Extreme Sports: A Reaction to Extreme Technology Essay

When you are using technology, more specifically the internet, your mind is so sucked into the device you are using and do not pay attention to the world around you. This is causing individuals including yourself to lose connections to the real world around you, you may not realize it but over the years you have probably drifted further away from the people and world around you. Let me ask you something, how many countless hours have you spent alone in your room using some type of technology? For most of us the number is to high for us to count. Nicholas Carr also has the same thoughts on this topic as I do in the book The Shallows when he states, “Watch a kid texting his friends or a college student looking over the roll of new messages and requests on her Facebook page or a businessman scrolling through his e-mails on his BlackBerry—or consider yourself as you enter keywords into Google’s search box and begin following a trail of links.

Today, anyone can rekindle old flames with social media or update their status to keep distant friends close at heart. Somehow, Maggie Jackson sees facilitated communication as “clashing streams of rapid-fire imagery, floating in limitless cyber-worlds” that loosen any grip on intimacy (546). It’s understandable that face to face moments are deemed an essential aspect of connectivity. Still, a digital barrier seems minute in many circumstances. Every year college students drift far from home in the pursuit of higher education. For most, leaving family behind is extremely difficult and can even hinder the way a student manages emotions. With powerful tools like Skype and instant messaging, communication isn’t so difficult. Although looking at a screen isn’t “the real thing”, it allows people to feel closer and connected. A few glances at funny pics of mom or a second to see what a friend posted about their life back home can give a feeling of comfort to those that need it. This is progress. This is proof of successful innovation. Yes, focus is briefly split into “alternative virtual universes” but the benefits of cyber-mingling far outweigh the small cost of attention (Jackson 547). Focus dispersed between real and computerized life should be seen as a positive symbol of cultural

Sherry Turkle, the Harvard educated MIT professor, founder and current director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, asserts that “people have never been more connected—or more alienated” from each other; that they may not aspire to their vision of best self as their devices become increasingly important. People unintentionally place more importance on “virtual relationships over real, instant messages over deep complex feelings, robots over live

In the book The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We’ve Lost in a World of Constant Connection, Michael Harris argues that as technology progresses society loses the experience of lacking. He continues to illustrate this point by saying we will eventually reach a time when true solitude is an outdated concept. Harris attempts to answer what exactly it means to be a part of the last generation that remembers life with and without the internet. Within each chapter, Harris discusses the fast-paced technological revolution with three themes becoming prevalent: Authenticity,

Scott Fitzgerald used to point out "the loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. " It reminds me of the modern world where people are acting as if they are busy. We are holding the fancy phones, placing the laptop in front of their sight and typing nonsense lines on the cold screens. We gather our friends to be talked and shared, and what we do after meeting up is speaking some vague words and then gnawing loneliness in a place full of people. Our world is falling apart, disconnecting and getting empty.

Like a mosquito, technology carries a fever-causing virus: the virus of idealism. “As the use of social media continues to evolve; the concept of presenting our ideal selves versus our real selves has become more and more prevalent on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, and even LinkedIn” (Green). Somewhere social media, people have lost the ability to truly take time and understand the people around them. t is not upon an individual’s lack of thought that is to blame but the warped sense of reality expressed through these social media sources. For most people, a look at their friend’s posts will bring upon comparison. Why does she have a life? How come she gets to go on vacation? Why does he seem so happy with his significant other? Idealism, and an environment of solely perfection and happiness is perpetuated. There is a sense of loneliness and guilt which comes with this seemingly perfect image of life. It is human nature to wish to be understood, but yet, idealism teaches people to retreat into themselves, to show only perfections and never let people know of unhappiness. As a result,

    When people think about World War II, they normally associate it with Hitler, genocide, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and other negative things; however, there were some positive impacts it had on the United States. Economically, the United States and other countries around the world were devastated by the crashing of the stock market. Unemployment rate was at a high point, Hitler was gaining control of Europe, and we were trying to remain isolationists. Once we intervened in the war, we were pulled out of the depression by the increase of jobs, the women’s rights movement began and established legal equality, the baby boom and suburban boom began, and the United States went from

Now day’s kids sit in front of a screen in their room for hours talking into a mic, talking to some random person they found online. Not only do we see this happen on TV with the main characters little brother, but also when we walk in the door of our own house. There was a TED talk that I recently watched where the speaker was a mom and her daughter had invited some friends over to hang out, but what she actually meant was turn and stare at a phone. As what Sherry Turkle said, “And what I've found is that our little devices, those little devices in our pockets, are so psychologically powerful that they don't only change what we do, they change who we are.” What she says is that we cannot survive without these little devices in our life. The ability of our social connection in real life is disappearing. For example, when they hang out with each other in person it’s not face to face anymore, it’s back to back, they text each other instead of talking. Some might say we are running from our problems with the help of technology. When you have an issue with someone you don’t want to come right out and confront them because you don’t know how they will react, so you text them. But when you do this you don’t put any emotions into it, maybe a few exclamation points and a sad face, then ending the heated text message with a heart, but in the end did you really get your point a crossed to them or did you just tell them that whatever they did make you a little sad and you won’t do anything about it, giving them the chance to do whatever they did again. Technology is breaking us down as people. (SO

People tend to get so caught up with technology they start to get separated from the real world. In the essay "Liking is for Cowards," Franzen discuss how people, including himself, get so attached to their technology. He also talks about how people on the internet are doing some many things to be likeable. They tend to put on a persona and go to extreme lengths just to be liked. Some even get so caught up in wanting to be liked, they begin to lose who they really are (145).

Syphilis, which was once thought of as a historic sexually transmitted infection (STI), is making a strong come back in the United States. Recent attention has been given to the state of Oregon where syphilis rates are increasing at a rapid rate. Klamath County, a small rural area in Oregon, does not show the highest rates of syphilis in the state, however its rates have increased dramatically over the last five years. Due to the increase prevalence and severe side effects of the infection, Oregon has taken action to educate the public in hopes of reducing the growing rate of infection.

Within Jenna Wortham's article, "Turn Off the Phone (and the Tension)," Wortham discusses the impact that social media possesses, in which Wortham believes that technology is responsible for shaping people's lives negatively. From Wortham's previous experiences, she shares a moment in her life that made her realize that people often compare their lives to others excessively- one of the reasons why people have social media attachment issues. Wortham also expresses how social media users brag about their lives being better than others through exaggerated posts- something that shouldn't be encouraged. With effort to resolve this issue, Wortham considers and suggests Mr. Hofmann's advice to readers: go screenless for a certain

When was the last time you drove to BestBuy for physically buying an electronic item? How often do you have traditional family dinner with all the members sitting at the dining table? “Such home may be full of people but they are really empty” and “the consequences of this accelerating isolation of individuals are dire” (Eitzen, 2000: p.28). Eitzen argues that, “technology also encourages isolation” (Eitzen, 2000: p.27). This is probably the leading cause of isolated society. We faced major shift toward isolation after invention of television, phones, and the Internet. Now days, we tend to spend more and more time watching television or browsing the Internet, rather than socializing with friends and neighbors. In addition, 21st century introduced whole new ear of communication means via emails and phone messaging. It has proven to reduce our person-to-person interactions. According to Eitzen, “we are becoming an autistic society, communicating messages electronically but without really connecting” (Eitzen, 2000: p.27). This affects how we interact with social problems. Days are not far when Disney fiction movie, Wall-E become a reality because our society is becoming more and more

Have you heard about iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot before? If you haven't, or perharps you had but only a little information on the other models, then this is a chance for you to know about this product and what it holds for you as a household device.

Many people in our society can relate. We wake up, check our phones. We go to school, check our phones. We go home, check our phones. And right before we go to bed, we check our phones. And for what? What are we constantly checking? Imagine logging out of social networking sites for one day. How would you feel? You would probably feel disconnected and want to log back on as soon as possible. This generation uses these websites to connect, to stay in the loop, and to become involved. However, people will take advantage of the use of these websites, and in return, the websites take over the majority of their life. The act of constantly wanting to be

“Little by little, Internet and mobile technology seems to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society.” (Melissa Nilles “Technology is Destroying the Quality of Human Interaction”) Because of technology, the interactions with other people have no meaning, and that we are no longer in touch with the world that we live in. Since technology makes it easier to connect and converse with friends, family, etc. it gives people the opportunity to avoid face to face interaction at all, which leads to isolation and loneliness. This is because as human beings, physical touch is something that we