--Originally published at Digital Identity

Warning: This post, like its predecessors, contains little to none information, it serves as a compilation of my opinions and understanding of topics discussed during the course.

Is context really necessary? How important is it?

Earlier this week we had started a conversation about the importance of context, today Ken showed us an image regarding misinterpretation, the image had a group of people looking at their cellphones implying that instead of hanging out with people next to them they rather ignore them, the next part shows the conversations they’re having through their cellphones; we also watched a video of a group of girls taking selfies during a baseball game, the narrators were making fun of them, since the video became viral the girls were invited to the Ellen Show and got the chance to explain their side of the story, admitting they were all part of a sorority that uses the baseball game to get to know each other and they actively help an association, and used the fame that came with that video to help even more. While I had watched the first (and viral) video before, I was angry (again) at the narrators because at the beginning the explicitly ask for people to send their photos and when this group of girls do they became the target of their jokes.

I personally think that our generation is criticized for said behaviors far more often than older generations and the criticism comes from them particularly. Reading about this some time ago, I agreed with the writer that stated that the generations that came before cellphones, internet and such useful resources, probably faced a similar battle with their predecessors in regards of phones, tv, electric light, and others, and they are repeating the same mistake: assuming the new generation is being handed everything without a struggle.

Now, it is true technology keeps making life easier than before, but as stated by Uncle Ben: with great power comes great responsibility. So most likely our parents didn’t have google to help them with their homework or investigations and we do, but we are confronted with the idea that since there is a lot of information easily accesible, we need to make an excellent use of it, so we need to dive into the immensity of the internet, read a bunch of information, discern valid from made up, find the most recent studies regarding the topic, recollect it from various sites and sources, to finally put it all together in a flawless summary of no more than a certain amount of pages. Again a nice group of skills to learn and put to good use, but when are these kids or young adults going to go out and socialize after the amount of time invested, so now we are all day staring at our screens doing nothing instead of living real life.

Finally and privately discussing more on Maha‘s views on censorship, I share her opinion that censoring a certain term that is obviously intended to insult another person in regards of their race, preference, or religion to cite a few, but not others is certainly a form of discrimination. With this I don’t mean that for example black people in the US have achieved their desired point of equality, rather they have been oppressed the longest and are beginning to receive part of the respect they evidently deserve (although the US is still far far away from erradicating racism towards black people). So reflecting on that particular situation and considering the time latinos and other minority groups have been migrating and establishing in the US, at this rate, I would have to wait more than my expected lifespan before seeing changes; and don’t get me started on censorship and gender equality because that rant may never end.