Reading the lessons and writing discussions posts about them are the main work in this class. Each week you should read my lesson all the way through and then, starting with Lesson 2, make a post in the discussion board for that week's lesson. Your post is due before midnight on Friday night. Two responses to other people's posts are due before midnight on the following Monday night. Late submissions will generally not be given marks.
You cannot submit a discussion post late and get credit for it.
This is because the primary audience for these posts is not me, but your fellow students. If you submit to a board after the deadline, it's unlikely any other student will ever see you post.
You can make up a maximum of six marks total for missed posts in each half of the semester. The only way to make up these marks is writing additional replies in a board that is still active. (Adding replies to a board past its deadline will not lead to make-up marks.)
You can make up a maximum of two marks in any week's board by writing two additional replies (i.e., four replies). You cannot make up more than two marks in any single week's board.
For instance, if you failed to do the first board on Lesson Two, you would lose four marks. If you wanted to make those marks up, you could could write two extra substantive replies to a later board before the midterm, for instance the board for Lesson Four. You could make up two more marks by writing two more additional replies in the Lesson Five board.
If you have questions about this, please email me.
The discussion posts are meant to be medium-length remarks (usually 250-750 words) about the ideas in the lessons (if you're inspired, please do write as much as you want!). You can say what you thought of one or more of the ideas (you don’t have to agree with my opinions or those of the people we study!!), what else it made you think of, how it made you feel. You can ask questions about parts of the material you didn't understand, to which I will try to respond. You can ask broader questions directed at all of the participants (but you should also include how you, provisionally, would answer the question).
Do not use ChatGPT. If your post is full of generalities and vague statements and sounds like it was written by a chatbot you will not get credit. Misspell some words, mess up the grammar, say something only a flawed human would say. Let me hear your voice. Focus on my lesson and what YOU thought. I want to hear that I've been understood.
Don't plagiarize - not from Internet sources, not from my lessons, not from each other. I’m not marking you on grammar, English, or whether or not you agree with everything I’ve said. I’m marking you on whether YOU have made an attempt to understand and think about the lesson. If you quote from something, don’t worry about proper referencing, but please show where it came from, so that one could track it down with an Internet search. Quoting is an art form and a kind of creation, where “Old words are reborn with new faces,” as Criss Jami said in Killosophy. (For instance.)
Do not plagiarize - copying text from the Internet, someone else's post, or my lesson. This includes changing some of the words around. If you're taking ideas from someone else, you should use quotation marks and indicate where the words come from. If you plagiarize and I detect it, you will get 0. If you continue to plagiarize after that, there will be a charge of Academic Misconduct.
Do not ask a chatbot and submit its response. If I can tell something was written by a chatbot, you will get 0.
For instance, let's say you are trying to write a response to Lesson 2, and instead of talking about what you actually thought or took away from reading the lesson, you googled "how did work change after the Industrial Revolution." You might try to use what you had found. Let's look at some possible things you might drop into "your" discussion post.
1
The Industrial Revolution shifted from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy where products were no longer made solely by hand but by machines. This led to increased production and efficiency, lower prices, more goods, improved wages, and migration from rural areas to urban areas. [Plagiarism; this would get 0, it is copied from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/industrial-revolution.asp]
2
You could say that the Industrial Revolution changed from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing financial basis, in which products were no longer made just by hand but by machines. This proceeded to enlarged production and expediency, lower prices, more goods, higher wages, and passage from country areas to city areas. [some words changed; 0 - still plagiarism]
3
The Industrial Revolution, which occurred from the mid-18th to mid-19th century, brought about significant changes in the way people worked. Prior to this period, most work was done by hand, and production was limited to what could be achieved by individual craftsmen. The Industrial Revolution ushered in a new era of mass production, powered by machines and fueled by new sources of energy like coal and steam.
One of the most significant changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution was the rise of factories and the factory system. Workers left their homes and farms to work in large factories ... [generated by ChatGPT; 0]
Instead, your response should be more personal, and refer to ideas in the lesson, for example:
I had never really thought about how working hard out in a field with other people could be "more meaningful" than an office job, or being a tiny cog in a Division of Labour, like someone working on an assembly line. I'd still rather work in an easy "joe job" where I don't have to take too much responsibility for what I'm doing, but I admit that modern work feels less "meaningful" (less alive and connected somehow) than the struggle for survival we used to have to take part in.
Posts need not be more than a couple paragraphs or so, and you will receive 2 marks for whatever you say in your response provided you convince me you have read the lesson. You should not write your post without reading the full lesson first. Your response post is meant to be your thoughts on the lesson, not just thoughts connected to the ideas you have about the topic.
The discussion posts are meant to take the place of in-class discussion. I will not respond with feedback to all of them, but will leave my own responses to your posts in the body of the discussion board itself, if I have something to say. I encourage everyone to read the whole board before doing the second part of the weekly exercise (responding to other people's posts), and of course to go back and read any responses made to your posts. You can respond to the responses, of course, but no extra marks for doing so.
Every week you will receive 1 mark each for responding to two other people's posts (you can respond to more if you're inspired, but you only have to respond to two). In responding to someone else's post, you can ask a question, raise another point, agree or disagree with what your colleague has written, expand on it. These reply posts must be made by midnight on the Monday after the Friday on which the response posts were due. No late replies will be accepted.
These may help you imagine what the discussion board will look like.
[Before I show you some real posts, here’s an example of a post that wouldn’t be acceptable:
Ann Uninterestedstudent
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
This lesson makes me thing that People have totally become like machines. We don’t think for ourselves we just do what the government tells us to do and we all imitate each other. There is no hope for this humanity that is so uncreative.
This post is too short and shows no sign of any engagement with the ideas in the lesson. It isn’t clear that the person even read the lesson, and they are just spouting off what they believe without providing any examples or clarity about why we should agree with them.]
Now here are some real posts from a previous semester.
Marta Minta
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
In my opinion, even though the Industrial Revolution was a breakthrough in the human history and brought many advantages that allowed people to work less physically, the amount of pain and humiliation that came with the changes cannot go unnoticed. People that used to live by the “natural clock” suddenly became forced to get used to the “timed work”. What used to be a pleasant experience dictated by their own biological and natural clocks became a bubble, where “free” people suddenly found themselves in a subordinate position to the timed and efficient work. As good as the substitution of the human work by the machinery might sound, for many people living in the past it was a life changing event- one, through which their work became meaningless. Individual and often meaningful human work have changed for the one that was made for profit, making business- not human, the main objective. With the Industrial Revolution the feelings of people and the meaning of their individual work became unimportant. The society fell deeply into the Marxists world, making again profit- not human the most important factor in the work environment. To this day, with the technology evolving, people and their interactions are becoming less important than the new technological devices and programs that slowly substitute their relationships.
Daniela Roman Areiza
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
I have agree with what you stated, the industrial Revolution has brought alienation among workers and decreased the merit of the work being done. The idea of humans being treated like machines is a scary thought and it devalues our worth as human beings. This can be seen in the division of labour where the work is being divided up among workers but their contributions are not recognized as part of the work. Since there is no need to understand what the whole process is when it comes to the final product. Not only did the Industrial Revolution put skilled workers out of employment but even today these factory jobs are moving to other countries that required less expenses when it comes to creating their products thus putting local employees out of work.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
Wow! Suddenly everyone's a Marxist! :-)
Jasmina Piragic
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
The Industrial Revolution has always been an interesting time to decipher through and understand how great the impact of this time has been on society as a whole, individually, as well as within the work force. It would be naive to think that this time is no longer impacting us during this present time. There can be pros and cons when referring to the Revolution. Pros can include the dangerous workloads that had been minimized on humanity during that time when the creation of the work was replaced by machinery, the efficiency of the work produced by the machinery in comparison to humans, as well as the decrease in time needed in order for production to take place (Nielson, 2019). Cons have included the impact these drastic changes have had on individuals during this time mentally and emotionally, minimizing resources like work and income, as well as decreasing the opportunity humans have had to feel like they have purpose or reason within their days with these drastic decreases (Nielson, 2019). Within human nature, it could be argued that it is difficult for us to accept and adapt to circumstances, without seeking more growth and expansion in different ways by applying knowledge and actively transforming the habitat around us (Kovacs, p. 299). The impact of technology on society and whether it is negative or positive will always be contingent on individual perspective. Personally, although there are significant positive impacts from industrialization, I believe that it was the first step towards creating a big difference between a 'need vs. a want.' This continues within time and society today where things never seem like they're enough for us to be happy or fulfilled. As humans during the Industrial Revolution felt they were losing their passion and no longer had reasons they way they did before their jobs were diminishing, I would argue that we are currently going through something similar. Humanity within North America is beginning to 'wake up' and realize we are no longer feeling fulfilled the way we believed to have been for so long by these external resources, and we are slowly shifting back into pursuing our passions and having that directly linked to the work we produce as a form of monetary income.
Cristian Vasile
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
It's great that you outlined both the pros and the cons of the industrial age, it's always good to find a balance rather than focusing on the extremes.
The industrial age wasn't the only time we have been shown that technology can replace humans, it continues today and I believe, it has become far more obvious. Artificial Intelligence has advanced so far with personal assistants that we no longer have to turn our lights off or input an address on our phones, or even watch our children in another room. We are beginning to lose many aspects of our lives which were normal, such as our biological clock from the previous lesson. We no longer eat because we are hungry or go to sleep because we are tired, we do everything based off a man-made time tracker; forcing us to no longer follow our body's needs. There must be a balance between technology and humanity, but, it will be difficult to find that balance.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
Nicely put, especially the part about switching from needs to wants.
Rebecca Theodorou
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
It's interesting to read and learn about the development of machines over time and how they directly relate to us in our lives. For a more personal response, I'd like to share how I often feel as a cashier in a grocery store. There's at least one customer every shift who treats me like a machine. I have come across many people who expect "machine like work from a non-machine". It's like they forget that they've come face to face with a human even though I'm standing right in front of them. There is no room for mistakes and people often forget that us workers have feelings. I often feel like people think I'm a robot. If I make a mistake, it's like the end of the world and people will freak out and say anything to make you feel horrible in order to get what they want or to make themselves feel better. Sometimes people don't even look up or smile or even acknowledge your service and presence. I'm sure anyone who works in customer service has experienced being treated like this. I've been in customer service for three years so I'm used to it and I can easily brush it off, but I think it is kind of sad to see that this is the way people treat one another, especially when you're providing a service for them. One positive advantage to the development of machines in a case like this are the self checkouts. This way if someone does not want to come face to face with another human or they're in a bad mood, they can use this form of checkout instead of ruining someone else's day!
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
An interesting angle! I don't discuss in the lesson how we "consumers" have come to treat other people like machines (or servants, etc) when they are in "service" positions; I was more focused on employers/managers. But clearly even those who are workers themselves are sometimes inclined to dehumanize other workers in our world. In a way, the dream of capitalism sometimes seems to me that every one can be able to buy the kind of service only the wealthy used to be able to get from slaves, serfs, and servants!
Cheyenne De Luca
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
I agree with what you have stated and find the "mechanization" of the service industry to be very interesting. I have worked in customer service as well for about four years now and the care that I have is definitely a mechanical action. Instead of me having genuine care with customers, I am scripted to respond in a way our app at work tells us to. Instead of being ourselves we have to follow specific guidelines and use the technology to help us assist people. Due to going through the motions of the job, I lack genuine care for my customers and job. The care I now show is scripted based off our systems we have in place. I believe that all this is based off of the consequences that have risen from Industrial Revolution and the increase in mechanization of labour.We were raised in a generation where these actions are now justifiable, where as before they were not and individuals genuinely cared and did not just care because they were paid to.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
The "scripting of care" to ensure consistency in service is understandable, but it is definitely one of those changes designed with the needs of the manager/employer and the customer (perhaps) in mind and not the needs or worklife quality of the person doing the work. You are being paid to pretend to care and not to care that you don't really care. "Fake for money" puts all of our service work on the spectrum of prostitution, even if we are actually caring people, who could care.
Dmytro Olkhovyk
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
I personally believe that humanity is moving towards total global automatization. Even such complicated professions as doctor theoretically can be performed by a machine. Human beings will be left creating arts: music, pictures, books and just enjoy the service of machines. There will be no problem with food or financial income because governments will pay basic income to every citizen. Some countries(e.x. Finland) have already experimented such thing.
You can call this utopia, but our world has already began such transformaiton.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
This is the dream, of course. But how will 8 billion humans (or more) be supported by the planet? Even the biggest fans of capitalism would acknowledge that it involves exploitation of natural resources and workers. We will have to get rid of that model, perhaps. Every person will be supported by a world government (presumably at the same rate), and then there will be 8 billion artists being creative with their time.
Anyone want to question this utopian possibility? ;-|
Amy Theriault
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
The section of this week's lesson I found particularly interesting was 'replacing people with machines.' In today's day and age with the rise of automation, AI and machine learning, I believe this fear is becoming very prevalent once again. I personally work in an innovation lab for a bank, and one thing we often hear from other employees is "when will I be replaced with a robot?" The truth is, studies say that in the coming decade, half of all jobs will be disrupted by technology and automation. It used to be that the threat of automation (as discussed in this week's lesson) was only for routine, repetitive forms of work such as assembly lines. But, now, algorithms are building legal cases, replacing administrative assistants and taking customer service calls for major corporations. The truth is, we’ve dealt with technology replacing jobs before, but this time it’s different. Studies say that more than a quarter of Canadian jobs will be heavily disrupted by automation in the next decade, and half will require a new mix of skills even if the job title stays the same. The good news is, that doesn’t mean those jobs are going away. Instead, the Canadian economy will create 2.4-million new jobs by 2021 — but almost all of them will require a different approach. This new economy will be built on a mobile workforce, constantly learning, training and upgrading to meet the demands of a changing world. It's 'welcome to the machine' all over again, but this time, we shouldn't fear it as they did during the industrial revolution, we should adapt and upskill.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
So how can one plan/what should one study or what work should one do now to prepare to be viable as a member of a "mobile workforce" (assuming one would like to be?). Many are pointing to the problem of an ever-enlarging "useless class" and ho wthey will find work or be supported.
Amy Theriault
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
I believe all individuals, no matter what industry you are in should really begin to upskill technically and with 'soft skills' that are transferable, but I also do believe it is in the responsibility of employers to guide employees through this and not leave them in the dark with no job one day. RBC released a great study called Humans Wanted that touches on this.
Cristian Vasile
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
This lesson is really relevant in this current generation, especially with the internet.
I am a valet driver and have been doing this for about 6 years now and i've noticed many ways this job is changing. Back in 2014 when I started this job, I used to park a car and write all the information on a little ticket and pass it along to an office coordinator who would manually input this information into the computer so we could have records of each car and their arrival/departure time. Naturally we would have plenty of mistakes inputing information and would result in incorrectly charging guests for their parking. But now in 2020, we have a new system which is much more "advanced" and easier. Unfortunately, this system does bother me right now because it requires a lot of personal information, but basically we get this iPhone with a scanner attached which is used to scan the VIN of each car and records the parking spot and the duration of the drive and the speed and much more information which allows the company to review who drove the car, when it came in, how long it took to park, etc. This shows a brief change which took place within the last few years alone! It's scary and exciting to think about just how far this "advancement goes. It's also really amazing how this reading is so relevant to the changes I've seen myself, this should tie very well to lesson 5 of surveillance.
Susan Tedesco
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
That is a very interesting point. We see the "bigger technologies" daily, but the people outside of your industry wouldn't know of these technological advancements that have been made. Imagine the technology you'll be using in the next few years if all of this has changed already.
James Nielson
RE: [Lesson 2] Welcome to the machine
Thanks for your enthusiasm, and I'm glad you find the lesson relatable so far!