Last Blog Post

I didn’t know what a blog was before I started this unit, and now I consider myself a pro (well, sort of). I enjoyed learning about the blogs and what they could and couldn’t do, and my familiarity with them has certainly helped me access a wider base of information. For example, I now regularly check out a few subversive blogs which give me heaps of info that the mainstream media do not publicize. This is certainly helping me to fulfill my long-term goals of bombing the patriarchy, destroying capitalism and destabilizing popular assumptions.

I thought using the blog for educational purposes was a great idea. The advantages include being able to read your peers’ responses, being shamed into actually making a consistent effort with the unit (if you post a dodgy blog, everyone will know!), and getting to participate in an online educational environment.

However I believe there were a few logistical problems. For one, the bloggers who posted first didn’t get the advantage of being able to read previously posted blogs. Also, the mandatory blog posts sometimes got a bit much: I remember for the Gattica blog I put in at least 2 hours which I hadn’t planned on for that week and it did impact on how much other study I could do. Also, the mandatory comments of other people’s webliography were very tough. Most people felt like they had to have some constructive criticism in their appraisal of the webliography to get good marks for the response. This criticism by peers led to some slightly bruised egos, and I think I saw more than one ‘revenge post (done under the slick veneer of mutual constructive criticism).’

That said, I believe the benefit of using the blogs outweighed the negatives, and with a minor alteration here and there they would be a great addition to most units at the uni.

And I don’t think I am a cyborg. I have always thought that concept was really silly (sorry!). If I am a cyborg then everyone who ever lived (even Neanderthals with their bashy-sticks) and ever will live is a cyborg and the term has lost all meaning. However, I do appreciate the benefit of the question in so much as it makes people think about the way machines and even simple technology integrates itself into their life in such a major way.

I still always think of technology as instrumentally valuable, however. The technology I use is valuable to me in so much as it produces effects that I find desirable and aids me in my life. I don’t think technology has any intrinsic value that can be separated out from the value humanity get from using it.