Video Conference with Roy Christopher

    There was a lot said during the one hour interview, the beginning was mainly giving us all background on who Roy Christopher is and what he is working on. Then things started to get interesting once people in class submitted questions. What really caught my attention were his thoughts on multi-tasking, knowledge on technology, and the way older generations perceive the newer ones.
    His stance on multi-tasking was that it was improbably, a "myth". He said that if you want something to be your best work then you must give this one thing all of your attention. He also went on to say that he feels that when he has one project to do he does better on it than when he has multiple ones because his mind is only focused on that one project. I completely agree, yes you can do two things at once but they will be a poor representation of what you are capable of. 
    He also brought up "Program or be Programmed" by Douglas Rushkoff. It is a book that talks about whether we should take charge of technology or let ourselves be ruled by it and those that have mastered it. He made an analogy to having a car. You don't have to know how the car works to drive it but it does have its advantages. When your car breaks down, a person that knows their car in&out can find the problem while those that do not will have to seek help. Knowing the ins and outs of the technology you are using will ultimately benefit you because then you can control exactly what you put out there and what you share with others (those you know and do not know).
   The one thing that I thought was cool to hear was that he acknowledged the fact that older generations sort of look down on the younger generations because of their tech savvy ways. He said that they were just "jealous" basically because we understood most of it. It reminded me of our discussion about memes, they create and in & out crowd. The out crowd is usually resentful at the fact that they are not "in". But going back to the main point, what I took from it was that no matter what time period we are in the older generation will feel as though the younger one is not ready to take on "adult problems". However, if we are expected to fail then it could potentially become a self-fulfilling prophecy.




In all I thought this was a very interesting and informative experience. It is not every day that you can get feedback and insight from the author of an article you read. I hope we get to do this again this school year.