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Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing

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Searching for Something and Obtaining Nothing
Searching For Something and Obtaining Nothing
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ENG 102: Composition II
October 11, 2012

Searching For: Something and Obtaining Nothing In “Seeking”, Emily Yoffe shares with us her thoughts of what she believes is taking over our original basic desires and being replaced with an obsession for a constant need to gather or receive information with disregard to everything else. I can relate to what she is stating because I see it happening everyday around me; people walking around with their faces looking down into their smart phones. Almost everyone I come in contact with has a laptop, Ipad or tablet carrying around with them. You see them in the parks, malls, bookstore tech-ed out and they are all searching... forever searching forever seeking and waiting for the next text, the Yahoo you got mail or that Tweet alerting them that someone cared enough or too little by sending them a message by such an impersonal means of communication.
Yoffe speaks about a friend who has an insatiable need to view random facts about famous people when dining out with her boyfriend. So caught up is Nina that she ignores her boyfriend who is sitting right across the table from her. This is what Yoffe means when she states, “chasing after flickering bits of information.” By analyzing her article, I hope to further persuade techno junkies of the negative effects that Yoffe seems to imply but not directly stating it. Yoffe uses creditable sources to give us reasons on why we should put the machines down. The book titled, Animals in Translation, by Temple Grandin, Yoffe talks of two cats who were being driven crazy from chasing a laser pointer even though they could never catch it. Think of Kim Kardashian who is always driven to read each blog, on-line trash mag, like TMZ to see what is being posted about her. If you have ever watched Keeping up with the Kardashians you see her literally tearing herself apart searching for this information and


References: Yoffe, E. (2011). Seeking, In X. J. Kennedy, D.M. Kennedy & M.F. Muth (Eds.) The Bedford guide For college writers (9th ed.) (pp. 599-601). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s
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