Sherry Turkle, a psychologist, spoke about the importance of being present in todays society. She conveyed the message that “the devices in our pockets don’t only change what we do. They change who we are”(Turkle). That she is trying to express by saying this is that we can not be on our phones and be in the moment at the same time. She emphasizes the fact that in order to connect we must disconnect with our mobile devices. she celebrates the fact that we have so much technology in our lives because in many cases it is helpful. On the other hand she argues that our phones are turning us into introverted people who do not value a face to face conversation. She did a study on people in retirement homes which I not only found shocking but also disappointing. Her study was on how people in retirement homes that have gone through tragedy speak to robots to help get over their grief. One thing that stuck out was how an old woman who had lost her son talked to a robot baby seal to help minimize her morning. How does a baby seal, especially a robot baby seal, help anyone morn? She goes on to make the point that robots do not have feelings, they do not have emoting, and most importantly they do not have compassion. This supports her theory that we expect more from technology than we do actual people. More people would rather talk over text than in person. Finally she concludes that people see loneliness as a problem that needs to be solved by using technology. If people can not handle being lonely, then they will not be able to function in the real world.
I strongly disagree with Sherry Turkle on many accounts in her ted talks but there were some ideas that I believe are useful lessons. Sherry’s claim that “the devices in our our pockets don’t only change what we do. They change who we are”(Turkle) is flawed in many ways. personally anything that I put on social media or on my phone is something I would have no problem saying or doing in person. Secondly, I use my social media as an extension of my personality that captures events that happen in the real world. The post I put online are used to remember the good times I had with the people around me. Lastly, I rarely text in long conversations. if you have small details or messages to send me I will respond but if there is anything long I will revert to a phone call. Although I believe that Sherry is wrong when she talks about how our phones change who we are, she is right when she says that in order to connect to our peers we must disconnect from our devices. Too many young teens and teens spend their day looking at their phone and not interacting with the people around them. Your phone is a tool used for communication but it should not take the place of a face to face conversation. In conclusion I don’t think sherry ted talk applies to me or anyone my age. As a 19 year old I grew up without cell phones until I was about 13 years old. I believe this allowed the perfect balance of technology and personality skills to be a functioning member of society.
Even though I agree with the idea of a cell phone being an extension of your personal life, I cannot accept that social media has not changed your life in one way or another. I’m sure that now you take certain pictures in regards to specifically posting them at a later time. Also, I insist that the amount of “likes”, “comments”, and “views”, you receive most likely impacts your confidence for the better or worse. I’m not sure if this impacts you significantly or not but I’m positive for others that this can be detrimental.