sahar_intsem1_final_researchpaper_17dec2015

As I begin to imbibe the words on the   pages it is evident to us readers that Carr’s goal is to analyze the course of technological development to predict the effects it will have in the future and more importantly the outcome that it will have on the minds of the human race. He describes how our natural neurological ability has been altered. Our natural instinct  towards the way we think has   changed. While the hyperlinks propel us   to the vast transitional phases that make up the ‘net,’ we study our means of external research and its extensive effects.

 

While it is considered to alter our cognitive ability, its effects go beyond that. Our neurological capacity   has the ability to   propel itself into several physical changes as well. As the universal medium of the ‘net,’ expands   its limitless boundaries, the fear of it restricting and clogging the lobes of our memory and thoughts forms the basis of Carr’s research.

While we   study   the   practice   of reading, we begin to   understand how reading on the   internet not only drives us away from the traditional undertaking of this art, but changes the way   we think as well. The magnitude of this force goes beyond our understanding and highlights the startling significance it has in our own lives.

 

While we take it upon ourselves to avoid reading in the traditional sense, our entire neurological structure begins to function differently transforming us as individuals. If the phrase, ‘we are how we read,’ does in fact hold true we begin to realize   that when we read online we become mere ‘decoders of information.’ This thus presents us with the alarming thought of stalling only at the surface of what all of knowledge has to offer, restricting us from the broad domain that intellect presents.

If we begin to study our mental meshwork, the dense connections formed among the nerve cells constantly break old connections and form new ones. Thus the course of its development never does end. It is constantly on a path of transition and the external influence of   the ‘net,’ impel this neurological occurrence.

 

The internet has morphed its way towards becoming our everything. The effect of the internet doesn’t ‘begin and end at the edges of a computer screen.’ In Carr’s own words, ‘Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives- or exerted such   broad influence over our thoughts- as the Internet does today.’

As we grow closer towards analyzing how   it is in fact reprogramming us,   it is my belief that the human race treads   on a continuous path of development. This process   of evolution transformed us from our ancestral apes and will continue to define who we are in the future. It is important for us to understand that our neurological changes can not be limited to the realm of technology as its cause goes beyond our control following the studies of Charles Darwin. The process of natural selection can not be restricted to our physical state alone.

 

The internet   brings the knowledge of the world closer to us, closing in the dimensions of the universe and the diverse sphere of possibility. It allows us  to access the vast realm of the universe with a touch of a button.

Carr describes how, ‘The more pieces of information we can “access” and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers.’ As we scan through online resources we begin to erode the essence of what it represents. While the tedious method of gaining knowledge is time consuming   it has the ability to allow us to learning until we come across what we’re looking for. This expands the extent to which we gather knowledge rather than the internet that restricts us to what we need to know in that particular moment in time.

 

Google has evolved to become more than just a search engine as it begins to define our intelligence, creating limitations to the knowledge we receive. It is an artificial intelligence that dominates us in more ways than we can imagine. Intelligence alone now appears to be an output of a mechanical process. As we transition from page to page; and from link to link, Google and other such search engines collect information about us and   feed us advertisements. We thus witness how the internet is steeped in commercial capitalism.

 

The cyber world is a realm unto its self. Its a dimension that can not be seen or touched but only easily accessed. Life would be unimaginable without it.. As we have transitioned from Neanderthals to Homo Sapiens Sapiens we have encountered several transformative elements from the discovery of fire to writing and finally to the development of computers. Each element has lead to our progress and thus the evolution of the human race. I believe that rather than questioning each aspect of our advancement we must consider its benefits. Each transformative experiences has lead into the other creating the world we live in today. It is my hope that the vast possibility of the Internet will help transition us towards our future. We will always continue  to evolve as it is the one inevitable truth to life. The internet is an intrinsic aspect of the century. The poignant conclusion is that the ‘artificial intellect,’ stems from us alone. We dominate it! Google is a search engine but while we refer to it we also point our fingers to the people controlling it at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

It isn’t a question of computers taking over us as it is our   invention. As for the Internet, it too is a manipulation of the human mind. In the end we alone are the masters of our own fate.

As Carr concludes, ‘That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy: as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.’

 

The Edges of Personality

 

 

 

 

Is there any coherence to the human mind?

As we study the biological structure of the   brain we can grow to understand the proximity of the cerebellum to the cerebrum and the relation of the cranial nerves to the corpus callosum.

When we delve into the study of   psychoanalysis   we come into one of the most complex studies the human mind could we could enter. We attempt to unravel the multiple layers of psychology. This dynamic   study of the mind can not be seen. Its implications, however, in terms of   the law are structured within the barrios of black and white. Psychoanalysis is a study that transcends the limits of human understanding. As I begin to explore the twisted nature of criminology and how it is inextricably linked with personality, it is yet   to be seen whether a conclusion on the subject is possible or not.

Is it possible for something as complex as the criminal mind to be controlled within the parameters of law?

Crime could be defined as an act that deserves punishment in the eyes of society. Countering this is law, a convention adopted for the uphold what we consider to be a well regulated society. The two go hand in hand and form an inextricable link to one another.

Due to the complexity of psychology, the only way we are allowed access into the criminal mind is though layers and layers of interrogatory techniques that propel the thoughts of the victim outward towards our understanding.

The construct of criminology lies between two theories. While it could be influenced by external conditions such as alcoholism and poverty, it could also be inextricably linked to an individual by virtue of genetics. The defect is only known to the individual and it is a mission to allow for its reveal.

While there is no definite criminal type, if this doth be a disease we carve the path of diagnosis. In the words of Smith M. Hemblin, it is but   ‘the light from the stormy road which we have to travel.’ He continues to make the profound statement, ‘The very last thing which a man desires to understand is himself.’

We thus commence our journey towards its disentanglement.

 

Our attempt at unlocking the secrets of the human mind involves exposing the realm of the unconscious mind.

Hypnotism allows for the subject’s consciousness to be completely obliterated with their memory of forgotten events improving greatly. There are, however, obvious objections to its use as it doesn’t fall under the umbrella of psychoanalysis making it   as convoluted as the subject concerned.

 

Word Association is a powerful technique that aims at interacting with the subject through a quick exchange of words, constantly probing the unconscious towards formulating a greater understanding. In this case, the responses of the subject are noted along with paying attention to the time taken for the response. Peculiar reactions are noted carefully and further propel our understanding of   psychology. It is not, however, as simple as it seems. If we begin to formulate our own theories towards what the subject’s complexes are, we are certain to be led astray.

 

Free Association is another technique of psychoanalysis that suspends the subjects thoughts to only then narrate any memory or thought that comes in relation to his/her symptoms.

 

The Interpretation of Dreams, often referred to as the ‘royal road to the unconscious,’ can be viewed under a scientific approach. Freud describes how each dream is the fulfillment of both conscious as well as unconscious wishes. It is where the unconscious desires produce mental disturbances. The displacement, condensation and symbolization hold a magnitude of meaning all reasoning the greater subject of distortion.

 

 

Consulting all the above theories, it is up to the psychoanalyst   to break down the resistances which keep the repressed complexes in the unconscious. It is only when the resistances are broken down that the complexities reveal their own identities. The rise of the complexes to the consciousness, detaching the nucleus from its surrounding emotions into fresh channels.

 

After analyzing all the interrogatory techniques, we understand that they are themselves experimental. There is a lot of conjecture that is used to develop these theories to eventually formulate answers. These loose ends fail to carve their path towards a definite direction. Most importantly, I believe that it is the instinct of the   psychoanalyst that can guide the study in order to formulate answers. The course of the study progresses along   multiple shades of   grey coloring in the lines of understanding. It is therefore evident that   there is never any one way of going about this. Not one of the interrogatory techniques listed above has the ability to assure secure and accurate conclusions.

 

An example of  interrogatory techniques going wrong revolves around the classic case of murderer Kenneth Bianchi, a criminal who faked his mental disorder. While under hypnosis, Bianchi convinced several respected experts that it wasn’t he who committed the murder of a dozen women, but his alter ego “Steve.” Had his diagnosis of multiple personality disorder been enforced, Bianchi would have been allowed to plead not guilty by virtue of insanity. According to statistics ‘out of those assessed for a psychiatric disorder, about   7% are believed to be faking.’

 

This instinctive process   and development of the human mind is, however, contradicted by the stark nature of law that divides its course into the definite colors of black and white, allowing for a structured and almost   restrictive body.

As   I read ‘Criminal Law,’ by Jonathan Herring I began to study the contrast of the parallel diversion of law and order. It defines crime only to establish a punishment.             Is  it  possible  for  something  as  complex  as  the  criminal  mind  to  be  controlled  within  the  parameters of  law? Insanity  has  never  been  defined  legally.

 

 

One of the most fascinating and horrifying criminal activity in existence revolves around the case of Ian Brady the ‘Moors Murderer.’ Raised by foster parents in Glasgow’s toughest slums, Brady’s unstable personality was the cause of an unstable upbringing. He had a strange fascination with the Nazis and the writings of Nietsche. His devious deeds of having killed five children caused a magnitude of uprising and resonates his villainy. Instead of remaining behind bars, Brady’s sentence was shifted to the high security psychiatric institution of Ashworth due to a diagnosis based on mental illness. It was only in the year 2013 that Brady has claimed that to have been a proficient display of method acting.

 

This is an astounding and convoluted display of human behavior. To think that an individual would try to overcome punishment by hiding behind the twisted shackles of   criminology and insanity. This gives rise to many questions particularly concerning its association with the law. Is it possible to fake having a mental defect? Is it right for the law to adapt itself towards insanity when any of act of that magnitude can only be committed by someone insane regardless of mental illness coming   into the picture?

Can the law, rigid as it is, ever define this complexity of the human mind?

 

Here lies a very fine line. My conclusion resides in the fact that it is up to you, the reader, to draw up your own resolution on the matter. The vagueness clouds our vision and displays a great deal of grey matter. If I were to conjure up a result of my study it would be to define a middle ground between the distorted shards of psychology and the concrete hardness of the law. I will therefore allow the thought to linger in   the midst of your memory as this contradiction serves to be one of the most prevalent in our time.

Any act of criminality is insanity in itself. It does not need to be defined by an illness and be adapted under the structure of   law.

The argument on the subject continues.