But A Computer Can't Hold Your Hand
“Good evening, what can I help you with?” an electronic woman’s voice says. “What is the weather today?” you answer back. “Cloudy, with a 60 percent chance of rain.” She responds. Thanks! You think to yourself, after all you don’t actually have to thank a robot. Now who is this robot you’re speaking to? This is the friend to many iphone users, named Siri. Siri is just one example of how advanced our technology has come so far. She can literally talk to you, answer questions, get directions, set appointments or alarms, she can do almost anything. But there are many things Siri cannot do. Unfortunately, this lovely sounding woman cannot hold your hand. While her mechanical voice can call a taxi for you when you seem to have no ride, she cannot help you talk about your feelings, or share inside jokes, or even smile back at you. Because Siri is nothing but a robot, a computer, a machine. While most people are thinking, “Obviously. Why would I need a computer to be my friend anyway?” how do you know that isn’t where technology is taking us? Toward the idea that future generations are wishing they could actually look to their computer for comfort, for companionship? Because after all, computers can do basically everything else, right? While it is amazing how far our technology has come, and it does help make our lives more convenient, we must stop ourselves from becoming too dependent on technology. This is not a healthy way to grow up, in a society that is controlled by mechanical devices. Because before we know it, they might be our only friends.
While scanning the screen of jumbled letters, taking in each individual word, what else are you thinking about? While you scroll down the long page of boring adjectives, nouns, and verbs, the black text seems dull and uninteresting, just like the topic you are currently reading. While skimming the article, you never ponder the idea of the real issue behind this article. The real reason it was written. The deeper and meaningful purpose for this article. Of course you’re not thinking about that. Why would you care to dig deeper into this article, when you barely care to read what is on the simple surface? That is the exact problem. Most of us were taught how to read the usual way a long time ago, but once you start using technology, you learn a whole new style of reading. Carr states, “Users are not reading online in the traditional sense…It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense”. People rarely go online to read for entertainment, to influence thought or provoke emotion.
People seek online articles and resources because it is a more convenient way to learn the quick facts. While this may sound harmless, possibly helpful, it is actually very detrimental to our process of thought. This is just one example of how technology has changed the way we think. People are not thinking deeper into things because the idea of quick, easy, fast, and simple is so appealing to us when it comes to technology, we feel as though we should be these characteristics as well.
We are reading online in a fast paced motion, taking the easy way out of assignments, and not thoroughly thinking ideas through. This is proven in the classroom as well when a teacher shows the class a PowerPoint. Turkle states, “It does not teach students to begin a discussion or construct a narrative. It encourages presentation, not conversation”. This is another example of how our technology has influenced us to speed right through the fundamental meaning of things. Even when we are taught new lessons we are expected to learn them in a fast paced motion, through bullet points, and quick facts. This is not a real way to learn, or understand a topic. This is simply the shortcut to understanding a portion of the lesson. But technology has taught us this. Technology has taught us how to learn, read, and comprehend this way, and we have been trained very well.
Because our fast paced minds have the capacity to skim an article and “get the idea” of its concept in under 20 minutes, we feel the need to entertain ourselves in similar fashions. This is why many children in this generation are attracted to video games. Video games keep us entertained because we like the idea of a challenge in a scenario where barely any reading or thought is involved. The problem with video games is that it does not teach boys and girls about the real world. Turkle discusses this when she says, “The new culture would make it easier, not more difficult, to consider life in shades of gray, to see moral dilemmas in terms other than a battle between Good and Evil.”
In these games, kids know the rules, the cheat codes, the concepts, all before they even begin playing. They are fully aware of the situation that lies ahead of their character that is in danger. They obviously know how to win the game, or get to a higher level, but do they know how to accomplish these goals in the real world? No. These children are not learning how to really stand up for themselves when confronted by a rude individual. And there are certainly no cheat codes in the professional world (at least not ones you can achieve by staring blankly at a blinking screen). So what will this next generation do when they realize they cannot handle the stress and issues of the real world because they were blinded by some entertaining video game this whole time? How can we have future leaders and creativity if the blinds are shut, but the TV is on? We cannot. The next things people are going to look up to are the computers themselves. If we don’t even understand the concept of how our technological devices that we depend on so greatly work, how can we improve ourselves?
The last skills our dependency on technologically has taken away from us might be our most important skills of all. These are known as our social skills. In a funny way, technology has brought our world closer together, while slowly pushing people apart. The many popular websites for social media can help two people from across the country stay in contact and updated on their lives. But they have also numbed us of our skills to communicate with people face to face. Turkle mentions this when she says, “Many find it harder to develop authentic selves…(They) may grow up with too little experience of how to share their real feelings with other people”. Here, Turkle is talking about how teenagers and young adults feel more confident on the Internet, but then have a hard time keeping the conversation in person because they lack the simple social skills they should have learned when they weren’t on that computer.
The idea that people can feel more comfortable confiding in others through a computer screen is a scary thought. In a sense, you are essentially communicating with a robot. The only way to get positive feedback from people through the inter-web is mainly through plain black text. The same black text that put you to sleep in the boring article you “read” for class. Why is this text all of a sudden comforting? Understanding? You cannot feel emotion through words that someone messages to you.
There is no genuine way to say “LOL” or “ILY” through an instant message. So how can people possibly feel more confident contacting people through technology? Because technology has made us so accustomed to its ways, we are no longer good at talking to other people. We are afraid to be face to face with others because there can be “awkward moments” that ruin the entire event. Everyone has the newest iphone, but not enough people can make direct eye contact. With the barrier of technology between those beautiful words you send to your “basically boyfriend” from the opposite side of the country, you have time to think about what to say, how to word your thoughts, and can ignore awkward moments because neither one of you is looking the other person in the eye. Because the more we feel the need to be away from society and people, the more dependent on technology we become, and the easier it is for technology to distort the way we think.
Technology is a powerful invention. It has helped and improved our society in many ways. But technology has also hurt important and useful skills people need. It has done this by changing the way we think on a daily basis. Technology has changed us so much, to the point where an intellectual college student cannot finish reading an entire five page article without getting antsy, or bored, because we are so accustomed to the fast paced technology we live amongst. So congratulations for finishing this article. And if you were able to think deeper into the meaning of this concept, then you are one step closer to holding onto your thinking skills, instead of being taken over by the technology around you.
