In Sherry Turkle’s essay “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk” she explains how people are so immersed in their electronics, that they fail to connect with others during conversation. She argues that people have become less empathetic when they communicate with each other. She also claims this is caused by excessive use of electronic devices. She writes this essay so that people will observe how electronics change us. She describes how people rely on technology to communicate by introducing the ideas that people prefer to be alone, are vulnerable, and go through a process called the three person rule when in a conversation with someone.…
In Nicholas Carr’s book, “The Shallows: What The Internet is Doing to our Brains,” he makes the powerful point that in order to assume technology’s power, especially intellectual technology, we must pay a particularly high price. Carr states this idea in one quote from his book, “The price we pay to assume technologies power is alienation. The toll can be particularly high with our intellectual technologies. the tools of the mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities- those for reason perception, memory, emotion(pg 211).” This price for intellectual technologies can range from a lowered ability to pull up memorized information, a shorter attention span, having a harder time learning new information, or even a changed perception of our world. All of these points help show how the internet is affecting our brains physically and mentally.…
The digital age is forming our brains into 140 characters and making us express ourselves in little yellow faces. When we’re bored we go straight for technology. We are more distracted, have decreased attention spans and most importantly addicted. Science has gone a long way and so far has proven that the technology produced from it has mind altering abilities that affect our daily lives.…
From the moment the majority of people wake up to the moment they close their eyes to go to sleep, technology pervades their lives. Applications on smartphones, computers, television, video games--all take up a significant portion of one’s day. M.T. Anderson’s dystopian novel Feed presents an exaggeration of today’s over-reliance on technology, which Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” foreshadows. It asserts that society is already moving toward becoming this fictional world. Feed warns that society could become mindless and shallow if technology use is not moderated.…
Living Behind a Screen In the essay “Growing Up Tethered”, written by Sherry Turkle shows that adolescences in today’s society are so attached to their phones and technology that they do not know how to function in the day-to-day life. The author of this essay shows many supporting examples to why young people are so wrapped up in their technology and why they choose to live their lives behind a screen. In the essay many examples the author gathers is about how a variety of adolescences are attached to technology but in different ways. One student in high school feels the urge to answer her phone when she gets a call no matter what she is doing just to see who is trying to contact her.…
In the essay “Our Future Selves,” by Eric Schmitz and Jared Cohen, the authors focus solely on how technology has had an optimistic impact on our lives and society. Similarly, the more technology advances are available the more effective, productive, and creative an individual will become, therefore, making an individual feel more connected and equal. However, in his essay “The Loneliness of the Interconnected,” Charles Seife introduces and proposes an opposing view. Seife believes that the more technology offers us, the more isolated we become towards our surroundings. Due to the abusive use of technology, we have become isolated to reality, to opposing views, but most of all towards verbal communication. Thus, although these two essays demonstrate distinctive views on technology, they share three common views: Technology is creating equality, optimism, and simplicity.…
Digital Distractions Nicholas Carr discusses how technology has influenced the way individuals think and process information in his book The Shallows. Carr argues that people's ability to focus closely, conduct critical thought, and recall information is being negatively impacted by the continuous interruptions and easy access to information on the internet. (Carr,1). “ The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation. The toll can be particularly high with our technology.…
Picture you are at home alone. There is no one around. You have done all the things you need to do for the day, and you just want to relax. What do you do? Do you just sit around and watch some television? Are you scrolling aimlessly through various social media accounts? What about playing that new additive game you got last week on your tablet? Whatever you are doing it most likely leads back to technology somehow. This is not necessarily a bad thing because technology was made for our enjoyment, however, some people can be a little too dependent on it these days. Almost everyone in the United States has access to current technology weather it is a smart phone, a computer, or a tablet. This means a lot of screen time for people all over the nation, but unfortunately most people who have this access do not think they have the time to put the devices down to socialize and communicate face-to-face with rest of the world. Just because we are called the digital age does not mean we have to be glued to our phones at all times. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, by…
According to Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows, the Net is changing the way people view and live their everyday lives, and is the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use since the book. One can agree with Carr’s thesis because it is easily supported by observing the changing culture of humanity. Due to rapidly advancing and expanding technology, human beings are dealing with memory issues and diminishing human interaction. The Net is changing the way people view and live their everyday lives, and is the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use since the book. People view technology as computers and phones but it is a widespread of so much more.…
Imagine going back in time and staying there permanently. Out of all the things that will be missed, there is no doubt that the one thing would be technology. The Shallows: What Internet is Doing to Our Brains is nonfiction book written by Nicholas Carr who asserts and cautions the effects that internet has on everyone to this day and even more so in the future. People nowadays can communicate with people all around the world using many different types of communications such as social networking sites, cell phones, emails, etc. Carr brings in many different scientific research as well as a couple of personal experiences to show the great change in technology and the internet. The author chose to write The Shallows from an epiphany he had realized, “It (his brain) was hungry. It was demanding to be fed by the net feed...I wanted to check email, click links, do some googling. I wanted to be connected” (Carr 16). The way that technology has changed and developed the internet has made Carr want to stress the fact that although technology is very useful, it can be very harmful to peoples’ brain in a way that it affects a person’s deeper level of thinking.…
Jaron Lanier in his book, “You Are Not A Gadget,” reveals his concerns of the advancements of technology on those who are using it. He brings to light many issues that most people don’t think of, nor realize is happening on a day to day basis. The continuing evolution of the digital world has begun and has more potential than ever to destroy the human race by taking away ones individuality, creativeness, emotion and the real meaning of relationships. In essence everything makes a person, human.…
According to Lauren Shinozuka, in her essay, “The Dangers of Digital Distractedness,” we are a digital generation. She asserts we are celebrated for our aptitude in effortless interactions with society through technology. However, the author questions the effect that this mass use of digital media has on societal and personal interactions and suggests we are alienating ourselves from those around us. She offers the point that we have developed an obsession with high-tech communication and are afflicted by fruitlessly attempting to do too many things at once, as well as automating our interpersonal interactions, disconnecting from genuine contact, and promoting a falsified version of…
Ever since the advent of the modern digital culture, there have been some heated discussions on the topic of whether technology is a foe or a friend. Some people argue that it is influencing us negatively, scattering our attention and diffusing our concentration, while others believe otherwise, suggesting that it is making our lives more efficient and convenient. The emergence of such technology not only enhances some of our fundamental cognitive abilities, but also enables us to explore more of what is we are truly interested in.…
Since their invention, people far and wide have become increasingly dependent on computers. Computers have found their way into just about every aspect of our lives, and in most cases, they make things easier for us. They allow us to work from home, socialize with our friends and family who live too far away to visit, and they provide a stress relief when we come home from school or work and just want to have some fun. But as we increasingly rely on computers to get through the day, the question begs to be answered: have we become too dependent on computers? As most of us can agree, the world is overused with technology making it a necessity in modern day life. As demonstrated on the image, the use of technology is practically addicting, making it almost a drug resulting in many different hazardous dangers/effects.…
During my browse thru the 99% website, I came across many interesting articles, but the one that really caught my attention was, What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking & Sacred Space, by Scott Belsky. This article goes into details on how many people do not disconnect from their electronic devices. Many do not even have one second to themselves, He explains that, “in the digital era we live in, we are losing hold of the few sacred spaces that remain untouched by email, the internet, people, and other forms of distraction”. Also from this, Belsky states, too much connectivity is leaving our imaginations to suffer.…