Extra Credit "Connected but Alone" by Sherry Turkle

Connected but alone is a life speech conducted by Sherry Turkle and specialist and analyst of technology.

Turkle basic aim is to make us reconsider what is technology doing for us. If we simple see it, we believe technology is the best thing that ever happened to us, but once we really analyzed it we can see that the abuse of it can really harm our human being essence. Around 15 years ago when the technological communication was becoming popular Turkle actually was supporting is claiming it will make our life easier , and As a matter of fact it make our life easier but this doesn’t always means it will make it better.  Turkle claims that the abuse of technology is “changing who we are”, since with this we can edit and change what we want to be. Let’s just think about of our social media pages in which we show only what we want society to see. We created a “profile” of ourselves that sometimes is not true. I believe that our generation have become very shallow because of this, now we care more about what someone will look like and text us than what someone will do for us and behave with us . Turkle claims that this ability of controlling and creating our self does will dismiss human real essence. Does a real hug make you feel the same as an “I <3 u”?

There is also this notion of being “Alone together”. We are as devoted to our devices as Turkle claims that we forgot and don’t want to interact with real people. This felling of reaching everyone but knowing no one is created; I personally think this is true but sad. The biggest problem is that even if we want to avoid to be attached to our devices we can’t do it, society demand us to be attach to them. We are “getting in trouble” Turkle claims.

Another factor that she talks about is that technology makes us believe that we can live in a fantasy world in which we have attention whenever we want, be heard all the time, and cannot be alone. Once again this point may see good and benefactors but not to the point in which they get extreme. She talk about this robot that they are using in a house of elder people in which a women is talking with the robot just like it is a real person. Her we can see how we are showing and giving emotion to technological devices and the worst thing of all expecting to receive emotion back. It got to a point in which we can differentiate what real of what’s not.

Furthermore, I agree with her in the sense that technology is necessary and good as some extend. But we need to know when we are abusing it and its taking control of our lives, so we can never lose our human essence. As much as we need our “IPhone/ Blackberry” we need time to socialize like real human beans.