Movie Reflection - Thank You for Smoking

I enjoyed the film Thank You for Smoking. It brought out so many real world issues about a controversial industry but in an entertaining way. It also made me think more about my own priorities for a future job.

I could not work in the vape area of RJ Reynolds Tobacco. To me it’s an ethical issue of knowing that the company itself is in the tobacco industry and is aware of the dangers to a person’s health from the products it sells. I couldn’t work in an industry that has been directly linked to people’s severe illnesses and deaths. Even though vaping (also known as e-cigarettes) is not using tobacco and people may consider it better than smoking cigarettes, its harmful effects are now being seen and proven to be dangerous.

Nicotine and other chemicals are inhaled when a person smokes cigarettes or vapes and nicotine is both addictive and dangerous. Nicotine can also affect brain development in younger users since the brain develops until the age of 25. The other chemicals can contain metals and are also harmful. Also the aerosol that gets inhaled from a vape has been linked to inflammation which causes lung damage and organ damage. There have been studies which show that younger people who vape are also more likely to smoke cigarettes later on.

I wouldn’t want to be involved with a company that makes tobacco or vaping products because I think I would feel that I’m also partly contributing to harming someone’s health. There are 480,000 deaths in the US every year due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease and smoking is thought to be the cause of this.

I know it’s a choice and people are not being forced to smoke cigarettes or use a vape but these products are still all around us. Even though advertising and marketing of tobacco products has been more regulated over the years it’s still in front of us. In 1964 the Surgeon General’s report linked tobacco and health issues and in 1971 tv and radio were banned from airing tobacco ads. Then in 1998 the Masters Settlement Agreement put even more regulations on tobacco companies by prohibiting them from advertising on transit and billboard ads, sponsoring certain events, paid product placement and marketing to people under 18. 

$8.49bn is spent by the top 10 companies on marketing and 96% is on point of sale marketing. That is a huge number. Vape advertising is currently not as regulated as tobacco. Ads are allowed on tv but in September 2019 most of the major networks voluntarily stopped taking these ads because they have reports of the growing usage by teens and the illnesses that have resulted from vaping. In 2019, $57 million was spent by the e-cigarette industry on broadcast commercials so that’s a lot of money the broadcast companies are giving up. But I wonder whether that’s because of their ethics or wanting to avoid controversy.

I think it’s interesting that at the local level many states have focused on restricting where tobacco products can be sold instead of getting involved in restricting advertising because they don’t want to be faced with First Amendment issues. That also means that there are a lot of ads at the places that can sell tobacco products like gas stations and convenience stores. These kinds of places are exactly where teens and young adults go for snacks or intentionally for vapes and will be presented with colorful, eye catching ads. And the delicious flavors of the vape cartridges! Fruit flavors were banned in 2020 but were still illegally available from imports from China. In May 2026 though the FDA authorized fruit flavors for vapes for adult smokers. I think the under age smokers will likely be able to get them somehow. As of 2019 25.4% of high school seniors had vaped in the last 30 days which shows that under age people can easily get these products.

I’m sure that many people would take a job in a company that makes vapes by thinking it’s just business or just a job. Just like working at an alcohol company or a casino and let the users or consumers decide for themselves. The pay and benefits may be good—but for me there’s too many industries that will likely offer a comparable package and will let me sleep at night!

Blog post #8 In the Age of AI

 The video In the Age of AI was eye opening! There is so much talk about AI, both good and bad, but seeing this video mostly made me realize how dangerous it can be.

The video showed that with AI productivity in factories and many industries can be greatly improved and more efficient. And I think that’s great. But so much that is seen as good ends up at the expense of something else. There has been and will continue to be a lot of reduction of jobs in so many industries since AI robots and automation can replace humans. I was surprised to hear that a lot of the humans that have been replaced were women in jobs like cashiers, clerical and Human Resources because I would usually just think of factory workers.

Another negative is that AI is contributing to the increase in inequality. Big companies that have more money are able to invest in AI and receive the benefits of AI. I don’t think the smaller companies will be able to keep up. The huge tech companies are buying up the smaller ones and it keeps the wealth at the top companies.

AI though is positively affecting many industries like health care with the use of robots for procedures, areas of education, shopping and the criminal justice system. The use of surveillance and facial recognition systems has been helpful in fighting crime.

 

I thought it was interesting how the video talked about how people generate data everywhere they go on computers and the computer is learning about us and personalizing our experience. But then I was shocked and frightened to learn that innocent Alexa is actually a surveillance monitor. Asking about the weather or to play a song my voice is being monitored over time. Changes in my voice could signal I have a cold and then ads are targeted to me for cold medicine!

I use Google all the time to research so many things. But I learned that at the same time Google is searching us. We think we have privacy since we’re in our homes on our own computer or phone but we are losing control of our own privacy. The “digital exhaust” the video talked about that we leave behind from our searches is being used to predict and even change our behavior.

There are also sophisticated hackers that are able to get our information making identity theft easy. Our online information is global and we have no control where it ends up. There has been some progress with being able to reject data sharing but it’s unlikely that it’s enough. 

I think it’s frightening that AI is being used in ways not originally intended and those who control it don’t always have the best intentions. Other countries have also made huge advancements in AI. But not always for improving society. The video said now it’s mostly an AI race between the US and China.

I think it’s extreme that China is on its way to becoming a total surveillance state-cameras are everywhere and can track people who may have different views from their government. Their actions are frightening and our national security is at stake. And many countries have bought China’s surveillance systems. 

On the positive side our country is also using AI to help our own national security with better intelligence, satellites and weapons.

BLOG #7 EOTO

THE SPIRAL OF SILENCE

Have you ever been asked a question, answer it, then look around hoping people are nodding and agreeing with you? But they aren’t? Or you’re asked a question and decide to answer it the way you think most people would agree with and it’s what they likely think but it’s not actually what you think it is? Or you just decide not to answer at all? The spiral of silence is real. 

WHAT IS IT?

The spiral of silence is a theory that people stay silent when they’re not sure that their views on something will be the same as how the majority views it. They may fear that they will be isolated if the group realizes the person has a different opinion from theirs or an even worse fear that if they give their opinion something negative could happen besides just isolation. The fear of social isolation has the person constantly monitoring the behavior of others for signs of approval or disapproval. Isolation threats could be laughing at someone, making faces, criticizing or even worse. 

For this theory to exist though it means that the person really believes that they know what the popular opinion is. When someone in that majority then talks about the popular opinion in a confident way it starts the spiral or keeps it going because the minority person then gets more distant from the majority and more likely to not give their real opinion. All the fears take over and will keep building and the downward spiral keeps going.

IMPLICATIONS

I think the implications of this can be bad because it will prevent people from being their authentic selves and stating their real opinions on something. It can stop the free flow of ideas that can sometimes help solve problems or create new things. It also affects society by making the majority view larger than it actually is because the minority people have now added to it by just agreeing with the majority.

It may also prevent people in the assumed majority from understanding a minority person’s opinion and to be more accepting of others’ views. But there is too much fear by the minority to give their opinion and let that happen. And there is the continuance of the spiral.

Good implications may be that it keeps a discussion focused and moving forward and to more easily come to an agreement. But this can be at the expense of those in the minority.

I believe different segments of people are affected differently. For rich vs poor this is an issue because I think society considers rich people to have more whether it’s money or power. Along with this comes thinking that they are in a higher position, they are smarter because they have more education and their opinions count more and then they’re seen as the majority. Poor people may keep their opinions to themselves and go along with what they think are smarter opinions of the rich people if they believe they’re in the minority so they are caught in the spiral of silence.

I think that old vs young people are affected differently by the spiral of silence. Older people are more established and confident in their beliefs so I don’t think they hold back on their opinions. I don’t think they fall into the spiral. Younger people are more concerned with what people think about them and they wouldn’t want to feel isolated from them. So they probably monitor what they think opinions are and more likely to fall into the spiral of silence. 

For gays vs straights I believe this is a real issue. The straight community is usually looked at as the majority and likely don’t have any issues voicing opinions. The gay community has historically been the minority so many people are afraid to share either that they are gay or their opinions on situations fearing isolation in some form. This keeps them from being genuine and sharing their real opinions if they are monitoring their environment and feel they’re in the minority— it puts and keeps them in the spiral of silence.

The spiral of silence affects me, my family, and friends since we all end up at some point in conversations that may be more heated, sensitive or with people who have strong opinions. We all have a choice to voice opinions or not but it is up to that person whether they feel the fear of being in the minority and of being isolated. Some people won’t care and will voice opinions regardless. Others will be more concerned and may then fall into the spiral of silence if they assess the group and think they’re in the minority. 

My generation is influenced a lot by social media which can easily create and keep the spiral going because you see so many posts and opinions in a certain direction. You then may start to feel like an outsider and pressured to either stay silent or to go along with the majority whether you’re giving your opinion on a social media site or actually with people. And the more you look the more the same algorithm keeps sending you those majority opinions. 

But it can also be helpful to have social media because there are different groups you can seek out to find someone with the same opinion as you and then you may not stay silent because you’ve found others that believe what you believe. Also, commenting on social media may feel safer even if in a minority because you aren’t face to face with a person and even if you receive negative comments there is less fear of the isolation.

BLOG #6 Where are the Antiwar Voices?

I had never heard of Antiwar.com or The American Conservative or the writers on those sites. These writers have very strong points of view that probably go against the views of popular opinion or what mainstream news wants to report on. For this reason they need to report from more obscure websites and people who are interested in this need to actively seek it out. In a way they are being censored by being limited to where they can voice their reports and it results in their message not being widespread.

I believe that most of the mainstream news sources, whether it’s through their websites, news shows, social media sites or newspapers, try to do exactly that—stay within the mainstream. Antiwar voices may bring too much controversy and that is not what most of the big media companies want to promote. They usually want to report on what they think the majority of the country wants to see and hear about.

Another issue is that 6 large corporations own 90% of the main news channels. This will then limit what gets reported and it will likely be what those companies value and what they think the public really wants to hear. Big media companies may also want to stay on the government’s side so they may not report about antiwar protests or opinions for that reason. 

 

Also, media companies are looking to make profits and a big way they do is by revenue from ads. Some of these ads may even be from companies themselves who are involved in the war which has been the case in the past. Other companies that place ads may want to stay with the media companies that can reach the largest audience even if it means siding with the media that doesn’t report antiwar stories. That would be the big media companies. 

Reporting about war which can be graphic is not something people see everyday in news reports, so when it is, it grabs the attention of people and ends up bringing in more readers and viewers.

The anti war websites and news channels likely also don’t have the funding to be able to broadcast in a big way what their opinions and voices reflect. So they can’t compete with the main news sources and then they can’t get their anti war stories out to a large amount of people.

Blog Post #5 Privacy, Online and Off

I’ve always heard that privacy was an issue when using the internet, email, texts and social media but watching these videos really shocked me! I did not realize how much control I was losing over my privacy through my everyday online activity.

One of the things that was surprising was how anybody can use a picture I may have posted of myself or someone else, highlight it and search for detailed information on that person using a tiny square of a photo. Then how that information and photo could be used without permission—a company directing ads at customers or even something crazy like someone trying to steal my identity. All of this from an innocent post on social media or a text. It doesn’t seem right and legal that this is ok. I know from my own use that Google Lens which just about everybody has on their phones is a fast way to identify objects but I didn’t think about it for other uses—and here even Microsoft gives easy instructions on how to start a search with the help of AI!

So much of what was mentioned in these videos has the potential to affect me, my family and friends. We send emails and texts everyday. We post photos and share information including sensitive data like credit card numbers and other things that we wouldn’t expect anybody else to see. But that’s not what’s happening according to these videos. When the video said our emails are like postcards that really made me realize how easy it is for the wrong people to see my information. It’s also surprising how our activity lives on basically forever and is immortal like an electronic tattoo. Outliving even ourselves. Surveillance on our phones was also terrible to hear about.

Another disturbing thing is how there are surveillance cameras and mass location trackers all around that can track us and our car license plates. A few years ago my family couldn’t find our car that we parked on a NYC street. We went to the police station, gave the license plate number and they were able to show us photos of where we had driven our car over the last few days. This was a big wake up call. The good news though is that our car wasn’t stolen—it was parked a block over from where we were looking. 

I believe the government should set up more regulations about how information is collected and used. This article reviews some of the regulations that currently exist like The Federal Trade Commission Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and others. But even with these there is abuse of people’s privacy. Online tracking systems have become so sophisticated and can go around a lot of the safety features in place. The government should be employing the companies that make cutting edge systems like the encryption systems shown in the video to keep up with technology and stay ahead of the crazy minds of hackers. But there needs to be a balance because government, as shown in the videos, can also abuse its power. They should also require that the terms and conditions that we quickly approve be more clear to the average person who is not taking the time to read it.

We as individuals need to be more responsible to protect ourselves and our privacy. Even though it may take a few minutes longer we should read what we are signing about data collection and privacy. We should also use encryption and authentication wherever we can because it will be worth it in the future. We should also make sure that our everyday posts and online activity is something that if it actually was seen by strangers would not result in harm to ourselves or our privacy. 

Blog Post #4 EOTO The Ballpoint Pen

 As I type this post on a computer “writing” out words and ideas, I’m going to take us back to a long time ago when there was an exciting new technology being invented that was to make it easier to write out words and ideas. I’m talking about the ballpoint pen!

HISTORY

The ballpoint pen was originally invented in 1888 when John J. Loud was given a patent for his design. But it was only good for writing on rough surfaces and not paper and wasn’t a successful tool. In the late 1930’s a better version was made by Laszlo Biro who was a Hungarian journalist. He was frustrated with the fountain pen which at that time was the main writing tool. It leaked and smudged and needed constant refilling. Since he was a journalist and needed a good and reliable writing tool, he worked with his brother Gyorgy who was a chemist to make a better option. Their pen was patented in 1938. 

The key to their successful pen was a tiny ball bearing in the tip of the pen that would rotate as the pen moved. The ball bearing was made of steel, brass, or tungsten carbide. Ink would then go from the cartridge of the pen to the paper with no leaking. The ink was evenly transferred onto paper. The ink was thick and oil based so it didn’t leak but was smooth because of the ball rotating. Gravity and friction made the ball roll and the ink go out. This was a turning point in writing technology.

The ballpoint pen was first made and sold in Argentina then eventually copied by a manufacturer in the United States. The price of the pen started as very expensive but then dropped when it was mass produced. Over the years the pen has improved and changed. It doesn’t need refilling and most get thrown out when the ink is done.

IMPACT 

The ballpoint pen changed communication in our world. This article explains that when the ballpoint pen first came out it was like when the smartphone first came out. Before the ballpoint pen any person that wanted to write had to be in a still place on a desk with tools that allowed you to write with the fountain pen and a bottle of ink. Just like before the invention of the smartphone, we could only use a phone inside and it was attached to an outlet. Now you could write anywhere and on different surfaces. This was a huge change in everyday life and communication for all people not just journalists. I think that even though today we consider it "just a pen", it was a form of early technology with the ball bearing concept.

The ballpoint pen was even a big product for the military because it could be used at any altitude compared to the fountain pen which would leak.

PROBLEM SOLVED!

People could now write quickly and anywhere and they didn’t have to wait for ink to dry. A writing tool like a fountain pen with its pen and separate ink which was a luxury item was no longer needed. The ballpoint pen took its place and at a lower price than fountain pens which made it accessible to masses of people. It was an easier writing tool to use and the writing that came out on paper was nice and smooth. Students, professionals and just everyday people loved this new portable technology. I can't imagine being limited to where I could write something and not being able to just grab a pen and quickly write.

NEGATIVE EFFECT

An issue however with the ballpoint pen is that the disposable ones are just as they are called “disposable”. People use the pens until they run out of ink and then throw them out. These are usually made of plastic and end up contributing to waste landfills. This has led manufacturers to now use recycled materials for their pens.

Another issue that some people think is bad about the ballpoint pen is that it contributed to the decline of people doing cursive writing and other artistic techniques that the fountain pen was known for. I agree with this-I never learned cursive and it wasn't that long ago it was required in schools.

FUN FACT

A person from India created the largest ballpoint pen in the world and it is 18 feet and weighs 82 pounds. And it really works!

   

Blog Post #3 8 Values of Free Expression

Freedom of expression is key in society. Just like freedom of speech it is every individual’s protected right. I can relate to all 8 values of free expression but the value of stable change resonates most with me. While the ability and importance of allowing people to speak their mind has been around since the ratification of the First Amendment, the growth of so many platforms of social media in recent years has created ready spaces and channels to allow for speaking and also venting that are literally at your fingertips. 

Here’s a great article which mentions that the Supreme Court referred to social media as “the modern public square”. For me that was a great visual of imagining the old days when people would stand in a park or somewhere and preach and vent and crowds would form around them. People then and now want to express their viewpoint or even their anger on issues and the public square and now social media allows them to easily do that.

It’s a little different now though since nobody has to leave their home and they can have an even bigger audience while also speaking out to make themselves feel like they’re taking action. Instead of keeping opinions to themselves, by going on social media I believe people feel they are not sitting quietly and accepting something they don’t agree with. By voicing their viewpoints they are being proactive. Using their voice and speaking out has now taken a new form.

TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and other platforms are filled with people who are passionate about different causes, reacting to groups or political issues or just about anything. It is a fast and efficient way to get a message out. The discontented people are hopefully using their voice though in a way that’s consistent with the original intent of the stable change freedom and, as government hoped, will not result in any other bigger or even violent actions.

 

I think a great example is the recent New York City mayoral election. I’m very aware of this topic since I’m from New York City. Mayor Mamdani’s campaign before the elections was definitely helped by social media platforms and that’s where many younger voters learned of him and his positions. He definitely took advantage of this technology to reach a big audience. Once he was elected though a huge amount of people have been speaking out against him and his policies through social media channels. Communities have also formed and this is a way for the dissatisfied people to voice their opinions and find other like minded people. So the same platform that helped bring him success is now full of people venting their strong views against him and his policies.

The same article from above refers to social media platforms as classrooms and battlegrounds. I agree with that but also remember that not everything may be true. But I appreciate that people are able to express themselves especially if they’re not happy about something. I feel very lucky to live in the United States where I am protected and allowed to freely express myself and activism is allowed compared to many other countries where it is not.