Final Post

    How is technology connected to us? In way we fail to think about, and in ways that are right in front of us. In so many ways we have forgotten what all technology allows us to do, and not do. Technology and the media have quite literally created a separate world then the reality.

                Last year, the news was flooded with climate change, just a month ago the talk was all Russia and Ukraine. Today’s news is all about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Often people think this means that the other stuff just isn’t happening anymore. But this is so wrong, and hard proof of how gatekeeping news, and echo-chambers have created our world in the news.

                Climate change activist haven’t slowed down, just a few days ago, Wynn Bruce set himself on fire outside of the supreme court in a support of climate grief. he never once cried out in pain or moved until police put the fire out for him. He later died from his injuries. He dedicated his actions to a fellow Buddhist scholar, who passed away in January.

                In case you were wondering if this was a freak case, it’s not. “There have been previous instances of public self-immolation in Washington. Arnav Gupta burned himself in front of the White House in 2019 and later died of his injuries. A motive in that case was never determined. Mohamed Alanssi, a Yemeni-born F.B.I. informant, set himself on fire outside the White House in 2004 in protest of his treatment by the government, but he survived. Norman R. Morrison, a Quaker man, burned himself to death outside the Pentagon in 1965 in protest of the Vietnam War” (NYT) 

                In other news, and one that I’ll bet you haven’t heard of, Texas is literally on fire. In 2022 alone, 133,000 acres of Texas has been burned due to wildfires. Wildfires are much more dangerous then just their red blaze. Years after they have been put out, the soil erosion and damage caused will send shocks through the ecosystem.  The wildfire in Texas is quite literally changing the earth forever, and impacting are ecosystem permanently. However, this news went shocking under the radar.

                Not to say that the covered event aren’t important, but that we as users need to dive deeper, and figure out the other happenings in this world. Its on us to fight back on censorship of important information. As a key theory of free expression, we should seek to live in a marketplace of ideas, and a marketplace of media. Rather than the news and media deciding how we should feel about issues, are what events we will be shown, we should be able to, and have access to everything. Then we can preach and encourage people to be complex thinkers and have a strong theory of mind.