For this last commentary, I have selected Bolter\u2019s chapter 9: Writing the Self. I felt this was appropriate as this course has initiated and altered my own thoughts on writing and the affects that writing technology has on the way we think and the way we interact with the actual technology.<\/p>\n
Bolter begins the chapter with the following statement:<\/p>\n
Writing technologies, in particular electronic writing today, do not determine how we think or how we define ourselves. Rather, they participate in our cultural redefinitions of self, knowledge and experience. (Bolter, 2001, pg.189)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As a society, we are influenced by the technologies that exist and aid in our existence.\u00a0 The early hunters and gathers were aided and influenced by the use of stone and stick- to which they fashioned tools to hunt and to aid in the preservation of foods.\u00a0\u00a0 As a society in the knowledge age, we are influenced by our use of technologies that aid us in the rapid creation and transfer of knowledge.\u00a0 We exist through the instantaneous movement of 1s and 0s, which has transformed the very quality of our life.\u00a0\u00a0 To imagine an existence without these technologies would be a kin to imagining what life would be like to live in a third world without food and shelter.\u00a0 This existence is prevalent across the world, but not an existence that many Canadians (excluding new Canadians) can identify with.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bolter continues in his chapter by claiming \u201cfor many, electronic writing is coming to be regarded as a more authentic or appropriate space for the inscription of the self than print.\u201d\u00a0 (pg. 190)\u00a0 I ask, is this because we truly know no other space?\u00a0 Just as I can not identify with the conditions of may inhabitants of this planet, I also can not identify with those ancient cultures who used ancient technologies to carve hieroglyphs and symbols onto tablets; or cultures who employed papyrus to convey the thoughts of the time.\u00a0\u00a0 This same logic can be compared to the many seniors who can not grasp and use the computer and internet today; technologies that were not influencing factors in this existence! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bolter furthers is chapter by stating that \u201cwriting is seen to foster analysis and reflection\u201d (pg. 192) and \u201cwriting becomes a tool for reorganizing, for classifying, for developing and maintaining categories.\u201d\u00a0 (pg. 193)\u00a0 Considering the vast amount of knowledge and information that is available, this statement is logical.\u00a0 Perhaps the question that one should ask is which came first, the changes in the use of writing as a knowledge organizer or the amount of knowledge that was available which required to be organized? \u00a0Generally speaking, members of a society create or modify tools for a need and not as an accident.\u00a0 \u00a0While much like the preverbal genesis of the chicken and egg, the answer would provide the foundations for the affects of writing technologies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lastly, the portion of the chapter that I was most intrigued with implicated current writing technologies and a refined experience for the author \u00a0\u00a0As \u201cthe technology of writing has always had a reflexive quality, allowing writers to see themselves in what they write\u201d (Bolter, pg. 189), the desire of a writer want to \u201cchange her identity, by assuming a different name and providing a different description\u201d (Bolter, pg. 199) allows the opportunity to create false selves in many virtual worlds including Second Life and chat rooms.\u00a0\u00a0 While writing can be a wonderful venue to escape the world, the creation of false worlds can lead to serious repercussions if the author can separate the real from the fiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
References<\/p>\n
Bolter, J. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print.<\/em> Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, N.J. USA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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