Summary- Response Essay 1: “How not to be alone” “How not to be alone” is an article written by a remarkable American novelist, Jonathan Safran Foer. In this paper, he narrates an unforgettable personal experience. Once he was waiting for a friend in public, he noticed a girl crying hard. He was worried but also curious about why she was so sad. He was willing to offer help but felt embarrassed at the same time. So it seemed that the author was in a dilemma. Intervening is harder than ignoring. He conveys the idea that technology has created distance among people. They are more likely to put energy into cell phones, computers, or other electronic devices, whereupon they care less about the real word; the surroundings. Gradually, human beings
Scientist are researching genetic modification for many reasons. Some people think we are not good enough the way we are, and want to create a ‘perfect’ person. We have been given the ability to learn how to heal sickness and fix wounds with science. However, we have a responsibility to use this information wisely. We have been created with unique gifts and those gifts are important to the enhancement of life. Likewise, while researching about the Author of “The Perfect Stranger”, Amy Sterling Casil, I have discovered that she also has similar feelings about the gifts that we have all been given. We need to consider a few things as we review Casil’s story “The Perfect Stranger”. First, medical advancement is a great thing. Next, we need to make sure we are taking responsible steps while advancing and not creating even more division in our society. And lastly, we need to make sure we don’t lose our diversity and unique qualities. Although, some people believe genetic modification is what we need to better the human race, in actuality genetic modification can be dangerous, because overstepping our boundaries will produce something that is no longer authentic or that is unable to relate on a genuine level.
Loneliness can be fixed with a simple act of kindness. When someone warms the victim’s heart, they break the chains that hold them in solitude. If the victim is neglected, the chains will only get longer and thicker until they cannot be broken. In Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, the main protagonist, Billie Jo Kempe, was the one in chains. Despite her accomplishments and desire to be loved, her parents never praised her like she hoped, and life seems to never go Billie’s way.
You: an introduction written by Michael Jensen is a great book that goes into depth to answering questions such as, “Who are you really?”, “What are you supposed to be like?” and “What-or whose-purpose do you serve?” (Page 7). Jensen is a very knowledgeable with the way he talks in his book and was also a Church Planter at Moore College. He relates greatly to the Bible and his own sources of knowledge, including quotes from other people “a guy called Walter Truett Anderson says ‘Consumption is now inseparable from identity’” (Page 10).
This combination causes the people to not “...talk about anything...they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else’ ” (Bradbury 28). As technology plays a major role in their life, socializing and interacting with others is no longer valued and forgotten—causing the people to become recluded. Similarly, this is reflected in our society as technology is advancing, and people are becoming infatuated with their devices. Often times, “the kids are all hanging out, but instead of looking at each other, they are staring at their phones” (Los Angeles Times). With technology being at reach, and the current popularity of online social media, people are finding shortcuts and alternative ways to interact with others virtually instead of physical interaction. Although this idea seems innovative, it damages our society’s social structure as people are not being exposed to social skills—thus, creating a socially corrupted community. Not only is technology impacting human interaction, but the people’s mentality as well. Mildred, from Fahrenheit 451, believes that “ ‘books aren 't real people. You read and I look around, but there isn 't anybody...My ‘family’, is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh’ ” (Bradbury 69). Mildred is infamous for being obsessed with her parlor walls—televisions integrated walls—and often refers to her ‘parlor family’ as her biological family.
Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, Sherry Turkle in her article, The Flight from Conversation, addresses the topic of how technology has affected today’s society and argues that people are removed from their colleagues, friends, and family due to spending a substantial amount of their time communicating through technology. Turkle supports her assertion first by using ethos to establish herself as an expert on the topic, second by using logos to add factual evidence to support her argument, and third by using pathos to connect the topic of her argument to the reader. The author’s overall purpose is to expose how technology is negatively affecting our social and communication skills in order to encourage people to change
Bathhouse, a public place which Shirin Neshat depicted in her film Women without Men, as well as a fantasy of imagination of orientalism, is the name of the exhibition which Veronica Bechtold, Rebecca Gross, Tia Harestad, Lisa O’Connor, Selena Skalisky have curated as their dream feminist exhibition. Inside the space of the Bathhouse, the works of seven artists from all over of the world are chosen as part of the exhibition. All of the art prieces articulate the multiplicity of identity through visual representation across medium, utilizing an array of subjects that ranges from pubic hair to female genitalia, which opens up a conversation on how each artist represent differences by visually engaging the audience.
“Do you ever put that phone of yours down?” I hear my mom shriek day after day. It’s true, 14-17 year-old teens usually send and receive up to 60 text messages a day. Phones and other electronics have recently become popular during the past few years, much like Apple, who are constantly releasing their newest iPhone to the world. Ray Bradbury, author of many short stories involving technology foresaw these events.
The use of technology has increased rapidly as time has gone by. In “Growing Up Tethered”, Turkle proves that the young generation need to be connected at all times by relying on their phones a lot. Reality is now based on technology, which people now live off of. Turkle’s argument in “Growing up Tethered” was used in the form of a book, with a well-organized smoothly transitioned article telling of the disconnection of the world we live in today, due to technologies such as cell phones, and social networks. We are slowly becoming a society of distance amongst each other with face to face conversations being limited to 20minutes phone conversations, and on social network sights we are making a portrayal of a person who we are
Today’s society has become so fixated with technology that it is now a major component in the lives of many individuals. Many people use these technologies; such as, smart phones, tablets, and computer, to speak about their daily activities or thoughts. These devices help create imaginative barriers that allow people to act vastly different than they would if someone where in the vicinity. A significant example of this is Kiki Kannibal. In “Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played With Fire” Kristen “Kiki” Ostrenga was a simple teenage girl who had moved to a new city, but a problem arose when she could not make any friends.
Maggie Jackson simply argues society uses technology more than ever now , we constantly make plans to hang out , but never happens. She talks on the details of how societies losing attention spans in this article by showing us a wakeup call of her story and having hope for upcoming generations. She introduces us to what she calls the land of distraction,technology has been used for good such scientific advances but she feels we are introducing a culture of fragmentation and detachment. In her journey readers travel with her to uncover the
In the essay William Deresiewicz’s, The End of Solitude, he creates an overall theme that encompasses the following ideas: what does it mean to be lonely in this post-modern world? How is technology changing the environment in which we participate online; and does this participation lend its self to being “closer” to the multitude of friends online – does this issue erase what it means to be intimate? Also, he factors in that solitude is a way to self-reflection and introspection, which is crucial to gauging what is going on around us. However, there were similar criticisms raised and explored during a filmed TEDTalk, Connected, but alone, with Sherry Turkle. In this talk, Turkle recounted the experiences in which she has noticed how different people have become as a consequence of using technology today – they have become reserved, more able to be in the same room with each other, yet these individuals remain alone. Whether it is about Deresiewicz’s feeling that many today do not hold existential
In our book groups we discussed two essays “The Connection Between Strangers” by Miles Goodwin and the essay “The People Who Love You When No One Else Would” by Cecile Gilmer. In my group we said that “no matter how big or small your act of kindness is, it could change someones life” was demonstrated in both essays. In the first essay, “The Connection Between Strangers”, shows this because this little girl walked up to this solider and congratulated him. Little did she know, that the small action had changed the soldier’s life, as he said in the essay, “That girl undoubtedly has no memory of what happened years ago… It doesn't matter why she gave me the magazine. The important thing is she did” (Goodwin 83).
Technology is changing who we are. This sentence will likely resonate with most people who feel it to be true. A remarkable American novelist, Jonathan Safran Foer, also the author of this article, wrote “How not to be alone” published on June 8th, 2013 in the New York Times. He conveys the idea that technology has created distance among people. In this wonderful editorial, Foer begins with pathos, then he uses logos to point out the fact that people are obsessed with cyberspace, he tries to build credibility by adding ethos, and he applies hyperbole and pathos again as well.
Over the past few years, technology has become a significant part of people’s every day lives. It helps people connect with those far away, but in the process, disconnects themselves from others close with them. Technology has helped improve the lives of many people through transportation and more, but overall has torn us apart. The constant usage of technology has people’s eyes glued to a small screen; they often forget to communicate with those around them.
“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