Media 111 – Module 10 – Weekly Essay

My Final Thoughts on H2G2

Before I took this course, I had only ever briefly heard of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. I had never experienced the story. I’ll admit, when I first started reading the book, it seemed confusing, and not my type of read. However, as I progressed through it, it started to grow on me. It wasn’t after finishing the book, watching the film, and reading up on the influence and impact it has had over the years, that I really began to realize how special this story truly was. The story parodies our natural, endless, undying pursuit of knowledge. Our thirst for information is ingrained in our very nature. We don’t like not knowing the answers to our questions.

The H2G2 device that Ford Prefect is updating throughout his galactic travels also bears great resemblance with something that we use in real life to this day. It’s all around us. We all use it almost every day. The internet. The worldwide web is basically humanity’s version of the H2G2 and we are all constantly contributing to it in our own way. Scientific research, customer experiences, many different forms of art, statistics, and data are just a handful of examples of things that are contributed to our version of the H2G2 on a daily basis.

Douglas Adams’ story has touched many people and has what you could call a cult-following. The story has been reproduced in many different mediums including radio, television, and film. I would highly recommend this book to others! To this day, whenever I am in a stressful situation, I calmly tell myself, “Just don’t panic, Jesse.”

Media 111 – Module 9 – Weekly Essay

My Responsibility as a Citizen

As a dignified citizen of the Milky Way galaxy, I feel like it is my responsibility to not only respect and embrace others from where I live in the United States on Earth, but to also respect and embrace others who live in different countries, on different planets, or in different galaxies! It’s important to be proud of where we live and what kind of culture or traditions we have, however, we should always remain open-minded and know that these norms and traditions can differ greatly in other areas. That’s a good thing, though! Diversity is awesome! Imagine how boring we would be if the entire galaxy was populated by American humans?? It would probably be destroyed by now. I feel like it also vital that we be open to change and willing to adapt to policies that allow our home to become a place where people of all walks of life have the opportunity to grow, flourish, and comfortably enjoy their lives.

One of the places I have discovered along my galactic travels, is Finland, another country on my home planet of Earth. Finland is a beautiful country! It is known for being the happiest country on the planet, according to an insider.com article by Theresa Christine.1 The article states that Finland has held first place in the World Happiness Report for the last four years! I highly recommend reading the article. It goes on to state that Finland is known for it’s universal healthcare, highly literate population, well-mannered citizens, and one of the best education systems in the world!

If the time ever comes where I feel the desire to move out of the United States, I know exactly where I am moving to now!

Helsinki, Finland. Panoramic View Of Pier, Embankment On Kanavaranta Street, Uspenski Cathedral And Pohjoisranta Street In Evening Illuminations. Photo by Grigory Bruev. Sourced from Adobe Stock.

References:

1.) Christine, Theresa. What it’s Like to Live in Finland, the Happiest Country in the World, 31 Mar. 2021,

https://www.insider.com/life-in-finland-happiest-country-2019-6

Also check out:

https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-and-trust-during-covid-19-and-beyond/#ranking-of-happiness-2019-2021