My sporadic postings on here are rarely on a topic that is consistent with my self-proclaimed media-man-ness. However, today I would like to shout to the world about how happy I am with my new webicenter, i.e., website. I used google sites, and it was sooooo easy compared to teaching myself how to fumble through a wysi(sometimes)wyg editor (been using komposer). Throughout the process, I found myself proclaiming aloud, numerous times, "I f-in love google!!" My wife knows about my google-rocks-the-world attitude, but she still gave me funny looks.
Anyway, my personal site (www.robbyratan.com) and the site dedicated to my dissertation research topic (www.self-presence.com) no longer look like I converted word docs to html and then pooped on them. Yay!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Are there subatomic particles in my head?
The brain is (much much much)^1000ish faster/more powerful than our current computers. As computing technology advances, the size of the computational units shrink, thus allowing computers to be put into smaller and smaller devices. In order to reach the brain’s speed/computational power at a size that could fit in a human head, a computer would need to conduct computations at a (very very very)^2000ish small unit. Subatomic?
Are human brains like quantum computers?
Really small things - subatomic particles - are integral to the fabric of space/time and may also be to human consciousness. Perhaps this explains why quantum physics seems to match well with various “occult” phenomena - when the brain seems to transcend space/time (e.g., telepathy, out-of-body experiences, etc.).
Alas, we don’t have the measurement tools that would show us how this works. The tools that do exist (I think) are used for physics research to develop an understanding of our universe. They are pointed at space and particle colliders. Hopefully, someone will refine these tools and then point them at brains. This research - a convergence between physics and psychology/neuroscience/communication - may facilitate an understanding of the connection between human consciousness and quantum mechanics, or even an (unseen) connection between humans.
While I would love to contribute a communication psych perspective to such an endeavor, this type of research probably won't happen for a (very very very)^3000ish long time. I guess I should just focus on my dissertation.
Are human brains like quantum computers?
Really small things - subatomic particles - are integral to the fabric of space/time and may also be to human consciousness. Perhaps this explains why quantum physics seems to match well with various “occult” phenomena - when the brain seems to transcend space/time (e.g., telepathy, out-of-body experiences, etc.).
Alas, we don’t have the measurement tools that would show us how this works. The tools that do exist (I think) are used for physics research to develop an understanding of our universe. They are pointed at space and particle colliders. Hopefully, someone will refine these tools and then point them at brains. This research - a convergence between physics and psychology/neuroscience/communication - may facilitate an understanding of the connection between human consciousness and quantum mechanics, or even an (unseen) connection between humans.
While I would love to contribute a communication psych perspective to such an endeavor, this type of research probably won't happen for a (very very very)^3000ish long time. I guess I should just focus on my dissertation.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Dissertation Prospectus Defense
BORING ALERT, BORING ALERT - this posting is BORING, meant mostly to serve as a bookmark for this milestone and a (public) record of my thinking at this time. Only big nerds should read on.
Today I defended my dissertation prospectus and was given the green light to move ahead (though I already have some pilot data that supports my theoretical framework of self-presence). My prospectus outlines my plan to develop and validate the Self-Presence Questionnaire (SPQ). This will involve a survey-based study and a few experiments. My committee was supportive and gave me great guidance. The most important points are as follows:
1. Don't just validate the SPQ and theory, examine the effects of self-presence. I had planned to do this, but they want more emphasis on the latter.
2. Self-presence is not likely to influence cognitive load and learning (I was possibly going to focus on these points), so consider other effects. There are two on the table, health-related behavior and interpersonal relationships. The former is a hot topic - Exergaming - but I have more experience with the latter. Also, my pilot data suggests a relationship between self-presence and social presence, which bodes well for an inquiry into the latter. Maybe I'll try to combine these and look at social exergaming!
3. Most importantly, I need to articulate why I care about self-presence and why it matters. I need to show my passion for developing an understanding of how people are extended into their virtual self-representations. Is it because I think the concept of the modern cyborg is cool? I do ruv technology. Is it because I think that this phenomenon is integral to our relationships with technology and thus can be utilized to guide the development of better tools? Sounds good to me. Can self-presence be used to promote world peace and unity? Possibly, but it's a stretch. So is this blog posting.
End boring transmission.
If you made it this far and would like to become unbored, you can watch this short film called Validation. I promise it has nothing to do with statistics.
Today I defended my dissertation prospectus and was given the green light to move ahead (though I already have some pilot data that supports my theoretical framework of self-presence). My prospectus outlines my plan to develop and validate the Self-Presence Questionnaire (SPQ). This will involve a survey-based study and a few experiments. My committee was supportive and gave me great guidance. The most important points are as follows:
1. Don't just validate the SPQ and theory, examine the effects of self-presence. I had planned to do this, but they want more emphasis on the latter.
2. Self-presence is not likely to influence cognitive load and learning (I was possibly going to focus on these points), so consider other effects. There are two on the table, health-related behavior and interpersonal relationships. The former is a hot topic - Exergaming - but I have more experience with the latter. Also, my pilot data suggests a relationship between self-presence and social presence, which bodes well for an inquiry into the latter. Maybe I'll try to combine these and look at social exergaming!
3. Most importantly, I need to articulate why I care about self-presence and why it matters. I need to show my passion for developing an understanding of how people are extended into their virtual self-representations. Is it because I think the concept of the modern cyborg is cool? I do ruv technology. Is it because I think that this phenomenon is integral to our relationships with technology and thus can be utilized to guide the development of better tools? Sounds good to me. Can self-presence be used to promote world peace and unity? Possibly, but it's a stretch. So is this blog posting.
End boring transmission.
If you made it this far and would like to become unbored, you can watch this short film called Validation. I promise it has nothing to do with statistics.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Finalist for favorite TA
The Annenberg student body recent voted for favorite prof, TA and staffer. I was a finalist! I guess all the bribery paid off.
Here's the announcement:
ASCA announces its favorite professor, TA and staff person
The Annenberg Student Communication Association held its annual Favorite Professor, TA and Staff Person Awards Banquet on April 23 in the Annenberg West Wing Lobby. Nearly 300 undergraduate Communication students voted for this year's favorites.
This year's Favorite Professor was Stacy Smith. Ken Sereno and Josh Kun were Favorite Professor Finalists. Favorite TA honors went to Richard Lawrence. Finalists were Robby Ratan and D. Travers Scott. Favorite Staff Person was Maryann Wu. Finalists were Annie Mateen and Sarah Holdren.
El Cholo donated food for the event. The funds ASCA gathered from donations, along with the money that would have paid for the Mexican delicacies from El Cholo, was donated to Troy Camp-- a student run philanthropy that holds a summer camp and mentorship program for underprivileged children in the LA community. The event raised almost $650.
Here's the announcement:
ASCA announces its favorite professor, TA and staff person
The Annenberg Student Communication Association held its annual Favorite Professor, TA and Staff Person Awards Banquet on April 23 in the Annenberg West Wing Lobby. Nearly 300 undergraduate Communication students voted for this year's favorites.
This year's Favorite Professor was Stacy Smith. Ken Sereno and Josh Kun were Favorite Professor Finalists. Favorite TA honors went to Richard Lawrence. Finalists were Robby Ratan and D. Travers Scott. Favorite Staff Person was Maryann Wu. Finalists were Annie Mateen and Sarah Holdren.
El Cholo donated food for the event. The funds ASCA gathered from donations, along with the money that would have paid for the Mexican delicacies from El Cholo, was donated to Troy Camp-- a student run philanthropy that holds a summer camp and mentorship program for underprivileged children in the LA community. The event raised almost $650.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A 1988 take on Mario
I was there, but not aware.
Favorite line:
"Have you heard of Nintendo?"
"No, who is he?"
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Finally Dissertating
I passed my quals, and now I am A Big Dork (ABD).
Being A Big Dork means that I need to start working on my dissertation. The main focus will be my four-level framework of self-presence based on Damasio's 3-level conception of the self plus one level I added on my own. Here are the basics:
Proto Self-Presence: The extent to which a media tool is accepted as a familiar and stable augmentation of an individual's body schema.
Core Self-Presence: The extent to which mediated interactions cause emotional responses in individuals.
Extended Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals' mediated interactions are held in memory and thus influence their mediated identity.
Network Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals’ mediated identity is influenced by some mediated social network.
Now to turn this into a theory paper and submit it to a conference on Virtual Worlds (FaVE). I'm not sure I'm really ready to do this, but I'd like to go to Berlin this summer. :)
Being A Big Dork means that I need to start working on my dissertation. The main focus will be my four-level framework of self-presence based on Damasio's 3-level conception of the self plus one level I added on my own. Here are the basics:
Proto Self-Presence: The extent to which a media tool is accepted as a familiar and stable augmentation of an individual's body schema.
Core Self-Presence: The extent to which mediated interactions cause emotional responses in individuals.
Extended Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals' mediated interactions are held in memory and thus influence their mediated identity.
Network Self-Presence: The extent to which individuals’ mediated identity is influenced by some mediated social network.
Now to turn this into a theory paper and submit it to a conference on Virtual Worlds (FaVE). I'm not sure I'm really ready to do this, but I'd like to go to Berlin this summer. :)
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