Ten degrees? Snow covered streets? So? UCO opens at 11 today.
Tough it out bloggers, but in case you don't want to, this is the second "No absence" day ( won't take roll)--amazing grace---don't take chances.
If you don't come to class, or do, here is the assignment.
1. First, as a student looking to your future in this wild techno-world, read this article from The New York Times, about what you need to survive. I think this article is so important all my students should read it. Link Here.
2. So what passion do you bring to survive? Comment below, on general impressions on the article and your answer, by 5 pm today.
3.If you do come to class, I will be there, because I drive an all-wheel drive Subaru, and we can chat and consider the meaning of the u.niverse.
4. Also comment below, in a separate post, your opinion about the reasoning of UCO being open in weather like this, while schools are closed.
I want to put more passion in the job that I like to survive. Modern science and technology provides a lot of convenience for our life, such as computer. It’s easier to get information and know more about the world quickly. People can use the computer to do anything they want. Just like the author said, the brilliant machines seem to reward a few traits like enthusiasm, extended time horizon and strategic discipline etc. Nowadays, computer becomes the most convenient and indispensable tool in people’s life. We can use it to work; acquire knowledge; shopping online; have teleconference etc. We can’t imagine how people’s life will be if without brilliant machines.
ReplyDeleteUCO being open maybe because the school staff confirmed the weather conditions won’t affect the students to go to school. I found the snow has been cleaned up when I walked to the class. They may don’t want to students missing more class. In China, no matter how bad the weather is, the school will not be closed, even in the primary school. Students need to overcome those difficulties in order to study.
I think that while computers and new technology are an important and amazing part of the world we live in, we are far away from one thing that is very important to interpersonal relationships. Character. Computers, smart phones, tablets, social media and even video games are making strides towards advancement on almost a daily basis, but you can't get character from a machine. Not just yet. I cannot sit down with my iPad and hold a conversation like I can with my grandfather or my best friend. That is one reason that I am so into the idea of podcasting. You are using technology to do just that, have a conversation. Whether it's meaningful or not it is something that is important to our culture and society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a tough decision for UCO to decide to close or stay open. I had class last night from 6pm-8:45pm and it was flat FRIGID on the walk back to my car. I like the fact that you allow optional attendance on days like today. It works for this class because we can do most of our work online. Some classes simply aren't geared that way so it is harder to allow absences, I.E. my evening class, which only meets once a week.
I think the article is pretty right. We are coming to a computer ran generation and the only way we remain important or necessary is to bring an emotional or creative concept. We are only good for the things computers have not yet been trained to understand. Until we can have relationships with computers (hopefully never) we will still be needed because relationships are what keep things running day in and out.
ReplyDeleteI believe UCO remains open in weather like this because as students we need to learn that some times even in bad weather we have to make it to the places we are required to be. We cannot be afraid to work hard and fulfill duties because it is cold outside. I think they open later to ensure people have time to actually wake up before driving because when driving on any type of snow/ice mixture we need to be wide awake and alert.
ReplyDeleteMy passion to survive will be my ability to filter out the unnecessary and stay on the path, fighting the obstacles in my way to arrive at my goals.
ReplyDelete"Creativity can be described as the ability to grasp the essence of one thing, and then the essence of some very different thing, and smash them together to create some entirely new thing," I thought that was a great way to describe it.
I think UCO remains open while other schools in the metro close because it is an institute for higher education. I think that by staying open it teaches students that life goes on even when obstacles are placed in your way, that we can't just give up when the going gets tough, that we must persist.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm being too philosophical here but that's the way I choose to see it. I think it's smart for them to stay open, even though I want a snow day just as much as the next guy. ;)
I will agree that technology has become common in everyday life. In fact, we practically rely on it to do everything. But like the article says right from the title, there are just some things that computers can't do. I like the sentence at the end. People have heart. Computers can't grasp the concept of "heart" because they can't feel like humans can. It's from having heart that allows humans to interact with each other and form relationships and bonds. But I do feel that technology has kept us from being truly social with others because we are too busy with the technology. Of course, I'm not saying that technology can't be used to communicate with other people. Otherwise, what would be the point of Facebook or Twitter? Regardless, we need to remember that technology isn't everything and that people matter more. Also, technology doesn't always work, so people still need to know how to do some things.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why UCO remains open in this weather as opposed to other schools is because a number of students live on campus. Another reason may be because the main roads may be cleared. But what about those that live outside of the UCO campus? What people who live 30 minutes away having to get up and drive in dangerous conditions risking their lives just to go to school. What about those that live in neighborhoods that don't have cleared roads and have hills that are hard to drive uphill on, keeping students from either going to school or returning home? I close one night at work when there was a really bad snow storm. A co-worker managed to get me to my neighborhood, but his truck couldn't make it to my house. Then his truck got stuck three times, so I had to help him get his truck back on to the main road. Because of this, I had to walk from the entrance to my neighborhood all the way to my house! If you can't make it to work, school, or anything else because of weather, don't go!
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoyed the article. I love the idea of computers becoming more valuable and humans learning how to be more human. While it being creative or maybe being just having a long term goal, there's something about human knowledge that cannot compete with artificial knowledge. Computers can generate answers but the effort for humans to study and complemplate to recieve the answer is impressive. One part of the article I love was 'Loosely bonded teams are, teams without a few domineering presences, teams that allow people to think alone before they share results with the group.' This will be the future. At least, I hope so because I believe in the idea of independent thinking and being alone to search for the answer and then joining together to complete a difficult task. I think my ability to be okay with loneliness and to always want to learn by emeresion will help me survive the second age of computers.
ReplyDeleteOh, I watched the movie Her last night. Great movie it explains a lot about how a machine can grow and have feelings and it's own thoughts. It was so interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why UCO is open is because most of the students are commuters. We can drive and walk a few mintues to our classes. They don't consider the international students or students who do walk to school. Also, if UCO wants to be open, they should at least de-ice the parking lots because that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
My passion to survive is that I believe life is worth living for. We are blessed with great things in America, and I am going to enjoy every minute I have. I am very determined and passionate person, and my drive to survive will keep me alive. I also enjoyed reading the article, it has some great detail on how computers are really changing the world. Computers can do a lot more than humans, when it relates to getting information across to someone. Technology has grown so much over the years and it will continue to grow in the future!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion UCO is still open today, because we all pay to go to school and they want us to get are money's worth. I don't agree that they should be open when other schools are closed, but i understand what their thought process is. I guess we just need a blizzard and a foot of snow for campus to be closed for the whole day!
I actually read in an article that a lot of successful songs have a pattern to them, one that could be easily reproduced by machines. (If machines ever felt the need to write music), so the article was pretty interesting to me. The fact that this entire class relies on the use of technology is proof enough that it's gaining a greater foot hold in every day life. That being said, machines will never be able to replicate the soul and effort put into creative projects like painting or writing, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteI honestly couldn't guess why UCO decides to remain open. Something to do with money probably? Like Andrew Baker said, we pay to attend this school, so days we don't show up are a waste of money. On the other hand, I feel a few snow days here and there wouldn't necessarily mean our money is wasted. I live in in OKC so it's a toss up if the roads I take are in acceptable condition.
I like how the article points out that individual personality traits and characteristics are still what makes people stand out from other people and from computers.
ReplyDeleteMy passion for knowledge and learning is probably what will strengthen my survival in this age of computers. I am curious about nearly everything. In most cases, I won't stop until I find the answers I'm looking for to questions I have.
UCO probably decides to stay open because it either doesn't give a flying flip about its students, or because it knows that professors are likely to cancel classes anyway. I think it would be easier to keep the university open if a large portion of students lived on or near campus. But, since we are a commuter school, I think that UCO should take into consideration traveling distances, times and conditions for students who commute from different parts of the city.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I actually completely agree with what Natalie says.
My passion to survive is that I am a go getter. I set short term goals to reach my long term. My mom always said, "it may take time for great things to happen so keep truckin kid." So that's what I do, I know life brings numbs and bruises but you have to keep moving forward. I love life with this in mind.
ReplyDeleteI am not exactly sure why UCO is open today because I love right by campus and my car was stuck this morning. I can't imagine people who had to make the drive. Slick roads are dangerous in the first place. I trust my own driving bit not the other cars on the road. Anything could happen. A school should have been cancelled in my opinion.
I really enjoyed on what this article had to say. I believe it shows the drastic distinction between technology and the human beings who created it as a whole. Personally, I think that human beings will always have the advantage over technology because we have the cognitive ability to analyze AND sense the lives we have and around us; technology is just the observer who is fed by the data before it. How I will survive is my always hungry curiosity. I constantly research to verify what I believe is the truth, and the passion that yearns for the truth.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, on the topic of the school's policies of inclement weather, I can't seem to comprehend it. I believe they should be more understanding as to how not every student's circumstances are the same. Personally, I am ok with the drive on the way to school, it is the treacherous death traps we call parking lots at UCO that put me on edge. It is every man/woman for himself/herself on the concrete "Slip 'n Slide". I am grateful for all that UCO has done for me, and I will respect their decisions; I will refrain from ranting on them on Social Media. It's just not a smart idea, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think the article was slightly depressing. Naturally, I hate computers so I think its all up hill from here. However, I bring to the table what no computer can, hard work. That is still what people want to see in the end. Computers can be learned but it is important to work hard with the right attitude.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why UCO is open as well. I think it is because at the end of the year they can say that they were the one school who let students out the least in Oklahoma. This will make them appear even more studious and dedicated. The other reason would be, they dont want to hurt the feelings of the meteorologist who said there would not be this much snow. Who knows...
My passion to survive is make my famliy get better and help my father with his business. I really like the article, it is talk about the computer. I think technology is getting popular and important to this society. People can use computer do whatever they like and can get the information form it. That makes something different. Like the stars' life, at before that all is the secrets and we don't know what happened, but now we can know a lot if things form internet. So I think it is getting more convenience. For the weather, I think it is to dangerous to drive to school from the highway, so in my opinion school should be cancelled if here had the bad weather.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. For a long time the ideal has been to turn people into machines, slugging away at assembly lines for cars and news articles and if this article is right we're coming up where we can see the midpoint for turning machines into humans. Will I tell my grandchildren stories of the old days when lazy, careless humans were allowed to drive?
ReplyDeleteSo how will I survive an age where we live in a Panopticon run by automaton that can't make mistakes? By making mistakes. Clean, sterile work is for surgery, not romance. To paraphrase a rant by Heinlein, humans aren't insects and we don't specialize. We should be equally capable of making love and war. We should be experts at raising children and hell. I'm sure a computer can cross reference popular tropes in fiction and spit out a generic, market-driven, focus grouped summer blockbuster, but I'm skeptical a computer will ever dream of worlds where the sky sings and the grass swims.
I've got a whole rant worked up about UCO's bizarre decision making on snow days. There is literally nothing important enough in one class session to risk getting in a wreck over. I think it's because UCO has an inferiority complex concerning OU and OSU. They want to appear tough and spend millions on athletics, even though UCO has a vastly different customer base-excuse me-student body. It's the same reason the Mass Comm department was chained to the silly 90% attendance rule-no exceptions- for so long. Students who care will do their best to show up to class and learn the material. Student who don't, won't. No amount of frozen, cranky students or zero tolerance rules will change that.
Also, would it kill them to send the announcements out early?
This article was interesting because it is foreshadowing where machines will affect the future of jobs. Technology has come so far from 10-15 years ago. We got phones that are as fast as some computers and every year they are getting faster and faster. Computers can not do everything a simple human can do, but at least you know what are you going to get from a computer or robot.
ReplyDeleteI never understand why UCO is open on days like this. I understand that we all pay to go here or at least most of us of do. I know folks who had cars that couldn't even start this morning due to the cold temperatures. Maybe one day the teaching will be made virtually via your phone or tablet so that when the weather is bad you can have the option of learning from the comfort of your home.
The passion for that I bring is an attention to detail. I want to make sure everything is okay before I move. The article brought up how computers while advanced, still cannot comprehend everything humans do.
ReplyDeleteAs for the weather, I believe it is because they canceled school last year and nothing happened. Also they cannot figure out that this is a commuter school. Or they just refuse to accept that fact.
ReplyDeleteArticle:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, computers will do its part of being almost 99.9% accurately correct for the most part. Us as humans are common-sense, realistically, hands-on experience correct for the majority of the situations. Computers do aide us into what we call this "Technology Age" but we also have to adapt to getting use to having and using technology as well.
UCO:
One reason UCO still wanted to be open is for those majority of students who live on campus are averagely going to be waking up near the afternoon-ish.. and prefer classes after 9a-10a. So it would not be fair for those who commute, come early and risk an accident. But we all know the city of Edmond does a great job clearing the streets for our own safety before major Edmond traffic hits 2nd Street. Class at 11a streets are clear and the weather is less cold VS. class at 8a and roads packed full of snow and danger. Think about it..
In my opinion, the central point of the article is that as technology progresses and dominates, the people that will exceed are those who have drive, heart, and passion. Rather than work against technology, we should work with it like the man who teamed up with a computer to play chess. We balance each other out. As bloggers, we bring our passion to the table and utilize what technology has to offer (ex. blogging platforms, organization, world wide audience reach, etc.).
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't understand the rules and regulations behind school closings and class cancellations. I can't fully grasp what they are because they seem to change daily. In my opinion, school should either be completely closed or not. I don't like the "school will open at 11a" stuff. If it wasn't safe at 9, then it probably won't be safe at 11. Just sayin'.
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