So we covered a few different things this week during class; we discussed where technology may be heading in the future, how well we perform at multitasking, and a little bit on the types of order out there.
In regards to the chapters of the book we read for class, I wasn't sure why he had to take three chapters to say what could have been said in one. I'm also not entirely sure I agree with his opinion. I personally don't like having things organized into more than one place. I have a tendency to be very obsessive compulsive about how things are organized and his way of organizing just wouldn't work for me. I love having things alphabetized and color coded, and while he didn't mention color coding, I have a feeling he would be against it just like he is against alphabetization. Maybe my brain is just wired weird, but I generally never need an excessive amount of tags in order to find a picture or document on my computer. I don't agree with the idea that the way to overcome an overabundance of information is to add more information. I am a firm believer of less is more. It doesn't matter if it is a photo, a document, a book, etc., I can always find it because I always remember where I stored it.
While many individuals would be fascinated by the video of the future of technology that we watched, I was personally a little fearful of what I saw. I don't think I would want to live in a world where almost everything is touchscreen/digital. Anybody would be able to see what you are doing; there would be no such thing as privacy anymore.
I really found our discussion regarding multitasking to be interesting. I always think that I'm good at multitasking, but I know that if I was tested, just like in the video, I would do poorly. Though to be perfectly honest, the majority of my multitasking tends to be watching Netflix while doing my homework. But now I am wondering if doing that is making my work not as good. And sure, a little multitasking every now and then is needed. There are only so many hours in a day and way more work that has to be done in those limited hours. However, I think the trouble enters when you get the people who are texting and driving or anything else like that. That type of multitasking can be deadly. And then you have the "multitasking" like when you are out to dinner with someone and you are trying to eat and carry on a conversation with your dinner companion, but your nose is also buried in your phone. Being so preoccupied with our devices means we don't pay as much attention to the world and people around us. I think that kind of multitasking ranks up there near the top of things that are bad with all the technology we have today.
I think his suggestion of miscellaneousness doesn't necessarily have to eliminate 1st and 2nd order ordering. I don't think he is against alphabetizing or color coding in the physical world. He is just pointing out the inherent limitations of these ways of organizing in the physical world.
ReplyDeleteWhat if you want to be able to organize by color and alphabetically? In a first or second order system you'd have to pick only one. By using additional information (tags) you have the opportunity to organize your digital information in multiple different ways according to your whims. Also, this only works digitally. Just because you can organize things digitally in infinite ways doesn't mean that ability translates to the physical world. These three orders of orders coexist and the newer 3rd order isn't replacing the other two. It simply provides a more diverse way to organize the digital world that can be added to the fact that you have your digital "places" for things too.