This week I tried to define modernity for myself. From what I gather it is a changed way of thinking about the world. It is influenced by science and technology and drifting further away from religion. The beliefs now are more on facts rather than left up to a higher god-like power. Science challenged religion making it hard to have faith. Postmodernism is more of a questioning of "what is real?" This video also helped me to understand more about what post modernism is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo&feature=related)
We also talked this week about the aesthetic of speed. In today's world everything must be fast. We have fast food, instant messaging, text messaging, faster cars, everything evolves around instant gratification. We want things and we want them at that instant. For example if you have a question and need an answer then you can go on your phone (most have internet now) and google it to get the answer. If you are hungry then screw making food just go to a drive through and in 5 minutes you have a hot meal for about $3. Our world is obsessed with fast everything. I think this is because we think we can do so much more if we make simple tasks quicker. Now people need to have things the moment they need them or the world will end. If you asked students what would happen if they didn't have a cell phone most would tell you it would be impossible. It has become a necessity to always be able to be contacted.
AS I was reading your post, it reminded me of something we learn in an other CMC class, Visual rhetoric for writers. We are though in that class about web design and about creating a layout that will first of all please the eye of those who are searching information on that particular page but we are also told that a good web page is one that keeps the attention of the reader thanks to its easy and "fast" to access and scan aspect. So basically when we are looking at a web site, we want to go over it fast, the main point MUST be stated in the first lines, the words should not be in jargon but in simple 7 grader language. And short paragraphs should make the layout, because we get to tired and it takes to much time apparently when they are long. So we our so obsessed with having everything fast that we even want to obtain knowledge fast now!
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