Author: Benjamin Fisch

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Bogost assignment, Benjamin Fisch

1.) “I’m looking at the screen,” she says of the image that appeared from her scan, “and my cast, head, and breasts were big blocks of yellow.” This quote is an example of Bogost using rhetorical language to catch the reader’s attention and make them aware of what he is trying to communicate. He does this by using carefully put together, descriptive language to give the reader a real image of what he is trying to say.

2.) “She’s had other problems with the machines, too, including that her mop of thick, curly hair sometimes confuses them. (My colleague Hannah Giorgis, who also has a lot of curly hair, confirms that she, too, suffers a cranial pat-down every time she goes to the airport.)” Here is another example of Bogost using rhetorical language.

3.) “That idea echoes a popular suggestion to remedy computers’ ignorance of different sorts of people: Increase the diversity of representation among the people who make these systems, and they will serve the population better.”

4.) “But their impact might be a drop in the bucket, given the size and composition of the tech industry.”

5.) “But there’s a risk of tokenization; inviting a black man or a curly-haired woman into the room could make a difference in the design of the systems that produced Webb’s experience at airport security.”

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Unit 1 assignment, Benjamin Fisch

To expand the canon and add to the topic of organizational culture and diversity, I chose an article written by Dr. Ronit Molko called “The Benefits of Neurodiversity in the Work Place.” This article addresses neurodiversity within the work place. First, the article addresses how individuals with neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are under represented in the work place. Following that, Dr. Ronit Molko, makes the argument that hiring more individuals who suffer from neurological disorders would actually significantly benefit an organization and it’s goals. Using the example of people who are autistic, one could easily fixate on the set backs that having multiple people who are autistic in a company could bring. However, if one could shift their perspective, he or she would realize that people who suffer from autism possess many qualities that are strengths and could potentially benefit a company significantly. Molko adds value for a broad audience of anyone in the work place, but especially those who are in higher up positions, that would be able to make decisions on hiring. He does this by explaining both the strengths and weaknesses of those with autism, and how they can benefit a company. This article is coming from a website called “Forbes Books.” This website is operated and owned by the well known publisher, Forbes. The intended audience of this article is anyone in business, but especially those with hiring privileges. The purpose of this article is to educated individuals in the work place about how individuals with neurological disorders could benefit a company significantly. This is done by Dr. Ronit Molko, by explains who people with neurological issues are under represented and then explaining how big companies are starting to take advantage of people with autism for example, that have advanced skills in some areas. In conclusion, this article supports people with neurological disorders, a group of individuals who are under represented, and their voices are hardly heard. In this course, we have been analyzing the topic of minorities within the workplace. This issue is less of a problem today, because action has been taken, in the form of laws being passed, that require a certain number of minorities to be employed at a company. Minorities voices on the topic of under representation in the work place have been heard, but much more work should be done and could be done\. People who suffer from neurological disorders are similar to people of minorities, because they both have been under represented in the work place. Yet, people with neurological disorders have yet to be heard for the most part. To support my argument and the purpose of the article I have chosen, I am including media. I have chosen a video by the company HSBC. The video is connected to my claims, because it interviews people who suffer form neurological disorders that work at HSBC. The employees with neurological disorders come off to be very bright, and they prove their brilliance, and make it clear that they can benefit a company.

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Discussion responses week 6/8, Benjamin Fisch

1) I chose a TED talk done by Renata Saled to analyze for this discussion response. Saled uses real life examples of her’s to engage the audience. She does a great job at this. When she describes the life of her friend who was working at a car dealership during college, she speaks in great detail that really paints a picture for the audience and captivates them. She goes on to explain how her friend is brilliant in the field of psychology, and how her friend uses that to gain an advantage of selling cars. All of this description for example. really engages the audience. Renata is very talented at incorporating a hint of comedy into her speech. Adding subtle humor to her presentation is a way Saled explains her ideas to the audience. I think it is interesting how Saled uses stories of hers to express her argument about chance. In the second story of a friend, Saled describes how her friend and her organized an event at the University of Chicago. Saled and her friend would speak at the event on the panel. She describes a risk that her and her friend took to experiment with the idea of chance. Saled and her friend combined their papers by one reading each paragraph off an on again. When their presentation was done, their audience was not aware that any changes had been made their presentation. The fact that the audience had no idea that their presentation was changed was very interesting to me.

2) In her TED talk presentation, Saled uses a ton of evidence to support her arguments..One of the ways that she best does this, is by referring or quoting well known phycologists. A great example of this is when Saled refers to a famous French psychologist, to support her claim that we are dealing with a certain societal obviousness. Her argument is that we have so many choices in our daily lives, some big and some small, and these choices are causing anxiety, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy. She suggests that individual choices could be distracting us from something larger, this is our power as social thinkers. Saled explains that we should focus on the choices we make collectively rather than the choices we make individually.

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Unit 1 Assignment Draft, Benjamin Fisch

To expand the canon and add to the topic of organizational culture and diversity, I chose an article written by Dr. Ronit Molko called “The Benefits of Neurodiversity in the Work Place.” This article addresses neurodiversity within the work place. First, the article addresses how individuals with neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are under represented in the work place. Following that, Dr. Ronit Molko, makes the argument that hiring more individuals who suffer from neurological disorders would actually significantly benefit an organization and it’s goals. Using the example of people who are autistic, one could easily fixate on the set backs that having multiple people who are autistic in a company could bring. However, if one could shift their perspective, he or she would realize that people who suffer from autism possess many qualities that are strengths and could potentially benefit a company significantly. Molko adds value for a broad audience of anyone in the work place, but especially those who are in higher up positions, that would be able to make decisions on hiring. He does this by explaining both the strengths and weaknesses of those with autism, and how they can benefit a company. This article is coming from a website called “Forbes Books.” This website is operated and owned by the well known publisher, Forbes. The intended audience of this article is anyone in business, but especially those with hiring privileges. The purpose of this article is to educated individuals in the work place about how individuals with neurological disorders could benefit a company significantly. This is done by Dr. Ronit Molko, by explains who people with neurological issues are under represented and then explaining how big companies are starting to take advantage of people with autism for example, that have advanced skills in some areas. In conclusion, this article supports people with neurological disorders, a group of individuals who are under represented, and their voices are hardly heard. In this course, we have been analyzing the topic of minorities within the workplace. This issue is less of a problem today, because action has been taken, in the form of laws being passed, that require a certain number of minorities to be employed at a company. Minorities voices on the topic of under representation in the work place have been heard, but much more work should be done and could be done\. People who suffer from neurological disorders are similar to people of minorities, because they both have been under represented in the work place. Yet, people with neurological disorders have yet to be heard for the most part. To support my argument and the purpose of the article I have chosen, I am including media. I have chosen a video by the company HSBC. The video is connected to my claims, because it interviews people who suffer form neurological disorders that work at HSBC. The employees with neurological disorders come off to be very bright, and they prove their brilliance, and make it clear that they can benefit a company.

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Expanding the Canon, Summary, Benjamin Fisch

In his article, “Dr. Ronit Molko,” explains how individuals with neurological issues, such as autism, should be more represented in the workplace, because of fairness, and because individuals with autism for example could greatly benefit companies. Molko touches on how big corporations such as SAP, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Ford, and IBM are starting to tap into the benefits of hiring employees with neurological disorders such as Autism. He notes that small business should also do the same. Hiring individuals with autism is not only fair, but it will also benefit the overall objective of the company. Individuals with autism, for example, have an ability to hyper focus on a topic or a task. This makes them valuable in the work space. What company would be opposed to hiring an employee who is able to hyper focus in on their assigned job or task? The answer should be none. That’s what ever company, small or large, dreams of, employees that are disciplined and able to hyper concentrate on their job. With all this being said, those with neurological disorders, such as autism, are perfect for the work place. Mary Ellen Smith, corporate vice-president of Microsoft, said that “people with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft.” This is an example of a huge step forward in the movement of having more individuals with neurological disorders in the work place.

The Benefits of Neurodiversity in the Workplace

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Discussion HW week 6/1 Benjamin Fisch

For my article of choosing, I am looking for some sort of current events article. There is so much going on the world right now, so even narrowing down the subject of my article that I am looking for will be difficult. However, I feel that the topic that is the most important at this time, is the protests that have been going on throughout the major cities in our country, and what they stand for. I am looking for material that addresses the state of the peaceful protests and covers the Black Lives Matter movement. Also, I would like to find an article that identifies the difference between the peaceful protests and the looting that has been going on. The looting is discoloring the beauty of the protests, and spreading a message of fear and hate. That is not at the core of what this movement stands for. I would like to find an author or any type of source that is Black and has experienced any type of police brutality or form of discrimination. I want to hear their story, because by telling each of these stories we are educating the masses. I am using Google Search to find content, and it is working quite well. Whenever I search “Black Lives Matter” or “peaceful protests” a ton of articles come up.

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Summary 6/1 K&D Benjamin Fisch

In their article, “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” Austin and Pisano explain the struggle of those who suffer from neurological conditions to get positions in the work place. They go on to explain further that the typical process of hiring in the work place, (job interview,) cuts out many individuals with neurological issues like autism from having a chance at getting hired. This is important, because firstly it is unfair, and secondly individuals with autism for example may have extraordinary skills that would greatly benefit the intentions of a business. The issue is that those with neurological conditions are under represented in the work place. However, their is a solution to this and notable companies are starting to take action towards it. “A growing number of companies’ HR practices are capitalizing on the talents of neurodiverse people. In the process, they are becoming better able to fully leverage the skills of all workers.”

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Benjamin Fisch, 5/18 week responses

These readings make me wonder about a few issues. The reading suggests that “culture is powerfully shaped by incentives.” After reading this, this reminded me of capitalism, and the issue that the system of intense capitalism can sometimes lead to greed and abuse of power. This raised the issue for me that a culture of incentives can lead to a culture in an organization of greed. A culture of a greed is an issue to a business for example, because this culture will promote individuals under the organization to work towards their own selfish goals rather than work towards the agenda of the organization. I would be interested in exploring further the question of deciding whether or not the culture of incentive is the best option that an organization has. Although, capitalism and working towards and incentive is flawed its the system that we use, because we decided the capitalism is better than socialism or communism. I would be interested in exploring whether a culture of incentives or capitalism is better than a culture of socialism.

2. When reading “culture is consistent, observable patterns of behavior in organizations,” I am reminded of many of my own personal connections that relate. Aristotle said, “we are what we repeatedly do.” The first connection that comes to my mind is the mentality of my high school basketball team. We had a strong culture, and that was a culture of winning. We very rarely lost a game, and a lot of this stemmed from the mentality that we had of never giving up and our culture of winning. Another connection that I made after reading was that my family has its own culture as well. My family is small, but it can still serve as an organization. My family had a culture of togetherness and love. If one of us was having an issue, then we were all having an issue. On the other hand, if one of us was thriving we were all thriving. My family exhibits consistent, observable patterns of organization, which defines it as a culture.

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Intro, Benjamin Fisch

Hi everyone! My name is Benjamin Fisch and I am a Junior at Syracuse University. I am required to take this course for my major, but I am still very excited to be enrolled in it. Throughout the course of this class, I can see myself growing and getting better as a writer. This is very exciting for me. My major at Syracuse is Liberal Studies. I am very fond of Syracuse and my experiences with the University thus far. However, I did not start my college career here. I began college at Indiana University and spent 3 years there. For health and personal reasons I transferred to Syracuse and I have not looked back.

I consider myself to be a very caring and compassionate person. My favorite sports to watch are football and basketball. My favorite football team is the Minnesota Vikings and my favorite NBA team is the Los Angeles Lakers, because of Lebron James. I follow whatever team Lebron is on, because I am a huge fan of his. I also love music. I can connect with all different genres of music, but specifically hip hop is my main interest. Although, I am not very fond of the new hip hop that is coming out of the industry today. I gravitate towards hip hop of the 90s and early 2,000s era.