Minds Viewed Globally

Week 6- Blog

In Minds Viewed Globally Howard Garner presents his knowledge and experience as a psychologist and postulates five mindsets the human mind must adhere to in order for us to prepare for the changes the world is stepping into. These mindsets are as follows:

1) Disciplined Mind- a mind that has mastered a particular craft or science with a deep understanding and growing skill set.

2) Synthesizing Mind- a mind that has the ability extrapolate information from multiple sources and uniting the ideas in an organic manner that would present the information’s in a well-communicated manner.

3) Creating Mind- a mind that is able to formulate and inject fresh ideas and make new discoveries.

4) Respectful Mind- a mind that is aware and understanding of the notions presented by another party and being able to collaborate and attempt to understand the view point of the other person.

5) Ethical Mind- this mind is one that is associated with work and is projected as one that should cause individuals not act simply for self-benefits but rather with the motivations to improve the state around them as a worker and a citizen.

He proceeds in this chapter by exploring how these five mindsets can be present in other areas; education, science and globalization. And how these institutions are able and unable to develop these mindsets most importantly stating why these mindsets are required for future employees.

Finding Time in A Digital Age

In this chapter Judy Wajcman looks at the consumption of time that is caused by the advancements of technology. She begins by presenting a theory from economist John Maynard Keynes, who speculated, one hundred years ago, that in the modern age workers will have 3-hour workdays that will be sufficient to provide our needs. He assumed that with the development of technology would result in a solution for the world’s economic problems allowing us to obtain our needs within a proportion of the work time.

However the results have been the reverse. The rapid pace of computers, communication and transport has created a sense of pressure in life. Devices that were thought to benefit us in the sense of providing an abundance of time have created a world where life feels rushed. Wajcman dubs this time we live in as an acceleration society where technology doesn’t increase leisure instead increases the pace of life.

Wajcman showcases how technological changes have affected the nature of work, notions of parenting, upbringing of families and consumption patterns. Towards the rest of the chapter Wajcman she discusses the multiple manners technology affects time and offers possible solution to create more time.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You

This chapter from Cal Newport’s book ‘So good they can’t ignore you’ presents the notion that when it comes to approaching and developing a career there are two types of mindsets.

1. The Craftsmen Mindset
2. The Passion Mindset

Newport provides a breakdown on the key characteristics that surmise both mindsets. The craftsmen mindset is presented as one that focuses on developing ones skill and adding value to the work, and the passion mindset projects attention on value that can benefit the individual.

Newport challenges the conventional thinking that building a career is determined by discovering what your passionate about. Arguing that pursing passion leads to unhappiness as opposed to joy because the path would lead people to focus on what they like about a job resulting in them becoming aware of what they don’t like. Following this Newport states that passion requires one to question their identity met by the need to discover what job will supply the answer to that question, resulting in confusion.

The craftsmen mindset on the flipside is one that Newport states allows one to release them selves of finding the right fit and focus on getting good and what your job. He cites the experiences of successful entertainers like Steve Martin; to reinforce this mindset by claiming that they have adopted this model, as Martin spent nearly ten years of his life developing his craft as a comedian before his show was a success.

The Informal Media Economy

This article explores the state of labour in creative streams of work, through the field of informal employment in the media industry. As stated very early in the chapter “there is a lot of money to be made in this line of work”, however the process of working within these fields can be unglamorous. It comprises of unpaid work for extremely long hours, and to many workers the boundaries between flexibility and exploitation is blurry.

Delving into this creative labour debate what is being presented is that most employees choose to operate in a non-formal manner. Trading in office cubicles for the opportunity to work from home, offers an individual a level of freedom, with their main business assets are their creative skills. It is an environment where work and private life merges. This notion has been heavily rebutted, insisting that informality in the media worlds leads to unemployment, harsh work environment, low-payments and exploitation.

Even though the text provides examples of employees who have had those sorts of experiences, it also shares the limitations of the argument. While the labour argument presented by critics have unfolded many unattractive areas in the media industry they have overlooked the creative workers who operate outside of the creative industries. Many of these workers that work in the financial sector, for example, have managed to escape the downsides associated with the media industry, where as many workers in fields such as agriculture are loosing jobs as their fields evolve and requirements change.

Transmedia technology: annotated bibliography

Alderman N 2013, ‘How Interactive Technology is Transforming Storytelling’, Culture Professional Network, http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/jul/12/interactive-technology-transform-storytelling-fiction, viewed 2nd August 2016:

With the new media age the belief that the traditional mode stories will become obsolete has emerged. While this maybe so the art of storytelling is one that will never leave the human culture, as it has been a part of our history since the beginning of time. What we are seeing now is new technologies affecting the process and the delivery of content to the audience. From these technologies three developments have been added to the storytelling experience:

1. Immersion
2. Representing Choice
3. Audience participation

Gurel E and Tigil O 2014, ‘New World Created by Social Media: Transmedia Storytelling’, Journal Media Critiques, p36-65, http://mediacritiques.net/special-issue-1/emetgurel.oykutigli.pdf, viewed 2nd August 2016:

This text provides a detailed definition to the term trans-media storytelling. What we know as trans-media is that it is telling stories using a variety of platforms, however that is the basic definition. This article examines the nature of trans-media, its relationship to the outside world as well as its significance as communication and marketing tool. In order to provide us with the details the authors of this text, examine the history of trans-media from its early inception and evolution in the modern day. It provides examples of transmedia stories from 1955-2008, and also establishes a connection between trans-media and the culture of convergence.

Further on the piece includes the process of making a trans-media project and creating an expansive world for which characters and the audience inhabits, and giving context as to how creators use different platforms in ways to design the experience. Meaning that trans-media generally is a space that leaves blanks that can only be filled with consuming the entirety of the brand and its various platforms.

Schmid B and Socha B 2014, ‘What Is New Media?’ New Media Institute, http://www.newmedia.org/what-is-new-media.html, viewed 2nd August 2016.

The journal article ‘New World Created by Social Media: Trans-media Storytelling’ explores the concept of trans-media by breaking down

Weiler L 2015, ‘How Storytelling Has Changed In The Digital Age, World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/how-storytelling-has-changed-in-the-digital-age/, viewed 2nd August 2016