I had been writing about my concern on natural disasters (e.g. here and here), specially stressed with earthquakes. My last entry was with Chile, now in early April 2010 a 7.2 earthquake shook Mexicali, Mexico , last week a 6.9 earthquake in Qinghai, China, and last night in Papua New Guinea.
Most of the dead tolls are our own fault. We support the growth of over-populated cities with lack of urbanism research and strategies. In addition we build low quality shelters, and so on.
Apparently most natural disaster are between the tropics.
However and unfortunately all the media I read, except of the article from Alain de Botton, a critical reflection point is missing: nature is making the obvious explicit. We need to slow down our life styles and harmonize with the rest of life forms in the planet. We should be wise, instead to pretend to be smarter than nature. The price of our stubbornness is rising every day. Anyway, we keep making history.
What I am proud of is the positive attitude of most of the travelers. Social Networks are the best!
Screenshot of #getmehome in Twitter. Great attitude from people!
I am impressed of the power of social media. No for the technology itself, I confess. I am marveled of what human beings can do as soon as they have the access and the know how to use technology.
Today my personal use of social media is limited to these three areas:
1. Research (main topics within technology enhanced learning and games research)
2. Re-connecting with my past
3. Keep myself informed about some actual events
Maybe it sounds not much, those topics, but the amount of information is huge 🙂 But even with these few topics, I can be sure that a new culture is raising strongly, a culture sustain by e-habits independently of the physical location, we are connecting ideas and people.
What I like and attracts me of social media is: I have opportunity to listen individuals in more “personal” basis and with natural language. It is not the demagogic speech, or the news built up to sell. We are talking about real and natural people.
Just to share a bit of what I mean:
Feb. 2010: from Chile’s earthquake:
f3rq RT @fieritacatalano: RT @briascoi: RT @aschek: Si estás en Chile y tienes WiFi, abre acceso para q otros puedan com. con sus seres queridos #terremotochile half a minute ago from Tweetie
//Translation: “If you are in Chile and you have WiFi, open its access so that others can communicate with their love ones”
ovario RT @layoli2000: RT @MonikaMDQ: Hoy Twitter sirvió para algo útil. La cruz roja localizó familiares de las víctímas por medio del hastag #terremotochile less than 20 seconds ago from TweetDeck
// Translation: “Today Twitter was useful. The red cross was able to localized family of victims through the hastag…” //
helua RT @lasseweb20: Qué interesante ver que la información en Twitter y Ustream es 10 veces mejor y actual que lo de CNN #terremotochile
//Translation: “How interesting to see that the information from Twitter and Ustream is 10 times better and actual versus CNN “//
Jan 2010: Foreigners after the earthquake in Haiti:
RT @carelpedre It’s sad! It’s Been 4 days now and we’re begging for some water on twitter!about 7 hours ago from Twitterrific
RT @jacquiecharles: 80% of dwntwn PAP gone. ” irony of life is all of the prisoners are out & judges are buried…,” said Michele Montas.
RT @jacquiecharles: Just left a pregnant woman who’s baby is dead inside her after beam fell. Red cross says mom has 12hrs to live. #Haiti half a minute ago from TweetDeck
RT @JimCarrey: watching Haitians singing in street, destroyed me. we never get as close to each other as do in these terrible moments #Haiti
act7286 You know what pisses me off? Our government never does even half as much to help our own people as it’s doing now for #haiti half a minute ago from web
Who is planning for the survivors? Victims need to start registering their name and lost. Coordination and leadership is cruciAl. 20 minutes ago from Echofon
many emotions,anger grief, survivors guilt everywhere – why did I survive, why was my house the only one left standing about 21 hours ago from web
Jan 2010: Hatians raising their voice after earthquake in Haiti.
Why organizations feel the need to advertise themselves in this momen of crisis.Could everyone just serve without worrying about recognition
Who is in charge in Haiti? Yes, it is important to know. Last I check, Haitians should be allowed free passage in their own country.
@MissionMANNA seriously, some Haitian leadership with a Haitian long term plan. We need international assistance, not control.
Now they want to focus attention on insecurity, while million are still homeless and suffering. What a shame. Haitians wake up please. about 22 hours ago from Echofon
It is no time to lead with emotion. We need calm head to prevail, and sound plan to be implemented If not, all these efforts will be a waste 9:51 PM Jan 18th from web
What is the difference between humanitarian relief and a military invasion? Urgency! How long did it take to invade Bagdad? about 22 hours ago from Echofon
Ki altenatif “what’s the alternative?”We have to remain strong and build back up from the rubbles.The youth of Haiti are still its best hope
As my focus right now is to finalize my thesis I can’t put much time on this right now :(, unfortunately, but I will :). There is so much ideas and emotions, hopes and frustrations triggered by social media. there are lives and it just deserves my attention and a reflection, which I want to share.
To finalize a photo from the city of Conception, Chile by Astro_Soichi. He is a Japanese astronaut in duty right now, and he has been sharing his photos on twitter. He is amazing!!!!
Concepcion, Chile. Photo taken from the space by Astro_Soichi few hours after the 8.3 earthquake
Since I first read the notice of the earthquake, I had been following closely. Maybe this time I identify a bit more as I lived the earthquake of Mexico ’85 on a fifth floor of a building.
My impotence and anger increases, not only for the wish to be helpful now, but because this is the result of SELFISHNESS and NEGLIGENCE, driven by POWER, CORRUPTION and CONSUMPTION. And, from my perspective, ALL of us are GUILTY.
The first simple common sense idea to support my claims is: aren’t we able to produce quality in our constructions? The shaking of the earth is not the problem, the problem is the low quality constructions of shelters, or the lack of proper maintenance. We know it – Governments listen: stealing the money or safe money of quality shelters has a high price.
Wondering….
….Wondering why people use the common resources no for the quality and improvement of the community, instead to seek cheap and fast solutions?
(I might assume that the “next” elections might have an answer)
…. Wondering why do we keep on supporting no-sustainable solutions? Example of this is the over populated cities instead to promote quality of life in harmonize medium and small communities.
(I might assume that macro-economy might have an answer)
…. Wondering why do we have to consume what we do not need? Do we need 20 pairs of ‘cheaper’ shoes made of plastic that makes them disposable and promote consumption using our no removable natural resources, or we need two pairs of quality shoes which even might last longer with local removable resources.
All our scope of “needs” can go through the same reflection: do we need to eat meat daily? Can you cultivate our own salad?
A growing list of painful questions increases in my head and in my heart daily. And with tragic human events that could be avoid, the query process increases exponentially… why? why? why? 🙁 .
With Haiti I just confirm: our self-generated destruction process is growing faster than we are even aware of it. This involves all of us and it will affect all of us.
Less quantity, more quality and beyond this more self-responsibility. Most of today’s catastrophes, of the human race and of our planet, are the result of our socio-economical-system that we created and it is destroying us.
More will come related to this topic, because the dead of thousands of people from the last natural disasters (or even millions if we start to add) cannot be only a piece of consuming sensationalist news. We should reflect seriously about this and beyond that take action to change the trend.
I can’t write more about this at this moment, I must finalize my commitment with my thesis first. Be my best and give my best effort is the primary way to contribute for a change
For me we, all of us, are humans and each one has unique characteristics. You can find any type of personalities in any gender and culture. Each person has its own weak and strong sides. But I admit, the presenter of this video made me laugh 🙂
Perhaps that is one deep root of my lack of focus 😛 “everything is connected to everything”…
Three main points create me conflict and/or impotence:
1) Digital technology is a powerful and fragile tool.
One of the reasons why I see it powerful is because it can connect ideas, reflections, experiences, without physical boundaries. One reason why I think it is fragile is because without infrastructure (besides accessibility and know how) is useless.
A pencil or even a crayon is less fragile than a mobile phone. For example it can survive better natural disasters than a whole wireless or electricity network require for a mobile phone to work. Things to think about….
2) We see only what we want to see, and what media allows us to see.
In the transition from Sept to October 2009, millions of lives have been changed due to natural disasters just in Asia alone. My records only have the following events:
Earthquake: 30 Sept and 1 Oct – Earthquake Sumatra Padang. This one shocks me specially after I lived the earthquake of Mexico 1985, Yes, I have a trauma about it, but one can’t forget these type of events. This video of the land-sliding from the earthquake in Padang just freezes me, wondering if deforestation played a role.
Typhoons: Late Sept. Ketsana hit specially the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. Even countries with “strong” infrastructure are being affected as Japan with another typhoon.
Those are only few tragedies, no idea how many are present. And yes I know natural disasters are always present, I shouldn’t get that surprise someone could say.
But what makes me wonder today is the press (at least the one that I usually read) hardly cover these events. Those sources of information are focusing in other matters as politics and fraud. Hmmmm…. if I remember well in December 2004, with the Tsunami where citizens of several western countries were victims, the same press I read had bigger coverage about this. I do not want to speculate, but…
… from what we are “allow” to see, we only see what we can see and want to see.
3) We have information about climate change through digital and not digital formats. But how many of this information indicates how to change our behaviors to diminish this.
Wondering who generates most of the CO2? who are the ones who demand more raw material to produce “x”? Who are the ones who flight? who are the ones who waste heater and air conditioner in their houses? Who consumes most of the meat produced overseas? Who are the ones who use driers? who uses a car only for one person? how many products wrap with layers of plastic do we buy?, who produces most of the e-Waste? ….
Each one of our actions are like a grain of sand. One grain might look insignificant, but all together form wonderful beaches. The same happened with disasters.
Even that I am a privilege person and have access to quality of information about how to be a better human for my planet, and I want to help and do things right. My trace of CO2 surely supports the actual disasters in Asia, and other countries….. I declare myself guilty 🙁
No related to environment, but related with lack of understanding to take proper action. This year I have 8 papers rejected in a row. I appreciate the referees’ feedback as they had stressed that focus is my main problem. I knew it, but I can’t fix it yet. Should I declare myself guilty too?
*** All these makes me think….
It is not enough to get the information on how to improve something. It needs to be adapted to the reality of the listener, to support as much as possible the understanding of such information. Learners are smart, and if it is close to their ZPD they will do fine and get into proper action.
But how can I change/improve “X” if the information that I seemed to understand is not linked to my reality?, less to the ZPD. The clearer this information is adapted to my reality, the possibility increases to get close to my ZPD, and then move in some direction instead to follow an inertia.
It is not matter that others do my job or live my life, or lecture me about something. I want to understand how to improve and do things. I would imagine this happens with all the topics, and with all the persons.
*** Do not give up….
If I succeed with myself one day, I am optimistic that maybe I could support others to success by themselves afterward.
My research, baptized as Hypercontextualized Game, seeks to create awareness in-site about specific subject matter. It is paradoxical, right? I want to be an expert of my weakest side.
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Then, my conflict makes me feel helpless when I know with my mind and my heart that something must be done. I kind of figure it out a proposal to take action to solve something, but I can’t succeed to make my message clear neither match my actions with my intentions.
My conflict makes me feel helpless when I see how humans are working constantly to make of our planet a mess. I do not understand humans and I do not want to do the same, but at the end I am one of them doing the same 🙁
