Can You Hear Me Now

Reading "Can You Hear Me Now," by Sherry Turkle made me feel a bit alarmed and maybe even disappointed  I felt that what she said is true. Our society had developed such a dependence on technology for instant information and communication that we get lost when it doesn't work. We also can forget about what it means to really talk to someone and have a real social life as opposed to a virtual one. I like how she addresses that issue and I'll spend more of my time talking about that.

Being able to work technology and create Bloggs  and to post funny status updates is fun to do and there is nothing wrong with it, but I prefer to express my thoughts and feeling in person. I think much more is felt that way and becomes more meaningful. It feels good to be good at public speaking. You can see and feel your influence on your audience.

Also having an instant connection to the world through Smartphones and the likes can be distracting. I liked this example that Sherry Turkle used about one of her students:

"“Being put on pause” is how one of my students describes the feeling of walking down the
street with a friend who has just taken a call on his cell. “I mean I can’t go anywhere; I can’t just
pull out some work. I’ve just been stopped in midsentence and am expected to remember, to hold
the thread of the conversation until he wants to pick it up again.”"

It just seem inconsiderate to ignore a friend for a call. Having a conversation with someone does a lot more for us. A few days ago I was walking down one of the campus halls and saw a friend that I hadn't seen for a while. She was in the middle of talking on her cell phone but when she saw me she asked if she could call the person she was talking to back and gave her attention to me. We had a good conversation and got to know each other a little better. It felt good that she was willing to do that and I felt appreciated. Cell phones like Sherry Turkle said, "tether" us to just about everything all the time. Having a conversation in person tends to happen only in the now. It can be missed and might never be reclaimed.

Purpose- Why is Sherry Turkle writing this?
She wants her audience to understand some of the cons about becoming to attached to technology.

Topic- What is Sherry Turkle writing about.
How having a dependency on technology for everything takes us away from some having a real life and living in the present.

Issue-What is the main question Sherry Turkle is Answering?
How technology how technology is affecting every aspect of our life.

Conclusion-How do sherry Turkle answer her question?
"The answer does not depend on what computers can do today or what they are likely to be able to do in the future. It hangs on the question of what we will be like, what kind of people we are becoming as we develop very intimate relationships with our machines." She acknowledges that we've become dependent on the technology around us.


This a link to a mormon message video about how we can keep ourselves in check with our use of technology. It features Elder Bednar.
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng&query=things+they+really#things-as-they-really-are