The phone, more specifically the smartphone, is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Phones have built in calculators and dictionaries. Phones have books, movies, television shows and other endless forms of entertainment and excitement, all located in your back pocket. Everywhere you go, you will likely see a phone or some other technological device. I remember going out to get some food with my friend one warm summer night. We decided on a town favorite burger joint near my home. My friend and I made it to the burger spot and chose a booth in the back right corner of the small restaurant. As soon as we sat down we were greeted by a waitress who happily gave us menus and asked if we’d like anything to drink. Once our drink orders were placed the waitress retreated to the kitchen to get our drinks, leaving my friend and I to converse. Although something had already grabbed my buddy’s attention, Tiktok. My friend’s eyes were glued to his phone and by the hunch in his back and neck, there was no way of getting him off that thing. So, instead of twiddling my thumbs, I took out my phone. Eventually, the hunch in the back and neck that had invaded and taken over my friend, had taken over my body as well. Every so often my friend would grin and chuckle and say, “Hey look at what I just sent you on instagram.” To this, I’d open up the app, grin, chuckle, and give a halfhearted, “That’s probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life”, and go back to scrolling my thumbs away until our food was served. I do not remember having a conversation with my friend that summer night, and could not tell you what we talked about or if we talked about anything at all. My night was consumed by blue light and viral videos. Now writing and reflecting on that moment, I pose the question, was that a real display of discourse in today’s age? Was what my friend and I did over the phone a real human interaction? What is a real conversation? I really have no clue, it’s hysterical. I believe the internet gives people a false sense of intelligence in many aspects. To clarify my point let me ask this question; “Who knows more about the ocean? The oceanographer who has studied at university for 4 years and has their bachelors, but has never stepped foot in the ocean, let alone a water source. Or, the boy who is swimming in the ocean and feels the wet sand between his toes, the cool water on his skin, and the Atlantic salt water taste in his mouth? There really is no correct answer. But, to relate back to my point earlier, you can’t 100 percent experience something through a computer, phone, and even a book. You just have to get out there and try it. Phones give the World to us but also strip it away at the same time. Nowadays, kids would rather watch someone on a tablet eat pasta, rather than going to an Italian restaurant and experiencing it themselves. To me, it’s mind boggling. Our phones give us so much, we tend to forget what it’s taking away. Obviously, with phones positives there’s inherent negatives. I made the remark how phones can be imagined as a World in your back pocket. Which I see to be a good thing. But, with something so readily available, its attention seeking capabilities are tremendous. I look around and see everyone’s phones always within earshot. And when it’s not, there’s a problem. If the chunk of glass and metal you carry around is not with you, you feel lost, out of the loop. But why? Why do people rely so heavily on something inanimate? Your phone doesn’t have the ability to give you a hug, it can’t make you laugh. The only thing it’s giving you is a sense of comfort. This is what I believe most people are addicted to. It’s not just the physical phones themselves, it’s the temporary, minute, feelings like happiness our phones give us. That’s what people are really addicted to. This short fix of dopamine can be addicting. This is why people can scroll on their favorite app for house on end without getting bored. Though I try to see both sides of the argument. I do believe there’s more good than bad technology can give us. Humans are naturally negative creatures. We focus on the negative most of the time. So, it’s easy to see disturbing trends in relation to technology. But, these apps like Instagram and Tik Tok are overshadowing the bright side to our phones. Specifically, how we use them. For instance, I use my phone to catalyze my work process in school. I could go on for a long time but I hope you can understand the point. My “point” is we as a society undervalue and misuse our technologies. We are, in some cases, using them for the wrong reasons. Instead of relying on previous knowledge, critical thinking, and problem solving to extract an answer from a question, we’d rather plug the question into a search engine and let that do all the thinking for us. When you do this, it’s a disservice to yourself. I mean, to use a phone you have to turn it on. You are making the decisions on how you want to use your technologies. Phones are man made devices, so I wonder if our societal social constructs have translated to our digital world? In a way, yes, they have. I don’t flood my Instagram account with my favorite music artist, or what I have for breakfast, because you just don’t, it’s not normal. I overheard a girl one time talking about her followers to following ratio on Instagram. She was ridiculing someone she knew for following more people that follow her.
Overtime advancements in technology have allowed many individuals, including me, to get more involved in the world. However, due to the heavy influence of the internet it encouraged me to be more dependent on it for everything. As a young adult in this generation today, I was introduced to technology at a young age. Growing, learning, and adapting to technology has played a part in shaping me and possibly has affected certain skills I have. Technology plays a role when it comes to learning as different platforms make for an efficient flow of information from the device to my brain and is a source to provide correction especially in terms of writing. While this efficient source technology imposes on me, it very well takes away my mind power to deeply engage in other resources, which threatens my ability to think and build my cognitive process. In an effort to learn to my highest potential, using technology can support me by presenting itself as a timesaving tool to rely on, but takes away the chance to strengthen my skills of deep thinking and effectively communicating.
Technology has served as a helpful tool in regard to the various programs that I can easily turn to. With AI platforms such as Google, grammar check, and Chat GPT they all appear as advantages when it comes to developing ideas on questions, I need answers to. With these resources it provides me many solutions and results in an instant, which sets me up for what information to possibly apply in my own work. These online programs have saved me so much time from reading through books and struggling to come up with concepts independently. Personally, as someone who doesn’t like to read, the internet has been a lifesaver as I can simply input a question and it is presented to me in seconds without requiring me to thoroughly read through a piece of text. With a type of tool like grammar check, it allows me to recognize my spelling mistakes and therefore I’m able to learn how to correctly spell that word. For instance, I frequently use Google Docs and the spelling and grammar check that’s embedded into this platform. When a word is underlined, I am able to quickly alter my original misspelled word to the recommended word with a click of a button. Not only does spell check provide a fast way to enhance my writing by editing my grammar, but it can teach me how to spell and thus can apply the correct spelling of that word in the future. Accessing the internet through AI has given me fast results to help form a constructive piece of work that is appropriately spelled, while also providing me with information for answers I may be seeking in an efficient manner.
Although, with the existence of AI it also caused me to rely on that instead of using my own knowledge or seeking help from others, which has weakened my human skills. With this being said, since I can find answers by just searching, it takes away from me challenging my brain to develop and solve the answers myself. Rather than testing my own knowledge of trying to solve the answer based on previous information that I have retained, I don’t care to take the time to figure it out on my own. This results in me turning to the internet to do the work and provide the answer for me. Ultimately, I do not feel like dedicating a fair amount of time trying to develop an answer by critically thinking of what the answer may be but choose the quicker and lazier alternative of the internet. AI technology also eats away from referring to resources that I have readily available such as classmates or teachers, in which they could provide suggestions or a better understanding to lead me in the right direction. In circumstances where I struggle to find the answer to a question, I could ask others for help, and they may even insight me with the exact information that connects to my specific question. Although I have become more dependent on technology as it is an easier strategy to gather ideas of what I’m searching for. This is due to the fact that I have my device right at hand and can look up my question and be presented with the answer immediately, which requires less effort than having to actually approach another individual and verbally ask and have a conversation with them. Not engaging in physical communication with others has played a role in my ability to socially interact with others. I think as I fall back on technology for information, I have developed a more reserved and introverted personality. By becoming so comfortable with turning to the internet for help, it has caused me to develop a social barrier that prevents me from being able to talk to people effortlessly. Therefore, technology has hindered my willingness to approach others as I have almost developed a level of social anxiety. My use of AI, since I can simply find answers or suggestions online has lessened my cognitive abilities and contributes to my social challenges as well.
Being introduced to AI technology has affected me for both good and bad overall. On the bright side online platforms have served as a helpful learning tool through its efficient system that comes without the hassle of actually brainstorming ideas and presents the correct terminology to use. Whereas, technology has also negatively affected my skills involving putting my cognitive ability to the test and engaging in face-to-face communication. My constant use of AI has damaged these personal skills that can be very valuable to my life. Applying my cognitive process is crucial for performing various tasks and solving problems and conversation with others is an important humanistic skill to have as we rely on it to further understand each other and interactive tasks we are faced with. If I am susceptible to the consequences of technology as it damages some skills I hold, many others who use technology may be equally subject to this kind of experience too.
Cote Briggs
ENG-110: English Composition
Professor Miller
April 2nd, 2024
Technology Isn’t All Fun & Games: Here’s Why
As we enter the new age of the Anthropocene, it is not far off to assume that most people are fully entrenched in the digital world. After all, the internet serves as a harmonious melody of intelligence, entertainment, and sociability: all available at the fingertips of the modern era. With all the potential for the advancement of the digital realm, it would be foolish not to capitalize upon this, right? I, myself, admit to an adherent relationship with tech. For much of my life, nestled within the deep pines of rural Maine’s forests, technology and social media played a substantial role in my pastimes. While I truly enjoyed the nature which encapsulated my hometown, there was not much communion for young folk. This held quite firmly throughout the remainder of my childhood, (to further attest to this fact, my graduating class embodied a total of 26 students), and while most of my small-town contemporaries focused on their niche cliques and social scenes, I found my solace online. Ultimately, it is quite easy to enter yourself into the digital realm, especially if the odds of reality do not prove very favorable. Such behavior– while technology may be seen as detrimental—allows us to focus and expand on other essential life skills.
With much transparency, my writing and comprehension would embody that of much austerity: assuming I hadn’t held any access to the online realm. Technology has enabled me to launch myself head-on into my studies, expanding as well as elevating the scope of my small-town education. It allowed me to pursue other opportunities, such as my dual-enrollment classes, my Medical Assistance internship, and to graduate in the top percentile of my class. Without the plethora of knowledge the internet provides, I wouldn’t have been able to sufficiently fuel my brain with the resources necessary to carry out these educational goals of mine. This is especially true, as my parents both have strenuous responsibilities of their own. In a way, the internet has served me—and continues to serve—as my intellectual partner as I explore its vast plethora of knowledge. As this knowledge is stored in the library between the Web’s networks, they also provide a convenient and organized method of recollecting such knowledge by name. If you want to investigate “Transcriptional Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Budding Yeast)”, for example, it is not going to involve search results for migratory fish.
Not only does technology offer easier organization, but this also offers a way to be much more time efficient. For reference, opposed to flipping through the dictionary for a specific term or referring to a scholarly article, I can search up the desired word or text within seconds. This significantly adds to the effectiveness of my personal projects, overall increasing the efficacy of my composition. I can also organize and manage my time with online tools with services such as Google Calendars or Calendly to keep track of classes or schedule appointments, respectively. Lastly, utilizing interactive tech such as an iPad and Apple pencil to jot down and take notes increases the ability to organize and compose my notes all in one folder, without having to deal with jamming multiple papers in an organizer or needing to acquire another notebook on top of the one I already have. I’m able to expand my functionality, such as communicating with colleagues or emailing my professors while still maintaining the organizational structure I desire.
With much contentment, the web and social media also allowed me to communicate with like-minded individuals. As someone who is not very interested in traditionalized hobbies, such as sports, it was quite hard to make meaningful connections with those in my geographical radius. Even more so many of my peers had different views and beliefs than me—and I found it very hard to relate to people with such morals. Since many of the opportunities that are now offered in our world are mainly advertised through social media and the web, I was able to explore through social media platforms and supplementary academic programs advertised online, such as the Dirigo All-State Program for State Legislature. From this week-long program at Thomas College, I was able to connect with those with like-minded goals and aspirations. Those who had shared my sense of humor. I’ve also been able to gain my own friends throughout the web over the years, typically through online games or forum discussions. To this day, I still have plenty of engaging conversations through the web with both in person and online contacts.
While the internet and technology has allowed me to blossom in many more ways, I also can acknowledge the double-edged sword, so to speak, of this situation. As I began my collegiate pursuit, I found myself at first to be quite timid in real-world encounters. I initially wasn’t much of a conversation starter, and hoped others would approach me instead. This could have, however, been to the effect that I was just getting used to the collegiate experience—and that communication at a postsecondary institution was quite intimidating. However, I began to recognize the fault in this. If I wanted to make friends, much like I did before, I needed to attest to the same contentment as I had once before.
Now, with being in college and learning to give credence to myself, I can confidently state that I have an abundance of in person friends. I’ve been able to allow myself to branch and spread out—but this wasn’t always the case. In times of social isolation, technology had thrown me a lifeline for a very long time, granting me a level of contentment I would not have been able to uphold otherwise. I was also able to work on myself to a high caliber, craving a need for a heightened education and a sense of self-organization that would not have been otherwise imposed. Ultimately, the web serves as an integral part of our world; while it is important not to abuse this tool, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t embrace what it has to offer. With respect to oneself, the digital world serves as a favorable tool for both scholastic achievement and impactful discussion.
Jack Thurmond
ENG 110
Jessie Miller
Apr 3, 2024
JOURNAL # 1
My relationship with technology is complicated. Being a college student technology is extremely beneficial, however, it also has its downsides. I believe that there are many positives about technology, however, it also has negative effects on my day-to-day lifestyle. I use technology so often in my day-to-day life, whether it’s using a computer to take notes, playing Xbox, texting, or my roommates are watching TV in my dorm room, I spend most of my day with it. When a teacher asks us to take notes in class It is like second nature to me to pull out my computer. This has been normalized to me by my countless years of technology use. I am so comfortable with it that I find myself relying on it. While it obviously makes my life easier I wonder if that equals better. With technology being so prominent there are bound to be many pros and cons with it. While I don’t attempt to play down all that technology does, I do want to shed light on its negative elements that I feel are barely mentioned.
There are pros to technology as a college student such as easy access to resources. All my assignments and syllabi are posted online allowing easy access to due dates and assignments. I also have unlimited resources online such as YouTube videos explaining a math problem or a PDF on environmental issues. I am also able to contact my teacher by email at any time if I have a specific question about an assignment. Also being at college and away from home, technology gives me almost unlimited access to friends and family no matter the distance. I’m able to endlessly talk to my parents on the phone and play video games with my high school friends who are currently in Spain and Hawaii for college. As a college athlete, there are many additional benefits that I gain with technology. All our games are recorded so I am able to rewatch them as many times as I want and can go over plays from the game to help myself become a better player. Our games are also live streamed so friends and family that are far away are still able to watch my games. I can also use this to watch friends of mine who are playing soccer at other schools, which helps us stay connected. There is also new technology with recovery. After hard practice, I am able to go to the trainer’s room and use new technology such as normatec. This is a device you use on your legs where with a screen you control the level of power that you would like and the time limit. This has been able to help athletes recover quicker than ever. I am also able to use GPS tracking devices in games. This technology is able to track speed and distance, provide a heat map, and give you other helpful statistics you can then use to analyze to improve your game. This is technology like we have never seen before and it gives me that chance to push myself as an athlete and push my body more than I previously could. This is definitely one of the parts of technology that I really appreciate and do not take for granted. On away games due to the technology of my computer and WIFI, I am able to complete homework assignments on the way to and from games. Being a student-athlete you have to manage your time really well so this technology is very helpful. Without it, I would have whole days where I wouldn’t be able to complete school work or study and I would inevitably struggle or fall behind. For personal enjoyment, I can also use technology to watch videos, and sporting events (specifically soccer games) online as well as play video games. I am also able to make group Facetime calls with multiple of my friends, all in different states. We can stay on these calls for an unlimited amount of time and this technology allows us to stay connected. Without technology almost if not all of these positives would be unable to happen or at far less frequency. All of these aspects appear positive and you might be wondering How I could possibly have issues with something this helpful. However, even with these positives, there are still negatives that can go unnoticed by the majority of people. Once we begin recognizing these problems. With so many positives it is easy to get engulfed in technology and that is where the issue begins.
I would agree there are a few negatives when discussing technology. When I thought deeper into how technology plays a role in my daily life, I realized like most people my age a negative of technology is my addiction to it. It is the number one source of distraction in my life. I can think of countless times when I have sat down to do a homework assignment and ended up watching tik toks, film and spent more time than needed to complete an assignment. I also find myself constantly reaching for my phone to check Snapchat or Instagram notifications. When my phone isn’t in my pocket I still find myself reaching for it. I have mini panic attacks before remembering it’s on my desk charging. As funny as this sounds, this is a real problem. Overattchment to our technology leaves us addicted to it. Without it, we would have trouble functioning. To me, this is when I realized how much of a chokehold technology has.
In conclusion, technology has been beneficial to my everyday life and school work is easier as well as more accessible. However, technology also has cons. People of all ages are becoming addicted to technology, specifically phones which can interfere with daily activities. I do feel in some aspects this negatively affects parts of my life. However, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives and technology is definitely something I appreciate and greatly value in my life.
Journal 20: Revised Technology Essay
Liv Arvidson
4/5/24
I have a strong relationship with technology. My age is one of the last groups of kids to grow up without being surrounded by the vast amount of technology we have today. I got my first iPad when I was 12, with strict limitations on the screen time. I got my phone in middle school, and honestly, most of the time it was used for games and music until I was allowed to have social media, which was years after getting the phone. My childhood was not consumed with screens like the kids today. I played outside whenever I could with my neighbors. I rode my bike, went sledding, played in the playgrounds. For most of my childhood, the only technology my siblings and I were allowed access to was the TV and the Wii, under the discretion of my parents. I remember my parents’ strict rules on how long we were allowed to be on a screen. From what I see today, rules like those hardly exist. I see kids at restaurants and other public settings who will only “behave” when on a screen. I have a cousin who is 8 years old, and he cannot go very long without his tablet, because his parents have always allowed him to have it whenever he wanted. Now, when they say no, he throws tantrums and acts out because he does not know life without it. I know that everyone today has come to rely on so much technology. A certain amount is fine, but being unable to socialize or do anything without a screen in hand is absurd.
Today, nearly all college students have a laptop and/or iPad to do work on, because sometimes it is required. It certainly is more convenient, and I appreciate being able to use my laptop and iPad, but I believe that people need to regulate how long they spend on them or else they will be doing themselves a disservice toward their social learning. Growing up attached to screens is being proven by the kids today in schools to be detrimental to their learning. Many kids entering the schooling system do not know how to properly socialize with their peers. What will happen when these kids grow up and get to college, or their jobs afterward? How different will the workforce look when those kids grow up to be adults that can barely work with other human beings? I feel that enough is enough. I grew up in the perfect time when it came to electronics. Kids my age did not grow up with screens shoved in our faces, because they had not come out yet. We did not get phones as 7-year-olds, but often in middle- or high school. However, we also had enough exposure growing up that we know how to work the technology that we need to live in this world today. We are in the neutral zone; we have not had too much exposure like the younger kids, but we had enough that we are not clueless now.
Technology is certainly an asset. However, it seems that many people today unwittingly abuse it. We rely on technology in just about everything. Should something happen to our electricity for an extended period, many people would not know what to do or be able to go about their daily lives without it. I am not saying that we should start to learn to live without it, I am saying that we should not always rely only on technology. There are things that we can do without electricity or current technology, especially small things. Hand knead your bread instead of using a mixer. Use a wood stove instead of a propane one. Write on paper instead of electronics. I believe that we use technology as a crutch, and some people are consumed with it. You can have many excuses when without today’s technology. Say you do not have access to certain tools, but people before you, not that long ago, did these jobs without the current technological advances. There are traditional ways to go about things, ways that have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, and many are practices that should not go out of style.
The obsession with screens has increased drastically in the past few years. It certainly is not healthy. When I was growing up and handheld screens were first becoming popular, my parents had a 2-hour rule on all electronics. Absolutely no more than 2 hours on electronics for the day, including the TV. I now understand the science behind why it is detrimental to learning if kids have their faces stuck to a screen all day every day. I know that it majorly disrupts sleep if you use blue light (light that screens give off) too close to bed. I know that kids who have always played on iPads and not gone outside to the playground or run around the neighborhood have now entered school and do not know how to interact with their peers. In the long run, this is going to change the future of adulting. How will these kids grow up to interact with employees, their chain of command, or other civilians? We have not yet seen the true impact of having a childhood filled with screens, but in a few years we will. I know that kids just a few years younger than me are the ones who have never known life without a screen. I am in college, and once I am done, I will find a job and start truly living my life as a functioning adult. A few years after me, the screen kids will be let loose into the world. We do not know how different society will look then. Will communications between states and countries get worse because people will not know how to hold an adult conversation? Will they not want to work because they were always given a screen instead of being taught important lessons as children? Fast-growing and far-reaching technology will change humanity even more in the coming years, hopefully for the better.
I hope for all our sakes that it gets better than this and not worse. I already know some people that are around my age or a few years older, who swear that their children will not be raised the way the kids are right now. I hope that is the truth, because we were the last ones to not have screens for our early childhood. I must believe that at the very least, the adults my age, when they have children, will be able to put kids back on the right path of not being absorbed with technology and be competent human beings when they grow up.
Carolyn Jones
ENG 110
Professor Miller
April 2, 2024
In today’s world, the role of technology in education is a topic of discussion. Is technology actually helpful in today’s world for students? Technology has a significant impact on students’ lives today, providing them with various advantages such as educational resources, communication tools, collaboration platforms, and access to a vast pool of information. However, like any tool, its effectiveness depends on how it’s used. How often are children on any type of electronic? It’s common for children to spend a significant amount of time on electronic devices, but many individuals claim to have no relationship with technology. In today’s digital era, electronics have become an integral part of children’s and students’ lives. From personal computers and gaming consoles to smartphones and tablets, these gadgets offer a plethora of opportunities to explore and learn. However, the frequency and duration of electronic usage can vary significantly depending on several factors. For instance, age is a crucial determinant of electronic usage, as younger children tend to spend more time on devices than older children. Similarly, technological access, parental guidance, and personal interests also shape the way children use and interact with electronics. Therefore, it is important to strike a balance between electronic usage and other activities to ensure the overall well-being and healthy development of children and students. I believe most people say that they don’t have any type of relationship with technology but that’s not true. Everyone has their own but very different relationship with all sorts of technology but they just don’t want to admit it. Technology as a whole can be restricting to society for many reasons. One reason is that when you go searching for one thing you find yourself going down many different rabbit holes of the same yet different information. Technology can suck you right in also by just tempting you every day all day long. Technology is like a forest, once you’re in everything is the same all around and you can easily get lost.
While some argue that technology can be limiting due to distractions and information overload, it’s essential to understand that with responsible and moderate use, technology can enhance productivity and learning experiences. For example, online educational resources, interactive learning apps, and digital tools can offer personalized learning experiences tailored to individual needs and preferences. As we continue to see advancements in AI technology that are intended to assist students, it’s worth considering whether or not these tools are benefiting students by simply providing an easy way out or “just getting the work done” without actually doing the work with effort. Students must develop their critical thinking skills and writing abilities, rather than constantly using technology to do the work for them. They are not benefiting from their education or writing skills if they rely on technology for everything. Students and children who all use any type of technology are most likely diminishing their critical thinking skills. While AI can certainly be helpful, it can also lead to frustrations. One frustration is if the student using AI is asking a certain question they must be as specific as they can and then would still have to make an effort to obtain a good enough answer.
On the other hand, the ease of having digital technology is that everything is at our fingertips and always in reach at any moment in time. I feel that writing is always a struggle but using technology or even AI is even more challenging. The most beneficial way of using technology is when communicating yet, it is still challenging. Having a conversation with anyone through technology or even face to face but with any technology in the room can be a struggle. Communication through technology can also be challenging, as it can disconnect us from the people we’re speaking with. To have a productive conversation, it’s important to give and receive undivided attention, and to participate actively in the conversation. Having technology around all the time can be very disconnecting because you can be “listening” to someone yet still not hear and not comprehend what they said. To be in or have a conversation there are numerous important factors. One is giving and receiving undivided attention from the person or people you are talking to. Another is participating in the conversation that is being held. A conversation is not only talking but also listening to others in the group.
Technology can also aid communication and collaboration between students and teachers, enabling remote learning, virtual classrooms, and connections that cross national boundaries. To reduce potential negative effects such as excessive screen time, cyberbullying, and misinformation, fostering digital literacy and appropriate usage is crucial. Educators must teach children how to assess material critically, manage their digital footprint, and strike a balance between online and offline activities. From my personal experience, I’ve noticed that some individuals rely too heavily on technology to enhance their writing instead of using their own words and seem to be lacking the skills they need in the future. I will never deny that I use technology a lot but I will also say with complete confidence and certainty that I despise technology. Writing has always been a challenging topic throughout my academic journey. While I do utilize technology frequently, I have a dislike for writing and reading. I believe that I am challenged in writing and can never find the words to say in essays of any type. Same with conversations in school. During school, I was the student who preferred to observe rather than actively participate in conversations or group work. I’m uncertain if this correlates to my difficulties in learning and comprehending various materials during lectures. I am not sure if that has any correlation to having trouble learning or comprehending different materials throughout the lectures. However, I do know that when I’m genuinely interested in a topic, I find it easier to absorb and teach the information to others. Despite this, I still struggle with initiating my writing process and tend to overthink how to start any essay. As an example, the essay I submitted with my college applications was a piece I wrote in high school about forgiveness because I could not think of a strong essay to write from the prompts provided for a college essay.
Finley Morrison
Eng 110
Professor Miller
04/02/2024
Draft 3
The internet is an incredibly vast and interesting place. It is essentially its own galaxy with millions of rest stops when traveling between “planets” we call websites.. Technology is now at the tip of everyone’s finger, becoming an essential part of life as we know it. You can’t get a job without a phone number for a call back. You can’t contact your professor without a computer and an email. While a lot of these practices have become normalized luxuries, I believe that there has also been a great deal of harm towards society as a whole, just as much as there has been “good,” despite how fine that line may be on occasions. The world wide web is a place you go to be whisked elsewhere; this feat can be used for bliss or danger depending on where you allow yourself to go.
A prime example of being swept to dangerous territory can be found in the disservice that the next generation is currently experiencing. My niece, who just turned four back in January of 2024, is what’s known as an “iPad kid.” She gets cranky when she doesn’t have her tablet to watch mindless videos or play non educational games no matter what the time of day is. It takes her minutes to return to reality once she’s done playing with her technology. It’s incredibly disheartening for her to finally recognize me after disconnecting from her tablet; this child genuinely appears to be waking up from a coma after watching nothing but brain-rot inducing videos on her iPad. The warm and fuzzy feeling of her wanting to be around me is shackled to her device. I’m now often left thinking about how a device made my existence a fleeting memory for her, and how could I compete? The internet takes my little niece’s mind to places that not even I have explored, and while that doesn’t necessarily have to equate to danger, she’s floating somewhere that erases her connection to reality.
Not only children fall victim to the harsh jungle they find themselves in, people of all ages can find the short end of the stick. For example, while I want to believe in the integrity of my fellow classmates, I also tend to fear the use of technology when it comes to our future field workers. With how easy it is to connect at quite literally any given time, there has to be an additional stress on academic integrity in regards to cheating. I am fearful of the doctor that my nieces and nephews may go to in the future knowing their doctor might have used ChatGPT to write their essays, or they had their phone under their thigh during their exams. The internet has led these people along a dark road of skewed morals, leaving no one unscathed. The effects of this can be seen as shown in the example above. Not just in the medical field, but in other areas of work as well, such as liberal art jobs affected by AI. A close friend of mine has been struggling with motivation to continue his art degree because of the backlash he receives, comparing his soulful works to lifeless drawings thrown together based on a sentence or two.
In the spider web that is the net it’s easy to get lost or distracted. One of my professors once asked me what was the point of going to class if you have all the answers at your fingertips? Why go to college when you could teach yourself anything you wanted to know about biology on your own, apart from the degree? A lot of it boils down to the humanity aspect of it all. Humans are not supposed to isolate themselves; we as homosapiens crave the presence of others. To be present is to be alive. I could very well teach myself how to write a better essay or how to do calculus problems, but the motivation would not be there. Any site that you stumble upon will be filled with advertisements and redirections, not to mention the mass amount of misinformation that needs to be weaved through. Being in the classroom and using technology as a tool rather than a teacher is what will truly further education. I have a strong aversion towards assignments, specifically in the STEM field, that boil down to “read the chapter” because that doesn’t help me learn. As Jesse Miller, an English professor at UNE, has stated on multiple occasions you have to be present to grow and to actually learn. Technology cannot force us to be present, matter of fact I have seen it do the opposite and create mindless husks of friends and family, before being snapped back into reality.
As much as technology has damaged the ability to communicate face-to-face, it has also opened up worlds that would otherwise remain as a deep and undiscovered ocean. Knowledge is very easily accessible and has opened my eyes to so many new experiences and has allowed me to develop a much stronger sense of empathy for others. For example, if not for the internet I would have no idea about the genocide that’s happening right now in Palestine. I would be incredibly uneducated on the state of America and a lot of history in general. I pride myself on being knowledgeable in areas that support my views because it’s important to be able to back up your opinions with facts. To understand is to learn and grow. Technology has also allowed conversation to keep happening despite distance. My partner and I can still have meaningful conversations because of how easy it is to get in contact with them. One of my closest friends and I have been friends for over four years because of the internet. The chances that I would have met her otherwise were very slim, despite living a mere few hours apart. While connections can often suffer because of the screens, they can also bloom.
Ultimately, no matter how you view it, technology has the ability to be whatever you want it to be and take you wherever you desire to go. How you use the internet is how it will reflect your views on it. You can be stuck in an echochamber, leading to isolation and loneliness, or you can find yourself in a whirlpool of information, or even a lobby in a video game where you’re meant to come together to solve a goal. Not every website visited has to or should be burned down, it’s man’s own obligation to make sure that he’s properly equipped to navigate safely around the flames. A conversation is between two or more people sharing thoughts or ideas with one another; technology has simultaneously given the ability to enhance conversation and shut it down completely, a feat that nothing really bears resemblance to.
Hailey Cloutier
Prof. Miller
ENG 110: English Composition
4/4/24
The Balancing Act: The Good, Bad, and Problem Solving
Growing up, technology has been an ever-evolving vital component in my life. Whether it was from learning applications such as a leapfrog or even a TV, the technology had always been there. Growing up surrounded by an ever-evolving tool, you grow accustomed to the idiosyncrasies that may come with it. If the screen is too fragile, get a screen protector, if you drop it too often, get it a case, the battery isn’t what it used to be, oh it’s time to get a new one. Even with the rough edges technology has, technology has been part of my life from the beginning and it has become something that my generation depends upon. I believe that while technology does so much good, there are still struggles with technology and the internet being a breeding ground of hate; and that to stop the issues from growing there should be rules and regulations in place to counteract the problems.
In work, school, or just our day-to-day lives, technology and the internet were made to make lives easier; and to meet our needs, wants, and desires. The healthcare industry has grown in great strides. We now have technology that can do CPR for emergency responders so they can decrease responder flaws. Some suits have been created to scan the biomechanics of a person who has a physical injury, and physical therapists can use them to help their patients with the healing process. Transportation is becoming more accessible and prevalent, making trips out of the house or apartment easier. In the city, there are so many different forms of transportation you can pick from, making accessibility that much easier. You can choose to take the subway, a bus, a trolley, a cab, or a taxi, you can Uber, ride a scooter or motorcycle, and even bike. Roadways and transportation are allowing people to have more access from greater distances to get all the necessities they may need. Even communication increase has also made great strides. You can talk, text, email, and FaceTime other people all over the world at just a few taps of a button. With the communication increase, Telehealth has become much more prevalent where patients can just send in questions to their providers asking about something that they find concerning, all from their own homes. Patients can schedule appointments, call their doctors or nurses, and even schedule online appointments so they don’t even need to go into the office at all. Not to mention communication in the hospitals itself. Instead of the blaring alarms that used to happen all around, now almost every TV, computer, nurse call, and hospital phone is equipped with a banner system where that broadcasts emergency messages to all the staff. Today we can see healthcare services have all increased, transportation has become easier and more accessible, and communication is at people’s very fingertips. Technology has made the world seem so small and yet vastly giant.
With technology evolving it has brought up many moral and ethical issues within communities. The dependency on the Internet in schools has become quite an issue not because of the quick and easy-to-find information but because of the many different ways people can falsify information. The topic of AI is becoming more well-known and more dangerous as time goes on. Kids in schools can use AI’s like ChatGPT or Photomath to falsify homework or essays. Schools have started to implement technology to scan the work of their students to know if any sort of AI is being used to do the student’s work for them. The implementation of this scanner has been decreasing the amount of AI use, but it is still common enough for teacher worries. What’s more frightening isn’t the fact of small things like ChatGPT or Photomath but voice scanning or facial recognition AI. People have found ways to copy the voices of others’ family members using AI just to create scams. Families can get calls from these scammers making it sound like their family member is in dire need of help, and thus money, so families will send money to them to help, but it goes directly to the scammers. People are becoming so dependent on the internet and the easy lives it can give them, that they aren’t seeing the major problems this can cause.
Thinking has almost become stagnant, there is no deep, in-depth thinking. Everything we could ever need is just a Google search away. There is no need to truly learn anything when you can get an answer in a shorter time googling it than going to a library and researching it. It has almost become unheard of to go past the first answer page in Google; people just click the first link skim and then find their answer. People don’t have to depend on their knowledge or schooling anymore when they can get the answer in under five minutes of googling. The fast information-giving programs are creating a gap in information processing, where the brain can’t handle too much information at once and it just shuts down. No longer can people read textbooks thoroughly, now we see skimming for easy information without a clear understanding of the topic.
Social media has also become very prevalent and easy to access making socializing easy, but it is making people disconnected from reality. People use social media to hide behind false personas where nobody would be the wiser. You can pretend to be a completely different person than you are, and disconnect yourself from the real world, to be different. Catfishing has become a problem with children and teens where they think they may be talking to another person of their age but it turns out to be a pedophile. This is truly frightening when it comes to thinking about our children and the possible life-scarring things they can find. Not only that but Cyberbullying has been skyrocketing due to social media, and it has created a lot of anxiety for many people. People can hide behind the wall the internet gives them to be able to bully and emotionally scar peers just to get a laugh. Children have to be taught in schools the appropriate behaviors of the internet, and the potential dangers of it, and yet the problems still arise.
Technology and the internet are forever going to be a staple in my life and future lives, but I think that there needs to be some form of regulation or restriction for it so we don’t ruin something that has helped so many lives. People shouldn’t be in fear of what the internet and technology have to offer. We as a people need to step up and fight for the proper regulations surrounding technology to make the internet a safe space for all.
Elizabeth Gagnon
Professor Jesse Miller
English Composition
5 April 2024
Journal #20
Humanity’s relationship with technology may be more toxic than we are aware of. Our imagination used to run wild before the straitjacket known as technology came and interrupted it. But technology is designed to invite people in, the user-friendly aspect compels people to use whatever is being advertised. However, our emotional state is also being affected by how invested we are in our phones. Technology does provide many helpful aspects, such as in education and keeping families connected, but it also has its negative implications on society. Some of these negative implications result in loss of social skills, attention span, and thinking capabilities. Technology is not all good or all bad, it is a complex combination.
In our education, newer technology, like computers, have allowed our method of doing assignments to change. Writing essays or long assignments is easier with technology because it is less painful to type than handwrite. I also feel like I can keep up with my thoughts better while typing. My fingers can move fast enough to capture all my thoughts on paper, whereas if I was handwriting it, I would not be able to write quickly enough. Technology also helps with word choice and vocabulary by making a dictionary and thesaurus readily available. Having these resources quickly is beneficial in our education and makes doing assignments more efficient.
Our ability to talk to one another, a key social skill, is being hindered by our obsession with technology. A conversation to me is the exchange of thoughts between two beings. Two things that can think on their own and communicate those ideas to each other are what make a conversation. I would consider animals other than humans as able to converse. Just because we do not understand what is being shared does not mean they are not communicating. Animals act based on their interactions with each other, just as humans do with conversations. As a child, I had grown up with coloring books at restaurants to keep me occupied instead of a screen in front of my face. I learned how to truly converse and communicate with the people around me. Technology creates a bubble around you, isolating you from the outside world. Kids that grow up with an iPad in their hand are losing their people skills. I have seen that they cannot effectively convey their feelings, remediate conflicts with words, or hold a conversation with others.
Now as an adult, I do have an iPhone, MacBook, and iPod. All three are part of my everyday life. Technology is a tool for me in my education and in my personal life. Coming to college, the hardest thing for me was being away from my family. I didn’t want to miss out on their everyday lives or miss any important development moments for my sisters. One way I feel more connected to them is through technology. It doesn’t matter how far away I am from my family; I can still talk to them. Being able to text and facetime my family makes me feel connected to them and has made the homesickness easier. Social media is also a way I can stay connected to my family. My mom posts updates about my sisters that make me feel like I still know what is going on in their lives.
Technology keeps people connected but it also keeps people in their own world. People are so sucked into their games and social media that they no longer experience what is around them. I personally have experienced trying to converse with someone but losing the attention battle between their phones. The number of times I have had to repeat myself, solely on the fact that they were distracted by technology is astounding. At home, my mom shuts off the TV before telling my sisters to do something. She knows that it is a losing battle trying to rip their attention away from the screen. There have been times where she does try to communicate with the TV on but ends up yelling by the third go around. Then my sisters are angered and asking why my mother always has to yell. She did not start out yelling, she had to to get their attention.
A negative implication of our relationship with technology is our diminishing attention span. I feel that technology hinders one’s attention span and makes it harder to focus for long periods of time. Social media, such as TikTok, has normalized watching things in short intervals, making it harder to keep our attention on things that require time and energy. Another problem we face due to the amount of time we spend on our devices is losing the skill of critical thinking. The ability to look up the unknown on google at any given moment adds to this issue. Any question can be answered with little effort or thought put into it. The internet gives you one answer for a question whereas the mind can explore so many more options.
Sometimes, the distraction technology provides can be beneficial. Every morning when my mom got ready for work, she would wake me up and set me up in front of the TV with my chocolate milk. She would prepare for her day while I was occupied with cartoons. It made it easier for her to get everything ready when I was not in the mix. My ability to be distracted by technology helped my mom in the mornings when she was trying to get two people ready for the day.
I use technology every day. I do not think I would want to go back to a time where I did not. Technology makes things convenient and easy. I guess in a sense that has made me lazy. It is easier to look up the definition of a word than to take the time to sit down and think about what it could mean. I feel that every human being has a relationship with technology, we are all in a relationship with technology.
Everyone has a relationship with technology. Whether that be a healthy or toxic relationship is solely up to how people use it. We can allow ourselves to be consumed by the new and exciting aspects of technology or we can be aware of how it is changing us.
Matthew Dewhurst
Eng 110
Professor Miller
4/5/2024
Technology’s Effects on my Life
The use of digital technology is one of the most scrutinized, and debated matters in the current time. Its brilliance, and helpfulness in a work sense is undeniable; however, at times the positive factors of technology are outweighed by the distracting side of it that can take conversations away from us. Technology is vital for getting through my everyday activities. Nowadays, nearly all of my homework assignments are done through the internet. For many of my classes, I take notes on my computer. While at college, to communicate with family and friends, I do so through email on my computer, or texting and calling on my phone. If I have free time, I will watch a show, movie, or sports on my computer. Despite all of these positive aspects about it, technology is certainly detrimental in other ways. Technology certainly takes away the amount of in-person conversations that I have with my family and friends. A face-to-face interaction is certainly different, and better for our mental health than communicating through technology. Communicating in person makes us more empathetic, and relatable than doing so through calling or email. I could be sitting in a room with my friends, and we wouldn’t talk for over an hour because we are too engrossed in our phones or computers. In doing so, I believe it decreases the closeness of my friends and I. Having conversations with one another is the main way we become friendly and close to another person, it increases our empathy.
Throughout my years in school I have seen a general shift in the direction of using more digital technology for class. Over the last 10 years of classes, I have seen worksheets and taking notes in class be replaced by technology such as google classroom and brightspace. Handwriting notes was always the best way for me to retain information. Additionally, to study for a test I would always rewrite my notes by hand. However, today, I am much faster at typing than I am at handwriting. When I write in my notebook I fall behind the teacher’s lecture. Very quickly, at an educational level, many of the techniques that I used to succeed in class are being replaced due to digital technology. There is no denying the assistance that technology provides us with; it is efficient and easy to use, and there is nothing comparable to it. The internet is an example of something that helps me with my schoolwork. If I don’t understand how mitosis works in biology I can watch a video that explains it to me, and stops me from falling behind. Additionally, the internet helps in clarifying definitions of words, or looking for synonyms or antonyms of words to help my writing. Rightfully so, technology usage has skyrocketed in schools and classes; it has made the classes easier and faster flowing. There is no debate on the positive effects that technology has on an educational level.
Digital technology makes us socialize in different ways from conversing that ultimately are not as helpful as a conversation. Nowadays, a lot of socializing comes on social media, which is only possible due to technology. Other ways of communicating with others is through text, email, or a phone call, which obviously are only possible due to digital technology. All of these ways of talking to one another are not the same as face-to-face interactions. 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’s around me, deteriorated. The lack of face-to-face conversations had a toll on the way we talked to people after Covid 19. It’s possible that these conversations lost due to technology will affect the way we apply for a job, or talk to a friend. There is no doubt that I have lost a lot of conversations that I should be having at the hands of digital technology. Its great vastness of information causes distractions, which takes away from doing things that make humans what we are. The decreasing number of conversations we’re having can cause a chain reaction into a decreased level of empathy that we possess for one another. Our ability to communicate has defined us, and we are slowly losing that ability due to the brilliance of technology.
Digital technology is a distracting innovation that can make me less efficient and focused. For example, the great vastness of the technological world can cause me to procrastinate, and complete my work at a slower pace. The brilliance, and vast knowledge of digital technology is a double edged sword; when focused, it can make me more efficient and a better worker, however at certain times, it can make me less productive. Maybe this is more telling about me, and my inability to focus for a long period of time, rather than a fault of digital technology. Nonetheless, I know that there are many people around the world that have a similar relationship in regards to technology’s pros and cons when it comes to distractions. Despite digital technology’s positive aspects in respect to schoolwork, it has had a negative impact on my focus outside of the classroom.
There is no denying that technology has immense assistance for us in a working, and educational space. Its huge range of information allows us to always be able to learn new things. In an educational sense, it has made my life easier and more efficient. It can help me catch up in a class, when I don’t understand something, and it is pivotal in keeping pace with the class in terms of taking notes and studying. In a social sense, however, technology has had effects which are unhelpful, and may reap long lasting effects on me. Technology’s wide range of uses has taken away from talking to the people around me. In some ways it has negatively affected some of my relationships with friends and family. 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. Being too distracted by technology could have massive effects going forward in life that I haven’t realized yet. These lost conversations may negatively affect the way that I speak later on in life? One of the best places to learn and grow is through others, and by sharing experiences. A lack of doing this could cause stagnation, and an inability to grow and improve as people. If there was a way to use the helpful, efficient sides of technology, that aids me in school, while limiting the distracting sides of it that take away from conversations, and make me inefficient outside of the classroom, then that would be the perfect role of technology in my life.
Beckett Shanahan
4/2/24
The Problems of Technology
Just in the past 20 years, technology has taken over the world from having it write essays for us to seeing what it could look like in 30 years. People are even using technology to win and fight wars, we use it in our everyday lives, oftentimes influencing our decisions, and how we learn and present ourselves. Although a lot of good comes from technology, there are side effects that are not beneficial to our society. Many social skills are learned through conversations, like empathy and the ability to confront our problems with other people. Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT, writes an introduction to her book called “The Empathy Diaries” expressing some of her thoughts on how technology limits our potential for conversing and building relationships. She is the director of the initiative on Technology and is a professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology. Turkle believes that the overuse of technology affects our public speaking skills and ability to find a voice for ourselves. We use phones, tvs, computers and many forms of technology everyday, and while it is useful, slowly each day technology is changing the way we think and interact with people, and now more than ever we rely more on our phones and interactions through technology. I believe that technology has benefits, but lack of awareness and overuse of technology cloud our judgment and make it harmful.
Conversating is something we do everyday whether it is a small hello, or small talk. It is
important to understand how to listen, express your feelings, ideas, and to relate while empathizing with others, that is the only way to have a conversation. Turkle makes her ideas clear on this topic many times in the first few pages of the article, but on page 344 paragraph 2, she says “We hide from each other even as we’re constantly connected to each other… It is easy to compose, edit and improve as we revise.” What stood out to me the most in this quote is that last line. Oftentimes we find ourselves in situations deciding whether or not to email and text or meet up and talk to the person in real life, and we have all chosen email and text because it is faster and we do not want to see the other person or have to converse. I have made that decision. Turkle and I agree more times we will choose technology over face to face. This is because generations to come are losing the skills to hold a simple conversation and are just lazy. It is much easier to sit back and send a voice message or text out what you want to say. Not only do I think it is a lack of effort, and interest but sometimes people, myself included, may be scared. We, as humans, want to appear perfect to others and present the best versions of ourselves online. This is not how true and genuine conversation works, we are meant to be flawed and express ourselves as we think of ideas. Today, we have online dating apps, we have snapchat and instagram, we can easily access these peoples accounts, and get a hold and start forming a connection, but when the time comes to maybe meet them in person we cannot do it. We may have portrayed ourselves differently over the phone or the other person may picture and see someone different than how you are in person. You can choose your personality over the phone which many do, and when face to face, and in a discussion, they could totally lose that idea of who they are over the phone, which does not help you grow your skills to talk or to find a personality that allows you to socialize easily. When we all present the “best” versions of ourselves, we are editing and changing our true selves and doing a disservice to our ability to converse. Different perspectives and ideas challenge our peers and make it so new ideas and innovations are formed.
The idea of living a life over the phone and then meeting the other person can be a very big step for someone today and Turkle is very aware of this. Just on the first page she expresses
this on page 343 paragraph 1 by arguing “That while technology enables communication it also encourages a flight from conversation.” I agree with her and have been in this situation before where it was easy for me to leave the conflict. For it to be this easy and maybe to have no emotion when doing this, I think this is an example that Turkle references this idea when talking about loss of empathy and emotion. When talking over the phone and over text, we cannot see the person, we do not understand how they are reacting. This is an important step in forming relationships, and with call and text it is easy to misread and not understand what the other person is saying. By not exactly having that in real life connection, and not seeing emotion through these conversations over text it can be easy to leave the conversation with no empathy. Talking over the phone and text prevents us from showing and having empathy, making those relationships, and really understanding how to talk and have a conversation. Blocking and leaving people, and just talking over the phone, does not allow us to show and receive emotion from the other person in the conversation, it also does not allow us to express our ideas in the way we want.
One way to be good at conversing is practicing. To be patient, and to be emotional, and understand how to relate and share ideas you need to actually understand how to talk to a person and listen, and that only comes with talking to people face to face and interacting anyway but over text or facetime. Turkle understands this, as she writes “ Time in simulation gets children ready for more time in simulation. Time with people teaches children how to be in a
relationship”(Pg346, paragraph 3). After covid hit, I think some people that I knew before were a bit more shy, or had a bit more anxiety going back into public and that’s ok, but it does I think relate to this quote. I was stuck inside all the sophomores here with an ipad, computer, and phone. I had a small group of friends that I barely saw, and when we hung out we had nothing to talk about. All we did was work on our computers or our phones, we were stuck using our devices. And these younger generations are being raised with phones in front of them, and that is all they want to do on the phone or tv. This affects these kids for when the time comes tp publicly speak or introduce themselves on the first day of classes, they are going to have trouble, because the world they know and grew up with is on their screen.
Conversation is one of the most important and complex forms of communication in human connection. The dynamic exchange of concepts, sentiments, and ideas that strengthens a bond between people that go beyond language. This essay will examine the various dimensions of a conversation examining its purpose, constituent parts, and function in understanding and role in forming bonds. A nonverbal exchange between two or more people is the basic step of a discussion. It serves as a channel for people to communicate and share information with each other. Nonverbal clues such as facial expression, body language, and hand gestures are equal to being more important than spoken words. The sharing of ideas is one of the main goals of a conversation. People exchange ideas, viewpoints, and life experiences through dialogue, weaving a colorful tapestry of varied ideas. The process of sharing the ideas amongst each other can get you guys thinking and end up having a deep talk most people aren’t used to. Intellectual and personal development depend on this interchange of ideas since it exposes people to new ideas and disproves their preconceptions. In a diverse world, talks serve as a link between individuals from various origins, promoting empathy and understanding. Furthermore, talks are essential to the establishment and upkeep of partnerships. The dynamics of a relationship are greatly influenced by the quality of communication, whether in personal or professional situations. Sincere communication introduces intimacy, boosts the trust, and strengthens interpersonal bonds. Instead, a lack of communication or poor communication can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. Which is probably the hardest part because on one end there’s one person pleading to talk and then the other person doesn’t know how to communicate. Personally, having poor communication is way worse than having a lack of communication because having the lack of communication just results in the fact that you speak to the person once in a blue moon and poor communication means someone is talking to you trying to cooperate with you and you don’t know how to respond. Meaningful conversations also have 3 important elements: honest speech, active listening, and awareness of the surroundings. The most important element that’s the most talked about is active listening. It entails listening to the words as well as comprehending the feelings, intents, and subtleties that underlie them. Participants in a discussion must be totally present, involved, and open to the messages being shared in order for it to be successful. People show respect for other viewpoints and validate each other’s experiences by actively listening to each other. The essence of a conversation at its core, complex and dynamic exchange of ideas creates the web of human connection. It facilitates the celebration of diversity, the development of relationships, and the interchange of ideas. Developing the art of conversation becomes crucial as we negotiate the complexity of communication in both traditional and digital contexts in order to promote understanding, reconcile differences, and build a more compassionate and linked society. A conversation’s dynamics and nature are also influenced by the environment in which it takes place. Depending on the environment and the dynamics between the participants, conversations can be either informal or formal. While informal interactions among friends may be marked by spontaneity and familiarity, professional conversations may follow specific etiquette and rules. The conversation’s tone, vocabulary, and content are all shaped by the context, which also affects how people express themselves and understand what they hear. The environment of discussions has changed in the digital age due to technology. Social networking, instant messaging, and virtual communication platforms have increased the opportunities to engage with people outside of your actual location. With these technology advancements making communication easier, they also come with backfire. Not being able to withstand these issues, it is no denying that technology has transformed conversations and opened up new channels. Beyond the mere exchange of information, a discussion has deeper importance. It is a process for promoting collaboration, reaching agreements, and resolving conflicts. Giving citizens a platform to express their opinions, taking part in political discourse, and influence decision making. Talks foster critical thinking, curiosity, and knowledge sharing between students and teachers in the field of education. Concluding this, it’s very clear that we’re at the highest point of our issues of human interaction. Hopefully they can pass down the importance to the upbringing generation because it builds relationships, promotes understanding, and acts as a bridge to unite people. Developing strong communication skills from an early age might help adults resolve conflicts more calmly. Also they must know that at an early age because in school you do a lot of interactive group projects when you start so it’ll be magnificent if they all were able to talk amongst each other. Understanding the dynamics inherent in communication is real important. Meaningful discussions have parts when it goes beyond the words exchanged. These conversations can be crucial for molding our perspectives, enhancing the life experiences, and creating connections that go beyond linguistic boundaries. Promoting open-mindedness and tolerance toward different viewpoints creates an environment where everyone feels heard and they’re respected. Funding communication in education can mean funding a bright future where people will be more compassionate and united.
Me and technology have a very interesting relationship you can say the least. Since my time here on Earth I can say that technology has done a lot of good for me, but I can also say it can be a pain in the butt. You see, for me it all started when I was a little kid and my uncle would watch me when my parents went to work. He would always had the latest playstation system and all I can remember growing up is sitting on his sofa and playing Madden and WWE all day with him. Eventually I got hooked like a kid on candy and begged my parents to get me a system for my birthday. Sadly my parents didn’t get me a gaming system, but my uncle did. Ever since then my life has always been surrounded by technology. Luckily for me my parents always kept me in sports all my life, so I never wanted to be on my systems all day. Whether it was going to football or basketball practice, going to the gym with my trainer, or even going to a friend’s house, I was the kid who actually liked being outside. Now sadly I can’t speak for the people I’ve grown up with.
The common use of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices has come in an era of constant connectivity and the urge to find information in an instant . While technology has given us a much faster way to communicate with our peers and an unlimited access to knowledge, it has also led us to many common concerns about the attention spans of individuals. For me technology has personally helped me in ways you couldn’t imagine. From an educational standpoint technology has helped get work done at a faster rate, help me study for my upcoming exams, and even help me with information if I’m struggling with a certain topic. Besides school though I can say technology can be just as addicting as it can be useful. I could go on and on about how many times I have been on my phone for hours either scrolling through TikTok or me watching YouTube videos until I go to sleep. Rotting my brain into the screen as if I’m being hypnotized.
Technology has also helped our community with communication as well. With the internet at our fingertips, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources available instantaneously. Online learning platforms, educational websites, and digital libraries provide opportunities for continuous learning and skill development, democratizing access to education and empowering individuals to pursue their intellectual interests and aspirations. For me I am close with my family and if I was to not call my mother she would lose it. Allowing us to either message or call us has helped her know I’m safe. Not only that it allows to me to talk to my friends from back home when I miss them as well.
One of the most pressing issues is the pervasive nature of digital distractions and information overload. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and the allure of binge-watching can lead to decreased productivity, attention deficits, and even addiction-like behaviors, undermining our ability to focus, concentrate, and engage in deep, meaningful activities. Whenever I get a message notification or feel my phone vibrate I get an urge to look at who it’s from so fast. Not only that I know some people who own Apple Watches just so they can see the notification they got.
Reflecting on my own relationship with technology, I recognize its profound impact on my daily life, both positively and negatively. On one hand, technology enhances my productivity, creativity, and connectivity. I use digital tools and apps to organize my tasks, communicate with friends and colleagues, and pursue my hobbies and interests. Technology enables me to access a wealth of information, resources, and entertainment options, enriching my life in myriad ways. Could I be better at being on my phone, honestly yes but I can say I’m happy that I try to prioritize other things rather than just me only being on it.
In conclusion, technology has become an integral part of modern society, reshaping how we live, work, and relate to one another. Its transformative potential is undeniable, offering unprecedented opportunities for progress, innovation, and connectivity. However, we must also confront the challenges and complexities that accompany technological advancements, from digital distractions and information overload to privacy concerns and ethical dilemmas.
Me and technology have a very interesting relationship you can say the least. Since my time here on Earth I can say that technology has done a lot of good for me, but I can also say it can be a pain in the butt. You see, for me it all started when I was a little kid and my uncle would watch me when my parents went to work. He would always had the latest playstation system and all I can remember growing up is sitting on his sofa and playing Madden and WWE all day with him. Eventually I got hooked like a kid on candy and begged my parents to get me a system for my birthday. Sadly my parents didn’t get me a gaming system, but my uncle did. Ever since then my life has always been surrounded by technology. Luckily for me my parents always kept me in sports all my life, so I never wanted to be on my systems all day. Whether it was going to football or basketball practice, going to the gym with my trainer, or even going to a friend’s house, I was the kid who actually liked being outside. Now sadly I can’t speak for the people I’ve grown up with.
The common use of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices has come in an era of constant connectivity and the urge to find information in an instant . While technology has given us a much faster way to communicate with our peers and an unlimited access to knowledge, it has also led us to many common concerns about the attention spans of individuals. For me technology has personally helped me in ways you couldn’t imagine. From an educational standpoint technology has helped get work done at a faster rate, help me study for my upcoming exams, and even help me with information if I’m struggling with a certain topic. Besides school though I can say technology can be just as addicting as it can be useful. I could go on and on about how many times I have been on my phone for hours either scrolling through TikTok or me watching YouTube videos until I go to sleep. Rotting my brain into the screen as if I’m being hypnotized.
Technology has also helped our community with communication as well. With the internet at our fingertips, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources available instantaneously. Online learning platforms, educational websites, and digital libraries provide opportunities for continuous learning and skill development, democratizing access to education and empowering individuals to pursue their intellectual interests and aspirations. For me I am close with my family and if I was to not call my mother she would lose it. Allowing us to either message or call us has helped her know I’m safe. Not only that it allows to me to talk to my friends from back home when I miss them as well.
One of the most pressing issues is the pervasive nature of digital distractions and information overload. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and the allure of binge-watching can lead to decreased productivity, attention deficits, and even addiction-like behaviors, undermining our ability to focus, concentrate, and engage in deep, meaningful activities. Whenever I get a message notification or feel my phone vibrate I get an urge to look at who it’s from so fast. Not only that I know some people who own Apple Watches just so they can see the notification they got.
Reflecting on my own relationship with technology, I recognize its profound impact on my daily life, both positively and negatively. On one hand, technology enhances my productivity, creativity, and connectivity. I use digital tools and apps to organize my tasks, communicate with friends and colleagues, and pursue my hobbies and interests. Technology enables me to access a wealth of information, resources, and entertainment options, enriching my life in myriad ways. Could I be better at being on my phone, honestly yes but I can say I’m happy that I try to prioritize other things rather than just me only being on it.
In conclusion, technology has become an integral part of modern society, reshaping how we live, work, and relate to one another. Its transformative potential is undeniable, offering unprecedented opportunities for progress, innovation, and connectivity. However, we must also confront the challenges and complexities that accompany technological advancements, from digital distractions and information overload to privacy concerns and ethical dilemmas.
14 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 20”
English Comp
Mr. Miller
4/2/24
Charles Cristoforo
Journal #1: Relationship With Technology
The phone, more specifically the smartphone, is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Phones have built in calculators and dictionaries. Phones have books, movies, television shows and other endless forms of entertainment and excitement, all located in your back pocket. Everywhere you go, you will likely see a phone or some other technological device. I remember going out to get some food with my friend one warm summer night. We decided on a town favorite burger joint near my home. My friend and I made it to the burger spot and chose a booth in the back right corner of the small restaurant. As soon as we sat down we were greeted by a waitress who happily gave us menus and asked if we’d like anything to drink. Once our drink orders were placed the waitress retreated to the kitchen to get our drinks, leaving my friend and I to converse. Although something had already grabbed my buddy’s attention, Tiktok. My friend’s eyes were glued to his phone and by the hunch in his back and neck, there was no way of getting him off that thing. So, instead of twiddling my thumbs, I took out my phone. Eventually, the hunch in the back and neck that had invaded and taken over my friend, had taken over my body as well. Every so often my friend would grin and chuckle and say, “Hey look at what I just sent you on instagram.” To this, I’d open up the app, grin, chuckle, and give a halfhearted, “That’s probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life”, and go back to scrolling my thumbs away until our food was served. I do not remember having a conversation with my friend that summer night, and could not tell you what we talked about or if we talked about anything at all. My night was consumed by blue light and viral videos. Now writing and reflecting on that moment, I pose the question, was that a real display of discourse in today’s age? Was what my friend and I did over the phone a real human interaction? What is a real conversation? I really have no clue, it’s hysterical. I believe the internet gives people a false sense of intelligence in many aspects. To clarify my point let me ask this question; “Who knows more about the ocean? The oceanographer who has studied at university for 4 years and has their bachelors, but has never stepped foot in the ocean, let alone a water source. Or, the boy who is swimming in the ocean and feels the wet sand between his toes, the cool water on his skin, and the Atlantic salt water taste in his mouth? There really is no correct answer. But, to relate back to my point earlier, you can’t 100 percent experience something through a computer, phone, and even a book. You just have to get out there and try it. Phones give the World to us but also strip it away at the same time. Nowadays, kids would rather watch someone on a tablet eat pasta, rather than going to an Italian restaurant and experiencing it themselves. To me, it’s mind boggling. Our phones give us so much, we tend to forget what it’s taking away. Obviously, with phones positives there’s inherent negatives. I made the remark how phones can be imagined as a World in your back pocket. Which I see to be a good thing. But, with something so readily available, its attention seeking capabilities are tremendous. I look around and see everyone’s phones always within earshot. And when it’s not, there’s a problem. If the chunk of glass and metal you carry around is not with you, you feel lost, out of the loop. But why? Why do people rely so heavily on something inanimate? Your phone doesn’t have the ability to give you a hug, it can’t make you laugh. The only thing it’s giving you is a sense of comfort. This is what I believe most people are addicted to. It’s not just the physical phones themselves, it’s the temporary, minute, feelings like happiness our phones give us. That’s what people are really addicted to. This short fix of dopamine can be addicting. This is why people can scroll on their favorite app for house on end without getting bored. Though I try to see both sides of the argument. I do believe there’s more good than bad technology can give us. Humans are naturally negative creatures. We focus on the negative most of the time. So, it’s easy to see disturbing trends in relation to technology. But, these apps like Instagram and Tik Tok are overshadowing the bright side to our phones. Specifically, how we use them. For instance, I use my phone to catalyze my work process in school. I could go on for a long time but I hope you can understand the point. My “point” is we as a society undervalue and misuse our technologies. We are, in some cases, using them for the wrong reasons. Instead of relying on previous knowledge, critical thinking, and problem solving to extract an answer from a question, we’d rather plug the question into a search engine and let that do all the thinking for us. When you do this, it’s a disservice to yourself. I mean, to use a phone you have to turn it on. You are making the decisions on how you want to use your technologies. Phones are man made devices, so I wonder if our societal social constructs have translated to our digital world? In a way, yes, they have. I don’t flood my Instagram account with my favorite music artist, or what I have for breakfast, because you just don’t, it’s not normal. I overheard a girl one time talking about her followers to following ratio on Instagram. She was ridiculing someone she knew for following more people that follow her.
Ella Chagnon
Professor Miller
ENG 110
4/2/24
Overtime advancements in technology have allowed many individuals, including me, to get more involved in the world. However, due to the heavy influence of the internet it encouraged me to be more dependent on it for everything. As a young adult in this generation today, I was introduced to technology at a young age. Growing, learning, and adapting to technology has played a part in shaping me and possibly has affected certain skills I have. Technology plays a role when it comes to learning as different platforms make for an efficient flow of information from the device to my brain and is a source to provide correction especially in terms of writing. While this efficient source technology imposes on me, it very well takes away my mind power to deeply engage in other resources, which threatens my ability to think and build my cognitive process. In an effort to learn to my highest potential, using technology can support me by presenting itself as a timesaving tool to rely on, but takes away the chance to strengthen my skills of deep thinking and effectively communicating.
Technology has served as a helpful tool in regard to the various programs that I can easily turn to. With AI platforms such as Google, grammar check, and Chat GPT they all appear as advantages when it comes to developing ideas on questions, I need answers to. With these resources it provides me many solutions and results in an instant, which sets me up for what information to possibly apply in my own work. These online programs have saved me so much time from reading through books and struggling to come up with concepts independently. Personally, as someone who doesn’t like to read, the internet has been a lifesaver as I can simply input a question and it is presented to me in seconds without requiring me to thoroughly read through a piece of text. With a type of tool like grammar check, it allows me to recognize my spelling mistakes and therefore I’m able to learn how to correctly spell that word. For instance, I frequently use Google Docs and the spelling and grammar check that’s embedded into this platform. When a word is underlined, I am able to quickly alter my original misspelled word to the recommended word with a click of a button. Not only does spell check provide a fast way to enhance my writing by editing my grammar, but it can teach me how to spell and thus can apply the correct spelling of that word in the future. Accessing the internet through AI has given me fast results to help form a constructive piece of work that is appropriately spelled, while also providing me with information for answers I may be seeking in an efficient manner.
Although, with the existence of AI it also caused me to rely on that instead of using my own knowledge or seeking help from others, which has weakened my human skills. With this being said, since I can find answers by just searching, it takes away from me challenging my brain to develop and solve the answers myself. Rather than testing my own knowledge of trying to solve the answer based on previous information that I have retained, I don’t care to take the time to figure it out on my own. This results in me turning to the internet to do the work and provide the answer for me. Ultimately, I do not feel like dedicating a fair amount of time trying to develop an answer by critically thinking of what the answer may be but choose the quicker and lazier alternative of the internet. AI technology also eats away from referring to resources that I have readily available such as classmates or teachers, in which they could provide suggestions or a better understanding to lead me in the right direction. In circumstances where I struggle to find the answer to a question, I could ask others for help, and they may even insight me with the exact information that connects to my specific question. Although I have become more dependent on technology as it is an easier strategy to gather ideas of what I’m searching for. This is due to the fact that I have my device right at hand and can look up my question and be presented with the answer immediately, which requires less effort than having to actually approach another individual and verbally ask and have a conversation with them. Not engaging in physical communication with others has played a role in my ability to socially interact with others. I think as I fall back on technology for information, I have developed a more reserved and introverted personality. By becoming so comfortable with turning to the internet for help, it has caused me to develop a social barrier that prevents me from being able to talk to people effortlessly. Therefore, technology has hindered my willingness to approach others as I have almost developed a level of social anxiety. My use of AI, since I can simply find answers or suggestions online has lessened my cognitive abilities and contributes to my social challenges as well.
Being introduced to AI technology has affected me for both good and bad overall. On the bright side online platforms have served as a helpful learning tool through its efficient system that comes without the hassle of actually brainstorming ideas and presents the correct terminology to use. Whereas, technology has also negatively affected my skills involving putting my cognitive ability to the test and engaging in face-to-face communication. My constant use of AI has damaged these personal skills that can be very valuable to my life. Applying my cognitive process is crucial for performing various tasks and solving problems and conversation with others is an important humanistic skill to have as we rely on it to further understand each other and interactive tasks we are faced with. If I am susceptible to the consequences of technology as it damages some skills I hold, many others who use technology may be equally subject to this kind of experience too.
Cote Briggs
ENG-110: English Composition
Professor Miller
April 2nd, 2024
Technology Isn’t All Fun & Games: Here’s Why
As we enter the new age of the Anthropocene, it is not far off to assume that most people are fully entrenched in the digital world. After all, the internet serves as a harmonious melody of intelligence, entertainment, and sociability: all available at the fingertips of the modern era. With all the potential for the advancement of the digital realm, it would be foolish not to capitalize upon this, right? I, myself, admit to an adherent relationship with tech. For much of my life, nestled within the deep pines of rural Maine’s forests, technology and social media played a substantial role in my pastimes. While I truly enjoyed the nature which encapsulated my hometown, there was not much communion for young folk. This held quite firmly throughout the remainder of my childhood, (to further attest to this fact, my graduating class embodied a total of 26 students), and while most of my small-town contemporaries focused on their niche cliques and social scenes, I found my solace online. Ultimately, it is quite easy to enter yourself into the digital realm, especially if the odds of reality do not prove very favorable. Such behavior– while technology may be seen as detrimental—allows us to focus and expand on other essential life skills.
With much transparency, my writing and comprehension would embody that of much austerity: assuming I hadn’t held any access to the online realm. Technology has enabled me to launch myself head-on into my studies, expanding as well as elevating the scope of my small-town education. It allowed me to pursue other opportunities, such as my dual-enrollment classes, my Medical Assistance internship, and to graduate in the top percentile of my class. Without the plethora of knowledge the internet provides, I wouldn’t have been able to sufficiently fuel my brain with the resources necessary to carry out these educational goals of mine. This is especially true, as my parents both have strenuous responsibilities of their own. In a way, the internet has served me—and continues to serve—as my intellectual partner as I explore its vast plethora of knowledge. As this knowledge is stored in the library between the Web’s networks, they also provide a convenient and organized method of recollecting such knowledge by name. If you want to investigate “Transcriptional Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Budding Yeast)”, for example, it is not going to involve search results for migratory fish.
Not only does technology offer easier organization, but this also offers a way to be much more time efficient. For reference, opposed to flipping through the dictionary for a specific term or referring to a scholarly article, I can search up the desired word or text within seconds. This significantly adds to the effectiveness of my personal projects, overall increasing the efficacy of my composition. I can also organize and manage my time with online tools with services such as Google Calendars or Calendly to keep track of classes or schedule appointments, respectively. Lastly, utilizing interactive tech such as an iPad and Apple pencil to jot down and take notes increases the ability to organize and compose my notes all in one folder, without having to deal with jamming multiple papers in an organizer or needing to acquire another notebook on top of the one I already have. I’m able to expand my functionality, such as communicating with colleagues or emailing my professors while still maintaining the organizational structure I desire.
With much contentment, the web and social media also allowed me to communicate with like-minded individuals. As someone who is not very interested in traditionalized hobbies, such as sports, it was quite hard to make meaningful connections with those in my geographical radius. Even more so many of my peers had different views and beliefs than me—and I found it very hard to relate to people with such morals. Since many of the opportunities that are now offered in our world are mainly advertised through social media and the web, I was able to explore through social media platforms and supplementary academic programs advertised online, such as the Dirigo All-State Program for State Legislature. From this week-long program at Thomas College, I was able to connect with those with like-minded goals and aspirations. Those who had shared my sense of humor. I’ve also been able to gain my own friends throughout the web over the years, typically through online games or forum discussions. To this day, I still have plenty of engaging conversations through the web with both in person and online contacts.
While the internet and technology has allowed me to blossom in many more ways, I also can acknowledge the double-edged sword, so to speak, of this situation. As I began my collegiate pursuit, I found myself at first to be quite timid in real-world encounters. I initially wasn’t much of a conversation starter, and hoped others would approach me instead. This could have, however, been to the effect that I was just getting used to the collegiate experience—and that communication at a postsecondary institution was quite intimidating. However, I began to recognize the fault in this. If I wanted to make friends, much like I did before, I needed to attest to the same contentment as I had once before.
Now, with being in college and learning to give credence to myself, I can confidently state that I have an abundance of in person friends. I’ve been able to allow myself to branch and spread out—but this wasn’t always the case. In times of social isolation, technology had thrown me a lifeline for a very long time, granting me a level of contentment I would not have been able to uphold otherwise. I was also able to work on myself to a high caliber, craving a need for a heightened education and a sense of self-organization that would not have been otherwise imposed. Ultimately, the web serves as an integral part of our world; while it is important not to abuse this tool, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t embrace what it has to offer. With respect to oneself, the digital world serves as a favorable tool for both scholastic achievement and impactful discussion.
Jack Thurmond
ENG 110
Jessie Miller
Apr 3, 2024
JOURNAL # 1
My relationship with technology is complicated. Being a college student technology is extremely beneficial, however, it also has its downsides. I believe that there are many positives about technology, however, it also has negative effects on my day-to-day lifestyle. I use technology so often in my day-to-day life, whether it’s using a computer to take notes, playing Xbox, texting, or my roommates are watching TV in my dorm room, I spend most of my day with it. When a teacher asks us to take notes in class It is like second nature to me to pull out my computer. This has been normalized to me by my countless years of technology use. I am so comfortable with it that I find myself relying on it. While it obviously makes my life easier I wonder if that equals better. With technology being so prominent there are bound to be many pros and cons with it. While I don’t attempt to play down all that technology does, I do want to shed light on its negative elements that I feel are barely mentioned.
There are pros to technology as a college student such as easy access to resources. All my assignments and syllabi are posted online allowing easy access to due dates and assignments. I also have unlimited resources online such as YouTube videos explaining a math problem or a PDF on environmental issues. I am also able to contact my teacher by email at any time if I have a specific question about an assignment. Also being at college and away from home, technology gives me almost unlimited access to friends and family no matter the distance. I’m able to endlessly talk to my parents on the phone and play video games with my high school friends who are currently in Spain and Hawaii for college. As a college athlete, there are many additional benefits that I gain with technology. All our games are recorded so I am able to rewatch them as many times as I want and can go over plays from the game to help myself become a better player. Our games are also live streamed so friends and family that are far away are still able to watch my games. I can also use this to watch friends of mine who are playing soccer at other schools, which helps us stay connected. There is also new technology with recovery. After hard practice, I am able to go to the trainer’s room and use new technology such as normatec. This is a device you use on your legs where with a screen you control the level of power that you would like and the time limit. This has been able to help athletes recover quicker than ever. I am also able to use GPS tracking devices in games. This technology is able to track speed and distance, provide a heat map, and give you other helpful statistics you can then use to analyze to improve your game. This is technology like we have never seen before and it gives me that chance to push myself as an athlete and push my body more than I previously could. This is definitely one of the parts of technology that I really appreciate and do not take for granted. On away games due to the technology of my computer and WIFI, I am able to complete homework assignments on the way to and from games. Being a student-athlete you have to manage your time really well so this technology is very helpful. Without it, I would have whole days where I wouldn’t be able to complete school work or study and I would inevitably struggle or fall behind. For personal enjoyment, I can also use technology to watch videos, and sporting events (specifically soccer games) online as well as play video games. I am also able to make group Facetime calls with multiple of my friends, all in different states. We can stay on these calls for an unlimited amount of time and this technology allows us to stay connected. Without technology almost if not all of these positives would be unable to happen or at far less frequency. All of these aspects appear positive and you might be wondering How I could possibly have issues with something this helpful. However, even with these positives, there are still negatives that can go unnoticed by the majority of people. Once we begin recognizing these problems. With so many positives it is easy to get engulfed in technology and that is where the issue begins.
I would agree there are a few negatives when discussing technology. When I thought deeper into how technology plays a role in my daily life, I realized like most people my age a negative of technology is my addiction to it. It is the number one source of distraction in my life. I can think of countless times when I have sat down to do a homework assignment and ended up watching tik toks, film and spent more time than needed to complete an assignment. I also find myself constantly reaching for my phone to check Snapchat or Instagram notifications. When my phone isn’t in my pocket I still find myself reaching for it. I have mini panic attacks before remembering it’s on my desk charging. As funny as this sounds, this is a real problem. Overattchment to our technology leaves us addicted to it. Without it, we would have trouble functioning. To me, this is when I realized how much of a chokehold technology has.
In conclusion, technology has been beneficial to my everyday life and school work is easier as well as more accessible. However, technology also has cons. People of all ages are becoming addicted to technology, specifically phones which can interfere with daily activities. I do feel in some aspects this negatively affects parts of my life. However, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives and technology is definitely something I appreciate and greatly value in my life.
Journal 20: Revised Technology Essay
Liv Arvidson
4/5/24
I have a strong relationship with technology. My age is one of the last groups of kids to grow up without being surrounded by the vast amount of technology we have today. I got my first iPad when I was 12, with strict limitations on the screen time. I got my phone in middle school, and honestly, most of the time it was used for games and music until I was allowed to have social media, which was years after getting the phone. My childhood was not consumed with screens like the kids today. I played outside whenever I could with my neighbors. I rode my bike, went sledding, played in the playgrounds. For most of my childhood, the only technology my siblings and I were allowed access to was the TV and the Wii, under the discretion of my parents. I remember my parents’ strict rules on how long we were allowed to be on a screen. From what I see today, rules like those hardly exist. I see kids at restaurants and other public settings who will only “behave” when on a screen. I have a cousin who is 8 years old, and he cannot go very long without his tablet, because his parents have always allowed him to have it whenever he wanted. Now, when they say no, he throws tantrums and acts out because he does not know life without it. I know that everyone today has come to rely on so much technology. A certain amount is fine, but being unable to socialize or do anything without a screen in hand is absurd.
Today, nearly all college students have a laptop and/or iPad to do work on, because sometimes it is required. It certainly is more convenient, and I appreciate being able to use my laptop and iPad, but I believe that people need to regulate how long they spend on them or else they will be doing themselves a disservice toward their social learning. Growing up attached to screens is being proven by the kids today in schools to be detrimental to their learning. Many kids entering the schooling system do not know how to properly socialize with their peers. What will happen when these kids grow up and get to college, or their jobs afterward? How different will the workforce look when those kids grow up to be adults that can barely work with other human beings? I feel that enough is enough. I grew up in the perfect time when it came to electronics. Kids my age did not grow up with screens shoved in our faces, because they had not come out yet. We did not get phones as 7-year-olds, but often in middle- or high school. However, we also had enough exposure growing up that we know how to work the technology that we need to live in this world today. We are in the neutral zone; we have not had too much exposure like the younger kids, but we had enough that we are not clueless now.
Technology is certainly an asset. However, it seems that many people today unwittingly abuse it. We rely on technology in just about everything. Should something happen to our electricity for an extended period, many people would not know what to do or be able to go about their daily lives without it. I am not saying that we should start to learn to live without it, I am saying that we should not always rely only on technology. There are things that we can do without electricity or current technology, especially small things. Hand knead your bread instead of using a mixer. Use a wood stove instead of a propane one. Write on paper instead of electronics. I believe that we use technology as a crutch, and some people are consumed with it. You can have many excuses when without today’s technology. Say you do not have access to certain tools, but people before you, not that long ago, did these jobs without the current technological advances. There are traditional ways to go about things, ways that have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, and many are practices that should not go out of style.
The obsession with screens has increased drastically in the past few years. It certainly is not healthy. When I was growing up and handheld screens were first becoming popular, my parents had a 2-hour rule on all electronics. Absolutely no more than 2 hours on electronics for the day, including the TV. I now understand the science behind why it is detrimental to learning if kids have their faces stuck to a screen all day every day. I know that it majorly disrupts sleep if you use blue light (light that screens give off) too close to bed. I know that kids who have always played on iPads and not gone outside to the playground or run around the neighborhood have now entered school and do not know how to interact with their peers. In the long run, this is going to change the future of adulting. How will these kids grow up to interact with employees, their chain of command, or other civilians? We have not yet seen the true impact of having a childhood filled with screens, but in a few years we will. I know that kids just a few years younger than me are the ones who have never known life without a screen. I am in college, and once I am done, I will find a job and start truly living my life as a functioning adult. A few years after me, the screen kids will be let loose into the world. We do not know how different society will look then. Will communications between states and countries get worse because people will not know how to hold an adult conversation? Will they not want to work because they were always given a screen instead of being taught important lessons as children? Fast-growing and far-reaching technology will change humanity even more in the coming years, hopefully for the better.
I hope for all our sakes that it gets better than this and not worse. I already know some people that are around my age or a few years older, who swear that their children will not be raised the way the kids are right now. I hope that is the truth, because we were the last ones to not have screens for our early childhood. I must believe that at the very least, the adults my age, when they have children, will be able to put kids back on the right path of not being absorbed with technology and be competent human beings when they grow up.
Carolyn Jones
ENG 110
Professor Miller
April 2, 2024
In today’s world, the role of technology in education is a topic of discussion. Is technology actually helpful in today’s world for students? Technology has a significant impact on students’ lives today, providing them with various advantages such as educational resources, communication tools, collaboration platforms, and access to a vast pool of information. However, like any tool, its effectiveness depends on how it’s used. How often are children on any type of electronic? It’s common for children to spend a significant amount of time on electronic devices, but many individuals claim to have no relationship with technology. In today’s digital era, electronics have become an integral part of children’s and students’ lives. From personal computers and gaming consoles to smartphones and tablets, these gadgets offer a plethora of opportunities to explore and learn. However, the frequency and duration of electronic usage can vary significantly depending on several factors. For instance, age is a crucial determinant of electronic usage, as younger children tend to spend more time on devices than older children. Similarly, technological access, parental guidance, and personal interests also shape the way children use and interact with electronics. Therefore, it is important to strike a balance between electronic usage and other activities to ensure the overall well-being and healthy development of children and students. I believe most people say that they don’t have any type of relationship with technology but that’s not true. Everyone has their own but very different relationship with all sorts of technology but they just don’t want to admit it. Technology as a whole can be restricting to society for many reasons. One reason is that when you go searching for one thing you find yourself going down many different rabbit holes of the same yet different information. Technology can suck you right in also by just tempting you every day all day long. Technology is like a forest, once you’re in everything is the same all around and you can easily get lost.
While some argue that technology can be limiting due to distractions and information overload, it’s essential to understand that with responsible and moderate use, technology can enhance productivity and learning experiences. For example, online educational resources, interactive learning apps, and digital tools can offer personalized learning experiences tailored to individual needs and preferences. As we continue to see advancements in AI technology that are intended to assist students, it’s worth considering whether or not these tools are benefiting students by simply providing an easy way out or “just getting the work done” without actually doing the work with effort. Students must develop their critical thinking skills and writing abilities, rather than constantly using technology to do the work for them. They are not benefiting from their education or writing skills if they rely on technology for everything. Students and children who all use any type of technology are most likely diminishing their critical thinking skills. While AI can certainly be helpful, it can also lead to frustrations. One frustration is if the student using AI is asking a certain question they must be as specific as they can and then would still have to make an effort to obtain a good enough answer.
On the other hand, the ease of having digital technology is that everything is at our fingertips and always in reach at any moment in time. I feel that writing is always a struggle but using technology or even AI is even more challenging. The most beneficial way of using technology is when communicating yet, it is still challenging. Having a conversation with anyone through technology or even face to face but with any technology in the room can be a struggle. Communication through technology can also be challenging, as it can disconnect us from the people we’re speaking with. To have a productive conversation, it’s important to give and receive undivided attention, and to participate actively in the conversation. Having technology around all the time can be very disconnecting because you can be “listening” to someone yet still not hear and not comprehend what they said. To be in or have a conversation there are numerous important factors. One is giving and receiving undivided attention from the person or people you are talking to. Another is participating in the conversation that is being held. A conversation is not only talking but also listening to others in the group.
Technology can also aid communication and collaboration between students and teachers, enabling remote learning, virtual classrooms, and connections that cross national boundaries. To reduce potential negative effects such as excessive screen time, cyberbullying, and misinformation, fostering digital literacy and appropriate usage is crucial. Educators must teach children how to assess material critically, manage their digital footprint, and strike a balance between online and offline activities. From my personal experience, I’ve noticed that some individuals rely too heavily on technology to enhance their writing instead of using their own words and seem to be lacking the skills they need in the future. I will never deny that I use technology a lot but I will also say with complete confidence and certainty that I despise technology. Writing has always been a challenging topic throughout my academic journey. While I do utilize technology frequently, I have a dislike for writing and reading. I believe that I am challenged in writing and can never find the words to say in essays of any type. Same with conversations in school. During school, I was the student who preferred to observe rather than actively participate in conversations or group work. I’m uncertain if this correlates to my difficulties in learning and comprehending various materials during lectures. I am not sure if that has any correlation to having trouble learning or comprehending different materials throughout the lectures. However, I do know that when I’m genuinely interested in a topic, I find it easier to absorb and teach the information to others. Despite this, I still struggle with initiating my writing process and tend to overthink how to start any essay. As an example, the essay I submitted with my college applications was a piece I wrote in high school about forgiveness because I could not think of a strong essay to write from the prompts provided for a college essay.
Finley Morrison
Eng 110
Professor Miller
04/02/2024
Draft 3
The internet is an incredibly vast and interesting place. It is essentially its own galaxy with millions of rest stops when traveling between “planets” we call websites.. Technology is now at the tip of everyone’s finger, becoming an essential part of life as we know it. You can’t get a job without a phone number for a call back. You can’t contact your professor without a computer and an email. While a lot of these practices have become normalized luxuries, I believe that there has also been a great deal of harm towards society as a whole, just as much as there has been “good,” despite how fine that line may be on occasions. The world wide web is a place you go to be whisked elsewhere; this feat can be used for bliss or danger depending on where you allow yourself to go.
A prime example of being swept to dangerous territory can be found in the disservice that the next generation is currently experiencing. My niece, who just turned four back in January of 2024, is what’s known as an “iPad kid.” She gets cranky when she doesn’t have her tablet to watch mindless videos or play non educational games no matter what the time of day is. It takes her minutes to return to reality once she’s done playing with her technology. It’s incredibly disheartening for her to finally recognize me after disconnecting from her tablet; this child genuinely appears to be waking up from a coma after watching nothing but brain-rot inducing videos on her iPad. The warm and fuzzy feeling of her wanting to be around me is shackled to her device. I’m now often left thinking about how a device made my existence a fleeting memory for her, and how could I compete? The internet takes my little niece’s mind to places that not even I have explored, and while that doesn’t necessarily have to equate to danger, she’s floating somewhere that erases her connection to reality.
Not only children fall victim to the harsh jungle they find themselves in, people of all ages can find the short end of the stick. For example, while I want to believe in the integrity of my fellow classmates, I also tend to fear the use of technology when it comes to our future field workers. With how easy it is to connect at quite literally any given time, there has to be an additional stress on academic integrity in regards to cheating. I am fearful of the doctor that my nieces and nephews may go to in the future knowing their doctor might have used ChatGPT to write their essays, or they had their phone under their thigh during their exams. The internet has led these people along a dark road of skewed morals, leaving no one unscathed. The effects of this can be seen as shown in the example above. Not just in the medical field, but in other areas of work as well, such as liberal art jobs affected by AI. A close friend of mine has been struggling with motivation to continue his art degree because of the backlash he receives, comparing his soulful works to lifeless drawings thrown together based on a sentence or two.
In the spider web that is the net it’s easy to get lost or distracted. One of my professors once asked me what was the point of going to class if you have all the answers at your fingertips? Why go to college when you could teach yourself anything you wanted to know about biology on your own, apart from the degree? A lot of it boils down to the humanity aspect of it all. Humans are not supposed to isolate themselves; we as homosapiens crave the presence of others. To be present is to be alive. I could very well teach myself how to write a better essay or how to do calculus problems, but the motivation would not be there. Any site that you stumble upon will be filled with advertisements and redirections, not to mention the mass amount of misinformation that needs to be weaved through. Being in the classroom and using technology as a tool rather than a teacher is what will truly further education. I have a strong aversion towards assignments, specifically in the STEM field, that boil down to “read the chapter” because that doesn’t help me learn. As Jesse Miller, an English professor at UNE, has stated on multiple occasions you have to be present to grow and to actually learn. Technology cannot force us to be present, matter of fact I have seen it do the opposite and create mindless husks of friends and family, before being snapped back into reality.
As much as technology has damaged the ability to communicate face-to-face, it has also opened up worlds that would otherwise remain as a deep and undiscovered ocean. Knowledge is very easily accessible and has opened my eyes to so many new experiences and has allowed me to develop a much stronger sense of empathy for others. For example, if not for the internet I would have no idea about the genocide that’s happening right now in Palestine. I would be incredibly uneducated on the state of America and a lot of history in general. I pride myself on being knowledgeable in areas that support my views because it’s important to be able to back up your opinions with facts. To understand is to learn and grow. Technology has also allowed conversation to keep happening despite distance. My partner and I can still have meaningful conversations because of how easy it is to get in contact with them. One of my closest friends and I have been friends for over four years because of the internet. The chances that I would have met her otherwise were very slim, despite living a mere few hours apart. While connections can often suffer because of the screens, they can also bloom.
Ultimately, no matter how you view it, technology has the ability to be whatever you want it to be and take you wherever you desire to go. How you use the internet is how it will reflect your views on it. You can be stuck in an echochamber, leading to isolation and loneliness, or you can find yourself in a whirlpool of information, or even a lobby in a video game where you’re meant to come together to solve a goal. Not every website visited has to or should be burned down, it’s man’s own obligation to make sure that he’s properly equipped to navigate safely around the flames. A conversation is between two or more people sharing thoughts or ideas with one another; technology has simultaneously given the ability to enhance conversation and shut it down completely, a feat that nothing really bears resemblance to.
Hailey Cloutier
Prof. Miller
ENG 110: English Composition
4/4/24
The Balancing Act: The Good, Bad, and Problem Solving
Growing up, technology has been an ever-evolving vital component in my life. Whether it was from learning applications such as a leapfrog or even a TV, the technology had always been there. Growing up surrounded by an ever-evolving tool, you grow accustomed to the idiosyncrasies that may come with it. If the screen is too fragile, get a screen protector, if you drop it too often, get it a case, the battery isn’t what it used to be, oh it’s time to get a new one. Even with the rough edges technology has, technology has been part of my life from the beginning and it has become something that my generation depends upon. I believe that while technology does so much good, there are still struggles with technology and the internet being a breeding ground of hate; and that to stop the issues from growing there should be rules and regulations in place to counteract the problems.
In work, school, or just our day-to-day lives, technology and the internet were made to make lives easier; and to meet our needs, wants, and desires. The healthcare industry has grown in great strides. We now have technology that can do CPR for emergency responders so they can decrease responder flaws. Some suits have been created to scan the biomechanics of a person who has a physical injury, and physical therapists can use them to help their patients with the healing process. Transportation is becoming more accessible and prevalent, making trips out of the house or apartment easier. In the city, there are so many different forms of transportation you can pick from, making accessibility that much easier. You can choose to take the subway, a bus, a trolley, a cab, or a taxi, you can Uber, ride a scooter or motorcycle, and even bike. Roadways and transportation are allowing people to have more access from greater distances to get all the necessities they may need. Even communication increase has also made great strides. You can talk, text, email, and FaceTime other people all over the world at just a few taps of a button. With the communication increase, Telehealth has become much more prevalent where patients can just send in questions to their providers asking about something that they find concerning, all from their own homes. Patients can schedule appointments, call their doctors or nurses, and even schedule online appointments so they don’t even need to go into the office at all. Not to mention communication in the hospitals itself. Instead of the blaring alarms that used to happen all around, now almost every TV, computer, nurse call, and hospital phone is equipped with a banner system where that broadcasts emergency messages to all the staff. Today we can see healthcare services have all increased, transportation has become easier and more accessible, and communication is at people’s very fingertips. Technology has made the world seem so small and yet vastly giant.
With technology evolving it has brought up many moral and ethical issues within communities. The dependency on the Internet in schools has become quite an issue not because of the quick and easy-to-find information but because of the many different ways people can falsify information. The topic of AI is becoming more well-known and more dangerous as time goes on. Kids in schools can use AI’s like ChatGPT or Photomath to falsify homework or essays. Schools have started to implement technology to scan the work of their students to know if any sort of AI is being used to do the student’s work for them. The implementation of this scanner has been decreasing the amount of AI use, but it is still common enough for teacher worries. What’s more frightening isn’t the fact of small things like ChatGPT or Photomath but voice scanning or facial recognition AI. People have found ways to copy the voices of others’ family members using AI just to create scams. Families can get calls from these scammers making it sound like their family member is in dire need of help, and thus money, so families will send money to them to help, but it goes directly to the scammers. People are becoming so dependent on the internet and the easy lives it can give them, that they aren’t seeing the major problems this can cause.
Thinking has almost become stagnant, there is no deep, in-depth thinking. Everything we could ever need is just a Google search away. There is no need to truly learn anything when you can get an answer in a shorter time googling it than going to a library and researching it. It has almost become unheard of to go past the first answer page in Google; people just click the first link skim and then find their answer. People don’t have to depend on their knowledge or schooling anymore when they can get the answer in under five minutes of googling. The fast information-giving programs are creating a gap in information processing, where the brain can’t handle too much information at once and it just shuts down. No longer can people read textbooks thoroughly, now we see skimming for easy information without a clear understanding of the topic.
Social media has also become very prevalent and easy to access making socializing easy, but it is making people disconnected from reality. People use social media to hide behind false personas where nobody would be the wiser. You can pretend to be a completely different person than you are, and disconnect yourself from the real world, to be different. Catfishing has become a problem with children and teens where they think they may be talking to another person of their age but it turns out to be a pedophile. This is truly frightening when it comes to thinking about our children and the possible life-scarring things they can find. Not only that but Cyberbullying has been skyrocketing due to social media, and it has created a lot of anxiety for many people. People can hide behind the wall the internet gives them to be able to bully and emotionally scar peers just to get a laugh. Children have to be taught in schools the appropriate behaviors of the internet, and the potential dangers of it, and yet the problems still arise.
Technology and the internet are forever going to be a staple in my life and future lives, but I think that there needs to be some form of regulation or restriction for it so we don’t ruin something that has helped so many lives. People shouldn’t be in fear of what the internet and technology have to offer. We as a people need to step up and fight for the proper regulations surrounding technology to make the internet a safe space for all.
Elizabeth Gagnon
Professor Jesse Miller
English Composition
5 April 2024
Journal #20
Humanity’s relationship with technology may be more toxic than we are aware of. Our imagination used to run wild before the straitjacket known as technology came and interrupted it. But technology is designed to invite people in, the user-friendly aspect compels people to use whatever is being advertised. However, our emotional state is also being affected by how invested we are in our phones. Technology does provide many helpful aspects, such as in education and keeping families connected, but it also has its negative implications on society. Some of these negative implications result in loss of social skills, attention span, and thinking capabilities. Technology is not all good or all bad, it is a complex combination.
In our education, newer technology, like computers, have allowed our method of doing assignments to change. Writing essays or long assignments is easier with technology because it is less painful to type than handwrite. I also feel like I can keep up with my thoughts better while typing. My fingers can move fast enough to capture all my thoughts on paper, whereas if I was handwriting it, I would not be able to write quickly enough. Technology also helps with word choice and vocabulary by making a dictionary and thesaurus readily available. Having these resources quickly is beneficial in our education and makes doing assignments more efficient.
Our ability to talk to one another, a key social skill, is being hindered by our obsession with technology. A conversation to me is the exchange of thoughts between two beings. Two things that can think on their own and communicate those ideas to each other are what make a conversation. I would consider animals other than humans as able to converse. Just because we do not understand what is being shared does not mean they are not communicating. Animals act based on their interactions with each other, just as humans do with conversations. As a child, I had grown up with coloring books at restaurants to keep me occupied instead of a screen in front of my face. I learned how to truly converse and communicate with the people around me. Technology creates a bubble around you, isolating you from the outside world. Kids that grow up with an iPad in their hand are losing their people skills. I have seen that they cannot effectively convey their feelings, remediate conflicts with words, or hold a conversation with others.
Now as an adult, I do have an iPhone, MacBook, and iPod. All three are part of my everyday life. Technology is a tool for me in my education and in my personal life. Coming to college, the hardest thing for me was being away from my family. I didn’t want to miss out on their everyday lives or miss any important development moments for my sisters. One way I feel more connected to them is through technology. It doesn’t matter how far away I am from my family; I can still talk to them. Being able to text and facetime my family makes me feel connected to them and has made the homesickness easier. Social media is also a way I can stay connected to my family. My mom posts updates about my sisters that make me feel like I still know what is going on in their lives.
Technology keeps people connected but it also keeps people in their own world. People are so sucked into their games and social media that they no longer experience what is around them. I personally have experienced trying to converse with someone but losing the attention battle between their phones. The number of times I have had to repeat myself, solely on the fact that they were distracted by technology is astounding. At home, my mom shuts off the TV before telling my sisters to do something. She knows that it is a losing battle trying to rip their attention away from the screen. There have been times where she does try to communicate with the TV on but ends up yelling by the third go around. Then my sisters are angered and asking why my mother always has to yell. She did not start out yelling, she had to to get their attention.
A negative implication of our relationship with technology is our diminishing attention span. I feel that technology hinders one’s attention span and makes it harder to focus for long periods of time. Social media, such as TikTok, has normalized watching things in short intervals, making it harder to keep our attention on things that require time and energy. Another problem we face due to the amount of time we spend on our devices is losing the skill of critical thinking. The ability to look up the unknown on google at any given moment adds to this issue. Any question can be answered with little effort or thought put into it. The internet gives you one answer for a question whereas the mind can explore so many more options.
Sometimes, the distraction technology provides can be beneficial. Every morning when my mom got ready for work, she would wake me up and set me up in front of the TV with my chocolate milk. She would prepare for her day while I was occupied with cartoons. It made it easier for her to get everything ready when I was not in the mix. My ability to be distracted by technology helped my mom in the mornings when she was trying to get two people ready for the day.
I use technology every day. I do not think I would want to go back to a time where I did not. Technology makes things convenient and easy. I guess in a sense that has made me lazy. It is easier to look up the definition of a word than to take the time to sit down and think about what it could mean. I feel that every human being has a relationship with technology, we are all in a relationship with technology.
Everyone has a relationship with technology. Whether that be a healthy or toxic relationship is solely up to how people use it. We can allow ourselves to be consumed by the new and exciting aspects of technology or we can be aware of how it is changing us.
Matthew Dewhurst
Eng 110
Professor Miller
4/5/2024
Technology’s Effects on my Life
The use of digital technology is one of the most scrutinized, and debated matters in the current time. Its brilliance, and helpfulness in a work sense is undeniable; however, at times the positive factors of technology are outweighed by the distracting side of it that can take conversations away from us. Technology is vital for getting through my everyday activities. Nowadays, nearly all of my homework assignments are done through the internet. For many of my classes, I take notes on my computer. While at college, to communicate with family and friends, I do so through email on my computer, or texting and calling on my phone. If I have free time, I will watch a show, movie, or sports on my computer. Despite all of these positive aspects about it, technology is certainly detrimental in other ways. Technology certainly takes away the amount of in-person conversations that I have with my family and friends. A face-to-face interaction is certainly different, and better for our mental health than communicating through technology. Communicating in person makes us more empathetic, and relatable than doing so through calling or email. I could be sitting in a room with my friends, and we wouldn’t talk for over an hour because we are too engrossed in our phones or computers. In doing so, I believe it decreases the closeness of my friends and I. Having conversations with one another is the main way we become friendly and close to another person, it increases our empathy.
Throughout my years in school I have seen a general shift in the direction of using more digital technology for class. Over the last 10 years of classes, I have seen worksheets and taking notes in class be replaced by technology such as google classroom and brightspace. Handwriting notes was always the best way for me to retain information. Additionally, to study for a test I would always rewrite my notes by hand. However, today, I am much faster at typing than I am at handwriting. When I write in my notebook I fall behind the teacher’s lecture. Very quickly, at an educational level, many of the techniques that I used to succeed in class are being replaced due to digital technology. There is no denying the assistance that technology provides us with; it is efficient and easy to use, and there is nothing comparable to it. The internet is an example of something that helps me with my schoolwork. If I don’t understand how mitosis works in biology I can watch a video that explains it to me, and stops me from falling behind. Additionally, the internet helps in clarifying definitions of words, or looking for synonyms or antonyms of words to help my writing. Rightfully so, technology usage has skyrocketed in schools and classes; it has made the classes easier and faster flowing. There is no debate on the positive effects that technology has on an educational level.
Digital technology makes us socialize in different ways from conversing that ultimately are not as helpful as a conversation. Nowadays, a lot of socializing comes on social media, which is only possible due to technology. Other ways of communicating with others is through text, email, or a phone call, which obviously are only possible due to digital technology. All of these ways of talking to one another are not the same as face-to-face interactions. 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’s around me, deteriorated. The lack of face-to-face conversations had a toll on the way we talked to people after Covid 19. It’s possible that these conversations lost due to technology will affect the way we apply for a job, or talk to a friend. There is no doubt that I have lost a lot of conversations that I should be having at the hands of digital technology. Its great vastness of information causes distractions, which takes away from doing things that make humans what we are. The decreasing number of conversations we’re having can cause a chain reaction into a decreased level of empathy that we possess for one another. Our ability to communicate has defined us, and we are slowly losing that ability due to the brilliance of technology.
Digital technology is a distracting innovation that can make me less efficient and focused. For example, the great vastness of the technological world can cause me to procrastinate, and complete my work at a slower pace. The brilliance, and vast knowledge of digital technology is a double edged sword; when focused, it can make me more efficient and a better worker, however at certain times, it can make me less productive. Maybe this is more telling about me, and my inability to focus for a long period of time, rather than a fault of digital technology. Nonetheless, I know that there are many people around the world that have a similar relationship in regards to technology’s pros and cons when it comes to distractions. Despite digital technology’s positive aspects in respect to schoolwork, it has had a negative impact on my focus outside of the classroom.
There is no denying that technology has immense assistance for us in a working, and educational space. Its huge range of information allows us to always be able to learn new things. In an educational sense, it has made my life easier and more efficient. It can help me catch up in a class, when I don’t understand something, and it is pivotal in keeping pace with the class in terms of taking notes and studying. In a social sense, however, technology has had effects which are unhelpful, and may reap long lasting effects on me. Technology’s wide range of uses has taken away from talking to the people around me. In some ways it has negatively affected some of my relationships with friends and family. 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. Being too distracted by technology could have massive effects going forward in life that I haven’t realized yet. These lost conversations may negatively affect the way that I speak later on in life? One of the best places to learn and grow is through others, and by sharing experiences. A lack of doing this could cause stagnation, and an inability to grow and improve as people. If there was a way to use the helpful, efficient sides of technology, that aids me in school, while limiting the distracting sides of it that take away from conversations, and make me inefficient outside of the classroom, then that would be the perfect role of technology in my life.
Beckett Shanahan
4/2/24
The Problems of Technology
Just in the past 20 years, technology has taken over the world from having it write essays for us to seeing what it could look like in 30 years. People are even using technology to win and fight wars, we use it in our everyday lives, oftentimes influencing our decisions, and how we learn and present ourselves. Although a lot of good comes from technology, there are side effects that are not beneficial to our society. Many social skills are learned through conversations, like empathy and the ability to confront our problems with other people. Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT, writes an introduction to her book called “The Empathy Diaries” expressing some of her thoughts on how technology limits our potential for conversing and building relationships. She is the director of the initiative on Technology and is a professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology. Turkle believes that the overuse of technology affects our public speaking skills and ability to find a voice for ourselves. We use phones, tvs, computers and many forms of technology everyday, and while it is useful, slowly each day technology is changing the way we think and interact with people, and now more than ever we rely more on our phones and interactions through technology. I believe that technology has benefits, but lack of awareness and overuse of technology cloud our judgment and make it harmful.
Conversating is something we do everyday whether it is a small hello, or small talk. It is
important to understand how to listen, express your feelings, ideas, and to relate while empathizing with others, that is the only way to have a conversation. Turkle makes her ideas clear on this topic many times in the first few pages of the article, but on page 344 paragraph 2, she says “We hide from each other even as we’re constantly connected to each other… It is easy to compose, edit and improve as we revise.” What stood out to me the most in this quote is that last line. Oftentimes we find ourselves in situations deciding whether or not to email and text or meet up and talk to the person in real life, and we have all chosen email and text because it is faster and we do not want to see the other person or have to converse. I have made that decision. Turkle and I agree more times we will choose technology over face to face. This is because generations to come are losing the skills to hold a simple conversation and are just lazy. It is much easier to sit back and send a voice message or text out what you want to say. Not only do I think it is a lack of effort, and interest but sometimes people, myself included, may be scared. We, as humans, want to appear perfect to others and present the best versions of ourselves online. This is not how true and genuine conversation works, we are meant to be flawed and express ourselves as we think of ideas. Today, we have online dating apps, we have snapchat and instagram, we can easily access these peoples accounts, and get a hold and start forming a connection, but when the time comes to maybe meet them in person we cannot do it. We may have portrayed ourselves differently over the phone or the other person may picture and see someone different than how you are in person. You can choose your personality over the phone which many do, and when face to face, and in a discussion, they could totally lose that idea of who they are over the phone, which does not help you grow your skills to talk or to find a personality that allows you to socialize easily. When we all present the “best” versions of ourselves, we are editing and changing our true selves and doing a disservice to our ability to converse. Different perspectives and ideas challenge our peers and make it so new ideas and innovations are formed.
The idea of living a life over the phone and then meeting the other person can be a very big step for someone today and Turkle is very aware of this. Just on the first page she expresses
this on page 343 paragraph 1 by arguing “That while technology enables communication it also encourages a flight from conversation.” I agree with her and have been in this situation before where it was easy for me to leave the conflict. For it to be this easy and maybe to have no emotion when doing this, I think this is an example that Turkle references this idea when talking about loss of empathy and emotion. When talking over the phone and over text, we cannot see the person, we do not understand how they are reacting. This is an important step in forming relationships, and with call and text it is easy to misread and not understand what the other person is saying. By not exactly having that in real life connection, and not seeing emotion through these conversations over text it can be easy to leave the conversation with no empathy. Talking over the phone and text prevents us from showing and having empathy, making those relationships, and really understanding how to talk and have a conversation. Blocking and leaving people, and just talking over the phone, does not allow us to show and receive emotion from the other person in the conversation, it also does not allow us to express our ideas in the way we want.
One way to be good at conversing is practicing. To be patient, and to be emotional, and understand how to relate and share ideas you need to actually understand how to talk to a person and listen, and that only comes with talking to people face to face and interacting anyway but over text or facetime. Turkle understands this, as she writes “ Time in simulation gets children ready for more time in simulation. Time with people teaches children how to be in a
relationship”(Pg346, paragraph 3). After covid hit, I think some people that I knew before were a bit more shy, or had a bit more anxiety going back into public and that’s ok, but it does I think relate to this quote. I was stuck inside all the sophomores here with an ipad, computer, and phone. I had a small group of friends that I barely saw, and when we hung out we had nothing to talk about. All we did was work on our computers or our phones, we were stuck using our devices. And these younger generations are being raised with phones in front of them, and that is all they want to do on the phone or tv. This affects these kids for when the time comes tp publicly speak or introduce themselves on the first day of classes, they are going to have trouble, because the world they know and grew up with is on their screen.
Altirique McElveen
Professor Miller
1/23/24
Conversation is one of the most important and complex forms of communication in human connection. The dynamic exchange of concepts, sentiments, and ideas that strengthens a bond between people that go beyond language. This essay will examine the various dimensions of a conversation examining its purpose, constituent parts, and function in understanding and role in forming bonds. A nonverbal exchange between two or more people is the basic step of a discussion. It serves as a channel for people to communicate and share information with each other. Nonverbal clues such as facial expression, body language, and hand gestures are equal to being more important than spoken words. The sharing of ideas is one of the main goals of a conversation. People exchange ideas, viewpoints, and life experiences through dialogue, weaving a colorful tapestry of varied ideas. The process of sharing the ideas amongst each other can get you guys thinking and end up having a deep talk most people aren’t used to. Intellectual and personal development depend on this interchange of ideas since it exposes people to new ideas and disproves their preconceptions. In a diverse world, talks serve as a link between individuals from various origins, promoting empathy and understanding. Furthermore, talks are essential to the establishment and upkeep of partnerships. The dynamics of a relationship are greatly influenced by the quality of communication, whether in personal or professional situations. Sincere communication introduces intimacy, boosts the trust, and strengthens interpersonal bonds. Instead, a lack of communication or poor communication can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. Which is probably the hardest part because on one end there’s one person pleading to talk and then the other person doesn’t know how to communicate. Personally, having poor communication is way worse than having a lack of communication because having the lack of communication just results in the fact that you speak to the person once in a blue moon and poor communication means someone is talking to you trying to cooperate with you and you don’t know how to respond. Meaningful conversations also have 3 important elements: honest speech, active listening, and awareness of the surroundings. The most important element that’s the most talked about is active listening. It entails listening to the words as well as comprehending the feelings, intents, and subtleties that underlie them. Participants in a discussion must be totally present, involved, and open to the messages being shared in order for it to be successful. People show respect for other viewpoints and validate each other’s experiences by actively listening to each other. The essence of a conversation at its core, complex and dynamic exchange of ideas creates the web of human connection. It facilitates the celebration of diversity, the development of relationships, and the interchange of ideas. Developing the art of conversation becomes crucial as we negotiate the complexity of communication in both traditional and digital contexts in order to promote understanding, reconcile differences, and build a more compassionate and linked society. A conversation’s dynamics and nature are also influenced by the environment in which it takes place. Depending on the environment and the dynamics between the participants, conversations can be either informal or formal. While informal interactions among friends may be marked by spontaneity and familiarity, professional conversations may follow specific etiquette and rules. The conversation’s tone, vocabulary, and content are all shaped by the context, which also affects how people express themselves and understand what they hear. The environment of discussions has changed in the digital age due to technology. Social networking, instant messaging, and virtual communication platforms have increased the opportunities to engage with people outside of your actual location. With these technology advancements making communication easier, they also come with backfire. Not being able to withstand these issues, it is no denying that technology has transformed conversations and opened up new channels. Beyond the mere exchange of information, a discussion has deeper importance. It is a process for promoting collaboration, reaching agreements, and resolving conflicts. Giving citizens a platform to express their opinions, taking part in political discourse, and influence decision making. Talks foster critical thinking, curiosity, and knowledge sharing between students and teachers in the field of education. Concluding this, it’s very clear that we’re at the highest point of our issues of human interaction. Hopefully they can pass down the importance to the upbringing generation because it builds relationships, promotes understanding, and acts as a bridge to unite people. Developing strong communication skills from an early age might help adults resolve conflicts more calmly. Also they must know that at an early age because in school you do a lot of interactive group projects when you start so it’ll be magnificent if they all were able to talk amongst each other. Understanding the dynamics inherent in communication is real important. Meaningful discussions have parts when it goes beyond the words exchanged. These conversations can be crucial for molding our perspectives, enhancing the life experiences, and creating connections that go beyond linguistic boundaries. Promoting open-mindedness and tolerance toward different viewpoints creates an environment where everyone feels heard and they’re respected. Funding communication in education can mean funding a bright future where people will be more compassionate and united.
Wesley Chandler
Prof. Miller
1/21/24
Me and technology have a very interesting relationship you can say the least. Since my time here on Earth I can say that technology has done a lot of good for me, but I can also say it can be a pain in the butt. You see, for me it all started when I was a little kid and my uncle would watch me when my parents went to work. He would always had the latest playstation system and all I can remember growing up is sitting on his sofa and playing Madden and WWE all day with him. Eventually I got hooked like a kid on candy and begged my parents to get me a system for my birthday. Sadly my parents didn’t get me a gaming system, but my uncle did. Ever since then my life has always been surrounded by technology. Luckily for me my parents always kept me in sports all my life, so I never wanted to be on my systems all day. Whether it was going to football or basketball practice, going to the gym with my trainer, or even going to a friend’s house, I was the kid who actually liked being outside. Now sadly I can’t speak for the people I’ve grown up with.
The common use of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices has come in an era of constant connectivity and the urge to find information in an instant . While technology has given us a much faster way to communicate with our peers and an unlimited access to knowledge, it has also led us to many common concerns about the attention spans of individuals. For me technology has personally helped me in ways you couldn’t imagine. From an educational standpoint technology has helped get work done at a faster rate, help me study for my upcoming exams, and even help me with information if I’m struggling with a certain topic. Besides school though I can say technology can be just as addicting as it can be useful. I could go on and on about how many times I have been on my phone for hours either scrolling through TikTok or me watching YouTube videos until I go to sleep. Rotting my brain into the screen as if I’m being hypnotized.
Technology has also helped our community with communication as well. With the internet at our fingertips, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources available instantaneously. Online learning platforms, educational websites, and digital libraries provide opportunities for continuous learning and skill development, democratizing access to education and empowering individuals to pursue their intellectual interests and aspirations. For me I am close with my family and if I was to not call my mother she would lose it. Allowing us to either message or call us has helped her know I’m safe. Not only that it allows to me to talk to my friends from back home when I miss them as well.
One of the most pressing issues is the pervasive nature of digital distractions and information overload. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and the allure of binge-watching can lead to decreased productivity, attention deficits, and even addiction-like behaviors, undermining our ability to focus, concentrate, and engage in deep, meaningful activities. Whenever I get a message notification or feel my phone vibrate I get an urge to look at who it’s from so fast. Not only that I know some people who own Apple Watches just so they can see the notification they got.
Reflecting on my own relationship with technology, I recognize its profound impact on my daily life, both positively and negatively. On one hand, technology enhances my productivity, creativity, and connectivity. I use digital tools and apps to organize my tasks, communicate with friends and colleagues, and pursue my hobbies and interests. Technology enables me to access a wealth of information, resources, and entertainment options, enriching my life in myriad ways. Could I be better at being on my phone, honestly yes but I can say I’m happy that I try to prioritize other things rather than just me only being on it.
In conclusion, technology has become an integral part of modern society, reshaping how we live, work, and relate to one another. Its transformative potential is undeniable, offering unprecedented opportunities for progress, innovation, and connectivity. However, we must also confront the challenges and complexities that accompany technological advancements, from digital distractions and information overload to privacy concerns and ethical dilemmas.
Wesley Chandler
Prof. Miller
1/21/24
Me and technology have a very interesting relationship you can say the least. Since my time here on Earth I can say that technology has done a lot of good for me, but I can also say it can be a pain in the butt. You see, for me it all started when I was a little kid and my uncle would watch me when my parents went to work. He would always had the latest playstation system and all I can remember growing up is sitting on his sofa and playing Madden and WWE all day with him. Eventually I got hooked like a kid on candy and begged my parents to get me a system for my birthday. Sadly my parents didn’t get me a gaming system, but my uncle did. Ever since then my life has always been surrounded by technology. Luckily for me my parents always kept me in sports all my life, so I never wanted to be on my systems all day. Whether it was going to football or basketball practice, going to the gym with my trainer, or even going to a friend’s house, I was the kid who actually liked being outside. Now sadly I can’t speak for the people I’ve grown up with.
The common use of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices has come in an era of constant connectivity and the urge to find information in an instant . While technology has given us a much faster way to communicate with our peers and an unlimited access to knowledge, it has also led us to many common concerns about the attention spans of individuals. For me technology has personally helped me in ways you couldn’t imagine. From an educational standpoint technology has helped get work done at a faster rate, help me study for my upcoming exams, and even help me with information if I’m struggling with a certain topic. Besides school though I can say technology can be just as addicting as it can be useful. I could go on and on about how many times I have been on my phone for hours either scrolling through TikTok or me watching YouTube videos until I go to sleep. Rotting my brain into the screen as if I’m being hypnotized.
Technology has also helped our community with communication as well. With the internet at our fingertips, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources available instantaneously. Online learning platforms, educational websites, and digital libraries provide opportunities for continuous learning and skill development, democratizing access to education and empowering individuals to pursue their intellectual interests and aspirations. For me I am close with my family and if I was to not call my mother she would lose it. Allowing us to either message or call us has helped her know I’m safe. Not only that it allows to me to talk to my friends from back home when I miss them as well.
One of the most pressing issues is the pervasive nature of digital distractions and information overload. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and the allure of binge-watching can lead to decreased productivity, attention deficits, and even addiction-like behaviors, undermining our ability to focus, concentrate, and engage in deep, meaningful activities. Whenever I get a message notification or feel my phone vibrate I get an urge to look at who it’s from so fast. Not only that I know some people who own Apple Watches just so they can see the notification they got.
Reflecting on my own relationship with technology, I recognize its profound impact on my daily life, both positively and negatively. On one hand, technology enhances my productivity, creativity, and connectivity. I use digital tools and apps to organize my tasks, communicate with friends and colleagues, and pursue my hobbies and interests. Technology enables me to access a wealth of information, resources, and entertainment options, enriching my life in myriad ways. Could I be better at being on my phone, honestly yes but I can say I’m happy that I try to prioritize other things rather than just me only being on it.
In conclusion, technology has become an integral part of modern society, reshaping how we live, work, and relate to one another. Its transformative potential is undeniable, offering unprecedented opportunities for progress, innovation, and connectivity. However, we must also confront the challenges and complexities that accompany technological advancements, from digital distractions and information overload to privacy concerns and ethical dilemmas.