November 2011 Archives

                Alone Together by Sherry Turkle is a nonfiction book about modern technology and its impact on how humans form bonds. These bonds include how humans interact with other humans and the bonds they are forming with technology. Turkle begins her book with her worries of technology and its seductive qualities. She expresses her worries about technology taking the place of face to face interactions. Next and for a good part of the book, the author discusses many cases of robot technologies and their impact on the way humans form bonds. For example, Paro the electronic seal and his effect on the elderly and the fact that it may lead to people not feeling the need to take care of their parents or grandparents because they can rely on technology. Lastly, Turkle hits some nerves with questioning certain aspects of human conversation that are lost in technology. Some examples of the things that Turkle says are lost in translation are confessions and apologies. She also points out that technology causes anxiety and a lack of privacy.  All in all, Alone Together is a warning from Sherry Turkle to keep technology in check and not let it interfere with human connections.

                If technology keeps going the way it is going, it is very possible that face to face interactions could become obsolete. Already, it is evident in popular culture that they are becoming less and less frequent with the innovations in webcams, internet, and cell phones. Turkle's point is that society is at a point of inflection and it is key that people keep technology in check in order to save human emotion and interconnectedness.  Although technology has accomplished many feats, which Turkle recognizes, it can also potentially cause problems. The anxiety associated with technology should be interpreted as a red flag to potential dangers. If things such as Facebook are already causing anxiety, it should be in human nature to be on alert of where things are going to head from here. Turkle maintains that people need to maintain the necessary conversations between humans. Without these conversations, society would not maintain a face to face culture that is essential to social development.

                Personally, I agree with Turkle. At the beginning of the book I thought this was going to be like The Shallows, which seemed to only talk down of technology. However, Alone Together is much different because the author clearly states everything is her view and/or interpretation of the situation. This made me approach her writing with a more open and less defensive mind. I am glad I continued reading passed all the examples of technologic advances in robotics and was able to read the real crux of the book. The point that Turkle was trying to make in this book is that we need human interaction in order to thrive as a society. Humans are social creatures and although we may believe that we are being social through the internet and texting, no technology can achieve the same feeling of a face to face conversation. Life goes on because we have people to talk to and be with. If we stopped going out into the world and simply retreated into technology, we would not be able to socialize and procreate to form a new generation adequately. I agree that we need to dial back on the technology, or at least keep it at a safe and comfortable distance at all times.

On November 16^th, 2011 a presentation entitled Social Media - the Rise of Strategic Authenticity and Transparency took place in the Buenger Education Center. The room was filled with teenagers, the most notorious social media users. The speaker, Jason Deboer-Moran, kicked off the presentation with a comical map of the Internet, complete with a huge "country" of Facebook and a wasteland known as "unread status updates". After this interesting display, Jason went on to talk about how social media has been used in marketing.  He cited an obscure pizza company called Pizza Punch as a prime example. The company was spiraling down until an online promotion offering a gift card to the best photos posted on a website. Another issue that was brought up by Jason is the "transparency" that social media provides to its users. Facebook and Twitter, to name a few, are social media sites that allow people to write or say nearly anything for the world to see. Jason pointed out that people are more open to express feelings, whether they be anger, sadness, or perhaps happiness, when they are not talking directly to a person. This allows for more people to know internal feelings of people. The transparency also includes the ability of people to find out where someone lives, goes to school, works, etc. Jason started with a comedic look of the internet and slowly led into the downfalls of social media.

Basically, Jason was reminding teenagers of the real uses of social media. Most people see it as a simple way to be interconnected with friends and family, but it has ulterior motives. Social media is an outlet for major marketing schemes, Pizza Punch being only one of thousands of examples. Marketing is a tricky industry without social media, and now with the mass usage of sites such as Facebook and Twitter, making targeting individuals is even easier. In addition, social media has indeed made individuals more vulnerable to identity theft and possible violent crimes. Social media can also cause individuals to be less social in public matters, because they can do it online. People who are shy and share more on social media sites tend to be withdrawn in real social situations.  Social media is a force that, although provides entertainment, can have its repercussions.

I do acknowledge that social media makes people easy targets for marketing schemes and possibly antisocial behavior. However, I do think that with the proper privacy settings, identity theft and other forms of physical and locational vulnerability can be prevented. People should be aware of the effects of social media and the marketing schemes, while being cautious of who sees what on the internet. Social media can easily manipulate individuals who are not careful of what information they share. They could unknowingly invite a criminal to steal their identity or find their location. Jason's main points in this presentation were that although social media can be a fun way to connect with friends, one must be cautious. Advertisers are constantly on the prowl to pry media user's minds and get them to buy whatever they want.  Social media has increased and is on the incline still, so the basic message is that users should beware.

           The Shallows by Nicholas Carr is a book about a man's interpretation of media, the internet in particular, and how it is affecting our brains. He cites previous works on media, brain science, and the history of developed media.  Carr's main point is that the internet's content is not what affects us, it is the internet itself and "if we use it enough, it changes who we are as individuals and as a society" (Page 3).  Carr reinforces his argument that the internet changes our brains with the now proven idea of brain plasticity. He goes into great detail about early experiments done that led to the discovery that the brain can change and adapt and is therefore plastic.  Carr also goes into vigorous detail about the cultural transformation from an oral culture to literacy. He used this history to prove that if books can change the way we think, so can the internet. Lastly, Carr writes of the hazardous effects the internet is having on the population, students in particular. He cites studies in which laptops have been proven distracting in lectures that hyperlinks interrupt a deep understanding of the reading, and that often articles online can lead to superficial learning. Carr's point is that the internet is changing the way the world thinks and that it is something everyone should be aware of.

        According to the data that Carr cites in The Shallows, the internet has had many negative effects on the human brain and how humans operate. His studies on hyperlinks and how they distract the reader to the point of not getting the full significance of what the whole reading was about show that the human mind cannot be interrupted and brought back to the same thing without losing some concentration or knowledge. The studies that support the theory that laptops are distracting in class lectures also show that the distractions the internet provides are a severe temptation for students' minds to wander from the lecture to check Facebook or their personal e-mail.  The laptop study suggests even if the students use only websites related to the lecture, they still score lower on a comprehension quiz after the fact. This once again is due to hyperlinks and the constant jumping around the page that the internet can provide.  Carr effectively used these studies to prove that the internet, whether it is realized or not, is changing people's brains.

         Although I believe Carr is correct in saying that the internet changes our brains, I believe he did not take enough time to acknowledge the positive effects of the internet. He claimed to be neutral on the topic of the internet and the changing of his brain, unknowing if it was a good or bad change. Yet, all the studies he cites shine a reflective light on the internet. I think the internet has done wonderful things for students and for people everywhere and it is being disgraced as a distraction in Carr's book. As he says himself, books were criticized when they were first emerging as well. Who is to say that in a thousand years a new medium will come out, even more invasive and distracting than the internet and an author will cite how people were initially skeptical of the internet, yet what a great invention it turned out to be. Not saying that Carr is entirely wrong in his statements, but I do believe he judged the internet from a bias view and unfairly judged it and its contributions to society.

The setting of the Honors classroom is slightly changed as Dr. Leslie prepares to discuss wellness with the Zetas and Epsilons on Monday, November 7^th, 2011. The chairs and desks formed a circle or rectangle rather, in order to stimulate better conversation. For nearly three hours, students' ideas of wellness, illness, aging, and eventually death were discussed with the Board of Regent's member. Questions were brought up about what each of these things meant to different people. Attractiveness was mentioned as a possible indicator of wellness and the students were given the opportunity to weigh in on whether they believed wellness and attractiveness were related. Dr. Leslie went on to discuss aging by introducing the topic as a comparison between himself and a student. Differences in their ages were apparent, but no one wanted to insult the prestigious board member and retired physician. Another aspect that was discussed was Dr. Leslie's faith. Not only how he attained it, but also how his work has been affected by his Christianity. Many different aspects left Dr. Leslie never short of words.

            Many of the things Dr. Leslie talked about are not things commonly discussed by people. Most of the population has no doubt said at some point in their life that they are "well" or "doing well", however they never stop to think about what that means. Wellness is so subjective that to some people it means an emotional state, while to others it is primarily physical fitness or perhaps diet. People also tend to answer this question hastily and do not want to burden others with their personal problems or feelings. In passing, it is much easier to perhaps just tell the asker everything is all right, even if a person is in pain, emotional or physical. This begs the question of how that leads into further wellness issues or possibly illness. Aging and death were other factors in wellness and where it leads and how it progresses.

            I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Dr. Leslie's ideas. He planted a seed into our minds and allowed it to grow into our own thoughts that we could go on to share with the group. He then addressed each of our thoughts personally and individually while putting in his own opinion on the matter. A very intriguing man, Dr. Leslie brought us as students into a conversation we most likely had never had before and interpreted our ideas in order to give us feedback and stimulation. Never truly giving us a conclusive definition of any of the things we discussed, leading me to believe that he did not want us to define it for the world, but to lead us to what the terms meant to us as individuals. After all, individual beliefs about wellness are what really leads people to be well in my opinion. Not what society dictates as healthy, but what individuals determine is well for them.