Arun So
I spent my hour of media time watching the news, as well as being on my phone- browsing social media as well (Instagram). The news actually plays their head-stories in a loop! I did not know this before today. I got an incredible amount of information about hurricane Dorian. There was first hand video on the ground, showing people evacuating from their homes, as well as two meteorologists talking about the numeric details of the hurricane. In other news, the channel covered a recent shooting in Texas. The news covered aerial surveillance of the shooter, as well as a few victim photos. Overall, there was dramatic music and somber tones from the news anchors. The commercials were about Charmin ultra-soft toilet paper, and a car commercial for Buick.
My hour spent in nature was lovely and took place in the Shenandoah Valley, in Shenandoah National Park. There was a lot of introspection from this, and the other half of the information I received was purely sensory. The waterfall I was near was loud, not just in noise, but also through the vibrations I felt through the ground and the trees. There was only one person I saw on the trail and he was an old man who just shared a quick glance and smile. I saw that the initially cloudy day was very slowly opening up into blue bird skies. Another note I had was the rotation of the earth. Thoughts about homework and driving through traffic also crept in, as I was constantly checking my watch for the time.
This experience/assignment taught me about speed of information delivery above all things. When watching the news, everything was kind of hurled at me and my brain was hyper with stimuli. The amount of information I got from being outside wasn’t any less. However, the cadence through which I could process the information was different. I had the opportunity to think about everything I was feeling and how it was connected to this assignment, as well as the world. Another topic it touched on was the privilege of constant information, I wondered about people who had limited access to the internet and social communication- as well as how that limited pipeline to the world affected their world view(s).