Jim Abbott
Dr. Adam Johns
10/15/08
Seminar in Composition
Loss of Meaning in Life
The thirst for advancements has led to a loss in collective meaning. Bill Mckibben and Mr. F.C Ware illustrate how society is suffering, due to a loss in community. The increase in technology is largely responsible for the decrease in meaning of people’s life. There has been much gain from technological advancements, but the cost of these gains has been even greater.
“The past five hundred years have elevated us to the status of individuals, and reduced us to the status of individuals” (Mckibben 46). Technological innovations have made huge strides in human society, but have also made large detriments on society. “The technology that has driven the change of the last five hundred years has done much good- freed us from darkness, cold, heat and hunger” (McKibben 54). Without advancements in technology, humans would be forced to spend a majority of their life simply surviving. Rather than spending time with loved ones, enjoying hobbies, or playing sports, the sole purpose of the day for humans would be to withstand the weather, search for food, and find a place to sleep at night. The technological advancements have made life easier for humans, but not necessarily better.
“The cost has been to confuse us into thinking that technology is always the answer, that it enriches our lives in some deep way as easily as it makes them more comfortable and convenient” (McKibben 54). People feel that they can fill the void in their life with nice material items. Rather than engage in a social activity, people are more growing more likely to turn on their plasma televisions. Watching a game on beautiful TV may be pleasing to a person, but it certainly does not give meaning to a to that person’s life. It would be far more fulfilling to actually watch the game live, with a group of friends, surrounds by a community that shares your love for a particular sports team. The ability to isolate oneself from community is largely due to technology. Before television and broadcasts of games were so widely accessible, people were forced to interact socially with each other in order to watch the game, either at the stadium or sports bar.
Jimmy Corrigan’s life is completely void of contact with community. He lives a sorrowful existence, with his only true companion being his mother, who calls him everyday. There is a collective loss of meaning as he is unable to find a purpose for his life. He is incapable of having a relationship with women, and struggles mightily while talking to them. He has a strange obsession with Peggy, but she shows no interest in him. This leads to his numerous fantasies about women. He has no hobbies, and does not engage in any social activities. Jimmy’s obsession with superman is very similar to society’s obsession with technology. Ware uses this metaphor to illustrate how people live passively through their technological commodities, than live a purposeful life. Jimmy lives passively through Superman, much in the way people do through their electronics and devices. A day dream about being Superman’s partner is very similar to a person spending then entire day on the couch, watching an expensive television. It does not provide a sense of fulfillment, but rather a sense of emptiness.
The society that Ware depicts in his comic is one that has no sense of togetherness or community. The comic never displays a group of people together, engaging in an activity. Rather, it shows the advancements of strip malls, fast food restaurants with power lines in the background. Ware points out that these advancements have not united society, but rather dissolved it. These advancements have not improved society the way advancements should. Rather, it is just a collection of stores and food places that provide little meaning to a person’s existence.
Ware’s depiction of Jimmy in his comic points out that advancements in technology make a person more reclusive, and less social. The technology provides an escape from real life, rather than encouraging a person to find purpose in their life. Technology was supposed to make life easier for society, and allow them to focus on the parts of life that provided purpose and enjoyment. Often times, those parts of life came as part of community, and involved engaging with a group of people. Without community, life is meaningless.
3 comments:
Jim,
I enjoyed your opening very much. I felt it is a good and interesting way to grab your reader.
In the first paragraph after your first quote i feel that you should expand a little more instead of the sole sentence you have. Show some examples like how Ware shows us the postcards and how the postcards show the reader America (in the eyes of Ware). You can even mention what we talked about in class about how these places may be meaningful to some people and why.
In the third paragraph i would tlak about what this has done to Jimmy mentally. How he is depressed and has extremely violent fantasy's of murder and death. You can then relate that to our society and how today people love action and fighting. Bring up the example of we used in class with the superhero who represents good and safety only uses violence and fighting to try to achieve a happy community.
Your last 2 paragraphs almost repeat themselves. Try to combine the two together. The essay would flow a lot better and would be less repetitive. Overall i agree with you on your argument and i think it is a pretty good essay to build off.
Jim Abbott
Dr. Adam Johns
10/15/08
Seminar in Composition
Loss of Meaning in Life
The thirst for advancements has led to a loss in collective meaning. Bill Mckibben and Mr. F.C Ware illustrate how society is suffering, due to a loss in community. The increase in technology is largely responsible for the decrease in meaning of people’s life. There has been much gain from technological advancements, but the cost of these gains has been even greater.
“The past five hundred years have elevated us to the status of individuals, and reduced us to the status of individuals” (Mckibben 46). Technological innovations have made huge strides in human society, but have also made large detriments on society. People have been granted an exceedingly large amount of free time to spend how they please. “The technology that has driven the change of the last five hundred years has done much good- freed us from darkness, cold, heat and hunger” (McKibben 54). Without advancements in technology, humans would be forced to spend a majority of their life simply surviving. Rather than spending time with loved ones, enjoying hobbies, or playing sports, the sole purpose of the day for humans would be to withstand the weather, search for food, and find a place to sleep at night. The technological advancements have made life easier for humans, but not necessarily better.
“The cost has been to confuse us into thinking that technology is always the answer, that it enriches our lives in some deep way as easily as it makes them more comfortable and convenient” (McKibben 54). People feel that they can fill the void in their life with nice material items. Rather than engage in a social activity, people are growing more likely to turn on their plasma televisions. Technology allows people to hide from the reality of life. Instead of taking control of one’s life, and attempting to make the most out of it, society is much more likely to engage in a technological distraction. People would rather play video games or download music than spend quality time with their family and friends, or develop of productive hobby. Watching a game on beautiful TV may be pleasing to a person, but it certainly does not give meaning to a to that person’s life. It would be far more fulfilling to actually watch the game live, with a group of friends, surrounded by a community that shares your love for a particular sports team. The ability to isolate oneself from community is largely due to technology.
Jimmy Corrigan’s life is completely void of contact with community. He lives a sorrowful existence, with his only true companion being his mother, who calls him everyday. There is a collective loss of meaning as he is unable to find a purpose for his life. He is incapable of having a relationship with women, and struggles mightily while talking to them. He has a strange obsession with Peggy, but she shows no interest in him. This leads to his numerous fantasies about women. He has no hobbies, and does not engage in any social activities. Jimmy’s obsession with superman is very similar to society’s obsession with technology. Ware uses this metaphor to illustrate how people live passively through their technological commodities, than live a purposeful life. Jimmy lives passively through Superman, much in the way people do through their electronics and devices. A daydream about being Superman’s partner is very similar to a person spending then entire day on the couch, watching an expensive television. It does not provide a sense of fulfillment, but rather a sense of emptiness. Due to the loss of meaning in Jimmy’s life, he is forced to compensate with wild fantasies which provide an even greater disconnect from the real world.
The society that Ware depicts in his comic is one that has no sense of togetherness or community. The comic never displays a group of people together, engaging in an activity. Rather, it shows the advancements of strip malls, fast food restaurants with power lines in the background. The Chicago Exposition illustrates the birth of technology in America, and is shown as the cause of the problems that we face from technology. The Exposition fascinated society with technology, regardless of what the advancement was. In one section, the comic reads “No, matter how insignificant, seemed to have its own cabinet or pedestal.” Ware points out that these advancements have not united society, but rather dissolved it. These advancements have not improved society the way advancements should. Rather, it is just a collection of stores and food places that provide little meaning to a person’s existence.
Ware’s depiction of Jimmy in his comic points out that advancements in technology make a person more reclusive, and less social. The technology provides an escape from real life, rather than encouraging a person to find purpose in their life. Technology was supposed to make life easier for society, and allow them to focus on the parts of life that provided purpose and enjoyment. Often times, those parts of life came as part of community, and involved engaging with a group of people. Without community, life is meaningless.
Sean - you're coming up with good examples. Ideally, I'd like to see you do more to address the argument/paper as a whole, too.
Jim - this is clearly written, with a strong opening (as Sean accurately notes), and very readable throughout. My greatest difficulty is a simple one - throughout, you deal with both books in a relatively general way, especially Ware's. This isn't, in itself, a bad thing, but consider also the fact that you are arguing that the cost of technology is too high without saying what we should *do* about it.
So both your argument and your reading of Ware - and, to a lesser extent, your reading of McKibben - stay on a rather general level.
This would have been improved with a more ambitious and detailed reading of Ware (example: Jimmy does have hobbies! He reads & collects comics and magazines, he wanders around with a tape recorder taping "found sounds," etc. He's lame, yes, but it's not like he doesn't do *anything*), *or* with a more detailed and ambitious conclusion not just diagnosing our problem but saying what we should do about it.
Short version: This is well written, but you could have set higher goals for yourself.
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