400 word draft

Technology’s impact on today’s society represents itself predominantly through the social and mental behaviors of the younger generations.Sherry Turkle writes in “The Empathy Diaries” about how young children lack genuine social connections, even purposely preventing them with the use of technology. In the article “In Defense of Distraction,” Sam Anderson writes about attention spans and how addiction to technology affects us.
“In Defense of Distraction” Sam Anderson
“Everyone still pays some form of attention all the time, of course it’s basically impossible for humans not to but the currency in which we pay it, and the goods we get in exchange have changed dramatically.” (pg. 1 para. 2) How people live their everyday lives over the years has changed so drastically over the years, especially recently with how advanced technology has become. Even avoiding the distraction becomes difficult because where before internet was not used for education and work, it often is now. technology being used so often for entertainment is what makes this distraction from paying attention so present in society because of how easy the distraction is to access at any minute of the day.
“Not ready to blame his restless attention entirely on a faulty willpower.” (pg.7 para. 4) He refers to skinners experiment and then includes, “it would be like requiring employees to take a few hits of opium throughout the day, then being surprised when it becomes a problem.” What he is saying is that the internet addiction is real however, requiring it to be used for school and work still gives people that addictive feeling. so, expecting them to lay off the usage at home is not a realistic thing to do.
“The empathy Diaries” Sherry Turkle
“They make acquaintances, but their connections seem superficial.” (pg.345 para 1) This goes along with what I was saying with the previous passage people go on their phones sometimes to purposely prevent these connections. While I agree to a certain extent, people still have the choice on whether they want to make a genuine connection to the person they are befriending. I feel like the phone blocking the connection of friendship making them superficial is true in cases where the person might just not want to be friends and it’s easier than just saying something or ignoring. Which seems a little empathetic to me.
Turkle talks about people avoiding conversation. Having a screen helps people do so. “We hide from each other even though we’re constantly connected.” (pg. 344 para 2) If I am put in an awkward situation or am near people I don’t want to be for whatever reason, I go on my phone to look busy. It’s like a crutch to lean on, it’s always there and usually if you look busy you aren’t bothered. It can be helpful in some situations, but it also prevents people from making genuine connections.

800 word draft

Technology’s impact on today’s society represents itself predominantly through the social and mental behaviors of the younger generations. Sherry Turkle writes in “The Empathy Diaries” about how young children lack genuine social connections, even purposely preventing them with the use of technology. In the article “In Defense of Distraction,” Sam Anderson writes about attention spans and how addiction to technology affects us. I do not agree with every claim that these authors make however I think it is important to consider what they are saying.

I believe children to be less empathetic than in the past however I do not believe that it is something that they completely lack. In the case of Anderson, I agree that technology is a huge distraction however, he focuses only on the fact that it provides negative Distraction. I think technology is mostly a negative distraction too us but not one hundred percent of the time as Anderson claims.

“In Defense of Distraction” Sam Anderson

Technology is unavoidable.  Whether you like it or not technology is used in all work and education environments. This makes it extremely difficult for people to keep their focus but, “Everyone still pays some form of attention all the time, of course it’s basically impossible for humans not to but the currency in which we pay it, and the goods we get in exchange have changed dramatically.” (pg. 1 para. 2) How people live their everyday lives over the years has changed so drastically over the years, especially recently with how advanced technology has become. Even avoiding the distraction becomes difficult because where before internet was not used for education and work, it often is now. technology being used so often for entertainment is what makes this distraction from paying attention so present in society because of how easy the distraction is to access at any minute of the day. When you are working or at school there is always technology in front of you. In the back of your mind, you now know you have the option to quickly check social media, answer a phone call or text, start scrolling for just a minute, or even googling an answer and getting caught up in it. Most say to just have self-control however with addiction to the internet being a completely real thing, Anderson is,

“Not ready to blame his restless attention entirely on a faulty willpower.” (pg.7para.4). He refers to skinners experiment and then includes, “it would be like requiring employees to take a few hits of opium throughout the day, then being surprised when it becomes a problem.” internet addiction is real however, requiring it to be used for school and work still gives people that addictive feeling. They can’t even take a break professionally so, expecting them to not get distracted by it or lay off the usage at home is not a realistic thing to do. So while it is a distraction and in negative ways, it is a extremely almost impossible one to get rid of.

“The empathy Diaries” Sherry Turkle

Turkle claims that children lack empathy due to technology. I see that children do not lack empathy it is just made easier to have none. Phones don’t have feelings, people do. It is easy to be rude or ignore someone over the phone. If someone asks you something over the phone it is easier to be brutally honest because you aren’t saying it to a person’s face. However, if you were to tell a child to say what they said over text to someone’s face they will not be able to. This is because they can now physically see how it makes the person feel and they can’t just push it off as a situation to deal with later.

“They make acquaintances, but their connections seem superficial.” (pg.345 para 1) This goes along with what I was saying with the previous passage people go on their phones sometimes to purposely prevent these connections. While I agree to a certain extent, people still have the choice on whether they want to make a genuine connection to the person they are befriending. I feel like the phone blocking the connection of friendship making them superficial is true in cases where the person might just not want to be friends and it’s easier than just saying something or ignoring. Which seems a little empathetic to me.

Turkle talks about people avoiding conversation. Having a screen helps people do so. “We hide from each other even though we’re constantly connected.” (pg. 344 para 2) If I am put in an awkward situation or am near people I don’t want to be for whatever reason, I go on my phone to look busy. It’s like a crutch to lean on, it’s always there and usually if you look busy you aren’t bothered. It can be helpful in some situations, but it also prevents people from making genuine connections.

1000 word draft

Technology’s impact on today’s society represents itself predominantly through the social and mental behaviors of the younger generations. Sherry Turkle writes in “The Empathy Diaries” about how young children lack genuine social connections, even purposely preventing them with the use of technology. In the article “In Defense of Distraction,” Sam Anderson writes about attention spans and how addiction to technology affects us. I do not agree with every claim that these authors make however I think it is important to consider what they are saying. I believe children to be less empathetic than in the past however I do not believe that it is something that they completely lack. In the case of Anderson, I agree that technology is a huge distraction however, he focuses only on the fact that it provides negative Distraction. I think technology is mostly a negative distraction to us but not one hundred percent of the time as Anderson claims.

Technology is unavoidable.  Whether you like it or not, technology is used in all work and education environments. This makes it extremely difficult for people to keep their focus but, “Everyone still pays some form of attention all the time, of course it’s basically impossible for humans not to but the currency in which we pay it, and the goods we get in exchange have changed dramatically.” (pg. 1 para. 2) How people live their everyday lives over the years has changed so drastically over the years, especially recently with how advanced technology has become. Even avoiding the distraction becomes difficult because where before internet was not used for education and work, it often is now. technology being used so often for entertainment is what makes this distraction from paying attention so present in society because of how easy the distraction is to access at any minute of the day. When you are working or at school there is always technology in front of you. In the back of your mind, you now know you have the option to quickly check social media, answer a phone call or text, start scrolling for just a minute, or even googling an answer and getting caught up in it. Most say to just have self-control however with addiction to the internet being a completely real thing, Anderson is,

“Not ready to blame his restless attention entirely on a faulty willpower.” (pg.7para.4). He refers to skinners experiment and then includes, “it would be like requiring employees to take a few hits of opium throughout the day, then being surprised when it becomes a problem.” internet addiction is real however, requiring it to be used for school and work still gives people that addictive feeling. They can’t even take a break professionally so, expecting them to not get distracted by it or lay off the usage at home is not a realistic thing to do. So, while it is a distraction and in negative ways, it is an extremely almost impossible one to get rid of.

Turkle claims that children lack empathy due to technology. I see that children do not lack empathy it is just made easier to have none. Phones don’t have feelings, people do. It is easy to be rude or ignore someone over the phone. If someone asks you something over the phone it is easier to be brutally honest because you aren’t saying it to a person’s face. However, if you were to tell a child to say what they said over text to someone’s face they will not be able to. This is because they can now physically see how it makes the person feel and they can’t just push it off as a situation to deal with later. Turkle then makes the case that, “They make acquaintances, but their connections seem superficial.” (pg.345 para 1) this goes along with what I was saying, they can make connections if they truly want and must however, people go on their phones sometimes to purposely prevent these connections. While I agree to a certain extent, people still have the choice on whether they want to make a genuine connection to the person they are befriending. I feel like the phone blocking the connection of friendship making them superficial is true in cases where the person might just not want to be friends and it’s easier than just saying something or ignoring. Which to me doesn’t seem like a lack of empathy but just an easy way around feeling sorry or bad. This is because again the most important thing to remember is a phone doesn’t have feelings people do. It’s much harder to feel empathetic towards something with no feelings. I think people can just forget that the phone has a person behind it and no matter what it still is going to affect them. This factor also helps people avoid conversation, which Turkle also talks about. People use technology as an easy out “We hide from each other even though we’re constantly connected.” (pg. 344 para 2) If you don’t want to talk to someone face to face in an argument, it is much easier to just send a text. This is not the best way out, but it is the easy way. Even in situations where you feel uncomfortable like If I am put in an awkward situation or am near people I don’t want to be for whatever reason, I go on my phone to look busy. It’s like a crutch to lean on, it’s always there and usually if you look busy you aren’t bothered. For example, if you’re in public and someone goes to approach you that is making you uncomfortable, you can pretend to be on the phone. When I walk to my car at night, I always make sure to be on the phone with someone and although that is preventing connections with people in that moment of my life it is the smart and safe decision to make. It can be helpful in some situations, but it also prevents people from making genuine connections.

Final draft