The Reality of Technology

My take on Turkle’s statement is that, as much as technology fills the human desire to stay connected, the fact that it does, can become alarming because it is a temptation that we, more often than not, become obsessed with or addicted to. Turkle mainly refers to the theme of intimacy in her introductory paragraphs, in which technology helps us overcome the barrier of intimacy. Through instant messaging methods, text messaging, and social networking, we can have multiple ‘meaningful’ connections without actually being in the presence another human beings. This can often give us the confidence to say things that we could never build up the courage to tell someone face-to-face. So technology fills that ‘connection gap’ for us, which most of the youthful digital generation see as a good thing. Yet, in reality this indirect version of intimacy is causing a social glitch in the way that we as humans interact with each other. It’s true that “we’d rather text than talk” (p.1), because I admit that I would rather text than talk at times. Usually only in cases when I am in a rush or occupied. Therefore, I believe that convenience, is another factor in which people flirt with the idea of being connected at all times. The fact that technology is easy to utilize at the discretion of the user. With the service learning portion of this course, I agree that it will encourage us as digitally active students, to gain hands on experience about something we could have simply researched about online. The fact that we will be interacting with other students, and taking on leadership roles in classroom settings, will help us to develop or regenerate skills that we could never gain through researching something online. We will be forced to overcome intimacy issues. We will gain the traditional experience of connecting truly with other humans, and hopefully learn from the experiences of students in which we can apply in our own lives.

The Robotic Moment

An example from this section of the reading, in which I think represents the idea that the digital generation of todays world has come to accept and embrace technology as a ‘good’ thing, is when the daughter mentions to her mom, “They could have used a robot” (p.3). This was significant to me because it truly does illustrate that young people accept and turn to technology as a social enhancer, something that can make all else far more better. The mother on the other hand is shocked with her daughters remark, but also comes to terms with the fact that her daughter does have a point. It raises the question about how, in some cases, it is so easy for us to turn to technology as a resolution to problems that we experience or see in the world.

Connectivity and its Disconnects

The beginning of this segment reinforces the idea that technology is convenient. This is one highlighted reasons in which people utilize it vigorously. “Online connections were first conceived as a substitute for face-to-face contact...but very quickly, the text message became the connection of choice” (p. 13). This statement demonstrates that a system invented as a tool to keep those with overloaded schedules, connected, in actual fact became a phenomenon that led to dependency and disconnection. This is because like the text states “technology makes it easy to communicate when we wish and to disengage at will” (p.13) This disengagement is the disconnect that we experience, as well as the obvious disconnection of not traditionally talking face-to-face, which is ironic because when we think we are connected, we really aren’t because of this fact.

Romancing the Machine

In my mind, Turkle’s thought that “we are on the verge of seeking the company and counsel of sociable robots as a natural part of life” (p. 19) is a key statement that symbolizes the title ‘Romancing the Machine’. This idea that we are in a time that redefines what a relationship is? It seems absurd to think that with the current direction we are going in, people will come to accept robots as a romantic figure almost. This ties back to the concept of technology filling that connection gap for us, yet in an extremely artificial manner.

-- Taki Te Koi