Reading Response on "Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution"

In Cynthia Selfe’s writing, "Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution," she discusses about the fears and facts of technology around the world. She talks on three narratives that America believes when it comes to technology: "The Global Village and The Electronic Colony", "Land of Equal Opportunity and Land of Difference," and "The Un-Gendered Utopia and The Same Old Gendered Stuff.” Selfe explains in the first narrative that Americans have relied on technology doing the work for them; Americans have less effort doing the labor and have turned to technology for faster results. For example, instead of making that trip to the library to research about a subject or matter, we would rather resort to the internet as opposed to reading a lengthy book (more time consuming). Selfe urges, “Americans use technology to become world travelers, to learn about- and acquire knowledge of- other cultures, while remaining comfortably situated within their own living rooms and, thus comfortably separated from the other inhabitants of the global village.” She argues, just because we have watched it on the television, it does not mean we have truly experienced it. Therefore, when the technology does the labor for us (when the internet does the researching for us), granted that the results may come faster but the experience of pursuit is not attained (we have not really immersed ourselves in that book). In the second narrative, Selfe points out that America may indeed be a land of equal opportunity, but it is only the land of opportunity for some people. There are many different ethnicities from other parts of the world seeking permanent residence in America, but only those who can afford spending money on immigration requirements can make it. On Selfe’s third narrative, she talks about how technology was initially designed for men since women’s roles in the 1950s were housewives. But now, women go head to head with men; women are doing the same profession as men do. At the same time, we now have men prefer to be “housewives”. The point is there is no ruling on which profession belongs to what gender; both men and women escape the conventional references placed upon them.

I’d like to focus on her first narrative, “The Global Village and The Electronic Colony”. Technology has truly changed my life; I particularly rely on the internet to do the work for me like researching a subject matter as opposed to stepping out from my house to go to the library. I agree that the internet also has its downfalls seeing that for this case, I actually miss the experience in chasing the answer through reading books. Yet, I still maintain that the Internet comes very handy for me. I can send an email to a relative overseas and they instantly get my message. If I were to compose my message on a paper and actually mail the letter out, delivery would certainly take longer. They would most likely get my letter several days later. It would probably be okay if the message you want to convey is not that crucial, ofcourse it would be a joy to receive a tangible letter where you can see and feel the handwriting of the sender. However, I’m sure many would resort to the Internet when something crucial comes up and message must be sent instantly. Technology has its pros and cons. We can always limit ourselves from going overboard but the choice comes from us whether we want to make a change or just the same- happy the way use it.