The perception of reality varies for each individual throughout space and time. In Alison Gopnik’s short story, “Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend?” she elaborately discusses the importance of counterfactual thinking and imagination. Gopnik explains how the ability to pretend influences decision making and the development of modern technology. Sherry Turkle’s story, “Alone Together,” is an in depth example of how advances in technology are shaping society. The exposure to modern technology and new knowledge of the technology creates a barrier between individuals. This barrier is not only between generations, but between people who have experienced technology in different ways. What is considered normal or a reality, for those who have …show more content…
Some people argue that the purpose of an object is not how real it is real, but how efficiently and genuinely it symbolizes what it is trying to represent. Turkle describes a situation when she was visiting the Darwin exhibition with real tortoises from the Galapogos Islands. While watching the inactive tortoises miserably sit in the exhibit, a twelve year old girl suggests a robot turtle would be more practical than a live one (Turkle 265). The twelve year old girl reasoned that mechanical animals would be more realistic than real animals because robot animal can be programmed impersonate how the animals act in their natural habitat, whereas the real animals in the exhibit did nothing at all. The young girl advocates that having robots in place of animals is adequate and “for what the turtles do, you didn’t have to have to lives ones (Turkle 266). The girl is suggesting that pretending mechanical animals are real will better exemplify the real animals. Gopnik would imply that this is because, “[children] spend hours pretending, but they know that they are pretending” (Gopnik 171). In this scenario the children understand to pretend and appreciate the authenticity of the robots actions that represent the real animals. The adults in the story did not understand why the children were not amused by the live animals. The children thought it would be more realistic to have a robot portray how the animals truly act in their habitat rather than watch them do nothing in an exhibit. The adults found the realness of the animals to be fascinating because their perception on the significance of authenticity is different from the children. The different generations have different view points on whether realism or accuracy is more important. Gopnik would agree that this is because people are able to use causal knowledge to imagine how a situation could be. Not only is the perception of reality
A. Introductory statement: A research article by Sherry Turkle titled, The Documented Life, discusses how modern technology has caused us to put our lives on hold.
Technology is one of the most important things in everyone’s life. Technology improves every day. in regards to today’s youth, they were born with all the new technological inventions as opposed to our parents. In “Quality Time, Redefined” by Alex Williams, published in the New York Times, the author talks about the positive and negative effects on technology. I enjoyed this reading because it related my personal day to day life. Even though some Americans acknowledge that technology is a part of their everyday life, they do not see the negative outcome of technology, they are blinded only by the positive aspects.
Through the view of Subjective Idealism, objects are made real when a mind perceives its qualities. Berkeley claims that when an object is perceived, its qualities are the parts being perceived because qualities are compatible with the senses; sight, smell, touch, taste, and sou...
She states, “On the contrary, teenagers report discomfort when they are without their cellphones” (240). Turkle explains that without their only source of feeling connected, teenagers feel anxious and alone. Teens see technology as their only source of connection with the rest of the world. In addition, without technology, teenagers seem uncertain as to how to respond in certain situations, creating a much greater problem than just the feeling of loneliness. It affects their social skills and ability to interact with others in various surroundings. The desire to try new things and meet new people is also affected, because teens are so occupied with the social life they have created through technology. It's their comfort zone. Furthermore, in her story, Turkle expands on the term of the collaborative self. She does so when she states, “Again, technology, on its own, does not cause this new way of relating to our emotions and other people” (242). Turkle describes that technology is not to blame for the way people connect with others in the world today. She explains it is the responsibility of the individuals using the technology to use it appropriately. It is a great learning tool. However, too much technology may cause harm. It is up to the individual as to how and when to use it. For example, the internet is a great resource, but used in excess may cause more harm than good. In some
Are technology and the media shedding the very fabric of the existence we have known? As technology and the media spread their influence, the debate over the inherent advantages and disadvantages intensifies. Although opinions vary widely on the subject, two writers offer similar views: Professor Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, in her article “Can You Hear Me Now” and Naomi Rockler-Gladen, who formerly taught media studies at Colorado State University, with her article “Me Against the Media: From the Trenches of a Media Lit Class.” Turkle asserts that technology has changed how people develop and view themselves, while at the same time affecting their concepts of time management and focus (270). Similarly, Rockler-Gladen believes media and its inherent advertising have had a profound effect on the values and thinking of the public (284). I could not agree more with Professor Turkle and Ms. Rockler-Gladen; the effects technology and media have worried and annoyed me for quite so time. The benefits of technology and media are undeniable, but so then are the flaws. People are beginning to shift their focus away from the physical world to the virtual world as they find it easier and more comfortable. The intended purpose of technology and media was to be a tool to improve the quality of life, not shackles to tie people to their devices. I no longer recognize this changed world and long for the simple world of my youth.
As a future educator, I have reflected on how my own personal experiences have formed me into the person that I am today, and how I can use my experiences to help my future students. I have also reflected on how I can information about family systems as well as risk and resiliency to better understand families that I will work with in the future, as well as how children with special needs impact a family’s structure. I believe all of these components are essential for teacher, student, and family collaboration and success.
Technology is the ultimate tool to find almost anything that you are curious about. Technology can be used as a great tool for learning new things, but at the same time technology can be used in a negative manner. In the two stories “The Veldt” and “In Another Country” technology is used in the sense for making life much worse. The authors of the two short stories use technology to show that it is detrimental to society because it keeps society from being together.
Sherry Turkle’s article in The New York Times “The Flight From Conversation”, she disputes that we need to put down the technology and rehabilitate our ability to converse with other human beings because we are replacing deep relationships with actual people for casual encounters on technology. Turkle tries to convince young and middle age individuals who are so enthralled by the technology that they are losing the ability to communicate in a public setting. Sherry Turkle unsuccessfully persuades her audience to put down the technology and engage with others in public through her strong logos appeal that overpowers her weak logos and doesn’t reliably represent herself and her research.
People all around agree that technology is changing how we think, but is it changing us for the better? Clive Thompson definitely thinks so and this book is his collection of why that is. As an avid fiction reader I wasn’t sure this book would captivate me, but the 352 pages seemingly flew past me. The book is a whirlwind of interesting ideas, captivating people, and fascinating thoughts on how technology is changing how we work and think.
To start off with, Turkle vividly describes how robots are used as a substitute for other people or things and help imagine robots in every day life. My Real Baby was noted as an example, which quickly turned into My Real Babysitter. My Real Babysitter was an idea formed from the idea that children are left alone all too often and babysitters are sometimes hard to come by in cases of emergencies. This robotic babysitter would replace the human version, integrating itself into daily life. The children explained that there is only so much a robot babysitter would do and it wouldn’t create an even playing field between human and robotic babysitters. Turkle came to the conclusion that children with lively and creative babysitters would rather keep theirs and children with boring babysitters would prefer the robotic version. The AIBO, a robotic dog, was also used as an example in the novel. In the case of eight-year-old Zara, she says that with a teddy bear you have to put in the work to create the teddy bears thoughts and feeling, but, with the AIBO, it already thinks what it wants and is expressing. Also, if the robotic dog is bugging you, ...
This paper will discuss My Virtual Life child development. I will go into detail how the theoretical framework and parental decision making I used with my child from birth to 18 years of age influenced my decision making and my virtual child’s life. I will discuss how I feel the theories I used and the decisions made had an impact on why my child is in the position he is, at 18-years of age.
The world is full of imagination, and the imagination will never stop; however, imagines can bring human beings into both authentic and inauthentic life. People imagine things through technology and counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual thinking makes people consider the possibilities and predict outcomes for the future, which brings human beings into authentic lives. Technologies have made people’s lives become much easier, which also make the humans’ relationships become more distant from each other, and create environments for the inauthentic life. This concept can be seen in both “Alone Together”, by Sherry Turkle, and “Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend?” by Alison Gopnik. In “Alone Together”, Turkle addresses the ideas of the
Turkle’s stance on this topic is emotionally engaging as she uses rhetoric in a very powerful approach, while also remaining unbiased. The article flows very smoothly in a beautifully structured format. The author maintains a composition that would appeal to the interest of any sort of audience. She effectively questions the reader’s views on the negative consequences technology has on social interactions. Her work is inspiring, it sheds light on the dark hole society has dug for themselves, a state of isolation through communication in the digital age; this is a wake up
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has become an essential tool in human life. Technology impacted lives in society by offering a way to “multitask” by using two or more technological devices. Technology and internet offers the facility to do homework faster through Google, while listening to music on Pandora or YouTube. Sometimes, you can even talk on the phone while you listen to music and do homework. All you need in order to multitask is to have all the technological devices needed. Many people consider technology as a positive change in our lives, because of the facilities it offers us. However, many other persons, like Christine Rosen, think that technology instead of improving our lives, it has only changed it negatively. Technology, in fact has provided us with many facilities, however such facilities are affecting our interactions with the physical space.
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features.” (James Surowiecki) Whether or not is known, technology has become too heavily relied on. It is replacing important social factors such as, life skills and communication skills. While technology is created to be beneficial, there must be a point in time where we draw the line. Once face-to-face conversations begin to extinguish, this means that there is too much focus on the “screen culture”. In her writing, “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle talks