The Great Forgetting Summary

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“Kitchen Controversial” by Rebecca Traister, and “The Great Forgetting” by Nicolas Carr, both examine role changes in our society. “Kitchen Controversial” examines changes or the lack of changes in gender expectations. While “The Great Forgetting” examines changes in manual labor due to automation. Updating centuries old gender expectations can be good for society, but can we control our reliance on automation? Men are no longer hunting dangerous animals for daily meals, and women are in combat roles in the United Sates Military. However, the belief that a woman's main function is to provide creature comforts and continue the species has been slow to keep up with the changing realities of current gender roles.
In the early industrial age, men lifted, placed, screwed, adjusted and quality checked hundreds of components that made up a final product. Now most of that is automated. Automation goes further than the tedious manual tasks of manufacturing. In his article “The Great Forgetting” Nicolas Carr examines how automation has contributed to plane crashes over the past few years. He noted that automation, has turned our pilots into computer operators. Because the pilots are not doing many of the manual tasks on a regular basis, they do not develop the deep skill required to deal with instrument malfunctions. Since their skills are not exercised; when a malfunction does occur the pilot often makes an error in response while trying to correct the situation. Carr also noted that automation in other fields can dull the skills of those who rely upon it. He pointed out the scenario of radiologist who do not scrutinize the areas that are not highlighted by the computer software, thereby possibly missing an opportunity to find an early tumor. Whether it is gender or automation, roles change. However, we must not allow our skills to be lost in the process. Hands on training and keeping skills fresh are an important part of life. Rebecca Traister has a very strong voice for feminism. Born in 1975, she is part of the first wave beyond the women's rights changes of the 1970's. She is a writer for several publications and has published couple of books to her credit, “all the single ladies, unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation”. “Big girls don't cry” Her works examine how women fit into this mans world and how they are working to change it. I think that I will examine her works further. The outlook was fresh and

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