The Flight from conversation by Turkle and The Crisis of Significance by Wesch share a theme evolving around how technology has impacted human interaction. The flight leads to the disconnection felt with one another in any environment whether social, or academic. The crisis begins when the search for meaning and inspiration remains unfulfilled for periods of time which may seem an eternity.
In Flight from Conversation, Turkle claims conversations are sacrificed for mere connections when families and friends sit together, text. This new art of “being alone together” has enabled us to be with one another and also elsewhere. Consequently, we end up hiding from one another as we connect to one another. The author points out how technology is advancing to look for ways to make artificial intelligence with more human like qualities. This reminds me of a movie, Her 2013, based on a main character, Theodore who is recently divorced and finds himslef alone. He invests in the latest technology, a program for an Operating System designed specifically for him. Eventually, he becomes emotionally and intellectually attached to Samantha, the operating system and its human like qualities. However, the intellectual stimulus is no longer sufficient to satisfy Theodore. He needs more. Theodore needs companionship in the way that Samantha could not provide. In our rush to connect, Turkle asserts we flee from solitude, but fail to experience people as they are.
In Crisis of Significance, Wesch states that the physical structure of the classroom does not inspire dialogue and critical thinking. His focus is on managing the environment. He describes his auditorium-like class, as a sterile environment of neatly lined-up seats all facing a massive stage. The podium, housed a computer with him as the focal point instead of the students.
As the ad states, let's disconnect to reconnect.
Nice reflection Dena, the ad that you posted really fits perfectly with our reading tonight. Disconnecting to reconnect with each other is what's really important.
ReplyDeleteDena,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the ad you chose and your reflection. I would like to say that it is easier for those of us over 25 to disconnect, but I am finding more and more that people over 25 are just as addicted to their technology.
I've never seen that movie but WOW that seems eerily similar to what Turkle described in her article!
ReplyDeleteI love the picture you posted! I think it does a great job summing up Turkle
ReplyDeleteHello Dena,
ReplyDeleteGreat Summary of the articles!
I believe that the tech zombie epidemic is the direct result of the way technology is designed: People get a thrill every time they open the Instagram app (Will I have any likes?) or their emails (Have they replied yet?)- comparable to the behavioral gratification we get from playing.
We are going to have to now learn how to disconnect from technology and reconnect with other humans. Human interaction is necessary because it supports the physical health and well-being of everyone.
A personal connection I can make to this post was recently on family vacation my cousins, aunt, and I all compared our average weekly screen time. We came to conclusions such as my cousins spending a whole day worth of her time each week on Snapchat. It became apparent very quickly that being connected to our phones does not always depend on your age, and can transcend generations. I feel that this is especially so after the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteA connection I make to text is the ladder of inference we talked about in class today. While screen time is observable data that we chose to select, if we just move up the ladder of inference we will end up making assumptions that will lead to beliefs and actions about being connected to our phones. It would be better to identify our beliefs (being on the phone too much negatively impacts our social emotional wellbeing) and then seek contrary data that might help explain the data we observe. Such as, perhaps being connected on Snapchat is promoting creativity or increasing productivity.
A probing question that I would pose is- What contrary data could you suggest for increased screen time?