The Circle Theme Essay

Technology has always been a controversial subject between conservative people and innovators. Some people believe that it is a great tool to connect cultures and improve education and innovation in our society today, but others view it as a menace in our lives. “Growing Up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle and “George Orwell...Meet Mark Zuckerberg” by Lori Andrews both view technology as a dangerous tool. They believe in the many drawbacks of technology and the harm it can do to our lives with no explanation of the positive effects it has had on our society. “Our Future Selves” by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen plays the role of a positive look at technology and its role in our lives today. It gives examples of how advancing technology helps us and improves so many peoples’s lives. We can use Schmidt and Cohen’s essay as a lens to view the other two texts and gain a different understanding of what they are writing about.

Technology, the advancement of knowledge and productivity through the application of tools, information, and techniques to create an effortless process, has ultimately lead to the declination of our society and our future. In “A Thing Like Me,” Nicholas Carr addresses the development of technology from the day it was created and how it initiated an immediate impact within the lives of humans leading to an unhealthy dependency. Carr establishes how technology, what was intended to be a tool, has become the “pacifier” of our generation. This “pacifier” causes a loss of freedom, not through the laws of the government, but rather with the values of freedom one holds within themselves. This freedom is the individuality that distinguishes each person from the next, and forms a desire for the development of oneself through the experiences of life and the wisdom that is acquired along the way. Technology has blinded man from this pursuit of self-enhancement and with the advancement of technology occurring daily, there is no resolution. Each day people are confined within themselves and the pieces of technology that will continually limit them in their lives. Freedom is more than just a concept of laws instilled by the government, it is the thought process found within each individual person and their “hunger” to become more. With technology, social media was created and immediately immersed within our lives. The society of today has

In today's culture people use technology to their advantage all the time. They use it to hack, to learn the latest gossip, or to see breaking news around the world. But, sometimes they get obsessed and instead of a handy tool, it becomes a necessity and a lifestyle. In the story, The Veldt, Ray Bradbury uses imagery, symbolism, and internal conflict to express that misuse of technology can lead to unforeseen disadvantages.

McDonaldization of society- the process by which ordinary aspects of life are rationalized and efficiency comes to rule them, including such things as food preparation p. 173

Do you control your technology, or does it control you? Written in 2002, M.T. Anderson’s Feed shows the world as a technology based society much like the one we live in today. The characters in this book use it an internet like service called the feed to communicate with each other, buy things, and even go to school. The feed in the story not only serves as the main point of conflict, but also symbolizes Anderson’s fear of the future in an age where technology is on the rise.

Feed by Matthew Tobin Anderson is a compelling and alluring novel about the boundaries of personal privacy. In a futuristic world, the United State’s technology and advertising have taken away every inch of privacy and freedom that the citizens once had because of the “feed.” The “feed” is an advanced internet system that connects you to a variety of everyday occurrences, such as types of music, entertainment programs, and even others’ memories. In this world, normalities include parents designing what their children would look like, schools being run by major corporations, and corporations holding more power than the president.

People are the products of their environment. The lifestyle children adapt to at a young age is what molds them as they grow up and mature. This is why children who typically are raised in a lavish lifestyle grow up to be proper, while those who live in poverty follow the path to failure. In the essays “The Power of Context,” “The Myth of the Ant Queen,” and “Biographies of Hegemony,” written respectfully by Malcolm Gladwell, Steven Johnson, and Karen Ho, the theme of minute changes in one’s environment, continuing to affect one heavily in the long term is brought up numerous times. Gladwell asserts the concept by talking about the incident with Bernherd Goetz and the stigma attached to the shooting. Johnson reflects upon this point numerous times by using anecdotes involving the ants and other complex discussions of Turing’s shortcomings in the era he lived in. Karen Ho talks about the business side of Gladwell’s point by correlating it with the practices used by superpower Wall Street firms and their recruitment process. In this essay, I argue that cultural and communal changes are affected by both small and large-scale contexts; and that the power of context has a strong correlation to Wall Street and the different types of societies discussed by Johnson and Gladwell.

“The Circle” is a novel that toes the line of the effects of too much technology and the possible great innovations that can come from it. Dave Eggers chooses to expose the possible negative effects of these innovations through the character Mae, who is a new college graduate that receives what she believes is a great job offer at a super tech company; The Circle. The Circle can be thought of as a combination of present day Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Basically, The Circle is a super corporation that is teetering on the side of monopolization of everything with the disguise of “social good.” Mae is drawn to The Circle by its fun campus that

I agree with the general stance of the author, and that is that I am extremely suspicious of McDonaldization and whether it is really a harm to society rather than a blessing. I disagree with three of the five key elements of McDonaldization, those being predictability, calculability, and control by non-human technologies. Firstly, by making the daily interactions of life more and more predictable, life loses some of its meaning. People are meant to confront all different types of situations and interactions to get a feel for the possibilities of life. For example, in the case of home-cooked meals, if people were not to occasionally receive a meal which was bad tasting, how would they be able to appreciate a really delicious meal. The whole idea of predictability goes against our ‘human-ness’, because we were all created to perform differently. Secondly, calculability leads to a belief that quantity is more important than quality. According to Ritzer, “In terms of processes, the emphasis is on speed(usually high), whereas for end results the focus is on the number of products served(usually large).”(pg. 59) In my opinion, the reason the majority of Americans are overweight is because of this “bigger is better” theory. The quality of other things is also affected in this way, such as of education, healthcare, and general productivity in a business. Thirdly, I think the increasing use

The Circle is about a prestigious technology company by the same name, the main focus of which is to reach an utopia. Eamon Bailey, one of the Three Wise Men, founder of the Circle, shares his vision of an ideal society where all privacy is nonexistent, therefore, everyone is able to have surveillance on everyone. Mae Holland, the protagonist, begins working at Circle and is enthralled by Bailey's idea. Mae's mindset is similar to Bailey’s; believing life will be complete once everyone has unfettered access to everything known. “All that happens must be known” embodies Bailey's idea to unite the world. Although Mae and Bailey believe privacy is theft, I believe it prevents humans from changing humanity and has always beenbeen always integral

Technological determinism is a term developed by Marshal McLuhan, a theorist in the study of new media. By technological determinism, McLuhan refers to technology having the power to change societies and influence our cultures. In this essay I will argue that technology does have the power to change society and influence a civilization, using ideas put forward by Marshal McLuhan. I will also discuss the debate around technological determinism recognizing the claims made by Raymond Williams that society shapes technology as we look back at its emergence and their subsequent control.

George Ritzer 's book The McDonaldization of Society opened and exposed one of what can be considered societies major flaws: McDonaldization. Ritzer suggests that in the late 20th century the socially structured form of the fast-food restaurant has become the organizational force representing and pushing rationalization further into everyday lives and individual identity. Henry Ford was the first McDonaldization pioneer with his vision of an assembly line for improving the production of automobiles. His revolutionary idea dramatically changed how many automobiles could be produced and was very efficient.

According to George Bernard Shaw, the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. The novel The Circle by Dave Eggers tells us a story about the main character, Mae Holland, and her journey through the company Circle. The company Circle have the most futuristic-like advancements in technology. Mae Holland’s dream is to work at the Circle because she dreaded her previous job at a run-down utility company. Holland is introverted and before working at the Circle, her life was not consumed with technology. She slowly assimilates with the Circle’s rules and regulations and therefore encounter a problem with situations she has never experienced before. Holland did not meet the expectations of the Circle’s requirements

Right next to my school is a small, quiet, part of town. Only at night would it ever grow loud with fans and bright with lights. People gather and cheer their hearts out for their home team. The field was an outlet for the players. Yet no one ever noticed what surrounded the field; the track, a small, quiet part of the town where people go to think, train, or simply run.

The structure and actions of the pedaling facility allegorize businesses in contemporary society. Both appeal to the materialistic mindsets of people through promises of material comfort to manipulate people to buy their products and conform to their demands. When Bing sees this, and tries to speak out against it, he is faced with the realization that he, as an individual, can do nothing in the face of corporate culture. Brooker’s FMM, in this way, comments on how businesses exploit the materialistic environment commerce develops to influence the desires and choices of individuals, and the futility of individuals trying to speak out against it.