Hemna Hypothesized

This week in English the piece Videotape by Don DeLillo stood out to me. Despite being published in 1994, the topics of technology and desensitization are still relevant. Technology, specifically the internet/social media and AI, has changed our lives for the better and worse. A digitalized world is negatively impacting the current and future generations by deteriorating critical thinking and compassion/sensitivity, robbing us of the opportunity to be understanding of one another. With the advancement of technology, it has made our lives so much easier. Information is more accessible, it’s at the tip of our fingers. However, we’re trusting it more than ourselves and are letting it do the work for us. For instance, at the beginning of this year, a painting about the AIDS crisis by Keith Haring from 1989 went viral because a Twitter user used AI to complete the painting bc a lot of it was empty. This was an artistic choice by Haring because AIDS cut his life short and kept him from fulfi...

For the past two weeks in class, we’ve focused on the environment and how human mistreatment comes back to bite us and future generations. The “Clan of the One Breasted Woman” stuck out to me. Particularly the way the human mishaps are poisoning us. This reminds me of the Indigenous Water Crisis in Canada. Why does this specifically impact native people you may be wondering? Although, unsurprisingly, First Nations are the ones to pay the price for climate change as their practices nourish it, it still makes no sense. This is due to the extraction that governments allow to happen on native land including mining, deforestation, etc. Messing with the natural systems of the environment makes it more vulnerable to water contamination . With the rising prices of necessities like fruit and water, it is an inescapable reality for indigenous populations. The cost of living is becoming unattainable and with the Canadian government not acknowledging the First Nations as much as they should/need ...

Akrasia is the lack of self-control against one’s judgment. It reveals a lot about a person’s character. This includes their stamina, discipline, virtues, and so on. Modern-day culture in the real world and on the internet pushes this concept heavily so it makes sense it’s becoming a standard behavior. However, why do we act on it intentionally KNOWING it’s bad? This is very common when trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle from exercise to eating better. Developing a healthy lifestyle is a struggle due to the temporary fulfillment that comes from akrasia and bad habits being ingrained, which is caused by a toxic environment/social culture. As humans, we love to take shortcuts. Sure it robs us of learning valuable lessons of how to act later on but comfort/easiness is just so appealing. For instance, in the United States foods like cereal and chips are filled with an excessive amount of sugar and sodium contributing to problems like cholesterol and weight gain. Humans are aware of how ...