The Pbs Frontline Interview, Digital Demands, By Sherry Turkle

What if our life becomes fully dependent on the electronic devices in the future? “In Into the Electronic Millennium”, Birkerts discusses his concerns with the oncoming electronic world. Birkerts provides lots of cons about the electronic devices that can affect people's lives. The author’s intention for writing this essay is to make the audience aware of the significant changes that have started to occur as electronic technologies have developed. He uses various rhetorical devices to convey his arguments to the readers. Through this essay, he is trying to inform the academic community that the culture of printed words has ended in the society, while electronic technologies are starting to dominate. Birkerts uses anecdotes, juxtaposition,

Many times our fears of what is unknown to us are often the strongest fears we hold as human beings. However, what if it was the fear of things we already know that were the most powerful and influential in our lives? In modern society, many hold within themselves a deep-seated fear of the technology that the world has become so revolved around. Additionally, it has recently become debatable whether or not this technology has become a hindrance to members of the so-called iGeneration, born between 1995 and 2012, who have grown up in a world surrounded by technology. Truly, the members of older generations, including millennials who have had themselves split off from the apparent technology obsessed generation of the youngest millennials, have expressed their concern as to whether or not these vast differences in generations have to do with the unhealthy use of technology. Among those to have analyzed this phenomenon is writer Jean M. Twenge who in her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?,” utilizes the study of a modern 13 year old girl named Athena to exemplify a plethora of determinants that technology has imposed on young people and the slow deterioration of everything from independence and social skills to a decline mental health due to technology use. Many of Twenge’s statements reveal the belief that many members of iGen are unequipped to handle adulthood and are even less happy because of the technology that has played a significant role in their lives

Within the decade, people can agree that technology has gradually impacted lives every day. Whether people believe it is progressive or destructive, it is established that for some, the impact of technology is quite concerning. An ongoing topic is whether teenagers are in fact addicted to their smartphone devices and social media. In Sherry Turkle's’ piece “Growing up Tethered” she provides student testimonials that only proves that teenagers from the ages sixteen to eighteen feel the need to be on their smartphones at all times. Although, technology does have positive outcomes and uses, Turkles’ points that teenagers are too tethered to their devices and are not as safe while using their device is correct because society is able to recognize

In the article “Growing up Tethered”, by Sherry Turkle, she argues that technology today plays a major role in everyday life. Youths do not have the ability to branch off and have their own independence because of their reliance and attachment to technology. They also use technology to develop who they are as people and create an online personal identity of what they think is a perfect life. In comparison, their own life seems boring, pale and unwanted. Turkle also talks about how teenagers think of their phone as a “friend’s” and cannot live without it. When feeling a strong emotion, teens want to share their feelings with their friends and phone. I agree with Turkle’s opinion that technology is changing and will never be the same, which will be hard to improve this attachment to technology because too many teens are tethered.

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 2015 study by the Pew Research Center, 89 percent of cellphone owners said they had used their phones during the last social gathering they attended” (Turkle). As technology keeps growing and growing we find that it has an effect on many things. Nicholas Carr and Sherry Turkle’s articles both relate to how Google is effect many people today. However, Carr’s article focuses more on how it is affected our ability to concentrate and contemplate, while Turkle’s article shows how we have lost the ability to connect with others.

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

Furthermore, I agree with Turkle that technology is overtaking our lives in a way that we might not even notice. Most everyone has one has a cell phone. Whether we are texting, reading emails, or playing Angry Birds, we are so absorbed into a virtual world. Even though we may not realize it, many of

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.

The use of technology has catalyzed society into an era that is increasingly interconnected yet impersonal at the same time. Despite technology’s endless list of assets, many fail to acknowledge its shortcomings when mentioning what is lost as a result of using it. Although in “Great to Watch” by Maggie Nelson, she is not afraid to share her skepticism of technology, as well as the role it plays in desensitizing individuals on a day-to-day basis. The internet is an invaluable resource to many because it is a public domain for sharing ideas, opinions, and knowledge that any and everyone can have access to. In a sense, it does not restrict what someone may see or do, and this can either be a good thing or a bad thing. The booming use of new media

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

Since the rise of technology and smart devices, the public has seen controversy over the benefits and drawbacks of internet usage. Nicholas Carr shared his opinions in the article “From The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.” In the text, he claims that it seems to be “chipping away” his “capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 5). In addition to that, he does not hesitate to state how “some worry they’re becoming chronic scatterbrains” from using the web (Carr 6). His views are painted purple in this piece of writing, as any reader could infer that Carr possesses a slightly bitter tone when it comes to the interwebs. He displays his dislike for the way it is reshaping our brains and mental function, even going

The film “ Digital Nation” is an exploration of diverse people's views on digital media, in today's world. Some of the most important topics were on the virtual world, and the pros and cons of technology within different groups like gamers, students, families, teachers, administrators, children, military and businesses, as well as the experience of general people. In the movie, Prof. Sherry Turkle said, “Technology challenges us to assert our human values. Technology is not good or bad, is powerful, and it is complicated which means first we have to figure out what they are”. Currently, technology has taken over, wherever one, goes one will find it. Over the past years, social media in particular have spread worldwide; from Facebook to Instagram. There is constantly something new, extra advanced and creative. Overall, the technology has evolved the way humans interact with each other. In particular, technology influences by motivating students towards learning, saving time, building literacy and communication skills.

As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).

The utmost, overriding facet of our society has been placed in our hands, perched on a stand, and then plugged into a socket: modern technology. Today, individuals without up to date technology are christened anomalies that are late to the ‘smart era’ of smartphones, smartwatches, and smart televisions. In Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr, and Be a Gamer, Save the World by Jane McGonigal, it is made comprehensible that, as a society, we have begun to intertwine ourselves in the tangles of our electronics, which we cannot seem to relinquish. Our generation has been advancing with technology nonstop to the point where a new gadget is practically released daily. Recently, the latest technological fixation that has rapidly spread like wildfire is video streaming: whether it be video-on-demand or live, it has concurrently seized and fashioned jobs, as well as intermixed communities and individuals alike.