Technology & Rituals: I fell asleep to you every night.

^^^Don’t I look Cool in my Dwayne Wayne flip-ups?? (The answer is YASSSSS KWEEN!)^^^

In my tutorial today,I had the challenge of discussing technological determinism. Which in short is the idea that technology is the dominant factor is cultural and social change.

The example that I brought up in class that I got from THIS clip was with the advent of the television came the cultural shift of rituals surrounding television viewing i.e. TV Dinners.

This got me thinking the rituals I have formed with technology especially surrounding television. I grew up in a house with a television in every room but the kitchen. I even had a television in my room by the time I was 6 or 7. When I think about my relationship with television, I like many, think about what I watched as a kid. Because I had a television in my room I frequently fell asleep with the television on – and it was almost always tuned to Nick at Nite: Nickelodeon’s nightly broadcast of TV classics. These classics always included a 2 episode block of The Cosby Show, it’s spinoff A Different World, Full House, or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. These shows – especially The Cosby Show and A Different World- have really stuck with me as an adult. I invited these characters into my childhood bedroom to tell me stories (frequently about the hardships of growing up), make me laugh, and put me at ease.  It’s very difficult now with Bill Cosby’s many transgressions to watch The Huxtable crew with the same attitude as I did as a kid. But as I currently lay in bed watching A Different World I can’t help but think if I ever run into any of the Cosby kids or Hillman graduate I would say one thing:

Thank you for getting me to sleep every night.