Ross Douthat's Essay 'The Virtues Of Reality'

1134 Words3 Pages

“You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.” These words, spoken by the late author, Walker Percy, sum up the attitude that most people of the older generations hold about teens and young adults today. They also serve to support one of the central points that Ross Douthat speaks about in his article, The Virtues of Reality. The main idea of the article is that, although the large increase in technological use among younger generations has made youth culture safer and more sensible, it has also made young adults less responsible and more lazy. My opinion on the subject is that technological expansion and …show more content…

Douthat himself agrees that attempts to keep technological use to a minimum will likely never work for the entirety of the country due to trends in the marketplace. His mother’s words further support my argument as she states that, unless there is a religious or personal motivation, people as a whole will not decline their use of technology simply because they’re being told to do so. What this means is that no matter how many times we try to reduce technological use in the younger generations, it is extremely rare that it will work in the long run and therefore, we should focus on emphasizing the good that technology does for people. There is no denying the fact that there are some detrimental effects that technology has on society, but I truly feel that the benefits outweigh the losses. Technology has aided in making this generation practice safer and healthier habits and if it makes them content, who are we to oppose? Furthermore, Douthat argued that younger people have been getting lazier due to their increased technological use, something that I disagree with. Kate Holmes, author of the book, The Millennial Next Door [Revealed]: How To Be Financially Successful in Your 20’s, stated something that I agree with, saying that “what makes millennials so unique is often what gets them labeled lazy by older generations. They don’t want to be in an office from 9-5. They don’t want to work at times they find themselves to be the least productive. They want to set their own hours and are in a position with technology and the Internet to do exactly that.” What she’s saying is that just because they have a different approach than what is considered standard does not make

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