Analysis Of Who Holds The Clicker? By Lauren Slater

Technology is inevitably taken for granted because it is constantly surrounding us. There are many instances when technology and the not so artificial world blur together to form one but unfortunately, it is all too easy for technology to become way too prominent and ultimately take away what was originally there. In “Who Holds the Clicker?” by Lauren Slater, Slater discusses a way in which technology can help people with psychological diseases by implanting electrodes into the brain which set off stimulations, this is known as deep brain stimulation. These stimulations can control the chemicals that effect our mood giving relief to people who have chronic psychological disorders. Technology also plays a major role in “Alone Together” by Sherry

Turkle. Turkle discusses the creation of robots and if they can become companions and eventually even romantic partners. Turkle also talks about technology as a whole ruining authenticity. With the help of technology we can continue to progress as a society. Of course not all technology is beneficial, and I believe it will hurt us if we let too much technology get in the way. Technology is beneficial and should be used in healthcare and communication with others but we should be cautious because it makes people lack normal social skills and becomes controlling lastly, there are no studies which show long term effects.
First of all, technology can play a very important role in healthcare.

Without technology we would be very limited to the amount of cases that could be treated. When one becomes sick or needed surgery they would have a very limited range of options, all of which would be extremely painful. Without technology we would be without anesthesia, prosthetics, and deep brain stimulation. Slater talks about Mario Della Grotta who had a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Mario’s OCD was so inhibiting that DBS became a way to potentially save his life. Once Mario undergoes surgery he finds himself back at the doctor’s office getting his mood adjusted. Mario states, “’I felt a strange sadness go all through me,’ he says. Mario recalls [the doctor’s] fingers tapping on the keyboard, adjusting the current, the pulse duration, and frequency. After a few taps, the sadness went away” (Slater 239). Mario describes what it feels like to have the neurotransmitters in his brain blocked. Mario believes that his ability to cope with his OCD has become easier and that he is now living a normal life. Without technology in healthcare Mario would still be suffering without new options. Technology can be very beneficial in healthcare for people with almost all disabilities. Another upcoming technology is robots, robots can provide a sense of therapy for a range of people in need. Turkle states “Paro, developed in Japan, has been advertised as the first ‘therapeutic robot’ for its ostensibly positive effects on the ill, elderly, and emotionally troubled” (270). Paro is a sociable robot that is shaped like a baby harp seal, Paro can be used to help people such as Miriam who feel lost or alone in the world. Miriam was going through a hard time after moving to into a nursing home and having a poor relationship with her son. Miriam was living a lonely life and found comfort in Paro. Robots can help people who would have otherwise been upset or miserable. In health care robots can

make people feel better no matter what their circumstances are. Both Slater and Turkle discuss technologies that have helped to transform the healthcare system into helping more people and solving cases more productivity.
Furthermore, technology has bridged the gap and opened up a whole new light on communication. Before there were smartphones, and laptops, people had to rely on letters or word of mouth. Now with phones and the internet we have found countless ways to instantly get in touch with people. Some of the main forms of communication are calling, texting, tweeting, and instant messaging. Another form of communication is Skype, “Skype is an almost real-time video link. Ellen could now call more frequently: ’Twice a week and I stay on the call for an hour,’ she told me” (Turkle 275). Ellen makes calls to her grandmother twice a week, since Ellen lives in Paris and her grandmother lives in Philadelphia. Before Skype, Ellen’s calls to her grandmother were terse and expensive but now with Skype they are free and convenient. The internet has helped so many people get in touch with those they need. Not only can it help people in communicate in their free time it can also be used in the work force. The multiple doctors that were collaborating during the startup of deep brain stimulation could communicate via phone or internet calls. Slater states, “By the mid-1990s a small, international group of psychiatrists, neurologists and neurosurgeons was considering using the implants” (236). These psychiatrists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons, without the use of our technology now, would have taken decades to formulate these ideas and scientific findings about deep brain stimulation from across the globe. There were multiple occasions when Slater mentioned the 2004 meeting where many doctors gathered to talk about deep brain stimulation (241). These meetings have become easier with our technological advancements. The ease of communication has led many doctors to converse with other doctors and share their ideas and knowledge. In fact, without technology deep brain stimulation would not even be possible. Communication benefits everyone. Including doctors, and people who live far from each other, or want to say in the now at all times.
On the other hand, we may have progressed in communication for people who live far from us but we have lost most people skills for the ones we are standing right next to. If I take a step onto any college campus it is not surprising to see majority has their head down and is texting, tweeting, instragraming, or snapchating. Social media is everywhere and it can be quite consuming. “Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities. And as it turns out, we are very vulnerable indeed. We are lonely but fearful of intimacy” (Slater 263). Slater depicts how addicting technology can be since it has what we are looking for. It is easy to use and can provide and escape for many but the problem lies where we do not know where to draw the line. People are so consumed in their smartphones they forgot to look at what is going on in happening right now in front of them and also that there are people around. Take a step onto any bus around my campus, at Rutgers University, it is fair to say that almost everyone is glued to their phone and has headphones in listening to music. People forget how to have a causal conversation with a stranger on the bus. I’ve learned that one can meet really great people just though a casual conversation. Instead, our society forgets that other humans exist and refuses to acknowledge them. I feel we have regressed in our advancements because we have lost a basic skill that we have founded ourselves on. Our phones can be controlling and so can deep brain stimulation. Dr. Steven Ramussen, Mario’s psychologist states “You can change behavior very, very, rapidly. On the flip side of it there’s a danger too. This really is mind control, you know what I mean” (Slater 240). Dr. Steven Ramussen is making a statement that the Doctors that alter the chemicals are indeed controlling your brain. I believe that this is true because they are changing chemicals in our brains which can affect our mood. Leaving the technology in complete control. Both our smartphones and deep brain stimulation are very controlling and can make us lack people skills. It is important to remember that one must not forget about what is around us and enjoy people face to face.
Lastly, the biggest problem with technology in all aspects is that there is no studies that show long term effects of the impact on humans and the environment. The most difficult part of healthcare is that quite often the only way we can study the effects of technology is by using them on human patients. This can be very risky especially if the outcome could be variable. Not many people would be interested in being the patient of a doctor who has never performed a surgery or undergoing a surgery that has never been done before. We are essentially making humans Guinea pigs which is a very disturbing concept. Deep brain stimulation is a technology that is difficult to predict what will happen because there has been no long term studies. Elliot Valenstein, a retired professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan talks about the negative effects of DBS, “Stimulation on neural tissue is likely to introduce long-lasting, and perhaps permanent, changes in neural circuity and chemistry” (Slater 242). Professor Valenstein wants to explain that even though deep brain stimulation can be turned off, there is still long term effects which damage the brain physiologically by changing the chemistry of our brain. This is just one of the negative effects that have been noticed, but what about all of the studies and possible side effects that have not been noticed yet because deep brain stimulation is so new? These implants could have even more negative effects that we are just unaware of at the moment. Technology is also very difficult to gauge what is beneficial and what could have harmful effects. Turkle talks about the possibility of dating robots as she mentions this to Anne, a women in her mid-twenties. Anne states “she would trade in her boyfriend…if the robot would produce what she called ‘caring behavior’… She said ‘if the robot could provide the environment, I would be happy to help produce the illusion that someone was really with me’” (Turkle 269). Anne would easily give up dating a human for dating a robot. Like others, Anne does not need a real person to make her feel satisfied, she just doesn’t want to be alone. The problem is there are no studies for the long term psychological effects on dating a robot. This constant state of being in an illusion that someone is there has to be damaging to our psychological state. In a sense, we have also regressed as a society if we cannot deal with humans. Also if we all started dating robots our population would end very soon. There would be no way to reproduce. Without the studies of long term effects on both deep brain stimulation and robots it is very possible for negative effects to occur and being relatively destructive to everyone on the planet.
After carefully evaluating “Who Holds the Clicker” by Lauren Slater and “Alone Together” by Sherry Turkle I have formulated new ideas about technology. Technology can positivity affect us in healthcare and communication with others but it can also negativity affect us making people lack normal people skills and become controlling lastly, there are no studies which show long term effects. It is important to remember that technology can be extremely beneficial and that we would not be able to progress as a society without it, on the other hand, if we let technology become too out of hand it will be the cause of our own destruction.