Our brief discussion on the difference between noise and signal really stuck out to me. The signal to noise ratio is a measure used in “comparing the level of the desired signal and level of background noise.” It makes perfect sense to me that signal is what you want to hear, it’s like what you’re looking for, and then noise is completely unwanted. It’s not the signal, so it’s irrelevant. A common phrase you’ll hear among the youth is “F*ck that noise.” If it’s something you don’t want to hear, it doesn’t bring you happiness or pleasure, or if it’s senseless, it’s simply noise and we are disregarding it. This popular phrase helped me understand what the professor was getting at as he explained the signal to noise ratio. I was also able to understand the conversation about information theory and how it’s indifferent to meaning as it’s a theory, a study a “degree of order.” This session was informative and thought-provoking.

As we discussed Nicholas Carr’s novel The Shallows, us millennials came face to face with the fact that the internet has changed the way our minds work. There’s no way around it for the majority of us. It’s been decades now since we’ve taught ourselves information and successfully retained it. Now, we buy our information and ultimately gain nothing. I know I’m guilty of this. Not necessarily buying information to succeed, but doing research on material and getting my information from the internet rather than reading what I’m supposed to myself in order to learn. The sad thing is, I’m going to look back at my college years and realize I cheated myself of some valuable information and skills that I was privileged to consume and learn in the first place by taking the easy way out and doing the bare minimum. However, I did take happily take lots of notes in class on things I found interesting and I plan on holding onto my notebooks and looking back on the important history I was taught and what not to educate my peers. I really enjoy educating others, and I hope I can find it in myself in my last semester of college to get the most I can out of what’s left of my college career to educate myself and others. I found it especially interesting that a book is compared to a faucet and the internet is equivalent to multiple faucets as so much is going on at once and we’re constantly redirecting our attention to something else. We have a much shorter attention span, and I can say with certainty that many of us struggled to get through this book because of this. Oh, the irony…

Though today was a shorter class, we managed to get a lot of discussion in. I enjoyed watching the clip of the movie Saving Private Ryan and viewing the different perspectives in each shot. For example, when we became Tom Hanks as he was being spoken to, and when the camera was pointed down to the boat they were on and we could be anything from a seagull or a non-existent floating human being watching from above.  This will definitely make me look at TV and film differently. I also got a lot out of the divided self topic. We certainly change our positions on how we feel about things often. Personally, I get really excited about a new semester and enter the next 16 weeks with a new sense of motivation and positivity. Once we’re a few weeks in, my opinion of the new semester surely changes and I’m suddenly not as energized physically and mentally and would rather be doing just about anything else than complete assignments. It makes perfect sense that this is central to modern society because I see the changing attitudes in people all of the time. Lastly, we talked about what our opinions are on wearing a business suit if we were asked to. It really makes me wonder why many people have to dress this way for work or school. Yes, it’s professional and elegant, but they’re incredibly uncomfortable. They keep us in place and restrict us from engaging in behaviors that are deemed inappropriate. It’s as if those above us, who order us to dress this way, are in control of us through what we wear. Today gave me different perspectives on a few different topics. I like when I can walk out of class with at least something that makes me think!

I learned a lot I didn’t know about music in today’s class. I was unaware that there were significant differences in the sonic signatures of songs in the ’80s and songs today. I realized that music 30 years ago was produced in such a way that we were meant to pay close attention to it and we shouldn’t multi-task because there is enough going on in a song that we should focus on that. For instance, the way a song may start out quietly and increasingly become louder. We would turn up the volume, and observe its progression. Songs today possess a mostly consistent sound throughout it as there are few changes throughout it that aren’t as significant as before, so it can be background sound because there’s less to pick up on. In a generation that constantly multi-tasks, it makes sense, but it’s a bit sad and I agree with the professor’s argument that it’s a “degraded taste.” Sure, I listen to music from 30+ years ago, but I did grow up listening to highly compressed music, enjoying it, and without realizing the vast differences. It gives me a whole new perspective on music and while I’m sure I’ll always like a few compressed songs here and there, I do feel a little guilty and disappointed for taking a liking to them since it seems like they’re not thought highly of. I was happy to learn about this and glad I can share this new, valuable information with friends.

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