How the Digital World Connects to our Humanity

I personally think the art forms are glimpses into are humanity because they indicate that people from all over the world. For an example, with the frames created by people for the Johnny Cash video, it indicates that people all around the world were influenced by him. The video noted people in the United States, Spain, and Croatia all contributed to the project. Despite the fact that these people were from different parts of the world with different backgrounds, ideals, and experiences; they all could rally around the music of Johnny Cash. All of the people cared enough to devote time to this project (some people devoted many hours to their frame).

I think this says a lot about our culture rhetorically. It shows that though we are different, in a way, we are all connected and we are all similar. It also shows that people from different countries can cooperate and coexist on a project, and create something positive out of that connect. It also indicates to me, no matter where you are from, there are some shared values that we all share. For an example, whenever a celebrity passes away, we all hurt the same way.

Humanity in a digital age can look like empathy for people who are going through the same event, even if they are from a different country and they don’t truly know the person with whom they empathize. In a digital age, humanity also looks like people around the world collaborating on a common project, similar to the resynthesis of the “Daisy Bell” song where many people submitted their best attempt at mimicking the song. When Mr. Toblin put all of the sounds together, it made a comical form of new music. This shows our humanity because Mr. Toblin connected people from different countries to make a new product. In a digital age, these people did not have to sit face to face, they connected on the internet with a common purpose and made something greater than any one of them probably could have made alone.

I think the quote on Ms. B’s blog is true, some of the evidence can be seen in the Johnny Cash video. People from around the world connected and collaborated with each other to build something, and tell the story of Johnny Cash’s life. Many people would not have known as much about Johnny Cash, had it not been for this project. So, I think we do have the obligation to tell these stories so people are informed and so we can connect with other people around the world.

I saw evidence of rhetoric in the Johnny Cash video. I think the lack of color and the use of black and white with grey, emphasizes the emotional appeal. The black and white emphasized the fact that Johnny Cash and his music is no longer modern, because he has passed away. The black and white also plays into the fact that he has passed because many old people use black and white pictures in funerals to show people who have died.  In the video, based on the song and knowing Johnny Cash passed away, I felt a somber theme throughout the film. Especially with many crosses that popped up in the video, I feel like there was reference to heaven or some sort of “afterlife” associated with the Christian religion.

I also saw rhetoric in the “Daisy Bell” song. The way the sounds were put together, where they overlapped each other and one voice would always stick out like a sore thumb, seemed to indicate an attempt at humor. When people heard the harmony of so many voices and then suddenly one voice was completely out of tune, they found that comical. Many people in the audience laughed.

I think these types of experiments exist for 2 reasons, to connect people all around the world and to show how people think. Especially with the sheep experiment, where people were paid to draw their interpretation of a sheep, the end product connected people from the U.S. and other nations across the globe. The different interpretations of a common element (the sheep) connected all of these people for 1 project.

Another reason I think these experiment exist is to show how people think. With the sheep drawings, the project demonstrates what people perceive when they think about a sheep. The project indicates that some people perceive it to be a more complex, detailed creature whereas others see it as a very simple animal. Mr. Kolbin notes that, “He liked the fact that the Le Petit Prince sheep was based on someone’s own interpretation.” I think one of the goals of his sheep project was to see if anyone perceived a sheep to be something completely different from the scientific, anatomical view of a sheep.