While the topical focus of this class is an anthropology and cosmopolitanism, it is also largely about technology (hence, it’s a part of the “Wired” program) because we are doing our research through an online game and blogging about it on the internet. As a student living in Keeneland, we are a part of the beginnings of major changes not only in the way that we learn, but in the way that we live as well, and I think it is important for us to question these things. Technology is advancing exponentially, and things could be radically different even by the time that we graduate. I found this video when I was surfing YouTube, and aside from being mind-blowing, I think that it is very thought-provoking when it comes to where we might actually be in 2019.

I happened to stumble upon this because I was talking with my dad, who owns a business solutions company, about what will happen when we don’t need paper anymore. Much of what his business does involves either making copies and prints or selling copiers and printers for other businesses, and he told me that what they do probably won’t be necessary 15-20 years from now, and that they’ll most likely have to sell their company. This was a somewhat depressing thing for me to hear because I remember when I was younger and he always took me with him to work and I played with the copiers, but it also made sense.

In terms of cosmopolitanism, the internet and cell phones already make communicating with people around the world extremely convenient and more accessible than ever, but if we could do things like the beginning of this video suggests, we would be able to achieve even more. With the end of paper, technology is a green solution, but could it also provide solutions to world conflicts? Could technology provide us with the ultimate cosmopolitan canopy?