Blog Post Week 6

Howard Gardner – Five Minds for the Future

 

One of the biggest points I gained from Gardner’s reading was that everyone has a different kind of mind and one is not more important than the other. But all of the minds can create a very successful, functioning, productive workplace if treated properly and given the time and space to grow. From a work perspective, I think this is particularly essential to keep in mind, especially if you are in any kind of management or leadership position and leading a team. But from a human being perspective, it is an important lesson that all minds are equal and all humans are equal regardless of what ‘mind’ they have or what they choose to do with it. Disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respectful mind and the ethical mind – these are all posed to us and being somewhat self-centred I immediately want to know where I fit into the categories. However, I’ve come to my own realisation that not everyone fits perfectly into these boxes but each of our minds can potentially contain multiple of these. And what we want to do with our life is completely up to us.

 

The second was when he said “as human beings, we cannot afford to sacrifice the local for the global, any more than we can afford to sacrifice the arts and humanities in our efforts to remain current with science and technology”. At this point; the naturist, the vegetarian and the supporter of local shopping in me screams ‘finally’. In terms of globalisation, I think this is important to keep in mind, and remember our roots and what is natural. Swapping diets for extremely processed food and ordering cheap clothing online isn’t helping our local community – in fact, it’s just making the big rich people richer and the poorer even more poor – worsening the current divide. I’m not saying that globalisation is bad, and maybe by buying the cheap clothes online you are helping a mother provide food for her kids in Nigeria but I fully believe you need to do this research first. Globalisation has undoubtedly many great aspects, the ability to reach remote communities and provide them with help and support or increase educational standards with online resources.

Blog Post Week 5

Judy Wajcman – Finding Time in a Digital Age

 

Technology, whilst useful in terms of productivity is increasing working hours, rather than decreasing them. This is mainly due to the nature of the services it provides. Emails and text messages are instant and everyone now has grown accustomed to being able to contact someone at anytime and gain an immediate response. Meaning we are all constantly connected to work and to eachother. This ultimately makes it harder for the worker to escape from work after their allocated hours for the week.

 

Constant connection and delivery is not just limited to your working life, but also to your life as a consumer. Most companies now allow you to shop online and some deliver same day, meaning that you can order a box of books from Amazon on the train on the way to work and they will be at your house waiting for you when you get home.

 

This chaotic lifestyle caused by instant information and communication serenaded by beeping notifications has brought on a trend of ‘slow’ living. This includes a Slow Food movement and Slow Cities.

 

I personally don’t think we should all start jumping aboard the slow lifestyle train. Information technology is still new and very much a novelty. Hence, why I believe people are overusing it. There is no reason to ignore it all together, the best option is to embrace it but try and integrate it into your lifestyle in a balanced way where it does not take over. I may be hypocritical because I am very much guilty of working ridiculously long hours and overloading my schedule, however, finding a balance is very important to remain happy and healthy, both mentally and physically.

3. Lhamo T, Oyama T 2015, ‘The Role of Mass Media in Bhutan: Accessibility, Influence and its Impacts’, Journal of Mass Communication and Journalism 5:266. doi:10.4172/2165-7912.1000266

 

http://www.omicsgroup.org/journals/the-role-of-mass-media-in-bhutan-accessibility-influence-and-its-impacts-2165-7912-1000266.php?aid=59515

 

 

This journal article goes in depth into the introduction of TV and the Internet in Bhutan (both in 1999!) and how that affected the Bhutanese community. The article also points out the growth of the film industry in Bhutan, with 241 films being produced out of Bhutan by 2012.

 

The biggest change for Bhutan outlined was the growth in social connections throughout the country. However, despite the benefits of the internet Bhutan has noticed the bad aspects as well, potentially more so than other countries due to the rapid introduction of these technologies in the country. These negative impacts include weakened familial bonds, more youth violence, less attention to homework, increase in materialism etc.

 

The growth of the Internet has also meant an increase in pop culture in Bhutan. For example, most of the time, people were entertained by live music, that’s what they sang along to and danced to, however, now there is an increase in the use of recording devices and listening to prerecorded music. These changes are also severely impacting the traditions and culture of Bhutan.

 

Lhamo and Oyama’s article looks at the various aspects of mass media in Bhutan and how it has affected the country on multiple levels, positively and negatively.

 

4. Chepesiuk, R 1998, ‘Bring Internet to the Developing World’, American Libraries, vol. 29, issue 8, pp. 55-58

 

http://search.proquest.com/pqrl/docview/197162852/abstract/36FC232DD1564769PQ/1?accountid=13552

 

This article is severely outdated – I’m not denying that. Especially considering the topic of the Internet. So much as changed in the past 18 years. However, looking past that, the general points that it makes in terms of how the Internet can help the developing world are still valid.

 

Despite a lot of changes occurring in the last 18 years, there are many developing countries with little or no access to the internet or with access but no information and education surrounding it.

 

One of the biggest points that the article brings up are the access to libraries worth of information that a lot of communities couldn’t dream of. Chepesuik describes the electronic library as the future of all libraries for the developing world. These thoughts are still very relevant, we can look at situations now where the infrastructure is in place, however, the internet is only being used for games and videos.

 

The other valuable point is how many countries in Africa are worried about the impact the internet is going to have in terms of the social and cultural aspects of their society. Censorship is a valid point raised and stills a highly debated topic, especially considering the case study of China.

 

The costs that Chepesuik evaluates are even more of a worry now, with some of these things being more expensive, communities cannot afford to pay for access to license fees, server costs and copyright charges.

 

This is why this article can still remain a useful resource when considering the Internet in third world countries.

1. Tobgay, S & Wangmo, K 2008, ‘Can ICT (Internet) overcome the natural geographical barriers of Bhutan in developing the nation?’, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), Vol. 4, Issue 4, pp. 148-158.

 

http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/include/getdoc.php?id=4594&article=577&mode=pdf

 

This article explores Bhutan and it’s access to the Internet. It provides figures into the growth of the Internet in Bhutan and the restrictions it faces surrounding the infrastructure and culture of the Bhutanese. It also compares the statistics of the Internet in Bhutan with other Asian countries, which provides a nice way to look at its significance in the topic. The article then delves into the government and the education surrounding science technology.

 

One of the most fascinating facts it presents is that the Internet was not introduced to Bhutan until 1999, 10 years behind Australia. Bhutan is a particularly different country to be looking at, so it was great to find this somewhat recent (2008) article about the technology advancements and the Internet in Bhutan. This aids my research well and gives me further information into the situation in Bhutan, which interests me greatly and fits into our topic for the group project nicely, especially if I can do a case study of Bhutan as an international factor for our project.

 

The figures presented are accurate from what I have discovered in various other articles and information online.

 

The best thing about this article is that it looks at the various cultural factors in Bhutan and how these react with the Internet and potential it has in the country. I feel as though that insight is not as strong in other articles that I have come across.

 

 

 

2. Thimpu, Y 2010, ‘Media: Internet Bringing the World to Bhutanese’, Global Information Network, New York

 

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/pqrl/docview/759765503/36FC232DD1564769PQ/3?accountid=13552

 

This article by Yasmin Thimpu is quite short, yet the reason why I’ve included it is because it looks at particular stories coming from Bhutan and how they relate to the Internet. This also provides insight into how the Internet affects the people directly and their daily lives.

 

I like how it feels as though it has been written with an inside perspective, and rather than being filled with facts and statistics it is using a more personal point of view. This gives the culture of Bhutan a bit more credit and dismisses the general lack of connection to the people.

 

Being from 2010, it is still 6 years old, however, you can see the connection of data from Tobgay and Wangmo’s article which was written only 2 years earlier. Thimpu has written other articles on Bhutan so I feel as though it is a credible source coming from some background.

 

Thimpu also looked at many people in the community, of different ages and professions. The first case was an 11 year old girl and the second one was a 23 year old business student who is hoping to utilise the up and coming trends in online marketing opening up a restaurant and promoting it via Facebook.

 

While this may not be an overall and expansive case study of the Bhutanese, it gives in depth examples and interlocks these with some statistical figures.

Blog Post Week Four

Cal Newport – So Good They Can’t Ignore You

 

Cal Newport’s chapter, ‘The Clarity of the Craftsman’, investigates the mindset of a creative worker. This can probably be replicated in any profession, however, I feel as though it is more relevant to those working as a creative. Newport uses the example of Jordan Tice, a guitar player and how he deals with the pressures surrounding artistic work. His music is described as his passion and that is what drives him everyday and he is happy to sit there practising something small if it adds to the quality of his music. This attitude is described as the craftsman mindset. Stop being bothered by whether the job is right for you or if you should be doing it, just focus on being really good at what you are doing.

 

This concept of not being so self-centred and just doing what your doing is really useful for me. I am a chronic stress head when it comes to my abilities and how good I am at something. And then the passion will come later and I think that will come when you relax and start to feel more confident.

 

Newport’s chapter reminded me of a Ted talk we watched in my Graphic Design elective. The teacher (Joe) put this on at the end of a class and even though it isn’t exactly saying what Newport is; I found it a very useful resource for creative work and having a new mindset in terms of your craft. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Ted Talk – ‘Your Elusive Creative Genius’ goes into how you are just a vessel and basically you work hard at what you are doing and your ‘genius’ might give you a hand. It’s definitely worth a listen.

 

These ideas being presented about creative work are very important for me, to get me out of my ingrained way of thinking and attempt to embrace a new mindset towards my work.

Media 6 Blog Post Week 3

 

Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas – Work

 

‘Work’ by Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas covers a lot of topics regarding workplaces and creative industries. The main issues that I got out of the readings are the exploitation of workers, especially young people working as interns and women. The line fine between flexibility and exploitation is discussed, the rhetoric of flexible workplaces and jobs sounds great, however, this is encouraging staff to work many more hours because the physical boundaries of the workplace are not there. Due to digital technology, people can now work anywhere because they can always be connected which makes turning off and finishing work for the day extremely hard when your phone keeps buzzing with emails or text messages.

 

The ability to employ people as freelancers is also increasing, people can now post jobs online with a pay rate and anyone can do it. However, in developed countries, these pay rates are very low and not worth the effort. Yet for someone in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India or Kenya, this money will go really far. So as much as it might seem exploitative to us, it is a fantastic opportunity for them to earn a decent amount of money. This is also opening up opportunities for both employers and employees worldwide to work together. The other side of this is that if all Australian media companies started doing this then there would be no work left for anyone in the country, causing media professionals to start losing their jobs.

 

This globalization of the workplace is going to continue and as creative workers we are going to have to learn to adapt to these conditions.