The Ecstasy Of Influence By Sherry Turrkle Summary

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.

Throughout, Turkle’s argument she appeals to her audience’s emotions tapping into their sense of duty to the future generations as well as humanizing the issue. Characteristically, she reveals this through her choice of words, “Children growing up with this may never know another way;” or “Yet there is a price to pay in the development of autonomy;” together with, “What kind of people [are we] becoming as we develop very intimate relationships with our machines.” (507-511) As a result of using these words, she paints vivid images of the fear and apprehension people share over how technology is rapidly changing the very core of society down to the individual level from the way we think to the perception of our own “self”. At the same time, Turkle

In the novel ‘Feed’, M.T Anderson proposed a human can have a small chip placed in the head, that feeds them the best deals, and latest trends, as well as providing all the functions laptops and cell phones used today could provide, and in having this chip implanted in their heads, it encourages buying the best bargains and purchasing the latest products, and keeping up with the trends that are changing daily. Throughout the Novel, Anderson plays with the idea technology as negative effects on society. He shows a society where people’s ability to think is decreasing, as is their emotional capacity, where corporations run the system and have let the environment suffer because of it. He shows a society where advertising and consumerism are driving the human race, and reducing people’s humanity.

Technology has played an influential role in the growing society of today. It has been the technological mother-nature to the brain, as people seek guidance from its false intelligence. In the novel Feed, written by M.T. Anderson, the main focus is on the effect that technology has on a society as a whole. With technology, such as the feed, it can be beneficial when used correctly. It can help a person come up with just the “right” words when they’re stuck on a paper, or even when they are having a conversation with another individual. Technology is a good resource in most cases; however, it is not truly a benefit when overused. It turns into an addiction, and people begin to rely on it too much. Technology that is similar to the feed should be removed, because

istraction. Did that get your attention? While technology is the very thing that provides us with answers, it is also the cause of our distractions. Alina Tugend essay “Multitasking Can Make You Lose… Um… Focus” and Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid” reflects on the purpose of how technology can cause delusional reactions upon our brain. Tugend is a columnist for the New York Times and also an author who appeared in the Los Angeles Times on many occasions. As for Carr, he has written widely on technology, business, and culture while observing the latest technologies and related issue. Together they seem like vastly different individuals, but Tugend and Carr’s essay essentially serve the same purpose to their audience. Authors Carr and Tugend reveal the purpose of harmful technology and the limitations cast upon the human brain through individual implementations of pathos, examples, and the voice of their tone.

His argument that people are becoming too dependent on technology is weaved through the explanation of ELIZA: a computer application program that “offered a ‘mechanic clarity,’ replacing language’s human ‘messiness’ with a ‘clean internal computer.’” (202)

As day progresses so as technology. In the modern society high technology devices have become indispensable to human. Electronic machines have gradually been starting to replace human work. At a factory work place, restaurant kitchen, and household laundry rooms, the improvement of technology can be seen anywhere. Mobile phone, which has only become prevalent in a few decades, can be found in anyone’s jeans pocket. However, is this situation an evolution to a new era or an over-reliance on technology. Sherry Turkle, the author of “The Empathy Diaries” expresses her concern on modern generation overusing electronic devices. She points out her main argument that the situation has deteriorated to the extend where children are losing their empathy and ability to social. Turkle, promoting the importance of conversation, not only criticize young generations for being overly obsess with electronic devices, but also oppose the ones who understand the the significance of conversation for not passing down the knowledge. It is clear that in Turkle’s perspective the improvement of technology has brought up issues that do not exist ever before. Despite that the benefit form electronic devices are inevitable the problems it brings about can never be look down. On the condition that people do not have enough self-control to overcome with the tempt form high technology devices can not only bring human short term benefits but lifetime long harm with its overly thoughtful benefits.

In the articles “Alone in the Crowd” and “As technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse?,” Michael Price and Tim Wu, respectively acknowledge the effects of technological advances. While both Price and Wu use effective rhetorical strategies in their articles, one presents their argument in a more persuasive manner. Wu effectively convinces his audience that as a society we continue to advance technologically, but for the wrong reasons. Price references an interview with Sherry Turkle, to convey his opinion that the social media frenzy consumes our society. Price and Wu both present their point of view, but Wu has more factual information to justify his argument. The appeal to emotion is stronger in Price’s article; however, in this situation Wu’s logos appeal is more rhetorically effective. Beyond Ethos, Pathos, and

The advancement of technology has changed tremendously to the point where everybody depends on it. Technology can be utilized for personal use, education,isolations, relationships and so much more, where in Reclaiming Conversation by Sherry Turkle, discusses how detrimental technology can be through her studies and others sources. In chapter, Four chairs, Sherry Turkle mentions how the utilization of machines is influencing humans negatively. Therefore, the use of artificial intelligence is unsuitable for children and adults.

“I used to worry that computers would become so powerful and sophisticated as to take the place of the human minds,” expresses Lewis Thomas, the author of “The Corner of the Eye” [Thomas, 83]. A large part of Thomas’s fear of computers is due to the fact that “a large enough machine can do all sorts of intelligent things beyond our capacities” [Thomas, 83]. However, computers cannot replace us; he realizes computers cannot do some of the things that we can do, like being human. We like to be equivocal, imaginative, and self-conscious. Computers are the complete opposite of the traits that define us as human; or as Thomas states it, “they are not designed, as we are, for ambiguity” [Thomas, 83]. As witnessed by history, the present, and soon the future, it would be self-evident truth that computers will not take over us or be “us”.

Rather than observing the action, it is important to observe the motives behind the act. By understanding the emotions of the actor, we are then able to gain a greater understanding of the act and the culture that influenced the actor. While reading this article I couldn’t help but reflect on my own experiences in gift giving. I love giving gifts, for a long time I tried so hard to give my closest friends the best gifts possible. Not only would I try to give them an object or trinket that they wanted, I would also try to make the experience of opening the gift as memorable as possible. I would make gift boxes that were filled with balloons or boxes that would shoot confetti once opened. I did all this because I thought I was doing it for my friends but after reelecting about it, I realized that I did it for my own benefit. I did all of these elaborate gifts with the intention of making myself seem artistic and amazing in my friends eyes. This correlates to what Cronk wrote about in this article because it shows that no act is done without an expectance of reciprocity. I initially believed that I was doing something out of kindness but it seems as though I was also doing it receive gratitude and

“…it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence” (224). With this thought, Nicholas Carr ends his 2010 book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Here, he attempts to convince readers that ultimately, technology has the power to be our cognitive undoing as humans. Carr’s arguments towards this idea and whether or not they are convincing and thorough will be explored. While some may consider the information he provides to be unconnected, I find each of the topics he covers to be powerful in his argument that technology can be a dangerous tool in humanity’s progress towards a higher intelligence.

While technology is commonly thought of as inventions and gadgets, anything that humans have developed for specific purposes or to accomplish certain goals, such as methods or models, must also be correctly categorized as such. In Cathy Davidson’s essay “Project Classroom Makeover,” she discusses a few unconventional forms of technology such as the educational classroom paradigm and standardization. Similarly, in Steve Johnson’s essay “The Myth of the Ant Queen,” he presents procedural technology, such as self-organizing systems, and conceptual technology, collaborative intelligence. He then utilizes another conceptual form of technology, the complexity theory, to interpret these systems’ seemingly uncoordinated patterns. Sherry Turkle branches off of Davidson and Johnson’s ideas by discussing the consequences of questioning what makes a robot alive in her essay “Alone Together.” This narrative highlights the technology’s effect on humans and the reality of robots either improving or diminishing an individual’s quality of life. Besides the slight apprehension of its future usage, humans are mesmerized by the promising potential technology presents. Additionally, structural or paradigmatic technology is deeply intertwined and inherent within society’s functioning, making it impossible to separate technology from human existence.

As stated in (McCaughan (2004)"Ecstasy was first developed in 1914 as a weight loss aid, it was never marketed for that purpose. In 1970 the drug began to get some popularity among clinical psychologist as an aid to psychotherapy and marriage counseling in the United States". More than a decade later, DEA placed the MDMA drug into the list of schedule drugs, however the popularity of the drug gained attention among the youth subcultures. The way that this drug is distributed throughout the public is in pill form; they vary from color and designs, an example would be superman symbol, different cartoon characters, etc.; as color goes, it varies from white, blue, pink, etc.. This drugs has also gained attention in recent Hollywood Movies like Bad Boys 2, when of

The definition of ecstasy, as defined by Google, is an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement. It is no coincidence that a drug that releases copious amounts of serotonin and dopamine is commonly referred to as ecstasy. With a scientific name of 3,4-Methylenedioxy-Methamphetamine (MDMA), ecstasy is an illicit substance that is commonly used at some parties and dance clubs all around the globe. The immediate effects of the drug cause one’s blood pressure and heart rate to rise to extremely dangerous levels, resulting in a realistic possibility of death. Aside from these catastrophic, biological risks, this drug also has a negative impact on social attitudes and relationships as it becomes increasingly more acceptable among younger generations. However, while it is certainly growing in popularity as time passes, its destructive long-term effects do not gain the similar attention. For those who escape the fatality of this drug, there then comes the risk of impairing cognitive functions and altering the brain’s ability to process memories. The use of this devastating drug can be avoided by addressing and analyzing how the substance is used in the first place.