In the Arendt reading there is a moment when she addresses a common complaint of humanity adapting to technology. This is the same sort of complain that I hear from “adults” claiming that “us kids” are just stuck in our phones all the time. To this I have two reactions.
First, I don’t think they realize what is going on when I am looking down at my phone in my hand or the screen on my computer. I am not soaked up into an abyss, I am doing something, maybe interacting with people. Yes, sometimes I am playing games an ignoring you because I don’t care to argue with my grandpa about why Benjamin Netanyahu shouldn’t have won the last election in Israel, but most of the time I am not. Many people who do not have technology integrated into their lives see technology and the “online world” as its own world. But what they do no understand is that things that happen online, actually happen. When I type out words to a friend because I am happy, sad, or confused, I am actually feeling that way and they are actually responding and we are actually having a conversation. When people post on social media, other people are actually reading those words. Further, I don’t think they see what kinds of benefits texting and social media hold. For those with social anxiety such as myself, it makes it a million times easier to have relationships, which is an issue that Turkle tackles in her book “Together Alone.”
Second, I don’t think they see the difference between addiction and integration. The way I see it, technology is like brushing my hair. Now if that was an addiction, I would not be able to stop brushing my hair. However, it is more like integration – it is a part of my life just because I was raised in a world where it was natural that way. If you go back to the cavemen they will not be brushing their hair. If you go back fifty years, college students will not be writing blog posts for assignments. I use technology in the form of my phone and computer every day because it’s just a part of the way I live my life. I brush my hair every day as well, in case you were wondering. But in both cases, if something comes up and my computer breaks or I lose my hair brush, life will go on.
I agree with you that people tend to think that technology is somehow not part of the “real world.” Real things are happening when technology is used- if not in person. It’s a frustrating process when people take such harsh positions on technology, when they are also often benefitting from them. Furthermore, I really like your point about social anxiety, because I think people who don’t struggle with anxiety don’t understand what it is like to have social struggles. Technology is definitely a mediator in which everyone can have safe, social interaction at their own pace. I believe people think that technology is ruining relationships, while they can facilitate making new relationships that might not have a possible.
I enjoyed your positive and optimistic take on integration of technology. Your views seem to hold true and use technology as a way to overcome certain struggles. Do you think, without technology, you wouldn’t be able to overcome social anxiety? Technology may seem to serve as a way for people to cope with certain struggles but I think this falls along the line of Turkle’s argument. She explains how technology has presented us with situations that allow us to see brain scans when we feel excited but it will never be able to explain the feeling of love. I am curious to see if technology is acting as an alternative for some people that would over come issues with face-to-face interactions rather than behind a screen. Personally I am less optimistic about technology as you are because this type of technology (as in social media) is less integrated in my life, but your arguments are intriguing nonetheless.
-Zack
I loved the comparison of addiction versus integration because I have never really looked at it that way before. Like you, I get annoyed when older people claim that I am somehow “addicted” to my phone or to social media, when in reality I am communicating with friends or family, not just staring at a blank screen. We are getting something out of using our phones to communicate and I completely agree with you on that point. Not having too many social anxieties of my own, it can be hard for me to relate to interacting with people on line because I prefer to be physically present for interaction, but I appreciate that technology helps those who do have social anxieties better interact with those around them. You have articulated extremely well how using technology to communicate is a positive consequence of modernizing technologies, and I especially enjoyed your “brushing hair” metaphor, as that better helps me understand integration versus addiction. Great post!
– Brenna
Interesting! I tend to see this evolvement of integrating online world in everyday life as constantly forming an evolution where technology is as much part of you as you of technology. I also think people that argue what happens online is not real is people that never paused and thought about the impact of this evolution, maybe people that has never adapted to social networking at their jobs or other everyday life activities. Look at the Obama campaign for 2012 for instance, no one promotes the “social media doesn’t matter” argument anymore when we can clearly see what effect it had on that particular political outcome.
Lisa
I think that it is really interesting when you talk about people who will look at you on the internet or on your phone and say “that is not real”. I always get a little irritated when I hear people say that phrase, and this might be a surprise given my general views on technology. I am a believer that some part of human expression gets lost, or at least morphed, when we communicate via text messages or on the internet, however I’ve never been able to accept those who simply deny it’s meanining. All of the authors we’ve talked about have made some kind of distinction between the “real” world and the technological one, but I think that those kind of distinctions deny the much more important cosideration which is that our world and virtual ones are always producing eachother; No matter how many people reject it, the things we do and say with technology have real affects on the world around us. Emotions, thoughts, and general knowledge are constantly being produced virtually and having effects on the real world.