Personally, I admire the sophists because they did not conform to social norms. They would not hesitate to question any assumptions of Greek society. Furthermore, they also taught others how to use dialect and writing to question these same assumptions. Today, the sophists would describe themselves as social or political figures that question the norms in today’s society. We see modern-day sophists in the millennial generation that we live in today. They differ from a modern day college professor because they teach through dialect, using opposing arguments, whereas teachers try to explain the context of a situation to us. The sophists and modern day professors are similar in that they both want us to think critically and always question things to get a firm understanding of them. They were controversial in ancient Greece because many Athenians had doubts that the sophists could really teach virtue/ truth and that they understood justice. They would be very controversial today because there are many social/politcal groups today that are doing similar things that they did a very long time ago.

A theme that I have seen constantly emerge in our reading is education from the sophists. The sophists taught by using the method of dialectic, which was to create arguments for both sides of a controversy. This method of using contradictory arguments coined the name Dissoi Logoi. Gorgias, a famous sophist, thought that through the power of rhetoric he can use persuasion (peitho) as a way to deceive people into something. It has been said that Gorgias was able to persuade men to become slaves through the use of rhetoric without using force.

I think the theme of using rhetoric to create arguments and persuade people is a very interesting.

http://ancient-greece.org/architecture/parthenon2.html

http://www.ancient.eu/parthenon/

Herricks CH 2:

-Major Figures: Empedocles, Hieron, Solon, Plato, Gorgias.

-Greek Values: Politics (Democracy), education, courts & assemblies.

Intro to Greek Rhetoric:

-Majore Figures: Plato, Aristotle, Corax, Tisias,

-Greek Values: Slavery (warfare provided a means to have slaves), Democracy, education, religion.

The Telegraph

Throughout history the need for fast and efficient communication has always been a priority for various cultures of civilizations across the globe. The reason communication is such a vital aspect of our lives is because people depend on one another and need a means to communicate over a specific distance. One of the most effective means of communication between societies was the telegraph. This was used in the United States in the mid 1800s.

The telegraph, which was developed in the 1830s by Samuel Morse, made long distance communication much more efficient. The telegraph worked by transmitting an electrical signal through a wire that was put between stations. Along with inventing the telegraph, Morse also invented the code that would be sent from between stations. This code was called Morse Code and consisted of different combinations of dots and dashed that corresponded to a specific letter of the English alphabet. This code made transmission and translation very simple for those that worked at the stations.

Once invented and presented to the public, the telegraph hit the ground running. The first successful transmission by Morse was sent in 1844 and just 12 years later in 1866 the telegraph made a successful transmission across the Atlantic. The telegraph also provided a foundation for large corporations, such as Western Union, to be founded. The Western Union Telegraph Company used this new means of communication to create telegraph stations across the continental United States.

The telegraph, along with every other significant piece of information technology, did not only improve communication but also society, the economy, etc. Since the telegraph proved to be an effective means of communication, more and more companies wanted to use it therefore creating more jobs and interconnecting different people throughout the country. Also, more workers were needed to lay the wire between stations so the telegraph had a medium to communicate. The adaption of information technology has always had an impact on society as a whole, not just communication. The telegraph is a prime example of this, as it not only connected a country but the globe.

During the time of the introduction of the telegraph, the United States was expanding West or reaching a manifest destiny and needed to be connected. At the time, the means to communicate between the East and West coasts was the Pony Express, which was more effective than previous methods but still slow. At best, the Pony Express would send a message across the nation in 4 days, which was too slow to keep up with the demands of a growing nation. 18 months after its introduction, the Pony Express was replaced by the telegraph. The only problem with the telegraph at first was its cost. The telegraph was relatively expensive compared to the Pony Express but the benefits outweighed the setbacks.

Information technology is not the same across cultures as each group or civilization uses it differently. In the United State’s case, the telegraph was used as a means to help the country expand and come together. The United States was not only able to communicate effectively across the nation but also across the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the telegraph provided a means for the United States to grow as a nation and also as a world power. The fact that all of this happened within 12 years after the first successful transmission shows the severity of the impact made by a major piece of information technology.

http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph

http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=324

Davison TJ

Throughout history, different groups, cultures and civilizations have adopted different means of transportation and communication. The innovation and adaption of these various forms of communication have come from a human need for quicker and more efficient communication between groups and civilizations. One particular means of transportation was the pony express, which was used as a postal service in the United States from 1860-1861. The Pony Express was a interconnected set of horseback relays that connected the East and West coasts of the United States. This new means of communication was significantly more efficient that the previous means of sending mail across the country.

During the early 1860’s the United States was expanding all the way to the East Coast so there was a high demand for reliable mail service. The current means of transportation was very unstructured and unreliable so the United States adapted what was called the Pony Express. Since the country was expanding so quickly, communication had to be drastically improved to keep up with the growing culture. The Pony Express is a perfect example of the development of information technology to keep up with either the society or culture.

The Pony express, which was founded by William H Russel, William B Waddell and Alexander Major in 1860, was an interconnected pony relay consisting of over 80 stations. These stations, which would typically be 20 or so miles apart, would typically have a select group of experienced riders and horses. Each rider, in a single day, would typically travel 250 miles on different horses. This method of communication was much quicker than previous methods because the time to go across the country went down to as little as 10 days. Furthermore, this offered more jobs to the public and helped the country grow as a whole.

A major role of information technology is the impact that it has on the civilizations or cultures that it is part of. Thus, the Pony Express is a great example of this because of its secondary effect, which enhanced the economy by creating numerous jobs. Since there was 80 stations, more men were needed to work these stations as well as work on the horses. As time began to progress, the system was recognized as effective since travel time was cut from months to days so it began to expand. The Pony Express had a substantial positive impact on the civilizations since it provided a extremely fast method to communicate across the country.

As any technology does, the Pony Express had its flaws. Since much of the terrain was unexplored, there were complications along the road. One of the major problems was riders being attacked by Native Americans. However, this was not a major concern of the Pony Express as it was still very efficient compare to previous methods.

Works Cited

http://ponyexpress.org/history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express

Davison, Timothy J

CIS270WX

Assignment #1

MAJ Ha

9MAR2016

The Role of Carrier Pigeons During WWI

Information technology, as we know it today, was drastically different over a century ago. Today we are complacent with the ability to contact anyone, at any place in the world in a matter of seconds. We would not even know how to live without our iPhone on us 24/7 and we would certainly not know how to communicate over long distances. In the early 1900’s, during the height of WWI, the form of communication used by the allied powers is far from that of an iPhone. The allied powers relayed important information, over great distances, with the help of pigeons.

First of all, the study of information technology does not just look at technology; it also encompasses the societal impacts of technology across cultures. Without communication, or information technology, civilizations and even life would not be possible. Information technology is not new; it has been around since the beginning of human life. Humans have always developed some form of communication ranging from American Indian smoke signals to 21^st century texting and video messaging. Information technology is also a very dynamic process as it is constantly changing and evolving to fit human need.

It is not very uncommon for a group to communicate through the means of birds, especially pigeons, the same way that the French and US forces used them during WWI. As you should already know WWI was a large-scale war, which made communication especially tough. The way this was done is fairly simple because of the pigeon’s excellent homing ability. The French or US would simply keep pigeon lofts at their respective trenches or headquarters ready for use. When a message needed to be sent, the sender would simply tie a small message around the pigeons leg and send the bird on it’s way. Since the war was very slow moving, the headquarters (where the lofts were located) did not move very far or at all making this very beneficial to the pigeon because it always knew where home was. Not only was the pigeon reliable in the sense that it can get to and from the destination easily, but also it was also incredibly fast making it almost impossible for the enemy to shoot from the sky.

A major setback to this means of communication, especially in the middle of a war, is that only small sized messages can be sent on each pigeon. A pigeon is a relatively small bird, which has its ups as well as downs, but it can only fly with only so much extra weight. This did not affect the soldiers tremendously because they were able to send more than one pigeon at a time. Although sending more than one bird at a time seemed to be a solution, it made more problems arise. If multiple pigeons, carrying they same message, were sent to a destination and only a portion of them arrived, the message would be hard to comprehend. This was not a large concern, though, as pigeons were relatively reliable when it came to getting the job done.

Another setback of communicating with pigeons was speed. Although the pigeon is a relatively fast bird, it is nowhere near as fast as a radio transmission. The technology of the radio could obviously outperform a pigeon but it was almost useless to have considering that communication range would generally be out of range for the radio. This is a great example of how information technology has an impact on a civilization/culture. The soldiers clearly had the capacity to communicate with new technology but it did not fit their requirements. Therefore, they improvised and thought of a new better means of communications, which was the pigeon.

Although technology in the 1900’s was nowhere near where it is today, you might wonder why pigeons were used instead of other available technology. The main reason is that the pigeon was actually much more reliable than the radios during that time frame. It has been said that entire battalions of soldiers were unable to communicate via radios and had to rely solely on pigeons. Over the course of time, allied powers became frustrated with the reliability of radios and adopted pigeons as the main source of communication. This does not mean that the radio was completely banished either; it was simply used less than it was previously.

During the end of the war, October 1918 to be specific, 194 American troops were saved because of the pigeon. When the Americans realized they were surrounded and none of the radios worked, their only hope was to send a pigeon over 25 miles with a call for help. Despite being shot, the pigeon completed the mission and the troops were saved. This story is the prime example for why and how the pigeon was adopted for use during the First World War. The pigeons and the way they were used shows that the role of information technology is ever-changing and is never a static process

Pigeons have been used to communicate for centuries before the First World War so the questions that comes in to play is what made them different in this specific environment. First off, pigeons were normally used during a time of peace for communicating between two areas that would usually not move. Secondly, the soldiers using the pigeons had to learn how to work with homing pigeons very quickly. Although it does not seem like a difficult task, imagine yourself sitting in a cold, muddy hole in the middle of Europe trying to learn how to communicate using pigeons so you can relay messages to survive. It is remarkable that troops were able to train themselves and the pigeons to deliver messages across terrain they both knew little of. This also shows the impact of information technology across a society or culture. The soldiers, in a time of despair, quickly adopted the use of pigeons (communication technology) for their communication and general welfare.

The way pigeons were used during the war is a excellent example of human instinct. Humans are fighters, and are always coming up with new ways to improve, adapt and overcome. In this case, they did all three using information technology. Their main method of communication, the radio, was not working so they took a step back, and began looking for alternatives. This shows the importance of information technology to groups, because without information technology, the soldiers would have had no way to communicate and therefore would have been left to die. Overall, the use of pigeons during the First World War is a great example of information technology and its effect on civilizations and cultures.