COLLEGE students tell me they know how to look someone in the eye and type on their phones at the same time, their split attention undetected. They say it’s a skill they mastered in middle school when they wanted to text in class without getting caught. Now they use it when they want to be both with their friends and, as some put it, “elsewhere.”Sherry Turkle has been studying the psychology of online connectivity for more than 30 years. For the past five, She had a special focus: What has happened to face-to-face conversation in a world where so many people say they would rather text than talk? She goes on:
First of all, there is the magic of the always available elsewhere. You can put your attention wherever you want it to be. You can always be heard. You never have to be bored. When you sense that a lull in the conversation is coming, you can shift your attention from the people in the room to the world you can find on your phone. But the students also described a sense of loss.For example, Turkle spoke to one college junior who tried to capture what is wrong about life in his generation. “Our texts are fine,” he said. “It’s what texting does to our conversations when we are together that’s the problem.”
Read the article by Turkle based on her book, “Reclaiming Conversation.” Here she makes a case for face-to-face talk, and that direct engagement is crucial for the development of empathy, the ability to put ourselves in the place of others. After you read this article, there is a link to her next article, as she reacts to the comments she received. I found this related article, "Talk to Each Other, Not Your Phone" to be even more powerful. We text because regular conversation is so "pedestrian" and boring. In her book, Turkle asks Randall, 24, a real estate broker,
What happens when there is a lull in the conversation. He looked at me, seeming not to understand. Later he explained that, in his mind, he had just made it clear that there is never a lull in the conversation. Anything like that would be filled by turning to your phone. But I hadn’t understood this yet so I tried again. I said, “Like, if things got quiet among your friends?” Randall said, “Oh, if the conversation was not providing information, I’d check out some YouTube stuff I’m behind on … or take a picture of us and post it.”After you read the articles (very short), what do you think? What has been your experience? Are you comfortable with silence in conversation? Or do you view conversation a transactional; that it has to accomplish something or provide new information?
I've come across multiple articles (one attached below) about how our phones are dominating our lives. Not only are they making our conversations in person weak, but now they are sucking the creativity out of our lives. Since our phones supply an endless amount of entertainment we never get bored. People are dependent on their mindless relationships to their phone. Boredom is the seed that stimulates creativity. When the brain senses boredom theres a sudden urge to daydream or engage in a creative activity. If we could take a break from our phones long enough to become bored our conversations would possibly not be so "pedestrian" and we could regain our creativity.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wnyc.org/story/bored-brilliant-project-part-1/
Both New York Times articles bring up interesting points, many of which I hadn't really thought of. Perhaps this is because I grew up with technology, so I find its presence in our lives to be normal. I do feel like technology has caused our attention spans to decline and that we are in need of instant gratification. On one hand, I think smart phones are great because they help keep people connected and give us access to limitless amounts of information. On the other hand, it has led to a degradation of in person conversation. Phones can be used to escape from the present moment and separate yourself from the other individuals in the room. I think this happens a lot because it is easier to go on your phone than it is to start a real conversation in person. In terms of the idea that people go to office hours less now than they used to, I think this is because students prefer the convenience of email. Going to office hours takes time, especially if there are multiple students already there. Email eliminates the need to take the time to physically go to a place and wait their turn. It is simply a more efficient way to get questions answered.
ReplyDeleteThose articles brings us very interesting points, and also the dual side of technology. In my opinion, phone does give us lots of convenience such as saving time. As you mentioned, students are more likely to communicate with u thought Facebook or texting instead of go to office hour. Also, communicate through phones would be more flexibility and leave people more time to think before you reply, which can increase both effectiveness and efficiency of communication.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am not comfortable with silence in conversation and I realized phone( also means internet) is changing our social behavior. For example, when my friends and I go our for a meal, we set on table and start to look at our phone instead of talking to each other. We seems have nothing to share with each other. One of reason I think is that nowadays we use our phone to communicate a lot because phone allows us communicate immediately, when we want to share something with someone on certain moment, of course, we can use phone to text someone or post on social media. So we don't have to wait to meet with other and then talk.
Those articles brings us very interesting points, and also the dual side of technology. In my opinion, phone does give us lots of convenience such as saving time. As you mentioned, students are more likely to communicate with u thought Facebook or texting instead of go to office hour. Also, communicate through phones would be more flexibility and leave people more time to think before you reply, which can increase both effectiveness and efficiency of communication.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am not comfortable with silence in conversation and I realized phone( also means internet) is changing our social behavior. For example, when my friends and I go our for a meal, we set on table and start to look at our phone instead of talking to each other. We seems have nothing to share with each other. One of reason I think is that nowadays we use our phone to communicate a lot because phone allows us communicate immediately, when we want to share something with someone on certain moment, of course, we can use phone to text someone or post on social media. So we don't have to wait to meet with other and then talk.