Reflections on Letters

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This is where I'll post my letter reflections for the semester.

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"Welcome to the Course"

I admire your outlook on teaching and I look forward to a great semester with you and my classmates!

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"Making Space"

I find it interesting how different spaces come to fruition, especially in classroom settings. I think the instructor has the highest influence of how the space feels, whether it be social, reserved, professional, thought-provoking, etc.

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"Restructuring Text"

I find that I do most of my reflection while I'm alone in situations such as riding a shuttle or sitting in the waiting room of my dentist. Over the last year or so, I've realized that I've taken more time to reflect and have therefore learned much more about myself than I thought I ever could.

I think reconstructing the meanings of the vocabulary words given to us helps us create our own value for the words, and our own personal understanding of what they mean, which helps to make better use of them in the future.

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"Virtual Reality: Our Digital Escape"

1. Digital experiences are becoming more and more interactive as time goes on"

2. VR headsets mimic the blocking by giving each of your eyes a different view of the world"

3. Someone who struggles with speaking in front of large audiences can use VR environments to help train themselves for situations in the real world"

4. There's a lack of realism and involvement in video games. VR is useless without the feeling that it is real or tangible

5. Eventually your brain will be tricked into thing that every sight, smell, or touch is real

6. The mechanisms in your brain that handle the inputs of visual and sensual information override the part of your brain that knows that the rubber hand isn't real. The brain is forcing you to accept a reality that you know isn't real.

7. A VR world is world where we aren't limited by our physical bodies. Some would say it's just escaping from reality.

8. You'd have mind control over your own thoughts and reality through electrode implants that read neurons from your brain and send and receive signals. This was tested on monkeys that controlled computers with their brains.

9. You could imagine yourself doing anything while your digital self in a virtual world is being controlled by your mind.

10. The universe, for all that we know, could just be part of a nested group of other realities, and what we see as VR is just us continuing down the funnel. Realities where we are the creator, not the created.

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"Sharing What We See When We Read"

When I read, I see descriptive images of the words. If someone is talking about a park, I see my elementary school playground or Central Park. If someone says the word theater, I think of the auditorium in my middle school (I don't know why). A little off topic from this, when I hear someone say a number, I see the number in a certain color in my head. I think it's called synesthesia. 36 is black when I read it here, but when I hear it, the 3 is yellow and the 6 is blue.

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"Question"

I am definitely experiencing cognitive resistance in this class, because I think it's hard to change your way of thinking when you've been thinking that way for so long. However, I've seen a little bit of progress within myself in terms of thinking and writing in ways I haven't before.

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"Simulating a Society"

It's interesting to think about the fishbowl as a life form, even if it's a digital one. The thoughts and ideas of 3 different classes worth of students are here on the Fishbowl, and to look back on that in the future could be extraordinary.

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"Reading the Other's Text"

I always find that listening to (or in this case, reading) what other people have to say is very enriching for me. Even if I don't agree with their thoughts, their process, or whatever else, I think it's beneficial to see the various different perspectives that people offer.

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"New Forms of Intimacy and Friendship"

I agree that there are many transformations taking place in terms of intimacy. Since technology has developed so much within the last 20 years, it's much easier to feel close with people that you aren't physically close to. Long distance relationships are easy to maintain, whether between partners, family, or friends. My family does a video-call with my step-siblings that live in North Carolina and Texas a few times a month in order to remain close with them and their children.

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"Reassembling the Social"

I think a mind without fear is a powerful one. Our thoughts can take us to fantastic places. Being afraid to think outside of the box or challenge another person's perspective is not beneficial to anyone, especially oneself.

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"Why We Teach Each Other"

I've found that general education professors tend to me much less interested in the courses they teach than professors of major-required courses. One of my gen ed professors showed how interested she was in the content she was teaching us. She was excited every day, always in class 10 minutes early and 10 minutes late to answer questions, and gave us really engaging assignments. She made me want to go every day and she got me excited about a subject I didn't know if I would enjoy learning about. Another one of my professors was the exact opposite. He spoke in a monotone voice while sitting in the front of the auditorium, he didn't care if anyone participated, he didn't care about what he was teaching at all. I didn't find myself attending his class too often, other than to review content for the exams.