Hi, I'm Dennis. At 44 years old, I am one of the older students at LBCC. I lost my job in the auction business in 2010 and found myself unable to land any work during the economic free fall that began around '07, '08. I am old enough to understand that the economy will bounce back in time but I found myself going stir crazy being broke and unemployed. After about a year, my step son convinced me that I might actually enjoy going back to school, so I enrolled and came back in 2011 for the first time since 1996. Now I am a broke student. I am not a journalism major, I am taking this class because it is required for my degree. I started out on a computer science degree but switched to an Associates of Science with a liberal emphasis after taking a couple of social science classes and realizing how much I liked them and understood them. I hope to work in the addiction field one day since I am happily reaping the benefits of their help and blessings today. These days, I am just enjoying the process and trying not to lose focus.
I think what interest me the most about media is its holistic connections to all other aspects of social interactions like home life, community and government. I am one who tends to cringe whenever I hear people generalize and blame government or media for societal problems. At some point individuals need to accept some responsibility for the media they absorb and the decisions they make based on the information they chose to process. Be it 24 hour news or video games or social media there are so many choices that we have the power to make ourselves open targets to information we prefer. Constantly bombarded with our own confirmation bias and/or blissful ignorance. My favorite sources for information are C-SPAN, The Daily Show and my Facebook feed that I have carefully crafted so as not to tick me off anymore. I know I'm not getting the total picture but really, who does?
Topic 2
Outside of school I am fairly boring. I am a home body and a bit of a geek. I love technology and the things it allows us to do including access to so many forms of media. I have never shied away from the future. In fact I welcome it with open pocketbook when I can afford it. I am not an online gamer but I do like to play video games when I have time. I'm a slow reader with horrible study habits though so it's usually best if I stay away from gaming these days.
I do agree to a point that gaming can create a better world. Much like sports has given many societies a platform to complete with former enemies in a peaceful way, video games seem like an ideal way to to be competitive without causing harm. I a video game battle there is no physical collateral damage. At the end of the day the battle is either won or lost but everyone lives to fight again.
Second skin was an eye opener for me and I would like to show this movie to many of my family members. This subject is very personal to me. Twenty years ago my brother was made handicapped when he was shot in the head by one of his best friends. His injury has cause many physical, mental and social disorders. He is less mobile due to paralysis on the left side of his body. He has slowly isolated himself to the point that he has become agoraphobic and he plays video game obsessively. It has gotten to the point at times that I do not know if he is speaking about real events or something in the game. I do recognize his physical limitations and therefor I allow him some leeway as far as his obsession. I understand addiction and that and this is not addiction. This is something completely different to me. What my brother seems to be striving for is to be relevant. In the real world he can barely maneuver his own body. In the game he can be just as, if not wiser and stronger than anyone else.
I do agree to a point that gaming can create a better world. Much like sports has given many societies a platform to complete with former enemies in a peaceful way, video games seem like an ideal way to to be competitive without causing harm. I a video game battle there is no physical collateral damage. At the end of the day the battle is either won or lost but everyone lives to fight again.
Second skin was an eye opener for me and I would like to show this movie to many of my family members. This subject is very personal to me. Twenty years ago my brother was made handicapped when he was shot in the head by one of his best friends. His injury has cause many physical, mental and social disorders. He is less mobile due to paralysis on the left side of his body. He has slowly isolated himself to the point that he has become agoraphobic and he plays video game obsessively. It has gotten to the point at times that I do not know if he is speaking about real events or something in the game. I do recognize his physical limitations and therefor I allow him some leeway as far as his obsession. I understand addiction and that and this is not addiction. This is something completely different to me. What my brother seems to be striving for is to be relevant. In the real world he can barely maneuver his own body. In the game he can be just as, if not wiser and stronger than anyone else.
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