Since class began on August 29th, I have been exposed to new ideas that I never thought about in the past. In History 390, I have been taught different stances on a handful of things I never put much thought into. I never really compared music from the 60’s to the present besides the obvious, such as how much more vulgar, sexual, and “pop” style it is today. As time evolves so does music and it was interesting to learn how digital media today has no limit for how loud a track can become versus a record. With the evolution of technology it makes it cheaper and easier to create music from a laptop instead of hauling a group of musicians into a studio to record an album. It makes me respect musicians and artists from 40 years ago because they put in the time and effort to entertain society, while today not nearly as much work is being put into a song and it is worth more now than it was in recent years. Comparing Adele to Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson and seeing how they built up their voices throughout the song and you can hear that is it not as massively compressed is an interesting eye opener for our modern society. It was discussed in class that Adele’s “Hello” is bad art because it flattens and deprives human emotion compared to the emotion you feel and hear from Franklin or Jackson. Compressed music is far too common today, which is interesting since louder is often perceived to be “better” then I question myself why prevent music from getting too loud? After this discussion in class it saddened me to realize modern music is almost all the same with a boosted base and treble and hardly any flat frequency curves that you can hear in famous Frank Sinatra records. Thankfully, on a positive note modern technology allows society to look up and enjoy the classics and the recent music within minutes. Besides learning about the history of music throughout the years I also learned about what the internet has done to us as a whole. In a captivating book by Nicholas Carr called “The Shallows” I learned how in the time period of the 60’s society was blind and deaf to the power of technology. Carr noted how the computer is our servant yet our master at the same time because of how we as people rely on the internet and how the way we think has changed because of the internet. The Shallows explained how philosophers and historians believe technological progress is the primary force and influence to humans control and I could not agree more. I personally find myself influenced by technology, because it is always there, and essentially becomes a backbone to you. Carr believes that we often “map” our lives, social spheres, or even our ideas based on the influence of the internet, which is an interesting topic to discuss because in recent age people often go to certain places just to take a photo to publish online as proof they went there instead of engaging in the actual experience. This book put into perspective how growing up in the age of where the internet was truly born affected my life, such has how once an aol subscription only allowed you five hours of internet a week and now it is limitless. I can hardly remember a time when videos would stutter or the voices did not match the image because of how advanced technology has become. An economist named Tyler Cowen said, “when access to info is easy we tend to favor the short, the sweet, the bitty” because honestly who doesn’t prefer the short cut and that is why the internet is such a dominant force in today’s society. Carr discussed how the internet commands our attention with far greater insistence than the tv, radio, or morning newspaper did. I agree with this opinion of Carr’s because I often find myself watching tv, but not actually watching, because I am on my phone scrolling through social media. The internet has been a blessing too many making life easier, but unfortunately has the negatives such as how printing publications has decreased since everything is now on the internet. Personally, I do not think our generation has dumbed down because of the internet, but has boosted our general intelligence because if we ever want to learn a new fact we can easily go online and research it. I have enjoyed these past few classes where I encountered new ideas that I never put much thought into before!