LIB 200 Critical Thinking 3: "Research, Film, Tablet?"

I must admit that it was quite easy narrowing down my research paper ideas to two particular choices. I was not interested in most, vaguely interested in few, but two topics IMMEDIATELY caught my attention. Research # 1 and #6 are the two choices that I am deciding between. The hardest part about this milestone is making sure I pick a topic that I will have the most fun with. After all, since we are given a choice on papers, we might as well enjoy the project.

            Research topic #1 deals with writing a paper about a novel, story, or film that uses science and technology. While I am highly interested in getting started on Einstein’s Dreams or Cloning, I am unsure if I will have enough to actually write 9-12 pages about. Even if I do get up to 9 pages, I want to make my paper interesting instead of a drag just to get through the assignment. Research #6, however, deals with films featuring robots and clones, and how they are portrayed. Once reading that some of our choices included The Terminator, AI, and I, Robot, I immediately picked this as one of my two choices. However, I need to be careful that when viewing the film, I don’t get caught up in reviewing the film and stick to the requirements of the essay. While I am sure that each topic will be equally fun and interesting, I need to make sure that I can write a paper that is going to land me an A! Choices choices….

                                    After a two hour break of downloading music…..

            It took no longer than thirty minutes for me to spontaneously pick a choice. It’s quite surprising to find that listening to Jill Scott can bring about research paper ideas. I’ve decided to go with research topic #6! However, since I have seen all of the movies I’ve previously named, I am going to “explore” and choose between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. I have only seen clips of both movies, so it will be a new experience to view either film. It’s also a plus to compare our “hi definition” to their “pre-21^st century” technology. In my opinion, the best movies were made before my time anyway. I’m quite excited about this project for two reasons: I get to watch classic films for the first time, and it gives me an excuse to experience my Nook Tablet. After all, that is a part of science and technology, right?

           

LIB 200 Critical Thinking Blog 2: "To Science, or Not to Science?"

“Humanity almost seems extraneous; some special-effects planetarium shows introduce

us to the most exotic aspects of matter and time, but are not very revealing about the

ordinary human experience of the heavens. Of course, the insignificance of human

existence is one of the fearsome lessons of modern science. But when we are young,

we learn differently. We begin by learning to value our own understanding and only

gradually come to recognize its limits.”- Edward Rothstein

                After reading this quote, I would have to say that I completely agree with Rothstein. As a child, I loved watching the “Frankenstein” remakes. Why? Because it was interesting! It captured my attention and enlightened my imagination. Although based on scientific possibilities, I was still intrigued because of the way entertainment introduced science to me. However, once reaching junior high school, I became aware of the fact that I will never be intrigued by science unless shown to me in some form of entertainment.

                To be frank, the “realistic” way that science is explained to students and as adults is quite boring. I find it terrible that when science is presented, the human significance is barely mentioned, thus, lacking inspiration to even pursue the area. It is no wonder that most children are interested in the sciences through television shows and video games. From the $700 million dollar earning in the United States from the movie, Avatar, I believe it is argumentative that adults feel the same way.

                Having a younger sibling, nieces, nephews, and a two year old daughter, I am often forced to watch children’s shows such as Dino Dan.  A series about a boy with a love for dinosaurs, Dan often comes in contact with dinosaurs during his paleontology experiments, although he has few witnesses. My younger generation of family, and myself, enjoy the show and its incorporation of science. However, when confronted about their view on science in school, my nieces, nephews, and younger brother all agree that “it sucks.”

                The issue is not that science itself is a hassle to deal with and a suicide mission to learn. The issue is the way it is presented. You cannot expect one to be enthused with science when you strip people of human significance in the sciences. While we all know that there is a “larger than life” universe out there, that goes far beyond our five senses, it will be much better if science teaches to inspire the human creativity and incorporate it to pursue scientific discoveries and explorations. After all, it took creativity and imagination to encourage scientists to explore the once hidden jewels of the world and universe we inhabit.

LIB 200 Critical Thinking Blog 1: "TEAM HUMANITIES?"

   

Hello world!

                       My name is Wednesday Moore and I am a Liberal Arts major soon to transfer to Queens College for English (and possibly some other area that may catch my indecisive attention). From viewing my current and future major, it is obvious that I am on the humanities team, but I can guarantee that after this semester, I will have to reconsider my dislike for the sciences due to my interest in the class.

                Having majored in philosophy at my previous school, and studied for years of classical music, I fell in love with the “human condition,” therefore making it a natural choice to pursue liberal arts at LaGuardia.  So why choose this class? Although I have never been too fond of the sciences (How I HATE physics!), I have always possessed an inner craving to learn about the advancing, quite out of this world, technology. I find it hard to adore my iPhone and my Xbox Kinect, yet not wonder about the background story to these products and the motive to continue with technology’s advancement. I often ponder if the continuous advancements break any rules of morality, which is exactly where the humanities sector comes into play. Thus far, the class is doing a great job exploring both science and the humanities areas, both equally significant to the world’s contributions and survival.

                I apologize to getting off to a late start with the class. However, I will be indulged with the blogs and I hope you all are as equally excited as I am to hear each other's thoughts. Nice meeting you!