Tag: weekof7/5

Discussion Questions wk 7/5

  1. After reading all the posts I can say that I definitely enjoyed reading everyones work and have learned a lot from them. The post that stood out to me the most was Kayla’s post titled “The Life of a Veteran:What Comes After Service”. One thing that stood out to me the most is when she mentioned that many veterans have trouble assimilating back into their pre-war lives.Kayla mentioned that “health issues (as a result of military service) have on unemployment amongst veterans which intern makes it harder to re-enter the workforce.” She then mentioned that because of unemployment these veterans also develop many mental illnesses which also makes it more difficult for them to get jobs. The Ted-Talk she included reminded me a lot of “Soldiers Home” by Ernest Hemmingway which told a story of a man who had a lot of trouble fitting in once he returned home from war. He had trouble communicating with others, and he felt like he did’t have a place anywhere. In the Ted-Talk Brian O’Conner mentioned that after the military he didn’t know who he was anymore and struggled with assimilating into civilian life. This has made me realize that there should be a form of support for Veterans who are transitioning back to normal life. There are many challenges that come with their transition so I feel like there should be a system in place where they are accommodated in the workforce.
  2. In the article “The Issue with diversity in Computing” Bogost mentions that computing culture has made it so ” everyone is focused on the nuts and bolts of making software”. I agree that this is a hinderance to equity and care within this software. I would also point out that these conclusions which Bogost discusses, add weight to the argument that computing as a whole is the entire issue.

For my TSIS I decided to agree . I initially wanted to tie it back to Margaret Heffernan’s Ted-Talk from last week since she mentioned that technology cannot do what humans can, and I thought it connected to the quote “critical thinking is what the computers won’t be able to do” from Bogost article. I couldn’t figure out how to properly set it up so it my statement would make sense so instead I combined two TSIS templates (one form chapter 4 and the other from chapter 5) so that I could make my statement.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

Rhetoric and the Information Technology Industry

In The Expressive The Problem With Diversity in Computing (2007), Ian Bogost describes the connections between rhetoric and the information technology industry, demonstrating how the processes and systems of the computer represent a form of persuasion and communication. Ian Bogost writes this article as an author and game designer. Additionally, his background includes serving as the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies and a Professor in Liberal Arts, Computing, Business, and Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Founding Partner at Persuasive Games LLC; and a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic. To make his point, Bogost writes in an informal, story-based narrative style. This serves to convey the writer’s point while keeping the reader interested.

Sexism

Bogost starts out by associating the notion of sexism with computers. The computer program has a somewhat sexist analogy in the backscatter machines by identifying women’s underwire bras as problematic. Apparently, the system sometimes can’t distinguish Victoria’s Secret from potential weapons. Webb says her airport experience can be traced back to the fact that “someone like me wasn’t in the room” when the system was designed. One can surmise that the creators of the system were male. I see this as Bogost’s use of a pathos-based rhetorical device in which he relays the emotional story of a woman feeling vulnerable. He’s using this vulnerability to get us (the audience) to agree that his argument is a persuasive one.

Racism

By sharing personal stories that the reader could feel a connection to…once again going through the TSA at the airport, the pathos-based rhetorical device is utilized. It’s pointed out that discrimination based on hair texture appears to be at play with the computer systems confused by ethnic hair. Unfortunately, having mop of thick, curly hair results in additional screening and cranial pat-downs for individuals based on what I perceive as the long-standing Eurocentric views of hair style. One can surmise that the creators of the system were not racially diverse. This description puts the audience in an emotional frame of mind as they can relate to being pulled aside due to discriminatory treatment that could derail an individual’s confidence and cause public embarrassment.

Teach Concepts Not Coding

Bogost is clearly attempting to get his audience to think about the time and effort being utilized by the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing. The center’s goal is to increase access to computer-science education among women and people of color. Among its activities, it has funded and supported computer-science classes in Atlanta public schools primarily teaching students coding. Bogost’s point is that when you teach a kid to code, what benefit do they actually get? For example, teaching students Python isn’t necessarily going to help them get an IT job in 10 years because Python probably won’t be the premier language in a decade. However, if students are just learning Python, that’s the real issue. Learning Python should teach concepts and create intuition about the methodology that computers utilize to solve problems. That is the enduring skill and what the focus should be. As Amy Webb is quoted as saying, “If everyone is focused on the nuts and bolts of making software quickly at scale, where will they learn to design it with equity and care? “Critical thinking is what the computers won’t be able to do,” she said.”

Bogost relies on logos as a rhetorical move during this part of his article. He is utilizing logic and objective evidence to appeal to the audience. His argument appears to be non-biased so that enhances the feeling of logos.

Diversity and integration

According to Aristotle, “More than any other technique, the use of metaphor will help you achieve a unique, clear, and interesting style” (2017) and Bogost uses this rhetorical move in his writing style. Bogost quotes Charles Isbell by noting that “Diversity is just membership and “Integration is influence, power, and partnership.” I think of the urban area that has an immigrant and refugee population that brings in individuals with different backgrounds.   These areas are diverse however are they truly integrated?

Diversity may stimulate cultural understanding of unique backgrounds and viewpoints, but it doesn’t encourage inclusion.  Keep in mind though this cultural understanding will only grow if these individuals intermingle with each another.

The rhetorical move of an implied metaphor is utilized in two ways diversity is compared to membership while integration is associated with partnership.

Computers as judges

Personification is a rhetorical move in which human attributes are given to animals, objects, or ideas. These human attributes can be in classified in form, behavior, feelings, attitudes, or motivation. Bogost makes use of this when he comments that computers have started issuing prison sentences. By assigning computers the title of judge we can recognize human behaviors and emotions in this inanimate object.

Conclusion

As Horace once said, “I will aim at a friendly style that others will think is easy enough to copy. But those who try will grind their teeth in frustration. What they don’t know is that it is the arrangement of the words that adds both power and elegance to the friendly style” (Harris, 2017).  As I read the article, I appreciated not only the rhetorical moves but rather the friendly style as well as power in which Bogost conveyed the information and convinced the audience of his point of view as well as the power of interactive technology.

Reference

Harris, Robert A. (Robert Alan), 1950. (2017). Writing with clarity and style: A guide to rhetorical devices for contemporary writers. Routledge.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

Throughout the article, Bogost usage os several rhetorical strategies to capture the attention of the audiecne so he can clearly convey his message.

Bogost begins by introducing Amy Webb, a woman who had to go through a backscatter machine at the airport due to her broken ankle. As she went through the machine she noticed that her “cast ,head, and breasts were big blocks of yellow” which meant she need to be pat down. This is because the machines were unable to distinguish between her underwire bra and a weapon. Bogost the includes that this was due to the lack of anticipation by the computers of the diversity in the people that will be utilizing this technology. By providing us with this story at the beginning of the article, it allows the readers to imagine this situation and see the connect to the title “The Problem with Diversity in Computing”.

Another way Bogost conveys his message is when he includes the rhetorical question posed by Charles Isbell who is the incoming dean of computing at Georgia Tech. Isbell states “The real question is:Are we interested in diversity, or are we interested in integration?”. After integrating this rhetorical question, he then goes on to explain the difference between diversity and integration. This allows readers to understand whether the focus should be on integration or diversity in these computing communities.

Bogost incorporates Webbs statement that we as a society have put such importance on STEM education which can result in more harm than good. Bogost then goes on to explain that if everyone is focusing on building software quickly, they won’t spend enough time to design their programs with equity and care which will result in situations similar to Amy Webbs situation at the airport

Bogost inclusion Webbs statement that the issue is not just the underrepresentation of women, black people, and others, but “We’re all discriminated against by computing”. He then goes on to explain that computing professionals create a tribe based on the “exclusive culture of computing education and industry.” By including this, Bogost explains that due to this culture, computing professionals disregard everything else such as including different types of people, and instead focus solely on “the pursuit of technological solutions at maximum speed.”

To end off the article Bogost states “…the problem with computing is computing” . The inclusion of this statement serves to tie everything Bogost mentioned in the article together. The culture developed in computing and the way STEM education prioritizes the creation of software rather than other important aspects such as inclusion, have made it so that computing as a whole is essentially the entire issue. The only way to improve is by changing computing.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

It is very likely that those who read the title of Ian Bogost’s article, The Problem with Diversity in Computing, are not expecting it to open with the following paragraph:

“When Amy Webb broke her ankle, she was forced to hobble around on a walking boot. That inconvenience spawned others: among them, she couldn’t pass through the metal detector at airport TSA PreCheck lines any longer. Instead, she had to use the backscatter machines that produce X-ray images of passengers.”

Bogost’s first rhetorical move gets the better of the reader’s curiosity by making them wonder “what does this have to do with diversity in computing?” Their interest has been piqued and they are now invested in reading more.

Next, the author introduces us to Ms. Webb’s background where we find out “Webb, who is a professor at New York University and the author of The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, took the inconvenience as a firsthand opportunity to watch how this technology, which uses computational methods to mark possible risks on the body, really works.”

Now we are starting to get the picture! Amy Webb has some expertise on how people are affected by technology and uses this knowledge to enlighten us on how technology can be discriminatory at the airport. “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.” “It was because of underwire bras, she later learned, which the system sometimes can’t distinguish from potential weapons.” Here, the author’s rhetorical move is to use Webb’s authority on the subject matter to help the reader buy into whatever he writes next.

Although Bogost doesn’t explicitly say so, we realize he probably agrees with Webb’s sentiment about technology because he utilizes a third rhetorical move where he states, “Webb’s experience is among the more innocuous consequences of computer systems that don’t anticipate all the types of people who might use them.” He also cites a fact that “Computers have started issuing prison sentences, for example.” to further point out how things have just gone too far.

Later, the author employs the “twist it” move in TSIS, where he agrees with Webb’s initial assessment that “someone like me wasn’t in the room” when the system at the airport was being developed. Yet his evidence supports a contrary position. The author opines “For years, companies and educators in the tech sector have framed diversity as a “pipeline” problem.” “We’ve had this obsession with STEM education,” he quotes Webb as saying. “It’s reached fever pitch, manifested in these programs where every kid has to learn to code.” Then Bogost further quotes Webb stating “If everyone is focused on the nuts and bolts of making software quickly at scale, where will they learn to design it with equity and care? “Critical thinking is what the computers won’t be able to do,” she said.”

Finally, Bogost illustrates to us that solutions are more complex than we thought, and, in the end, it may not be about gender, ethnic or racial diversity, but about an exclusive computing education and culture that discriminates against us all. The author writes “Anyone who falls outside of that core group of interests are not being represented,” Webb said. If she’s right, then the problem with computing isn’t just that it doesn’t represent a diverse public’s needs. Instead, the problem with computing is computing.” This last rhetorical move implements a TSIS template for agreeing on one view and challenging another; if X is right that___, then the problem is___.

Fancy that. Even a professional journalist has made use of a template!

Discussion Questions Week of 7/5

1.

I found Joanna’s article and interpretation of Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity to be very interesting and informative. Discrimination against people with different sexualities has gone on for a while but is more recently being brought into the light. I think that knowing how to be a good ally is definitely important is supporting people who are being discriminated against which is why the video she included was so important. However, I found the excerpts of people explaining their experiences to be more powerful because it really brings to light how people are treated and for something that should not matter to anyone but themselves.

I also enjoyed Sherri’s interpretation and ideas of Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination? I think that people who do not have disabilities might not be able to see how people with disabilities are discriminated against and bring the topic into the light is important for companies as well as people who are discriminated against for something they cannot control. I found the statistics that Sherri included to be very helpful and eye opening. Seeing the actual numbers and percentages of how many people are affected, especially when it should really be no one, makes the issue much clearer and supports her ideas of the article very well.

3.

Bogost’s transitions were so clean and smooth that they are almost hard to pin point. He has one argument, but different types of evidence to support the argument. When moving between the first couple points of evidence he uses small phrases that can be related in a way to everything that he is saying like “But that’s an aspirational hope” and “Those efforts have merit”. Both of these comments conclude what he is saying in a way that the reader might not even see it as a transition. His next point after each transition relates to the previous point which is what causes the transition to not feel like one.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

Here are five rhetorical moves I see Bogost using in “The Problem With Diversity in Computing” and a few comments about them.

1) Bogost opens his article using an anecdotal story about Amy Webb’s experience at a TSA checkpoint. This helps us visualize an example of human and technology interaction and also creates empathy in his readers, because Webb’s experience is not pleasant, and most of us can relate to it. Bogost uses this example to introduce his main point (diversity is much needed in the tech industry but it’s not an easy problem to solve). This works for me, although I would have liked to have the TSA experience of men described to highlight the difference in treatment.

2) In the 5th paragraph, Bogost uses a direct quote from Webb to emphasize and support his main point. Because Webb is a professor who has written about human-technology interaction, he draws on her view as an expert to support his argument. Webb says: “someone like me wasn’t in the room.” This works as supporting evidence for me, but since Bogost leads into her quote using the words “the fact that” I’d like to see some facts or statistics too.

Several times, Bogost uses a strategy of stating a commonly held belief or quotation (they say), followed a bit later by a transition phrase that signals that he is not necessarily in complete agreement (I say). I liked these moves because they allowed him to discuss the diversity issue from various sides and helped support his overall point that there is no easy solution. Here are 3 examples:

3) In paragraph 5, he writes: “That idea echoes a popular suggestion to remedy computers’ ignorance…increase the diversity” Then he starts paragraph six with: “But that’s an aspirational hope.”

4) In paragraph 7, he writes: “Fixing the flow of talent into this system, the thinking goes, will produce the workforce that Webb and others are calling for.” At the beginning of paragraph 9, he acknowledges this idea but returns to his point when he writes: “Those efforts have merit. But their impact might be a drop in the bucket…”

5) In paragraph 12, Bogost quotes Charles Isbell, a dean of computing, who says: “Diversity is just membership…. Integration is influence, power, and partnership.” Bogost immediately follows this expert opinion with yet another statement that returns to his point about the complexity of the problem: “But integration is much harder than diversity.”

Overall, Bogost’s rhetorical moves allow him to explore the diversity issue from many angles and help him make his point that we know what the problem is, but fixing it is a lot harder than it looks.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

In “The Problem with Diversity in Computing”, by Ian Bogost, a writer at The Atlantic, there were a variety of rhetorical moves used to emphasize the writer’s main purpose for the article. This was that the culture in the tech industry will most likely not change in the mere future, even with the increasing number of opportunities for women and underrepresented groups. The first time I read through the article, I did not notice the rhetorical moves in the writing. After going through a second time and paying close attention to the wording, I found that Bogost had crafted his arguments and reasoning extremely well, as all of the rhetorical devices he included supported his argument.

To begin the article, Bogost uses an anecdote about Amy Webb, a professor at NYU going through airport security. Due to the fact that she had a boot on her foot, she had to go through a different machine than the metal detector, a backscatter. While getting patted down, she noticed that most women had the same problem areas as her in the machine. According to Webb, this was due to the fact that “someone like me wasn’t in the room when the system was designed”. After Bogost gives this story to the reader, he speaks about how it is due to the ignorance of the computer most likely due to the fact that only men were in the room when designing the backscatter recognition programming. As a reader, I found this example to be very helpful in realizing that many people in the tech industry are unaware of how useful another person’s perspective is, such as a woman because they have never had to experience pat downs at the airport just because of what they may be wearing or their hair.

The second rhetorical device Bogost uses in the article is an idiom. The purpose of the idiom is to engage the reader and help emphasize the fact that their impact may be small, but the reader may not understand how small the impact that the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing may really be. The center gives the opportunity for women and underrepresented groups, particularly in neighborhoods where there was minimal access before to have access to computer science classes. It is a fantastic start towards giving people in the community a chance to learn something new, but as Bogost puts it, “their impact might be a drop in the bucket, given the size and composition of the tech industry.” After stating that the impact of the center may be a drop in the bucket, the author goes on to give the example at Google, and how it will only increase the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the industry up by a miniscule amount.

Another rhetorical move he uses in his article is a metaphor. Bogost first presents a question, which is whether we want integration or diversity. This is an interesting question, because on surface level in my opinion, it would just mean inclusion within the workforce for everyone.  Isbell, an incoming dean of computing at Georgia Tech, presents the idea that “Diversity is just membership, Integration is Influence… power, and partnership”. Along with this, Bogost splits up this quote into two sections, even though it seems as though he said the two together. I believe that what Bogost was trying to do was emphasize the point that Isbel was making about the difference between the two. As I put above (the quote), it does not feel as powerful as the way that Bogost stated in his article, “Diversity is just membership, Isbell said. Integration is influence, power, and partnership.”. By allowing the two to be separate, it also allows the reader to help process the two words separately. I thought this really helped the idea stick. Along with this, the metaphor he uses comparing diversity to only membership, but integration to partnership helped me comprehend the difference between the two.

Bogost goes on to use an analogy to demonstrate to the reader just how different computing professionals are to everyone else. He presents the idea that underrepresentation in the tech industry is not a fundamental problem. They are separated because of their way of approaching problems is most likely different than an average person’s solution to a problem as “computing professionals constitute a tribe, separated from the general public not primarily by virtue of their race, gender, or nationality, but by the exclusive culture of computing education and industry.” The tech industry is a relatively new industry compared to many others, such as business, education, and even science. Both of my brothers are majoring in computer science, and I have seen some of the course work. It is so different from the ways that a person approaches problems in business, as well as the education in general. By giving the analogy of computer professionals being a tribe, I think this really illustrates the point about how their education is different from others and helps emphasize the exclusivity of working in the tech industry in general.

The final rhetorical device that Bogost uses in his article is another analogy. In using the analogy, it also strengthens the metaphor he included earlier in the article, about how diversity is just membership, while integration is partnership. In today’s culture, diversity is just a checkpoint on a company’s box, they do not really see the value of having different perspectives be involved and have power in the workplace. Also, as the article earlier noted, the older people in the industry must be willing to integrate. Currently, many companies are not willing, as “their goal is to get more people in the game, not necessarily change the rules of that game.”. This quote helps illustrate that many people within the tech industry are not changing for the right reasons. The author compares it to a game, instead of real life. The right reasons would be because it is the morally correct thing to do, not only because it has a positive economic impact on the company. By comparing the diversity efforts to a game, Bogost helps demonstrate that the tech industry is not really ready for integration, rather they are only ready for the membership of others.

These rhetorical devices really stood out to me as they helped me understand the point that Bogost was trying to convey. I found these to be the most useful in understanding his ideas and the point that he was making surrounding diversity in the tech industry.

Bogost’s Rhetorical Moves

In Bogost’s “The problem with diversity in computing” he uses different rhetorical techniques and moves to clearly and effectively get his ideas across. He is expressing the importance of diversity in computing but it is also problematic, as one can tell from the title of the article. The first point he makes stood out to me because he gives an example as to why diversity is important in computing. He explains the time that Professor Amy Webb had a hard time going through airport security because of her boot for her ankle, the underwire of her bra, and, believe it or not, her hair. She then says that the reason this happened to her and has most likely happened to other people it because “someone like me wasn’t in the room”. I found this to be important because in order to discuss what the problems with having diversity in computing are, there needs to be a point made as to why diversity in computing is important to begin with. The reader can actually see the importance of having a diversity of people creating a machine by Bogost painting a picture of what happened to Webb and why.

Another rhetorical move that Bogost used was the point he made about how “integration of women, people of color, and other underrepresented voices would mean that the behavior of the entire industry would change as a result of their presence…”. Whether the change in behavior would be positive or negative, the idea comes from the question that Charles Isbell rose: “are we interested in diversity, or are we interested in integration?”. Integration and diversity are not the same thing, but both of them would cause issues if integrated into computing. Here Bogost uses a hypophora by posing Isbells question about integration and then explaining what the difference between the two is and going into what the goal and his point of the article as a whole is.

Bogost also uses an oxymoron to exaggerate how big of an issue diversity in computing really is. “Tech-industry is improving, buy it’s still pretty terrible”. By using the phrase “pretty terrible” he dramatizes the problem of the lack of diversity in the tech-industry and goes onto explain how that is important for computing systems.

Bogost also makes a point that “inclusion is first a problem of economic equity; any resulting social or moral benefits would just be gravy”. He comes to this conclusion by identifying the goal of Google which is “to get more people in the game, not necessarily change the rules of the game”. This falls right under what Isbell asked about integration vs. diversity. Getting more people into the game is more diversity, but the issue with having diversity in computing at all is being able to make a change along with the inclusion of underrepresented voices. Here Bogost uses an antanagoge by mentioning getting more people involved and the company being diverse but following it with the idea that the company is not willing to change what they do which needs to take place along with the inclusion of underrepresented people.

Another rhetorical move that I found to be powerful was identifying what would need to happen to allow diversity or integration to happen. “But integration is much harder than diversity. Isbell thinks that two separate conditions need to be met in order to accomplish it: ‘one is that the new folks are both capable and confident. The other is that the old folks are willing'”. This is important because without both of those factors, integration might as well be impossible to achieve anywhere. By mentioning Isbells idea of what he believes needs to happen to achieve integration, Bogost is using apophasis. He identifies that these two things need to happen but does not elaborate on the idea that should one happen and not the other, it is useless.

Discussion Questions Week of 7/5

Response to 1

I truly enjoyed reading all of the Expanding the Canon posts, having so many people contributing their ideas was fantastic. With that said, I enjoyed reading the post that Sherri made on Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination?. Also, reading Bogost’s article this week makes me want to relate this to that because if you think about it, many of the people who create algorithms are white men who may have biases. They are often the only ones in the room creating the algorithms and are unaware of other people’s perspectives. Sherri did a fantastic job of making me want to dive deeper into the topic, as well as explain why machines should not be analyzing people’s every move, whether it is on their resume or in an interview, as “machines ignore nuances and context and lack of empathy”, according to Sherri. Machines do not have emotions, cannot sense if someone has autism just through the way they move, so it would be unfair to judge their personalities only using algorithms. Humans have emotions and tend not to assess every movement that another person makes, which is much more beneficial. The video that Sherri included a trailer for Persona, a series on HBO max, was also interesting. I think the trailer did a great job of illustrating that AI labels someone immediately off the bat, whether it is using a personality test, or recording movements and voice and then analyzing it. I doubt anyone could ever comprehend how much data machines collect on each one of us.

Another post I found interesting was Edwards, on the lack of diversity with CEOs and HR management. He read more into whether or not the CEOs’ public versus private beliefs were the same, and if there was a difference in the two whether or not that impacted the organization.  I found that reiterating the percentage of male and Caucasian respondents, whether it was about CEO or HR management positions, illustrated that there is no diversity in the workplace, for these two positions at least. I also feel as though Edward’s use of pictures was also helpful. His last picture, a bunch of white men sitting at the table saying “congratulations on the 20th meeting of our diversity committee” really spoke volumes to me on the fact that there needs to be a larger presence of diverse individuals, whether it be in HR management positions or elsewhere. The picture illustrates a bunch of white men talking about diversity efforts, but they are not acting on hiring diverse individuals, if they were acting, there would not be so many white men sitting at the table.

For the Expanding the Canon post, people posted in different areas that are considered diverse. This included diversity in business, LGBTQIA+ experiences, gender gaps, along with others. If there is one thing that this unit has taught me is that to progress in society, I have to have an open mind about everything. So many people go through different journeys and have their own experiences, previously I did not realize how broad the term diverse was, or its applications. One thing that all of these posts shared was the fact that the world is changing, and people are becoming more accepting and welcoming of others. Diversity has a direct impact on the organizational culture, along with the success of the organization in general. Before these posts, I did not realize how much more progress needs to be made regarding the promotion and inclusion of diverse individuals within organizations.

Response to 2

For this, I walked through what the TSIS book recommended. I tried to first introduce the point that he tried to make in the article, and then where he moved his viewpoint from diversity in the workforce currently being a huge benefit to the idea that it could risk tokenization. I then gave the quote and put in a summary of how I saw the quote. After that, I gave my own viewpoint on his view, and then related it back to the tech industry as a whole. I think I did it right, but I would appreciate any feedback that anyone has.

Bogost, a writer at The Atlantic, presents the article “The Problem with Diversity in Computing” where he writes about how the tech industry needs to be more inclusive in hiring and listening to the ideas of diverse individuals, as they are not being heard. He wants change to happen now through new programs and centers to open, promoting a new generation of diverse individuals going into the tech industry. However, Bogost himself writes “But there’s a risk of tokenization; inviting a black man or curly-haired woman into the room could make a difference in the design of the systems produced… But it probably will not substantially change the thrust of the tech industry as it currently operates.” The essence of Bogost’s argument is that although bringing in diverse individuals to work on computing technology now might have an impact on a few pieces of programming, the industry would not have diverse individuals in positions that make a meaningful impact on the industry as a whole, such as management positions. I agree that changing the industry to reflect the experiences of everyone more accurately will take time and will not happen immediately. In my experience, even at Syracuse, change happens slowly, as people need time to adjust to new ideas and situations. Hopefully, people will realize the benefits of having people with different viewpoints than their own office space and management positions, as it would benefit the collective industry.

Discussion Questions Week of 7/5

Response to #1

I really appreciated Joanna’s contribution to the Canon because she included real accounts from real people when it comes to oppression in the LGBTQIA+ community. I feel as if when exploring these issues, we often forget to include and listen to the voices of the people who are actually experiencing them. I think it is essential to include the oppressed voices because often, authors who don’t include them tend to delve into the issues as if they are experiencing the issues. This is subconscious, but ambitious writers love to take on issues themselves and solve the problem. However, you need real accounts when it comes to creating change and understanding. Caitlin’s post also caught my attention. I often forget that not only are minorities subject to oppression on a day-to-day basis but that women are also systematically seen as submissive and passive even in the workplace and the police force. Women have gotten so far in civil rights and equality, but there is still so much to be done. I recognize that I am privileged and could say I still am somewhat guarded when seeing the reality in which women are reflected. Caitlin’s TED Talk video struck me; it mentions that 13% of the police force have been women for the past twenty years. I knew most police officers were men, but I did not think the percentage of women was that low. The video actually made me pretty sad because I know how strong women are and how strong they can be if it weren’t for systematic foundations that have stayed prevalent that oppress our opportunity. After exploring the canon posts, I realized how dire the need for change really is. I always knew it, but now I know. Hearing about so many different occasions in which oppression is still prevalent, to be honest, brought my mood down, but gave me a sense of hope. I gained hope because conversations are being had; even if I just see it in our class, it is happening, and the expansion of knowledge is only going to grow.

Response to #3

When reading Bogost’s article, I first noticed how clean his transitions were. They were so clean that one could have missed them. An example of this would be when Bogost notes that by increasing the diversity of representation among the people who make the systems, the world would be better. However, he then writes that this is just an “aspirational” hope. At the moment, this transition looks like he is shutting down the idea of change and will move on. However, this transition sets the whole tone of the rest of the article. Bogost then writes, “That makes diversity a necessary but insufficient solution to social equity in computing systems.” This sentence on its own dictates what will be said in the paragraphs to come. Bogost wants the readers to realize the real issue is the computing systems that have been set into place and that they need to be redone with diverse teams and thinking to support a diverse workforce and world. His point is very evident through this transition and is made without too many words to deliver it. Bogost then explains how certain people acquire jobs within the tech industry, seamlessly transitioning yet again. In my rhetorical exercise regarding Bogost’s article, I mentioned how he “shows and doesn’t tell.” He shows the readers what he is trying to say without writing it out word by word. He uses previous remarks to transition, and these remarks embody a point that he wants to use again. This method is very effective for the efficiency of his writing and for creating a relatable body of work. As mentioned in my analysis of TED talks last week, the most important way to successfully deliver a message, I believe, is to connect with the audience and have them believe that they are a part of the conversation. Bogost does this through his transitions, whether that being satire or mentioning relatable situations with which readers can connect.