I just have a few observations on this professor's discussion of modernity and postmodernity. First of all, it seems like the notions of utopia and dystopia boil down to either having an optimistic or pessimistic view of the future. I have no doubt that the central theme of modernity was that of progress. On the one hand, we made exponential leaps and bounds in the realm of science during this time and came up with so much new technology that made our lives easier that it's easy to see how the dominant thought of this time period was one of the future being better. With all the progress that was being made, what was to say that it couldn't just continue to increase linearly, ad infinitum (to infinity)? Additionally, from the first World War to the 70's many of our Presidents (Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Fredrick Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, etc.) embraced and the notion of progress and a better future. Of course, this comes from the great faith in science and rationalization of this time period, but historically, America also went through some pretty tough times, namely, World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, and the Korean and Vietnam war. Most of these presidents wanted to give hope to American's during these periods of conflict and encourage them to believe in the American Ideal and the idea that all peoples of all nations should have the right to liberty and to determine the course of their own lives and government. They placed faith in the future because they wanted liberty to beat out tyranny and freedom to reign instead of oppression, both within the US and throughout the world. Maybe this was idealistic, but ultimately all they were really trying to do was give hope that good would triumph over evil and the future would be better than the present. thestig001
Interesting how you mentioned utopia and dystopia. Books like "Divergent" that are dystopian kind of have that negative, hopeless feel throughout them. But these societies had been modernized, because they took place in the future, so that is why Chicago was so different in "Divergent" then it is now. Tris and Four had a lot of more modernized weapons. This book, and other books similar to it, are great examples of what people now think the world will become in hundreds of years when technology has changed and the world has progressed. swimmer001
We like to discount the intelligence of the people before us very easily. It's contrary to logic, considering Tradition is the collective knowledge of all of our ancestors. It really speaks to the arrogance of the millennial generation. What I am alluding to are the Dystopian novels 1984 and Brave New World. If you read those books, then you pay attention to the news, and see the similarities, you would think that Orwell and Huxley were two time travelers. The fact that we haven't reached that level of society yet does not negate the fact that the trend is sketched heavily towards it. Human beings are the dominant species on earth due primarily to our unrivaled ability to predict, anticipate, and plan for the future. Yet when we have some of the most intelligent of us predicting mayhem, we completely ignore their warnings? Especially in a time where our ideals of Liberty and Freedom have been twisted to represent control and authoritarianism? In what free society are people forced to do business with others? What free society allows a comparably insignificant amount of people to change the definition of an institution that has been the same for thousands of years, just because that group of people are logically incapable of becoming a part of that institution but wish to do so because they feel "discriminated" against? Are the feelings of some, or even one person really a viable reason to take away someone's personal liberty? FreedomUnderGod001
Stig that was the point I was trying to make also is what was going on during those years for society to have hope at one point and then for it to change dramatically. People in our society today might have gone through so much that they thought of has hard times or they have seen the decline in humanity across the board. When society changes the way that it has over the years it seems as though we've made some great changes in the way people are treated or how things are ran etc. But then at what cost? Making things easier isn't always better. People are more entitled then ever and they think they deserve what that guy down the street has even though they have no clue how hard he worked for what he does have. In our US society for sure everybody just wants what everyone else has, so with our declining good job prospects maybe people are really freaking out that their so called American Dream isn't going to come true. Making jobs more technological and less people ran is great for the big guy who owns the company but completely destroys the worker who absolutely needed that job. Who ever invented that machine must have felt like he was changing the world and never once thought about how many people would be out of work because of it. Or didn't care either way. If we start thinking about humanity and our environment and really considering what all this modernity is doing to us...then what change needs to come? WonderWoman001
I thought it was interesting how he said more "fun" buildings were in postmodern places. We can easily see that in places like Australia with the Opera house. It's architecture is very different and beautiful which makes it a place people want to go see. Modernity is a logic of progress, as explained in the video. Change is normal in modernity societies. We see that a lot in America. Gay people now have the right to get married in some states. That is a big change from centuries ago. I also thought it was interesting how the man in the video said that people living in postmodern societies are interested in searching for the traditional past or “retro”. swimmer001
I think it's really interesting how modern architecture, with its emphasis on simplicity and efficiency, reflects the "modern" time period, during which the focus was definitely on making progress and using science. In a way, having more simplistic buildings is reflective of science because science does break down very complex systems and processes found in nature into more straightforward and simple ideas so that we can understand them. Maybe our return to more complex and ornate buildings in postmodern society is indicative of the fact that we have a better appreciation of the complexity of the natural world through science and now can now imitate it through creating our own complex structures. thestig001
I like how we can see architecture in different cultures and find its beauty. Architecture that is new or modern in our society, does not mean necessarily that it is the best or the most beautiful. There are places across the world that people of all cultures and countries come to see. This should show us that even though we progress as a society we still need to remember the past and respect the history from previous brilliant minds. SVT001.
He misrepresents the idea of conservatism completely, which reveals either his personal bias or an institutional bias within the lesson content, or a degree of ignorance and lack of understanding. Most conservatives don't believe what he is presenting. It was actually amusing watching him teach this to a class as if it was complete truth when he doesn't understand the philosophy of conservatism. When you don't have all of the information, you create stupid conclusions. If I gambled, I would bet money that no student has ever tried to correct him either because they are ignorant, or because they don't want to actively question authority. Instances like this makes me want to slam my face against my keyboard a couple of times at the fundamental nature of humanity. 4rt6zaxsrcd 5g sa9p843etugf938we4rtg 3ew4r g. FreedomUnderGod001
Hahaha you're hilarious. I do agree with you, he does misrepresent it or, more likely, over generalizes it. He uses the common understanding of conservatism and presents it as the definition. It would be the same as taking Stalin's rain of terror and applying that as the definition of socialism, it is a complete misrepresentation. Karma001
This was a very interesting take on modernity. It was explained to me where I definitely related. Years ago people lived a more modest, simple, easy going sort of life, things seemed that way to them anyway. Where utopia seemed very possible. Nowadays I completely understand why society would believe that dystopia was right around the corner. When you refer back to our population and environmental portions of our reading from our text, this is a huge part of it. Pollution, our water supply(lack of), clean earth to grow our food, the list goes on and on. We've created this world where most people are in their own little worlds only about themselves and at some point didn't worry about how they were leaving the earth for the next generations. If they had we wouldn't have the mess we have now. And now that we live in this society of if it isn't profitable well then it's just not worth doing like growing food differently so we are not being poisoned. Doing things environmentally safe costs a lot of money and isn't profitable so it isn't worth it. And most people go on in life doing nothing to help or change because it'll fix itself. I think the postmodernists are nostalgic. They want to go back to the good ole' days. I personally think it's too late for that. So much damage has already been done. And during these changes of society's outlook what was going on in America for their minds to maybe look at things differently? WonderWoman001
I agree with you WonderWoman001 because yes we have improved but there are many things we have changed for the worse. We do live in a world were we only care about oursleves, but like we learned before we primarily think of just oursleves so it is not something new. Also, I do agree that the next generation is going to have a lot instore and they are going to go throught the same thing we are to try and clean up the mess and the things we have made. Not everything is going to be fixed if it can be or not, but different methods of how we live can be reduced and more ethical. I have researched in the past and global warming has increased one degree within the last century which doesn't seem like a lot but it really is because it will gradually increase as earth gets older. Summer001
I strongly agree with WonderWoman that is 1 degree Celsius is 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The scientists thought we had 60 years to fix this and now realize we are to late. As if our natural disasters weren't bad enough they figure fracking in an already earthquake torn state with water shortage issues was a good idea. It takes 8 million gallons of clean water per fracking well and afterwards they inject the contaminated water back into the ground which causes even more earthquakes and contaminates the residence drinking water just so the 1%ers make more money. TooTall001
Ok, well I agree with both of you. In the 1930's when industry was beginning, people were awed with such new technology. The 1960's we advanced into a utopian society where we thought that everything was possible, and that automatically everyone could prosper . Now were sadly unblinded by such closed minded thinking. Our planet is dying, thanks to all that great modern industry, and our Post modernist view, is coming a little too late. Rosebudd001
Global Warming and it's new term "Climate Change" has been demonstrably disproven and revealed as a hoax. You guys obviously didn't do your research that well. If you did, you would realize that the earth has been warming and cooling in cycles over centuries over it's entire lifetime. Example: You guys know that when Greenland was discovered and named, it was actually GREEN. Why? Because when the vikings landed there and began farming we were in a period of warmth. Are you telling me that human beings warmed up the planet BEFORE industrialization and then we COOLED it again? All because of us? Wow, uncivilized societies really had some incredible effects on our planet. Additionally, do you guys know where all of the energy on our planet comes from? Almost every single bit of it? The SUN. That big flaming constantly exploding ball in the sky that continually radiates the atmosphere. Have you guys ever heard of something called a "Solar Cycle"? It's a pretty amazing thing, and I would advise reading up on it. Curiously, in the past decade or so we have experienced a decline in global temperatures compared to the 90s, which coincidentally happens to be a time period where we have comparatively seen very little solar activity. Pattern recognition is something that people need to learn to utilize, Global Warming just doesn't fit. FreedomUnderGod001
I think it is interesting that we use buildings as an example of modernity. It is easy to visually architecture in not only our culture here in the United States, but we can actually compare to other cultures around the world. We as a society look at the post modernity as “old” or “slow”. I think some things in our society have evolved so fast that we cannot even appreciate the post modernity. Today’s society is so fixated on “us.” We want things immediately and have absolutely no patience. I have made it a goal of mine to work on being patient. I think it is important to remember that some things in life should not be rushed or that we have to have them as soon as possible. We all want “utopia” as he was talking about in the video. It is what every society wants on the planet. SVT001.
I don't know that i see it in architecture, as in other areas of life, i see it in quality of life. Does OSF building, downtown, fit post modern architectural theory because they have trees growing on the roof? I don't know. Many people in my social circle feel as though their status has plateaued. Even college degrees only go so far these days, because the employment scenario is stagnant. Packers001
This video helped me better learn modernity. Many years ago it a modest life was the way to live. There are still people in the world this way but has slowly faded. Buildings have a lot to do with modernity and has changed over the years. Years ago buildings looked old castle-like and as technology and the generation have changed the buildings change. As technology improved so did other resources including food, supply, water supply and more. We provide more food and healthier water for us to consume. But because of these technology improvements global warming has gotten worse. the poolution we contribute to is affecting us and the next generations. If there were a way to change this, it would help us out in the long road and save things. Summer001
The post-modern world that we find ourselves in has dystopic ideas based on the social change that needs to take place with how capitalism is ruining our current utopia. Take the environment for example, the dystopic literature and movies that are peddled to our society is usually based on the environmental damage that is occurring at the hands of big corporations now and if it’s not challenged, then the end result is the end of modernity. The problems with that are most of the rest of the world that are going through their industrialization period are optimistic for their future and look to equal standing with the post industrialized world. I think progress is happening. I think post industrialized societies are improving on the current science and technology we have now, it’s just happening so fast that the consumer can’t keep up and appreciate what’s going on around them. Arizona001
I agree with you. I think it depends on which culture is looking at the future. For country like India the future is bright because they are catching up to the west by industrializing their nation. Here in the U.S. we seem to have a more pessimistic view of the future. We have read the articles and seen the documentary's about what technology does to the world. But I think in all the future is very bright for the world as a whole. glassonion001
I agree Arizona001 technology is progressing everyday but is it always a good progression? Progression is good but can be bad, to me I feel as if some of the major changes are doing damage to the world effecting the air we breathe and making it less likely for us to reach the life expectancy. LAWS001
Technology in and of itself is neither inherently bad nor good. It is how you use that technology that defines the morality of the situation. Progress is always good, that's why it's called progress. It's part of the commonword definition of the word. What Arizona was touching upon here was the idea that restricting our own industrial and civilizational progress will hurt all of the other societies around us as a result. Do you people really want to throw away the idea of societal development for the other nations of the world? FreedomUnderGod001
I’ve done some extensive research in the griot, the traditional African oral historian and poet in light of the prestigious author Chinua Achebe. One interview Achebe describes how the African understanding of history was not personal property which is subject to one’s manipulation but belonged to a community. Other literary writers comment on the African understanding of history, marking on how it gives a people a sense of positioning in the world they find themselves in. Relating this to modernism and its depreciated view of the past, several connections can be made. First being that the modern society rejects their historical understanding of themselves a presupposition for operating their daily lives, adopting science as its substitute. An example: I operate on a crop cycle because that’s what scientists say to do, not because my family has rotated crops and taught me to do the same. Next, since a modernistic society rejects their past as an operational presupposition there sould, if not must, be a rejection of social ties. No longer do people rally around the ideas of the past, finding that as a unifying agent in their society, but rather they gather around the idea of progress, of developing their society. There was a third one but I forgot which one it was. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on this. Karma001
The sharing of property within a community sheds more light as to why Africa has been so behind in the civilizational progression scale. Just another example of how socialist ideas hold back humanity from achieving their potential. FreedomUnderGod001
I do agree with Durkheim that modern society is becoming so diverse that it will collapse into anomie. Weak morals, values and egocentric putting their own needs above everyone else. Yet all of us must rely on others to meet our wants and needs. Tonnies saw that we would risk our families and traditions for efficiency and money. Trust is hard to come by in this modern society where people tend to put their needs before anyone else. The social health of modern society has declined (D.G. Myers). I'm a believer in dystopia with population growing completely out of control and our food resources dwindling along with the rich getting richer and everyone else broke and jobless it can only get worse. The 1%ers are the ones in a Utopian society everyone else must be blind or kept in the dark. TooTall001
Our population is not growing completely out of control, our planet can hold a capacity a couple of dozen magnitudes larger than what we currently have, our food resources are actually so abundant that the modern world has a growing obesity problem, and we throw away more food in a week than some uncivilized or primitive societies can even produce in a decade. The 1%ers are in a dystopia of their own, if you really think about it. FreedomUnderGod001
It's always interesting to listen to people who talk about the future. Like he said we in a "post-modern" society often have one of two views on the future. One is that it'll be worse than now, and the other being it will be better than now. I like to fall into the middle of that. Some things will be better, like our politics will be better, out social laws will be better and our technology and education will be better. But stuff like the environment and the eco-system are examples of things that I don't believe will improve in the future. glassonion001
I agree, many people are either terrified of the future or excited for it. Hopefully more people are preparing for the future instead of wasting their time worrying. I think the our best bet for having a greater future for our world is adapting to the changes and using them to our advantage.Toby001
I agree, I am really anxious and terrified at the same time with what future has in for us. I am someone who doesn't like change much, but with what all I see now I can only hope for it to be better. And @Toby001 I agree with you too that to be have a great future is just to adapt with what comes in. khush001
Many people see the future as a scary place because we hear on the news or on social media that we are running out of natural resources and things of that nature. However, I think society should look to the future for hope. Maybe in the future we will invent something to help sustain the earth or to improvise on what we need. However, I think we should also look to the past for guidance and wisdom. With that being said we should spend more time outdoors like older generations and less time inside wasting electricity. To become a more efficient modern society we should learn from our past to help prepare for our future. Toby001
Your comment on learning from our past to help prepare for our future is exactly the correct point of view that people should be taking with society. I applaud you. Also, note that the words "hear on the news or on social media" is a fundamental logic flaw. Always question what you hear, cause most of it is elephant dung. FreedomUnderGod001
This video was pretty cool to watch. Talking about Postmordenity, there are many good things attached to mordenity such as better lifestyle, better living, good food, clean water etc. But in our book it states that modernity has failed in important respects, because the promise of modernity was a life free from want. It also created the urge of making things better and better, which loses oneself on satisfaction. Also that Science no longer has an answer because mordenity was to end any kind of questions with the inventions with technology, but this created more question which science has no answer to. According to book it said "Postmordenity is also Postmaterialist era" This is something to really think about now that we are moving forward from this era. khush001
A little lesson in the philosophy of science. To use only science as a way to discern truth is short-sighted and very dumb. The end. Logic precedes science. Logic > science. Science deals with the empirical, Logic deals with everything. I would put more effort into explaining the underlying reasons for my statement, but I'll let people figure it out for themselves. I'll answer questions though. FreedomUnderGod001
Modernity is a relatively important change in our society. Modernity is about progress which is constantly changing all over the world. As the professor was saying the past is more less efficiency and the future is an improvement giving us a better society and working towards an even better society. Dystopia giving us no hope no faith. Utopia giving us progress and a better future. As for postmodern it is not a bout progress more about looking for the traditional past. I personally see nothing wrong with either I feel as if modernity and post modernity can be good for our society. Progression is definitely taking place especially bringing technology into topic. LAWS001
This was a significant amount of lecture in 8 minutes. I think ageism plays a large role in the ideas of modernity versus post modernity, because everything is still fresh and exciting for younger generations who have limited life experience to draw on. My children see the future as exciting. They directly see the way technology is fulfilling what desire as the future, apart from understanding the inherit failures. Utopia is an ideal that exists in science fiction for most of the adult world, unless you reside in the 1%. Dystopia is a concept i can associate more closely with, because I feel that we have peaked in post industrial America. We will make endless discoveries, to benefit the masses, but they will be tempered by endless problems created along the way; I think problems will be harder to solve in a post modern world. The problems are becoming harder to solve. Packers001
I can easily understand how our country fell into a utopian mindset. In the 1920's we fought out of financial depression, with some still suffering 10-15 years later. Prosperity was a short lived thought as WW2 came and went, scattering more disaster. But with war, comes a need for industry to help with supplies. In the after shock of rebuilding, our country became engulfed with the newly designed NASA program. Americans had a newly shared sense of hope and pride. We were beaming with intelligence, and hit us like a storm, and everyone silently relented their conciences away to science. How was NASA to contribute? One word is necessary for Astronauts to preform as they did, and as they do. PLASTICS. It is it's own industry. Sure it was great. Plastics made life easier. Plastics save lives medically. Technology and scientific advances are now imaginable. It created un mentionable amount of commerce, and the need for expansion of travel to produce, and distribute it. And Plastics are killing our Earth. But this also created an affect of our Post modern take on society. As plastics are a poison to create, and there isn't any way to fully eliminate it's carbon footprint. The damage to our Planet is so extensive, our animal species (including aquadic,) are dying, along with or views on how to save it. This lack of faith, and because of what are still unknown consequences, lead us to our Post Modern views. Rosebudd001
I just have a few observations on this professor's discussion of modernity and postmodernity. First of all, it seems like the notions of utopia and dystopia boil down to either having an optimistic or pessimistic view of the future. I have no doubt that the central theme of modernity was that of progress.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, we made exponential leaps and bounds in the realm of science during this time and came up with so much new technology that made our lives easier that it's easy to see how the dominant thought of this time period was one of the future being better. With all the progress that was being made, what was to say that it couldn't just continue to increase linearly, ad infinitum (to infinity)? Additionally, from the first World War to the 70's many of our Presidents (Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Fredrick Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, etc.) embraced and the notion of progress and a better future.
Of course, this comes from the great faith in science and rationalization of this time period, but historically, America also went through some pretty tough times, namely, World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, and the Korean and Vietnam war. Most of these presidents wanted to give hope to American's during these periods of conflict and encourage them to believe in the American Ideal and the idea that all peoples of all nations should have the right to liberty and to determine the course of their own lives and government. They placed faith in the future because they wanted liberty to beat out tyranny and freedom to reign instead of oppression, both within the US and throughout the world. Maybe this was idealistic, but ultimately all they were really trying to do was give hope that good would triumph over evil and the future would be better than the present.
thestig001
Interesting how you mentioned utopia and dystopia. Books like "Divergent" that are dystopian kind of have that negative, hopeless feel throughout them. But these societies had been modernized, because they took place in the future, so that is why Chicago was so different in "Divergent" then it is now. Tris and Four had a lot of more modernized weapons. This book, and other books similar to it, are great examples of what people now think the world will become in hundreds of years when technology has changed and the world has progressed.
Deleteswimmer001
We like to discount the intelligence of the people before us very easily. It's contrary to logic, considering Tradition is the collective knowledge of all of our ancestors. It really speaks to the arrogance of the millennial generation. What I am alluding to are the Dystopian novels 1984 and Brave New World. If you read those books, then you pay attention to the news, and see the similarities, you would think that Orwell and Huxley were two time travelers. The fact that we haven't reached that level of society yet does not negate the fact that the trend is sketched heavily towards it. Human beings are the dominant species on earth due primarily to our unrivaled ability to predict, anticipate, and plan for the future. Yet when we have some of the most intelligent of us predicting mayhem, we completely ignore their warnings? Especially in a time where our ideals of Liberty and Freedom have been twisted to represent control and authoritarianism? In what free society are people forced to do business with others? What free society allows a comparably insignificant amount of people to change the definition of an institution that has been the same for thousands of years, just because that group of people are logically incapable of becoming a part of that institution but wish to do so because they feel "discriminated" against? Are the feelings of some, or even one person really a viable reason to take away someone's personal liberty? FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteStig that was the point I was trying to make also is what was going on during those years for society to have hope at one point and then for it to change dramatically. People in our society today might have gone through so much that they thought of has hard times or they have seen the decline in humanity across the board. When society changes the way that it has over the years it seems as though we've made some great changes in the way people are treated or how things are ran etc. But then at what cost? Making things easier isn't always better. People are more entitled then ever and they think they deserve what that guy down the street has even though they have no clue how hard he worked for what he does have. In our US society for sure everybody just wants what everyone else has, so with our declining good job prospects maybe people are really freaking out that their so called American Dream isn't going to come true. Making jobs more technological and less people ran is great for the big guy who owns the company but completely destroys the worker who absolutely needed that job. Who ever invented that machine must have felt like he was changing the world and never once thought about how many people would be out of work because of it. Or didn't care either way. If we start thinking about humanity and our environment and really considering what all this modernity is doing to us...then what change needs to come? WonderWoman001
DeleteI thought it was interesting how he said more "fun" buildings were in postmodern places. We can easily see that in places like Australia with the Opera house. It's architecture is very different and beautiful which makes it a place people want to go see. Modernity is a logic of progress, as explained in the video. Change is normal in modernity societies. We see that a lot in America. Gay people now have the right to get married in some states. That is a big change from centuries ago. I also thought it was interesting how the man in the video said that people living in postmodern societies are interested in searching for the traditional past or “retro”.
ReplyDeleteswimmer001
I think it's really interesting how modern architecture, with its emphasis on simplicity and efficiency, reflects the "modern" time period, during which the focus was definitely on making progress and using science. In a way, having more simplistic buildings is reflective of science because science does break down very complex systems and processes found in nature into more straightforward and simple ideas so that we can understand them. Maybe our return to more complex and ornate buildings in postmodern society is indicative of the fact that we have a better appreciation of the complexity of the natural world through science and now can now imitate it through creating our own complex structures.
Deletethestig001
I like how we can see architecture in different cultures and find its beauty. Architecture that is new or modern in our society, does not mean necessarily that it is the best or the most beautiful. There are places across the world that people of all cultures and countries come to see. This should show us that even though we progress as a society we still need to remember the past and respect the history from previous brilliant minds. SVT001.
DeleteHe misrepresents the idea of conservatism completely, which reveals either his personal bias or an institutional bias within the lesson content, or a degree of ignorance and lack of understanding. Most conservatives don't believe what he is presenting. It was actually amusing watching him teach this to a class as if it was complete truth when he doesn't understand the philosophy of conservatism. When you don't have all of the information, you create stupid conclusions. If I gambled, I would bet money that no student has ever tried to correct him either because they are ignorant, or because they don't want to actively question authority. Instances like this makes me want to slam my face against my keyboard a couple of times at the fundamental nature of humanity. 4rt6zaxsrcd 5g sa9p843etugf938we4rtg 3ew4r g.
ReplyDeleteFreedomUnderGod001
Hahaha you're hilarious. I do agree with you, he does misrepresent it or, more likely, over generalizes it. He uses the common understanding of conservatism and presents it as the definition. It would be the same as taking Stalin's rain of terror and applying that as the definition of socialism, it is a complete misrepresentation. Karma001
DeleteOops, communism not socialism! My mistake. Karma001
DeleteYeah your hilarious :) He seems to be trying to make his way through, not sure of himself. HollaGurl001
DeleteThis was a very interesting take on modernity. It was explained to me where I definitely related. Years ago people lived a more modest, simple, easy going sort of life, things seemed that way to them anyway. Where utopia seemed very possible. Nowadays I completely understand why society would believe that dystopia was right around the corner. When you refer back to our population and environmental portions of our reading from our text, this is a huge part of it. Pollution, our water supply(lack of), clean earth to grow our food, the list goes on and on. We've created this world where most people are in their own little worlds only about themselves and at some point didn't worry about how they were leaving the earth for the next generations. If they had we wouldn't have the mess we have now. And now that we live in this society of if it isn't profitable well then it's just not worth doing like growing food differently so we are not being poisoned. Doing things environmentally safe costs a lot of money and isn't profitable so it isn't worth it. And most people go on in life doing nothing to help or change because it'll fix itself. I think the postmodernists are nostalgic. They want to go back to the good ole' days. I personally think it's too late for that. So much damage has already been done. And during these changes of society's outlook what was going on in America for their minds to maybe look at things differently? WonderWoman001
ReplyDeleteI agree with you WonderWoman001 because yes we have improved but there are many things we have changed for the worse. We do live in a world were we only care about oursleves, but like we learned before we primarily think of just oursleves so it is not something new. Also, I do agree that the next generation is going to have a lot instore and they are going to go throught the same thing we are to try and clean up the mess and the things we have made. Not everything is going to be fixed if it can be or not, but different methods of how we live can be reduced and more ethical. I have researched in the past and global warming has increased one degree within the last century which doesn't seem like a lot but it really is because it will gradually increase as earth gets older.
DeleteSummer001
I strongly agree with WonderWoman that is 1 degree Celsius is 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The scientists thought we had 60 years to fix this and now realize we are to late. As if our natural disasters weren't bad enough they figure fracking in an already earthquake torn state with water shortage issues was a good idea. It takes 8 million gallons of clean water per fracking well and afterwards they inject the contaminated water back into the ground which causes even more earthquakes and contaminates the residence drinking water just so the 1%ers make more money. TooTall001
DeleteOk, well I agree with both of you. In the 1930's when industry was beginning, people were awed with such new technology. The 1960's we advanced into a utopian society where we thought that everything was possible, and that automatically everyone could prosper . Now were sadly unblinded by such closed minded thinking. Our planet is dying, thanks to all that great modern industry, and our Post modernist view, is coming a little too late. Rosebudd001
DeleteGlobal Warming and it's new term "Climate Change" has been demonstrably disproven and revealed as a hoax. You guys obviously didn't do your research that well. If you did, you would realize that the earth has been warming and cooling in cycles over centuries over it's entire lifetime. Example: You guys know that when Greenland was discovered and named, it was actually GREEN. Why? Because when the vikings landed there and began farming we were in a period of warmth. Are you telling me that human beings warmed up the planet BEFORE industrialization and then we COOLED it again? All because of us? Wow, uncivilized societies really had some incredible effects on our planet. Additionally, do you guys know where all of the energy on our planet comes from? Almost every single bit of it? The SUN. That big flaming constantly exploding ball in the sky that continually radiates the atmosphere. Have you guys ever heard of something called a "Solar Cycle"? It's a pretty amazing thing, and I would advise reading up on it. Curiously, in the past decade or so we have experienced a decline in global temperatures compared to the 90s, which coincidentally happens to be a time period where we have comparatively seen very little solar activity. Pattern recognition is something that people need to learn to utilize, Global Warming just doesn't fit. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteI think it is interesting that we use buildings as an example of modernity. It is easy to visually architecture in not only our culture here in the United States, but we can actually compare to other cultures around the world. We as a society look at the post modernity as “old” or “slow”. I think some things in our society have evolved so fast that we cannot even appreciate the post modernity. Today’s society is so fixated on “us.” We want things immediately and have absolutely no patience. I have made it a goal of mine to work on being patient. I think it is important to remember that some things in life should not be rushed or that we have to have them as soon as possible. We all want “utopia” as he was talking about in the video. It is what every society wants on the planet. SVT001.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that i see it in architecture, as in other areas of life, i see it in quality of life. Does OSF building, downtown, fit post modern architectural theory because they have trees growing on the roof? I don't know. Many people in my social circle feel as though their status has plateaued. Even college degrees only go so far these days, because the employment scenario is stagnant. Packers001
DeleteThis video helped me better learn modernity. Many years ago it a modest life was the way to live. There are still people in the world this way but has slowly faded. Buildings have a lot to do with modernity and has changed over the years. Years ago buildings looked old castle-like and as technology and the generation have changed the buildings change. As technology improved so did other resources including food, supply, water supply and more. We provide more food and healthier water for us to consume. But because of these technology improvements global warming has gotten worse. the poolution we contribute to is affecting us and the next generations. If there were a way to change this, it would help us out in the long road and save things.
ReplyDeleteSummer001
The post-modern world that we find ourselves in has dystopic ideas based on the social change that needs to take place with how capitalism is ruining our current utopia. Take the environment for example, the dystopic literature and movies that are peddled to our society is usually based on the environmental damage that is occurring at the hands of big corporations now and if it’s not challenged, then the end result is the end of modernity. The problems with that are most of the rest of the world that are going through their industrialization period are optimistic for their future and look to equal standing with the post industrialized world. I think progress is happening. I think post industrialized societies are improving on the current science and technology we have now, it’s just happening so fast that the consumer can’t keep up and appreciate what’s going on around them. Arizona001
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I think it depends on which culture is looking at the future. For country like India the future is bright because they are catching up to the west by industrializing their nation. Here in the U.S. we seem to have a more pessimistic view of the future. We have read the articles and seen the documentary's about what technology does to the world. But I think in all the future is very bright for the world as a whole. glassonion001
DeleteI agree Arizona001 technology is progressing everyday but is it always a good progression? Progression is good but can be bad, to me I feel as if some of the major changes are doing damage to the world effecting the air we breathe and making it less likely for us to reach the life expectancy. LAWS001
DeleteTechnology in and of itself is neither inherently bad nor good. It is how you use that technology that defines the morality of the situation. Progress is always good, that's why it's called progress. It's part of the commonword definition of the word. What Arizona was touching upon here was the idea that restricting our own industrial and civilizational progress will hurt all of the other societies around us as a result. Do you people really want to throw away the idea of societal development for the other nations of the world? FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteI’ve done some extensive research in the griot, the traditional African oral historian and poet in light of the prestigious author Chinua Achebe. One interview Achebe describes how the African understanding of history was not personal property which is subject to one’s manipulation but belonged to a community. Other literary writers comment on the African understanding of history, marking on how it gives a people a sense of positioning in the world they find themselves in. Relating this to modernism and its depreciated view of the past, several connections can be made. First being that the modern society rejects their historical understanding of themselves a presupposition for operating their daily lives, adopting science as its substitute. An example: I operate on a crop cycle because that’s what scientists say to do, not because my family has rotated crops and taught me to do the same. Next, since a modernistic society rejects their past as an operational presupposition there sould, if not must, be a rejection of social ties. No longer do people rally around the ideas of the past, finding that as a unifying agent in their society, but rather they gather around the idea of progress, of developing their society. There was a third one but I forgot which one it was. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on this. Karma001
ReplyDeleteThe sharing of property within a community sheds more light as to why Africa has been so behind in the civilizational progression scale. Just another example of how socialist ideas hold back humanity from achieving their potential. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteI do agree with Durkheim that modern society is becoming so diverse that it will collapse into anomie. Weak morals, values and egocentric putting their own needs above everyone else. Yet all of us must rely on others to meet our wants and needs. Tonnies saw that we would risk our families and traditions for efficiency and money. Trust is hard to come by in this modern society where people tend to put their needs before anyone else. The social health of modern society has declined (D.G. Myers). I'm a believer in dystopia with population growing completely out of control and our food resources dwindling along with the rich getting richer and everyone else broke and jobless it can only get worse. The 1%ers are the ones in a Utopian society everyone else must be blind or kept in the dark. TooTall001
ReplyDeleteOur population is not growing completely out of control, our planet can hold a capacity a couple of dozen magnitudes larger than what we currently have, our food resources are actually so abundant that the modern world has a growing obesity problem, and we throw away more food in a week than some uncivilized or primitive societies can even produce in a decade. The 1%ers are in a dystopia of their own, if you really think about it. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteIt's always interesting to listen to people who talk about the future. Like he said we in a "post-modern" society often have one of two views on the future. One is that it'll be worse than now, and the other being it will be better than now. I like to fall into the middle of that. Some things will be better, like our politics will be better, out social laws will be better and our technology and education will be better. But stuff like the environment and the eco-system are examples of things that I don't believe will improve in the future. glassonion001
ReplyDeleteI agree, many people are either terrified of the future or excited for it. Hopefully more people are preparing for the future instead of wasting their time worrying. I think the our best bet for having a greater future for our world is adapting to the changes and using them to our advantage.Toby001
DeleteI agree, I am really anxious and terrified at the same time with what future has in for us. I am someone who doesn't like change much, but with what all I see now I can only hope for it to be better. And @Toby001 I agree with you too that to be have a great future is just to adapt with what comes in. khush001
DeleteMany people see the future as a scary place because we hear on the news or on social media that we are running out of natural resources and things of that nature. However, I think society should look to the future for hope. Maybe in the future we will invent something to help sustain the earth or to improvise on what we need. However, I think we should also look to the past for guidance and wisdom. With that being said we should spend more time outdoors like older generations and less time inside wasting electricity. To become a more efficient modern society we should learn from our past to help prepare for our future. Toby001
ReplyDeleteYour comment on learning from our past to help prepare for our future is exactly the correct point of view that people should be taking with society. I applaud you. Also, note that the words "hear on the news or on social media" is a fundamental logic flaw. Always question what you hear, cause most of it is elephant dung. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteThis video was pretty cool to watch. Talking about Postmordenity, there are many good things attached to mordenity such as better lifestyle, better living, good food, clean water etc. But in our book it states that modernity has failed in important respects, because the promise of modernity was a life free from want. It also created the urge of making things better and better, which loses oneself on satisfaction. Also that Science no longer has an answer because mordenity was to end any kind of questions with the inventions with technology, but this created more question which science has no answer to. According to book it said "Postmordenity is also Postmaterialist era" This is something to really think about now that we are moving forward from this era. khush001
ReplyDeleteA little lesson in the philosophy of science. To use only science as a way to discern truth is short-sighted and very dumb. The end. Logic precedes science. Logic > science. Science deals with the empirical, Logic deals with everything. I would put more effort into explaining the underlying reasons for my statement, but I'll let people figure it out for themselves. I'll answer questions though. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteModernity is a relatively important change in our society. Modernity is about progress which is constantly changing all over the world. As the professor was saying the past is more less efficiency and the future is an improvement giving us a better society and working towards an even better society. Dystopia giving us no hope no faith. Utopia giving us progress and a better future. As for postmodern it is not a bout progress more about looking for the traditional past. I personally see nothing wrong with either I feel as if modernity and post modernity can be good for our society. Progression is definitely taking place especially bringing technology into topic. LAWS001
ReplyDeleteThis was a significant amount of lecture in 8 minutes. I think ageism plays a large role in the ideas of modernity versus post modernity, because everything is still fresh and exciting for younger generations who have limited life experience to draw on. My children see the future as exciting. They directly see the way technology is fulfilling what desire as the future, apart from understanding the inherit failures. Utopia is an ideal that exists in science fiction for most of the adult world, unless you reside in the 1%. Dystopia is a concept i can associate more closely with, because I feel that we have peaked in post industrial America. We will make endless discoveries, to benefit the masses, but they will be tempered by endless problems created along the way; I think problems will be harder to solve in a post modern world. The problems are becoming harder to solve. Packers001
ReplyDeleteI can easily understand how our country fell into a utopian mindset. In the 1920's we fought out of financial depression, with some still suffering 10-15 years later. Prosperity was a short lived thought as WW2 came and went, scattering more disaster. But with war, comes a need for industry to help with supplies.
ReplyDeleteIn the after shock of rebuilding, our country became engulfed with the newly designed NASA program. Americans had a newly shared sense of hope and pride. We were beaming with intelligence, and hit us like a storm, and everyone silently relented their conciences away to science. How was NASA to contribute? One word is necessary for Astronauts to preform as they did, and as they do. PLASTICS. It is it's own industry. Sure it was great. Plastics made life easier. Plastics save lives medically. Technology and scientific advances are now imaginable. It created un mentionable amount of commerce, and the need for expansion of travel to produce, and distribute it. And Plastics are killing our Earth. But this also created an affect of our Post modern take on society. As plastics are a poison to create, and there isn't any way to fully eliminate it's carbon footprint. The damage to our Planet is so extensive, our animal species (including aquadic,) are dying, along with or views on how to save it. This lack of faith, and because of what are still unknown consequences, lead us to our Post Modern views. Rosebudd001
I was confused in this lesson he was talking about. He switched to different topics and throwing me all over the place. :(
ReplyDeleteHollaGurl001