"Leave Evidence That You Lived"

As technology plays a more and more significant role in our life, we are sometimes confused with the virtual world and the real life. Like Mae, our current life is closely associated with internet. Can anyone live without their phones or laptops or tablets? Apparently the answer is no. I assume the reason is the increasing social pressure leads us to seek for personal fulfillment. We are picturing a world where we could be supermen; however, this is definitely not the reality. 

The difference between a real and simulated world is that we experience in the prior one. In the real world, we laugh when we like something; we cry when we feel distressed; we hug when we meet someone we miss. In contrast, we "no longer pick up on basic human communication clues"(262) in the online community. We merely click on the "like" button to express our feelings. I'm not presenting harsh critics on the use of social media because the society is advancing technologically, while our generation and the generation following us will slowly put more emphasize on the simulated world. We barely talk to our friends or families, showing direct face-to-face reactions; instead, we type down our thoughts by thousands of emoji. We do not experience anymore. 

Based on my illustration of the difference between two worlds, I think Mercer is correct when he asks Mae "do you realize how incredibly boring you've become". I totally agree that Mae can no longer distinguish between a real world and a simulated world. Mae stresses too much importance of her popularity in online society that she "sits at a desk twelve hours a day and [she has] nothing to show for it except for some numbers that won't exist or be remembered in a week"(262). She is not contributing values in her real life. Paradoxically, she "thinks she is at the center of things, and that makes [her] opinions more valuable" (262). There is no evidence in reality that reflects she is alive since she lives in the simulated world where she does everything according to some ridiculous statistics proving she was vigorous. 

In our life, more and more people are living a life like Mae. I used to be addicted to the "fake world" as well. I once had over 500 contacts on my Wechat (a kind of social media used in China that is similar to Facebook) and I thought I was popular. I shared my days with them, and they liked my photos, and I commented on their daily lives; I felt that they were my true friends. Nevertheless, I met less than 100 of them every day and the rest of them I barely knew or even saw them just once. How innocent I was to consume I was social! Now as I deleted nearly half of my contacts online, I start to meet more people in life; I get more opportunities to know them, to actually hang out with them. I live my life and leave evidence that I lived. 

Mae is confused with a simulated world and her real life because her duty in The Circle requires her living behind screes everyday. On the contrary, we can balance our life and take advantage of technology to connect with reality and live a vivid life. 

The Times of an Information Explosion

There is no denying the fact that data and privacy are closely connected to each other as discussed in the book The Circle by Dave Eggers. It is also a popular topic which has caused a heated debate in nowadays society of an information explosion. Although it seems that sometimes data cooperates with privacy to conduct an efficient job, there are times when they work to an injurious situation by the following evidences provided.

People are often driven to believe that data is a collection of our privacy which contributes to better understanding to each other. It does have some seemingly profound advantages, in the same time there lies intrinsic harmful characteristics. For example, Alistair, a sensitive man, was upset that Mae was absent for the Portugal brunch he organized because he simply searched for a list of people who "had visited the country, took pictures or mentioned it in an email or whatever"(111). The data has shown that Mae had been to Lisbon with pictures online and the story would definitely go another way if Mae did love Portugal stuff. However, the data did not show her genuine feelings which led to a misunderstanding in her relationship with her colleagues. That the data cannot display our emotion is often not noticed by public, and accordingly, is unconsciously overlooked.

Data can be used to protect our privacy in a positive way, but it can also expose us into public with danger. The ChildTrack program that Francis is working on is about to use data to enhance the security of children by putting chips in their wrists. However, "then seven kids go mission one day...when they get to the chips, all seven tracking to some parking lot, they find them all in a paper bag, all bloody. Just the chips"(88). Those chips worked in favor of kids' safety and mollified parents' concerns at the beginning; whereas it led to a misery eventually. In this context, data is supposed to benefit our life but it ended up with positioning us in a "naked" and threatening situation.

People sometimes hold a misconception that privacy can be obtained through data therefore we are capable to acquaint with each other more rapidly. Do you think that knowing a person is a waste of time? If yes, you may like to type in the name of your date in the LuvLuv, then it would search everything he/she has ever posted and provide you with analysis of relevance of the information. Mae considered "having a matrix of preference presented as your essence, as the whole you...was some kind of mirror, but it was incomplete, distorted"(126). Mae's thoughts provide an adequate justification for my opinion. People should communicate directly to acquire the information they want, not merely by "reading" someone's data.

In short, from what I have discussed above, I would draw an conclusion that we should use data properly to protect or share our privacy. Only in this way can we balance between "private" and "public" in the times of an information explosion.

Circle Response #1 (Pg 1-71)

It is natural for human beings to learn how to get involved in a new community because we acquire the sense of belongings in our life. As a "newbie" to Penn State, I was fortunate enough to discover this sense of belongings by the third week at Penn State. Same for Mae, she has participated in her new environment successfully by her first Friday, severing "436 customers" and having "memorized the boilerplates"(Eggers 55). In general, Mae and I have shared some similar aspects in participating in our new environments.

On 1 April, I accepted the offer of admission of Penn State at University Park. I had chosen Penn State as my home for the next four years. My mother was so proud of me, just like how Mae's father is proud of Mae of being employed by The Circle. During the ISO (international student orientation) week, I was appreciate for my group leaders touring me around the campus, to the Pattee Library, to the Palmer Museum of Art, to every buildings where I am going to have classes. Mae receives the same help from those passionate people in The Circle, Annie, Dan, Josiah, Denise and a lot more people. With the incessant "We Are" chants roaring through my first week, the feeling of being part of the community becomes significantly strong. I felt the same as Mae thought after her tour around the company, "Mae knew that she never wanted to work—never wanted to be—anywhere else"(Eggers 31). The eagerness and the enthusiasm has reinforced my belief of being a Penn Stater.

Moreover, another aspect that Mae and I both share is the experience about the community's facilities and activities. The Circle has "180 rooms" for employees to rest after party and also shuttles ensure they arrive home safely. When facing a brand new surrounding, I naturally seek for anything that makes me feel comfortable of the way I used to live. Penn State provides shuttles for freshmen to buy bedding and room decorations, as well as each commons serves great foods, entertainments, and so on. With those supplement of life necessities, I gained a feeling of being home. Additionally, the club fair on HUB lawn gave me a sense of engagement, same as the dorm floor meeting and college meeting. I was willing to meet people who share the same interests or hold the same goal. All those facilities and activities make me integrate into the community with more ease.

Besides the same feeling of pride and being home, there comes the most ordinary and interesting part of being a "newbie"—being lost in the vast campus. I clearly remember my first day of school. If I walked without Google Map, I would be completely lost in this giant maze. Those buildings' names are difficult to remember, and even hard to read, such as "Sackett" "Boucke"(In fact, don't laugh, when I first heard this name, I was wandering how could a building be named as "Cookie"). I always carefully looked up the route to each building in case of lateness to classes, and it turned out I ironically got to classrooms plenty of time earlier. Walking across the campus, I can't help myself stopping for the charm of the architecture. Just as Mae was fascinated with that "the campus was vast and rambling, wild with Pacific color, and yet the smallest detail had been carefully considered, shaped by the most eloquent hands"(Eggers 1). Like every other freshmen, I usually walked with a face full of confusion for my first couple days.

Being involved in a community is always the primary thing people would do because human beings are social animals. We need to join in a community to attain the sense of affirmation. Both Mae and I have shared similarities in our experience, mine at Penn State and hers at The Circle. The concept of involvement reinforces the feeling of being welcome and united.

Passion Blog Topic

I am truly not good at blogging. First, I am anxious of writing something in my second language(even though I have been speaking English for almost six years); second, I am a poor story-teller. I think the principal reason is because I always get too enthusiastic when talking about my favorites or interests. Thus I usually end up with incoherent speeches. I am worried about my insufficient story-telling ability, however I am steadily confident about the topic I would like to discuss for my Passion Blog.


Into The Beauty of China

Given that I am originally from China, I am undoubtedly most acquainted with Chinese culture. Culture, a big word which seems like there is no way to begin, is in fact closely enrolled in our life. When travelling abroad, you are shocked by the unsatisfied taste of the food in a famous restaurant, that is culture. When everyone else around you is laughing at a joke yet you seem like an outsider and cannot get the point, that is also related to culture. Therefore, I would like to take you through the charms of Chinese culture step by step as I would break it into multiple sub-topics.

Initially, I prefer to start my blog with the most magnificent and traditional celebration——Chinese New Year. The significance of Chinese New Year to Chinese is the same as that of Christmas to Westerns. It is a time when families reunite and greet each other. It sounds like the same thing when people celebrate Christmas, nevertheless there are abundant diverse traditions (even different across all cities in China) about foods, greetings, decorations of houses, and so on. Chinese New Year is such a memorable and iconic event in China.

Ancient ways of celebrating

Moreover, I will provide you with a train of events or places of great importance in Chinese culture. If you are interested in architecture, I would love to illustrate a bunch of magnificent structures, narrating their histories, features, and fun facts.

Temple of Heaven

Furthermore, I will showcase china(porcelain), calligraphy, antiques and so on. I will take you into the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, and a series of traditional festivals.

Dragon Boat Festival

Moon-cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival

Culture is all about differences and reasons of people's behaviors. I became passionate about cultures when I started to learn foreign languages. I struggled to find the most precise word to translate ideas in another language. I learned that far from finding words that have the same meaning in another language, to translate accurately is to find words that bring out the sense and spirit of the original so that they are understood. This capability of interpretation acquires my deep understanding of the culture behind those combinations of characters. In conclusion, culture inspires me both in academics and in daily life and I am eager to share my passion through sentences with you. 


In nowadays United Sates, I assume that the majority of people are familiar with understanding various cultures since from my perspective United States is such a multicultural country. I hope all of you would be fascinated with the culture of my origin. Besides, I would be so glad you could advise me any specific aspects about Chinese culture that attract your attention. I would write about them into details for your preference.