THE FLIGHT FROM CONVERSATION
REACTION PAPER
I greatly enjoyed reading “The Flight from Conversation” by Sherry Turkle because I agree with her many points regarding the lack of communication in today’s society. She used many real life examples to support her claim that cell phones and other technology have inhibited face to face communication. Although technology has given us many forms of communication, I feel that the most important way to communicate is by talking face to face.
As Turkle stated in her article, we tend to “dumb down our communications” when we use digital technology because we feel the need to have a quick response. When we need to have a serious conversation with a person, we want to hear their true feelings and full answers, not a shortened, bland version of one hundred and forty characters or less. Also, when communicating over the phone, we do not get the full sense of feeling or inflection of that person’s words. We do not know if they are using a sarcastic tone or if they are being completely serious. This can cause many problems between friends and colleagues, and can even lead to cyber bullying.
The one quote that stuck out to me the most in Turkle’s article was: “We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship.” I think this quote perfectly describes many people in our culture, which is sad. People need to build meaningful relationships with others to succeed in life. Without these relationships, people feel lonely and seek companionship, which they find through technology, and the cycle just keeps repeating.
Technology is such a great advancement in our society, but certain aspects of day to day life cannot be attained through these online techniques. I feel that face to face communication needs to be emphasized in our lives before we entirely lose the ability to speak with others in person.
As Turkle stated in her article, we tend to “dumb down our communications” when we use digital technology because we feel the need to have a quick response. When we need to have a serious conversation with a person, we want to hear their true feelings and full answers, not a shortened, bland version of one hundred and forty characters or less. Also, when communicating over the phone, we do not get the full sense of feeling or inflection of that person’s words. We do not know if they are using a sarcastic tone or if they are being completely serious. This can cause many problems between friends and colleagues, and can even lead to cyber bullying.
The one quote that stuck out to me the most in Turkle’s article was: “We expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship.” I think this quote perfectly describes many people in our culture, which is sad. People need to build meaningful relationships with others to succeed in life. Without these relationships, people feel lonely and seek companionship, which they find through technology, and the cycle just keeps repeating.
Technology is such a great advancement in our society, but certain aspects of day to day life cannot be attained through these online techniques. I feel that face to face communication needs to be emphasized in our lives before we entirely lose the ability to speak with others in person.
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