500 word draft:
Jack Thurmond
ENG 110
Jessie Miller
Apr 9, 2024
Back To The Future Essay
Throughout the semester we have worked with many pieces of writing that have all had the same similar theme of technology. We have also done plenty of writing on technology throughout the class. All of the writing I have interacted with and opinions from my classmates has given lots of outlook on how technology really affects us. MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle who wrote the “The Empathy Diaries’ ‘, a text we read in class and two of my classmates from the University Of New England, Matthew Dewhurst and Beckett Shanahan all have written pieces on technology. All of the authors share the belief that technology has affected our ability to have conversations as well as decreased other social skills. Both of my classmates wrote essays on how this has affected them personally and how they have seen it happen through their life as technology has become more prominent. This is also something that I have realized over the course of this semester. We have spent the majority of the semester focusing on how technology affects us. We have done this with the use of many articles talking about technology and numerous in class discussions where I have heard different points of view and formed my own opinions. All of this has led me to reflect on my personal use of technology and what it has done to me. There are obvious positives that come from technology and even after reflecting I still continue to use it in my daily life. I learned that Technology has the ability to both help me but also hurt me in certain elements. I was also able to realize that the advancement in technology as I grew up correlated to these conversation and social issues. There were also important life events such as Covid-19 that forced us to turn to and get accustomed to. The whole semester’s focus has led me to these conclusions and without the continued focus on this topic I don’t think I would have gotten to this point.This has been very helpful and insightful to me in terms of understanding my relation with technology and its effects more. The articles also gave me the idea of reflecting on my relationship with technology which was also beneficial. In reflecting I also realized that technology affected my conversation and I agree with both my classmates and Turkle.
All three authors are in agreement about technology’s effect on conversation as they share the opinion that technology has done damage to it. They feel that communication via technology has been normalized to the point where it’s more prominent and even preferred more by some people. Beckett points out a possibly solution when he talks about how “ It is much easier to sit back and send a voice message or text out what you want to say”(Shanahan1). Beckett talks about this idea of how since technology makes things easier, people will default to it as it is quicker and less stressful for them.
1000 word draft:
Jack Thurmond
ENG 110
Jessie Miller
Apr 9, 2024
Back To The Future Essay
Throughout the semester we have worked with many pieces of writing that have all had the same similar theme of technology. We have also done plenty of writing on technology throughout the class. All of the writing I have interacted with and opinions from my classmates have given lots of outlook on how technology really affects us. MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle who wrote “The Empathy Diaries’ ‘, a text we read in class, and two of my classmates from the University Of New England, Matthew Dewhurst, and Beckett Shanahan all have written pieces on technology. All of the authors share the belief that technology has affected our ability to have conversations as well as decreased other social skills. Both of my classmates wrote essays on how this has affected them personally and how they have seen it happen throughout their lives as technology has become more prominent. This is also something that I have realized over the course of this semester. We have spent the majority of the semester focusing on how technology affects us. We have done this with the use of many articles talking about technology and numerous in-class discussions where I have heard different points of view and formed my own opinions. All of this has led me to reflect on my personal use of technology and what it has done to me. There are obvious positives that come from technology and even after reflecting I still continue to use it in my daily life. I learned that Technology has the ability to both help me but also hurt me in certain elements. I was also able to realize that the advancement in technology as I grew up correlated to these conversations and social issues. There were also important life events such as Covid-19 that forced us to turn to and get accustomed to. The whole semester’s focus has led me to these conclusions and without the continued focus on this topic I don’t think I would have gotten to this point. This has been very helpful and insightful to me in terms of understanding my relationship with technology and its effects more. The articles also gave me the idea of reflecting on my relationship with technology which was also beneficial. In reflecting I also realized that technology affected my conversation and I agree with both my classmates and Turkle.
All three authors are in agreement about technology’s effect on conversation as they share the opinion that technology has done damage to it. They feel that communication via technology has been normalized to the point where it’s more prominent and even preferred more by some people. Beckett points out a possible solution when he talks about how “ It is much easier to sit back and send a voice message or text out what you want to say”(Shanahan). Beckett talks about this idea of how since technology makes things easier, people will default to it as it is quicker and less stressful for them. They can skip the possible awkwardness that you get with in-person conversations and redo the message if they stutter or say the wrong word. This does make conversations easier but it takes away the realness and over time you are less and less comfortable conversing face to face. Matthew agreed with Beckett and he talked about how during the Covid-19 pandemic he had no choice but to have virtual conversations. He then mentions how he felt this had a lasting effect on him. “ During Covid, when we went on Zoom for over a year, and there were limited in-person interactions, I noticed my social skills, as well as the people around me, deteriorated”(Dewhurst). Matthew felt that due to being forced to communicate online led to him having very limited interactions and his social skills decreased because of this. Since he only had limited online interactions for a long period of time, conversing in person was a struggle when he returned to normal life. This is a very normal experience and something I remember going through on my return to school. It felt very unnatural to talk to my classmates and I found myself feeling very uncomfortable with the quickest conversations that I once enjoyed. This is a very real reality that many kids my age are now facing. Sherry Turkle advanced this idea by talking about how kids now prefer to communicate. “ Even children text each other rather than talk face to face with friends” (344). Turkle presents the new reality of the younger generations. They are accustomed to this way of communication and prefer it to have a real meaningful conversation. This issue certainly takes away from the social skills of these kids when they do need to talk face-to-face. They would rather the easy comfortable way even though they miss out on important social skills which are necessary for their future life. All three authors have the same main focus for multiple reasons technology has led to a decrease in real face-to-face conversations. People have now become comfortable with their way of life and it is a new norm. I can remember times when I saw someone who I regularly talked to online and when I spoke to them in person I felt awkward and like it was a completely different person that I was talking to for the first time. This shows the difference between conversation and texting which at times can be understated and the real gap is not shown.
The authors also all realize the implications of the loss of conversation and these social skills. Not only do you miss out on the conversation but you also miss out on the social skills and feelings that you have in face-to-face conversations. These are important feelings that we need to have any kind of relationship. Matthew talks about how as he finds himself having less and less conversation he worries about these skills “ These lost conversations with the people I love most could cause a decrease in my empathy. On top of that, I could deeply regret not talking to my family more as I get older, and see them less frequently”(Dewhurst). He worries that lost conversation will lead to a possible loss of empathy as he won’t experience these feelings as frequently. This is a real worry as without constantly experiencing these feelings, we will lack them when we need them. This could lead you to potentially coming off as rude or like you do not care about your friends and family. Beckett also touches on why we don’t feel empathy when we speak to friends via text or over the phone “ When talking over the phone and over text, we cannot see the person, we do not understand how they are reacting”(Shanahan). Beckett brings
final draft:
Jack Thurmond
ENG 110
Jessie Miller
Apr 19, 2024
Back To The Future
Throughout the semester we have worked with writing pieces that have a similar theme of technology’s influence on society. We have written many essays on technology throughout the semester. Articles read in class and discussions with classmates have given me insight into how technology affects us. MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle who wrote “The Empathy Diaries”, a text we read in class, and two of my classmates from the University Of New England, Matthew Dewhurst, and Beckett Shanahan all have written pieces on technology. The authors share the belief that technology has affected human’s ability to have in-person conversations as well as decreased social skills. My classmates have similar views to each other and also wrote essays on how technology has affected their lives and experiences as it’s becoming more prominent. We have spent the majority of the semester focusing on how technology affects us through interpreting articles and participating in numerous in-class discussions. From these activities and others’ views, I have formed my own opinions on technology’s influence on society. As a member of society, I have reflected on my technology use and its influence on me based on the author’s concerns. In reflecting I also realized that technology affects my interpersonal conversation.
All three authors are in agreement about technology’s effect on conversation. They feel that communication via technology, for example, texting and Snapchatting has been normalized to the point where it’s preferred over in-person interactions. Beckett discusses a reason for this normalization when he says, “It is much easier to sit back and send a voice message or text out what you want to say”(Shanahan). Technology is an easier option as it is quicker and less stressful. For example, people can avoid possible awkwardness with in-person conversations by restarting a voice message or retyping a mistyped word. Technology makes conversations easier but takes away the realness and authenticity. Over time you become uncomfortable conversing face to face. Matthew agreed with Beckett and he talked about his experience with the Covid-19 pandemic; he had no choice but to have virtual conversations. He mentions how he felt this had a lasting effect on him, “During Covid, when we went on Zoom for over a year, and there were limited in-person interactions, I noticed my social skills, as well as the people around me, deteriorated”(Dewhurst). Dewhurst felt that being forced to communicate online led to him having limited interactions and his social skills deteriorated over the course of the year. Since he only had limited online interactions for a long period of time, conversing in person was a struggle when he returned to normal life. This is a typical experience throughout many lives, and I can relate to it when returning back to school. It felt unnatural to talk to my classmates as I found myself feeling uncomfortable with the quick conversations that I once enjoyed. This is a real reality that many kids my age are now facing. Sherry Turkle advanced this idea by talking about how kids prefer to communicate stating, “Even children text each other rather than talk face to face with friends” (344). Turkle presents the reality of younger generations. This issue certainly takes away from the social skills of kids as they need face-to-face interactions to learn. They miss out on important social skills that are necessary for their future. All three authors focus on multiple reasons technology has led to a decrease in face-to-face conversations. It is a new norm that people have become familiar with. There have been scenarios when I talk to someone in person who I regularly talk to online and it feels awkward. I was a completely different person, as it was hard to make conversation, maintain eye contact, and have proper body language. From others’ experiences and my own, I have concluded that technology like texting versus in-person communication has severely impacted society and future generations.
Another important realization of the authors and from experience is the loss of conversation and social skills with newer generations. Not only do you miss out on conversation but you also miss out on the social skills and feelings associated with face-to-face conversations. These are important feelings and emotions necessary in any relationship. Dewhurst discusses how he finds himself having fewer conversations, he worries about his social skills, “these lost conversations with the people I love most could cause a decrease in my empathy. On top of that, I could deeply regret not talking to my family more as I get older, and see them less frequently”(Dewhurst). He worries that a loss of in-person conversation will lead to a possible loss of empathy as he won’t experience intimacy as frequently. Without expressing essential emotions with others due to the isolation behind technology, we can see a lack of support and expression when needed. Not knowing how to express emotions with loved ones can cause distrust and an unintentional lack of empathy towards friends and family. Shanahan also touches on why we don’t feel empathy when we speak to friends via text or over the phone, “ When talking over the phone and over text, we cannot see the person, we do not understand how they are reacting”(Shanahan). Shanahan brings up the idea that since we are not physically with each other it is difficult to see how a person feels. It is easy to feel one way but portray a different emotion via text message or over the phone. Someone could say they are “good” or “fine” but you would never know behind the phone. Due to this, it is hard for us to feel emotions such as empathy as we don’t know how people are feeling, just assuming one is fine. Technology has created a disconnect between relationships. Sherry Turkle gives us an example of how it is already affecting our children. She mentions a seventh grader excluding her classmate and when confronted Turkle states she “ was almost robotic in her response” She said, ‘ I do not have any feelings about this’” (Turkle345). We can see how the lack of face-to-face conversations affects our children. In this example, after being rude to her classmate she doesn’t have any empathy for her poor actions. This correlation is an excellent example of how technology has taken our morals from us. We lack basic social skills due to the disconnect from reality, which causes future professional and interpersonal relationship problems. All authors agree that in-person conversation, which was once all we knew, has taken away from social skills leading to future relationship problems.
It is evident that technology is changing our society and future generations. Technology has affected human’s ability to have in-person conversations as well as decreased social skills, as seen throughout the essay. Authors previously mentioned share similar beliefs that social interactions are declining. However, technology is not always negative, as it allows for learning opportunities and telehealth communication. Although, the negatives outweigh the positives, as communication skills are necessary for many jobs, and a vital learning tool throughout school. I have personally felt the disconnect of technology by having fewer in-person meaningful interactions and unknowingly defaulting to virtual conversion. This leads to future struggles in professional settings where these skills are necessary to succeed. The authors share similar experiences and knowledge on what technology is doing to our in-person conversations as well as our social skills. I have gained insight from my own experience and the authors this semester, which I will continue to acknowledge as technology continues to advance for generations to come.
Work Cited
Turkle, Sherry. “The Empathy Diaries.” The Empathy Diaries. Excerpt originally
published in The Empathy Diaries,
Dewhurst, Matthew. “Technology’s Effects on my Life” UNE portfolio https://miller-eng110-1.uneportfolio.org/2024/03/31/journal-20/. Accessed 19 April 2024
Shanahan, Beckett. “The problems of technology” UNE portfolio https://miller-eng110-1.uneportfolio.org/2024/03/31/journal-20/. Accessed 19 April 2024
