Human Interaction: Plugged or Unplugged Essay

In the 21st century nothing has been more influential on the human race than technology has. Technology is a part of anything and everything and the thought of no technology would be considered the apocalypse. Two women, Jane McGonigal, a video game designer, and Sherry Turkle, a technology professor at MIT, both have their own perspectives on technology and how it impacts emotions. McGonigal’s main focus is how video games can be used as a model on how we as humans can make this world a better place. Turkle’s studies are focused on how technology such as cell phones, online avatars, and social media make a whole generations personal development different from past generations. McGonigal is extremely optimistic towards the idea of not only video games but technology as a whole being a huge impact on the improvement of earth’s population. Turkle is more skeptical on technology bringing up thought evoking questions regarding whether technology and its effects on us should be considered good or bad. Even with their contrasting topics both of these women are trying to show how the technology of everyday life alter the emotions. Turkle and McGonigal’s ideas are comparative regarding the emotional effect on people using alternate realities being positive and they also agree that technological communication has become a tool for emotional benefit in society, but their technological views differ on how technology will help us mature as a person.

In her article “How Happy Are You and Why?,” Sonja Lyubomirsky argues that people have control over their own happiness. Lyubomirsky supports her claims with her interviews with happy people and scientific studies. Her purpose is to consider steps that people can take in order to become happier. She establishes an informal relationship with her audience of unhappy people.

In this generation, it is easy to find “happiness;” all that is necessary is to post a cute picture on Instagram or Facebook and wait for all the compliments and heart emojis to come flooding in. With all this technology and instant ways to replicate the feeling of joy and satisfaction, it is easy it misinterpret true happiness with instant gratification. In an interview, Dr. Jordan Mckenzie compares different expectations of happiness; one that is received with work and time, another gained with instant satisfaction. He describes this unfortunate truth that society has morphed happiness into to something that can be received by picking up a smart phone. This notion of instantly receiving happiness is the reason why it seems like the “set point” exists because that instant gratification from Facebook only lasts so long until it fades and everything is normal

Begley argues that although everyone’s goal in life is to be happy, “too much happiness might not be such a good thing” (555). Begley believes that happiness is overrated and the media is forcing people to be happy against their will. For example, the media forces people to be happy against their will by advertising their self-help books, magazine articles and motivational speakers. The media also promotes the pharmaceutical companies that claim they are “working on a new drug to make [people] happier” (556). Begley also states that research has concluded “that being happier is not always better” and “the

In society today as one knows it, technology plays a major role. The world has become so reliant on technology that life would be unimaginable without it. As the world develops it is becoming more apparent, that not only do we want technology but we need it. It has taken over our feelings as well, making us feel all sorts of emotions. Technology seems to cover us from the real world, plastering the realness of society. We refer to it when we are sad because we know that it is always there to make us happy. Although, can it disguise true happiness? In Fahrenheit 451, happiness is lost within certain characters. So much so, that they withdraw themselves from the outside world and try to contain their happiness with technology. In societies

It is universally accepted that happiness pushes human society to progress. Happiness brings euphoria which all human beings naturally enjoy. To magnify happiness, people study philosophy to contemplate what brings happiness thus inventing new devices to ease their lives. Philosophy teaches people that acceptance, sharing and love arouse happiness. Consequently, new inventions implement their spiritual understandings about happiness in real life by facilitating communication. In Daniel Gilbert’s article “Reporting Live from Tomorrow”, he proposes that because there is not a single human encyclopedia in the world, communication is necessary to human beings and happiness stems from communication. Traditionally, people needed to make tremendous effort to communicate, but fortunately, new technologies bring easier communication. A good example is that electronic devices are extensively used now. However, immoderate usage of new technologies are harmful. In Richard Restak’s article “ Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era”, he exhibits that attention deficit which is referred to as a psychological disability, is becoming a label of modern society. With almost addictive symptoms, people pass the boundaries of proper use of new technologies again and again and are now emotionally dependent on them. However, is it possible that people can get true happiness through electronic-devices communication? Although technology heightens people’s happiness temporarily, the fake

Over the last 30 years, the methods of human interactions have grown explosively, from face-to-face conversations, to video calling, instant messaging, texting, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, and Instagram. As the technology we surround ourselves with pervades an increasing number of aspects in our lives, it has begun to affect our mental health. A Carnegie Mellon study concluding that internet usage leads to significant increases in loneliness and depression received U.S. national media coverage (Kraut, Patterson, et al., 1998). However, others argue that the internet may just provide a place of refuge for those suffering from loneliness, anxiety, and depression. (McKenna and Bargh, 59)

Digital technology is quickly integrating into all facets of our daily life. Dramatic change over the last twenty years or so in regards to the internet, social media, and gaming products. Are these rapid technological advancements changing our short-term thinking process or affect our social interactions? Karen Zilberstein (2013) researched these aspects in her research titled, Technology, Relationships and Culture: Clinical and Theoretical Implications as well exploring the consequences in the realm of psychotherapeutic practice and theory (p. 150). The author of this essay will provide a critical analysis of Zilberstein’s findings and examine how technology affects our culture.

In modern day society , students are on instagram instead of taking notes in class, office workers shop on ebay at work and parents take their iphones to the beach instead of the books they used to to read. Maggies Jackson , a writer for Boston Globe states electronics are less of annoyances , yet becoming more of a distraction leading to a new dark age. Jackson uses personal stories and tells of her extensive research in the article to make her readers believe in her credibility. These three rhetorical appeals combining with her alarmed tone creates an effective argument on electric distranticon.

To begin with,depression is a big problem happening to a lot of people using technology. Studies say that it is certain that you have experienced depression when you share on tech.One reason how depression happens is, people only care what other people think of them, and we don’t care of how we look or how we are special and it causes us to feel sad because we think we aren’t sufficient enough for everyone else.Adding on, there can be something embarrassing about us and we will be sad and won’t want to be near anyone because they will make fun of you.In the text of “Black Hole Of Technology” it states,”We only care about what other people think, not what we think and they think we need to be better, so we get depressed by their opinion.”

There is no question that science and technology is as essential to functioning in an advanced society as soil is essential for a flower. In numerous communities, technology is so often an asset to be yearned for. We want to have the best smartphone, the best internet, the smartest home possible. Every piece of mainstream technology strives to make life easier, and yet it appears to be quite the contrary. Since the 1900s, we have gained dishwashers and automatic floor sweepers. Yet a question remains: have we truly become happier? As the prevalence of technology is on the rise in our own time, survey after survey, research after research shows that we are actually more unhappy with our lives. Suicide rates have skyrocketed ( Tavernise)

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

Hello everybody. I'm going to show you some pictures and I want you to think about the first emotion that comes to mind. Now I'm sure these pictures made you feel sad, negative, depressed, pity,and a lot of other negative emotions. Now i'm going to show you another set of pictures and I want you to do same thing as you did with the last pictures. These pictures have been voted on and determined that these are the happiest pictures on the internet. Why you may ask? Because genetically we are all wired to like cute things such as babies or cute animals. We can use this genetic wiring to our advantage, just looking at these pictures improves your efficiency, your short-term happiness, and caught your attention better than just looking at a picture of a carrot or say one of zak’s many selfies. (Martinez-Conde). Now that i've got you attention I want you to raise your hand if you ever been taught what causes happiness, the benefits being happy has, or how to become happier.. The fact that *if everyone raises their hand pivot to something else* almost no one in this room has been taught these things is insane to me. This is telling of the ideas that we have as a society concerning happiness. What I'm trying to say is that as a culture we need to redefine happiness as something that needs to be constantly worked towards and is not something easily attainable. I'm going to start off with with talking about the problem we have with happiness. Next we're going to talk about what effects are caused by being unhappy and finally we're going to talk about ways you can become happier.

There is much that can be said about happiness as an element of pop culture as it relates to consumerism. Within the dollar-driven world of modern America, happiness is often measured by the size of the vehicle in one's driveway, or the memory that their I-Pod contains. Happiness is a commodity that seems to be able to be bought as an accessory with every item that is piled into the home of people from coast to coast. The instant gratification that comes with material possessions, and the fact that credit cards make instant gratification through ownership possible, makes the pursuit of happiness essentially a financial transaction at the local mall. As people become more and more scattered due to work and family commitments,

When you hear the word happiness, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think of material possessions like designer clothes and accessories, the newest iPhone with the highest possible storage capacity, or a shiny red supercar? Do you think the amount of money you have or your current financial status has an effect on how happy you are? Plenty of college students, myself included, would associate happiness with possessing items like these or just having a lot of money in general. In today’s society, one common belief about social class is that the richer and more money or things that one has, the happier this will make them. This belief is reinforced by countless advertisements we see and hear everywhere, whether that be on