Group Update:
Our group will be covering technology and economics during the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have determined the order in which we will put together our final papers in our booklet.
During Wednesday’s seminar, I was put in the technology and economy group. After discussing each of our plans for the final essay, we decided on a preliminary order for our chapters. In order to maintain a good flow between the chapters written by each team member, as well as avoid covering the same topic multiple times, we decided that Adam and I would write the last two chapters.
I drew my line self-portrait the way I did because I wanted to represent the mix of pessimistic and optimistic feelings that I have. The pessimistic line is darker and straighter, while the optimistic line is wavy, dashed and faded, and to me this represents how negativity can cloud over me for longer periods of time than positivity.
Introduction
Goal: to research the economic impact of Covid-19, particularly on the Biotech industry, and examine any potential effects on virtual reality art and augmented reality art
In last Wednesday’s seminar, we were lucky to be able to listen to Siddharth Ramakrishnan discuss different learning methods and how our minds work in general. I was particularly intrigued by the discussion around perceptual learning versus imagery learning, and found it very applicable as a college student who has tried to figure out the best way to study for my classes.
On the mental imagery quiz:
In watching Spaceship Earth, I was immediately struck by how relevant the Biosphere 2 project is to our current situation. As climate change is a very politically divisive topic, we have not done enough to successfully protect our planet, and continue to face huge future environmental damages.
With regard to biophilia:
Throughout the first four weeks of this class, we have discussed the many different ways that the Coronavirus has negatively impacted individuals, as well as society as a whole. In my blog post during the first week, I explored the consequences of food waste, as many people panic bought food only to hoard it and inevitably waste it.
In writing this week’s blog post, I first considered the ox and its place in Chinese mythology. According to a common myth about the animals in the Chinese zodiac, the order of the animals was decided by which would arrive to the Emperor’s party first. The ox agreed to give the rat a ride across a river to arrive at the party.
On fertilizer for wheat and environmental impacts:
In reading Haytham Nawar’s “Collective Bread Diaries” paper, I was struck by the political and religious importance of bread historically. While I had definitely learned about some of these important events in past classes, the importance of bread and wheat never fully resonated with me until reading this paper.
In reading through the Honors Book, Katherine Diep’s chapter “Food Waste // Sources and Solutions” really caught my eye. While food waste has long been a problem in countries like the United States, the topic felt especially applicable in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.