Where are our Morals?
Wendell Berry’s essay on his view of computers was an interesting one that comes from a not-so-common perspective. He mentioned strong points like the cost of owning a computer, why strip mining is bad on the environment, and his wife’s important role in his life to identify the problems with computers. I believe that he wrote this essay to persuade the reader they need to become less hooked to the electric corporations as well as to depend less on energy sources such as coal. Berry was also trying to convince readers that writing better and more efficiently has no ties with computers. He relies on logic when speaking of the direct dependence on coal that the electric corporation has.
Berry is writing for the people of
When he mentions his typewriter being as good as it was in 1956, when it was bought new, he implied there is no need for innovations of today. This was appealing to our emotions towards history. He then went on to make his argument of strip mining coal and high costs of electronics. He also implied that giving in and buying a computer would mean replacing his beloved wife. These are two of the reasons that Berry’s argument was triggered. He uses these personal experiences to further prove his point on
He states he has several good reasons and then continues on with a paragraph for each. He then stated his take on environmental issues and followed it with his solution. Berry explains why he does not like the electric corporations. After that he goes into how they do not provide the things that really matter to him to keep the paper running more smoothly. He closes with “My final and perhaps my best reason for not owning a computer is that I do not wish to fool myself.” This helps to put him in the consumer’s shoes. It attempts to get on a more personal level with the reader. However, this piece could use more evidence from outside sources. It does not demonstrate many facts, quotes from authorities, or even
The goal is comfort and leisure, and Berry feels that this is the reason for the downfall of the agricultural culture. He believes that hard work and pride in workmanship is more important than material goods and money. This is by no means a perfect society. The people had often been violent and wasteful in the use of land of each other. Its present ills have already taken root in it.
...s well as to show the dangers of mind control. Crichton didn’t show bias, as he stated both the dangers of mind control and how people need mind control, otherwise we’d be “hopelessly lost without it” (Crichton, 227). He also shows both positive and negative views on technology and computers through his characters. Through Harry Benson, who believes machines will take over the world, shows how harmful certain scenarios could be if we tamper with technology too much; on the other hand, through characters like Gerhard and Richards, who love working with computers, show how beneficial computers are to humans. Gerhard makes a statement that computers never made mistakes, and that “they were never wrong...it always turned out, in the end, to be a human error” (Crichton, 97-98). I really like that Michael Crichton wasn’t biased, and how he showed both sides of the story.
In Wendell Berry’s “Pray Without Ceasing”, there are many characters described by grandmother Margaret that would be a positive model for the way we might live our lives. Many have role model worthy qualities and characteristics about them, but the one that stands out the most to me is Martha Elizabeth Coulter. Martha Elizabeth is the daughter of Thad Coulter, the antagonist of the story. She stands out to me because of her love, patience, thoughtfulness, determination, and her ability to forgive. These great characteristics are shown in a couple different parts of the story.
Berry became a representative of the teenage generation, even though he recorded his first single at the age of 29. His experience growing up, though he was almost 15 years older than many of his fans, was similar enough to the suburban experience that he could easily identify with the restless attitude of white middle class teens. Berry was "a city kid from St. Louis . . . not rooted in the rural past as were the country blues artists at Chess." (DeWitt, 140) The joys of fast cars, young love, and a rockin' beat that Berry prized as a teenager did not diminish with his age.
He gives many examples to talk about how social media change our lives. When reading, I see many examples of the interviewers that are similar to my daily, so I think Thompson’s writing is very persuasive. Also, I can feel Thompson’s attitude that he agrees that social media make people easier, but is still concerned that social media will waste too many time and violate privacy. Thompson follows the logical argument style, giving examples and then talking effects. Through the logical argument style, Thompson can let readers picture their experience of social media, and lead them to think about the effects that social media bring them, therefore make his statement more convincing. In Is Google Making Us Stupid, Carr tells us his concern through scientific details and examples. I can feel his attitude that truly concern about our thinking ability that has been harmed by online reading. He also uses logical argument style, but he put more effort on the scientific analysis. This argument style can let readers get to know the subject in a scientific way and let the essay more
Bradbury saw little use in the technology being created in his time, he avoided airplanes, driving automobiles, and eBooks. Bradbury did not even allow his book to be sold and read on eBooks until 2011. If one takes away books, then one takes away imagination. If one takes away imagination, then one takes away creativity. If one takes away creativity, then one takes away new ideas for technology and the advancement of the world.
“With every new innovation, cultural prophets bickered over whether we were facing a technological apocalypse or a utopia” (Thompson 9). This quote states that with every significant break-through with technology, people contemplate whether it will have a positive or negative effect on mankind. Technology allows for external memory sources, connections to databases, and it allow easy communication between people. Thompson then directly counters Carr’s hypothesis and states that “[c]ertainly, if we are intellectually lazy or prone to cheating and shortcuts, or if we simply don’t pay much attention to how our tools affect the way we work, then yes - we become… over reliant” (Thompson 18). In his opinion, “[s]o yes, when we’re augmenting ourselves, we can be smarter… But our digital tools can also leave us smarter even when we’re not actively using them” (Thompson
Then pathos comes into play where he starts getting his emotions evolved. He talks a little more about why he doesn’t want to get a computer another reason being that if he got a new computer he would have to get rid of his old computer meaning he would have to get rid of his wife, the one that helped him and was his critic. He feels that he would give up something he treasures and that is enough for him to not want to get something new or that might benefit him. He doesn’t want to fool himself into thinking that writing with a computer is easier than writing with a
Finally, he realizes technology makes people lose the ability to create happiness. As a result, although technology helps people make better decisions and improves their living conditions, it makes people lose the creativity and imagination to achieve happiness.
The Tuskegee institute was opened on July 4, 1881. The institute was formed because a former slave owner named George Campbell; and a former slave named Lewis Adams. The article states, “What would Adams want, Foster asked, in exchange for his (Adams) securing the black vote for him (Foster). Adams could well have asked for money, secured the support of blacks voters and life would have gone on as usual. But he didn’t. Instead, Adams told Foster he wanted an educational institution - a school - for his people. Col. Foster carried out his promise and with the assistance of his colleague in the House of Representatives, Arthur L. Brooks, legislation was passed for the establishment of a Negro Normal School in Tuskegee” (Tuskegee University).
Baldwin makes people see the flaws in our society by comparing it to Europe. Whether we decide to take it as an example to change to, or follow our American mindset and take this as the biased piece that it is and still claim that we are the best country in the world, disregard his words and continue with our strive for
Relating back to my thesis, it seems like the use of electronic devices is something that is a definitely a growing issue. And while Carr does not have all the evidence in the world to prove his point, he does have enough to back up what he is saying. Carr is able to use a relatable topic to help draw discussion on something that may be an issue in the future. Also, another strong point in this article, is the fact that almost everyone can relate to having a shortened attention span when reading for long periods of time. It is also evident that the strong points outweigh the weak in this article. Nicholas Carr has many strong points in his article. He successfully proves that what he has to say is worthy of his readers time, and that maybe we should all take caution to how much time we spend on the
“It encourages affirmation or rejection of our feelings” (Rosen). “The tools we use to think change the way in which we think” (Turkle). This point that Sherry Turkle made in her article is true, in a way. Computers do things for us and for us, that is also true. Some people like to blame technology for a lot of things and they could be in the right or in the wrong for it.
There has always been controversy as to whether computers hurt the way people think. Computers have hurt society more than it has helped. Although computers have benefits such as helping you for school work in making quicker decisions for you, and it makes it easier to do essays by using word; it has also hurt society because it makes us become lazier, makes online dating dangerous, and makes people addicted to the Internet.
The statement, which says, “depending on computer” has been a controversial issue since it was invented. Some people believe that computer has unpleasant effects on people’s lives, such as destroying social communication, affecting people’s health, and limiting their creativity. On other hand, some people think that computer has presented a lot of benefits on people’s lives. For instance, it has developed education, increased knowledge about the universe, and reduced time working. In my opinion, I believe strongly that a positive side has a right presenting because computer has provided a lot of benefits on our life such as enhancing many ways to develop education, contributing to discover and determine different planets, and making life easier.