###### tags: `CDA`
# Michael's Reading Responses (Set 1)

## Reading responses 5 out of 5

### Jan 17 - Attention - *Superconnected*

Is the [iPad kid](https://bestofsno.com/55676/opinions/ipad-kids-and-the-future-of-early-childhood-development/) the one we should be worried about? I’m not so sure. Chayko brings to light the idea that individuals have become more connected through mobile devices as technology continues to advance. In Superconnected, she explains that there is a subconscious part of us that uses technology to improve connections and reduce the feeling of loneliness. But with digital technologies, there are always drawbacks such as concerns about diminishing attention spans, information overload, and dependency. Chayko introduces the term [“McDonaldized”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCj_VhLgcmY) which is referring to the way digital technologies showcase characteristics of the fast-food industry by constantly calculating, predicting, and making these technologies more efficient for users. This is not just affecting a generation that is maturing with these technologies, but also the generation that has adopted these technologies.

Chayko explains about adults using technology by stating, “To be sure, people can become deeply and troublingly immersed in behaviors like gambling, pornography use, compulsive online shopping and consumerism, the pursuit of unhealthy relationships, and so on. These problems all exist outside of the internet and digital media use as well, however; they were problems before the advent of the internet and would be considered problems in any context,” (Chayko, 192). As you can see, there have always been these issues. Digital technologies are now just an easier segway into practicing these problems. Of course, there are other issues that come from these technologies, but the most pressing issue is what will these problems look like for the younger generation. In our previous class, we discussed my generation’s relationship with technology. But there is a generation that is even more in tune with digital technologies. Younger generations do not necessarily have gambling or compulsive shopping problems. So how will these digital communication platforms affect the next generation and to what extent?

### Jan 20 - How the Web Works

What in the world is the web? I have a basic idea. Encryption? No shot. In terms of the web, I had an idea that it was a series of processes that sit on top of the internet that interact with each other to connect the world at our fingertips but really did not know the capacity at which it functions and the complexity behind its infrastructure. [MDN’s (2016) article “How the web works”](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/How_the_Web_works) explains that the web is a series of steps that require different tools to interact with each other to give a client a response to their request. The foundation of this operation is the server, where webpages, apps, and sites are stored. A user’s internet connection begins the process when they decide they want to look up a web address. After a user searches the address, it is retrieved in a server and there is a special language, HTTP, that allows the client’s request to be read by the server. The server then responds to the client's request by sending component files for the client to interact with. But the internet gets more interesting when security becomes the forefront of web issues. A solution to security problems is encryption, with the most secure encryption practice being public key encryption. [Brody (2013)](https://blog.hartleybrody.com/https-certificates/) explains that “Public key encryption is a type of cryptographic system where each party has both a private and a public key, which is mathematically linked to each other. The public key is used for encrypting plaintext to ‘ciphertext’ (essentially, gibberish), while the private key is used for decrypting that gibberish back into plaintext.” Public key encryption is how we are able to safely and securely use the web.

#### Explanation of Public Key Encryption
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-JjHa-qLPk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As I think about the complexity of the web and the interactions of the different levels, I see the complexity behind controlling these processes. Especially when thinking about security and how encryption protects web users. In class last week, there was a brief conversation about a “backdoor” to web user information, and this backdoor is only present if public key encryption is altered in some way. I could understand the idea of a backdoor for the government or a similar force to investigate especially if there are national threats or serious crimes being committed, but wouldn’t this backdoor create a hole for malicious threats as well? So how can a line be drawn to allow for this backdoor without creating a segway for hackers?

### Jan 27 - Learning

[25 minutes. Break for 5 minutes. 25 minutes. Break for 5 minutes.](https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique) This is how I break down my homework and study time to make sure I am giving my full attention to a task. But what am I doing during that 25 minutes to make sure I am maximizing my learning? Well, I have never really thought about that. I seem to just chip away at the work that I am given to make sure it is completed on time and thoroughly. But *Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014)* shed light on the important characteristics of learning and how modern education has transformed effective learning, and not necessarily for the better. Before they talk about how learning has evolved, they mention key elements in learning that are at the core of mastery and truly understanding concepts. The first: learning requires memory. And this is not just from rereading and revisiting notes and PowerPoints, but diving deep into content and material and using techniques such as retrieval instead. Next, as people who are looking to grow and develop, we need to constantly be open to learning. This means that we need to stay curious and optimistic, even when learning gets hard. Another concept to understand about learning is that learning is an acquired skill. In class, the critical thinking exercises presented to us surely help build our learning skills, especially since we are being quickly tested and asked to form a judgment.
In addition, learning is something that continues to build on previous knowledge and there needs to be sufficient effort. Finally, the last notable point was that failure is necessary when learning. I think this is one of the most important points when breaking down the definition of learning because failure has made me question, rethink, and understand what I did wrong to improve and learn from my mistakes.

While all of these points are extremely important to understand the basics behind effective learning, I am curious how these techniques are used now that we have transitioned into a digital age. How do we utilize flashcards? Have sites such as [Quizlet](https://quizlet.com/), [Kahoot](https://kahoot.com/), or [Quizizz](https://quizizz.com/) replaced the traditional methods of retrieval, quizzing, and testing our knowledge? I cannot answer that because this type of learning is what I am used to. So my curiosity lies in the tension between technological advancement and learning models.

### Feb 3 - Cooperation

You've probably taken a foundation Economics course. Or possibly an introductory Biology class. The Prisoner’s Dilemma – a simple, yet well-known concept in game theory – is often used to first introduce the basics of game theory in a foundation Microeconomics class. Evolution – the change in characteristics of species over a long period in which natural selection is relied upon – is typically a core topic in an introductory Biology course. But why is it important when talking about collaboration and cooperation? How do these seemingly far different ideas integrate to give us an answer surrounding the importance of collaboration? Because, “Cooperation is the architect of living complexity,” (Nowak, 2011), and these two revolutionary ideas lay out the building blocks for cooperation. Nowak, 2011 continues to explain that cooperation is the most creative force of biology. Think about how our society works. What do you do when you are in line to enter a Red Sox game? You wait in line. But what makes the line? The cooperation between each individual and a level of trust that they will not skip in front. How about simply higher education? As a student, why am I trusting a couple of hundred people working at different levels and under different titles to provide me with an education that is costing a crap ton of money? Well, these individuals are paid to cooperate and have a sort of mutual agreement to provide me and others with a well-rounded educational experience. And with this comes costs and benefits. There are many different levels and layers to this idea, but I explained the basics of which the importance of cooperation plays in the function of society.

[Reagle, 2015](https://readingthecomments.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/dtys4tyk/release/2#gossip) brings these ideas together when he describes the idea of social grooming – “an activity through which alliances are forged and disputes resolved,” [(Reagle, 2015)](https://readingthecomments.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/dtys4tyk/release/2#gossip). But for us humans, this is through language and communication in groups. Nowak, 2011 says there is always a cost and benefit of collaboration, and we see this with language and communication in online communities, allowing for groups of people to communicate and collaborate. But with Reagle’s definition of grooming and tying it into a human point of view, gossip is one of the “costs” to consider when collaborating online. How can these “costs” reap benefits? As a society, how has the human form of social grooming, language, brought more tension among groups when using online media?

### Feb 14 - The dark web

The real world is a scary place, but for so long it has been dominated by physical and materialistic elements and situations. For example, you are out late one night and find yourself near a dark alley with suspicious people making an exchange and you immediately walk faster and hold your bag or purse tighter. Or you walk into a physical brick-and-mortar bank to deposit money into a high-interest savings account. These are experiences that are happening in the real world, with consequences and actions that require a physical presence. But who would have ever thought that we can encounter these same experiences at the tip of our fingers? There are certainly “dark alleys” on the internet too. Criminal activity is alive and pressing on the internet. There have been international investigations signaling online criminal activity with one of the most significant ones conducted by the FBI in 2015. “After an 18-month international investigation led by the FBI, known as Operation Shrouded Horizon, hackers on a site called Darkode were accused of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiring to commit computer fraud, (Kushner, 2015). These types of illegal online operations are done through free open-source software that allows for anonymous browsing called Tor. Because of Tor’s level of complexity and successful user security, it is even used by government agencies. It is truly intriguing the scale at which Tor operates simply because it has been the source for both good and bad anonymous browsing.

But there is so much more to the innovation of digital technologies that have allowed us to continue altering what we think of as physical experiences. One of these innovations is bitcoin or a piece of digital information that holds a spot in an open-source ledger that grants users the ability to bring value to this information. This concept is still difficult for me to understand, but Custodio, 2013 uses a few analogies that ultimately explain how bitcoin, in its simplest form, is exactly like if I were to create, buy, or acquire an object and trade it with another person.

These innovations have brought another dimension to the world we live in. As a human population, where are these discoveries going to lead us? Will there be a solution to regulating these innovations just like the physical ideas of these innovations are?