the sources that help define the chapter, Sustainable Abundance or Ecological Crisis? in his book. He initially doesn’t use enough figures and diagrams to work out his issues and provide a more head on approach to work out this particular chapter. Although Nye has missed some of these aspects, he has used enough of the sources to get his point across, but other than that, he needs to use more figures to support his ideas.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Blog Assignment #5
"In more ominious visions, machines replace workers altogether. In Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, society is divided sharply between rich and the poor. The latter live and labor underground, beneath the shining towers of the city. A master technician finds a way to replace them with robots. The wealthy then provoke a rebellion so that the workers can be crushed and eliminated" (Nye 120)
"Rifin's book The End of Work was at best premature in predicitng the inevitable disappearance of jobs in the global labor market. If assembly lines, computers, robots, the Internet, and automated telecommuniccations displaced millions of workers, during the 1990s growing consumer demand created even more jobs in exchange" (Nye 128)
From Kim Vicente's The Human Factor, the concept of the Human Factor arises. Nye's views on technology have different sides to them, and I chose to look for passages that in my opinion, showed how the human factor is potrayed more in Nye's book.
The Human factor is saying that, humans can't keep up with technology, and thus we humans are at a lose when it comes to the advancedment of technology. I mean how is your average man going to compete with a robot, which replaced him, with a job that he can no longer have. Ofcourse the robot is much faster than he is, and more efficient at that to, not to mention cheap. So what is his only option now? To embrace technology and live with it or find another job only to be kicked out because machines are taking over. We are only humans! We can't work as efficiently as a robot because there is something called the Human factor holding us back. We can't calculate arithmitic as fast as a computer, and we certainly can't assemble a car as fast as an assembly line could.
Vicente expands on Nye's idea of a world where people are getting replaced by machines because the machines are more efficient and work at a lower cost than a worker would. Vicente brings in the Human factor in support of Nye's idea by essentially saying that we can work, but the only thing holding us back is the simple fact that says we are not machines and can't work 24/7 because we are humans. We are more prone to mistakes than a programmed robot is, thus we are replaced because we are only human in the working world.
"Rifin's book The End of Work was at best premature in predicitng the inevitable disappearance of jobs in the global labor market. If assembly lines, computers, robots, the Internet, and automated telecommuniccations displaced millions of workers, during the 1990s growing consumer demand created even more jobs in exchange" (Nye 128)
From Kim Vicente's The Human Factor, the concept of the Human Factor arises. Nye's views on technology have different sides to them, and I chose to look for passages that in my opinion, showed how the human factor is potrayed more in Nye's book.
The Human factor is saying that, humans can't keep up with technology, and thus we humans are at a lose when it comes to the advancedment of technology. I mean how is your average man going to compete with a robot, which replaced him, with a job that he can no longer have. Ofcourse the robot is much faster than he is, and more efficient at that to, not to mention cheap. So what is his only option now? To embrace technology and live with it or find another job only to be kicked out because machines are taking over. We are only humans! We can't work as efficiently as a robot because there is something called the Human factor holding us back. We can't calculate arithmitic as fast as a computer, and we certainly can't assemble a car as fast as an assembly line could.
Vicente expands on Nye's idea of a world where people are getting replaced by machines because the machines are more efficient and work at a lower cost than a worker would. Vicente brings in the Human factor in support of Nye's idea by essentially saying that we can work, but the only thing holding us back is the simple fact that says we are not machines and can't work 24/7 because we are humans. We are more prone to mistakes than a programmed robot is, thus we are replaced because we are only human in the working world.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Blog Assignment #4
"Does Technology Control Us?"
Well, one of the stakeholders that Nye presents in his chapter 2 : "Does Technology Control Us?" is television industry because back then they could of lost a lot or gained a lot. "In the United States television is specular, not religious; private, not public; funded by advertising, not taxation; and a conduit primarily of entertainment, not education. These are cultural choices" (Nye 19). Without the interest of the American people, television would of never gone anywhere. It would of just been another example of today's XM radio, which has many drawbacks, no support, and NO interest by the American people. Without the support of the American people there is nothing you can do to further a technology.
What kinds of sources does he draw from? The sources that Nye draw from are Capitalism and Material Life by Fernand Baraudel. In this particular source Nye talks about how technology is only an instrument and that man does not necessarily need it to survive. However, some technologies, such as electricity, are so profoundly useful that it has been implemented into society. Furthermore, Nye also draws ideas from Edward Tenner's book, Why Things Bite Back. That part of the chapter explains how either technology breaks it or makes it for you company. His test was that he initially got rid of secrataries and replaced them with machines. The results, I thought, were astonishing! Reducing staff raised 43% of companies profits while 24% suffered loses in their newly implemented ideas. Moving on, Nye draws from another author, Alvin Toffler, who wrote Future Shock and The Third Wave, stating that technology has gone far beyong that in which a human can comprehend with. Initially, Nye uses lots of examples and has various articles that help determine both views on technology.
What are some of the tentative conclusions Nye makes in regards to the question he poses.
Some conclusions that Nye makes is that when he uses examples about the industrial revolution he is clearly stating that technology controls us because people are losing their jobs for something that man created to do a more efficient job, but in the process it makes us lose our jobs. Also he talks about the Japanese and how they firmly rejected the gun. This just goes to show that technology does not indeed control us, but we control it. The Japanese banned the gun for centuries, but finally implemented it. For the most part, from what the Japanese did, it's totally up to society to see what they want to do in terms of letting technology control them or vice versa.
Finally, given your own experience and perspective how would YOU answer the question Nye poses? Well, first off, I would definitely say that it is a line right down the center of the debate of "Does Technology Control Us?" because of the following. We as a society choose what we want to implement into our societies. We as consumers choose what we want to buy, in terms of technologies such as cameras, computers, etc. We have choice to technology, and most of use choose to buy these gadgets that make our live not necessarily easier but just more entertaining. Your camera isn't crucial to your survival but you still buy it because you strive for it, you just want it. On the other hand, there are technologies that control us, for example, the Internet. The Internet is a major part of our lives. Ofcourse we can live without, but most of us use it so much that we wouldn't know what to do if it were to suddenly disappear one day. Actually, now that I think about it. Technology does control us, and that's kind of sad, but technology can't do anything with a human's input. Still it controls us to no end, and will continue to do so as long as we have more technological advances.
Well, one of the stakeholders that Nye presents in his chapter 2 : "Does Technology Control Us?" is television industry because back then they could of lost a lot or gained a lot. "In the United States television is specular, not religious; private, not public; funded by advertising, not taxation; and a conduit primarily of entertainment, not education. These are cultural choices" (Nye 19). Without the interest of the American people, television would of never gone anywhere. It would of just been another example of today's XM radio, which has many drawbacks, no support, and NO interest by the American people. Without the support of the American people there is nothing you can do to further a technology.
What kinds of sources does he draw from? The sources that Nye draw from are Capitalism and Material Life by Fernand Baraudel. In this particular source Nye talks about how technology is only an instrument and that man does not necessarily need it to survive. However, some technologies, such as electricity, are so profoundly useful that it has been implemented into society. Furthermore, Nye also draws ideas from Edward Tenner's book, Why Things Bite Back. That part of the chapter explains how either technology breaks it or makes it for you company. His test was that he initially got rid of secrataries and replaced them with machines. The results, I thought, were astonishing! Reducing staff raised 43% of companies profits while 24% suffered loses in their newly implemented ideas. Moving on, Nye draws from another author, Alvin Toffler, who wrote Future Shock and The Third Wave, stating that technology has gone far beyong that in which a human can comprehend with. Initially, Nye uses lots of examples and has various articles that help determine both views on technology.
What are some of the tentative conclusions Nye makes in regards to the question he poses.
Some conclusions that Nye makes is that when he uses examples about the industrial revolution he is clearly stating that technology controls us because people are losing their jobs for something that man created to do a more efficient job, but in the process it makes us lose our jobs. Also he talks about the Japanese and how they firmly rejected the gun. This just goes to show that technology does not indeed control us, but we control it. The Japanese banned the gun for centuries, but finally implemented it. For the most part, from what the Japanese did, it's totally up to society to see what they want to do in terms of letting technology control them or vice versa.
Finally, given your own experience and perspective how would YOU answer the question Nye poses? Well, first off, I would definitely say that it is a line right down the center of the debate of "Does Technology Control Us?" because of the following. We as a society choose what we want to implement into our societies. We as consumers choose what we want to buy, in terms of technologies such as cameras, computers, etc. We have choice to technology, and most of use choose to buy these gadgets that make our live not necessarily easier but just more entertaining. Your camera isn't crucial to your survival but you still buy it because you strive for it, you just want it. On the other hand, there are technologies that control us, for example, the Internet. The Internet is a major part of our lives. Ofcourse we can live without, but most of us use it so much that we wouldn't know what to do if it were to suddenly disappear one day. Actually, now that I think about it. Technology does control us, and that's kind of sad, but technology can't do anything with a human's input. Still it controls us to no end, and will continue to do so as long as we have more technological advances.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Blog Assignment #3
Let's start off by saying that this, I chose to focus on the author's opinions vs my own in my paper because their opinions were much different from mine. I just wanted to get my point out there and show that according to me, they were skeptics about technology. Moving on, the things that I believed helped me out the most was of course the author's opinion which helped me to develop my own. Then we have the idea that technology is rather bad, which was the main points of these books. From there I just wrote an essay that had my opinion and the author's stated. I chose to construct my essay from the author's ideas and from that it really shaped my essay, but the one thing that I wish I would've done earlier was include some quotes in there to show some support.
The peer editing I really liked because it allowed people to add comments more easily and the comments people made were good, and it was an overall good experience. Another thing is that I really preferred this over the old peer editing sessions where everyone passes their papers around. There wasn't much to do to "leap" because online is much easier than going to class and having everyone switch papers. Initially, it was a success!
The peer editing I really liked because it allowed people to add comments more easily and the comments people made were good, and it was an overall good experience. Another thing is that I really preferred this over the old peer editing sessions where everyone passes their papers around. There wasn't much to do to "leap" because online is much easier than going to class and having everyone switch papers. Initially, it was a success!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
First Essay Rough Draft
Imagine a world without electricity, cars, and computers. Today’s world would be violently different from what it would be like if there was not something called technology that existed. Technological advancements have helped us humans work more efficiently and get to our destinations much faster. Without technology we would still be walking or riding a horse just to get to our workplace. Without technology we would be blind at night, we would not be able to explore the depths of the ocean, without technology we would be lost. According to Kurt Vonnegut and Kim Vicente technology and humans should not and do not get along very well at all. Vicente stated that technology is to be blamed for the deaths caused by the human factor every year. While Vonnegut argues that the human minds of the Hoenikker children are unable to maintain and keep something so simple and catastrophic as ice-nine under wraps. Thus their stupidity and carelessness means the end of the world.
From the grocery store cash register to the microchip imbedded in your cars computer system, technology is all around us. Along with it we evolve into more efficient and capable society, but there are flaws that come with along. Along with technology comes uncertainty and problems and that is what Kim Vicente and Kurt Vonnegut set out to argue. Kim Vicente’s The Human Factor talks about the issues that plague today’s world. From the problem that caused the power plant in Chernobyl to explode. This technology mixed with “the human factor” can cause a devastating outcome. The reason for the faulty reactor was that the people in charge were human rather than not being adequately trained. The reason, as said by Vicente, is that technology is moving at such a rapid pace that humans can’t keep up with it, thus “the human factor”. Kurt Vonnegut says something along the same lines as Kim Vicente too because of his book, Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut essentially has people who are in charge of a potentially devastating weapon, and these people are rather not qualified to do this job. The Hoenikkers, the ones in charge of ice-nine, are rather dull and incapable. They may be smart and all but when it comes to responsibilities and decision making they are not the brightest. You can say that the similarities between Vonnegut and Vicente is that they both talk about “the human factor” because they both use aspects of it that cause trouble and demise in one way or another. Initially Vicente and Vonnegut are saying that technology is moving at too fast a pace for humans to keep up with and being able to adapt with thus causing all these problems that we have today.
Vonnegut and Vicente are bringing up questions that attack the reliability and integrity of our technology and those who are operating it. From nurses who mix medicines that are not suppose to be mixed to the pilot who crashed his plane because he didn’t get enough sleep. Some questions that they could potentially be raising are, is technology moving too fast for man to handle? This is a suitable question because it is true; the rate in which technology is moving at is far greater than that in which the average person can comprehend. Technology is moving at such an incredible rate that anyone who is going to even think about operating anything advanced is forced to go through extensive training that qualifies them for that particular job. Another question that is deemed to be asked is, is technology that we have today is really necessary? This question is also deemed true because of the simple fact that some of the technology created isn’t even needed for the advancement of mankind. For example, a calculator that can calculate formulas a few seconds faster than its competitors is not required because a regular calculator is just fine how it is. There is no need to create something that extreme that will just make life more difficult for us with no improvements in the quality of life.
Initially, the way in which I would respond to these authors is that they need to stop thinking so critically of technology. The reason why I say this is that everything has its mishaps because nothing is perfect. It is bound to have a defect with it and even if it doesn’t, there will still be the human factor because humans cannot quickly adapt to such technology and succeed in fully understanding everything. The authors need to keep their opinions more open minded because from what I’ve read, they are mostly saying negative things about technology. I believe they can still be technology dependant and still batter it left and right, but they just need to be more open minded. Of course there are going to be some plane crashes every here and now, but it is not oblivious to think that the people who engineered the machinery are not working day and night to make the airplane a much safer way for Americans to travel. I’m not going to say that there aren’t any careless people out there that not doing their jobs properly and in effect losing a life, but rather the authors shouldn’t bash technology. It’s mostly the people who are working at the power plants and the guy who accidentally gave too much medicine to a patient. They are the ones to blame, not necessarily the technology.
All in all, technology is a part of our lives, and with technology we can either further advancement or quickly disappear with it without the adequate training. The authors bashed technology and “the human factor” in their books, and most likely ask questions that are well suited for the situation, but the real problem is not technology moving too quick rather that people are not doing this without thinking about what they are doing. Technology can be our friend with the proper handling or our enemy in the wrong hand.
From the grocery store cash register to the microchip imbedded in your cars computer system, technology is all around us. Along with it we evolve into more efficient and capable society, but there are flaws that come with along. Along with technology comes uncertainty and problems and that is what Kim Vicente and Kurt Vonnegut set out to argue. Kim Vicente’s The Human Factor talks about the issues that plague today’s world. From the problem that caused the power plant in Chernobyl to explode. This technology mixed with “the human factor” can cause a devastating outcome. The reason for the faulty reactor was that the people in charge were human rather than not being adequately trained. The reason, as said by Vicente, is that technology is moving at such a rapid pace that humans can’t keep up with it, thus “the human factor”. Kurt Vonnegut says something along the same lines as Kim Vicente too because of his book, Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut essentially has people who are in charge of a potentially devastating weapon, and these people are rather not qualified to do this job. The Hoenikkers, the ones in charge of ice-nine, are rather dull and incapable. They may be smart and all but when it comes to responsibilities and decision making they are not the brightest. You can say that the similarities between Vonnegut and Vicente is that they both talk about “the human factor” because they both use aspects of it that cause trouble and demise in one way or another. Initially Vicente and Vonnegut are saying that technology is moving at too fast a pace for humans to keep up with and being able to adapt with thus causing all these problems that we have today.
Vonnegut and Vicente are bringing up questions that attack the reliability and integrity of our technology and those who are operating it. From nurses who mix medicines that are not suppose to be mixed to the pilot who crashed his plane because he didn’t get enough sleep. Some questions that they could potentially be raising are, is technology moving too fast for man to handle? This is a suitable question because it is true; the rate in which technology is moving at is far greater than that in which the average person can comprehend. Technology is moving at such an incredible rate that anyone who is going to even think about operating anything advanced is forced to go through extensive training that qualifies them for that particular job. Another question that is deemed to be asked is, is technology that we have today is really necessary? This question is also deemed true because of the simple fact that some of the technology created isn’t even needed for the advancement of mankind. For example, a calculator that can calculate formulas a few seconds faster than its competitors is not required because a regular calculator is just fine how it is. There is no need to create something that extreme that will just make life more difficult for us with no improvements in the quality of life.
Initially, the way in which I would respond to these authors is that they need to stop thinking so critically of technology. The reason why I say this is that everything has its mishaps because nothing is perfect. It is bound to have a defect with it and even if it doesn’t, there will still be the human factor because humans cannot quickly adapt to such technology and succeed in fully understanding everything. The authors need to keep their opinions more open minded because from what I’ve read, they are mostly saying negative things about technology. I believe they can still be technology dependant and still batter it left and right, but they just need to be more open minded. Of course there are going to be some plane crashes every here and now, but it is not oblivious to think that the people who engineered the machinery are not working day and night to make the airplane a much safer way for Americans to travel. I’m not going to say that there aren’t any careless people out there that not doing their jobs properly and in effect losing a life, but rather the authors shouldn’t bash technology. It’s mostly the people who are working at the power plants and the guy who accidentally gave too much medicine to a patient. They are the ones to blame, not necessarily the technology.
All in all, technology is a part of our lives, and with technology we can either further advancement or quickly disappear with it without the adequate training. The authors bashed technology and “the human factor” in their books, and most likely ask questions that are well suited for the situation, but the real problem is not technology moving too quick rather that people are not doing this without thinking about what they are doing. Technology can be our friend with the proper handling or our enemy in the wrong hand.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Blog Assignment #2
"There was a sound like that of the gentle closing of a portal as big as the sky, the great door of heaven being closed softly. It was a grand AH-WHOOM. I opened my eyes-and all the sea was ice-nine. The moist green earth was a blue-white pearl. The sky darkened. Borasisi, the sun, became a sickly yellow ball, tiny, and cruel. The sky was filled with worms. The worms were tornadoes."
The aftermath of the accidental mishandling of the ice-nine into the ocean has had a devastating tole on the Earth and Life. Vonnegut's purpose of showing the aftermath of the traumatic event is that there is a high level of stupidity in this world and lots of it too. Also, I think I think he is trying to say that if you mix stupidity along with such an advanced level of technology in the hands of amateurs like the Hoenikker children, there is a high chance of death. Thus causing the world to be covered in ice and man eating tornadoes to ravage the world around! Well, if it were up to me, and I happened to have a piece of this ice-nine. I'd honestly be much much more careful with it instead of having it in a capsule around my neck. Just imagine all the catastrophes that could happen. If I accidentally dropped it into any water source that would mean eternal doom for everyone because all water sources are connected one way or another even if it's underground.
I believe that what Vonnegut has to say true to a point because if something this sensitive is put out like this, it will most likely pose a huge problem for mankind. Not to offend anyone, but there are people who are not capable to handle this type of technology especially the Hoenikker children. Plus Felix was irresponsible in the first place to leave something such as this to his children and not cleaning up his mess before he died. He maybe the creator of the atom bomb and ice-nine but what is the purpose if his creation isn't put to proper use. When you create something you have to make sure that it's purpose is the same as what you intended it for when you first thought of that invention. Again, we all know that Felix was indeed a very intellectual man, but he had no emotions, no sense from right and wrong in a way, and almost zombie like with one purpose in mind: to mess around with things, thus creating the atom bomb and ice-nine.
Personally I only to a certain extent with what Vonnegut has to say. I agree with the idea that unqualified people with certain technologies are bad, but Vonnegut throws this idea out there that technology is BAD! Humans + Technology usually ends up in catastrophe. For the most part after reading his book that is what I believe he is trying to get at and that is his opinion. I believe that technology does have its drawbacks when it's in the wrong hands, but we can't say that technology is always bad because if it was we'd be in a huge mess right now. I mean, technology is what helped us get through everyday life more conveniently and comfortably. Without it we'd still be cavemen with flint rocks and wood. Therefore, I only agree with the stupidity part of what Vonnegut is saying but disagree with the whole technology is bad because technology is indeed good for us.
The aftermath of the accidental mishandling of the ice-nine into the ocean has had a devastating tole on the Earth and Life. Vonnegut's purpose of showing the aftermath of the traumatic event is that there is a high level of stupidity in this world and lots of it too. Also, I think I think he is trying to say that if you mix stupidity along with such an advanced level of technology in the hands of amateurs like the Hoenikker children, there is a high chance of death. Thus causing the world to be covered in ice and man eating tornadoes to ravage the world around! Well, if it were up to me, and I happened to have a piece of this ice-nine. I'd honestly be much much more careful with it instead of having it in a capsule around my neck. Just imagine all the catastrophes that could happen. If I accidentally dropped it into any water source that would mean eternal doom for everyone because all water sources are connected one way or another even if it's underground.
I believe that what Vonnegut has to say true to a point because if something this sensitive is put out like this, it will most likely pose a huge problem for mankind. Not to offend anyone, but there are people who are not capable to handle this type of technology especially the Hoenikker children. Plus Felix was irresponsible in the first place to leave something such as this to his children and not cleaning up his mess before he died. He maybe the creator of the atom bomb and ice-nine but what is the purpose if his creation isn't put to proper use. When you create something you have to make sure that it's purpose is the same as what you intended it for when you first thought of that invention. Again, we all know that Felix was indeed a very intellectual man, but he had no emotions, no sense from right and wrong in a way, and almost zombie like with one purpose in mind: to mess around with things, thus creating the atom bomb and ice-nine.
Personally I only to a certain extent with what Vonnegut has to say. I agree with the idea that unqualified people with certain technologies are bad, but Vonnegut throws this idea out there that technology is BAD! Humans + Technology usually ends up in catastrophe. For the most part after reading his book that is what I believe he is trying to get at and that is his opinion. I believe that technology does have its drawbacks when it's in the wrong hands, but we can't say that technology is always bad because if it was we'd be in a huge mess right now. I mean, technology is what helped us get through everyday life more conveniently and comfortably. Without it we'd still be cavemen with flint rocks and wood. Therefore, I only agree with the stupidity part of what Vonnegut is saying but disagree with the whole technology is bad because technology is indeed good for us.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Blog Assignment #1
First and foremost, Kim Vicente's "human factor" is heavily referenced in The Human Factor because she explains a lot about how being human in a technologically advanced world is, in a sense, a flaw. This is so because we're only human, and so prone to errors. For example, if there were a perfect piece of machinery out there, which doesn't exist, and humans were the operators, it wouldn't be so perfect anymore. You'd have to take into consideration the human factor which is the idea that we're only humans and again so prone to errors. From what I've read, Vicente's verdicts are mostly arguing that technology overall is bad. Rarely does she use light words of appreciation for the technology that we have today. I'm guessing that she does so because she firmly believes that technology is in a way to blame for the faults that we have today. From the, 98,000 Americans who die annually due to preventable medical errors to the hundreds that lost their lives to the Chernobyl explosion, I believe that these errors only human based. I understand that Vicente is trying to say that technology is convenient for everyday life but humans are just not perfectly assimilated with technology to be fool proof. Now when I talk about the relationship between "the human factor" and Cat's Cradle, there is an immense similarity between the two.
Cat's Cradle focuses enough on the atomic bomb to use it as an aspect of "the human factor" because the atomic bomb was a miracle weapon that could bring peace to the world or havoc to everything that we've known to this day. Once again, "the human factor" played a part in the creation and dropping of the atomic bomb because at this time period the world was not ready for such an advanced weapon. Furthermore, like Vicente stated, the technology of the atom bomb was more than a human can handle, thus "the human factor". Not does Vonnegut explore only the atom bomb, but he also explores ice-nine. Again, another technology that the world is not ready for because it is just too advanced for humans to keep up with. Not only is this ice-nine too advanced, but it's also too mysterious to know the potential that it has. This piece of ice-nine is potentially a miniature atom bomb because it could accidentally fall into the world's water supply and that will be the end for the Earth and all the life forms that currently exist on it.
The criticism that both of these authors have towards technology is a relatively negative one. Vicente pretty much says that technology is bad. While just totally disagrees with any type of technology that dehumanizes life. Overall I'd say that both authors are very similar in their views about technology because they both don't believe in technology that minutely limits human life in any shape or form.
Cat's Cradle focuses enough on the atomic bomb to use it as an aspect of "the human factor" because the atomic bomb was a miracle weapon that could bring peace to the world or havoc to everything that we've known to this day. Once again, "the human factor" played a part in the creation and dropping of the atomic bomb because at this time period the world was not ready for such an advanced weapon. Furthermore, like Vicente stated, the technology of the atom bomb was more than a human can handle, thus "the human factor". Not does Vonnegut explore only the atom bomb, but he also explores ice-nine. Again, another technology that the world is not ready for because it is just too advanced for humans to keep up with. Not only is this ice-nine too advanced, but it's also too mysterious to know the potential that it has. This piece of ice-nine is potentially a miniature atom bomb because it could accidentally fall into the world's water supply and that will be the end for the Earth and all the life forms that currently exist on it.
The criticism that both of these authors have towards technology is a relatively negative one. Vicente pretty much says that technology is bad. While just totally disagrees with any type of technology that dehumanizes life. Overall I'd say that both authors are very similar in their views about technology because they both don't believe in technology that minutely limits human life in any shape or form.
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