Research Proposal
‘Generation Z will be the combination of product of X & Y. They’ll need a miracle to survive…’
(‘Marketing to Generation X and Y’ By Michael Fleischner)
Taking Innis’s model of the ‘Bias of Communication’ and Mc Luhans projection of the information age have been a key element in examining Generation ‘Y’ and their place in the world since entering this MA. Taking Mc Luhans projections of our society becoming one of an ‘all at onces’, it has led to the examination on our outlook on the future and a questioning of our ability to pause and examine our place in the world or just allow the fast paced technological advancements consume and unify us.
Distance and time as considerations in our accessibility to communication media are fastly decreasing to a value of zero, as does our speed at which we take it in. With information of all kinds being accessible in an instant there is little need to retain information for long periods of time, nor spend lengthy amounts of time looking for it. One of the main questions Foucault raises is how modern western society regulates thought and behavior. Innis addresses what role the media and institutions play in shaping our perceptions of reality and our thought and behavior. “The fundamental codes of a culture – those governing it’s language, its schemas of perception, it’s exchanges, its techniques, its values, the hierarchy of its practices – establish for every man, from the very first, the empirical orders with which he will be dealing and within which he will be at home.” Foucault M, The Order of Things). With such an accumulation, attempting to predict the filtering processes and the trust in media in the future is of great interest to me. The mediums that this generation deem ‘trustworthy’ or ‘reliable’ may be very different for following generations. Possibly through a series of image manipulations or media manipulation I may attempt to predict the form ‘reliable media’ may take.
In an attempt to further understand the way in which we receive media, creating an interactive installation taking the form of the user ‘googling’ a piece of information and depending on where they stand; may it be x, y or z on the work, will take the form of traditional media associated with that generation and in the case of ‘z’ , take the form of Mc Luhan’s suggestion of a sphere of ‘all at onces’, a bombardment of information being shown in an unconventional form.
The above reading channeled my train of thought into examining the present in a critical manner and possibly attempting to predict the cultural identities and social processes of ‘Generation Z’. The idea of ‘the generation gap’ greatly interests me. Both in a social sphere and a communication one. It was with this idea in mind and a suggestion from Leah to start my research by talking to people living in this age of technological advancements. I was hoping that some of my concerns and views would come through other people’s thoughts and statements when questioned on specific topics.
Having now interviewed six people of varying backgrounds in web design, politics, employment with Google, fine art and communications it has become apparent that now, people don’t feel the generation gap is as strong as it used to be as we are unified in this technological bubble. It’s also becoming clear that ones need to examine their position in society comes only from self-interested progression. When asked about their projections or concerns for future generations, there was little to be said. This series of interviews may take the form of the video piece edited in such a way that the footage will depict my frustration with the lack of concern or critical manner in the way we, as a generation, see the world.
In attempting to understand the impact of communication technologies and previous generations experience of the changes is such technologies I am planning a week without anything but pen, paper and stamps, but expressing myself as many times as I would online. This process will include manually writing out every Twitter update, 246 (no. of my followers) times to each person, as with Facebook updates. I will also use post for every attempt at contacting someone I know. This will hopefully depict or give myself an understanding of the way of life, previous to what I know and highlight the possibly unnecessary/ridiculous ways we express ourselves at this point in time.
From my research into this topic so far, communication media and traditional forms of communication, along with their decline have highlighted the already clear risks that affect our learning patterns and thought processes. Take for example, handwriting. “when kids struggle with handwriting, it filters into all their academics. Spelling becomes a problem; math becomes a problem because they reverse their numbers. All of these subjects would be much easier for these kids to learn if handwriting was an automatic process.” Will it be in future generations that children will use computers from a young age to communicate and so lose the ability to write? Learning to write is important as learning to write forces the brain to think simultaneously in order for it to become automatic. Animation work related to this has been considered in the form of an mini online viral campaign which I may undertake.
Some reading has suggested that ones memory will become less important and that we will seek to ‘externalise’ our memories for fear of forgetting them, like we do an essay we write. The future suggests a decrease in how much we will rely on our brainpower for retention of information and learning of information. As I read this and the above, I consistently hit a force of resistance. My mother was recently diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a form of Dementia directly affecting ones memory and language. The rate at which ones disease develops correlates with their life to the point of diagnosis. An well educated, well read, intellectual individual’s progression is greatly slowed. While a rather extreme view, the idea that the developments in communication technology that are becoming more ‘human’ every day, may sever the continued usage of our pre-frontal lobe, that that controls memory and language. Will it be in the future that the rates of neurological related illnesses will rise?
Through investigating the form, pace and possible effects of the changing communication technologies and examining future and present generations reactions, I hope to gage and somehow represent the cultural and social identities of ‘Generation Z’.
Research Proposal
‘Generation Z will be the combination of product of X & Y. They’ll need a miracle to survive…’
(‘Marketing to Generation X and Y’ By Michael Fleischner)
Taking Innis’s model of the ‘Bias of Communication’ and Mc Luhans projection of the information age have been a key element in examining Generation ‘Y’ and their place in the world since entering this MA. Taking Mc Luhans projections of our society becoming one of an ‘all at onces’, it has led to the examination on our outlook on the future and a questioning of our ability to pause and examine our place in the world or just allow the fast paced technological advancements consume and unify us.
Distance and time as considerations in our accessibility to communication media are fastly decreasing to a value of zero, as does our speed at which we take it in. With information of all kinds being accessible in an instant there is little need to retain information for long periods of time, nor spend lengthy amounts of time looking for it. One of the main questions Foucault raises is how modern western society regulates thought and behavior. Innis addresses what role the media and institutions play in shaping our perceptions of reality and our thought and behavior. “The fundamental codes of a culture – those governing it’s language, its schemas of perception, it’s exchanges, its techniques, its values, the hierarchy of its practices – establish for every man, from the very first, the empirical orders with which he will be dealing and within which he will be at home.” Foucault M, The Order of Things). With such an accumulation, attempting to predict the filtering processes and the trust in media in the future is of great interest to me. The mediums that this generation deem ‘trustworthy’ or ‘reliable’ may be very different for following generations. Possibly through a series of image manipulations or media manipulation I may attempt to predict the form ‘reliable media’ may take.
In an attempt to further understand the way in which we receive media, creating an interactive installation taking the form of the user ‘googling’ a piece of information and depending on where they stand; may it be x, y or z on the work, will take the form of traditional media associated with that generation and in the case of ‘z’ , take the form of Mc Luhan’s suggestion of a sphere of ‘all at onces’, a bombardment of information being shown in an unconventional form.
The above reading channeled my train of thought into examining the present in a critical manner and possibly attempting to predict the cultural identities and social processes of ‘Generation Z’. The idea of ‘the generation gap’ greatly interests me. Both in a social sphere and a communication one. It was with this idea in mind and a suggestion from Leah to start my research by talking to people living in this age of technological advancements. I was hoping that some of my concerns and views would come through other people’s thoughts and statements when questioned on specific topics.
Having now interviewed six people of varying backgrounds in web design, politics, employment with Google, fine art and communications it has become apparent that now, people don’t feel the generation gap is as strong as it used to be as we are unified in this technological bubble. It’s also becoming clear that ones need to examine their position in society comes only from self-interested progression. When asked about their projections or concerns for future generations, there was little to be said. This series of interviews may take the form of the video piece edited in such a way that the footage will depict my frustration with the lack of concern or critical manner in the way we, as a generation, see the world.
In attempting to understand the impact of communication technologies and previous generations experience of the changes is such technologies I am planning a week without anything but pen, paper and stamps, but expressing myself as many times as I would online. This process will include manually writing out every Twitter update, 246 (no. of my followers) times to each person, as with Facebook updates. I will also use post for every attempt at contacting someone I know. This will hopefully depict or give myself an understanding of the way of life, previous to what I know and highlight the possibly unnecessary/ridiculous ways we express ourselves at this point in time.
From my research into this topic so far, communication media and traditional forms of communication, along with their decline have highlighted the already clear risks that affect our learning patterns and thought processes. Take for example, handwriting. “when kids struggle with handwriting, it filters into all their academics. Spelling becomes a problem; math becomes a problem because they reverse their numbers. All of these subjects would be much easier for these kids to learn if handwriting was an automatic process.” Will it be in future generations that children will use computers from a young age to communicate and so lose the ability to write? Learning to write is important as learning to write forces the brain to think simultaneously in order for it to become automatic. Animation work related to this has been considered in the form of an mini online viral campaign which I may undertake.
Some reading has suggested that ones memory will become less important and that we will seek to ‘externalise’ our memories for fear of forgetting them, like we do an essay we write. The future suggests a decrease in how much we will rely on our brainpower for retention of information and learning of information. As I read this and the above, I consistently hit a force of resistance. My mother was recently diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a form of Dementia directly affecting ones memory and language. The rate at which ones disease develops correlates with their life to the point of diagnosis. An well educated, well read, intellectual individual’s progression is greatly slowed. While a rather extreme view, the idea that the developments in communication technology that are becoming more ‘human’ every day, may sever the continued usage of our pre-frontal lobe, that that controls memory and language. Will it be in the future that the rates of neurological related illnesses will rise?
Through investigating the form, pace and possible effects of the changing communication technologies and examining future and present generations reactions, I hope to gage and somehow represent the cultural and social identities of ‘Generation Z’.
Posted 2 years ago Notes
