Andrew Sullivan's article "Society Is Dead: We Have Retreated into the iworld", published on 20th of February 2005, is an intriguingly thought-provoking article that points out how severely society is absorbed in the technological world. The author discusses his opinion about the intense impact of technology on isolating people. In Andrew’s opinion, people have become so reliant on technology that they walk around in their own musical bubbles and shun out the real world around them. The idea of his article clarifies how the excessive use of technological devices is limiting human interaction. I tend to find his article very effective in terms of use of logical appeals and evident real life examples, unbiased perspective, tone and attitude, …show more content…
and writing style. The author uses his personal experience in his essay development.
He reports an incident where he notices a peculiar change of the New York City life, in which it had become “quieter”, by every individual’s isolation due to iPod earphones. He uses evident examples of everyday life to emphasize the isolation of people from each other by the impact of technology and media. He comments, “They walk down the street in their own MP3 cocoon, bumping into others, deaf to small social cues, shutting out anyone not in their bubble” (Sullivan, 2005). He also uses corresponding analogies to clarify the severity of the problem he is addressing, in which he says, “Every now and again I go to church ─ those huge, luminous Apple stores, pews in the rear, the clerics in their monastic uniforms all bustling around or sitting behind the "Genius Bars," like priests waiting to hear confessions” (Sullivan, 2005). Similarly, he compares people iPod owners to an “addictive cult” that spreads …show more content…
quickly. In Sullivan’s piece, he confesses that he shares the same problem that he’s addressing. Despite the fact that he is a part of the society that he’s condemning, he owns up to his obsession and admits to the consequences of the technological reality. He does not take sides that flatter his benefit, which in turn makes his perspective unbiased and leads to an effective article. He states, “I'm one of them”, “I joined the cult a few years ago: the sect of the little white box worshippers” (Sullivan, 2005). The author does not negatively ridicule the issue he is addressing; instead he openly states his opinion and supports his argument effectively and efficiently. Sullivan throws a couple of humorous analogies: one about the Apple store, by referring to it as a “church”, and the other comparing the staff behind the “Genius Bars” to priests. This adds a little positivity to his attitude. However, the rest of his article holds a serious tone which gives his attitude neutrality. Overall, his attitude shifts in between positive and neutral. The author has an informal, personal writing style.
His piece is written from a first-person narrative point of view, and he regularly uses the word "I." For instance, at the beginning of the article, he says, "I was visiting New York last week and noticed something I'd never thought I'd say about the city" (Sullivan, 2005). Later he states, "Not so long ago I was on a trip and realized I had left my iPod behind” (Sullivan, 2005). Also, Sullivan uses conjunctions at the beginning of several sentences: "But there was something else . . . ," and “And as I looked through the pavements…” (Sullivan, 2005) There are also fragment sentences, such as: "Don't ask, don't tell, don't overhear, don't observe." (Sullivan, 2005). Overall, the author’s article is not very well organized, which make his ideas straight to the
point. All In all, despite that one might not agree with his point that technology is narrowing people’s social lives, the essay was effective. Sullivan stayed on topic and kept his information conversational, channeling them down into this main point. It is quite evident that human interaction within our society has been replaced by the new technological “improvements”, and a new world for every individual has been initiated.
People are perceived and judged based on material possessions, socioeconomic status, intelligence and even political prowess. The author used third person narrative to make the claim that he is indeed an ordinary person; however, society seems to think otherwise. “‘That is so dope,’ the college student says… There’s something else he wants to say. It’s as if the man with the classes has some form of mastery…” (Shteyngart 1). The author explains how people seem to have elevated his status to some form of celebrity, due to his possession of a brand new device. It is quite ironic, that the author tries to show that he is just an average person living an average life, however, society thinks otherwise. The use of irony furthers the author’s argument that technology’s effect on society is evidently visible. Whenever, people see someone with technology, they become interested to find out what it is and how it functions. The author uses irony again, this time much more indirectly. He explains how he is on a video call with a friend using the Glass and uses his phone to take recordings of the museum exhibits. “…my Glass darting around the sociopolitical extravaganza… I snap a picture of it with my iPhone…” (Shteyngart 5). It is quite curious whether or not this was intentional, but it seems as if the author was connected and disconnected at the same time from the reality he
Today’s world has become so dependent on technology that people can hardly be away from their cell phone. In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred portrays one of those people. In the article, “Have we become too dependent on smart phone technology?” a woman and her friends test just how long they can be away from their cell phones. “‘The first 30 minutes to an hour all we talked about was how we missed our phones,’ Erebia said” (Ortega 1). The quote goes to show that people can hardly have conversation with out their security blanket, better known as their smart phone. “Smart phone technology is a double-edged sword when it comes to communication. Some people may be so engrossed in their phones that they would rather focus on that than on the person right in front of them – this is the bad – he said” (Ortega 2). At the end of this article everyone can agree that technology has a power over our lives.
Doctor Jean Twenge is an American psychologist who published an article for The Atlantic titled “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” in September 2017. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to emphasize the growing burden of smartphones in our current society. She argues that teenagers are completely relying on smartphones in order to have a social life which in return is crippling their generation. Twenge effectively uses rhetorical devices in order to draw attention to the impact of smartphones on a specific generation.
...helle Hackman, a sophomore in high school, realized that her friends, rather than engaging in a conversation, were “more inclined to text each other” (Huffington Post). Michelle also became aware that over forty percent of people were suffering from anxiety when they were separated from the phones. This clearly shows that we are connected to the technology that we use, but we are also suffering from the use of technology. We spend more than half of our entire day using some sort of technology, whether that is a computer, phone, television, or radio. Technology is becoming a prevalent part of our lives, and we cannot live without it. Technology has become our family, and part of us.
In Sherry Turkle’s Growing Up Tethered, Turkle speaks of a term titled the collaborative self. She defines this term by telling many different stories through the lives of high school students. These students focus on this type of compulsive desire to feel socially accepted or connected. The students speak specifically about the anxiety that results from the feedback they receive or do not receive through their phones. Through Turkle’s stories, they agree that they rely on technology in order to live their lives. She speaks about young people living in a state of waiting for connection and event taking risks to stay connected, such as texting while driving. Although technology is intended to help,
Nevertheless, Goldberger states, “It is the fact that even when the phone does not ring at all, and is being used quietly and discreetly, it renders a public place less public” (558). With this, the youth of American society, when placed in a party with strangers, may express sentiments of shyness or awkwardness. Likewise, instead of socializing, several individuals may use their phone as a way to escape. It is this escape route that makes these “socially awkward” events or places less public; the younger generations are in their own world when they use their cell phone instead of socializing or becoming familiar with the scenery. Thus, progress has mainly caused the youth of American society to become less sociable and tend towards awkwardness; multitudes of individuals today have trouble associating with strangers at a party or how to properly communicate with an employer for a job. Although technology may seem beneficial and heading towards an era full of advancements, looks can be deceiving, and several individuals have been fooled by its false
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has become an essential tool in human life. Technology impacted lives in society by offering a way to “multitask” by using two or more technological devices. Technology and internet offers the facility to do homework faster through Google, while listening to music on Pandora or YouTube. Sometimes, you can even talk on the phone while you listen to music and do homework. All you need in order to multitask is to have all the technological devices needed. Many people consider technology as a positive change in our lives, because of the facilities it offers us. However, many other persons, like Christine Rosen, think that technology instead of improving our lives, it has only changed it negatively. Technology, in fact has provided us with many facilities, however such facilities are affecting our interactions with the physical space.
Sherry Turkle’s article in The New York Times “The Flight From Conversation”, she disputes that we need to put down the technology and rehabilitate our ability to converse with other human beings because we are replacing deep relationships with actual people for casual encounters on technology. Turkle tries to convince young and middle age individuals who are so enthralled by the technology that they are losing the ability to communicate in a public setting. Sherry Turkle unsuccessfully persuades her audience to put down the technology and engage with others in public through her strong logos appeal that overpowers her weak logos and doesn’t reliably represent herself and her research.
Are technology and the media shedding the very fabric of the existence we have known? As technology and the media spread their influence, the debate over the inherent advantages and disadvantages intensifies. Although opinions vary widely on the subject, two writers offer similar views: Professor Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, in her article “Can You Hear Me Now” and Naomi Rockler-Gladen, who formerly taught media studies at Colorado State University, with her article “Me Against the Media: From the Trenches of a Media Lit Class.” Turkle asserts that technology has changed how people develop and view themselves, while at the same time affecting their concepts of time management and focus (270). Similarly, Rockler-Gladen believes media and its inherent advertising have had a profound effect on the values and thinking of the public (284). I could not agree more with Professor Turkle and Ms. Rockler-Gladen; the effects technology and media have worried and annoyed me for quite so time. The benefits of technology and media are undeniable, but so then are the flaws. People are beginning to shift their focus away from the physical world to the virtual world as they find it easier and more comfortable. The intended purpose of technology and media was to be a tool to improve the quality of life, not shackles to tie people to their devices. I no longer recognize this changed world and long for the simple world of my youth.
Amy Gahran, a media consultant exploring communication in the technology era, writes about how cell phones are significant. She feels that cell phones have changed our lives by providing “…vital services and human connections…offer new hope, even through simple broadcast text messages” (Gahran). Gahran is insisting that cell phones allow us to learn news quickly, connect with safety, and can even fight crime through video recordings (Gahran). In addition, she feels that the overall benefits of owning a cell phone outweigh any negatives. This somewhat challenges the ideas presented by Rosen because it points out more benefits of cell phones. In “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” Rosen mentions that although cell phones indeed connect us with safety, they can often lead to a sense of paranoia. To expand, she writes that parents who give children a cell phone for security purposes, develop a paranoid sense of their community and lose trust in “social institutions” (Rosen). In making this comment, Rosen argues that although cell phones may be beneficial, they can change the way we view our world. Without a cell phone, many individuals feel vulnerable, as if their phone protects them from all possible dangers that they may encounter. In fact, a Rutgers University professor challenged his students to power off their phones for 48 hours and report back with their experience (Rosen). Many felt almost lost without it and one young women described the feeling “…like I was going to get raped if I didn’t have my cell phone in my hand” (Rosen). In reality, having a cell phone will not save a person’s life in all situations. Although many, including Gahran, feel a phone is a vital tool, it has changed how we feel about the world around us and how vulnerable we feel without a phone in
Heffernan is especially critical of “the intensely engineered frankensounds that hit our eardrums when we listen to iPhones,” and is sincerely surprised that it is, “still called music.” One such word the author uses to drive home her argument is “antisocial” and that the invention of headphones has caused a generation of Americans to reclusively cling to their music as opposed to playing it out of a boom-box. The appeal to pathos is not only strengthened but also heavily relied upon towards the end of the article as no more methods of logos appear. “[S]ounds [should] exist in their audio habitat more often,” Heffernan argues, “even if that means contending with interruptions and background
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features.” (James Surowiecki) Whether or not is known, technology has become too heavily relied on. It is replacing important social factors such as, life skills and communication skills. While technology is created to be beneficial, there must be a point in time where we draw the line. Once face-to-face conversations begin to extinguish, this means that there is too much focus on the “screen culture”. In her writing, “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle talks
... are virtually mini telephones, digital cameras, laptops, and ipods in one. That amount of technology in such a compact space is truly astounding. It’s unfortunate to think cell phones are just becoming, if they have not already, another “status symbol” indicating where you rank on the ladder of what our culture deems “in”.
Lutfala, A. (2011, October 28). Technology imposes social isolation. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from The Pudget Sound Trail website: http://trail.pugetsound.edu/2011/10/technology-imposes-social-isolation/
Rosen, senior editor if New Atlantis, on her essay published in Wilson Quarterly in autumn 2009 “In the Beginning Was the Word,” points out how digital technology, especially in communication and entertainment, affects negatively on our lives socially and cognitively. She believes that although technology might appear as sign of our progress as humans, it is withdrawing us from the core literature. Rosen explains th...