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 Class Notes 2/16/2011

Today we began class by Mirealla going around the room and saying everyone’s name.  Then we outlined the prepartions for next class, which included, readings for Monday, video for Wednesday, scheduling writing conferences.

1.     The Science and Technology of Information

Reviewing two articles from Monday’s readings:

            Katherine Rowe (English Prof.)

                        Linguistic concept: Basic economy of response:

                        For functional social – exchange of information

Some kind of pattern- counter to pattern- noise- no pattern or structure.

There has to be some kind of unpredictability in communication- often value added and meaning asdded as communication happens.

Walter Benjamin- un- intelligibility is necessary for meaning.

Noise/information may depend on context, person, situation.

What meaning doe information have for non-humans?

Paul Grobstein (Bilogy Prof.)

                                                When a piece is removed, remaining replaces the missing part.

                                                How do the different parts know how to do this?

                                                How is information exchanged?

                                                There’s something added between speaker and listener.

Organization of matter and energy- more organized- higher info content

                                                Information-“stuff” that is decoded

                                                Matter and Energy- can transform into eachother

Information is in this category- transformed through coders and decoders.

Information is not essential- but transactional

            What motivates the coder and decoder?

             Mirella- Coder- share information

                        Decoder- Wants to have information

            Tiffany- appeal to a certain kind of audience

            Anne: Communicate, Share Ideas

            Nick: form relationships

Ipsem: To learn something

What do we trust as information?

            Kate Gould’s post shares (kgould’s)

                        Creating listening robots for people in hospitals.

            Responses:

                        Kate G: Caring, beneficial

                        Hilary B.: Way to hear yourself

Anne: Paradox- people feel more heard with a robot than with a human- less judging, less

                        Sadie: Code- not an exchange of info

                        Nick: There is a physical response in the robot- fulfill patients.

Anne: Does information exist if never received?

                        Kgould- Tree fall in forest analogy.

Anne: There is a transformation- potential vs. actual information. Perception is everything.

Liz: Until perceived, info has no meaning.

Anne:

            Information necessary for communication, ( English prof)

            Transformation from potential to actual ( biology prof)

            Sadie response: It’s both, and it depends who you are to how you see it

Liz: How does this connect to Gender and Technology

            M. J.: Rethinking what technology is.

            Emma: We judge gender based on the info people give us

            Anne: Volunteers to be read

            Nick: It’s a coding device

            Aybala: Coded since birth- pink for babies, blue for boys.

            Liz- Reading is contextualized.

            Nick: Coding changes over time- pink- boys, Blue for girls

            Anne: Coding for bathroom signs-skirts

                        Socialization has taught us this, as well as colors

Anne: Katherine Hales:

                        Humanities/sciences

                        “Three-body problem”- complex systems

            Deep notions of complexity and difficulty of prediction.

How to we read?:

            Jacqueline: evolving, instructors must adapt.

Maria: Both types of reading in one text- switch triggered by comprehension and interest. 

Julia: Cannot just look at first and last paragraph- have to look at all.

Liz: Iterative,

Mirella: We’re in a period of transition.

Anne: Too much info= more hyper reading

Emma: depends on types of classing

Sadie: Going back to point of too much info= hyper reading            

Liz: Personal reading- difference

Aybala- only time doing close reading.

M.J.: close reading goal b/c get more info

            Interactions what gives meaning to text

Nick: Newspapers deliberately try to find what people skim over

            Anne: What does it mean to think critically?

                        Judging, claiming, defending with information

                        Is thinking critically doubting?

Anne: What is close reading?

            Nick: detail and precise, detailed examination

Anne: Close reading, Details, examples , Patterns, context

Does close reading feed critical thinking? Hyper thinking?

Nick: Linear aspect of reading

Hyper reading: non-linear.

Isabel: Kindles effect

Liz and Anne: Distance reading:

            In between hyper and close reading- to pull back and see patterns

            Anne: “Franco Meritti is one of those people I want to have dinner with, and other things as well.”

            Are we in a national crisis:

                        Isabel: hyper reading stops critical reading, stops new ideas- yes.

                                    Do you go through all layers of information?

                        Sadie: We still have the capacity- we just don’t use it.

                        Alex: We are used to getting info from other sources

                        Liz: Different ways of reading to evaluate different types of info.

                        Anne: Different kinds of texts require different types of reading.

                                    Hales gives permission to hyper read

                        Julia: We’re always in a rush

                        Ibtissam: Don’t want to read something required- personal reads- better.

                        Kate: Are we primed to hyper-read?

Anne: Punchline~We all do both, and both are useful.

            Rethink writing

            Implications for our writing in “rethinking what reading is”

Mirella: How do you read our papers:

                        Close? Hyper?

            Anne:

                        Hyper reading now that papers are on internet, and now the papers are read better because focusing less on details and more on main ideas.

Concluded class with looking at some people’s first projects