Kylee's Midterm Post #2

For this post, I would like to do some brainstorming and some proposing. I am most interested in talking about crowdsourcing and maybe looking at ways the ideas of collaborative creativity are manifested in Moby Dick. I would love suggestions or feedback, especially if you have any ideas about more connections I can bring in. I hope it’s easy enough to follow; my brainstorming methods tend to turn into ever-changing, question-ridden outlines.

Potential working thesis: Crowdsourcing is a valuable way to employ creativity from others in an effort to reach a common goal. Captain Ahab "crowdsources" his search for Moby Dick to his crew and any other person with whom he comes into contact.

Potential ideas to explore:

• Ahab as a complex character.
• Show reliance on prosthetic leg [Anyone have a good quote about the leg?]
• Leg = loss of limb, loss of pride, loss of part of self, loss of rationality (in terms of ability to move forward and ability to think well-roundedly instead of on one goal only)
• Leg = absence of function
• Leg = source of desire for revenge

• Show his reliance on others
• Show his reliance on Pip
• Reliance on Pip as an extension of himself?
• “Thou touchest my inmost centre, boy; thou art tied to me by cords woven of my heartstrings” (462).
• “”Now, then, Pip, we’ll talk this over; I do suck most wondrous philosophies from thee!” (467).
• “No, no, no! ye have not a whole body, sir; do ye but use poor me for your one lost leg; only tread upon me, sir; I ask no more, so I remain a part of ye” (471).
• Show reliance on the crew
• The crew actually runs the ship→ without it, Ahab could not fulfil his quest
• Ahab makes the crew vow to find Moby Dick→ uniting in a common goal (first step in crowdsourcing)
• “Come, Ahab’s compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!”
• Cetology chapters as collaborative creativity? Blacksmith and carpenter chapters as collaborative creativity?
• Ahab enlists help from other ships to find Moby Dick. When others try to employ Ahab, he refuses (if it is not in line with his common goal)
• Captain of The Rachel trying to find his son
• What does this say about Ahab? What conclusions does it draw about those unwilling to participate in crowdsourcing? Does it have to do with the common goal?
• Does his failure result because of a failure to be an active participant in the whaling world? Is he diminished somehow by refusing to help anyone who is not focused on his goal?
• Relate to crowdsourcing: how do we find willing participants? Does the investment of participants make a difference?

My goal is that as I start working through these questions, I will make more connections and build on some of the observations I have made.

Kylee's Midterm Post #1

Here is a summary of my progress throughout the semester so far:

Call Me Kylee - This was an introductory post about me.
Humanizing the Digital Age - In this post, I discussed the idea that we are immersed in our digital culture.
Comic Con: A Digital Culture Convention - After attending Comic Con, I wrote a post about how digital fandom has affected our very means of socializing.
Navigating the Digital Waters - In this post, I expounded on why we should and how we can go about asserting ourselves into the digital realm.
Do It Yourself: Etsy - A post about the DIY movement.
Understanding Cyberbullying - This is a post centered around a video that I saw posted on a friend's Facebook wall. The post had to do with bullying through digital means, which in this video's case was email.
Vocal Hashtags and Text Speech - A post about our evolving language due to digital culture.
Extensions of the Self - This is a discussion of a topic our group discussed during a Moby Dick lecture. It focuses on Pip and Ahab's relationship and how Pip functions as an extension of Ahab.
Spiraling Into Success - I thought of this post after reading Dr. Burton's post about the spiral and after reading Kayla Swan's post about her experience as an English major. Here, I weigh in on this idea and note some things I might want to change in my own research.
General Conference Weekend - Digital Culture Style - A post about experiencing general conference and engaging in the digital universe while doing so.

Throughout the course of the semester, I have become particularly interested in the idea of crowdsourcing. I think that it has become a valuable tool in accomplishing a wide variety of purposes because of the wide variety of people that are at our disposal, and I believe it has the potential to become even more valuable than we know. I say "our" meaning that anyone can start an initiative and get it out for people to see, comment on, and work on. In her post, Mele brings up a number of different websites that employed crowdsourcing to create opportunities for many people that they would not have had before. One I specifically remember was patientslikeme.com, a website that allows people with the same medical conditions to come in contact. Amber said in her post that she found a video from a group of people who tried to raise money and awareness through crowdsourcing for a Moby Dick card game. Probably my favorite day of class was when Dr. Burton introduced me to Eric Whitacre's virtual choir. Since seeing that video, I have actually submitted a video for the World of Color Honor Choir, another virtual choir that Eric Whitacre is putting together. I love the idea of exploring new ways for creativity. All of these examples lead me to believe that crowdsourcing enables the average person to employ others' creativity for a certain cause. Depending on the cause, this ability has the potential to be the basis for some very significant world changes. Dr. Burton said in his post, "Creativity is not just a kind of romantic feel-good thing; it is a necessary activity of mind and soul that brings order to the chaos of too much information." My question, then, is this: how do we harness the power of crowdsourcing in an attempt to bring order to the chaos of many of the bigger issues in the world today, and what will be the benefits of crowdsourcing as opposed to outsourcing these tasks?