Helping or Hindering? Essay

Thanks to technology we have never been more connected-or alienated. † Have you ever noticed when there is a family gathering the majority of the time the family members are spending their time using technology rather than socializing? One will notice that almost every person will be using technology whether it is cell phones, iPods, tablets or the television. After reading Sherry Turkle’s â€Å" Can You Hear Me Now† essay it got me thinking, is technology the one to blame for us bring so alienated? Sherry Turkle is a professor who teaches the Social Studies of Science and technology at MIT. In her essay I feel she focuses mainly on the negative points of technology, such as how it alienates us. She does not refer to the positive points of living in a world of technology. Although I agree with Sherry Turkle that we have never been more connected or alienated, Turkle fails to see the benefits of technology. To support her argument, Turkle contends that everyone is mainly virtually connected. According to Turkle, â€Å"Consultants used to talk to one another as they waited to give presentations; now they spend that time doing emails. † (271). this is an example of how technology has changed society. In society I think people are trying to escape reality. To accomplish that one plays online games, such as Sims, City Ville, Farmville, and other virtual games. In online games one can have a completely different life. One can have the biggest house, the best job, and the best cars. I believe that by playing all these virtual games it makes people lose their social skills. I feel that it makes one forget how to socially interact with other people. Technology definitely poses a threat to the upcoming generations. Now people are always using their phones while driving whether it is texting, Face booking or changing the music. According to USATODAY Robert Sanchez, the train operator, was texting while driving a train, which later that day crashed. It was proven that the crash was caused by the train operator’s negligence. He was texting while operating the train. The California law states, one cannot use a cell phone while driving, unless one is using a hands free device that does not involve them taking their concentration of the road. Aside from texting and driving, there are other scenarios were technology is life threating. It can come down to being bullied over the internet, which would fall under cyber bullying. There are many cases that talked about children being cyber bullied. The story that really touched my heart is the Megan Meier’s story. In this story a thirteen year old girl named Megan committed suicide in October of 2006 due to cyber bullying. Megan committed suicide because there was a boy, Josh Evans, on the internet who was calling her very hurtful names such as slut, or he would call her fat. After Megan’s suicide the truth came out about boy. The boy was really a mother of one of Megan’s ex friends. The mother claims she only did it because her daughter was being picked on. Although this issue may seem trivial to some, it is in fact crucial because there are children taking their lives due to cyber bullying. This story took place in Missouri. In Missouri cyber bullying laws state that if a person twenty-one years or older commits cyber bullying crimes on a person seventeen years or younger they are faced with a class D felony. The mother now has a class D felony on her record. Turkle, like many other people may argue that technology alienates us. Although I agree with Turkle, I also believe it keeps us very connected. One should recognize that it helps us to stay connected with our education and finances. It is very beneficial for us because technology helps us to stay globally connected with the news and advertisements. Although it is important to stay connected globally. It is also very important to realize technology also helps to stay connected with ones relatives. It is important to stay connected with ones job because some jobs require traveling around the world. So if one has to be in a meeting in Japan for work but they are stuck in the United States, one can simply use a source of technology like video chatting. Then they are at the meeting, yet they never left the place they started off from. Technology also helps with school work. Today everything for school is done over the internet. Now some teachers give you the option of turning your assignments via email. In college people actually have the option to take their classes online. Technology I believe is beneficial for ones jobs and also for educational purposes. Being globally connected can also refer to knowing what is going on in the world. For instance when the Colorado shooting happened the entire country knew about it and all the schools were doing preoperational drills in case anything happened. Without technology it would have taken more than a week to get the news to the entire country. There are also advertisements that happen all over the world. I have observed that on New Year’s Eve they do a televised advertisement of the celebration. Without technology the entire world would not be able to be seeing the other countries when their New Year’s begins. As one can observe they will notice technology is very valuable in circumstances such as the ones stated above. Technology also helps a lot when one needs to communicate with someone from their family in other countries. I know from my own personal experience technology helps out a lot when I need to talk to a family member that does not live around me. Such as my cousins that live Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and with my cousin that was stationed it Iraq. It helps when you can get on Facebook or video chat with family that you do not get to see every day. Technology also helps in cases of emergencies. For instance when my aunt passed away it was very important to get ahold of my family members. Without technology I would not have been able to get ahold of them as quickly. After I read Turkle’s essay on technology it persuaded me to write my own views on technology. Ultimately what is at stake here is the risk of everyone relying on technology. Although technology is very beneficial to my generation, I also believe it is important for us to know how to function without it. What would someone from my generation do if there was a black out and no one’s phones worked? How would they get ahold of someone? What would they do if there was not any type of internet? How would they communicate with family? What would they do if video chatting did not exist and could not do work in other countries? Although technology helps with a wide range of situations, I believe it would be very beneficial for everyone to know how to do things the old fashioned way. A question came to my mind; does anyone from my generation still know how to use a phonebook or write a handwritten letter and take it to the post office to be sent? To conclude my views on technology I do believe technology connects us, but most definitely alienates us.? Work Cited â€Å"Authorities: Engineer texting on day of calf. Train wreck† USATODAY. com. USATODAY, 18 September 20087. web. 13 February 2013 â€Å"Parents: Cyberbully Led to Teens Suicide† ABCNews. com. ABCNews. go. com, 19 November 2007. web. 13 February 2013.