We use communication devices in our daily lives for many purposes: education, general information, health, entertainment, notifications, socialisation, and more. In this age of information and communication technology as a major part of our lives, we are often left to our own devices in choosing how, why and when we communicate. The touch of a button allows us to adjust the volume of notifications on our phones or completely silence them, as well as switching from one application to another or browsing the internet. People make use of this ability to control their communication channels in many ways.
As members of the Internet Society, we were asked to run a project around a specific theme. We chose the theme of digital communication and the ways in which it affects people. We used our past experience of working on an Internet governance project as a launching point, where we investigated how the concept of digital communication affects and is affected by corporate social responsibility, human rights and the overall quality of life of individuals. As a group, we comprise varied backgrounds, sources of information and motivations because each of us views the world differently. But the common thread is that we are all citizens of the digital age, with a keen interest of how the Internet is influencing the modern way of living.
Digital communication and the Internet is impacting education in various ways; primarily, they have Democratised it. There are various sources of information concerning education beyond traditional universities. Online courses teach corporate communication, report writing, and content editing to those interested, with the potential to earn a certificate or even a diploma. YouTube showcases free videos with lectures covering various fields, including medical sciences, art history, and even yoga. Crowd-sourced blogs have entries covering a variety of topics, including history, literature, and personal development.
Our instructor, Pierre-Etienne, challenged us to explore complex digital situations. This meant that we had to discuss a situation in which a problem is addressed. We are tasked with writing an article that describes a complex situation that somehow touches upon a digital medium. Pierre-Etienne suggested we look for a to-do online list and work towards completing it with our own two hands. This seems easy – what could be more complex than a to-do list? We went for the obvious layer of complexity – it was divided into three separate components, where completing one component also affected the other components. We had 2 days to complete it. At the start, we had no idea how to proceed. Elements kept falling off, or randomly announcing that a condition was not met.
One of our assignments was centred around discussing whether are radar detectors legal in georgia. The ground rule was keeping away from self-imposed complexities, although we got into a heated debate over whether the car was parked at the garage or simply outside in the driveway. Ok, but what does Google tell us? That was our first priority. When we started searching for information, we noticed Google autocomplete was throwing out some really odd combinations. ‘Are radar detectors legal Georgia’ and ‘are radar detectors allowed georgia’ was way too boring, so it advised us to ‘are radar detectors legal in georgia in 2021’. While we found that curious, what we really wanted to know was whether radar detectors are legal or not in Georgia. We focused on this topic and see if we could write about the legality of radar detectors in an engaging fashion.
We did a search for ‘Are radar detectors allowed in Georgia?’ And found a source that answered the question indeed: ‘It is not illegal to have radar detectors in Georgia. Law enforcement can only pull you over if it is visible’. It was just as plain as that. Well, plain and straightforward didn’t seem to address a complete and complex situation. There must be more reasons than ‘law enforcement cannot pull you over for having a radar detector in Georgia’ for people to be curious whether radar detectors were legal in the first place. As a group, we did some brainstorming. Are we to assume that the lack of complexity is an assumption people need to make when they search for the legality of radar detectors – that there are no conditions on their legality? Or, are there other dilemmas we are failing to see here? We assumed the former; but the latter has to be explored. After all, the unexpected or unknown is how we learn.
It was also an opportunity to practice our storytelling skills. We quickly realised that since the answer we searched for was rather straightforward, we needed to dig a bit deeper to see what we could learn. ‘Are radar detectors legal Georgia 2019’ says that ‘Radar detectors were made illegal to sell, manufacture, buy, install, possess, or transport within state lines in Georgia. This was because they interfere with law enforcement’s traffic sentencing new system.’ The news article mentions other states such as Virginia that imposes a penalty of $250 and confiscates the radar detector. In New Jersey, the fine is $160 and the radar detector gets confiscated. It would seem that the focus of the statements is on limitations bound to where the radar detector is used, i.e. in the US. ‘In all other countries you are free to use radar detectors.’ But wait a second. Are we saying that all other countries allow the use of radar detectors except those in the US? That would be a pretty bold statement.
What if we imagine that the case is that there is not enough information. If we think of it that way, we leave ourselves open to discover more about the topic at hand. The idea here is to remain open and curious, to encourage more exploration and connections in our brains that lead to better learning outcomes. So, if we take the legal implications of the radar detectors in Georgia we just learned about, and add to it the fact that there are limitations placed on the use of radar detectors based on countries, we start to see a picture coming together. Radar detectors might be illegal in certain US states, but it could also be illegal outside of the US, or under certain conditions. It’s more complicated than we initially thought.
Using this information would not only inform our users of the basic rules, but also introduce the idea of digging deeper and remaining curious. This gives us less to work with regarding future searches, and instead we are offered opportunities to learn more. As leaders in innovation, we should be instilling curiosity in our students and demonstrating how there is still the opportunity to learn. By allowing students to play around with complex situations, we can demonstrate where it is possible to drive deeper to see the bigger picture.
For more information on the legality of radar detectors, you can visit the Wikipedia page on radar detectors.