Throughout Sherry Turkle’s TED Talk “Connected, but alone,” she discussed the effects of technology on our society and ourselves. Many people assume that texting is considered a conversation; however, texting only offers discrete bits of conversation. While technology is beneficial for sending a quick message, it does not offer face-to-face communication which is necessary for the development of children and young adults. Turkle claims technology has three major “gratifying fantasies”: it puts attention wherever we want it to be; we will always be heard; we will never have to be alone. While many people rarely admit as much, texts are edited versions of yourself which can be rewritten and words can be deleted before being sent. Turkle believes texting produces a personality that does not truly represent you. Another point she makes is that people use their phones to be heard. She observed many people avoid loneliness by turning to their phone, which many of us could relate to. Turkle advocates technology is appealed most when someone is vulnerable. It is easy for anyone to go to their social media account and say how their feeling. It has become common today to dismiss the issue that technology has replaced people. As Turkle mentions, a modified version of Siri will become someone’s best friend. This TED Talk is extremely relevant to many generations. Many people own phones or social media accounts; however, not many of us think about what technology is costing us.
Tag: Summary
Throughout “Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie, the author, used narrative elements to keep the reader engaged. He started the passage by giving the reader a descriptive explanation of his life as a child growing up. Alexie described the location where he lived, his accessibility to books, and his social standing. Alexie introduced characters other than himself including his family and other students. When Alexie himself was a child, he admired his father for being able to read. As Alexie’s motivation and ability to read developed, a conflict started to arise between students of other ethnicities and among his own. Native Americans were stereotyped as unintelligent. Alexie not only was judged by students but adults too! With his growth mindset, Alexie accomplished what was considered nearly impossible. He did not stop there. Alexie continued to read and became a writer. He also tries to encourage children by attending classrooms and giving them hope.
