Lumelay, EJ Rafael G.

CEE 11

Technology is a massive agent of change that definitely make our lives easier.
Professor Sherry Turkle on her discussion in TEDTalks shared her 15-year experience
studying the way technology changes the person itself and how it will lead us into trouble.
Although technology will definitely offer wide range of convenience, befitting us as beings
of relief and convenience, it slowly takes over the role of the ones who originally provided
us things that a technology can cover up especially in the field of communication.

Turkle’s study shows that we are already accustoming ourselves to what

uneasiness technology once bring when we first encountered it. She stated example that
family relations were already severed once technology was the sole priority. The same
family resides inside a house, merely separated with a thin layer of wall, yet all of them
were dispersed among their different worlds. Either the mom is in her Facebook wall, the
dad’s work research, or the son’s school group chat, or the daughter’s busy posting
tweets. The worse thing is when the parents call the full attention of their children, and
the children seems to respond but they’re only giving this slight attention. It’s the same
for the parents who only affirm to their children’s whims without listening at all. We can
say that being separated from each other when using technology is to be expected. We
can easily find the convenience through the use of our smart phones, computer or other
gadgets.

Second, human relationships are rich, but are quite messy and demanding. It’s a
given that in order to produce a high-quality conversation, both parties need to exert effort
from opening a topic to sustaining the conversation. The mood, place, noise serve as
huge obstacle when executing communication. As stated earlier, man seeks
convenience, thus, we prefer to use non-contact communication- either in form of chat, a
message, a call, or even a video call. However, the essence, the sincerity of the personal
communication is being concealed by technology. We cannot see, hear, or even feel what
we’ve been saying anymore. We can choose not to say the words we usually blurt out on
when we’re having contact communication. We can lie, the other side will not know if we
do not listen; it’s very insincere. ‘
 Professor Turkle said, technology, labeled as powerful on helping us, but is also
terrifying that it will completely take over our weaknesses. It provides solution to every
problem that is intended for us to solve ourselves especially in the aspect of socializing
and communication. The technology changes our minds and hearts because they are
offering gratifying fantasies. It gives us the illusion of companionship without the demands
of a relationship. We are relying to technology to make us feel connected to the world,
even though we are truly alone.

The study with the self-reflection Professor Turkle did is a wake-up call that the
relationships we have are first-hand experiences we cannot replace. They are formed
and nurtured through years of contact communication. Although it is hard to sustain such
relationships, in order to produce a genuine and long lasting one, we need to exert effort
and commitment that we cannot find in technology. There will be time that we find
ourselves in a tight spot but we must be responsible ourselves to not run away to isolation
but to solve it to continue develop as a person.