I believe that today I had an epiphany in class, it may be that I have just caved on my morals surrounding this idea of “technology” or the “digital world” but either way I think I have come to a new understanding.
As we talked in class today about written love letters vs emails, or pounding a nail in with a stone rather than a hammer, Prof. Prichard said something along the lines of
“why make things difficult. If we have access to these new and improved methods of communicating then why not use them?”
Unfortunately I must agree. I suppose what would the reason be for making our lives more difficult. We are constantly trying to find shortcuts to complete anything that needs to be done in life, so why would this be any different. I presume everyone would much rather use a hammer verse a rock, I mean lets be honest, why punish yourself. And after all, as our genius prof brought about to my mind, we are after all networking more with the world through this technological advancement. This was of course the purpose of cell phones and internet and iphones, it is to make connecting with people easier and more common. This I must agree has been successfully met. We do in fact network more now that we have these amenities at our access.
Although when I think about this idea of networking, it brings to mind what I think good old Bill said in class, where he brought up this idea of modern social interaction. This I believe is where the problem lies. The fact that now we see communication through a screen as the main source of interaction with people, cannot be an acceptable concept. To think that when you come to school and face people continuously, and don’t plan on striking up conversations is simply absurd! To completely count on your screen to cover your face while you “connect” with people is ridiculous.
It was fascinating in class to hear people say that when we are on the internet chatting are we really alone. YES!!! Physically you are ALONE! In a real social setting and a real interaction I feel like you should not be alone, thus the importance of face to face interactions.
The problem is not the advancement of technology I suppose, its where people draw their own lines for what they use it for. Networking through the internet is great! It shouldn’t be the main source of communication though when you have the option of a face to face conversation, and that’s what its becoming.
I feel like I have rambled on enough about my hatred of the impersonal interactions that take place through text, email, or plurk, and intriguingly enough I am guilty myself of all of these problems, because Prof Prichard is right. It is the simplest way to communicate and network with people. That’s simply what it is and I have accepted it for just that!
Some say that it is the codes that we make up via these technologies that help us to forget that we are alone.
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