How Not To Be Alone By Jonathan Safran Foer

In our book groups we discussed two essays “The Connection Between Strangers” by Miles Goodwin and the essay “The People Who Love You When No One Else Would” by Cecile Gilmer. In my group we said that “no matter how big or small your act of kindness is, it could change someones life” was demonstrated in both essays. In the first essay, “The Connection Between Strangers”, shows this because this little girl walked up to this solider and congratulated him. Little did she know, that the small action had changed the soldier’s life, as he said in the essay, “That girl undoubtedly has no memory of what happened years ago… It doesn't matter why she gave me the magazine. The important thing is she did” (Goodwin 83).

People in the world today depend on technology to help them succeed through life. However, the rate of its use among young kids and teen customers is increasing at a rapid pace. The reason being is that they would rather text a class friend and use social media rather than meeting up with them. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the scenario is similar to the world today, because nobody communicates or connects with people personally, leaving them isolated and alone. Also, in the article called “Tasking Multitasking To Task”, by Mark Harris, he explains that technology is affecting the human mind to lack interest in social skills and hobbies. Harris’ claim that technology is corrupting our lives is correct because many people have lost their attention span for anything beyond a simple phrase.

The use of technology has increased rapidly as time has gone by.  In “Growing Up Tethered”, Turkle proves that the young generation need to be connected at all times by relying on their phones a lot. Reality is now based on technology, which people now live off of. Turkle’s argument in “Growing up Tethered” was used in the form of a book, with a well-organized smoothly transitioned article telling of the disconnection of the world we live in today, due to technologies such as cell phones, and social networks. We are slowly becoming a society of distance amongst each other with face to face conversations being limited to 20minutes phone conversations, and on social network sights we are making a portrayal of a person who we are

Maggie Jackson simply argues society uses technology more than ever now , we constantly make plans to hang out , but never happens. She talks on the details of how societies losing attention spans in this article by showing us a wakeup call of her story and having hope for upcoming generations. She introduces us to what she calls the land of distraction,technology has been used for good such scientific advances but she feels we are introducing a culture of fragmentation and detachment. In her journey readers travel with her to uncover the

Scientist are researching genetic modification for many reasons. Some people think we are not good enough the way we are, and want to create a ‘perfect’ person. We have been given the ability to learn how to heal sickness and fix wounds with science. However, we have a responsibility to use this information wisely. We have been created with unique gifts and those gifts are important to the enhancement of life. Likewise, while researching about the Author of “The Perfect Stranger”, Amy Sterling Casil, I have discovered that she also has similar feelings about the gifts that we have all been given. We need to consider a few things as we review Casil’s story “The Perfect Stranger”. First, medical advancement is a great thing. Next, we need to make sure we are taking responsible steps while advancing and not creating even more division in our society. And lastly, we need to make sure we don’t lose our diversity and unique qualities. Although, some people believe genetic modification is what we need to better the human race, in actuality genetic modification can be dangerous, because overstepping our boundaries will produce something that is no longer authentic or that is unable to relate on a genuine level.

Loneliness can be fixed with a simple act of kindness. When someone warms the victim’s heart, they break the chains that hold them in solitude. If the victim is neglected, the chains will only get longer and thicker until they cannot be broken. In Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, the main protagonist, Billie Jo Kempe, was the one in chains. Despite her accomplishments and desire to be loved, her parents never praised her like she hoped, and life seems to never go Billie’s way.

Technology is changing who we are. This sentence will likely resonate with most people who feel it to be true. A remarkable American novelist, Jonathan Safran Foer, also the author of this article, wrote “How not to be alone” published on June 8th, 2013 in the New York Times. He conveys the idea that technology has created distance among people. In this wonderful editorial, Foer begins with pathos, then he uses logos to point out the fact that people are obsessed with cyberspace, he tries to build credibility by adding ethos, and he applies hyperbole and pathos again as well.

Today’s society has become so fixated with technology that it is now a major component in the lives of many individuals. Many people use these technologies; such as, smart phones, tablets, and computer, to speak about their daily activities or thoughts. These devices help create imaginative barriers that allow people to act vastly different than they would if someone where in the vicinity. A significant example of this is Kiki Kannibal. In “Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played With Fire” Kristen “Kiki” Ostrenga was a simple teenage girl who had moved to a new city, but a problem arose when she could not make any friends.

“Do you ever put that phone of yours down?” I hear my mom shriek day after day. It’s true, 14-17 year-old teens usually send and receive up to 60 text messages a day. Phones and other electronics have recently become popular during the past few years, much like Apple, who are constantly releasing their newest iPhone to the world. Ray Bradbury, author of many short stories involving technology foresaw these events.

You: an introduction written by Michael Jensen is a great book that goes into depth to answering questions such as, “Who are you really?”, “What are you supposed to be like?” and “What-or whose-purpose do you serve?” (Page 7). Jensen is a very knowledgeable with the way he talks in his book and was also a Church Planter at Moore College. He relates greatly to the Bible and his own sources of knowledge, including quotes from other people “a guy called Walter Truett Anderson says ‘Consumption is now inseparable from identity’” (Page 10).

In Cecilia Brown’s paper titled Are We Becoming More Socially Awkward?, the main point the author is trying to make is the use of electronic devices is affecting people’s social skills. This central idea is being advanced throughout the essay through the meticulous word choice of the writer. In essence, this paper is trying to bring forward to an average modern day citizen the dangers of electronic devices to the social aspects of today’s society.

When was the last time you drove to BestBuy for physically buying an electronic item? How often do you have traditional family dinner with all the members sitting at the dining table? “Such home may be full of people but they are really empty” and “the consequences of this accelerating isolation of individuals are dire” (Eitzen, 2000: p.28). Eitzen argues that, “technology also encourages isolation” (Eitzen, 2000: p.27). This is probably the leading cause of isolated society. We faced major shift toward isolation after invention of television, phones, and the Internet. Now days, we tend to spend more and more time watching television or browsing the Internet, rather than socializing with friends and neighbors. In addition, 21st century introduced whole new ear of communication means via emails and phone messaging. It has proven to reduce our person-to-person interactions. According to Eitzen, “we are becoming an autistic society, communicating messages electronically but without really connecting” (Eitzen, 2000: p.27). This affects how we interact with social problems. Days are not far when Disney fiction movie, Wall-E become a reality because our society is becoming more and more

Bathhouse, a public place which Shirin Neshat depicted in her film Women without Men, as well as a fantasy of imagination of orientalism, is the name of the exhibition which Veronica Bechtold, Rebecca Gross, Tia Harestad, Lisa O’Connor, Selena Skalisky have curated as their dream feminist exhibition. Inside the space of the Bathhouse, the works of seven artists from all over of the world are chosen as part of the exhibition. All of the art prieces articulate the multiplicity of identity through visual representation across medium, utilizing an array of subjects that ranges from pubic hair to female genitalia, which opens up a conversation on how each artist represent differences by visually engaging the audience.

In the essay William Deresiewicz’s, The End of Solitude, he creates an overall theme that encompasses the following ideas: what does it mean to be lonely in this post-modern world? How is technology changing the environment in which we participate online; and does this participation lend its self to being “closer” to the multitude of friends online – does this issue erase what it means to be intimate? Also, he factors in that solitude is a way to self-reflection and introspection, which is crucial to gauging what is going on around us. However, there were similar criticisms raised and explored during a filmed TEDTalk, Connected, but alone, with Sherry Turkle. In this talk, Turkle recounted the experiences in which she has noticed how different people have become as a consequence of using technology today – they have become reserved, more able to be in the same room with each other, yet these individuals remain alone. Whether it is about Deresiewicz’s feeling that many today do not hold existential

“Little by little, Internet and mobile technology seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society.” (Melissa Nilles “Technology is Destroying the Quality of Human Interaction”) Because of technology, the interactions with other people have no meaning, and that we are no longer in touch with the world that we live in. Since technology makes it easier to connect and converse with friends, family, etc. it gives people the opportunity to avoid face to face interaction at all, which leads to isolation and loneliness. This is because as human beings, physical touch is something that we