Blog Post 10: “A Lyrical Individual” – Multilingual Song lyrics and Self-Orientalizing

As the school year comes to a close, my dorm mates and I have been trying to spend as much time together as possible. While scheduling meet up times with radically different schedules can be next to impossible, we try to make time to see each other all at once at least once a week. During this time, the activity we most often engage in is the viewing of Japanese animation, since it’s something that many in the group seem to be fond of and/or well versed in. For me personally, I am not very familiar or well versed with much of any Japanese culture (despite being the only Japanese person in our friend group), so watching all the different shows has been pretty interesting to me.

 

One thing I noticed that was interesting to me was that very often in the theme songs of the shows we watch, english lyrics would be present, despite the show itself being voiced entirely in Japanese. It’s always struck me as somewhat odd and out of place, but I was never sure exactly why until we began discussing in lecture the idea of self-orientalizing.

 

While the use of English lyrics in Japanese songs alone would likely not confuse me, it is the implementation and execution of such lyrics that cause me to question their inclusion. The use of multiple languages in a singular piece of music is not new or uncommon by any means, but the way in which multiple languages have come together in music has never been completely consistent (Desblache). Often music produced with a specifically English speaking audience that employs lyrics from other languages in it have such lyrics written and sung by native speakers in said language. The first example that I think of is the recording of “The Girl from Ipanema” by Frank Sinatra. In this song, the main English lyrics are sung by Sinatra, whereas the verses of the song sung in Spanish are sung by Antônio Carlos Jobim, a singer of Spanish speaking origin. This sort of dichotomy was not the case in theme songs my friends and I listened to; all of the lyrics, English included, were sung by the same Japanese vocalists.

 

Figure 1. Bones. Mob Psycho 100 Opening 1. Mob Psycho 100, 2016.

 

The integration of English lyrics in Japanese songs strikes me as self-orientalizing because of how the lyrics are poorly implemented. The lyrics are often nonsensical to the point of seeming out of place. English words and phrases will sometimes be thrown into verses without warning, and even when full length sentences or clauses are employed they are often not written in proper English grammatical format. One show that my friends and I have watched a lot of, Mob Psycho 100 (Figure 1), includes quite a few strange English phrases. In the opening to Mob Psycho, the phrase “break it down” is strangely thrown in the middle of an otherwise completely Japanese line, and the song also includes lines such as “Coming down, could you feel your satisfaction?” and “Crying my heart in such commonplaces,” neither of which are grammatically correct English sentences. When these poorly implemented phrases are heard by an English speaking audience, they become a distraction from the song itself. Instead of an English speaking viewer focusing on the song or show they are consuming, they instead are taken out of the experience to acknowledge the singer’s lack of understanding of the language. While ultimately small and not totally distracting from the whole viewing experience, this moment of acknowledgement in a viewer’s mind caused by the poor translation serve to seperate what is “Western” or “Eastern” to the viewer, causing some element of orientalizing. Were the English lyrics either implemented with proper translation or completely absent, this moment of acknowledging cultural differences would not occur, and therefore neither would any sort of orientalization.

 

Ultimately, I wouldn’t go so far as to say the poorly implemented lyrics impact my viewing experience much, if at all. At the very worst, their appearance in a theme song will simply cause a moment of humor for myself and my dorm mates in the middle of a viewing session. Despite this insignificance, I still feel that such poor integration has a place, if a rather small one, in the cultural divide between the US and Japan, and that grammatically correct song lyrics could serve a minuscule benefit in amending this divide.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“Bad English in Anime Theme Songs?” Anime News Network, 2006, www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16485&start=30.

Bones. Mob Psycho 100 Opening 1. Mob Psycho 100, 2016.

Desblache, Lucile. “Translation of Music.” An Encyclopedia of Practical Translation and Interpreting, edited by Chan Sin-wai, Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 2018, pp. 297–324. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvbtzp7q.12.

“Mob Choir (Ft. ​Sajou No Hana) – 99.9.” Genius, 6 Mar. 2019, genius.com/Mob-choir-999-lyrics.

Rahimieh, Nasrin. “Film Adaptation of Women Without Men.” Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 23 May 2019. Lecture.

Post 9: “The Sunday Sometimes Funnies” – A Brief Overview of Political Cartoons

Modern news organizations are often the subject of criticism nowadays. Between the public’s justified fears of fake news reports and the contentious nature of so called “alternative facts,” it makes one wonder if there can be any form of consistency or reliability in the world of current day news. If there’s any aspect of the modern news cycle that may cure this wonder, it would likely be that of the political cartoon.

 

As the old saying goes, an image is worth a thousand words. As a basic definition, political cartoons are humorous illustrations involving some sort of politically motivated message. Often large, one paneled comics, these cartoons are most often seen in newspapers or, recently, in online news outlets. Exaggerated caricatures of prominent political figures and satirical, irreverent commentary are only few of many tools used by political cartoonists to produce their work. The specific points of these cartoons are generally obvious to the viewer, either because of or in addition to their humorous nature. With the above as its basic formula, the political cartoon hasn’t fundamentally changed since its earliest iterations in the eighteenth century.

Figure 1. Davis, Debbie. Pat Bagley Cartoon. Davis Enterprise, 2015, https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/cartoons/pat-bagley-cartoon-13/.

 

Throughout their existence, political cartoons have been tools for the everyman to understand and share their views and opinion through both creation and consumption. The subjective nature of politics’ definition makes the exact origin of the political cartoon difficult to pinpoint, but the generally accepted epoch of the cartoons’ emergence centers around the mid 1700’s. From Hogarth’s illustrated social commentary to Ben Franklin’s famous patriotic “Join or Die” comic, the basic anatomy of politically centered cartoons may not vary too much, but the messages presented certainly do. According to Professor Vo, political cartoons have been integral in the spread and development of political ideas since their conception. Between being present in accessible outlets, such as newspapers and websites, and often being obvious in their meaning, political cartoons have served as a gateway for people of any age, intellect, or education to be informed on the issues of their time.

 

Figure 2. Franklin, Benjamin. Join, or Die. Constitution Center, 2013, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/join-or-die-americas-first-political-cartoon.

 

Even as the reliability of modern news outlets becomes increasingly contentious, the ever present political cartoon hasn’t gone through any fundamental change since its conception. This is probably because the cartoon itself has always been a force of direct criticism, satire, and propaganda more than anything else. While criticisms of “fake news” and “alternative facts” are often rooted in the inherent bias laced in such topics, political cartoons have not only been characterized, but strengthened by their obvious biases. As tools used for the sake of making direct and obvious points, the one sided nature of political cartoons has never really been a cause for concern. Seeing as the political cartoon is inherently irreverent toward some ideology and also unable to be monopolized by any individual party, the lack of criticism toward political cartoons as a whole is not surprising.

 

The world of politics is a messy and confusing one. The modern day contains a plethora of issues and ideologies that seem to consume all aspects of life. While political cartoons are, obviously, no exception to this, at least they can serve the harsh realities of life to the public with a side of humor to soften the blow.

 

 

Works Cited

Abraham, Abu. “Anatomy of the Political Cartoon.” India International Centre Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 4, 1975, pp. 273–279. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23001883.

Bush, Larry. “More than Words: Rhetorical Constructs in American Political Cartoons.” Studies in American Humor, no. 27, 2013, pp. 63–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23823980.

“Cartooning: Political.” Illustration History, http://www.illustrationhistory.org/genres/cartooning-political.

Davis, Debbie. Pat Bagley Cartoon. Davis Enterprise, 2015, https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/cartoons/pat-bagley-cartoon-13/.

Franklin, Benjamin. Join, or Die. Constitution Center, 2013, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/join-or-die-americas-first-political-cartoon.

Vo, Linda Trinh. “Manifest Destiny and the Philippines.” Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 23 April 2019. Lecture.

Post 8: “The Absence of Information” – Researching Topics with Few Sources

It’s hopefully not a controversial statement to say that not everyone is born under the same circumstances. The combination of experiences every human being finds themselves in throughout their lives is ultimately unique and intertwined with those similar to them. For historians, this diversity in human experience is both a blessing and a curse, as varied perspectives lead to a rich and interesting understanding of history, but such variety makes certain groups more inherently difficult to research than others. Many demographics of people, such as peasants, slaves, and women for much of history, did not have the education or opportunity necessary to document their experiences and perspectives in the way that other groups may have. That leads to the question; how does one research a demographic that produced little to no documentation of themselves?

 

For historian Jennifer Morgan, the subject of a podcast we listened to for class, the solution is in making connections. The demographic of her interest, female African slaves in North America, produced few if any documents pertaining to their experiences, so direct primary source consultation is not an option. Instead, Morgan takes to primary sources written by non-slaves and marks any references to African women. While this process does not directly gain insight from African female slaves, it does give other demographics’ perspectives on them. While not quite a firsthand account, getting the context of how others viewed and talked about female slaves allowed Morgan to gain implications of how they were treated and what their individual experiences were.

 

In the case of Dr. Vinayak Chaturvedi, one of the lecturers from last quarter, answers came from cross referencing. For his object of study, peasants, Chaturvedi deals with a population of primarily illiterate and uneducated peoples. Even when he did find a document written by a peasant in the form of the Ranchod Vira letter, what was written appeared to almost be gibberish, and specific references to local events and happenings of the time made translation no easier. In order to gain any insight on Indian peasantry from the document, Dr. Chaturvedi essentially had to break down every individual sentence and phrase in the letter to form anything coherent (Chaturvedi 7). Only through finding the context and history for each phrase in the letter was he able to gain the insight for the minor peasant revolt the letter represented.

 

Figure 1. Rosefeldt, Julian. Archive of Archives. JulianRosefeldt.com, 1995, https://www.julianrosefeldt.com/photo-works/archiv-der-archive-1995/

 

To both of the above historians, one of their most valuable tools in researching demographics with little firsthand documentation came in the form of archives. Archives are becoming increasingly accessible with researchers in all fields of humanities, and their content, while seemingly mundane in a void, can give implications as to how certain demographics of people were taxed, treated, and talked about. For instance, notes of inheritance and other records from slave owners have assisted Jennifer Morgan in writing her dissertations, and the Ranchod Vira letter initially came from an Indian archive.

 

Studying the illiterate and underprivileged demographics of history is by no means an easy task, but it certainly is an important one. Presumably, the goal of a historian is to portray the events of the past in the most complete and accurate fashion possible, and this goal cannot be accomplished without the perspectives of everyone, illiterate included, in mind.

 

Works Cited

Chaturvedi, Vinayak. “Ranchod Vira’s Letter.” Humanities Core. University of California, Irvine, Irvine. 12 March 2019. Lecture.

Covart, Liz. “Jennifer Morgan, How Historians Research.” Ben Franklin’s World, Name of the Publisher/Where you listened to it (only include if it is different than the author or title), 23 February 2016, https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/episode-070-jennifer-l-morgan-how-historians-research/.

Rosefeldt, Julian. Archive of Archives. JulianRosefeldt.com, 1995, https://www.julianrosefeldt.com/photo-works/archiv-der-archive-1995/

Stoler, Ann L. “Colonial Archives and the Arts of Governance.” SpringerLink, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02435632#citeas.

Post 7: “Social Media and Modern Political Conversation” – How would Gandhi feel about Twitter?

It’s by no means an controversial statement to say that political conversation as a whole has changed within the past hundred years, most prominently through the advent and popularization of the internet. Social media and other forms of online discussion allowed by the internet have accelerated the rate at which any sort of discussion, political included, can occur between people all around the world. Truly, communication itself has gone through a significant change.

 

As was discussed in lecture, political activists like Gandhi and Savarkar were both greatly familiar with and supportive of the idea of political discourse. Both Hind Swaraj and (debatably) The Indian War of Independence were written as forms of political debate, and Gandhi was known to be constantly answering mail regarding his works and views. A hundred years later, and suddenly there are far easier and more accessible means of staging political discourse with people from all around the globe thanks to the internet, primarily via social media. Though, is this really a good thing? Would the avenues of communication offered by the internet such as social media be approved by someone like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi? Probably not, but it’s at least worth discussing.

 

Figure 1. Scherer, Emily. Political Twitter. FiveThirtyEight, 2017, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/political-twitter-is-no-place-for-moderates/

 

If there’s anything the internet does well, it’s accessibility and anonymity, both of which are great for conducting productive political conversation. Not long after their popularization, social media sites like Twitter became prime space for political discussion. From bringing updates straight from political leaders to their constituents to just being a convenient hub for friendly debate, social media sites have certainly had their fair share of politicization, and it’s not hard to see why. Social media sites are meant to be accessible to anyone; this is generally done for the purpose of attracting as mass appeal, but it still serves as a benefit to political discussion. Accessibility is essential for getting many people involved, and more people means more perspectives on issues and more variety in discussions. Political leaders and normal citizens alike can share their thoughts quickly and easily thanks to the ease of use provided by big name social media sites. Another aspect of online communication that greatly benefits the prospect of political conversation is the internet’s potential for anonymity. In text-based communication, the biases inseparable from physical interaction, such as those involving one’s appearance, voice, and mannerisms, are completely eliminated. Furthermore, anonymity can allow individuals to express potentially controversial or novel opinions with at least mitigated fear of consequences in real life.

 

The internet’s greatest strengths, though, also turn out to be its greatest weaknesses, at least in regards to its ability to stage rational and mature conversation. The inherent accessibility of social media allows for people of any age, ability, and location to participate in discussion with anyone else, for better or for worse. As unfortunate as it is to say, sometimes people do not think and act with rationale, and some people prioritize emotional reactions over logical ones. Social media sites like Twitter are perfect avenues for quick, reactionary bursts of emotion to be sent out in mere seconds by practically anyone, making the prospect of uninterrupted, mature conversation often difficult to stage. Additionally, the anonymity that can be provided by the internet and social media do not always work in its favor. Many studies have shown that having anonymity can make people more likely to act in more aggressive, sadistic, or self serving ways, and this can be seen in the many attempts at mob activity and character assassination that occur on social media. In places like Twitter, prominent individuals of all backgrounds, political or not, are verbally assaulted by dozens of individuals daily. The lack of identity allowed by social media, unfortunately, can also be used as motivation to commit unpleasant outbursts.

 

Figure 2. W, Neil. Twitter Politics War.  Reputation Today, 2018, http://reputationtoday.in/state-craft/twitter-wars-how-rules-of-engagement-are-changing/attachment/twitter_battle_a_l/

 

I don’t think anyone’s under any illusion that Gandhi would be all that happy with the current state of technology and production in modern society. It’s also relatively uncontroversial to say that social media sites such as twitter are not necessarily the most appropriate places for political discussion, with the tendency for reactionary rhetoric and snapshots of views rather than full, thought out discussion being the norm. In spite of all that, though, the ease and availability provided by online discussion aligns surprisingly well with Gandhi’s views on open communication and discourse. As a man who was constantly answering and debating with every letter and inquiry that was sent his way, Gandhi would likely find at least some benefit in the ability to interact with his followers in such a quick and easy fashion. It is this double sided nature of social media that once again reveals the internet to be no more than simply a tool of communication; social media is not a sentient entity with a moral alignment, and it is ultimately up to its creators and users to determine how fit it is for political discourse, as is the case with all online avenues of discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Dawson, Joe. “Who Is That? The Study of Anonymity and Behavior.” Association for Psychological Science, 2018, http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/who-is-that-the-study-of-anonymity-and-behavior.

Newkirk, Vann R. “The American Idea in 140 Characters.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 24 Mar. 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/twitter-politics-last-decade/475131/.

Pang, Augustine, et al. “Reputational Damage on Twitter #Hijack: Factors, Dynamics, and Response Strategies for Crowdsourced Campaigns.” From Media Hype to Twitter Storm: News Explosions and Their Impact on Issues, Crises, and Public Opinion, edited by Peter Vasterman, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2018, pp. 355–382. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt21215m0.21.

Scherer, Emily. Political Twitter. FiveThirtyEight, 2017, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/political-twitter-is-no-place-for-moderates/

W, Neil. Twitter Politics War.  Reputation Today, 2018, http://reputationtoday.in/state-craft/twitter-wars-how-rules-of-engagement-are-changing/attachment/twitter_battle_a_l/

Post 6: “On Monsters and Men” – From Cannibals to Internet Trolls

In lecture, we’ve been putting special emphasis on the character of Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In particular, we’ve been discussing how his character and the interpretation of him has changed throughout the years; as time goes on, an understanding of how his character relates to indigenous peoples and the perceptions of them have transformed him from an unsightly monster to a more sympathetic, if deeply flawed, human being.

Due to all the talk about Caliban, I’ve recently been thinking about other monsters and the people they represent, and this line of thought lead me to trolls. More specifically, internet trolls. While the perception of these online pranksters is not a positive one for good reason, I believe that, like Caliban, there is a genuine human being behind each one that deserves some dignity. In my opinion, the mainstream portrayal of internet trolls is misguided, and such ignorance serves to bring shame to a group of people who may deserve more sympathy than scorn.

 

Figure 1. Hussie, Andrew. An Online Troll. MS Paint Adventures, 2011, mspaintadventures.com/testindex.php?s=6&p=004659.

 

Before anything else, it might be beneficial to define exactly what a “troll” is. Essentially, a troll is an internet prankster, someone who invades discussion forums, comment sections, or blog posts only to incite chaos in an attempt to provoke an emotional response from whoever happens to be around. When I refer to trolls, I do NOT mean those who harass others in a coordinated or illegal manner; individuals who commit legitimate crimes online (such as doxxing or swatting) are not trolls, so much as they are vigilantes or criminals. Additionally, people who target individuals or groups to harass specifically (like cyberbullies or political extremists) do not count as trolls either, since they are not agents of chaos, rather they are coordinated online assailants. It is important to make these distinctions, because placing all of the above groups under the umbrella of “troll” creates a definition which is neither accurate nor specific. Ultimately, a troll has no specific target or goal other than general discord, and is harmless when compared to the sinister implications that tend to accompany the title.

 

Now that the “what” of a troll has been established, the “who” must be defined up as well. The popular depiction of a troll is, without being too insulting, a deadbeat (see Figure 2). Trolls tend to be described as people who spend their free time, of which they have an abundance, sitting around at their computer making fun of strangers on the internet for pleasure. In reality, legitimate studies on the personality and behavior of internet trolls have only established four concrete character traits present within them: low self-esteem, above average cognitive empathy, below average affective empathy, and subpar social skills. Upon first glance, these character aspects might appear to corroborate the current stereotype of deadbeat trolls, but I would like to propose an alternative theory. I have reason to believe that a significant portion of internet trolls are in fact not middle aged sadists, but instead simply misguided children.

 

Figure 2. Strickland, Derek. Internet Troll. VR Zone – Prosumer Tech, 29 Mar. 2014, vrzone.com/articles/study-finds-gamers-arent-anti-social-basement-dwellers/75033.html.

 

While personal bias and experience likely play a large factor in this assessment, I have come to believe that the potential of socially underdeveloped children being internet trolls has been largely overlooked. Looking at the aforementioned characteristics, one could see them as describing a deadbeat just as well as they could describe a lonely child. Children in abusive households tend to have weaker empathetic responses, poor social skills could lead anyone, child or not, to retreat to the internet for comfort, and the effects of low self esteem can be abated in the realm of the internet, where identities are most often kept completely anonymous. Furthermore, in no study on internet trolls could I locate any data on even the potential of children being internet pranksters; every study I encountered only collected data on persons at least the age of eighteen. It is these factors, as well as some personal experience with adolescent trolls, that indicate to me that there is at least significant reason to believe that the popular perception of internet trolls as simple deadbeats is not only inaccurate, but also potentially harmful toward a group of people who may very well need sympathy over shame.

 

Figure 3. Qureshi, Noor. Behind the Screen. Medium.com, Medium, 8 June 2018, medium.com/media-ethnography/how-trolling-relates-to-online-dating-21fde9eddbd4.

 

In literature, monsters generally serve as physical reflections of human flaws. In both the fictional Caliban and the all too real internet trolls, flaws are certainly present. However, both of these cases share a human behind those flaws, one who is more complex than what a limited interaction may indicate. In the same way that Caliban, through years of diligent rhetorical and historical research, has become more sympathetic, or more importantly, more human, I hope the same fate will befall the anonymous, often misunderstood pranksters of the internet.

 

Works Cited

Buckels, Erin E., et al. “Trolls Just Want to Have Fun.” NeuroImage, Academic Press, 8 Feb. 2014, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914000324.

“Dox.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dox.

Hussie, Andrew. An Online Troll. MS Paint Adventures, 2011, mspaintadventures.com/testindex.php?s=6&p=004659.

Qureshi, Noor. Behind the Screen. Medium.com, Medium, 8 June 2018, medium.com/media-ethnography/how-trolling-relates-to-online-dating-21fde9eddbd4.

Sest, Natalie, and Evita March. “Constructing the Cyber-Troll: Psychopathy, Sadism, and Empathy.” NeuroImage, Academic Press, 1 July 2017, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886917304270.

Strickland, Derek. Internet Troll. VR Zone – Prosumer Tech, 29 Mar. 2014, vrzone.com/articles/study-finds-gamers-arent-anti-social-basement-dwellers/75033.html.

“Swatting | Definition of Swatting in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/swatting.

Zezulka, Lauren A., and Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar. “Differentiating Cyberbullies and Internet Trolls by Personality Characteristics and Self-Esteem.” Scholarly Commons, 30 Sept. 2016, commons.erau.edu/jdfsl/vol11/iss3/5/.

Post 5: “Cultural Mythology” – Misunderstanding and the Deep Web

The first week of core has heavily emphasized the cultural myths created by the Inca and the Spanish about each other. These myths were simply falsehoods created by either party ill intent, whose justification lay solely in their own ignorance. In the case of modern technology like the internet, there is still plenty that is misunderstood, which has lead to the creation of a variety of modern cultural myths. The area of the internet which I believe is most misunderstood, and therefore has plenty of cultural myths surrounding it, is the deep web. Myths about the deep web include the perception that it is synonymous with the dark web, the idea that the deep web is inherently illegal, and the notion that the deep web is place filled with organized and unmonitored criminal activity; all of the above are false, as will be shown in this post.

Despite their names often being used interchangeably, the deep web and the dark web are actually distinct, though related entities. A visual metaphor commonly used to describe the deep web employs the use of an iceberg (Fig. 1). Put simply, if every website in the entirety of the internet is an iceberg, than the surface web, or every page that can be reached easily with a normal search engine like Google or Yahoo, is the iceberg tip. The majority of the iceberg that exists underwater, on the other hand, would be the deep web. Of that section, only a few tens of thousands of pages make up the entirety of what is known as the dark web (which may sound large, but in reality is quite meager compared to the billions of pages present in both the whole deep and even surface web). While sensational media outlets might give the impression that the deep web is a sprawling mass of sketchy and often illegal websites ready to steal your information the moment you happen upon them, that description is only vaguely true for a small minority of the websites that exist in all of the deep web. In reality, the deep web as a whole is comprised almost entirely of unindexed data that can’t be accessed by search engines, such as library records, bank accounts, and any website that has simply disallowed access from search engines.

 

Figure 1. Badkul, Piyush. “Deep Web Iceberg.” Hacker Noon, Hacker Noon, 13 May 2018, hackernoon.com/wtf-is-dark-web-358569fde822.

 

With its difficult to access nature and illegal activity often tied to its name, one would be forgiven for thinking of the deep web as an inherently sketchy or criminal place. In actuality, of course, this claim is false. Even putting aside the generally mundane and information focused nature of the deep web, fear of the deep web often stems from the supposed anonymity and mystery it grants its users. Although it is true that the difficult to access and generally unorganized state of the deep web does grant some level of confidentiality to those who use it, said confidentiality is not inherently used for criminal purposes. In fact, while the anonymity provided by the deep web can serve as a caveat for criminal activity, it can also be an invaluable tool for government agencies, political whistleblowers, or journalists in places where internet access is restricted. Though the secrecy of the deep web can be seen as a cause for concern, truly such secrecy has served as as a force of good equally to, if not more than, a force of evil.

If one were to simply read every news headline pertaining to the deep web and take it as fact, they would likely get the impression that the place is a terrifying cesspool of all the world’s most sly and devilish criminals. With horror stories of drug trafficking, identity theft, and even assassinations being carried out anonymously are commonly associated with the deep web, specifically with the dark web, one would seem wise to both fear and avoid it. In reality however, the dark web is actually a pretty suboptimal place to commit crimes. There is a saying that “the internet does not forget,” and that applies to the deep web as well. Despite the supposed anonymity granted by the web, essentially all of an individual’s information, from search history, past monetary transactions, or even location, are all readily available to anyone tech savvy enough to find it. This group of tech savvy individuals can, and often does, include government agents and law enforcement officers. Additionally, the idea that the dark web is full of criminal organizations willing to kidnap, torture, or even assassinate for pay is almost completely unfounded. While sites claiming to commit such crimes are commonplace in the dark web, essentially all of them have proven to be hoaxes, and no proof of a legitimate assassination has ever surfaced. Essentially the only true commonplace crimes committed on the dark web are sale of firearms, illegal drug trafficking, and identity theft, all of which are equally commonplace on the surface web.

 

Photo by Sebastiaan Stam on Pexels.com

 

In the case of the Inca and the Spanish, cultural myths were often developed for less than virtuous reasons. Whether to push a political agenda or to simply boost their own nationalistic egos, the myths created by each culture about one another are generally viewed as unsavory in retrospect. It is because of such retrospect that I felt inclined to write an article about current cultural myths. While myths about the internet may not be as heinous as myths about cultures, and the creation of technological myths may not be as intentionally malicious, ignorance and misunderstanding in general is something that I feel should be avoided whenever possible.

 

 

Bibliography

Badkul, Piyush. “Deep Web Iceberg.” Hacker Noon, Hacker Noon, 13 May 2018, hackernoon.com/wtf-is-dark-web-358569fde822.

Bergman, Michael K. “White Paper: The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value.” Michigan Family Review, Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 1 Aug. 2001, quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/idx/j/jep/3336451.0007.104/–white-paper-the-deep-websurfacing-h idden-value?rgn=main%3Bview.

Collins, Jerri. “Why Do People Go On The Dark Web?” Lifewire, Lifewire, 23 Oct. 2018, www.lifewire.com/who-uses-dark-web-3481563.

Ornsby, Eileen. “The Curious Case of Besa Mafia.” All Things VICE, 29 Apr. 2018, allthingsvice.com/2016/05/14/the-curious-case-of-besa-mafia/.

Quinney, Andrew. “Surface Web vs Deep Web vs Dark Web | Service Care Solutions Blogs & News.” Service Care Solutions, 27 June 2016, http://www.servicecare.org.uk/news/surface-web-vs-deep-web-vs-dark-web-61792715468.

 

Post 4: “Coincidental Parallels” – Humanities and Connections

 

I’d like to address the fact that this following post has essentially nothing to do with my blog’s pre-established topic, however the idea that resulted in the creation of this post was relevant enough to the class that I hope this point is irrelevant.

 

For class last week we were required to view the 2015 movie “The Revenant,” a realistic fiction narrative of Hugh Glass’ journey of revenge during his time as a fur trapper in nineteenth century America. Maybe it was because I was watching the movie for educational purposes, or maybe it was just sheer coincidence, but for whatever reason during my viewing of “The Revenant” I was reminded of the required readings from earlier in the quarter. As I thought about it more, I came to the conclusion that Hugh Glass, at least in the form portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio, fit all of the characteristics of a Virgilian hero.

 

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

 

Prof. Zissos defined the Virgilian hero as a character exhibiting three aspects: Pietas, a sense of duty toward family and values, Virtus, manliness or moral courage, and Labor, tireless striving (Zissos). Hugh Glass, in his dedication to his family, his fortitude, and his determination exhibits all three primary qualities of the Virgilian hero.

 

Hugh Glass exhibits pietas, or sense of duty to family and faith, through his dedication to his family. Glass’ entire journey in “The Revenant” is based on the hope of getting revenge for his son’s murder. He faces various nearly fatal experiences with little desire for rest or personal recovery simply out of the desire to make right with his son and his killer. In doing this, he shows that his feelings for his family and their honor trump his desire for his own bodily health. Furthermore, Glass’ various dream sequences throughout the film heavily feature his family, even going so far as to feature the native language of his deceased wife, as opposed to english. From this, it can be gathered that Glass’ connection to his family greatly permeates his mind, even into his subconscious.

 

Hugh Glass exhibits virtus, or moral courage, through his sparing of the characters Fitzgerald and Bridger. While only Fitzgerald was responsible for the murder of Glass’ son, both abandoned Glass in the middle of a frozen forest. Despite this, when Glass arrives at a nearby army camp to find Bridger being imprisoned for his actions, Glass insists that he be set free. Glass could have very easily held a grudge against Bridger for deserting him, but he refuses, showing his moral integrity. Furthermore, Glass’ virtue could also be seen in his eventual sparing of Fitzgerald following their climactic brawl at the end of the movie. Glass eventually pins Fitzgerald and has the opportunity to kill him, but instead refuses to, saying “revenge is in God’s hands.” The theme of revenge as strictly negative is prominent throughout the film, and Glass’ line is a reference to another line from the film: “revenge is in the hands of the creator.” In his mercy, Glass show his submission to this theme as well as a moral high ground against Fitzgerald. In spite of his efforts and the initial vengeful goal of his whole journey, Glass ultimately decides to spare Fitzgerald on moral grounds.

 

Hugh Glass exhibits labor, or tireless striving, purely through his will to survive during his difficult journey. The Oxford dictionary defines a “revenant” as one who has returned from the dead, or an apparition. The word revenant is a fitting title for the movie, considering Glass’ miraculous survival after being left for dead by his companions. Glass shows a Herculean effort to accomplish his goals through his journey in the wilderness, and his relentless searching for his son’s killer even while injured and alone. Conditions that could easily slay others are simply obstacles in the path of Glass, as he never once detracts his mindset from his goal of avenging his son. Through his relentless and even reckless abandon for care of anything other than his goals, Glass reveals his inner determination and tenacity.

 

Fig. 1 Babiy, Anatoliy. “Multimedia Front.” Youth.Gov. https://www.youth.gov.hk/m/en/career-and-study/career/242.

 

I think one of the purposes of studying humanities has to do with applying the media we intake to the world we live in. This quarter has heavily emphasized the fostering of connections; connections between art, history, media, and the ideas that they represent. I think it was that emphasis on connection that led me to the topic of this post in the first place. While Alejandro Iñárritu may have never read the Aeneid, and Hugh Glass very well may have never heard of Virgil, it’s interesting to think of how the stories they’ve each created could parallel each other in such similar ways.

 

 

Bibliography

Babiy, Anatoliy. “Multimedia Front.” Youth.Gov. https://www.youth.gov.hk/m/en/career-and-study/career/242.

“Revenant – The Movie.” The Real Story of Hugh Glass, hughglass.org/the-legend/revenant-the-movie/.

“revenant.” Oxford Dictionary. Date of access 10 Dec. 2018, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/164711?rskey=87liIo&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid

Zissos, Andrew. ALP 1300, Irvine. 18 Oct. 2018. Lecture.

Post 3: “The Elusive Truth” – The Swift Spread of False Information

In the novel we have just finished reading in core, J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians, the theme of truth is central to one of the main conflicts in the story. The story’s narrator, known only as the magistrate, spends the entirety of the novel seeking to both find and document a wholly accurate truth of himself and his research. This sentiment puts him at odds with characters like Colonel Joll, who he believes may twist the public’s perception of both the magistrate and the barbarians away from what the magistrate believes is the accurate truth.

 

While there may not necessarily exist a figure as blatantly malevolent and dishonest as Colonel Joll in real life, the fear of false information spreading to the masses or to future generations is one that is only more justified in the age of the internet. With the sheer speed at which information can travel on the web and the commonality of practices such as the creation of conjectural or fake news, it can be near impossible for one to discern what constitutes the real, accurate truth of any situation.

 

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With the blinding speed at which the internet operates, information can spread faster than it ever has before. There being no universal filter for truth on such a platform, this speed encourages the spread of false information as easily as it encourages the truth. In recent years, this problem has been exacerbated by social media, whose quick and impulsive approach to posting often lead to the circulation of websites with attractive, flashy headlines rather than well researched content. Such a constant, frenzied stream of new and often completely different perspectives on a single subject only grant uncertainty to the truth of the subjects they attempt to report on.

At some point in everyone’s life, they will hear the phrase “don’t believe everything you read” in some form. This phrase rings even more powerfully with the recent rise of fake news, or manipulative journalistic practices. Fake news can take many different forms; anything from conjectural content, irrelevant hyperlinks, or just plain falsified information have been used with the sole purpose of misleading an audience. With fake news being commonplace on the web, especially with politicized media, the truth takes substantial effort to locate within what seems to be an endless sea of manipulative practices.

 

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In an age where information can be documented, shared, and archived with greater speed than ever before, one must always be wary of potential misinformation. With practices like the creation of fake news becoming all too common, deciphering what information on the internet is falsified is a daunting, if not impossible task. Thankfully, unlike with the conflict in Waiting for the Barbarians, the burden of finding and preserving the truth does not fall upon one single person (or magistrate). With the freedom allowed on platforms such as online blogs and the speed at which information can spread in the realm of social media, anyone can become the arbiter of their own truth or their own legacy. Hopefully, with such powers, an accurate depiction of truth can rise from the cesspool of false claims the internet is home to.

 

Bibliography

Budak, Ceren, et al. “Limiting the Spread of Misinformation in Social Networks.” Contents: Using the Digital Library, ACM, 2011, dl.acm.org/citation.cfm? id=1963499.

Cerf, Vinton G. “Truth and the Internet.” Internet Society, http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/truth-and-the-internet/.

Edwards, David, et al. “‘Fake News’, Objective Journalism and the No-Business Model.” Propaganda Blitz: How the Corporate Media Distort Reality, Pluto Press, London, 2018, pp. 214–236. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv69tg4v.16.

Post 2: “A Hopeless Race” – The Internet, Advancement, and Intelligence

Jean Jacques Rousseau once described civilization as “a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces.” He often made claims of the dangers and problems associated with civilization, and how its advancement can cause great suffering to all of humanity. While Rousseau’s contrarian views were not always meant to be taken completely literally, there was still truth to what he said. Any degree of societal advancement can lead to unintended, unwanted consequences; medical improvement has lead to the development of new diseases, industrial progress has lead to a plethora of environmental deficiencies, and technological development has lead to a generally less intelligent population. In the same way that a political philosopher such as Jean Jacques Rousseau might argue that advancement in society has brought equal or greater harm than it has remedied, I would argue that recent advancement in informational technology, specifically in the case of the internet, has caused society as a whole to become less skilled, less informed, and less willing to pay attention.

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The claim that the internet “makes us dumber” is by no means original, nor does it sound very academic, but it does hold some credence. While a readily available device may have access to near limitless information, the same does not necessarily hold true for the one wielding said device; in fact, the opposite is true. A study on the relationship between internet dependency and memory showed that those who believed that information would be available to them at a later time are less receptive to information taught to them. All subjects were given random trivia facts to type into a computer document, knowing they would be tested on said facts later, but those who were told their documents would be saved to the computer consistently did worse on the test, even though they knew the document wouldn’t be available to them. The results of the study show that the mere idea of information being stored somewhere makes people feel less obligated to remember it themselves. If this line of thinking is to be applied to all information, why remember anything at all? Any information you may need doesn’t need to be stored in your brain, because it’s already stored in your pockets.

 

Lack of information reception doesn’t just apply to random trivia facts, though, it can apply to skills as well. While skills that were mandatory for living no more than a few decades ago, such as orienteering, have become trivial with the invention of consumer GPS and search engines, even basic skills have no real necessity to be learned. Even tasks as simple as tying a tie or boiling water no longer need to, or tend to, be learned, since one merely needs to find and follow a video tutorial for any number of trivial tasks, only for the knowledge of such a skill to be discarded, since it can always be searched up again later. Honestly, how often do you really Google a tutorial video just once, and never look at it again?

 

Information capacity is not the only aspect of the mind that suffers from perpetual internet use, as attention span has been shown to be greatly impacted by it as well. The chronic competition for the attention of the consumer is by no means a new one, but when our social lives, entertainment, and even our occupations are tied to a space that can be easily bought out by advertisers and articles, the challenge of keeping one’s attention on one thing for any given amount of time has become more difficult than it ever has before. While little has been done in the way of legitimate study on how internet use affects attention span, anecdotal evidence is worrying. In short, no one reads the news anymore. One may stumble across an article about recent events, but many read no more than the title. Even then, there’s a high likelihood that those who venture past the title simply skim, reading a sentence or two per paragraph to get an idea of what it’s about. Why wouldn’t they? There’s hundreds of articles written about the same topic just a few clicks away, if the current one isn’t as short, snappy, or interesting as another might be, there’s no reason to stay and fully read through anything.

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As the internet becomes a more invasive part of our everyday lives, it is imperative that we understand how such a convenient, fast-paced informational tool affects us on a cognitive level. Just as Rousseau never really intended to demolish civilization as a whole, no one is arguing that technological development stop entirely due to some negative side effects. When something as universal as the internet has the potential to permanently affect society, the answer is not to fruitlessly fight against it, but to simply be informed, because having a tool of infinite knowledge ultimately means very little, if it resides in the pockets of barbarians.

 

Bibliography

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 June 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.

Jackson, Dominique. “Has Technology Made Us Lazy and Dependent?” Lifehack, Lifehack, 14 Nov. 2017, www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/has-technology-made-lazy-and-dependent.html.

“Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes (Author of The Social Contract).” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7994.Jean_Jacques_Rousseau.

Sparrow, Betsy, et al. “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 5 Aug. 2011, science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6043/776.full.

Post 1: “Cutting the Cord” – The fall of the Television Empire

Television has essentially, ever since its conception, been the undisputed dominant force in modern entertainment. Being more accessible than a book and more convenient than a trip to the movies, spending an hour or two in front of the telly is just part of the daily routine for most. To call cable television an empire in the entertainment industry, due to its widespread nature and dominance over other forms of media, would not be an inaccurate statement.

Despite its strengths, however, the rise of universal internet accessibility has given birth to a form of television consumption equally accessible to and even more convenient than its cable or satellite based predecessors. In the same ways Uber is beginning to replace traditional taxis and Spotify is driving physical music CDs toward extinction, cable television has found a powerful foe in the form of online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

 

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As shown in a study done by the Video Advertising Bureau earlier this year, the future of cable television could only be described as grim. While the idea of “cord-cutting,” or abandoning cable T.V. for streaming services entirely, is not at all new, the sheer number of cord-cutters have increased at a dramatic and unexpected rate. According to the study, the number of purely streaming households in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 2013, and is expected to rise consistently over the next few years. Even then, the rate of cord cutting has consistently risen even higher than expected, as seen in the rates predicted by the Wall Street Journal. Despite giving what seemed to be relatively generous predictions on the number of households switching from cable providers, the journal’s estimates proved too low for every single cable provider analyzed.
The demographics for television consumption are also foreboding for cable providers, as it becomes increasingly clear that young people stream their shows more often than any other demographic. In the world of wi-fi and smartphones, it’s not surprising that cable’s relevance would slowly wane. When one can have whatever show they want in their back pocket available at all times, what good is a cable package only present in the living room?

 

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With all that being said, is the swift and complete end of the television empire really upon us? Will programming blocks and prime time news be a thing of the past in three, even five years time? In reality, the answer to both of those questions is a hard ‘probably not.’ Even with overwhelming evidence suggesting the future dominance of streaming services, the widespread nature of cable television will allow it to easily persist for years to come. Even as the Netflixs and Hulus of tomorrow rise in usage, the fate of the once universal cable will undoubtedly stay relevant, if only meagerly, in a situation paralleling that of FM radio; it will merely exist in a sea of modern alternatives, staying afloat only due to its immense impact in a bygone era, or because of its everlasting accessibility. The fall of the cable television empire is most certainly a reality, just maybe not what one might call a ruin.

 

Bibliography

Morris, David Z. “Viewers Are Ditching Cable For Streaming Faster Than Anyone Expected.” Fortune, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2018, fortune.com/2018/04/29/viewers-cable-streaming/.

Ramachandran, Shalini. “Cable TV’s Cord-Cutting Woes Grow, Highlighting Divergence With Netflix.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 27 Apr. 2018, http://www.wsj.com/articles/cable-tvs-cord-cutting-woes-deepen-highlighting-divergence-with-netflix-1524850536.

“61% US Young Adults Mostly Watch OTT.” Digital Media Delivery, 14 Sept. 2017, advanced-television.com/2017/09/14/61-us-young-adults-mostly-watch-ott/.

“You Down with OTT?” VAB, Video Advertising Bureau, 2018, http://www.thevab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/OTT-Ecosystem-Overview-Final.pdf.