Susan wrote an interesting blog post, and when my response hit, like, half a page, I thought that maybe I should just write about it here...
I accidentally introduced my parents to Facebook. In the Summer of 2008, a group of friends and I went to Vancouver, British Columbia for vacation. Every night I uploaded all the day's pictures to Facebook, mostly to get them off my camera and to make room for new pictures. When my mother called me to ask how the trip was going, what we'd done, I mentioned I had uploaded pictures to Facebook.
"I don't have Facebook," she had said. So I told her to have my brother log in to his account so she could see the pictures.
And that's where I went wrong.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Exposition is everywhere
I took a break from working on my final exams and booted up Star Wars: The Old Republic, an online role-playing game that allows players from all over the world to play together. As I cut down enemies and completed quests, I kept thinking about my exams, what's going on at work, whether I'm going to pass all my classes... And then I realized something.
My go-to stress relaxer is nothing more than an exercise in expository reading and writing.
(Stick with me on this.)
My go-to stress relaxer is nothing more than an exercise in expository reading and writing.
(Stick with me on this.)
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Exposition of Online Reviews
One of the benefits of the internet is that everyone's opinions can be heard.
One of the disadvantages of the internet is that everyone's opinions can be heard.
My grad-level Theory of Exposition course has spent a lot of focus on the truth--defining it, explaining it, reading other people's opinions of it. But those definitions and explanations are written by educated people, who know how to use grammar and syntax properly. They state their opinion, back it with facts, and cite other theorists and philosophers to reinforce their statements. But in the day and age of the internet, people don't always do that. Anyone with an internet connection can start a blog, can post of a forum, can upload a video to YouTube. There are dozens of ways to make yourself heard. And there are dozens of ways to have your opinions discredited.
In the journals and articles we've read, exposition theorists who disagree with one another cite other works, other philosophers, and keep things relatively civil. (And by civil, I mean Plato never bluntly told Aristotle to die in a fire.) But things are different now, especially when it comes to online exposition. There are no rules online; anything goes and disagreements degenerate into schoolyard taunts. But does that mean there's no truth behind what individuals are expressing? Does that mean their opinions aren't valid because they weren't able to express themselves clearly?
Here's a good example: a couple of years ago, the game "Super PSTW Action RPG" debuted on the website NewGrounds.com, a flash-driven website that allows people to upload their own animations and video games. People loved the game.
Well, most people loved the game.
One of the disadvantages of the internet is that everyone's opinions can be heard.
My grad-level Theory of Exposition course has spent a lot of focus on the truth--defining it, explaining it, reading other people's opinions of it. But those definitions and explanations are written by educated people, who know how to use grammar and syntax properly. They state their opinion, back it with facts, and cite other theorists and philosophers to reinforce their statements. But in the day and age of the internet, people don't always do that. Anyone with an internet connection can start a blog, can post of a forum, can upload a video to YouTube. There are dozens of ways to make yourself heard. And there are dozens of ways to have your opinions discredited.
In the journals and articles we've read, exposition theorists who disagree with one another cite other works, other philosophers, and keep things relatively civil. (And by civil, I mean Plato never bluntly told Aristotle to die in a fire.) But things are different now, especially when it comes to online exposition. There are no rules online; anything goes and disagreements degenerate into schoolyard taunts. But does that mean there's no truth behind what individuals are expressing? Does that mean their opinions aren't valid because they weren't able to express themselves clearly?
Here's a good example: a couple of years ago, the game "Super PSTW Action RPG" debuted on the website NewGrounds.com, a flash-driven website that allows people to upload their own animations and video games. People loved the game.
Well, most people loved the game.
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