Thinking Activity

Thinking Activity: CS and feminism - Cyberfeminism : Artificial Intelligence and unconscious bisases:

 

Hello friends, 

 I am Nidhi Dave student of Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.  This blog response of my thinking Activity. This thinking Activity given by professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir. Here i discuss about what is the Feminism and cyber feminism. 

Cyberfeminism is a feminist approach which foregrounds the relationship between cyberspace, the Internet, and technology. The term was coined in the early 1990s to describe the work of feminists interested in theorizing, critiquing, exploring and re-making the Internet, cyberspace and new-media technologies in general.

What is Cyberfeminism?

Cornelia Sollfrank who is the famous Cyberfeminist  from the Old Boys Network states that:

"Cyberfeminism is a myth. A myth is a story of unidentifiable origin, or of different origins. A myth is based on one central story which is retold over and over in different variations. A myth denies one history as well as one truth, and implies a search for truth in the spaces, in the differences between the different stories. Speaking about Cyberfeminism as a myth, is not intended to mystify it, it simply indicates that Cyberfeminism only exists in plural."

Cyberfeminism: Artificial Intelligence and the Unconscious Biases:

Cyberfeminism appeared in the 1980s and founded on the ideas post-humanist feminist thinker Donna Haraway expresses in her A Cyborg Manifesto. In this manifesto, she lays the groundwork for the concept of the internet being a revolutionary tool to overthrow patriarchy, destroy the existing gender binary and achieve feminist liberation. She sees the internet as a new neutral space women need to ally with and that needs to be shaped by women in a way that will allow them to overthrow the existing social order.

 Kirti Sharma - How to keep human bias out of Al? 

Kirti Sharma, who has several degrees in computer science and has been building robots from the age of 15, says that based on her appearance and gender it is regularly assumed she doesn’t know much about artificial intelligence.

In her talk she gives examples of when AI takes these biases and reinforces them: men are more likely to be programmers and historically outnumber women in this field; based on this data, an algorithm designed for recruitment purposes can assume that male applicants are preferable and filter out female candidates, she explains.

“This is not about the talent; this is about an elitism in AI that says a programmer needs to look like a certain person,” says Sharma.

Sharma says these biases are reinforced by the genders we assign to AI-powered devices. She gives the examples of Siri and Alexa, AI technologies with female voices which we are used to giving orders to. On the other hand, more powerful AI programmes such as Watson are designated “male”.

Robin Hauser: Can we protect AI from our biases?

Robin Hauser, tells about her experience working with AI and the biases that can develop by humans teaching the machines and how to avoid these biases when creating algorithms. ”

Robin is the director and producer of cause‐based documentary films at Finish Line Features, Inc. and Unleashed Productions, Inc. As a business woman, long time professional photographer and social entrepreneur, Robin brings her leadership skills, creative eye and passion to her documentary film projects. Her artistic vision and experience in the business world afford her a unique perspective on what it takes to motivate an audience. Her most recent award‐winning film, CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2015, and has caught the eye of the international tech industry and of policy makers and educators in Washington, DC and abroad. Robin is currently directing and producing Bias, a documentary about unconscious bias and how it affects our lives socially and in the workplace.Documentary filmmaker Robin Hauser argues that we need to have a conversation about how AI should be governed and ask who is responsible for overseeing the ethical standards of these supercomputers. "We need to figure this out now," she says. "Because once skewed data gets into deep learning machines, it's very difficult to take it out."

Our experience of cyber space and women's identity:

So for understanding these spaces of biases of AI. So as Kriti mentioned when she first applied for AI she received comments and queries. It’s about gender biases. In this similar way when any girl puts her own identity she might receive queries first from there family members, importantly males of the family. If the same thing happened to us we have to observe such things. Like till the date some girls have not their own Gmail Id, Facebook Id and so many things. So patriarchy is also described. Women or girls make a fake Id on Facebook to hide their gender because they don’t want any kind of hurdles. 

Cyberfeminism is a very interesting term for discussing and thinking. It's very interesting to see that still some women are facing some kind of problem Technology with social media and they are getting afraid of using such a thing. So we have to write our own experience about cyber feminism. I had the same experience when I started Facebook, Instagram so at that time I hid my profile and my identity because I was afraid that I might be talking wrong. Still i have not Sher some personal think in social media and photos also. Slowly and steadily we are coming out from this kind of fear. 

Thank you

Thinking Activity

Thinking Activity: The culture of Speed and the counter cultural of Slow Movement.

Hello friends,  

I am Nidhi Dave a student of Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. This Thinking Activity given by professor Dr. Dilip Barad sir. Here i discus about The culture of Speed and the counter cultural of Slow Movement.

The Culture of Speed and Slow movement:

Today man is constantly exposed to attacks of two dominant forces of the contemporary world, which organize and structure its logistic of perception: speed and technical images. Paul Virilio, the “high priest of speed” deals with the impact of speed on the contemporary world in his texts. Virilio’s theory shows the far-reaching extent to which the speed conquered all and everything over the centuries: transportation and production, peace and war, men and women, urban and rural areas, work and leisure time, arts and commerce. Virilio clearly shows us how the principle of acceleration of the word has taken root in professional and private lives of individuals and societies in both good and bad sense, and how it has changed and continues changing our standards, values, perceptions and mentality. Vilem Flusser speaks of “technical images” in general. Technical images furnish the space of our everydayness in a similar way as an architect furnishes a room with new furniture. Technical images work by supplying a reality where it is needed. Technical image is an abstraction of the third order. The technical image is an image produced by apparatuses. Our new arrangement of the world, new after the end of the age of linear writing, depends on two things – on apparatuses and on their programmes.

Paul Virilio - Dromology:

The word Dromology is derived from Greek noun 'Dromos' which is used for race or racetrack. With this meaning in his mind he coined the term Dromology which means "Science of Speed" According to Virilio Speed became the soul agent of progress. He further said that..

"There was no industrial revolution, 

only Dromocratic Revolution, 

There is no Democracy only Democracy, 

There is no Strategy only Dromology."

Dromos is an Ancient Greek noun for race or racetrack, which Virilio applied the activity of racing (Virilio 1977:47). It is with this meaning in mind that he coined the term 'dromology', which he defined as the "science (or logic) of speed“. Dromology is important when considering the structuring of society in relation to warfare and modern media. He noted that the speed at which something happens may change its essential nature, and that which moves with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower. 'Whoever controls the territory possesses it. Possession of territory is not primarily about laws and contracts, but first and foremost a matter of movement and circulation.'

Virilio clearly shows us how the principle of acceleration of the word has taken root in professional and private lives of individuals and societies in both good and bad sense, and how it has changed and continues changing our standards, values, perceptions and mentality. Vilem Flusser speaks of “technical images” in general. Technical images furnish the space of our everydayness in a similar way as an architect furnishes a room with new furniture. Technical images work by supplying a reality where it is needed. Technical image is an abstraction of the third order. The technical image is an image produced by apparatuses. Our new arrangement of the world, new after the end of the age of linear writing, depends on two things – on apparatuses and on their programmes.

TED-Talk on 'In Praise of Slowness':

Journalist Carl Honore believes the Western world’s emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there’s a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.

Honore’s bestselling book In Praise of Slowness plots the lineage of our speed-obsessed society; while it recognizes the difficulty of slowing down, it also highlights the successes of everyday people around the world who have found ways of doing it. In this video he talked about the speed movement. 

 According to Carl Honore “A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock.” He asked two questions. The first was, how did we get so fast? And the second is, is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down? So we are afraid that we might not do work at the time so we are trying to do something faster. A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock. To borrow a phrase from Carrie Fisher, which is in my bio there; I'll just toss it out again -- "These days even instant gratification takes too long." It is said in this video that we have to slow down now.  At the same time we have to pay some attention to nature and human being.

In the wrong progress we are making, we have to slow down and move towards slow movement nature. So in brief it is a kind of benefit of ‘Slow Movement’. We are going very fast but we have to be more alert about each and everything and specially what happens around us. So all of that said, is it, I guess, is it possible? That's really the main question before us today. Is it possible to slow down? And I'm happy to be able to say to you that the answer is a resounding yes. And I present myself as Exhibit A, a kind of reformed and rehabilitated speed-aholic. I still love speed.

Thinking Activity

Thinking Activity: The Curse of Karna

Hello friends, 

I am Nidhi Dave student of the Department of English MKBU, This blog is response of my thinking Activity given by professor Yesha Ma'am. Here i discuss about some questions answers to the play The Curse of karna.

T. P. Kailasam:

Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer Kailasam (1884–1946), was a playwright and prominent writer of Kannada literature. His contribution to Kannada theatrical comedy earned him the title Prahasana Prapitamaha, "the father of humorous plays" and later he was also called "Kannadakke Obbane Kailasam" meaning "One and Only Kailasam for Kannada".

The play was written in five acts. In the five act it is describing the life story of Karna and his Curse.

Two curses of Karna given to him by his guru Parshurama and by a Brahmana have some impact on his defeat to Arjuna and, ultimately, his death during the battle in Mahabharata.

Question - Answer 

1, Interpret the 'End' of all acts and scenes.

 Ans, 

Act-1

Raama:

POOR KARNA! POOR, POOR KARNA!

Act- 2

Gandharaj

POOR ANGA! POOR POOR HONEST ANGA!

Act- 3

The King Suyodhan

The King POOR ANGA! OUR POOR GREAT ANGA !

Act- 4

Bheema

Anga crumples into Bheema’s arms who carries him out muttering amid tears: POOR ANGA! POOR GREAT ANGA!” The THRONE ROOM, empty now, is exposed for a minute before—

Act 5

Aswatthama

“OUR ANGA!” “OUR GREAT ANGA!”

“OUR POOR POOR ANGA”!

All the act of this play ends with Karna being Poor. All are sympathetic with Karnas character and this way all act end with same way.

2, Is 'moral conflict' and 'Hamartia' there in Karna's character?

Ans,

What is ‘Hamartia”?

Hamartia arose from the Greek verb hamartanein, meaning "to miss the mark" or "to err." Aristotle introduced the term in the Poetics to describe the error of judgment which ultimately brings about the tragic hero's downfall. As you can imagine, the word is most often found in literary criticism. However, media writers occasionally employ the word when discussing the unexplainable misfortune or missteps of celebrities regarded as immortal gods and goddesses before being felled by their own shortcomings.

Karna's role in moral context. Well there was nothing moral about karna. He was a great warrior but so was satyaki, bhagadatta, duryodhana and many others. If we read Mahabharata, we see that Duryodhana has done many evil things. Karna, he was involved in almost all of those evils and sometimes he was the instigator. We see that karna is known for his charity but he always boasted about his charity. He gave his kavach to Indra but received a weapon to kill Arjun so that was no charity it was a trade. Karna didn't even care for Duryodhana, all he wanted was a fight to the death with Arjun. If karna was morally correct then he would stop duryodhana from doing evil things.

If we read about karna's past then we see that he was a demon named sahastra kawach in his previous birth. Guess destiny didn't want him to lose his demon nature.

3, Karna - The voice of Subaltern

The story of Karna begins with the misfortune of his secret birth and unfolds itself amidst the unremitting gloom of injustice and insult. A long time ago, a beautiful young princess named Kunti lived with her Uncle, King Kuntibhoj, in a lovely palace along the banks of a wide river. One day Maharishi Durvasa visited the palace of Kuntibhoja. He stayed there for almost a year. During his stay Kunti was given the responsibility of attending to his needs. Kunti served the Maharishi with great reverence without caring for her own comfort. The sage had a very peaceful and happy stay and wanted to reward Kunti for her services. Maharishi said, “Child, one day you will need the help of the Gods. I am going to teach you a secret mantra for inviting the Gods into your life. Be very careful with this mantra! Use it wisely.”Early the next morning Kunti was playing by herself in the royal garden. The sun had risen and Kunti watched its rays touch a flower here, a leaf there.She coated the basket with the wax to make it waterproof, and lined it with layers of the silk to make it soft and warm. She placed the baby carefully in his new bed and carried the basket to the river. Then she kissed him good-bye and set the basket afloat and whispered, “May the Sun-God watch over you always and keep you safe. May you find parents who will love you and care for you.” Downstream, Adhiratha was sitting on a rock, hoping to catch a fish for the midday meal. He was a gentleman,a charioteer by trade, and his wife Radha was a gentle and good woman.

When Radha saw the tiny baby lying peacefully asleep, she was overjoyed and said to her husband, “Swamy, it seems that our prayers have been answered. We will keep this baby and bring him up as our own”.He repliedI agree with you. He is a gift from God in answer to our prayers. In fact,he himself is Godlike with these divine earrings and armor. After consultation with the Brahmins,he was named Vasushena since he was wearing a Vasu Varma(signifying rich armor; the significance of ‘wealth’ in his name was further validated by his legendary generosity later in adult life). He also came to be known as Radheya or the son of Radha, and more famously as Karna (signifying ear, because he was born with the divine earrings). Radheya was outgrowing like every other young boy of his age in the village. special features and personality, anybody could see that the boy did not quite belong to the category of ordinary village lads.

Adhiratha was particularly tense, as he recalled how Dronacharya had initially refused to do anything with a Suta Putra (charioteer’s son), and how he had to seek the intervention of King Dhritarashtrahimself.Guru Dronacharya had only agreed to impart basic education and training in arms to his son. In due course both father and son entered the hut of Guru Dronacharya and touched his feet with due reverence.

After a few days when Adhiratha visited his son in his lodgings, he found him tense and somewhat angry as well. Before entering the room he had assured him that his son was very bright and a quick learner. But on entering the room he found him in a different frame of mind which made him apprehensive. On being asked, Karna started asking all sorts of questions with his father. He asked, “Baba is it a crime to be a Suta-Putra? Why do scriptures sanction this class-based discrimination? Why the princes and other so-called upper-class students should be given better food, better lodgings,and better education as compared to students like me,who seem to have an inborn stigma attached to their names? Where does my fault lie in all this?” Similarly, this scenario is also denoted by the term 'subaltern conventionally denotes an inferior military rank, it is more generally used as ‘a name for the general attribute of subordination in South Asian society’ often expressed in terms of caste and gender as it is being acquired at birth and is non-changeable. The term ``Subaltern Was coined by Ranjit Guhaand later it was adopted by Marxist Antonio Gramsciand further it was discussed by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in her essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’People consider Subaltern as the unrepresented group of people in the society, people of inferior race, not fit for making any real contribution to the society and therefore they cannot speak, but in reality subaltern can speak but others do not have the patience to listen to them and same can be seen with Karna, he is capable but he ultimately he is Suta Putra. To console Karna Adhiratha sensibly replied, “My dear son, during your education you will surely study scriptures and find out for yourself that they don’t sanction any kind of discrimination. These divisions are all manmade and tools used by those people who wield power to subjugate those who are weak and less fortunate. Let me assure you, my son, being a Suta is not a crime. We earn our living by fair means and struggle hard to make both ends meet. Be assured there is no dishonor involved in all this. But you and I are not in a position to change the system. My advice to you is that you can earn recognition by hard work and dedication and outshine everyone with your superior capabilities.  

Thank you.

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