| Instruction
Notes on Chapters Below you will find notes on chapters that you can use for discussion sessions, guest presentations, case studies, and possible exam and essay questions. These will help you prepare lesson plans and lectures so that you can use Interpersonal Divide as a required or supplemental text. Omitted from the notes in the instruction booklet are end-of-chapter journal exercises, paper and discussion ideas, and suggested readings. While lesson plans and lectures can be prepared from this manual alone, be sure to include end-of-chapter journal assignments, paper and discussion ideas, and suggested readings as found in the text. These are fundamental to learning objectives. Also, be sure to integrate topical and timely discussion modules into your lesson plans, to spark discussion and interest. You'll also find to the right syllabi, exercise and exam material. |
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You will note that each chapter
contains an epigraph. This first one features a citation from Joshua
Meyrowitz’s No Sense of Place (Oxford Univ. Press, 1986):
The
evolution of media has decreased the significance of physical
presence in the experience of people and events. One can now be an
audience to
a social performance without being physically present; one can
communicate
“directly” with others without meeting in the same place. As a result,
the
physical structures that once divided our society into many distinct
spatial settings for interaction
have been
greatly reduced in social significance.
Typically
the epigraph
communicates the theme of the chapter, in this case, displacement.
Reading
epigraphs and asking basic questions about them often is a good way to
begin
lecture. You might introduce the topic of your displacement lecture
with the above
epigraph and these questions:
A. What does the passage mean (topic)?
B. What does it mean really (theme)?
C. What other examples of displacement can you identify in the high-tech media world?
Note: In addition to discussion, you will want to emphasize fundamental concepts in your lectures. Those concepts also can be used in exams, to assess learning. In the instructor’s manual, you will be informed about “possible exam questions” in each chapter, especially handy for large survey classes; “possible essay questions,” useful in mid-range enrollment classes; “possible guest presentations,” to enhance perspectives; and “case studies” to stimulate group and seminar discussions.
Answer: Geographical
displacement involves removing a person from his or her natural habitat
to
another habitat, as might happen when one is evacuated from a flood
zone. Digital
displacement happens when a person is removed from his or her natural
habitat
to a high-tech/media environment, as might happen when one plays a
video game.
Possible exam questions are
important for large survey classes seeking to master basic concepts.
The
instructor can cast such questions into several formats illustrated
throughout
this section and compiled in a sample multiple choice exam that appears
in Section
5 of this manual. To illustrate, the “possible exam question” above
about
displacement can be formatted as follows:
Example #1
True or False:
Digital displacement involves removing a person from his or her natural
habitat
to another habitat, as might happen when one is evacuated from a flood
zone.
Fill in the missing word from the selection of words below:
____________displacement involves removing a person from his or her natural habitat to another habitat, as might happen when one is evacuated from a flood zone. <>
Example #3
Which
definition of “displacement” below (A,B,C,D,E) is the most correct
based on definitions
in your text:
B. Digital displacement happens when a person is removed from his or her natural habitat to a high-tech/media environment, as might happen when one plays a video game.
C. Geographical displacement happens when a person is removed from his or her natural habitat to a high-tech/media environment, as might happen when one plays a video game.
D. Mechanical displacement involves removing a person from his or her natural habitat to another habitat, as might happen when one is evacuated from a flood zone.
E. Electrical displacement involves removing a person from his or her natural habitat to another habitat, as might happen when one is evacuated from a flood zone.
In your discussions of community
displacement, you might focus on the rising world population and how
the U.S.
consumer mentality communicated to the world and promulgated by media
conglomerates might impact everything from the global economy to the
environment. What challenges do
students foresee and how, if at all, will media and technology (a) help
resolve
those challenges or (b) deepen the negative impact of those challenges?
To
ensure that students understand geographic versus digital displacement,
go over
examples in the text and ask students to conceive more examples. You
might want
to read and discuss this passage:
Displacement
used to occur in real
habitat. Developers would build subdivisions or engineers would
construct highways
or dams, destroying community infrastructures and causing property
values to
rise or fall. Displacement happened in the aftermath of natural
disasters,
too—hurricanes and floods, for instance—or manmade ones, including
chemical
spills, toxic dumps, gangland racketeering, and rural or urban flight.
Historically, technology (in all its mechanical forms) precipitates
displacement. Following World War II, mass production of cars altered
municipal
planning, resulting in a mosaic of interstates, highways, and roads
replete
with strip- and mega-malls, truck- and rest stations, chain
restaurants, and
billboards. …
What was
metaphoric in 1994 has become factual in our time. We who live in the
silicon
valleys of the interpersonal divide travel the same interstates in our
automobiles, whizzing by billboards and eating at the same chain
restaurants
while speaking on mobile phones, oblivious of the displaced
countryside. We
open garage doors by remote to enter houses without stepping outside,
retreat
to solitary computer rooms with high-speed access, and download
messages and
spam from Internet highways with televisions providing background noise
like
the automobile-hum of yore.
After
reading the passage, ask questions
like these:
B. How, if at all, is the interior of one of these new car models designed like a room in a house?
C. What portable digital equipment is often taken by family members on road trips?
D. What evidence of marketing, digital or physical, can be viewed on such road trips along the countryside or cityscape?
E. How, if at all, is the geography on such a road trip displaced by digital gadgetry?
While
nearly all concepts in Interpersonal Divide will endure over
several editions
of the work, occasionally the instructor might want to update specific
figures.
In this chapter, you can access latest statistics for the total number
of
television sets in the U.S., in addition to the percentage of homes
with
computer access and the number of discarded home computers in landfills.
In
your discussion of the blurring of work/home boundaries, you might want
to
mention how email alone has changed the interactions between students
and
professors, in some cases for the better and in others, not so. You can
share
anecdotes from your own life on how the technology of academe
interrupts your
family life, and vice versa, noting times a family member has used
communication
technology to interrupt you at work.
Possible exam question: Although
the circumstances of digital displacement vary, all such scenarios will
have certain
factors in common. Put a check mark to the left of the factor (A-J) if
it is
one of the five associated with this concept:
Answer:
A. ______Alignment
of role and
identity.
B. __X__Blurring
of work-home
boundaries.
C. ______Influence
on drive and
ambition.
D. ______Harmony
of
environments, virtual and real.
E.
__X__Influence on values
and priorities.
F. ___X__Clash of
environments, virtual and real.
G. ___X__Blurring of
role and
identity.
H. _____Delineation of
work-home boundaries.
J. _____Impact of none of the above factors on relationships.
Displacement involves conscience and
consciousness. Particularly in large survey classes it is necessary to
define
these terms and delineate one from the other, again using common rather
than
philosophical diction, as these concepts are fundamental to
understanding the
interpersonal divide and its ramifications. The instructor, of course,
is free to
bring in other definitions of conscience and consciousness and compare
them to
ones used in the text. A goal of Interpersonal Divide is to
spark
discussion, deepen conscience, and expand consciousness.
Possible exam question: Define
conscience and consciousness from the statements below (ABCD):
B. Conscience is the inner knowing of good and bad, and consciousness is the awareness of how others’ actions impact our own.
C. Conscience is the inner knowing of right and wrong, and consciousness is the awareness of how others’ actions impact our own.
D. Conscience is the inner knowing of good and bad, and consciousness is the awareness of how our actions impact others.
Answer: A
Possible exam question: Put a checkmark next to each statement (A-F) that also is a requirement of conscience.
A. _____That we elevate our self-interest.
B. __X__That we have meaningful relationships with others.
C. _____That others come to like us so that we may like them.
D. _____That we depend on nobody else but ourselves.
E. __X__That we contribute to community.
F. __X__That we love and are loved by others.
Possible exam question: Put
a checkmark next to each statement (A-F) that also is a requirement of
consciousness.
A.
__X__That
we foresee the impact of our actions before taking them.
B.
__X__That
we assess consequences of past actions to make informed choices in the
future.
C.
_____That
we accept consequences when the outcome is good and disregard them with
the
outcome is bad.
D.
__X__That
we see the world as it actually is rather than how we would like it to
be.
E.
_____That
we take action first and then assess outcomes later.
F. _____That
we see the world as it we would like it to be to enjoy peace of mind.
In your discussion of conscience and
consciousness, be sure to incorporate the ethical abstraction of
acceptance.
Ask your students: Why is acceptance important? What makes them feel
accepted?
Typically, the answer will involve interaction with other people.
Discuss how
media and technology (a) might facilitate that or (b) hamper that
feeling of
acceptance. Then ask your students, “What is the opposite of
acceptance?” The
answer might be “isolation,” which again fosters the theme of
displacement. Why
do we sometimes feel isolated when we are wired to the outside world
literally
and figuratively?
To
illustrate both the use of technology and the impact of media, you
might visit
a Web site, http://www.newseum.org/,
and
scan the violence featured on the front pages of national and
international
newspapers, available from that site at this tab: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/.
As you visit the front pages, try to
locate juxtaposition of the tragic and trite. Discuss how these same
events are
featured in another medium, television.
Possible exam question: From the
list below (A,B,C,D), pick the answer that best describes the main
media effect
of TV news?
B. Television news decreases perception of geographical distance.
C. Television news increases interest in distant geographical regions.
D. Television news decreases interest in distant geographical regions.
In
your discussion on media and fear, don’t forget advertising on the
nightly
news. Ask your students to describe the products and services
advertised in
between evening broadcasts on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. What are the
rewards of
buying the products or services in those advertisements? What are the
consequences of not buying the product or services?
Possible exam question: Choose
the phrase (A-E) that best completes this sentence: The “optimum
level of
fear” is achieved from a marketing perspective when …
B. consumers opt to postpone purchase of a product or service in fear of negative consequences.
C. consumers lose the fear of purchasing a product or service, despite negative consequences.
D. consumers opt to purchase a product or service to offset positive consequences.
Answer:
A
Lesson: Technology may function “on demand” but people usually do not.
2. Communication tools ensure access to companies.
Lesson: Access to companies is apt to benefit companies rather than consumers.
3. Communication technology enhances personal and professional relationships.
Lesson: Electronic communication is as apt to complicate as enhance relationships, displacing us at home and at work.
B. Does it suit your needs?
C. Does it advance or undermine your priorities?
D. How are you using it at home and school and what is that use displacing?
E. How has computer access altered your primary relationships and community activities?
Meaningful Relationships. Significant networks of friends and colleagues working toward common goals that benefit partners, children, and shared living space.
Civic Engagement. Contributions that enhance the wellbeing of others or the vitality of community.
Insight. Clear vision of challenges that undermine love, friendship, wellbeing, and community.
Discretion. Experience or knowledge to accept what we can change and what we cannot, living in the moment rather than reacting to it.
Mindfulness. Leaving relationships and environments in better shape than we found them.
Gratitude. Appreciating the blessings of each phase of biological life, from childhood to having children, from respecting the elderly to becoming the elderly, reflecting on the love, friends, and contributions of mortal life.
Back
The theme in this chapter on the
human condition is balance, emotional and intellectual. Balance
also
applies to technology. How can we use the various digital devices at
our
disposal effectively and still maintain emotional balance in addition
to
interpersonal intelligence?
At odds with those goals are the
convenience and availability of technology virtually everywhere in a
wireless
world.
Possible essay question: Cite
reasons for miscommunication due to the convenience and availability of
technology in today’s world.
Answers:
Lesson: A message worth sharing should be conveyed at a propitious moment in the appropriate setting.
2. Content is capricious rather than cogent.
3. Dialogue is mediated rather than meaningful.
Lesson: No matter how contemplative the speaker, or cogent the message, electronic communication filters out aspects of content and motive, modifying meaning.
4. Consciousness is divided rather than directed.
Lesson: Intrusions are the norm when we communicate on impulse without a sense of occasion.
B. An expansive knowing of how thoughts, words, and deeds affect others and ourselves.
C. The wherewithal to meet challenges effectively by interacting with others according to a set of firmly held beliefs.
D. The wherewithal to circumvent challenges by interacting with others according to their set of firmly held beliefs.
Answer:
C
Optional phrasing: Which
statement below (A,B,C,D) defines empowerment from an interpersonal
perspective.
Answer:
B
When speaking about character
development, again, be sure to associate the concept with community.
This passage in the text is key:
Only
the community can bestow character. Virtual environments
cannot because they change rapidly, lack social structure, cater to
demand, and
delete aspects of interpersonal engagement—from physical sensation to
metaphysical transformation. Neither can we claim to possess character,
for
that would come across as self-righteous; others in society deem
whether we
have or lack character. They also call “character into question” or
determine
if we act “out of character.”
Emotional imbalance occurs when conscience and consciousness no longer work harmoniously in interpreting others and the outside world. A major thesis of Interpersonal Divide concerns the imbalance that occurs when we fail to interact with others face-to-face in real habitat. An ancillary thesis is that the culture of marketing takes advantage of this imbalance in appealing to perceived rather than real need. Emphasizing these concepts you should be able to speak knowingly about the marketing of self help.
You
might base a lecture on how media and technology drive marketing and
deliver
self-help. Indeed, that phenomenon has led to a new growth industry,
“life-balance training.” Google that term to discover how people are
investing
in these workshops to help them distinguish between work and play and
thereby
control stress caused by media and technology.
The
following are actual self-help categories:
anger,
anxiety, aromatherapy, biofeedback,
body language, business opportunities, career development,
codependency,
communication, continuing education, corporate training, creativity,
dating,
death, depression, dieting, divorce, eating disorders, empowerment,
family,
fitness, friendship, happiness, herbal medicine, leadership, love,
management
training, massage therapy, meditation, motivation, natural health,
nutrition,
parenting, positive thinking, public speaking, religion, relaxation,
sexuality,
stress management, teenagers, therapy/counseling, time management,
women’s
issues, Zen.
People who possess emotional and
interpersonal balance do not require self-help. They have character
based on
personal and professional ethics. Emphasize to students that
consumerism and
morality do not mix well because the goal of consumerism is to sell
rather than
to help others achieve balance. To drive that point home, discuss these
concepts, developed at length in the text:
- Real versus perceived needs.
- Exclusion versus inclusion.
- Marketing versus moral development.
Cautionary word: In discussing
the human condition—we know that we will die and, in dying, lose
everything
material and ethereal, including loved ones—be extra sensitive to
the
beliefs and experiences of students. Explain that the human condition
is a
philosophical theory across cultures and should be analyzed from that
perspective. Also, as in the text, approach the topic from secular,
religious,
and philosophical contexts, especially passages associated with Darwin.
Possible essay question: Note the
role of community, conscience, and consciousness as found in the United
Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, found at this URL: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.
Possible exam question: Choose
the phrase (A,B,C,D,E) that
best defines the term “synderesis” as applied by ancient Greek
philosophers.
B. Associated with consciousness, synderesis is the divine spark that ignites an innate understanding of ethics.
C. Associated with the conscience, synderesis is the divine spark that ignites an awareness of the world and our actions in it.
D. Associated with the conscience, synderesis is the divine spark that ignites an awareness of the human condition.
Answer:
A
Chapter
Three: Habits
of a High-Tech Media Age
Howard Rheingold’s epigraph, from The
Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier,
discusses the
fragmentation of the self because of technology:
Exactly
how, and on what terms, are we renegotiating the
boundaries between our selves and our technologized environment? What
kind of
multiple distributed system do I become when I live part of the day as
a
teenage girl in a chatroom, part of the day as a serious professional
in a
webconference, part of the day slaying enemies as Zaxxon, the
steel-eyed
assassin of an online gaming tribe?
Here are
some discussion-starter questions:
B. What does your spam email say about your real or perceived needs, based on how it has characterized your Web browsing?
C. What “masks” or additional character traits do you take on when you engage in chat or play video games against others on the Internet?
Possible
guest presentation: Invite a psychologist to class to deliver a
discussion
about self-help from a qualified practitioner and how that differs from
some of
the quick-fix self-help programs promoted by media.
Possible
essay question: Good advice requires trust on several
individual levels
between an expert counselor and his or her client. Read the list below
and
compare/contrast it to what you might find in a popular self-help
program sold
online or via mass media:
2. Personal referrals. Client(s) who investigate that expert’s reputation based on word-of-mouth or referrals from sources and people whose judgment they trust.
3. Compatibility. A mutual trust between client(s) and expert based on:
o a customized protocol to accomplish those goals, on the part of expert.
4. Confidentiality. Trust in the client-expert relationship in which a person seeking advice can be open about hopes, fears, and transgressions, without the risk of privacy invasion.
Possible essay question: Address
the following assertion based on your readings in Chapter Three on
conscience
and consciousness: No two people, even twins, can have identical
levels of
moral development and social awareness at any one point in time.
Possible
exam question: Below you will find a list of “habits”(A-N). Put
a check
mark to the left of the habit if it is one of the seven habits
associated
with people who overconsume media and technology:
B. __X__Assuming you have two options: to lie or tell the truth.
C. ______Telling practical jokes in public places.
D. ______Not counting or cutting your gains.
E. __X__Not counting or cutting your losses.
F. __X__Coveting what you lack and losing what you have.
G. ______Doing unto others as they would do unto you.
H. ______Asking permission instead of forgiveness.
I. __X__Defending your motives, damning others’ as self-serving.
J. ______Defending the motives of others and damning your own as self-serving.
K. ______Living each night as if it were your last.
L. __X__Guessing at motive but acting on it as if it were truth.
M. ______Simplifying the cause of solutions so as to give credit when due.
N. __X__Simplifying the cause of problems so as to place blame.
Possible
exam question: Based on your readings in Chapter Three, answer
the
following “true” or “false”: Technology warps time, accelerating
it, and
place, transcending it. Answer:
True.
Optional phrasing: Based
on your readings in Chapter Three,
answer the following as “true” or “false”: Technology
affirms time,
synchronizing it, and place, enhancing it.
Answer: False.
Possible exam question: Based
on your readings in Chapter Three, which statement below (A,B,C, D)
best
describes “humanity as ultimate community”:
B. Society possesses a collective conscience, or an awareness of common virtues and vices, in addition to a collective consciousness, or an awareness of common behaviors.
C. Society possesses a collective inhibition, repressing common behaviors, in addition to a collective amnesia, forgetting common virtues and vices.
D. Society possesses a collective subconscious, or an awareness of common behaviors, in addition to a collective consciousness, or an awareness of common virtues and vices.
Answer: B
Possible exam question: Based
on your readings in Chapter Three, answer the following “true” or
“false”: Collective
awareness and social mores are as likely to be shaped by virtual
events,
brought to us by media and technology, as by real events in our
community. Answer: True.
Optional phrasing: Based
on your readings in Chapter Three,
answer the following “true” or “false”: Collective awareness and
social
mores are as likely to be shaped by real events in our community far
more often
as by virtual events, brought to us by media and technology. Answer: False.
Chapter
Four:
Impact of Media and Technology
This chapter
begins with one of the most famous prophecies about television, from
E.B.
White, writing in the New Yorker Magazine:
Television
hangs on the questionable
theory that whatever happens anywhere should be sensed everywhere. If
everyone
is going to be able to see everything, in the long run all sights may
lose
whatever rarity value they once possessed, and it may well turn out
that
people, being able to see and hear practically everything, will be
specially
interested in almost nothing.
You will want to discuss the above
at length and survey, analyze, or challenge prevailing attitudes.
This chapter also puts into
perspective for students the great social change brought about by
personal
computers. Television, of course, had a swifter, more saturated
diffusion in
the 1950s. An interesting possible presentation would involve
a guest
speaker who experienced both social changes, the television one in the
1950s
and the computer one in the 1990s.
Such a presentation will prepare the
class for one of the main theses in the work: Communication alters
habitat
by defying physical laws.
Possible essay question: All
formats of communication, from a letter to a cell phone, accomplish one
mystifying feat. Select the statement that best describes that feat
from the
examples below (A,B,C,D):
B. Communication improves the economy by creating a demand.
C. Communication maintains habitat by extending biological laws.
D. Communication alters habitat by defying physical laws.
Answer:
D
Possible essay question: Using
arguments found in Chapter Four of your text, answer the following
conundrum: “If
a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does that tree actually
make a
sound?”
It is important about this time in
the academic term to challenge the McLuhan biological paradigm of mass
communication—that it extends the human senses—as a telephone might,
for
instance, extend hearing over miles. Interpersonal Divide uses
a physics
paradigm, arguing that mass communication defies physical laws and puts
a
person in two places simultaneously. That model accurately notes how
consciousness is split, for instance, when a person uses a cell phone
while
driving. Split consciousness is at the root of the interpersonal divide.
Students will respond to the
intellectual stimulation of applying Darwin’s evolutionary theory to
virtual
habitat. An intriguing guest presentation might include a
biologist and
computer scientist discussing the extinction of species in cyberspace.
This
passage from the book would be a good discussion starter:
Evolution
in virtual habitat is similar to
that in actual habitat, with a few differences. Occupations, rather
than
species, disappear from the cyber-landscape. Because there is no
“there” there,
the fittest survive not by claiming territory but by performing more
tasks in
less time involving fewer people. The computer software or operating
system
that accomplishes that goal earns a profit … and makes a category of
people
obsolete. Those folks literally disappear, replaced by others who can
multitask
more efficiently. In the case of extinct
couriers, for instance, cyberspace replaced them with technophiles to
make
listserv systems function properly and automatically. The difference,
of
course, is that couriers made rounds in real habitat and delivered
paper
messages face to face; technophiles have no faces because they deliver
electronic messages in cyberspace, whose salient feature is
invisibility.
Because of that feature, people de-evolve in virtual environments into
symbols
(hypertext, pixels, and logins) and raw materials (listservs, hotlinks,
and
statistics). Cyberspace lacks physical dimensions, including space and
time,
without which, activities are simulated rather than authentic.
Possible exam question: Fill
in the correct word (A,B,C,D,E): Modern
media history begins with __________.
A.
television.
B. brand
marketing
C. electricity. D.
superconductivity
E.
transatlantic cable
Answer: C
Possible exam question: The
invention of which three devices (A,B,C,D) literally transformed
society and
the American landscape:
B. wire service, radio, television.
C. radio, television, cable.
D. television, cable, satellite.
Answer:
A
Possible exam question: Finish
the following sentence from the selection below (A,B,C,D) so that it
accurately
conveys a key concept, in accordance with media history: Magazines
had a
geographic advantage over newspapers because …
B. they were bound to local economies and could rely on regular subscriptions.
C. they were not bound to local economies and could sell national brands.
D. they were published in New York City and could disseminate national news.
Answer:
C
Case study: To understand the
origins of brand marketing and brand management, retrace the history
and
innovation of Procter & Gamble. In making comparisons to the
current day,
you might focus on how national brand products advertised in 19th
Century magazines homogenized households in the same way that cable
television
(MTV, CNN) did to local culture in the 20th Century.
Possible exam question: Which
medium (A,B,C,D) first sparked these quandaries impacting us yet today:
influence
on electorate, acquisition of multiple outlets, focus on profit:
A. cable
television B.
radio
C.
cameras
D.
home computers
Answer: B
Possible exam question: Which
media (A,B,C,D) helped establish mass marketing because they could
target
segments of the audience rather than geographic areas of distribution:
B. radio and newspapers
C. newspapers and radio
D. newspapers and television
Answer:
A
Case study: Delve into the
1973 landmark television study by Tannis MacBeth Williams of the
University of
British Columbia. Williams, a
psychologist, had studied habits three Canadian towns: one dubbed
“Notel,”
which had no TV reception but would soon acquire a transmitter;
another,
“Unitel,” which had only one government channel (Canadian Broadcasting
Company); and the last, “Multitel,” which had the CBC and U.S. network
channels. An interesting question to
pose is whether the same study could have been done with Internet in
the 1990s
and, if so, what results might have emanated therefrom.
Chapter
Five: The
Disembodied Self
Again,
main arguments in this chapter are based on the physics model of mass
communication—placing an individual in two or more places
simultaneously.
Possible exam question: Finish
this sentence using a phrase below (A,B,C,D) so that it accurately
represents a
key concept in keeping with the interpersonal divide:
The blurring of identity occurs when
technology …
B. extends the range of the human senses.
C. markets goods and services according to perceived need.
D. places an individual in two or more places at once.
Answer: D
Possible essay question: Describe
how past and current generations may have lost perception because of
conflicting depictions and stereotypes about identity, including but
not
limited to:
-
The cheapening of personhood
because of
military threat.
- The
generalization of personhood
because
of computer-assisted marketing.
- The
over-glorification of
personhood
because of media and technology.
This passage in Chapter Five is a
sure-fire discussion starter on cultural changes because of media,
marketing,
and technology:
Many
communication scholars have argued that technology has brought the
world into
our homes and, in the process, made us global citizens.
No doubt computers, in particular, increased
the scope and enhanced awareness of distant events and cultures. What
do you
think? Has the world become smaller because of technology, or is
our vision
merely blurred? Certainly we can access home pages or message people
almost
anywhere on the globe. But have we genuinely become “world citizens,”
as
marketers of the latest technology would have us believe? Do we
interact with
international visitors more civilly now and respect their cultural
values more
willingly, because of the World Wide Web? Or do we visit sites that
target our
lifestyles, ambitions, or needs? Do we speak more languages because of
email or
chat more in English than ever before? Do our children use technology
the way
computer makers advertise in commercials, with well-dressed boys and
girls
doing homework in a shared living space as parents glance over their
shoulders
admiringly? In reality, then, do children today hide out more than ever
in
their rooms, arguing with parents about their privacy—as they violate
their own
and their family’s privacy— filling out interactive surveys in exchange
for
free premiums?
Possible
essay question: Invasion
of privacy makes a big impact
on our psyches and way of life. Below are three effects on the family
identified
in your text. Expand upon them, agree or disagree with the author:
Effect #2: A divided family buys more products.
Effect #3: A divided family divulges information more readily.
Possible
exam question: Finish this sentence using a phrase below
(A,B,C,D,E) so
that it accurately represents a key concept in keeping with the
interpersonal
divide: The real domino effect—the
one that should command our attention—typically occurs with …
B. state-controlled media.
C. political revolution.
D. military intervention.
E. technological change.
Answer: E
Possible exam question: Which
historical figure (A,B,C,D,E) used media to prove that truth was
greater than
authority:
B. Martin Luther King
C. Johannes Guttenberg
D. Guglielmo Marconi
E. Samuel Morse
Answer: A
Possible exam questions: Answer
the series of questions below either “true” or “false” about the social
impact
of media and technology:
A.
To
bridge the interpersonal divide, we must use media and technology to expand
community rather than be used by them to replace community.
Answer:
True
B.
When
used appropriately, media and technology reaffirm our values, advance
our
knowledge, and improve the quality of our lives.
Answer:
True
C.
Television
keeps us informed during breaking news, as does the Internet; when used
in
tandem, the Web expands on news, providing statistics and databases.
Answer:
True
Optional
phrasing:
A.
To widen
the interpersonal divide, we must use media and technology to expand
community
rather than be used by them to replace community.
Answer:
False
B.
When
used inappropriately, media and technology reaffirm our values, advance
our
knowledge, and improve the quality of our lives.
Answer:
False
C.
Newspapers
keep us informed during breaking news, as do magazines; when used in
tandem,
the both update the audience daily, providing statistics and databases.
Answer:
False
Chapter
Six: The
Medium is the Moral
By
now in the course of a typical term you should have given your midterm
on the
first four or five chapters, conveying basic communication and
interpersonal
concepts to your students. You should have had discussions, case
studies and/or
presentations that will have taught them to apply such concepts and
synthesize
a social impact or media effect. Thus, you should be in fine shape to
discuss
Marshall McLuhan, beginning with this famous epigraph that leads off
the
chapter:
[T]he
medium is the message. This is merely
to say that the personal and social consequences
of any
medium—that is, of any extension of ourselves—result from the new scale
that is
introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any
new
technology.
In your discussion of McLuhan and
his influence, you might investigate these questions:
B. To what extent did McLuhan correctly prophesy “the global village,” a term often associated with Internet but originally intended for television?
C. To what extent does McLuhan’s theory of “hot and cold” media seem to be valid according to his biology paradigm that media extend human senses?
Possible
exam question: When Marshall McLuhan spoke of “a global
village,” he was
referring to what medium (A,B,C.D,E):
B. telegraph
C. television
D. telephone
E. teleconference
Answer:
C
Possible exam question: When
Marshall McLuhan proclaimed “the medium is the message,” he was
referring to
what effect (A,B,C,D)?:
B. a new industry created by the medium.
C. a new interpretation of content
D. a new application of the medium.
Answer:
A
Case study: Many educators have
put faith in media and technology as information providers without
which
emerging generations will tumble into the digital divide,
disenfranchised in
the global village. Investigate that
belief by ascertaining:
- How learners
perceive the computer.
- How process
is transformed via
the computer.
- How content
is biased by the
computer.
Possible exam question: When the
medium becomes the message, how does that impact content or
information? Put a
check mark to the left of four correct responses:
Answer:
B. __X__The medium actively helps determine meaning.
C. ______Information becomes timelier when delivered to audience.
D. __X__The medium generates different knowledge than the content of a message.
E. __X__Each medium produces a distinct view of reality.
F. ______Content of the message undermines the medium.
G. __X__Media systems create their own cultures.
H. _____Information is distributed to ever-widening audiences.
To spark a class discussion, ask
students to respond to this passage:
Each medium has its
viewpoint—or slant
on the news—and, hence, on the message by virtue of its technology.
Television,
for instance, not only views the world through camera lenses but also
through
production crews, gatekeepers (editors), time slots, advertising,
anchors,
general managers and other factors affecting content and delivery. In
our time,
satellite hookups have heightened the impact of those effects so that
the world
not only enters our livingrooms; the world has become our livingrooms
and every
other room that contains a television set. We invite the world into our
homes
and lives but also neglect those who dwell in our homes and those who
share our
hometowns.
Chapter Seven: Icons
and Caricatures
Cautionary
Word: The
epigraph that heads this chapter can be
somewhat controversial with certain students, but it is among the
finest
descriptions of marketing values extant today, even though it was
penned before
1993 by Neil Postman in Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to
Technology.
A interesting but, again, sensitive case study would be an
overview of
the marketing of religion as found in popular media.
Possible
exam question: Below you will find definitions for concepts key
to
understanding the culture of marketing (match words A, B, C, D and E in
the
left column). In the right column you will find definitions for these
words.
Place the letter (A,B,C, D,E) in the space to the left of the correct
definition.
match
words
definitions
B. icon __F___“vicarious involvement.”
C. idol __E___”a person whose values or character are worth emulating."
D. ego __A___“two dimensional distorted picture of a person."
E. role model __B___”a symbolic picture, image, or other emblematic depiction."
F. consubstaniality __C___”a mere image or semblance of something, visible but withoutas a phantom.”
Cautionary Word: If you use the example of “consubstantiality,” based on the work of Kenneth Burke, be sensitive to students’ attitudes as this is yet another religious-based example from the Abraham and Issac story. Be sure to expound on the secular example that Burke provides and that is elaborated on in the text, and based on looking down from a great height and wondering, “What if I jumped?”
Possible
case study or guest presentation: Compare the use of technology in
George
Orwell’s dystopia, 1984, to the use today in the high-tech
media world,
or invite an English professor to discuss this with a colleague from
computer
science.
Cautionary Word: Again, be
sensitive to students’ values and introduce the following into lecture
as
philosophy rather than belief:
We
are programmed spiritually and biologically to rely on each other so
that we
rise in the afterlife or in the food chain. Religion asks us to share
resources
with others because the God-light in “me” also shines in the “other.”
Likewise
our genome requires us to share resources because teamwork of the few
ensures
the survival of the many. Truly religious people work everyday to kill
the ego,
risking their lives doing missionary work in dangerous environs for the
betterment of humankind. Humanists do likewise, accepting the same
risks and
honoring the same social tenet. As reward, believer and non-believer
experience
the rhapsody of the soul or the endorphins of the collective
consciousness. In
both cases the enlightened individual elevates the importance of
community and
devalues the importance of possessions.
Possible exam question: Below
you will find definitions for concepts key to understanding how
advertising is
targeted at consumers (match words A, B, C). In the right column you
will find
definitions for these words. Place the letter (A,B,C) in the space to
the left
of the correct definition.
match words
definitions
B. latent message __A___"an obvious message that says ‘buy this product.’”
C. social message __B___”a hidden message hinting how one’s life will change if the product is purchased."
Constantly
we are told that this or that
commercial product or service, or even this or that candidate for
office, is
“better,” when we know it cannot be true. ... Children today are
taught, in
lessons compounded every five minutes, that untruth may be uttered with
impunity, even with approval. Lying has become a way of life, very
nearly now the
way of life, in our society. The average adult American of average
intelligence
and average education believes almost nothing communicated to him in
language,
and the disbelief has become so ingrained that he or she does not even
notice
it.
Case study: Compare and contrast “smart mobs” using high-tech gear such as cell phones to protest a social topic (for example, issues of 1999 demonstration in Seattle of the World Trade Organization) with “dumb mobs” using the same techno gear in celebratory riots on campuses across the country.
Back
Chapter
Eight:
Three Dimensional Living
By
now you should approaching the end of the academic term. The final two
chapters
in Interpersonal Divide attempt to adjust for the influence of
media and
technology on our lives. To do so, the book distinguishes itself from
others in
the genre by taking an applied ethics approach articulated in the first
paragraph of Chapter Eight, “Three Dimensional Living”:
Ethics evolve innately when
the conscience
is clear and consciousness, unobstructed. Both must inform each other
harmoniously to make sense of the world. Ethics also emanate out of
community
when people interact meaningfully with each other, nurturing
relationships that
transcend self interest and contributing to the public good. With
proper role
models, we welcome the diversity of human discourse and treat others as
we wish
to be treated across the broad social spectrum, living three
dimensionally. We
develop perception and discretion, seeing reality as it is, not as we
wish it
might be.
Possible exam question: Interpersonal
Divide challenges readers to live “three dimensionally” (linearly,
horizontally, deeply). Below you will find definitions (A-F) for those
concepts
among other inaccurate definitions. Put a check mark to the left of
each correct
definition below:
B. __X__“linearly, in the time spent interacting meaningfully with others in community, from clerks at the checkout counter to VIPs at the country club.”
C. __X__”horizontally, in valued relationships that transcend race, sex and class, acknowledging the insights of others across a broad social spectrum.”
D. _____”horizontally, in valued relationships that cluster us with our own racial, sexual, and social class demographics.”
E. __X__"deeply, in contributions made to community through those interactions and relationships.”
F. _____"deeply, in contributions made to community through symbiotic and demographic relationships.”
Possible exam
question: Interpersonal
Divide posits that idolaters live two-dimensionally (flatly and
episodically) in disharmony with others and measure the quality of
their world
according to benchmarks associated with media and technology. Below you
will
find definitions (A,B,C,D) for flat and episodic living among other
inaccurate
definitions. Put a check mark to the left of each correct
definition
below:
B. _____ flatly, gauging the quality of life based on choices made independent of outcomes past incidents.
C. _____episodically, characterizing others as worthy or unworthy, based on their values regardless of race, class, religion, culture, politic, or belief.
D. __X__episodically, gauging the quality of life based on outcomes of incidents or reacting to others based on past incidents taken out of context.
Possible essay question: Interpersonal Divide posits that overconsumption of media and technology have a profound impact on a person’s conscience. Agree or disagree with that assessment, noting the symptoms described in the text:
-
An epidemic desire
to avoid
unpleasant
emotions.
-
An elitist
affinity to identify
and
prejudge people who, we believe, generate such emotions.
-
A disturbing
inability to
communicate
authentically face to face with others.
-
Shorter fuses
when confrontation
is
unavoidable.
-
Shorter
attention spans.
-
Shorter and/or less
substantive
relationships.
A stimulating guest presentation or case study
is to show the Frank Capra 1946 film, “It’s a
Wonderful
Life,” and investigate this passage in the text:
Perhaps Frank Capra’s
famous, optimistic film
about the meaning of community—“It’s a Wonderful Life”—may be apropos.
Capra’s
1946 masterpiece depicts an earnest but destitute George Bailey who
helps
others—including those of ethnic heritage—finance homes through his
failing
Savings and Loan. George longs to see the world but his conscience
prevents him
from leaving his hometown of Bedford Falls. George competes with, is
deceived
by, and eventually triumphs over banker Henry F. Potter,
the richest and meanest man in
Bedford Falls—a caricature, to be sure, known for his interpersonal
failures
rather than for his influential affluence. That plot is driven home
when an
angel visits George and shows him how his contributions to community
have, in
fact, saved the community, along with many lives. Nostalgically to this
day we
watch “It’s a Wonderful Life!” because it sates our need for acceptance
during
the holidays. How might that movie be depicted today when George, the
would-be
world traveler, can visit any place on the globe at the click of a
mouse, using
the technology and Internet access that Mr. Potter, undoubtedly, would
vend?
Moreover if George as online loan officer risked losing his fortune and
reputation, who in the S&L listserv would come to his aid in his
darkest
moment? What user would remember with gratitude and affection his
contributions
in virtual community? If deleted from cyberspace, angelically or
otherwise,
would George’s life have made the slightest online difference? Granted,
metaphors and allusions here are extended to make a point. But they
speak
volumes about the value of real community and the absence thereof in
the
virtual world where most people dwell for much of their lengthening
lifespans,
yearning for what they intuit but cannot locate.
Cautionary
word: In the
section
of the text discussing “authentic living,” religions and secular models
(Christ, Einstein, Mother Teresa, Matthew Arnold, Joseph Campbell,
Dalai Lama
and others are mentioned). Be sure to present their ideas as
philosophical
rather than spiritual as that is the intent of the text.
Chapter
Nine: Repatriation
to the Village
A
fine, concluding
discussion starter is to explicate the root meanings of “common,”
“community,”
and “communication” as found in the epigraph by John Dewey:
There
is
more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and
communication.
… What they have in common in order to
form a community or society are aims, beliefs, aspirations, knowledge—a
common
understanding. The communication which insures participation in a
common
understanding is one which secures similar emotional and intellectual
dispositions--like ways of responding to expectations and requirements.
Possible exam question: The
way to “repatriate to the village,” or become mindful of the value of
community, is to base one’s life on two philosophical tenets:
examination and
moderation. Below you will find statements (A,B,C,D) on both concepts.
Put a
check mark to the left of the two statements that accurately
describe
those concepts:
B. __X__The unexamined life is not worth living, according to Socrates.
C. _____Seek moderation in some but not all things, Socrates advised.
D. _____The examined life is not worth living, according to Aristotle.
Possible
guest presentation:
Invite a philosopher, a computer
scientist, and journalism professor to discuss the “dominoes of media
and
technology” as presented in the text.
- Why they bought a particular device, establishing whether it is advancing or subverting our goals and priorities.
- When to use that equipment to interact with others and, equally as important, when not.
-
Where to use technology
(especially mobile and monitoring equipment) and where not.
A good class discussion is to
emphasize the elements of mis-mediated messages, focusing on:
- Content. What is the message telling us? How is the particular medium—email, mobile phone, television—altering perception? Where (from what place) are we receiving or sending that message and how, if at all, does that alter content?
- Motive. What is the marketing motive of the particular medium? How does that motive mesh with my personal and professional priorities? How does it serve or erode my fundamental relationships?
- Displacement. To
what extent does the medium “displace” me,
transporting me out of real habitat to a virtual one? How does using
the medium
occupy my time or alter my sense of time? Does
the medium, along with the customer service
associated with it, (a)
reaffirm, (b) have no effect on, (c) or devalue my sense of self-worth
and/or
identity?
- Impact. To what extent has electronic communication played a part in enhancing or deteriorating a particular relationship?
-
Discernment. Do
we
wish to continue dialogue through a particular medium or through
another or
none at all, opting for face-to-face interaction or none whatsoever?
-
Practice. How can we alter
the
content of our electronic messages so that our intent is more easily
discerned?
Possible exam question: Interpersonal
Divide acknowledges that no set of personal values will work for all
people.
However, the text does recommend that enduring values possess certain
commonalities. Below you will find a list of commonalities (A-H). Put a check mark to the left of the four correct
commonalities as indicated in your text:
B. __X__Culturally inclusive
C. _____Culturally exclusive
D. _____Relatively focused
E. __X__Morally focused
F. __X__Socially beneficial
G. _____Personally off-putting
H. _____Politically edifying