An Analysis Of According To Emily Yoffe's 'Seeking'

The Pursuit of Happiness? According to Emily Yoffe’s essay “Seeking,” pursuing trivial information is something people cannot stop doing. Yoffe posits people become addicted to the feeling of receiving a text message, a new tweet, an Instagram post, or other meaningless multimedia facets (Yoffe 599). She cites an experiment in which scientists put an electrode in a specific part of a rats brain, and when given the option to fire the electrode the rat would do so until it collapsed: scientists believed (and some still believe) that this was the pleasure center of the brain (Yoffe 599). Yoffe believes social media gives us a similar buzz. According to Dr. Panksepp, “Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems” (Yoffe 599). Yoffe explains this is why animals in captivity would rather have to search for food than have it delivered to them. For humans, however, this can be

She of often cites Dr. Panksepp who “has spent decades mapping the emotional systems of the brain he believes are shared by all mammals” (Yoffe 599). She does use pathos to an extent as well. The author often points out that her audience falls victim to these electronic traps as well. She also somewhat uses ethos by citing reliable, credible sources. Yoffe, however, does not weigh both sides of the discussion. She does not consider that perhaps this addiction is harness able for good. Yoffe has written for Slate Magazine, and The Atlantic (Don’t Call). During her work as Dear Prudence she worked as a human guinea pig, answered questions ranging from dirty breasts to sex offenders (Don’t Call). She is very prestigious, as well as credible. Nonetheless, she is not an expert in the field of neurobiology. However, this does not negate the points she makes in her essay, because she draws upon experts and studies for her information, and because it is easy to observe this phenomenon in the real