jenandkristen
Integrity is less than 100%
Prompt: Dystopian
As I was in the midst of brainstorming a dystopian future, I came across an article on the Internet about how using the Internet rewires our brains. Heavy internet users who multi-task and immerse themselves in multiple forms of information concurrently will find that their brains will become very, very good at switching between multiple tasks quickly, but that they will lose the ability to select which information is more important/of a higher priority level than other information. This is because, in being connected to Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and iTunes simultaneously, we absorb a steady stream of activity for many hours at a time. Without a pause in this activity, our brains begin to lose the inherent ability to understand a world with pauses, a world demarcated by important and unimportant information. However, our brains enjoy this constant stimulation: in fact, the more we do, the more we crave it, the more we drive ourselves into a handicap. A handicap, because we may eventually be unable to tell the difference in the importance of an article about the disaster in Haiti versus an article about a dog trained to swim underwater for the purpose of basketweaving.
So the idea for my dystopia was: a government in the future requires infants to be exposed to a steady stream of information from a very young age for the purposes of "studies". The justification for such studies is similar to the justification for education in the United States: in order to be a successful citizen, one must be educated and worldly, thus one must be enrolled in the public school system. However, the government is pushing this agenda so that by the time these small toddlers grow up, their brains will be so fractured and addicted to overconsumption of information that they have become /disabled/ citizens, who no longer have the power to stand up to their government because they have lost the power to synthesize the information in front of them. A very insidious plot because how can anyone point the finger at a government that is promoting the complete opposite of censorship--creating an absolute gluttony of information, available to the citizenry?
So, the picture is of a toddler (though I drew his shoulders abit too far above his hand) navigating the Web, or the study system, whatever you want to call it, in the future. Except, in some ways the future is now, except it isn't a government conspiracy. Yay :)
OH yeah, this is WATERCOLOR, on 15 x 20 paper. Technically my first watercolor painting evar. My favorite new medium :)
Integrity is less than 100%
Prompt: Dystopian
As I was in the midst of brainstorming a dystopian future, I came across an article on the Internet about how using the Internet rewires our brains. Heavy internet users who multi-task and immerse themselves in multiple forms of information concurrently will find that their brains will become very, very good at switching between multiple tasks quickly, but that they will lose the ability to select which information is more important/of a higher priority level than other information. This is because, in being connected to Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and iTunes simultaneously, we absorb a steady stream of activity for many hours at a time. Without a pause in this activity, our brains begin to lose the inherent ability to understand a world with pauses, a world demarcated by important and unimportant information. However, our brains enjoy this constant stimulation: in fact, the more we do, the more we crave it, the more we drive ourselves into a handicap. A handicap, because we may eventually be unable to tell the difference in the importance of an article about the disaster in Haiti versus an article about a dog trained to swim underwater for the purpose of basketweaving.
So the idea for my dystopia was: a government in the future requires infants to be exposed to a steady stream of information from a very young age for the purposes of "studies". The justification for such studies is similar to the justification for education in the United States: in order to be a successful citizen, one must be educated and worldly, thus one must be enrolled in the public school system. However, the government is pushing this agenda so that by the time these small toddlers grow up, their brains will be so fractured and addicted to overconsumption of information that they have become /disabled/ citizens, who no longer have the power to stand up to their government because they have lost the power to synthesize the information in front of them. A very insidious plot because how can anyone point the finger at a government that is promoting the complete opposite of censorship--creating an absolute gluttony of information, available to the citizenry?
So, the picture is of a toddler (though I drew his shoulders abit too far above his hand) navigating the Web, or the study system, whatever you want to call it, in the future. Except, in some ways the future is now, except it isn't a government conspiracy. Yay :)
OH yeah, this is WATERCOLOR, on 15 x 20 paper. Technically my first watercolor painting evar. My favorite new medium :)