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I chose to dovetail from Michelle’s post on Sherry Turkle’s article in The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled How Computers Change the Way We Think.
Sherry Turkle explains in her 2004 article that people’s thoughts are influenced by technology, and this new information changes the way we process these new thoughts. She used an example from one of the classes that she taught at MIT in the early 70’s on the subject of psychology. The lesson included Freud’s theory of the Freudian slip. The conversation was understood to mean that when you make a Freudian slip you are confused, and the thoughts you have are coming out in a vocal way even when you tried to suppress them. One of her students, not at psychology major, thought about the discussion in a more mechanical way she said that our brains are becoming like our technology and there can be a syntax error or misinterpretation. She interpreted the Freudian slip in an analytical and mathematical way.
Turkle continues her argument with how she became interested in studying how technology impacts our lives.
The article is broken into several sections including: privacy, Avatars, PowerPoint, Word processing, face value, electronic recreation and how we are detached. Each section she delves into the topic and some of what she says is inline with what we have discussed in class.
Turkle wrote in depth how in 2004 we had changed the way we interact with technology and how the transition from writing on paper and words processors caused people to lose the ability to think ahead.
Michelle wrote about privacy in her blog, and touched on the way we interact with our computers. Michelle also said in her blog post:
I think computers are making us somewhat lazy. We no longer have to think before we write things out. If we don’t like how something is worded, we can change it in an instant. Backspace!
Computers are causing us to think in digital world mode, not real life mode. And I think we should cherish the face to face interaction we get now because who knows how long it will last.
It is an interesting point that we have embraced this new way of thinking an integrated it into how we approach life and new projects.
For me the process has been seamless, the transition from a typewriter to word processor and now my trusty laptop.
At least I assume it to be seamless.
I like that I can type out some information, a poem, or email and then think about what I have just written and if necessary make some changes and press save. I do not think that we are lazy with these new approaches instead I think we are using our brain in bigger and better ways than ever before.
I think digital mode is becoming real life mode and that the way we interact with our phones, laptops and other equipment and household appliances is freeing up our brains to think larger than we ever have before.
I think digital mode is becoming real life. Not replacing, but becoming an integration of our technology and how we interface with it. I wonder what things would be like today if people like Ken Olsen had been more forward thinking.
Works Cited
Turkle, Sherry. “How Computers are change the Way We Think.” The Chronicle of Education. 2004. Web. http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~comp300/documents/HowComputersChangeThinking.pdf
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I for one enjoy the advancements that have been made in technology. In Psychological studies it is said that humans are getting smarter as time goes on, our IQ scores are actually increasing through the generations. I think that using our technology and our resources to make our lives simpler and more streamlined we are able to get more done, produce more, learn more, and over all improve our lives in some small way.
I agree that we are able to do more and learn more because we have access to more. I just keep thinking about authors like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott who wrote many novels and all by hand. It amazes me how talented and dedicated these two women in particular were. I wonder what they would have been able to accomplish if they had access to the technology that we are afforded…
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I swing both ways, ho ho ho, when it comes to using digital devices for writing. I think I tend to be more careless when I’m using an instant messenger client (pidgin), as opposed to my emails, blog posts and papers. Most of the time I will write something and edit it a lot, trying to get my point across without all the extra babbling that I do. Type, erase, edit, repeat rinse.
I’ve used an electric typewriter, and it’s a pain in the ass, I hated it with a passion because I was always making mistakes. White-out was making tons of money off of me, and it actually hindered my writing because I couldn’t express myself. So in a way I was being lazy, because I’m sure I could have improved, but the hurdle was just too big for me at the time.
I remember a writing teacher telling our class that if we want to get better at writing, we had to write more. Even if our spelling sucks, there is a generation of people who have more opportunities to write, even if it is online. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who live the U.S. who still don’t have the skills they need to use free resources (like the library or schools). I don’t know how to reach those people, because there’s the issue of time (learn or go to work, learn or get some rest) and whether it will actually help them or not.
Ha ha…”Type, erase, edit, repeat rinse.” This is great!
I grew up with an electric typewriter too and loved it when we got a new one with the eraser thingie attached to the ink. You were able to type and hit backspace and it would whiteout/erase the stuff you had just typed. Then you could type over it immediately with no need to wait for the liquid white out to dry. I had never thought about how my writing may have been or was stifled by the technology that I was using, and looking back I agree that the jump was a big one to improve my writing with my old technology. I know that I take for granted my trusty laptop for all my writing and internet needs, and I love that I can write a response and then change it, spell check it, or even delete it all together if I make a mistake. Just like you said, “Type, erase, edit, repeat rinse. “
Wow! Did I really write that?… computers making us lazy! Must have been spacing out there for a second. Or maybe that’s where my generalized assumptions started coming in… I tend to do that. I was just discussing with a friend how older generations say we’re lazy because all we do is play video games or use the computer. But really computers are helping us learn. Just in a different way than say our parents did. We have so much information available to us on the web. And the digital world is definitely becoming everyday life.
@Michelle, I think you are correct in saying that older generations think younger ones are lazy…not really lazy but, maybe have it easier. You’ve heard the saying that goes something like this, “when I was in school I walked to school uphill both ways, and in the snow.”
Well, the same goes for technology, and when people do not know how to use their said technology that could be making their lives easier, they get frustrated seeing a younger person taking full advantage of theirs. Take the smartphones for example (boo for me because I do not have one). Some people have them and still are only using them to make calls and for texting, but what they could be doing is using it for navigation, checking their email, doing banking, making reservations, and playing Foursquare…etc. The digital divide is getting narrower but it is still very wide in some areas and for some people.
Digital mode vs. real life. Evolution. Remediation. I sometimes feel like I’m slowly coming out of the dark ages. It took me forever to afford and immerse myself in the technology of computers and digital thisnthats: iPods, smart phones etc. I agree that the digital world is becoming real life; every day life. Everything in front of us points us down that path and sometimes if feels Darwinistic (is that a word?) Evolve and adapt to the technology or become a statistic in the complex river known as the digital divide.