in yesterday’s symposium, the idea of neutrality was explored, but it wasn’t really clear to me. i got so muddled up as to what neutrality actually meant, especially in terms of technology and network media. today, in our tute, we did have a big class discussion on the matter. and while i think it’s impossible to have a clear-cut, yes this is the answer we’ve been looking for and waiting for, definition to it, it definitely holds much more meaning to me.

basically, as far as we know, it’s hard to say that something is completely neutral. we are not neanderthals and our knowledge and ability to assign connotations to basically every aspect of life is a power we hold to aid in removing the existence of neutrality. even if we didn’t know what a blue drink bottle was, we will see blue and think of the sky, the ocean, facebook, being calm, etc. and this can make us think things, or put certain opinions towards it that disable our privilege to say that we’re neutral towards it.

i was confused as to whether neutrality differs varying on culture, ie: isolated tribes in peru who have not made contact with modern civilisation – if you show them the internet they won’t understand, how are they to know what this is. i believe there’s a certain aspect of neutrality to their existence, and that’s the way they want it. i mean, the can look at the internet and associate it with fear, with these modern ‘luxuries’ that they have actively avoided for so, so many years, thus removing their association with being neutral. but, i think that before they’re told of this, if they ever are, they are definitely neutral – or at least somewhat neutral.

it’s hard to argue whether or not there are different levels of neutrality, if one thing can be more neutral than another, as jason suggested in the symposium, but i think you have to take in all context. who they are, where they are, what they do, if they have any sort of disability. does a person born blind have a neutrality towards sight (terrible thought, i know) or is their knowing that others can and they can’t, that disappointment and sense of missing out, does that exclude them from being classified as neutral?

what the hell is neutrality????????