Mia Lucci

ENG 110

Jesse Miller 

13 November 2023

A World Without Connection

Technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever before and inevitably generations are turning to it for all matters. Although many people view the endless knowledge, communication, and shortcuts accessible at our fingertips as beneficial, they fail to recognize that technology is harming us in the process. It is as if people today have become blind to the negative effects that technology has on us while we are constricted in its grasp. The negative attributes of technology are high on the list of discussion in Sherry Turkle’s essay The Empathy Diaries and Nicholas Carr’s essay Is Google Making Us Stupid? Carr discusses in-depth about the changes that technology forces on humans as individuals, while Turkle talks about the depletion of empathy and human connection in relation to the increase in technology obsession. These negative effects are often considered to be attention deficit, and issues with recognizing emotions as well as declining urgency to have a face-to-face conversation. Both articles deeply align with my own beliefs as this technology is harming us. Technology leads to a lack of communication and will therefore lead to a lack of meaningful conversation spiraling into the loss of meaningful relationships. 

It seems that the attention spans of young minds are shortening by the second. As technology grows stronger it is as if humans are surrendering to its power. While completing a task, most are not able to get through it without checking their phone or notifications at least once and getting distracted. Sometimes I notice it takes until the last minute for my peers to put their heads into what they are working on and get the assignment finished by the due date. Carr puts this inability to focus in perspective by discussing the process of deep reading. Throughout the introduction to his essay, Carr deep-dives his inability to sit down and read. He mentions that he cannot focus on even a short paragraph and finds himself skimming much like most others can attest to, but will not admit to. He states, “Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” He provides the thought that individuals are unable to focus on deep reading. I believe that this is mostly to blame on the youth growing up in the age of technology and never being forced to go outside. They were given constant access to technology and would now rather spend their time online watching videos or playing a game. Carr and myself both agree that this has led to skimming and shortcuts rather than reading. I will admit that I find myself often skimming a paper if I have no interest in the topic or I am simply trying to find an answer to my question quickly. However, I am still able to read deeply if the topic interests me. Turkle ties this thought of distraction with the act of multitasking. She believes that all this multitasking leads to further distraction and lack of communication. According to Turkle, “In [one] company, a manager begins her team’s meetings by having all laptops and cell phones put into a basket at the door. She’s tired of meetings where people do their email.” Both authors discuss the lack of attention and connection associated with technology. Preventing distractions in meetings can make the whole process more productive and open to conversation which opens the room to deep conversations and eye contact. In a classroom, I find that most of the students would much rather be on their phones than listening to the lecture that they are sitting through. Rarely is there a student engaged 100% of the time. With no standards for the workplace or classrooms, the alternative is workers and students half listening, little to no eye contact, and empty conversations.

Due to cell phones and technology, people have become less able to express and understand emotions. It is almost as if technology has flipped a switch in our brain that turns off that ability. In Carr’s essay he expresses his thoughts regarding the effects of technology on human emotions. Carr states that, “People have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine.” In this he is implying that humans have become emotionless and robotic from technology’s effects as though humans no longer have personality, but are rather bland and numb. On occasion, when I am having a conversation with a friend, their responses are monotone and sound uninterested even though they are listening. Similarly, Turkle talks about the effects technology has on our ability to feel and detect emotions. Turkle believes that when “fully present to one another, we learn to listen. It’s where we develop the capacity for empathy.” Later in her essay she states that, “in only five days at a summer camp that bans all electronic devices, children show an increased capacity for empathy as measured by their ability to identity feelings of others…” Turkle believes that technology is inactivating our ability to understand, feel, and detect emotions. She highlights that connecting with each other personally is how we better understand human emotions, most specifically, empathy. Both parties believe, much like myself, that cell phones make it difficult for today’s generations to connect with each other. They would rather stare at a screen than interacting and getting to know each other. As someone who went to a camp where electronics of any kind were not allowed as a camper and counselor for many years of my life, I can attest that without technology bonds become stronger, connections became deeper, and no conversation was ever lacking substance. The thought may sound like torture to some, but as a kid who loved to play outside, I didn’t have to think twice about now having an electronic in my hand for a week at a time and I made some of my closest and longest friendships that carry on to this day. I whole-heartedly believe that when technology is subtracted from the equation, human connection and friendships have the ability to grow stronger than ever. 

As children move through their grades, they acquire more technology. I see many kids with iPhones and it makes me think back to the first time I got a phone. It was the Christmas of the 6th grade year, and the only reason my parents allowed me to have one was because I would constantly stay after school for clubs and sports. These days most kids don’t have to worry about getting left at school because they are constantly on devices texting before being able to properly spell. Children and young adults these days are less connected than ever and that seems to be taking a toll on their mental health and social habits. Many teachers find the issue of students being too anxious to speak in front of the class while others are concerned for younger students who do not appear to be making friends compared to past years. Instead they make “superficial acquaintances” as Turkle puts it. Children are not talking and connecting as they used to, harming their ability to make friends, communicate with others, and hold a conversation. Today it is almost impossible to get a child to maintain eye contact with you during a face-to-face conversation as if they are too afraid and nervous to do so. Turkle mentions that this loss of conversation is a “lost practice of the empathetic arts – learning to make eye contact, listen, and to attend to others.” I align with this statement because I find that even my younger cousin is unable to hold eye contact for brief conversations. Children these days get darty-eyed and don’t know what to say other than “hello.” Turkle stresses that some people may argue that their child isn’t like that “as if it means case closed.” Although some kids are incredibly outgoing and talkative, others are almost incapable of holding a conversation. I tie this to Carr’s term “pancake people” which describes people “spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.” His writing describes these people as shallow individuals who are almost unapproachable. Although I agree that we have lost the ability to have conversations, I’m not sure how fully I align with the belief of  “pancake people.” I feel that people will absorb only the amount of information and technology they will allow into their life, preventing some of them from reaching that point. 

Technology is taking over the lives of individuals across the globe and engrossing them into an electronic world. Carr, Turkle, and I all believe that technology is depleting social interaction and prohibiting meaningful connections. If this keeps continuing, we will have a population of individuals who are unable to communicate with each other on any level. It will be as if the world has gone silent because everyone’s noses will be buried and their eyes will be glued to their phone. 

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. Is Google Making Us Stupid? The Atlantic, 2008, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868.

Turkle, Sherry. The Empathy Diaries. Penguin Press, 2021.