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.
Eulogy Tweet
Rip to old Matt Thomas who would post Instagram pictures of other peoples things so he would look cool. He was always trying to be the best looking kid on the block and he usually was. His selfies with family members and 3 posts a day will be missed greatly.
Bio Poem
Matt Thomas
Committed, passionate, hardworking, and persistent
Lover of Lacrosse
Student of Medical Biology
Who feels eager about taking this class
Who hopes to learn as much as I possibly can in this class
Who fears the time management associated with this class
Who loved the story Captain Underpants as a child
Who read the Harry Potter series of books
Who struggled to get through the book The Odyssey
Who checks Instagram every day
Matt Thomas
