Summary Of Alienation By Nicholas Carr
The statement says that Nicholas Carr thinks that technology’s power is alienation. His words are “the toll can be practically high with our intellectual technologies. The tools of the mind amplify and turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities – those for reasons, perception, memory, emotion. (Carr, 211) He says that by using tech so much we eventually go numb to everything around us, is that the truth? Well at this point in time all there was, was the ability to observe everything yourself and make a decision on everything you already know and see.
I agree with this statement today. Every day we see people taking their technology with them where ever they go and use them for at least 90% of their day. It has
consumed most of us so much we no longer speak to one another verbally. Have you ever been in a room full of people and no one is speaking but instead holding web in their hands? With few words spoken here and there we lose contact with living people and relay on talking to them over the web without actually speaking or seeing their face. I do feel this could be a great thing that aids many, many things but isn’t always the healthiest way to communicate and or function with others. We become too reliant on having anything we need at the touch of our fingers that we no longer need the ability to function on our own... There is many examples of this everywhere you turn. For example people lose emotion to the things they say behind a screen. They no longer fear the reactions of the ones they talk to such as how it affects them. This is where cyber bullying and emotionless criticism toward who someone should or should not be starts. Behind the screen you don’t see the affect it has on the person. In my opinion it shuts off your ability to self-containment and consciousness, it really does make you numb. It stars to have less and less feeling of guilt when there isn’t a face to the name people throw harsh words at.
Another example is multitasking. According to Clifford Nass people say that they are good multitaskers, and it doesn’t affect them in any way. However he claims that according to psychology it is impossible. To prove it they gave different tasks to people that were basic for the brain. They use this to see how the brain works and if it is possible to be a multitasker. For an example they give them a blue and red rectangle and then ask for them to tell if the red one moved, and to ignore the blue one. They do this to see if they can focus on only one color instead of the both.’ It has to do with the idea shifting from one to another.” Says Nass the outcome showed that multitaskers can’t multitask at all, they simply switch from on to another and call it multitasking, and this is due to technology.
The examples are the main reason I do agree with Carrs theory. Although the new and better things are very interesting and helpful it is harming us. This is something that can affect our entire lives, and our children’s. If this is the route we are traveling right now imagine in the near future. What does that hold for us, will we completely lose ourselves to the cyber web world or will we rebound and remember what the basis of our lives is? No one knows but many have predicted the near future. I am curious to know what the next couple hundred centuries will bring. The start of something new should never be a fear, it should spark hope, but after reading the research all we can do hope for the best.
I agree with this statement today. Every day we see people taking their technology with them where ever they go and use them for at least 90% of their day. It has
consumed most of us so much we no longer speak to one another verbally. Have you ever been in a room full of people and no one is speaking but instead holding web in their hands? With few words spoken here and there we lose contact with living people and relay on talking to them over the web without actually speaking or seeing their face. I do feel this could be a great thing that aids many, many things but isn’t always the healthiest way to communicate and or function with others. We become too reliant on having anything we need at the touch of our fingers that we no longer need the ability to function on our own... There is many examples of this everywhere you turn. For example people lose emotion to the things they say behind a screen. They no longer fear the reactions of the ones they talk to such as how it affects them. This is where cyber bullying and emotionless criticism toward who someone should or should not be starts. Behind the screen you don’t see the affect it has on the person. In my opinion it shuts off your ability to self-containment and consciousness, it really does make you numb. It stars to have less and less feeling of guilt when there isn’t a face to the name people throw harsh words at.
Another example is multitasking. According to Clifford Nass people say that they are good multitaskers, and it doesn’t affect them in any way. However he claims that according to psychology it is impossible. To prove it they gave different tasks to people that were basic for the brain. They use this to see how the brain works and if it is possible to be a multitasker. For an example they give them a blue and red rectangle and then ask for them to tell if the red one moved, and to ignore the blue one. They do this to see if they can focus on only one color instead of the both.’ It has to do with the idea shifting from one to another.” Says Nass the outcome showed that multitaskers can’t multitask at all, they simply switch from on to another and call it multitasking, and this is due to technology.
The examples are the main reason I do agree with Carrs theory. Although the new and better things are very interesting and helpful it is harming us. This is something that can affect our entire lives, and our children’s. If this is the route we are traveling right now imagine in the near future. What does that hold for us, will we completely lose ourselves to the cyber web world or will we rebound and remember what the basis of our lives is? No one knows but many have predicted the near future. I am curious to know what the next couple hundred centuries will bring. The start of something new should never be a fear, it should spark hope, but after reading the research all we can do hope for the best.