iGod Analysis

In Nicholas Carr’s article iGod, he discusses search engines, namely Google, and how they affect society. His main focus is how more intelligent search engines can either hinder or help society become more or less intelligent. Carr refers to “pancake people,” or those who have stretched themselves far and wide in order to find information. He also discusses how some scientists have come up with the idea to implant machines into the human brain in order to make computers as smart as or smarter than humans. Carr focuses on the subject of artificial intelligence. He utilizes many sources such as the interview with the creators of Google and many other scientists who have done research with artificial intelligence. In comparison, Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Cosmos discusses the subject of the universe through astrophysics. Both authors explore science and how that information changes the way people think and view information processing. The difference lies in the implementation of the subjects. In Tyson’s Cosmos, he utilizes a movie platform and this allows him to engage more with his audience. He is able to use visuals to explain his material better and to keep the information exciting. He breaks down material into easier to digest chunks and simple metaphors. In Carr’s article, he uses concrete examples, facts, and statistics in order to highlight his concepts. There is less dialogue between the author and reader. Much of the information is dry and hard to follow. Carr treats the reader as if they already know about computer science and how the technology already works, which can make it hard to understand. His voice is strong and the tone is conversational throughout his article. Carr’s article follows Huxley’s 3 dimensions by focusing on the object and historical aspects. He also covers topics of moral dilemmas and growing technology.

Black Holes analysis

Black Holes by Michael Finkel is a wacky article about the universe’s black holes. Much of his writing is filled with facts and statistics that help reinforce the statements he makes. Finkel starts the reader off with a story about how the sun will one day die and explode. He then details out what happens to giant stars and gives vivid detail through facts and descriptive adjectives. The stars will eventually create the black holes. He creates a nice flow of topics and they each lead off of one another. Breaking up his paragraphs into smaller chunks of information makes it easier to follow and allows for him to provide multiple theories and discuss them. He uses relatable examples and metaphors to engage the reader through the topic of black holes. By attributing the eruption of stars as many atomic bombs going off one after the other, its something that almost every reader has studied or read about. Many people have never read about black holes nor do many people even know what one is. Finkel accurately breaks down the information into easy to read and follow parts that are easy to follow. He fills in the gaps such as how a black hole is formed, where they start, what they do, and disproves common myths about them. His voice is very casual, even amidst all of the facts. Finkel tries to keep a light tone and create a conversation with the reader. It functions almost like a lecture, in order to inform a student one on one about a topic. Huxley’s three directions fit into the article through Finkel’s use of factual information and his objective perspective on the topics of black holes and the universe. The use of popular scientists and well-known science figures helps to back up the information and make it more relatable.

Introduction to Inquiry essay

I am standing in front of the treadmill taking deep breaths. It is the third day I am at the gym and I feel exhausted. I want more than anything to take a nap or to relax but I push myself. I climb back onto the treadmill and keep going. It might seem a little extreme, but I am on a mission. The whole reason I am here is to try and see if I can improve my mood over the course of two weeks naturally. Not only does this undertaking allow me to improve myself physically, but it gives me a release for the negative feelings and stress of my week or day. By using exercise as a release it allows me to think about what causes my stress or anxiety and to reflect on it. Is it that I am too involved in many things or is it because I procrastinate on my work too much? My time on the treadmill is winding down and I start slow my run. My thoughts are no longer racing and I find myself with a clear head for a change. I still find it difficult to keep up with exercises and I have no clue as to why anyone would regularly commit to the gym. Yet maybe those people are on to something.

Paragraph from the Inquiry essay assignment

          My daily struggle is how do I balance these feelings and still manage to get my work done? Having to deal with both of these power hitters culminates in a lot of stress. That stress was making me feel like I was being ripped apart and pulled in too many different directions. I decided that I needed to find a release for these feelings. Something that was unrelated to assignments and responsibilities, and completely unrelated to school. I started my adventure by researching some ways to manage stress and anxiety so that I could better prepare myself for those battles between my anxiety and depression. If I could manage at least one of them, then I felt I could take control of my life (a college student can only dream). Everyone likes to feel productive and sometimes the clutter of every day gets in the way of concentrating or physically doing work. Working out gives people the outlet to release those thoughts and to focus on one thing for a certain amount of time. I felt like I was studying longer and harder and doing better on assignments than I had previously been doing. If I had to change anything I would have set more structured parameters for how I conducted the experiment. I would have liked to explore a specific feeling and how exercise changed that feeling instead of using a broad spectrum like mood.