Comparison Essay on the Effects of Technology on Behaviour
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This essay compares observations made by Turkle and Brandon on the effects of technology on behaviour. It discusses the accuracy of their arguments and identifies with Turkle's view more as a college student.
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Compare and Contrast the speaker’s/author’s observations of how technology affects our behaviour. Do you agree with their observations? Are their arguments accurate? Which argument do you identify with more as a College student? This paper will compare the observations made by both Turkle and Brandon on the effects of technology on our behaviour. Technology has many effects on its users which are both positive and negative. Technology affects our lives in many ways. In the past, people used to visit each other if they wanted to have a conversation. With the help of numerous messaging applications, one can now communicate, share pictures, and share documents with another person who is in a different continent. Both Brandon and Turkle talk about how technology has affected our behaviour. Turkle in the TED.com show talks about how technology has transformed people’s communications today. New forms of technology have replaced traditional ways of communication. Traditionally people used to talk face to face. In modern society, people communicate through phone calls, the use of text messages, social networks and emails. According to Turkle, this transformation has led to the loss of genuine real-life conversation converting people into robot-like machines. She asserts that there are features of a real conversation that can never be replaced by electronic communication like eye contact and nodding (Turkle, 2012). These features are what connect people as social beings capable of interacting with each other. It is through real conversation that one can express their real emotions. It is a sad state that these new technologies are converting people into anti-social beings. Teenagers subscribe to unlimited texts and are always on the phone even when having a real conversation with people around them. Similarly, Brandon explains how smartphones have
tricked us into looking at present moments as if it were already past. Smartphones should be used to capture moments that we have already experienced (Ambrosino, 2018). It is not possible to concentrate on one’s phone and at the same time maintain eye contact while conversing with another person. The behaviour can be interpreted as being rude and makes the other person feel less appreciated. Turkle insists that rude behavior has ruined our relationship with the people around us (Turkle, 2012). It is thus possible to stay connected with other people through texts, tweets, Facebook but at the same time be alienated from people around us. It follows that during the conversation, no one listens to the other causing a disconnection in the conversation (Kim & Kang, 2015). What is even more scaring is the fact that people do not even get time to be alone. We are always bombarded by emails, text or even tweets during working hours, during our free time and even at night. The exchange of information never stops which implies that people never really get time to reflect on their own life and meditate. It has become even more difficult for people to create their own identity as our actions are shaped by these electronic means of communication (Turkle, 2012). On the other hand, Ambrosino explains the health problems associated with too much use of our hand-held devices. Too much time spent looking at our smartphones stretches our neck and strains our spine(Ambrosino, 2018). He further adds that too much use of our smartphones causes poor vision. People want to document things they never saw in the first place. “We’re collecting memories that we haven’t earned, documenting events we’ve never experienced, moments to which we’ve never arrived.” (Ambrosino, 2018). It is feared that in the end, we will have a world full of people with identical behaviour and the same way of thinking. Same way of thinking and identical behaviour block creativity and
development in general. From Turkle’s talk, it can be seen that shortly, people will not be able to make simple personal real-life conversation and this will have unimaginable consequences on our social structure. Staying connected has had its advantages in ensuring immediacy of information which has promoted businesses and other operation. Life has become very fast. This situation is scaring, and measures need to be put in place before people lose themselves entirely to technology and forget who they are (Turkle, 2012). What is even more scaring is that if all these technologies came to an end, would people be able to revert to traditional means of communication? In conclusion, the observations made by both Brandon and Turkle about how technology has affected our behaviour are both accurate. Brandon argues on the detrimental health effects associated with too much use of technology. Similarly, Turkle explains the communication disconnect that has been brought by new technologies. However, I find Turkle’s view more relevant to me as a college student. At the college level, the use of technology is all around us from sending text messages, emailing, taking photos, and sharing posts in social media sites. One can easily be with a friend physical, but they are all glued to their smartphones while talking to some other friends who are far away. With excessive use of technology, we end up being connected but alone.
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References Ambrosino, B. (2018, March 16). Smartphones and our memories: Don’t take a picture. It’ll last longer. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-smartphones-and- our-memories-dont-take-a-picture-itll-last-longer/ Kim,J., & Kang,Y. (2015). The Effects of Young Children's Smartphone Use Experience on Their Parents' Perceptions and Needs and Their Self-Regulation. doi:10.14257/astl.2015.117.18 Turkle, S. (2012).Connected, but alone?Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en