My thoughts

Response to "Robotic Nation" by Marshall Brain

2009-11-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

In Robotic Nation, Marshall Brain warns Americans about the dangerous of excessive use of new systems and machines. He argues that in the future humanoids robots could completely replace human workforce letting over half of the Americans unemployed. There are some steps for the “Robotic Revolution” take place in America according Marshall; however if we take a look on the technology development on the past fifty years, we are going to realize that this revolution is growing up very fast.

I strongly agree with Marshall Brain on the point he states that new systems could eliminate the need for human employment in many jobs. However I don’t think those systems or robots could completely replace human employees. Even though modern robots seem like humans doing many activities they don’t have the essential: the brain, consequently they can’t think. There is a need of thinking or conscious in some kinds of jobs. For example, psychiatrists evaluate patients by their experiences and feelings, and they talk with them to make conclusions and formulate a right diagnostic about the problem they may have. It is necessary a brain, actually a functional brain to formulate an idea or conception, and for more advanced robots could be in the future I do not believe that scientists can built robots with conscious mind.

I am a kind of modern person who thinks that I may not live without any gadget or electronic device but it only shows my customer side. It is very convenient talk with my family, which live far from me (approximately 5000 miles), any time we want through a video camera or by cellular phone. So, technology is part of our everyday lives turning it easier. Advanced technology will become a problem when, as Marshall Brain says, it starts replacing humans on their activities. Unemployment is a serious consequence of the “Robotic Revolution” which Americans should be aware of. That revolution will eliminate jobs and bring a huge economic crisis in the USA.

Thinking about my employee side I don’t feel comfortable knowing that in the future my job could be taken by a robot. I am a house cleaner and this kind of job could be easy developed by a robot. The solution to me could be try to find other job. According Marshall Brain, the creation of new jobs could be a solution for the high level of unemployment; however it is hard to do that if robots can easy be updated for the new jobs. What people will do without a job? How they will participate in the economy without money which comes from our jobs?

Marshall Brain did a good job showing the economic problem that will appear in consequence of the robotic revolution, giving examples and statistics of how it works, and giving a possible solution to the huge level of unemployment in the USA. His ideas had a big impact on my thinking because I really never thought about the consequences of the technology progress before. I believe, as Marshall Brain, it is time to think about the American economy and also think about available solutions to negative effects of the robotic revolution.

2009-11-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Questions for Annotation Project:

What is hunger?
What are the causes of hunger?
How can hunger be reduced?
Is there enough food in the world for everyone?

2009-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

Sources for Annotation Project:

Inequality found in wealthiest and poorest countries.
Food Crisis
Poverty Facts and Stats
Hunger and world food today
World hunger solution
Learning about hunger

Hunger in the World

2009-11-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

The costs of food.

Summary

2009-11-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

According to Marshall Brain in “Robotic Nation”, there is a huge problem result of the robotic revolution taking place in the USA which has been bringing deep modifications to the American economy.

Marshall states that scientists have been working hard to develop advanced technology, and every day new automated machines are coming up on our everyday world. Those machines have been gradually replacing humans on certain kinds of jobs, and increasing the unemployment level. For example, many cashiers lose their jobs with the implementation of new self-service check out in supermarkets; people do not need to interact with a human to operate one of those machines.

There are some steps for the “Robotic Revolution” take place in America according Marshall. The first one is the use of all common systems people make every day, such as self-service machines on gas stations which made unnecessary an attendant to fill up a fuel tank. Gradually, many people have been losing their jobs because of those automated machines. The second step was the creation of robots like humans. There were some issues to be solved like how to create robots with human sensors; however with the technology development growing up very fast in the past decades, around 2025 the humanoids robots will probably be arriving into our markets.

Marshall predicts that by 2055 humanoid robots will replace over half of workers in the USA, and the American economy is going to be worst with the high level of unemployed. He also affirms that following the Moore’s Law which says that “CPU power doubles every 18 to 24 months or so” by 2050 we are going to see a $1.000 super home computer with the same memory of human beings. Along this process of development there are many kinds of jobs which are going to be occupied by robots leaving humans without their jobs, such as pilots. The use of robots can obviously eliminate the risk of mistakes, and avoid accidents on many jobs. The only problem is that robots will probably take almost all human jobs leaving them unemployed, and the economy of the country completely devastated.

How the economy is going to work if people do not have money to spend? That is the main part of the huge problem that Marshall is predicting. There is not a way to deal with a country’s economy in which half of the population in unemployed. Some people believe that the economy is going to create new jobs to help unemployed people. However, it brings two important questions to everyone mind: what kind jobs will be created and why they are not creating new jobs right now on the actual circumstances of unemployment in the country. People work to get pay and survive; it is a simple cycle which ends on the robotic revolution. There isn’t a way to acquire money if people cannot work; it means that those people cannot participate in the America economy.

The “Robotic Revolution” is a great advancement of the technology which shows that humans are able to grow up even more. However people should analyze very well the results of that revolution which is going to completely devastate the country’s economy throughout the highest level of unemployment ever seen.

One of the bull riders in action...

2009-10-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Eight seconds

2009-10-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Tatiana Miranda
Ethnography (first draft)

Visiting a friend’s farm last weekend I could observe a peculiar and interesting subculture: bull riders. I spent the main part of my childhood’s vacations in a farm and the bull riders’ ambient are not strange to me. I really enjoyed their meeting because it reminded me good times on my childhood. Bull riders are simple people that love nature, and animals; they usually wear casual and resistant clothes, speak a very particular language and love risks. It seems to be very dangerous a rider getting on a large bull and trying to stay mounted for at least 8 seconds there because most of the time the bull tries to throw the rider out, however bull riders said that it is a fascinating experience. I think there is a high risk the bull causes physical harm to the rider, however most of the riders have had a long experience mounting bulls and rarely get injured.

It was early morning when my friends Elaine, Danilo, Guilherme and I arrived at our friend’s farm to watch a Bull Riding. It is a kind of Rodeo sport where bull riders get on a large bull griping a flat rope and try to stay there and get good points. Both the rider and the bull are awarded point, and zero scores are very common as a lot of riders lose control of the animal after the bull gets in the arena.
“Some friends have been organizing one Rodeo per month since May. The guys love fun!” We met the owner of the farm who is a friend of mine.
“I hope you guys enjoy a Brazilian barbecue and a good Bull Riding because those are the best things we are going to have today.”
“Of course we do like. Thank you very much for your invitation.”
“The Rodeo is going to start in an hour, grab a soda and have fun.”
There was a round arena (an open area fenced to protect the audience from escaped bulls), and around it people trying to find a better place to watch the spectacle. I noticed a curious fact locking at everyone: there where all kind of people since children at old which most of them were wearing as a cowboy. I mean, characteristics clothes as jeans, boats and hats. At the arena’s right side there was the place where they kept the bulls, and on the left side, a little far from the arena a huge barbecue grill and some barrels filled with ice, bottles of soda, juice, and water. My friends and I had been enjoying the delicious barbecue made a Brazilian style waiting for the Rodeo. A lively country music surrounded us when somebody had the idea to park his car close us and turn on the radio. It seemed like a party, everyone eating, talking, dancing, enjoying the beautiful day and waiting for the main attraction, the Bull Riding.

The Rodeo started around 10:00am, and we forgot everything else to watch the spectacle. The small enclosure was opened and the bull goes into the arena; very angry it jumps, runs and leaps to throw the rider off, and the rider has to be on the bull only touching it with one hand for at last 8 seconds. One after other, the bull riders mounted; some lost the control quickly in two, three or four seconds, others got to stay on the bull the 8 seconds required. It was so excited to see their courage and ability because I’m not able to do such as those things.
The best bull rider that day won $5.000, five thousand dollars and a car.
“Do you think Jeremy is going to gain the first prize Tati?” Elaine asked about a Brazilian friend who was competing with other riders that day.
“I do not really know. That is the first time I see him as a bull rider. I don’t know if he is good enough to win. Let see him.”
Unfortunately, our friend lost because of his scores, he got the second places. We all tried to make him feel better but he was so upset.
“I got to stay there 8 seconds!”
“We know but the result depends of your score and the bull score. Judges give points based on many things such as your movements and the bull movements, not just because you got to stay on the bull the required time.” I said.
“I hate some rules.”
“It is not a bad thing to win the second place…Let’s enjoy the party. Try to practice for the next one next month and that’s all.”
We all had a lot of fun that day and we are looking forward to coming back next time and enjoy their community.

A Challenging Trip

2009-09-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

A Challenging Trip

I felt butterflies in my stomach the first time I got into an airplane through my first long trip far away from my family. The stewardess interrupted my thoughts, asking if I would like something, I seemed very scared. I think she just read my mind because I was praying to God take care of us. I took a decision to move from Brazil to Japan unsure about the future, and apprehensive with problems that could come up. However, through that experience I learned that it is making decisions and facing the consequences of those decisions that we can grow up e become stronger.

At home, I had felt exhausted hearing the same answer to almost all my questions. “Grandma, I’d like to go to the cinema with my cousins. Can I go next weekend?” or “Grandma, can I go to my aunt’s house on Christmas instead of the church?” – She always had the same answer. “You cannot do anything you want to do living in my house. Also, you are too young to make your own decisions.” I and my two young sisters had been living with my Grandmother since my mother passed away; I was five years old on that time. Grandma is a kind of admirable but dominant person who just tried to teach me based in her own experiences. According Grandma, she never was against her parents’ rules, and she taught me to be submissive like her. I accepted for some time, then I became adult and started thinking that super protection even justified by good reasons can turn a mess on anyone’s life. I was twenty four when I gather all courage I had to tell her that I was going to move to Japan; I was broke, unable to pay the expensive course in the university, and with a lot of debts. My father’s brother told me that a friend who lives in Japan was looking for someone to work in her restaurant. Giving apartment, food, the airfare, and a great pay, she was hoping uncle Afonso could find a good person to work with her. I saw sadness in grandma’s eyes when I told her about my decision to move to Japan, I thought that it was time to change something in my life. She argued against my decision but I was really strong about don’t move or change my decision, and on August 2000 I traveled through an unknown future.

Arriving in Japan, problems like language and the big difference between our cultures, almost made me repacking and go back to Brazil. It was hard, at first, to understand the language, I was aware about that. Six months before the travel I took English course because I thought it could help me; it was a basic course just to remind me what I had learned in school. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one person who spoke English in the village where I lived.

I believe that I improved a lot as an individual being away from my family, and being such a different culture. Able to take my own decisions, and bravely face all consequences of it, I feel strong knowing that I grow up. I had making other important decisions in my life such as come to America to study, and I have been living with the all consequences of it, I have to live in the same apartment of strangers because it is chipper then live by myself, I have to cook every day, actually I never did it in my Grandma’s house, I have to make time to work, to go to school… I think just us can live our own life, make decisions, do mistakes, and through our own experiences we can finally learned something. Living in Japan for almost five years helped me to discover I am stronger than I thought and helped me to learn how is important to make our own choices.

Personal Essay

2009-09-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really between two topics for my personal essay. I'm trying to get some ideas talking with friends and people involved on those moments but I didn't start yet. Should I collect and write information about both or decide first which one I'd like to write about?

Any comments?