Unit 9: Remix
November 27, 2013
I found the TED Talk, “Laws that Choke Creativity” by Larry Lessig, to be extremely interesting. Before I watched this video my original view towards people’s obsession and infatuation with technology to be poisonous to a degree to the human brain. I don’t know about other people my age but I grew up with the wives tale that if you watched too much TV/computer/videogames your brain would go to mush. Even though I knew my parents told me this as a means to deter me from getting too consumed in technology, I also believed it to an extent as I got older. I didn’t actually believe your brain would melt and turn to mush but I believed that consuming too many hours in technology could be detrimental towards people’s personalities and people skills, mainly someone’s creativity and imagination since modern technology does most of the work for us by creating shortcuts. But Larry Lessig made a great point that I never really thought about, which is that technology has actually opened another door to creativity and imagination by creating a source that has an endless supply of materials to mash up and create from, such as music, short skits, videos, pictures, etc. It is our generation’s way of creating, however according to Lessig what our generation is capable of achieving through thought and creativity is being hindered by copyright laws. Just like Lessig, I have mixed feelings about this. I believe that piracy is wrong if you are stealing from the artist or producer such as music and movies. But if someone is using media sources for the purpose to express their creativity instead of making money, should they still be convicted of copyright and/or piracy?
5 Responses to “Unit 9: Remix”
November 27th, 2013 at 6:01 pm
I am the same way! I played a little video games and used the computer growing up but it most definitely did not consume my life. Instead I created things with physical material like pencil, paint, and clay (I am an art major) I have a tough time with deciding on whether or not it is a good thing or not with remixing. I think it is a great new way to express yourself but at the same time I think that people could do so much more if they created the original material and not just used other’s. But like I pointed out in my post some people aren’t good in that kind of creativity and are only good at the technological aspect of remixing things together using a computer program. It does open up to more people being able to express themselves creatively.
I don’t think that people need to be convicted of copyright and/or piracy BUT i think that remixing material needs to be treated just like we do if we are writing a research paper. If you use somebody’s original material that you did not make then you need to cite where you got it. You have to think about the people who made the original material. I am sure that they worked very hard on it and would want to be credited for it.
November 28th, 2013 at 11:40 am
I also found the Ted Talk very intriguing. Just like you, when I was younger I didn’t watch too many TV shows and was never into video games. I always thought that you would lose part of your interpersonal skills and creative side if you were so in tuned on technology. It was interesting to see after watching the Ted Talk that technology can actually help spark creativity when used in the right way. Technology can be helpful, but also very detrimental. The copyright laws right now are very strict in order to protect creative work so people don’t steal it and use it as their own. There is a fine line when you look at people trying to express their creativity. If people are using other’s work as a means to generate creativity and not for the purpose of making money, then I feel it would be okay to express their creative side and shouldn’t be considered copyright infringement.
December 1st, 2013 at 7:32 pm
I think in the modern age there are a lot of grey areas. The internet is not so much policed because it is hard to police 1’s and 0’s. So this has created the internet into a place for people to go and do whatever they want. If people want to troll Twitter, read celebrity gossip, or look at something more nefarious they can and will. If you want to listen to a song or watch a television show or movie chances are you can find it in the seemingly infinite space of the internet. Our generation has grown up with this magnificent technology and so takes things like copyright laws for granted. Even though the internet is a free space some policies still need to stay in effect. Copyright laws protect artists in the upward battle that is paid art (music/movies/photographs) versus the internet. I believe that they are entitled to money for all the hard work and effort they put into each individual creation. I also believe, however, that the current policies are too strict. We have to be able to find a middle ground that both parties can be happy with.
December 4th, 2013 at 5:38 pm
I recently had a discussion with my daughter’s preschool teacher that featured this point of whether technology is enhancing our disadvantaging our children. I think the honest answer is that it does both. It surely changes the form of our social behaviors. When I was a kid, I used to play card games with my family. While I feel that texting and cellphones and chatrooms etc., are often limiting this precious family time, I think it’s wonderful that things like Wii and others can utilize technology while still maintaining the value of social interaction and family time.
The preschool teacher felt that the fact that the majority of her Pre-K class knew how to use a cell-phone, look things up on YouTube and use the internet in various ways, was a very sad thing. I disagree. I think that it’s our responsibility to embrace the advancement of technology (as my daughter appears to already be advancing me in wit and creativity!) and remember to include our values of sociability and the family unit in it. I know that everyone fears (to some degree) that technology will make us all dumb and lonely, but some things are still the same. The truth is, if you want to get a competitive job, you have to walk in there and use all those personal skills to stand above the rest of the people relying “on paper.” In times of need, you will need a family! Etc.
August 11th, 2024 at 3:08 pm
I founf this Ted Talk very interesting and engaging. Thanks for sharing.best refrigerator 2024