Who Holds The Clicker? Essay

Fuller Buckminster once said “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” Due to the inventions in computers and the internet, people have lost the ability to interact with one another face-to-face. In the article, “Authenticating,” Brain Christian emphasizes on how advancement in code programming has created a chat stimulated program called “Chatbots” which mimics human behavior. However, one’s attachment to these robotic humans have taken away the opportunity one has in order to have a real life conversation. Similarly, Francis Fukuyama in his article “Human Dignity,” mentions how he is concerned with what it means to be a human. He talks about Factor X which are inner traits such an emotions, and thoughts that distinguishes one person from another. Even though, technology is essential in everyday life, the misuse of it, such as constantly engaging in a conversation with a chatbot, can lead to abandoning the Factor X of humanity.

For instance, after a student has told her that they would rather talk to a screen then their own parents about dating advice, she states, “this enthusiasm speaks to how much we have confused conversation with connection and collectively seem to have embraced a new kind of delusion that accepts the stimulation of compassion,” (138). She uses reasoning from her own studies explaining how technology has affected our attitudes and mentality toward certain factors. For example, a high schooler wants to talk to an artificial intelligence program about dating advice rather than another person, such as a parent or sibling because they feel as if they can only trust a computer screen more than their family. In another instance, Turkle incorporates reasoning into why technology has become a big factor in our everyday lives. She states, “In the silence of connection, people are comforted by being in touch with a lot of people. We can’t get enough of one another if we can use technology to keep one another at distances we can control: not too close, not too far, just right,” (137). Here, Turkle reasons that technology is a favorable option to many, in for instance, having a conversation, because one has control of what they are saying, how they are saying it, and when they are saying it. All with the benefit of editing. Turkle says that one would rather be

Technology has really changed the lives of people both physically and mentally. It brings us the new experiences. Along with technology, communication has never become so easy. But the technology has certain downsides. It soon makes us change the meaning of the word "communication" to "connection". Sherry Turkle claims, "We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.". And I agree. Sherry uses of logos isn't effective enough, but by using numerous other modes of persuasion, she makes me agree with her argument.

Technology can become a necessity, to where we need it to communicate. In “Meet Your iBrain” it says, “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus to new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills, such as reading facial expressions during conversation or grasping the emotional context of a subtle scripture”. Technology has become a way out of in person communication. Whether it be sending a simple text or creating a false self-image on social media, technology provides as a buffer to reality. It goes in the article to say, “…young people eight to 18 years of age expose their brains to eight and a half hours of digital and video sensory stimulation a day”.

The demand for success encourages us to develop paths that matches our human identities. As technology continues to advance, there is a greater emphasis regarding the power of attachment. Humans are slowly becoming more attached and dependent on technology. Individuals lose their values among technology because it affects every aspect of their lives. For instance, our reliance on the Global Positioning System to find a particular destination or even a simple Google search for defining a vocabulary word illustrates that technology will always be there for us. However, the advancement of technology brings on many unethical and moral issues throughout the world. The intake of drugs and many surgical operations all proceed with one mindset: to save patients and better improve their well-being. Today, surgeons and psychiatrists have taken account to embrace radical changes with the merging of technology. The aspect of our humanness comes to an extent whether it addresses death or mental illness. In Lauren Slater’s essay, “Who Holds the Clicker?” the advancement of medical technologies helps a patient, Mario Della Grotta to overcome obsessive-compulsive disorder better known as OCD. Mario is one of the first American psychiatric patients to undergo psychosurgery. In Sherry Turkle’s essay “Alone Together,” there is an intimate connection between humans and robots through technology. Our authenticity to stand by embracing these so-called humanity changes can be controversial and

This essay will discuss the role that technology has played in psychological research. The essay will begin by focusing on the debate surrounding the ethics of the study by Milgram, into obedience, and how, in light of new ethics guidelines, technology has enabled his study to be replicated and extended. Then, it will consider the work of both Broca and Wernicke, and looks at how they came to their findings without the aid of technology, how technology has since confirmed their findings, and how it extended their studies. After this, the essay will look at studies into friendship, how technology could be used in future studies and the impact that technology has had with regards to how researchers define friendship, before concluding that the evidence provided supports the claim that technology has played a decisive role in psychological research.

As the society develops and prospers, more and more scientists commit themselves to doing researches to help improve the whole society. “Who Holds the Clicker?” by Lauren Slater mainly discusses how psychosurgery and DBS (deep brain stimulation surgery) could let psychiatrists control the patient’s moods and minds as well as the unresolved controversies which these surgeries bring to the society. Another essay “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle argues the how new technologies like robots and smartphones have changed human and their lives while denying authenticity. Both authors talk about how some of the new technology may affect people as well as the surroundings. Technology is prevalently known as advantageous for the whole society,

Now, with technology literally at our fingertips, we tend to live and breathe in a virtual realm. Creating any person we want, allowing any emotion to be unfiltered, and having no accountability to our actions, the perceived box of who we can be is ever changing. As our dependency upon this fake world increases, we’ll continually lose ourselves to reality, eventually losing who we actually are, losing such things as morals and individualism. Technology is reshaping us into cyborgs, not unique people but robotic beings found throughout the masses. Kristen Ostrenga, a young girl feeling the pressure to be apart of this mass sameness, created for herself a new person on social media.

Approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year. (Kozak,1998). That’s 185,000 people who may be battling with finding themselves unable to connect to people in the U.S population due to their insecurities. Imagine what it is like for amputees trying to discover a companion to give them a long term loving relationship. Not everyone is accepting of someone who can unlatch their metal rod of a leg after a long day at work. In the article by Andy Greenburg, “A Step Beyond Human”, Hugh Herr tells his story about how when he was only 17 he lost both his legs due to a serious frostbite incident. According to the article “Relationships and Technology” by Joseph A. DeVito, it states that “Computer talk is empowering for those with physical disabilities or disfigurements” (DeVito, pg. 334). Through the advancements of technology, the disabled population is capable of boosting their confidence, meeting others, and bettering their quality of life.

The “connectivity” of the world today seems like it is straying further and further from what was once thought as “connectivity.” In Sherry Turkle’s essay Alone together, she discusses how technology is becoming more and more powerful and tries to dispute the fact that if humans are still linked with each other on the same level we once were. Turkle discusses this point rather well when she states, “our networked life allows us to hide from each other,” (263). Also, Turkle discusses in her essay how robots are becoming more and more integrated in the world we live in; and, these robots are essentially taking the place of humans in some situations making us less connected with each other. While in “In the Forest of Gombe,” the author Jane

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.

Mind control is the shaping of attitudes, beliefs and that can be simply defined as the manipulation of one’s thoughts to process. People are aware of what makes them happy and what makes them sad by controlling their thoughts and emotions. They hope to change the environment they are in or become familiar with being able to adapt the situations. In “Who Holds the Clicker,” Lauren Slater talks about the story of Mario Della Grotta and he finds relief by having the experimental surgery that have helped to control obsessive-compusive disorder. She promotes the complex questions that human will and identity can be surrendered when the technology has been used widely. The patients who have brain damages do not have ability to control their mind, but that the technology uses an alternate form of psychosurgery called “deep brain stimulation, or DBS”, which can relate to the theory that people unconsciously make decisions and hardly have a central place. Susan Blackmore, author of “Strange Creatures,” discusses a theory that a little conscious “me” is promoted by memes so as to replicate. She considers memes as replicators that can help to control human thoughts, behaviors and believes everything can be memetically passed on from person to person. Blackmore analyses the significance of memes in human life to build their identity, whereas Slater actually uses technology for health trends to reinforce people’s identities. Technology becomes as a sort of bondage tied to mental

The development of society cannot leave without the process of technology and science. Technology has improved and changed inadvertently that may influence people’s consciousness. Humans as the protagonist of society have gradually gotten used to the changes that the new technology has brought to them and always have an expectation of more advanced technique. In “Alone Together,” Sherry Turkle promotes the idea that the new technology is changing the way people communicate with one another. She addresses the social problems of intimacy relationship between robot and human and provides vivid examples to show different attitude of using technology and companionship towards techniques. The new instabilities in the understanding of intimacy and solitude has brought concerns that can relate to the wide use of technology in medical treatment may surrender people’s identity. Lauren Slater, author of “Who Holds the clicker?” talks about the story of Mario Della Grotta and he has been reduced metal illness and relief by having the experimental surgery called “Deep Brain Stimulation”. Technology has provided convenience and builds the connections in certain degree, but there are some drawbacks, which surrender intimacy and authenticity between people because of the feeling of emotional dependence on technique.

People are becoming busier as the technology developed, they use technology to work and live. As they access the technology, they would like to use imagination to create a virtual world and stay away from the real world. In the article “ Alone Together” written by Sherry Turkle, she argues that technology create imagination would affect the whole society in the virtual world and authenticity. She talks that technology developed makes human doute about intimacy, connectivity, authenticity and solitude. However, which is also happened on busyness. As human are busier than before, they begin to think about their imaginary playmate. In the article” Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli” by Adam Gopnik, he talks about his daughter’s imaginary friend Charlie

The grid allows humans to form relationships through technology because of vulnerability. Technology allows a person to obtain intimacy without the need to do much. A person does not want to face the outcomes and tribulations that come out from a relationship, thus turning to technology to hide them from vulnerability. Thus, failing to create intimate relationships with one another which is part of experiencing what life has to offer. Without that experience, a bubble will be crafted around individuals. The bubble creates a barrier between individuals as a form of escape, escape from the real world and everything that revolves around it. Due to the fear of intimacy, “Digital connections and sociable robot may offer the illusion of companionship without the