Looking into the Future

My bright opinion on Artificial Intelligence is that our world is developing so quickly that the control  is out of our hands. Technology updates every second. In "Be Right Back" everything is remotely portrayed in the scene, you see self generated cars, robots, and computers. The fact that Ash's fiancé could actually become in  contact with Ash when he died is fairly amazing. Ash 2 was remotely in a cloud and she could link with him through email and could see his private life and could talk to him over the phone. Ash 2 operated off of pornographic videos when it came to sexual activity and he stayed within the boundaries of a robot function causing no harm towards the opposing person.I think the viewers founded it to be uncanny when Ash 2 appeared just because they were aware of whom he really was and the robotic him did not perform the exact actions as him. This Non toxic figure caused corruption to Ash's Fiancé, because it did not bring back the real him it was only a minute-lasting memory. When we are reintroduce to something that we cannot seem to fix or bring back we end up becoming frustrated within our selves or either more emotional. For Example, when we talked about Bruce Jenner in class some students thought that his new figure was uncanny, because they were aware of the original Bruce. Technology can be merely helpful but yet a knock down cause it's  becoming a disruption to society as a whole. For example, When we turn to Facebook, twitter, Instagram or Snapchat we see so many outrageous events going on such as discrimination, bullying, exposing, and etc. Our society is turning and is becoming more comfortable with this type of source because it's so attractive and we can't resist the rise it brings, it gives us a reason to fight back and voice our opinion cause we want to be heard and social media is one of the most outreaching way we can do that. On the helpful side with the situation of Ash's daughter becoming associated with the robotic him, I believe that it is strange yet unusual. Most people find it very creepy that the little girl is aware of the robot, and I think that it is important to introduce a child to their long lost family member. Kids should Become associated with their family members  dead or alive whether it's by picture, a charm, or a robotic presentation. When we are younger we are more exposed to certain things such as parents performing free actions because they feel as though as a kid you don’t know any better, but kids actually feed off of adults actions.. I believe it was precise that the little girl was introduced to the figure when she was younger because children tend to have higher cognitive functions at an early age. By then kids are experiencing the world more and recognizing the ways that we cope with certain situations. Moreover, Robotics is taking over our nation and will soon be taking our positions. I believe that Robots will conquer our jobs cause they perform multiple actions and work faster than we can. We as humans cannot work all day without a break, but Robots can. Overall, we see the development of AI increasingly becoming present in our lives and the fact that we know is worrisome.

Be Right Back: The Remorse of Copying the Dead.

 In this episode of Black Mirror, a couple named Ash and Mar are living a typical life until a terrible accident occur that cause Mar to lose her significant other. As the show continues, she suffers a great loss but attempts to deal with her grief by replacing or copying a digital software of Ash or Robo-Ash as you may say. It starts off merely as a way to communicate with Ash to reduce the amount of pain she receives because of his death.

  As matter of fact, I found the software very intriguing because of its capabilities to develop a more realistic form, as more information is fed to it. It first starts off gathering information from online sources such as social media but soon was open to other information as Mar gave it access to emails and private information. One aspect I find quite similar to Robo- Ash is the comparison of Mar being pregnant and Robo-Ash development. We all know and understand that a baby develops as you teach it or in Robo-Ash case, give it access to more information.

  The first time Mar spoke on the phone with Robo-Ash it triggered a sense of attachment. Eventually, she took it to the next level creating a living android of him. She soon realizes this was a huge mistake because he only knew the information he was presented.  He would act more like an Android then a human that was programmed to be more realistic. It seems quite confusing that she wants him to be more like Ash instead of Robo-Ash when he is essentially a software program. Robo-Ash would follow commands just like a robot or dog would do instead of acting on its own.

   Also, the way she dealt with grieve throughout the episode was quite similar to where she lives. It seems as if she lives in a very isolated location far away from any source of society. The irony of her isolation and her way of dealing with grieve are very similar to each other. Instead of having her friends and family support her in her pain and sorrow, Robo-Ash was supposed to help her go through the pain. Sadly, Robo-Ash had some kinks in him that reduce the amount of realisticness.

  Overall, the episode was quite interesting seeing Mar deal with the pain of her dead partner in a different form. The concept of Robo-Ash was interesting to see it fail but I believe the idea is truly a success but the task it was given in this episode was not quite the right task for this concept. Grieve should be dealt with family and friends that can provide moral support instead of looking for a replacement that causes more damage than good.

Could The Use of A.I. Be a Potential Coping Mechanism for Grief?

      Let's face it, everyone is bound to face grief at some point in their life. Some individual's grief are greater than others, but there is also another way we are different (yet the same): our comping mechanisms. Everyone reacts differently to the death of a loved one. This blog post will be a reflection about an episode from Black Mirror. Now let's set the stage, in the episode "Be With Me" a young lady is faced with the sudden death of her fiance. She is struck with grief and behaves like anyone else would in that situation. Or maybe she behaves like how we are used to seeing it. She displays the common behavioral reactions associated with grief: detachment from family and changes in interest, and etc. Then, she does something  we are not used to seeing. She gets an A.I (artificial intelligence) of her recently passed loved one. What I am here to discuss today is how this technology will change the way he handle and perceived grief. Initially, upon hearing about this situation, I immediately believed that the use of an A.I would be an extremely unhealthy way to deal with grief. But then a fellow college of mine raised an important question,

What exactly is the healthy way of dealing with grief.  The American Psychological Association defines unhealthy grief as, "something that prolongs suffering, interrupts normal activities or prevents life from being lived to the fullest." The source states that one of the basic reasons individuals cope this way is that the person has an excessive need to maintain interaction with the person be who died. By this definition, I believe that the A.I was an unhealthy comping mechanism. She began to rely heavily on it for her emotional needs and began to cut those around her off. Eventually, I believe that the widow realizes that she is merely clinging to the memory of her fiance. She puts him up in the attic to move on. However, I would also like to discuss more about the company that produces these A.I.


          On a further note, I would also like to  address some things about the company that makes this product. What exactly is their mission statement? Does this company truly care about its customers and truly belief that this is a healthy coping mechanism? Or maybe do we need to rethink and revise "healthy" ways of dealing with grief? Or does the company solely care about its profit and created a sick idea of profiting off their customers' emotions/ Usually, a company priorities it profit over the initial well-being of its customer. This business seems to take full advantage of the weakness one faces during grief. My initial thought of this makes me believe that they take advantage of their currently irrational minds and make a profit.

Dealing with grief and changing as a person

In season two episode one of the Netflix series Black Mirror, the character Martha loses her husband due to an unforeseen traffic incident. In an attempt to cope with her loss she is enrolled in an experimental program that seeks to re-create a person using online information. She eventually develops attachment to this artificial intelligence model of her husband and is encouraged into purchasing a synthetic replica. After some time she decides that this replica is not an honest representation of the man that she loved and attempts to convince it to commit suicide.

Throughout this story we can see Martha struggling through the five stages of grief set out by the Kübler-Ross model. These stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When first contacting the artificial intelligence imitating her late husband Ash, Martha refers to her husband in the past tense. Near the 20 minute mark she changes over into the present tense when referring to the synthetic Ash she is talking to.  

The addition of a synthetic version of Ash only blocks Martha moving into the acceptance stage of grief. For the majority of the episode Martha is stuck in the bargaining phase, seeking a way to change reality and reunite with her husband. The lack of acceptance begins to have a negative social impact on Martha. She begins to ignore her friends and family in favor of spending more time with “Ash”. Her physical isolation reinforces this social isolation, meaning that the remoteness of her home allows for minimal contact with any sort of support net that her family could provide. I'm not sure if the ending is truly a full acceptance of her husband's passing.

Changing the focus to “Ash”, there are several problems with the implementation of this android. Besides the obvious lack of some character traits, such as taste in music and a shared history, Ash is sourced from social media posts. This does not always give a true representation of an individual, filtering out many hardships and character flaws. This design also lacks the capacity to change and develop as an individual. From what we are shown of the future, the android has remained the same while Martha has been changed by events. The android seems to be able to learn new skills and interactions but lacks the capacity to fundamentally change itself. However, it is obvious that this is an early model of android, unable to faithfully reproduce simple interactions such as sleeping or eating. Perhaps as this theoretical technology develops, problems such as these will be dealt with in socially acceptable ways. Perhaps aiming for androids that act as individuals, rather than attempting to fill the role of a human, will allow for less problems going forward.

I believe it is a combination of these factors that led to the separation of the two characters. Martha was changed by the loss of her husband. However, the android Ash was unable to change his personality to better reflect what Martha needed going forward. Martha’s statement that the real Ash may have had punched her demonstrates that the android was unable to adapt to a new situation that had not existed before in the life of Ash.

The Future is NOW

Recently, discussion centered Artificial Intelligence is making headlines on social media, and the public's reaction has not been so friendly. So, what is Artificial Intelligence, and why are people so disturbed?

Artificial Intelligence (AI), defined by TechTarget, is "the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. These processes include learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using the rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions) and self correction." While very few are excited for AI to integrate in society, many others are terrified and in all honesty, their feelings are understandable.

Masahiro Mori, a robotics professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, wrote an essay on how he believed people would react to human like robots. His hypothesis did not garner attention at first, but it became notable in recent years. In his essay "Uncanny Valley," he predicted that a person would change from empathy to repulsion as "it approached, but failed to attain, a lifelike appearance." The diagram below is a visual representation of the dip humans will experience. The less human something is, the better. For instance, industrial machines and stuffed animals would fall on the left side of the graph. However, if something closely resembles a healthy human but is NOT human, we will feel empathetic up until a certain point. Zombies, corpses, and robots would fall into the point called the Uncanny Valley.



Sophia the Robot, created by Hanson Robotics, has been trending on Twitter for a while. She is able to do more than 60 facial expressions, walk, and hold conversations. In 2017, she became a Saudi Arabian and was named the first UN Innovation Champion. Sophia has also done interviews with celebrities like Will Smith, and modeled for magazine. We can all agree that Sophia the Robot is definitely challenging the norm.



The Uncanny Valley does not just apply to robots. The Polar Express is a 3D computer-animated film released in 2004. We all remember this movie and how it brings back Christmas memories, but The Polar Express was not so favorable at first. The film has been criticized for dipping into uncanniness. Some people were creeped out and even had recalled having nightmares. Although we clearly do not find the film disturbing today, the characters we grew to love were a little too eerie for some viewers.

But is AI any different than what we're experiencing right now? Let's face it, we are living in the "future." Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, especially within the last 25 years. In my lifetime alone, I experienced a fast change in technology. I remember dial-up internet access, flip phones, the first handheld Nintendo, and the list goes on. Now, we have smartphones that can do almost anything, especially with the internet at its peak.

Our society is already integrating AI in daily life, and the industry is close to a breakthrough. The AI that we know right now is only testing the waters to see how the public reacts. It is not just its “unlike-like” appearance that has everyone shaking in their boots; it is the possibility that these AIs can take away job opportunities later on. With voice recognition on smartphones mastered, innovators are not far from perfecting humanlike robots. Just like self-checkout machines and many other automated systems, I predict robots taking over the customer service field. I just don’t know how I feel about it.

 Do you think robots are going to become an integral part of society soon? Why or why not?

Is this healthy grieving Martha?

In the episode "Be Right Back " Martha loses her husband as they were just about to move into a new home far from town. Suddenly, she loses her husband as he was suppose to be returning the van. Nevertheless she helps her grieving process by using an app to talk to " Ash" again. My personal thoughts on her actions has me tongue tied. The first point I want to make is that when you lose someone close to you, there's a reason. Martha may not have been mentally ready to lose Ash but sadly, it was his time and she has to respect that. Instead, she continues to force Ash back into her life which is unhealthy and hurts her even more. There are many people in society that lose someone close to them and wishes they could have them back, but they cant. Due to that, they have to face the fact that their loved ones are in their life spiritually and should stay that way. My question is, if Martha decided to spend the rest of her life with this replica of Ash, does her family know? Before her daughter was born, how long was she going to force Ash to come back. There's a certain extinct Martha should've went with Ash's replica. It would have been best for her to continue to remodel the house how she wanted to, and went out and found someone new. When she had her baby girl did she truthfully tell her why Ash's replica was in the attic? Did she tell her why she had him? If so, I would've have loved to see her families reaction, that's if she owned up to her doings and told them. If Martha would've told me she ordered someone online that looked like her dead husband, I understand the lesson we learned in class as if people who lived in the earlier time thought photographs were creepy, but you have to come to your senses with this situation. Can you touch someone in a picture? No, but you can with a replica. Can you talk to someone in  picture and get a response? No, but Martha surely did with Ash. Can you have sex or kiss someone for the last time in a picture? Lastly, no but we know who did. Pictures are to remind who of who that person was in one pose not in several, along with voice. How can I move on if I keep revisiting the past every morning? Martha knows what she is doing is unhealthy and I understand she's hurt, but she will continue to be hurt as long as she continues to put herself through what she's doing.

Cailyn's Thoughts About the Deceased Living Once More

The Be Right Back Black Mirror episode was certainly interesting. What are my thoughts exactly on this episode? Well, I’m not even sure if I know myself. The episode begins depicting a young happy couple living what seems to be a normal life; later, the husband gets up to drive their rental car back to where they got it, and never returns. The brokenhearted widow finds out she is pregnant and her depression worsens. Her friend tells her about a new technological advance that can trace all her husbands social media accounts and allow her to communicate with him through chat or phone call. Although at first hesitant, the widow finally decides to chat her deceased husband, Ash. She becomes familiar with this device and seems to be enjoying talking to his activated voice everyday. The voice tells her she can kick it up a notch and explains how she can have a body put together that looks just like him; she agrees and activates this body(This is when the episode became more eerie). The new Ash sounds and looks like the old Ash, but you can tell something is missing, the android acts sort of robotic and monotone. She soon becomes upset because she realizes the android is like the old Ash, but does not have all of him there, like some specific gestures and thoughts he would have. He was so close to being like the old Ash, but was not, and that's what made her so upset. (This relates to the uncanny valley theory) She tries to get him to jump off of a cliff, but is not strong enough to go through with it. The episode jumps farther into the future and in conclusion we see that she hides him in her attack, only letting her daughter see him on the weekends. At first this episode troubled me greatly, and I thought the idea of bringing alive an android to represent someone who had deceased was wrong and would never happen; however, after discussing the episode in class, I realized this may not be as crazy as it sounds. As Dr. J stated, a hundred years ago, people probably thought the idea of hearing another person through phone/machine was weird and unlikely, maybe even scary. Now we can relate this to our present situation, while we sit here and think about how creepy it would be to have a robotic technology represent someone in our lives who had died, this could be the norm for us in the future. Personally, I believe if this ever became reality, I would not activate or bring back someone from the dead in the form of an android. I believe we go through hardships and deaths in life for a reason, and part of that reason is to become mentally stronger human beings, therefore, I would not bring back someone I knew in the from of an android, because it seems it would make moving on more difficult. What are your thoughts about this episode, and if you had the option to bring back someone in this way, would you?

Welcome to your Class Blog!

Welcome to the blog-home for Dr. J's Contemporary Moral Issues course! For the second half of the semester, we will be turning our attention to contemporary moral problems generated by the increasingly complicated interactions between human life, on the one hand, and the various technologies humans have created to make their/our life "better," on the other hand.  This site will serve as a forum for students to discuss the lectures, readings, and films we cover in class, raise interesting questions we may not have addressed during our regular IRL time together, make connections between our course material and current real-world events, and engage in an ongoing digital conversation with one another, Prior to this point in the semester, your progress and understanding has been assessed through objective quizzes and symposia.  This is your chance to demonstrate that you also can express your ideas and arguments in written form-- which is, of course, the second (and essential) part of our daily mantra "Read more. Write more. Think more. Be more."

First, if you don't know ANYTHING about blogs or blogging, there are (fortunately) lots of tutorials out there to help!  If you have a specific question, you can usually find the answer to it at the Blogger Help Center.  (For a quick YouTube introduction to blogging, I suggest you check out the "Complete List of Blogger Tutorials" available online.)  The two most helpful links you can consult are How to Create, Edit, or Delete a Post and How to Add Images and Video to Your Blogpost.That's the amazing thing about the internet, of course... you can learn to do almost anything with a few clicks!

BLOGGING ASSIGNMENTS:
Each student will be required to submit ONE BLOG POST (minimum 400 words) for each of the weeks that we do films in class (Be Right Back, White Bear, and Catfish) before SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT. The topic of your post may include anything that we discussed the previous week. Students are also required to post THREE COMMENTS on their classmates' posts before the following WEDNESDAY AT MIDNIGHT. There is no minimum word-limit for comments, but comments must be substantive.

Before posting to the blog, students must "label" their blog posts with the appropriate time of their section (i.e., "10am," "11am," or "1pm"). This is very important because unlabeled posts will not appear on the blog and will not receive credit.

Students are strongly encouraged to compost their posts in the "Post" box provided on Blogger, rather than copying-and-pasting from another document. Unless you are adept at correcting your format in HTML, your post will not appear correctly if you use the copy-and-paste function.

You can find a link to your Blogging Assignment Schedule in the sidebar to the right. You will also find a link to the Blog Grading Rubric in the sidebar to the right (also downloadable here), which explains in detail how I will grade your work on this blog.

Students are ultimately responsible for making sure their blogposts "look right," are labelled with the correct section time, and are posted before the deadline.  

It's important to know that blog-writing differs from the writing you might do for "traditional" papers in some ways, but not in others. Here are some things to think about as you compose your posts and comments:

WHEN POSTING:

• Do not wait until the last minute to write your post! Students should think of the blog as a community exercise. In this community, Authors are responsible for generating discussion and Commenters are responsible for continuing and elaborating upon it. In order for the Commenters to be able to provide the best commentary they can, it is necessary that Authors do not wait until the last minute to post entries in any given week. Like traditional papers, it is almost always obvious when a student has elected to write his or her blog-post at the last minute, as it ends up being either overly simple, poorly conceived, or poorly edited. Your contribution to the blog discussion is important, so take care to show the respect to your classmates that you would expect them to show you.
• Be concise, but also precise. The greatest challenge of blog-writing is to communicate complex ideas in a minimal amount of words. It is important that you keep your posts short, in keeping with the 400-word assignment format, but also that you do not sacrifice the clarity or completeness of your ideas for the sake of brevity.
• Be focused. If you find that your blog-entry is too long, it is likely because you have chosen too large a topic for one post. (Consider splitting up long entries into two or more posts.) It should be eminently clear, on the first reading, what your blog post is explaining/asking/arguing. 
• Use the Post Title to clearly state the subject of your entry. DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE A POST TITLE.
• Choose a topic that will prompt discussion. The measure of a good blog post is how much commentary it can generate. To that end, do not use your blog posts for simple exegesis or to revisit questions already settled in class. Good discussion-generators often include bold claims about, or original interpretations of, our classroom materials (lectures, texts, films, etc). Connecting the course material to current events or controversies is also a good way to generate discussion. Pay special attention to in-class conversations, as many of the issues that generate discussion in class will also generate discussion on the blog.
• Proofread. Proofread. PROOFREAD. As a rule, blog-writing is (slightly) less formal than the writing you might do for a paper you hand in to your professor. For example, you may write in the first person, and a more "conversational" style is usually acceptable. However, blog writing with glaring punctuation, spelling or grammatical mistakes not only will be difficult to read and understand, but also will greatly diminish the credibility of its Author. DO NOT "COPY AND PASTE" the text of your post into the blog's "new post" box, as you will inevitably end up with a format that is difficult to read. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the formatting buttons above, and ALWAYS preview your post before publishing it.
• Make use of the "extras" provided by new technology. When you write a traditional paper for class, you don't have many of the opportunities that blog-writing affords. Take advantage of the technologies available here to insert images, embed video or employ hyperlinks to other relevant materials.
• Respond to your commenters. After you write a post, you should stay abreast of all the commentary your post generates. If you are asked for clarification by a commenter, or if one of your claims is challenged, it is the your responsibility to respond.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY be sure to LABEL your post with the start-time of your class before your click publish.  If you do not do this, your post will not show up on the blog and you will not receive credit!

WHEN COMMENTING ON OTHERS' POSTS:

• Read carefully BEFORE you comment. The biggest and most frequent error made by commenters is also the most easily avoidable, namely, misreading or misunderstanding the original post. Don't make that error!
• Simple agreement or disagreement is not sufficient. There is no word-limit for comments, but if you make a comment on another's post, you are required to say something substantive in your comment. Sometimes it will be the case that you fully agree or disagree with an Author's post. However, a comment that simply states "I agree" or "I disagree" will not count for credit. You MUST provide detailed reasons for your agreement or disagreement in your comment.
• Evidence works both ways. Often, the source of disagreement between a Poster and a Commenter will involve a matter of interpretation. If a Poster makes an objectionable (or false) claim about something that is verifiable-- for example, textual claims, statistical claims, historical claims, claims about current events, or claims about  any other evidentiary matters-- he or she MUST be prepared to provide evidence in support of his or her claims.  The same goes for commenters.  If you want to disagree about a matter of fact, you MUST provide evidence for your disagreement.  Hyperlinks are everyone's friend.
• NO flaming allowed!:  "Flaming" is defined as "a hostile or insulting interaction between Internet users."  Students should be reminded that disagreement, all by itself, does not constitute disrespect, nor does it count as "flaming" However, threatening, intimidating, belittling, name-calling, or otherwise inappropriate and/or reasonably objectionable language does count as flaming.  Engage your classmates on the blog with the same consideration and respect that you would in class.

Although this blog is viewable by anyone on the Web, participants have been restricted to udents enrolled in PHIL220 only. This means that only students enrolled in PHIL220 this semester at CBU can post or comment on this blog. However, please be aware that anyone can read this blog, so students should take special care to support the claims that they make, to edit their posts and comments judiciously, and to generally represent themselves in conversation here as they would in public.

I am very much looking forward to reading your work here over the next several weeks!

Dr.J

safestreet

    safe street was a really good project and it was the best presented as well. the idea to make driving safer and to crack down on the drunk drivings, is beautiful and extremely helpful. drunk drivers are incredibly in-safe indivuals, either to themselves or others, also the accidents or death that come along with it is so high in rates that its just heart breaking. so of course I will think that an app to keep drunk drivers from not only hurting themselves but also the ones around them is a fantastic idea and quite possibly should become a real app. the only problem I found was that you cant make people download an app, and a person who drinks a lot probulay wont want the app at all, so it may not actually be a real working and efficient way, but hey I still think the concept is creative and if was more practical well then it would definetly be the most life saving thing ever.

mentality reality

   this project by far was the best one that I heard. the idea to give those with mental illnesses or problems a better place to deal with their emotions is fantastic. I thought they put a lot of good wrok into their project as well. making the videos themselves, even just the website was really good to, it was definetly well put together. of course like every other project, money comes in to play, but im sure if this was an actual plan, there would be no reason that they couldn't come up with the funds needed to represent this idea. all in all, I really did like this idea and thought that it could be really helpful. Im actually glad that a good group, took the time and effort to come up with a good idea.

Heat Guard

     I think Heat Guard was a good idea and one of my favorite projects that I got to see out of all the groups, and I like how well in depth they went into their research for their presentation. I also liked that it wasn't just an idea for a system that would save kids, but also pets because yeah nothing replaces the loss of a child, but owners can be pretty irresponsible when it comes to their pets too. Although, there seems to be more laws that punish for leaving pets in cars vs leaving kids in cars, I think  that the accidents and death rates when it comes to pets are probably (as they said) even less reported than accidents involving kids, so I think it was a smart idea to include a way for the system to help save pets. As a whole, I think that the idea for the system was good, although I do wonder, if the system would still be needed in the near future in case it's like a possible technology that is already being considered for futuristic cars? Although, then again, maybe cars will not be that advanced in two to five years, so it could still be worthwhile in the moment? Which brings me to another question, since the system would be connected via app and Bluetooth to a person's phone, wouldn't the system be pretty susceptible to hacking?

   

A Catfish with 15 Lives

In the movie Catfish, Nev first forms a friendship with a young girl named Abby. At first it consists of the sending and receiving of Nev’s pictures and Abby’s paintings, but as this friendship goes on, Nev begins to grow close with the rest of the family, especially with Abby’s mother Angela and sister Megan. In the span of six months, Nev develops a romantic relationship with Megan through Facebook, phone calls, and texts.

The truth about the family begins to unfold when Nev, his brother, and their friend discover exact recordings of the songs Megan claims to be originally sung by her online, but under different names. This leads to a flood of questions about who the family really is and what else they have been lying to Nev about. To get answers, Nev’s brother and friend convince him to go and visit the family. Before confronting the family, they decide to first stop by the house Megan apparently lives in only to find out that it is abandoned with no sign of anyone recently living there. This of course leaves Nev hurt as he is learning that this girl he’s been getting to know has been repeatedly lying to him.

The next morning, Nev, his brother, and friend go to Abby’s house to find out the truth, or at least meet whoever has been behind everything. They are first greeted by a woman named Angela who turns out to really be Abby’s mother. Nev plays along as she attempts to drag on the stories she has built up even though they can clearly see that she looks nothing like the woman she claims to be on Facebook. Nev does get to meet Abby, but while she is the same girl shown online, she was never the one who painted the paintings like they said. Everything points back to Angela as they discover more and more of the truth.

Nev ends up confronting Angela about the lies, and she finally gives in and reveals everything as she owes it to him. Nev learns that there was no Megan that he has been talking to and that it has always been Angela. Every Facebook account, phone call, and text message had been set up by her. Nev does not, however, get angry with her for all she has put him through, but instead feels bad for her for what has led her to do such a thing.

Usually when the intentions for catfishing are not malicious, they are for much more depressing reasons. For Angela, she lives a life where she is responsible for three children, two of which have disabilities. Although she does not seem to mind it all, she seems to feel trapped with the life she has come to have. For her, living through these fake accounts and personalities was her way of experiencing the life she wished to have. Although her intentions were not to harm another, it is still not morally right to do such a thing for the effect it will have on others like Nev.

Global Help

The purpose of the Global Help website is a great idea. It allows for easier donations for people who think the whole process of donating is inconvenient. I also like the idea of verifying charity organizations. It is a great way for people to build trust with these organizations and not worry if their money is actually going to be used for the cause. With people needing aid throughout the world, this is a great way to get more support for the organizations that provide aid. 

I really like the layout of the website. It is very easy to navigate and all you have to do is pick an area of the world and choose a charity from the resulting list to donate to or take a participate in. Due to this easy navigation, it would only take a person a few minutes of their time to get a website and send in a few dollars. Though, one thing about the website is the color of the text. The red makes the text a bit hard to read on each area's charity page due to the background messing with the text.

One thing that I think should be added or change to the website is the countries. There is only four countries and a continent featured on Global Help. Someone may also want to donate to a charity that helps people in Nicaragua or Zimbabwe for example. An expansion of countries featured on the website like Haiti or Eritrea would do great for it and bring more people to the social network. Maybe the website could have a layout like a person can select a continent, next, select a country and finally select a verified charity that aid in the vicinity.  Another thing is possibly filling out the About page some more? 

However, this is a great idea and it has a good start. If Global Help develops some more, this website is very worth looking into if I or someone I know want to donate to a charity organization. 

PTS-Talk

I think PTS-Talk is a great idea for a website. Personally, I think post-traumatic stress disorder is a huge problem that needs to be paid more attention to. I never really known anyone with PTSD but I have known or encountered people who have other mental disorders. So I have a slight idea of how problematic mental disorder can be for someone who have them. In my opinion, the mental scars can be potentially greater than the physical which it would  It would allow many people with post-traumatic stress syndrome or disorder to come together and help each other out. Sometimes it would do good to talk about your experiences as it is a coping method that helps people get past their trauma. The website would also be a good place to go for stories of people who managed to overcome their trauma for the inspiration of those who are still dealing with it.

I like how each person in the group gave their own personal experiences knowing or encountering people who have post-traumatic stress disorder in the presentation. I think it provides some huge background to the project and why it is needed.

 I like how there are different forums who share the same type of traumatic experiences like a combat experience or a medical accident. There's even a forum for miscellaneous for those who have experiences not covered by the other ones.

One of the things I like about this website the most is how "internet trolls" would be handled. We know how some of these trolls may look to this type of website to create problems for everyone like triggering someone with a picture or video. I like the plan that would be implemented to ensure that the people who go to PTS-Talk get the most of their experiences and not hindered by somebody who wanted to hurt someone.

If I or someone else I know develops PTSD, I would surely direct myself or someone else to the PTS-Talk.

Teddy bear Vengence

             This was one of the most disturbing films we have watched in this class. A women wanders a small town filled with strangers obsessed with filming everyone who isn't also filming. She meets two others, male and female, who are also unaffected by whatever is causing these people to seek out others to film, however she is quickly assaulted by a masked man with a shotgun and the male stranger is gunned down. As she and the remaining woman attempt to escape they run into more masked people, however these appear to be straight from the purge. They continue through their adventures and eventually she tries to kill on of the purge people with a shotgun, only to discover that the entire ordeal was all an act. She is reminded of a crime she committed and explained that her ordeal was all just part of her punishment. She is lead back to her starting point as everything is put back into place. As they erase her memory to reset the day she begs for death.
             The entire location is some sort of amusement park and all the seemingly hypnotized people were actually just paying customers. It's disturbing to see that all these people have come to witness the torture of this woman in what is essentially a living hell.