Times are Changing

Privacy vs. Public Safety What if we were OK with being watched every second of every day? If we, as a society, had accepted that the government could see our every move and reprimand us for mistakes we have made? It could start small, maybe punishing teenagers for sneaking out of the house at night. Then turn into a larger part of our lives, stopping thieves before a potential robbery or terrorists from entering the United States. Does the ability to stop mass destruction, such as a terrorist attack, outweigh the benefits of individual privacy? We are at a crucial tipping point where we can decide which is more important for our futures, but to me it looks like we have already made the decision: privacy of one does not outweigh the benefits of the mass. I believe we will continue to absorb these advancements, such as facial recognition, as new and exciting ways to use technology, until it becomes too late and our new way of life is something similar to Minority R

Where will it Lead? I thought Infinite Distraction was a well written book that was able to discuss the pros and cons of the distractions we face in todays’ culture. Although towards the end the author sounded a little like a conspiracy theorist, I felt that he was able to make valid points throughout the first few chapters.             As Mr. Pettman argues, we have not gotten to the point where we react the same to all content we see, but haven’t we to a certain extent? I couldn’t help but think about how to scroll through Instagram & watch stories on Snapchat. On Instagram, I tend to scroll down the page and like (almost) everyone’s post without giving their content a second glance. Could this be showing how I will most likely react to posts in the future? Probably. On Facebook, I am better able to disclose what type of emotion I want to portray when liking a post, which I believe forces me to think about the content more compared to Instagram. I don’t wa